“Go Green” Video
October 13, 2007
A video that I made for a class. I drew 200 pages worth of drawings to make this animation possible. 40 pages just for 4 or so seconds worth of video. Taking these pages, I scanned them for hours with help…luckily, and then put it all in the computer to edit in photoshop. Dragging my little character onto his simple backgrounds it was then ready to put into video with some catchy music of course. And here is my finished piece, short and to the point of what I wanted to convey, “Go Green.” I will be adding color to this as well, so there will be a completely finished piece in the works very soon. I know the quality is a bit light and hard to see on parts, I’ll try to get a darker version up soon to replace this one. Hope you all enjoy!
“Being Digital”
October 12, 2007
Reading “Being Digital” by Nicholas Negroponte, you really get a sense of how many things can be measured in bits or atoms. It’s something not many would really think about, I know I haven’t thought that complexly about reading something in a book or watching a tv show at home. Everything is broken down into these atoms or bits and we don’t see the process happening. If you think about it, it gives a whole new perpective on the things around you, not only technology.
To think of the whole world becoming digital in the sense of tvs interacting with the viewer to show only what that person wants to see…it’s a big possibility with how many changes have already taken place. To be able to interact with your television and thumb through articles of news as if it were a newspaper, now that would be nice. With the way major media is being controlled right now, it would be nice to sift through all the garbage and just see the parts that really mattered. But just like the tv, a newspaper does the very same thing in regards to showing you what they want you to see. So even if you could sift through your televison in that way, you still wouldn’t be able to find out everything.
Being that the article was quite technical with everything, it was still explained in a fashion that was easy to follow. Being shown a whole new way of seeing the world through bits, really gets you thinking and seeing more of the changes taking place around us. Bits are making not only technological advances, but an easier and more efficient way of living, in a place that is becoming more digital as time passes.
Link to the article:
http://www.williamlmoore.com/images/advanced/beingdigital.pdf
“As We May Think”
October 8, 2007
The article “As We May Think,” is interesting in the sense that Bush truly was an imaginative thinker in regards to our technology and what it would branch off to in the future. To read the many thoughts that he had in regards to all this technology, it was a little mind boggling that so many ideas and realizations could be thought up just by one person.
Bush speaks of dry photography in the article, one where a picture could be produced without getting it wet, the process currently in regards to wet would be developing the film in the dark room. I’ve done this all myself, and although it’s a long process it’s an enjoyable one. But people like speedy and fast, as is how our current state has been for the past couple of years now. We want it done quick and we want it now, well, in regards to this dry photography that Bush speaks of, it’s now possible. The digital camera with its new ways of taking pictures gives us a new ability to print out our pictures straight from the printer or from a cd instead of having to get into chemicals in the dark room. Bush also speaks of being able to see the photo before it’s even developed, well there again the digital camera has shown that this has become possible. I know I have grown accustom to seeing the picture right after taking it. There’s a whole new appreciation for it when you then switch to a standard 35mm film camera, where you’re stuck guessing if the picture came out the way you wanted it. The digital camera spoils us in a sense when you think about it, and it provides that fast and quick outcome that people now a days really want and have grown obsessed with in my opinion.
Back to the article though, it was very interesting to hear about what Bush called, “Memex.” It has the workings of a computer in a sense, but then there’s extras which seem like they would be nice to have on our actual computers; such as being able to make long-hand notes and have them automatically stored for future reference. To have that availiable on every computer would be a neat addition. Typing is faster of course, but to be able to handwrite something straight on the screen and have it saved would be very nice. We do have that technology now, but you have to buy the higher end, and most of the time expensive, computers or laptops.
To have these ideas and thoughts back when this technology was a dream rather than a reality is astonishing. And then being able to see the technology that he speaks of as an actual reality for my generation and generations to come, it just goes to show that in little time, something new and amazing is being invented to help make things easier…or complicate them, depending on what it is… Technology in general really is just continually building and will never stop. And that thought is amazing in itself. That we can actual come up with better things then what we have now? There’s a whole appreciation for all the inventors and thinkers in the world that make this possible, if it weren’t for their curiousity, where would we be now? Still back in the stone age? Who knows, I’m just glad to be living during a time where all these technoligical advances are possible, and I can’t wait to see what comes about next.
There’s always hesitation of course when it comes to new technology though, and there is always a needed limit of some kind in regards to what should and shouldn’t be done in regards to making life easier for a fast paced world. But that’s an entirely new subject to tackle…
The article I speak of:
Online Caroline
September 24, 2007
The article “How I was Played by Online Caroline,” by Jill Walker was rather interesting in regards to simulated worlds and what effect they have not only in the simulation but to the viewer. I personally never would’ve thought that a simulated world could have so much control and be able to hide that from the person taking place in the simulation. It makes you curious enough to join the simulation yourself just to see exactly what Jill was speaking of, this sense of loss and grief for something that she never had control over in the first place.
In a way the simulation shows a truth in the real world around you. Sometimes you don’t have control over another’s decisions. They ask you for help, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to take your advice, or input. It was an article that involved decision making, sharing information about yourself, as well as emotional attachment to the character, Caroline. Obviously it was just a game, but there was still that attachement to this fictional based person. It brought a different perspective on how the simulation effected the one playing it. Even though Jill found out that her actions were being controlled, and that a game like this would have a certain blue print for this in the first place, there was still this feeling of guilt when Caroline was obviously no longer there, or dead for all she knew. It brings a very dark outcome which obviously would make anyone a bit upset even if the person was fictional. Take reading a book, you enter into this fictional world with words alone; if a character that you grew attached to, died, there would be grief. The only difference is that the viewer in the simulated world with Caroline, actually caused this to happen. So in turn they felt responsible. Regardless of knowing there was no control in changing the outcome, there was still this guilt of sending the character Caroline to her demise.
Overall the basis for the simulation was very interesting and proves to involve more attachements towards the viewer then reading a book. Due to this action based wondering, while reading and effecting the character, it brings a different outlook of a story and its inevidable outcome. The essay that Jill wrote was very informative not only of the storyline of Caroline, but also the interaction that a viewer would go through within this fictional world. If you want to read the essay for yourself, I posted the link below.
Labyrinth of Loss
September 14, 2007
“Blogging From Inside the Ivory Tower”
September 12, 2007
I was reading the first chapter of, “Blogging from Inside the Ivory Tower,” and it poses a good question on whether blogging of any kind will take the place of regular writing on paper. Will blogging become such a large part of everyone’s lives, not only personal but academically, to the point where all traditionally written papers will be done away with? I personally can only hope that won’t happen. I love being able to write something down whether it be for myself or for a class assignment. Even if it’s a typed paper, it’s different then say, turning in a blog of some sort. There’s a quality and characteristic all it’s own with paper whether it’s typed or handwritten.
It’s not only blogs that are taking away from the traditional, but software in general these days. You can now paint on a computer using specific software, doing almost the same as if you were to do it by hand, traditionally. You can draw, manipulate photographs, make movies, and all kinds of things now with all the new technology. It makes you wonder if all the traditional arts will soon be snuffed out by all these new technologies.
I heard from one of my professors that paper companies have lessened the kinds of paper you can buy for developing your own photographs. And that the silver content in paper has lessened for whatever reason, whether to save money, or due to it not being used like it used to be. It brings wonder as well as disappointment that all these new things could effect how they were done previously. It’s one thing to test out new things and add them to what’s being done, it’s a whole other thing when these new things start to take the place of others. Photography, or even painting in the traditional fashions have a quality completely different from that of digital photography or using software such as Photoshop or Painter. I hope that due to the fact that these are different from each other, that this will prevent the new media from taking over the more traditional arts. There’s no reason to do away with something just because something new comes to take its place. Technology is wonderful, but there should be a limit of some kind. I don’t know what that would be myself, but it would be nice to think that we will still be writing papers on paper, or painting with a brush on canvas rather than using strictly the computer alone. Those are just my thoughts…
The article I’m speaking of:
http://www.williamlmoore.com/blogging%20from%20inside%20the%20ivory%20tower.pdf
