asandoval-cultures-in-edp-blog

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Final Thoughts

It is nearing the end of learning about our digital world, about the many different things we have learned and about all the things we had yet to learn. I have learned so much about how this digital media world has changed us as individuals, groups, and society. We keep looking ahead to try to get a glimpse of our future and learn about it. With shows/episodes from the hit Netflix series, “The Black Mirror”, and journal articles such as “Life after media” by Kember and Zylinska that discuss the “intelligent actors in our environment” that is technology. Or the NPR audio like “Forget Edibles: Getting high on wearables” yay think about the gadgets that are becoming addicting to us. It has been an eye opening ride about how much technology is affecting us and how much we still need to learn from where we are headed. Because in my opinion, technology instead of being a source to making us a lazier society, it should be a source to help, to help the less fortunate in aspects of education, health care, housing, and resources. I am still struggling to put everything we have learned into one concrete idea for my final essay just because it is so much to think about, so much to grasp and try to understand but at the same time, I think it has been good to learn about all of this and I think of it as an important course as an introduction to Emergent Digital Practice.

I really enjoyed the presentations, they all brought new artifacts and brought new artists into my circle. The artifacts were really interesting that it even made me double think on my own personal artifact and think that it was not as modern or interesting but mine can be thought of as the pioneer of all the other artifacts that were shown.

As for the final essay, I am still deciding whether to use my Essay two artifact or not. I am working on putting ideas together for it and deciding if it is enough to put it all together. So far, I am happy with the things I have been able to come up with but I am still working on it. I also think I might be able to do a lot more synthesis on a new artifact. I think I will decide once I get my essay exam two back and get some feedback on it.

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Speculative Culture 1

For "Playtest", I picked out (38:55)- At this timestamp, Sonja appears at his doorstep where he is supposedly staying for the testing of the game.  She seems real, there no static, he can touch over her, she seems real. Modern games are moving towards being more interactive but where can we draw the line? The game he experienced was TOO real that caused him his death. Are we okay with being this real?

After having the discussion with the class, my perspective changed because at first I didn't know that the game was not real. At first, I thought that they he really at the house and experiencing it in real life.  I did not caught the small queues like when he walks in and people are designing the house, that his mom kept calling him or the fact that he never meet the owner of the game. I was shocked to hear that all of that happened in 0.04 seconds. however, those thoughts did not change with the fact of AI, interactivity and gaming. The game was TOO real and cause his death, are we okay with people messing with our minds for gaming and a better interaction? I personally, I am not. It is like we had discussed a couple of weeks ago about a cyborg culture. There are four stages. Each stage has been slowly changing us and we are moving towards a society who is constantly adding more technology to us and we are becoming addicted. This leads me to the timestamp for "Men Against Fire" which is (20:25) when he is being diagnosed by a doctor. The doctor controls everything and all that he sees which I thought was interesting because he was checking him that way instead of checking hi physically. I choose this time stamp before knowing about how manipulative they were being. They are controlling their thoughts, vision and even dreams! THAT is a cyborg culture. It is scary/nerve-racking to think about because it comes to other thoughts about who gets to control them? and why that person? It is not to get political but it will most likely be people with power and that usually means the government.

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Program Culture

In the two chapter of Rushkoff's book, "Program or be programmed" we go into the idea of what it means to live in a society that is quickly adapting to technology, to the degree of not putting it in us and not being able to live without it. As he says in chapter 10, "Digital technology is programmed. This makes it biased toward those with the capacity to write the code. In a digital age, we must learn how to make the software, or risk becoming the software" (128).  This idea reminds me of the show "Black Mirror" on Netflix. "BlackMirror" looks at different scenarios, at different lifestyles as we move towards a more technology-based culture. I found Rushkoff's ideas to be very interesting and very tied to what I believe with how our society treats technology and how our society is slowly moving towards a cyborg culture. I am a computer science major and being around technology, new softwares, new tech, code, etc. I think about the negative impact that technology can do. Because while companies and new software/gadgets claim that they are to make our lives better, at times they are not. They are making us lazy, more dependent on it. Technology can have such a good impact on the world that can be used for education, food, agriculture, global warming, to stay connected but many ideals are not there. Rushkoff mentions, "A society that looked at the Internet as a path toward highly articulated connections and new methods of creating meaning is instead finding itself disconnected, denied deep thinking, and drained of enduring values" (10).  Teens spend hours playing online, wasting their lives in an artificial world instead of trying to do it out in the world. People are walking less and instead getting gadgets/tools with wheels, people are getting the latest phone even when their old is still working perfectly while disposing it in a non-environmentally friendly manner. How have we moved to this? I want to end this post with the following quote by Rushkoff, "In the emerging, highly programmed landscape ahead, you will either create the software or you will be the software" (7).

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Ripped/Remix/Mashed-up Culture

When we look the field of digital art we might stumble upon many different ideas, different perspectives and different definitions.  In O'Neil's "Situation Remix", he bring up interesting ideas about freedom and the idea of remixing an art form. He brings up an idea of free shops which allow artists to play with the classification and management of artifacts. We might end up asking ourselves, are these artists actually creating something new, something different? Then he actually answers that by saying that a distinction between creation and modification is not relevant. The distinguished "technology" from "technocracy" is that "technology acquires power over society is the power of those whose economic hold over society is the greatest." Today, there is a controversy of what involves mixing, remixing and redoing. It can be a combination of several things and of many different things. As explained in O'Neil's article, "mixing is the dominant aesthetic strategy of the field... the creative process becomes a matter of letting go and conversely of selecting and editing, fragments of works of art." However, in my opinion, I think art is art. Whether it is remixing, mixing because it takes a creative mindset to do the simple remixing. Besides, as Ayers mentions in The Cyberactivism of a Dangermouse, "social movements have historically appropriated tech and mass media for their own causes." So yes, socially, we have come to new ideas of creating art, new forms and new mixes. On a new idea, the audience is also called the "author" or the "artist" of a piece based on interactivity- it is not. The interactive art changes the form when user interact with it. Making interactive art combines performance and visualization.

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Free Culture

Lessig starts by vaguely defining “piracy”, it begins by defining it as “The taking of something of value from someone else without permission is wrong. It is a form of piracy” (8). He later goes on to defining it more specifically through commercial piracy. Lessig talks about recorded music, this industry makes billions every year but at the same time it also loses billions because of piracy. Lessig makes a definite point by saying that piracy is wrong no matter what and excuse could be. I agree and disagree with the statement. I agree because I know what its like to work for something, to make something happen and for someone to come and just take it. When we invade piracy, we are not giving credit to those who put in hours of work. However, at the same time I disagree. I disagree with the fact of no excuse for the taking of something. Piracy has taken a toll these last couple of years. It has become easier, it has made content access to many who cannot afford it. He also touches on this point but how is it fair for big corporations to make values so high, this cuts a huge group of people from being able to access. This can also take a toll. When it becomes easy for someone to take content, it will be easier and easier the second and third time. Thus, creating a never-ending cycle. 

Piracy has made a whole industry lose billions but what is the law or what is that industry doing to avoid piracy from happening? We are complaining about this issue but I am not sure how we are trying to avoid it. With the introduction of Apple music, Spotify premium and pandora, a user can pay a subscription for unlimited music. This is a new way to decrease piracy, since the introduction of such services, not only does it save space in personal devices (because downloaded music takes up a lot of space) but also it allows for the streaming of ANY song, ANY time much more accessible. Other services such a Netflix or Hulu, a similar case is in play. A paid subscription for unlimited TV shows and movies. This makes it much more accessible to many and thus reducing piracy.

Even though piracy can be reduced, in my opinion, it can never disappear completely. There will always be a need or want to have it downloaded, just to have it.

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Embodied/Cyborg Culture

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Participatory Culture

The article, Politics: Partipatory Panopticon talks about how much our privacy has been jeopardized and in a way where we don’t care how it has or what the repercussions are. The fact is everyone with a smartphone can be journalists, can record at any time and can show transparency with the push of a button. With the increasing use of social media, our reputation on social media has become more and more important. The different subtopics the author talks about are: “From hand-held to wearable”, “From the body to the panopticon”, “From surveillance to sousveillance” and “From friendly advice to the wild west.” “From hand-held to wearable” talks about the increase of camera phones and the fact of transparency. “From the body to the panopticon” talks about the use of our information in terms of mapping. Our phones can map our location, the food we eat, etc.  “From surveillance to sousveillance” is about enforcing the accountability of officials, done so by having an army of people with camera phones. Finally, “From friendly advice to the wild west” is the use of friends to obtain ratings, reviews, comments, etc.

Corrupt Personalization by Christian Sandvig talks about a term he calls “corrupt personalization.” This term refers to the use of personalized ads and how these ads are gathered and advertised. Sandvig uses Facebook as his main platform to explain this concept. He claims that Facebook knows everything about us, and specifically who we interact with the most and who we don’t. The idea is that Facebook claims that our friends “like” specific pages so we are more inclined to do the same. Also, when a friend likes a comment on a post with a link, then it takes it as that friend liked the page when that is not necessarily true. This idea has several dangers because non-commercial becomes commercial and money prevails over anything and everything.

The final media were short videos, Breaking the black box by ProPublica. The short videos discuss the dangers of algorithms. Algorithms are the ones that make computers think, act and respond. These algorithms are huge with ads, search engines, mass customization, machine learning and artificial intelligence. These algorithms take everything the know about us to give us “better results” which most of the time leads to mass discrimination.

           I found all articles to be very interesting, but mostly the short videos by ProPublica. These articles first show us how we, humans, are in charge by using transparency but at the same time how our privacy is disrupted and everyone seems to be okay with it. Then we lean more towards how algorithms are controlling us by using all the information they can gather about us and use it for advertisements. These algorithms can backlash because at the end, they are designed by humans and thus computers only know as much as we teach them. In my opinion, algorithms are extremely helpful and have made many things possible such as search engines which makes searching information extremely easy. However, it opened my eyes by claiming how we easily we can fall into racism, stereotypes and discrimination. Is this how we really want to do? I mean van we then blame youth for such a racist society? On the other hand, how can I so harshly blame media when we (humans) are the ones posting this content and making all these different connections.

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Performance Culture

I listened to both podcasts before I read the article about performance and the involvement that technology has on it. The first podcast, The Realities of virtual reality, talked was mainly about the speaker trying out virtual reality. Specifically, a game called “Deep” which is mainly controlled by a belt attached to you that can read your breathing, so when you inhale you move upwards and when you exhale it give you the illusion that you float (or stay in the same position). The game, according to the speaker of Note to self, is soothing and but can cause dizziness as well as distortion of objects as soon as you remove the gadgets. While the game is currently being tested to be used in teens with anger issues along with a possibility of using by women when giving birth. This type of virtual reality, in my opinion, can create positivity and engagement. Not only is it fun and engaging but like the podcast mentioned, it can also bring positivity to young teens, for example, with anger issues.

           The second podcast, Forget Edibles: getting high on wearables speaks about a different and new way to “get high” or give you the sensation that you are. Thynk is a company that develops a gadget that claim will change your brain. The gadget attaches to your head and it communicates to an application. You (the user) is in control through the application; therefore, you can tell the gadget how much is too much and when to stop. There is a downside to this gadget, claiming that there are after effects that that makes your brain think that it is still high. The company, Thynk, says “it is like a shift, from one place to another.” Meanwhile the speaker declared that it did give her a new “high” and that it gave her a “no fucks attitude.” In my opinion, this type of gadget can be positive if used responsibly. While the podcast did not mention any dangers, I think it would be important to research any dangers to this new high. Drugs are put in the body in different ways from smoking, injection, inhaling, or consumption and have shown that it can destroy or damage organs in one way of another. The gadget by Thynk co. did not mention any dangers or if there are dangers to addiction.

           Last, the article Entangles: Tech and the Transformation of Performance by Chris Salter examines the role that technology holds in performance. With new technologies arising, it has created aesthetic experiences and thus brings into question how we can confuse artistic performance with performance by machines in terms of function, efficiency and expression. But most modern performances use some sort of technology whether it be with sound, lighting, or set. In my opinion, we must start to think of tech performances as media technology and the article mentions this too. Media technology instead of stealing performances, I think it enhances a viewer’s experience. For example, 3D technology in movies allows us to be part of scenes, if we consider movies to be a type of performance.

Software like deep help ease a person’s mind and thus can help calm people in any given situation like when a woman is giving birth, as mentioned by Note to self. While the gadget by Thynk can help with how drugs are handled. Both shows us that technology is becoming more interactive and is making us be a part of it. These technological gadgets is giving us pleasure in some way or another and in completely different ways but for one common goal: human pleasure. Media technology is accomplishing the same idea of human pleasure by enhancing human performance.

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Process Culture

What DOES moving “beyond” new media? Kember and Zylinska bring this idea of moving beyond new media meaning to move away from the idea of the “newness” of media and away from the fascination of such. In my opinion, I think society shoves it in our faces that we NEED these new gadgets or this new media. I do agree, we do need to move away from the “newness” of media but it media has become part of our everyday life, “...they [media] are not a means to our ends, they have become part of us” (13).  Later in the chapter, Kember and Zylinska discuss the “liveness” of the media or the “vitality” claiming that the vitality of media “is the emergence of forms always new” (xvii). As we continue to grow in the media industry with new ideas, new concepts and new devices, media practice will grow with it. “Process”, on the other hand, is the the process of interactivity, digitization and convergence of media (xvi). With this, “media theory” and “media practice” can come together to create new media but not in the sense of creating completely new media but like it is discussed in the book of bringing old and new media because as Bolter and Grusin claim, old and new media co-exist. If they co-exist, we can bring them together to create something more, something new where we are fascinated not by the “newness” but rather by the convenience and use of it. 

In the podcast “Note to Self” and Kember & Zylinska's discussion of the smart home, Ambient Intelligence bring out very interesting ideas about our interaction with technology and the actual interaction we have with machines. The podcast discussed the idea of our phones eavesdropping on us. Then in the article describes a smart home called Ambient Intelligence which in sense does the same: eavesdrops on us. These two idea claim that we are so connected with technology that in a way, they are living our lives. The smart home has a countertop that helps prepare dinner, our phones know what we search and then we continue to get ads on apps we use on the daily about that one item we had searched. The home is also described where it has a camera on the ceiling and can read our nutrition labels. All of these are affecting our intimacy and privacy. We don’t care if our privacy is taken, it seems like our we do not fear invasion. With technology becoming such important part of our lives, we start to need technology more and more for everyday things. With the introduction of auto-drive, our driving, transportation and destinations will now be affected with technology. In my opinion, we will have better “relations” with machines rather than with other people if we continue at the pace we are racing.

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Media / Remediation / Convergence Culture

Its time to dig deeper into the media and the overall meaning and our understanding of such.

In McLuhan’s article on “The medium is the message” he claims that any medium is the message itself rather than the content of the communication. He claims that we have power over the communication by choosing what platform through. Whether it be a blog such as this one or snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, the platforms are endless. In other words, the way we try to communicate is the not the message but the actual medium we use to communicate. He goes on to explain that a medium can be anything! From clothes to photographs and websites. This influences how the message is perceived. This brings us to hot and cold mediums. A hot medium is, as McLuhan calls it, “high definition” or a well-filled source visually. This type of medium requires less participation. On the other hand, a cold medium has less visual information and thus requires more participation. What does it mean for more or less participation? Well, when we have a hot medium such as a photograph, we know exactly what is happening whether it be a puppy fetching a ball or a relative in front of the statue of liberty. We as viewers know what is happening or the point of the photograph. However, a cold medium like a cartoon requires more participation because we need to understand what is happening or the point of the message.

Bolter & Grusin’s “Remediation” piece talks about effects of the media. The introduction piece focuses on “immediacy” and “hypermediacy.” Immediacy is bringing an audience into direct involvement with something while hypermediacy “is a style of visual representation to remind the viewer of the medium” (Bolter & Grusin 12). They describe the way different mediums do this. For example, CNN’s website is filled with hyperlinks, videos, photos, and text to make sure the viewer feels a sense of immediacy and making the website feel alive and make sure it appeals to different people.

In the last text (and video) Jenkins talks about specific example of connectivity. He goes on to say that online communities are not negative all the time nor do they cause harm. He says that different communities online use that platform differently. For example, there are communities that use it to speak up about political views others about social change and a few about injustices. These uprisings online create new ideas, new world and forms of communication and meet-ups. Convergence, as Jenkins defines it, is the idea of consumers looking for new information, making connections and spreading those ideas.

These readings brought new terms, ideas and questions to me. I had never heard of hot and cold media and how people are attracted to different ones, all on preference, maybe that’s why CNN has their website filled with different types of media- to better fulfill an audience. But as Jenkins said in his article, it is also on an audience’s participation to make a story more alive or more popular. I am interested in knowing what mediums will remain active as the digital media continues to improve, upgrade and change? Will the media continue to be a platform for immediacy?

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Privacy & Browsing Data Dilemma

I think that privacy is very important. However, we cannot expect complete privacy when we upload photos to Facebook, Instagram or any other social media online or even so, a site online. WE are the ones who have a say in privacy. Even when we upload a photo on Facebook with its privacy settings set to “View only to friends” those friends can easily screenshot it or download it and share it publicly. Security definitely has a price, with the way digital age has become part of our lives it is crazy to think we have complete privacy. However, I strongly disagree with the idea of allowing ISPs to sell web browsing data. It is absurd, like the article, “Trump poised to sign away privacy protections for internet users” by the Guardian mentions, why do companies need to know what type of clothes I buy online or where I plan to travel in a few months. When we search for such things, our search engine holds a history and it remains there until we delete the history but the question is does our internet search provider delete it as well? Probably not.

Being part of an online environment class is hard to keep privacy secured. We are posting a video introducing ourselves that is now available to anyone to see. Like one of my fellow classmates said, “anyone who searches us up can now see that video that we had to submit for a class assignment.” While I can make the blog available to those who have a passcode, I will automatically shut classmates out who might want to read it. I think privacy on my blog is important and I think it matters to have certain privacy settings where things can be blocked but at the same time, I know this blog is for this class specifically. That the things that I post are to answer certain questions which most are opinion based and I am okay with putting my opinion out there. However, I will end up deleting it soon after.  

For a class policy, I think having discussion in a canvas is a good way to keep our privacy because a blog has less privacy. Even though we have class discussions I think that using the discussion board on canvas can be helpful to read through people’s thoughts rather than clicking on several links to people’s individual blogs.  However, like I have mentioned this blog is specifically for class and I have heard from other students that they made this blog specifically for class that is different from personal ones so I think that having them does no harm, like my privacy personality test reveals about myself, I like to have privacy but I also know that putting personal information online is at times, a must and its a compromise to take.

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Video Blog introducing myself into the Cultures of EDP