Technologic

So… we are supposed to blog about our project ideas, but the only thing I accomplished during my time on Tuesday was write a list of things I like and formulate some ridiculous ideas. I have never had to create something like this before and I am so stuck. The lack of ideas is not the problem, the problem lies in the practicality of creating the products. Here is my list of what I like to do, some are paired with practical project possibilities:

Photography: HD Photos, new cameras, photo editing

Film: editing, special effects, new trends

Cooking: iPhone app w/ recipes

Fashion (though I have no claim to using my fashion sense during class times): iPhone app where you take a picture of different items of clothing, categorize them as shirt, pant, dress, shoes and hat and flick through them to create outfits… would be cool if they could be uploaded to SecondLife as well

Interior decorating (a little ambitious): iPhone app or computer program where you can take items of furniture and move them around a birds-eye-view room and then adjust your view to a normal standing position

Crafts for kids: iPhone App or web page

Well my last idea is ambitious too, I will admit, but it has been done on the G1 Phone, so why not bring it to other phones? If someone who owns a G1 connects to another phone, there is an app that allows each phone to see the other’s map location. This is particularly great for people who get lost easily. My sister has a friend who gets lost all the time, Leigh. Whenever Leigh is lost, she will text my sister where she needs to go and my sister will go to her current location and direct Leigh to her destination. Wouldn’t this be cool if the iPhone, Blackberrry and even GPS systems could do this?!

Ok… I’m stumped on ideas… help me out if you can!

Ok so I missed last Thursday’s class because of illness. And I finally got myself to the doctor this week, turns out my body is feebly attempting to fight off a pretty bad infection of a spider bite! I guess thats what happens when you go four- wheeler mudding at night!

Although I was not in class Thursday, I did catch up through Twitter a little bit and I have a few thoughts to add about the idea of a computer and a human being similar “thinkers” (or is it just: thinkers?). I agree that we all humanize computers in that we curse them and such, but honestly we humanize many things. I mean just this morning, my roommate said, “I love you, jacket!” and a girl down my hall said, “My Nalgene is my best friend, I couldn’t survive without it.”

On a different note, I saw that a few people tweeted on the rejection of human-like computer thinking. Well I think that now, this idea is still at the forefront of an ethical argument. If we think about the possibilities of computers, we know that as of right now, computers don’t formulate their own ideas, but rather assemble the ideas of others. We are working toward a point however when computers may have individual thoughts, which causes fear about what this will mean for humans. First, would this go against our religious ideas of creation and violate the ideas of God? Second, would humans lose the title of the superior race? And lastly, would the computers hold animosity towards humans and produce an iRobot- type war? I think that a lot of these fears are valid notions, but I can’t help feeling like I really want a Rosie (the Jetsons’ robot/ house keeper)!

So I have to say, although this presentation was difficult to put together, it was harder to present. Between technical difficulties and the ridiculous amount of rain, it was just not a fun day. I will admit that there was a bit of awkwardness when presenting like I did…. it was really weird to be standing up in front of a group of people without feeling the normal audience involvement like I normally do while presenting. I understand that a LOT of the energy was directed towards the tweeting and such, but it still makes the presenting space a little empty for me. Even as an audience member, I have to process the ideas talked about for the purpose of tweeting rather than understanding. I have a tendency to get better ideas after the class discussion begins rather than in the middle of a presenter talking… for me it feels like I’m disrespecting them to be typing away while they talk to me. Is this a valid point, or am I just stuck in the presentations of the past?

So you haven’t seen a blog from me for a while, funny, because I have been writing… Turns out my internet decided to hate me. Long story short I had to get some help and a new internet cable, but I’m totally back on board! So… I will attempt to write what my thoughts were from the past four blogs… Here we GOOOOO!

So when I was creating my presentation I was having some troubles figuring out how to put structure into such an unstructured paper. It was even more difficult to include all of the important parts of the essay without just reading through it, as there were so many. But I have to say, the presentation only took like six and a half hours to create and assemble in order and I think the flow was pretty smooth despite some technical difficulties.

So, last class we talked about comics and the timing and frames built into them. It really made me think about my obsession when I was younger over the Betty and Veronica and the Archie comic books. I love how they took the “good girl” who was humble and innocent, Betty, and paired her with the “bad girl” a rich, self centered Veronica. Often, Archie was caught in the middle; it is perfectly depicted here :

This classic image incorporates the main characters and their personality traits.

In class the idea of timing  and framing was a center for discussion. The Betty and Veronica Comics used a variety of expression and action symbols to better portray the timing of the scene. In the scene below,the top frame, much like the frame about the family on page 713, portrays more than just a single moment in time. As the reader moves from left to right across the strip, the timing of the actions is parallel to that of the reader’s pace. In the second frame, the position of the girls around Veronica and her expression explosion give the reader a sense of quickness, as if the girls from the fifties back-lashed at Veronica almost instantaneously. Then, in the next frame, the square behind the fifties girl represents her change in position towards Betty, as if to suggest she has whipped around to insult her as well, which the text backs accurately. Then the dashes above the heads of the girls in the last frame suggest instantaneous, hysterical laughter.

This series of comics fits perfectly into McCloud’s timing scheme explanation. I love how my childhood is related to class!

Alrighty, so most of my out of class time has been spent trying to figure out how on earth to work this whole Second Life thing… I honestly am finding it extremely difficult! Between the slow internet connection, my lack of avatar knowledge and no sense of direction in this Sims-like world, I am having a really hard time. I mean I’ve played the Sims games before, but with that, you have a set number of tasks and goals and here I find myself wandering around through weird little amusement parks with nothing to do. I think that its a cool experiment in the rhealm of interactivity and animation, but I can’t say that I really understand the point.

I will admit that I do have a slight bias against Second Life to begin with because of the ridiculous lengths people go to in order to be another person and hide their true identity… I guess I could get past that if I had a list of tasks or goals for my avatar, so that it would have a reason to exist, other than to add to the “millions of users online now.” I don’t know, could you help me find a cure for my avatar’s boredom?

P.S. Her name is Carolina Wrydan!

So last class we talked about the fabulous ideas of Alan Kay who, btw is a GENIUS, and I was astounded at the advancements that he talked about in his essay. It really made me think about the possibilities of the future! So like in class, when I talked about the movies, which in The Brave New World are called “Feelies,” I want to expand on that idea. The movies in the book are like traditional movies, but you can feel everything that happens to the characters on screen. Now although no one would want to watch a horror movie like that, I think there are supplemental things to do for certain on screen actions to include in the feelies. For example, if someone’s head gets chopped off by an ax, a burst of air and a squirt of water on the audience’s necks would create a greater effect. This idea of feelies could also be added to video games to give a greater sense of envelopment in the game.

We also discussed robots and prosthetic limbs that use nerve triggers and brain signals to move like a real limb would. I think that this technology is some of the most beneficial advancement to date. I would take this idea to the next level though, if the computer which controls the nerves of a prosthetic could be attached to the working nerves of someone with paralyzed legs, and another computer could stimulate the muscle movements, wouldn’t that person then be able to walk again? I don’t know for sure, but the thought is really exciting and hopefully we will advance to that stage soon.