Gleick writes about the encyclopedia before wikipedia. "fallaciously called The Anglo American Cyclopedia". A warren of fiction mingling with fact, another hall of mirrors and misprints, a compendium of pure and impure information that projects its own world. That world is called Tlon. "It is conjectured that this brave new world is the work of a secret society of astronomers, biologists, engineers, metaphysicians, poets, chemists, algebraists, moralists, painters, geometers..."
At first this "world was considered to be complete chaos, "an irresponsible license of imagination". Another library of Babel was found to be "a record, scrambled yet permanent, of every human utterance."
This is where I believe Wikipedia and the traditional print based libraries are similar. In a large sense, Wikipedia is just a chaotic network of human utterance. There are sometimes hundreds of links within each page that takes you all over the site. Sometimes you forget what you began searching. The information found on wikipedia I believe to be a mixture of pure and impure information. Anyone can post on Wikipedia if you make an account. This means that if you are smart enough to have an email address and make a username and password that you can edit information on Wikipedia. (Meaning that my grandma who knows the basics of the internet could edit information about coding a website) If you didn't get it, its a scary thought. This might be a little different than the old libraries. Gleick mentions titles for the contributors to the cyclopedia, whereas today surfer_girl_2003 could write about brain surgery.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Tumblr Intro
“There’s an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes.” Where they’re going. Where they’ve been. I’ve worn lots of shoes. I bet if I think about it real hard I could remember my first pair of shoes. Mama said they would take me anywhere. She said they were my magic shoes.” Shoes can play many roles in a girl’s life. Different shoes can be worn for certain occasions and have different memories associated with them. For example, a girl’s prom shoes would mean less to her than the shoes that she wore on her wedding day. The shoes that as a child she wore until the soles were worn down so much that they had to be thrown away. Shoes have a sentimental value. Shoes are also a privilege. Not everyone can buy 1200 dollar Christian Louboutin red soled stilettos. Some people in the world have never owned their own pair. Although some take their shoe obsession more seriously than others, they are still important nonetheless. Shoes are statement pieces that can make or break an outfit in everyday life and in the fashion world. Fashion designers choose the perfect shoes to enhance and accentuate their line. In another aspect, shoes are made for animals and used for random and funny things that have nothing to do with the conventional use for them. My tumblr consists of everything that has to do with shoes and highlights all of the quirks and random things that are found in the present day of shoes. Quotes by famous people are shown as well as essays written on basic shoe subjects like how to tie your shoes. The title of my blog is Oh my God, Shoes. Based on a youtube video in which a boy dresses up like a girl and says “oh my God, shoes” and “these shoes rock, these shoes suck” It went viral a few years ago and I feel it is still relevant in this day in age. I want people to be constantly surprised and just enjoy everything that is posted on my tumblr blog. Tumblr is all about finding random things from all corners of the internet and I feel like my tumblr highlights these moments. For some odd reason people are OBSESSED with animals doing funny things. Some of my reblogs are animals in shoes to reflect the trend that is currently happening in today's society of the internet.
The Art of Google Books
The concept of the Art of Google books was extremely interesting to discover, as I had no idea that so many human mistakes were made while scanning. I appreciate the human qualities that occur in such a digital age. This just comes to show that not EVERYTHING can be done digitally. Some human processes need to happen in order for the digital world to be successful. I found the random hands found while scanning as well as the stains and other human accidents just as interesting because it shows the journey that publishing has made over the years and that someone once owned the book and spilled coffee or whatever they were drinking while enjoying the experience of reading a hard copy book.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
What is the Social in Social Media Response
"We can put such considerations into a larger, strategic context that the
“social media question” poses. Do all these neatly administrated
contacts and address books at some point spill over and leave the
virtual realm, as the popularity of dating sites seems to suggest? Do we
only share information, experiences, and emotions, or do we also
conspire, as “social swarms,” to raid reality in order to create
so-called real-world events? Will contacts mutate into comrades? It
seems that social media solves the organizational problems that the
suburban baby-boom generation faced fifty years ago: boredom, isolation,
depression, and desire."
These few questions pose a threat to everything that prior generations based their lives off of before now. There has been a complete 180 degree flip in how people interact. At some point, in certain situations, these social interactions leave the virtual realm but what is the ratio of those who know all of their facebook friends in real life before adding them compared to meeting online. The social etiquette to me for adding friends is to meet them in person, either a short meeting or an evening together and wait a day or two before adding them. People don't want to seem too eager to become facebook friends. They also don't want to be the first one to suggest being friends on facebook. Most of my social group uses facebook and other social media websites to ENHANCE their social interaction rather than INITIATING it.
These few questions pose a threat to everything that prior generations based their lives off of before now. There has been a complete 180 degree flip in how people interact. At some point, in certain situations, these social interactions leave the virtual realm but what is the ratio of those who know all of their facebook friends in real life before adding them compared to meeting online. The social etiquette to me for adding friends is to meet them in person, either a short meeting or an evening together and wait a day or two before adding them. People don't want to seem too eager to become facebook friends. They also don't want to be the first one to suggest being friends on facebook. Most of my social group uses facebook and other social media websites to ENHANCE their social interaction rather than INITIATING it.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Interface, Access, Loss
This is an extremely complex article that addresses a multitude of topics. One passage that stood out to me was
"Coming of age in the heyday of punk, it was clear were living at 29the end of something—of modernism, of the American dream, of the industrial economy, of a certain kind of urbanism. The
evidence was all around us in the ruins of the cities. […] Urban ruins were the emblematic places for this era, the places that gave punk part of its aesthetic, and like most aesthetics this one contained an ethic, a worldview with a mandate on how to act, how to live. […]
A city is built to resemble a conscious mind, a network that can calculate, administrate, manufacture. Ruins become the unconscious of a city, its memory, unknown, darkness, lost lands, and in this truly bring it to life. […] An urban ruin is a place that has fallen outside the economic life of the city, and it is in some way an ideal home for the art that also falls outside the ordinary production and consumption of the city.
—Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Although it was written by Solnit, I feel as though it is relevant to the rest of the small portion of the book we read. The last sentence refers to the ideal home for art as an urban ruin. It seems like a large cycle as the urban scene was made out of nothing from great artists and as it has deteriorated over years and years, it becomes a new element for artists to take advantage of. It is outside of the ordinary production and consumption of the city. Which I would consider as a good start for artists to find a source of inspiration. Profits would then come after this and would feed back into the cycle of economics and art as they go around and around.
"Coming of age in the heyday of punk, it was clear were living at 29the end of something—of modernism, of the American dream, of the industrial economy, of a certain kind of urbanism. The
evidence was all around us in the ruins of the cities. […] Urban ruins were the emblematic places for this era, the places that gave punk part of its aesthetic, and like most aesthetics this one contained an ethic, a worldview with a mandate on how to act, how to live. […]
A city is built to resemble a conscious mind, a network that can calculate, administrate, manufacture. Ruins become the unconscious of a city, its memory, unknown, darkness, lost lands, and in this truly bring it to life. […] An urban ruin is a place that has fallen outside the economic life of the city, and it is in some way an ideal home for the art that also falls outside the ordinary production and consumption of the city.
—Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Although it was written by Solnit, I feel as though it is relevant to the rest of the small portion of the book we read. The last sentence refers to the ideal home for art as an urban ruin. It seems like a large cycle as the urban scene was made out of nothing from great artists and as it has deteriorated over years and years, it becomes a new element for artists to take advantage of. It is outside of the ordinary production and consumption of the city. Which I would consider as a good start for artists to find a source of inspiration. Profits would then come after this and would feed back into the cycle of economics and art as they go around and around.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Print and Pixel: The digital future of publishing
"Consolidation sounds so tidy, so crisp; but as Esposito writes:
"there will be a bloody mess while the final vestiges of the old order
are rooted out." Whatever the body count, we know that as we navigate
the epochal shift from a print-centric to digital-dominant world, we
will be traveling into territory now unknowable. Here at Places, as at
publications everywhere, the uncertainties aren't mere abstractions;
they're both urgent and ordinary. We are truly betwixt worlds, and as
editor of a web-based journal, I've again and again felt the truth of
William Gibson's familiar observation: "The future is already here. It's
just unevenly distributed."
This passage is extremely relevant to what is happening today. The print and pixel worlds are combining slowly and the digital world is taking over print editions. The question of how will these corporations that are solely based print models will make money? Once a copy becomes digital, it is easily transferred from one computer to another. This will decrease the revenue for these corporations.
The "bloody mess" has yet to really happen but I feel as though it will very soon. The knife has been stabbed in and twisted a little, but no bloody mess. This will affect so many people and families. Once the digital age has completely crossed over, there is no going back.
This passage is extremely relevant to what is happening today. The print and pixel worlds are combining slowly and the digital world is taking over print editions. The question of how will these corporations that are solely based print models will make money? Once a copy becomes digital, it is easily transferred from one computer to another. This will decrease the revenue for these corporations.
The "bloody mess" has yet to really happen but I feel as though it will very soon. The knife has been stabbed in and twisted a little, but no bloody mess. This will affect so many people and families. Once the digital age has completely crossed over, there is no going back.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Theses on the Philosophy of History
"The past can be seen only as an image which flashes up at the instant when it can be recognized and is never seen again. “The truth will not run away from us”: in the historical outlook of historicism these Words of Gottfried Keller mark the exact point Where historical materialism curs through historicisrn. .For every image of the past that is not recognized by the present as one of its own concerns threatens to disappear irretrÃevably. (The good tidings which the historian of the past brings with throbbing heart may be lost in a void the very moment he mouth.)."
I found this passage extremely hard to grasp but this passage spoke to me. It is such an interesting concept to think about. Different things can bring ourselves to think about our past or past situations. But there are certain things that spark those images engrained into our head when we encounter them when we aren't thinking about it. A certain smell, object, color, it could be anything, really, that makes us have a dejavu moment and brings up happy/sad etc emotions. But after an instant, the spark of remembrance is gone, and we are just left with the emotion that was evoked.
The second part of the passage which states that if the image of the past isn't part of our future then it is threatened to disappear irretrievably. This is an extremely scary thought to have, but could also be a blessing depending on the situation and image that is being lost forever.
I found this passage extremely hard to grasp but this passage spoke to me. It is such an interesting concept to think about. Different things can bring ourselves to think about our past or past situations. But there are certain things that spark those images engrained into our head when we encounter them when we aren't thinking about it. A certain smell, object, color, it could be anything, really, that makes us have a dejavu moment and brings up happy/sad etc emotions. But after an instant, the spark of remembrance is gone, and we are just left with the emotion that was evoked.
The second part of the passage which states that if the image of the past isn't part of our future then it is threatened to disappear irretrievably. This is an extremely scary thought to have, but could also be a blessing depending on the situation and image that is being lost forever.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Post Artifact books and publishing
“The digital book is a strange beast. It’s intangible and yet wholly mutable. Everywhere and nowhere. We own it, but yet, don’t. Its qualities mimic physical books only on a meta-level.”
This is such an interesting concept that I feel stumps a lot of writers and readers alike. Writers sell their book and walk into a Starbucks with 4 out of the 20 people in there reading it. That must make them feel good. It reassures them that not only did they sell their book, but also people are enjoying and reading their book. Think of the same situation with 6 kindle fires in Starbucks. The writer has no idea what they are reading. The earlier situation was confirmed with the book cover and maybe thickness or color of the physical book. But with the second scenario all of that is lost. The same thing could occur with the consumer. If someone goes to a book store and buys 75 books, they are able to not only read all of those books whenever they want, but they can also look at them and design their bookshelves with them when they aren’t being read. If the same person buys 75 ebooks, they aren’t able to show their guests their library with their amazing books, but rather they could say “Look at my kindle’s library, see anything you like?” These are two very different scenarios as the dominance from print to digital takes place. Personally I prefer the hard copy of a book that I am able to write on and look at when they aren’t being read.
the quality of the paper, the pixel density of the display;
the cloth used on covers, the interface for highlighting;
location by page, location by paragraph.
This is another interesting statement that is a big difference between digital and print worlds. I feel as though this is an argument that will be continuing for quite some time. It is about personal preference.
This is such an interesting concept that I feel stumps a lot of writers and readers alike. Writers sell their book and walk into a Starbucks with 4 out of the 20 people in there reading it. That must make them feel good. It reassures them that not only did they sell their book, but also people are enjoying and reading their book. Think of the same situation with 6 kindle fires in Starbucks. The writer has no idea what they are reading. The earlier situation was confirmed with the book cover and maybe thickness or color of the physical book. But with the second scenario all of that is lost. The same thing could occur with the consumer. If someone goes to a book store and buys 75 books, they are able to not only read all of those books whenever they want, but they can also look at them and design their bookshelves with them when they aren’t being read. If the same person buys 75 ebooks, they aren’t able to show their guests their library with their amazing books, but rather they could say “Look at my kindle’s library, see anything you like?” These are two very different scenarios as the dominance from print to digital takes place. Personally I prefer the hard copy of a book that I am able to write on and look at when they aren’t being read.
the quality of the paper, the pixel density of the display;
the cloth used on covers, the interface for highlighting;
location by page, location by paragraph.
This is another interesting statement that is a big difference between digital and print worlds. I feel as though this is an argument that will be continuing for quite some time. It is about personal preference.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
The medium is the message
The internet is such a powerful force in today’s society. People can access it anywhere and are constantly viewing things on the internet. However, some people still prefer print to e-viewing. Print becomes visible just as the internet supercedes it because it acts as almost a memory to those that knew printed books and newspapers to see the resemblance between the two mediums. When I think about the advancement of the internet it makes me miss the popularity of printed books and makes me think of grade school book fairs and book orders. You don’t know what you had until it’s gone. The printed book brought a lot of joy and happiness and brings a richness to the story that I do not believe that ebooks and the internet possess. The aesthetic appeal of the physical touch and turning the page are things that no computer will be able to do for any reader. I think that the print world becomes "visible" because without the print world there would not be an internet to update this century old technique of writing things down as record. It should become visible to those that had the chance to encounter the old while embracing the new as the internet fades in and the print world fades out.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Print on Demand
“Meanwhile, businesses such as Hewlett-Packard claim to be in the process of transforming themselves from a printer company to a printing company, focused on “Print 2.0... that embraces the Web as a channel to make printing more accessible, customizable and less expensive”.
In this case, I believe that Printing on Demand has transformed old publishing practices. Hewlett-Packard is able to adapt to the new environments supplied by the digital age and propel themselves forward into a medium that is somewhat familiar to them but with hardly any experience with. This is a whole new dimension. This way they are able to master both mediums and profit as a result of expanding their business. By experimenting with their new digital print program, they are able to help their old customers move into the future as well as acquire new customers as a result of their up to date company. This may however cut out a middle man that could have made money from transcribing the text into a printed copy.
In this case, I believe that Printing on Demand has transformed old publishing practices. Hewlett-Packard is able to adapt to the new environments supplied by the digital age and propel themselves forward into a medium that is somewhat familiar to them but with hardly any experience with. This is a whole new dimension. This way they are able to master both mediums and profit as a result of expanding their business. By experimenting with their new digital print program, they are able to help their old customers move into the future as well as acquire new customers as a result of their up to date company. This may however cut out a middle man that could have made money from transcribing the text into a printed copy.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Death of Paper
One sentence that really stuck with me from Ludovico’s reading was “As for the future of the printed page--”It will be abandoned”, except perhaps for some limited use in business and private communications (actually, what we see happening nowadays is exactly the opposite: since the mid-1990s, personal communication has relied less and less on paper, except in a few formal occasions).” page 18. These few lines really made me think about the role that the paper note, invitation, and letter play in today’s society. In junior high, boys ask girls to be their girlfriends by passing notes, just a torn piece of paper with the words “circle: yes, no or maybe”. In High School, they move on to text messages. This reminds me of the movie The Notebook. Noah writes Allie 365 letters. Once everyday for a year. In the romantic sense, this is a lot more appealing than texting with abbreviations like “last nite was gr8. Lets go out again soon. ttyl.” The fact that most wedding invitations aren’t “e-vites” but invites. The thrill of even receiving a letter or package or even a bill in the mail is much more thrilling than a blank email that has your name inserted at the top. There is no personalization. I don’t think that the printed page should ever be abandoned. Especially as artists, we are extremely concerned with aesthetic appeal. There is so much more to critique and analyze with a formal handwritten wedding invitation than an email from 9:38 this morning. Although I love typefaces and believe that they are all beautiful in their own respective manners, A person's handwriting can tell a lot about a person.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Wonderland
Gass argues that screens can only be viewed in particular places, whereas books can travel with the reader. I agree with Gass in that books contain certain elements that contribute to the way the reader receives and comprehends the story in ways that a screen cannot accomplish. He considers books to be less replaceable than people. Words on a screen are only shadows and can disappear in an instant. Books are tangible which add a personal quality as well as a physical activity to turn the page, fold the corner to bookmark, etc. Because I don’t read a lot, I didn’t feel a connection to the article as much as others may have connected with it.
This book is a newer version than what I grew up reading. I have only opened it a few times. I had better intentions. I planned on rereading the book that consumed my childhood with fantasy, now it just sits on my shelf. Alice in Wonderland began as a huge misunderstanding to me, now it makes perfect sense. A girl falls down a rabbit hole, eats magic bread and drinks magic juice, grows, shrinks, plays croquet with an evil queen. Makes perfect sense. Its gold rimmed pages shine every time the light shines on it. It smells new. Untouched. Actually, I hate reading. Having your nose stuck in a book all day is no fun to me. The nostalgia is consuming me. Who needs you anyway, Alice?
This book is a newer version than what I grew up reading. I have only opened it a few times. I had better intentions. I planned on rereading the book that consumed my childhood with fantasy, now it just sits on my shelf. Alice in Wonderland began as a huge misunderstanding to me, now it makes perfect sense. A girl falls down a rabbit hole, eats magic bread and drinks magic juice, grows, shrinks, plays croquet with an evil queen. Makes perfect sense. Its gold rimmed pages shine every time the light shines on it. It smells new. Untouched. Actually, I hate reading. Having your nose stuck in a book all day is no fun to me. The nostalgia is consuming me. Who needs you anyway, Alice?
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