Timeline:
1940 - Vannevar Bush's "Iron Triangle". Military-Industrial-Academic.
1943 - British Colossus computers under construction.
1945 - Publication of Bush's "As we may think"
Early 1950's-Computerized billing systems are in use at businesses.
1951- Hopper programs the first compiler, programming languages enter use.
Pages 35-72 of The New Media Reader dealt very much with the thoughts of men who experienced the earliest stages of the computer revolution. As such, their writings are filled with wonder and concern at the power of the machine and the implications of that power.
The most interesting part of Vannevar Bush's As We May Think is of course the "Memex" machine. It is a theoretical precursor to the modern personal computer, and as a mechanical marvel represents only a fraction of the potentialities of the World Wide Web. Bush's machine can amazingly store huge amounts of data via microfilm and other methods of recording. He envisions scientists and scholars sharing data and links with each other to form not only new methods of storage but essentially new methods of research and thought. Little could Bush imagine the modern day computer. Free of mechanical parts like spools of microfilm, yet full of entirely digitized libraries. The power of the Web mirrors Bush's ideas of massive-scale information sharing, if all Memex machines the world over could communicate and exchange information and links with one another. Bush's work illustrates the power that new media have on imagination. Bush could see a computational and information revolution occurring in the near future, but the actual form it would take would be even more bewildering.
Turing's Computing Machinery and Intelligence is an interesting piece because it deals with all arguments about artificial intelligence and computer power in one fell swoop, even before the coining of the term artificial intelligence. He immediately disposes of unscientific arguments about the nature of the soul, among other theological issues. He even seems somehow opposed to using the word "intelligence" when describing a machine. His essay simply puts forth that one day a computer may be powerful enough to trick a human in his "imitation game" scenario. I found especially interesting his ideas on a learning computer which, instead of being fully programmed at inception, instead is "raised" like a child by a team of technicians. A computer programmed in such a way, it seems, would offer the best chance of winning at Turing's imitation scenario.
Like the other essay's, Wiener's Men, Machines, and the World About had an air of awe at the power now imparted unto humanity via our machines. He openly discusses that at this point almost anything is feasible, given enough resources and man hours he foresees the automatic factory and both its military and civilian uses. The most potent part of the essay, however, is his warning against technological idolatry. He compares technology to the biblical "golden calf" and reminds us how easily we become awe struck by our own creations. Perhaps the most important part of his message is when he writes, "We shall have to realize that while we may make the machines our gods and sacrifice men to machines, we do not have to do so. If we do so, we deserve the punishment of the idolators". Wiener seeks to remind us that it is we who control machines, and choose how to use them, not the other way around.
The documentary on Borges was interesting, especially as a supplement to the class, because it portrayed the author as he was, a rather lofty nontechnical sort of person. The Garden of Forking Paths has had a large influence on computer science and on the nature of the web. Yet, it can be said with some certainty this was not Borges' intent. As a writer of fiction, Borges' simply was making an interesting commentary on the nature of information flow through time, and our relationship to that flow. Borges serves as an excellent example of how all things influence each other. A lofty writer of short stories, often fantastical ones, is named as a major influence of the technological age.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Post One
The short animated films by Chris Landreth were interesting not only for their tone, characters and story, but for the technical innovation they represented in the field of 3d animation. Bingo, based on a short improv sketch, depicts a man being convinced by a series of different creepy circus characters that he is actually Bingo the clown. He starts off doubting the statements of the other characters, but eventually accepts that he is bingo the clown. The film features highly advanced 3d animation and design for its time, considering it was created using the earliest version of Maya.
Landreth's later film, Ryan, is far more interesting and full of character. It is a biography of Ryan Larkin, a once great animator whose life fell apart, depicted as an interview between Larken and Landreth. The way the characters' and their environment congeal and emote together was a benchmark in animation, digital or otherwise. Ryan is a potent example of the ability to use high technology to convey powerful emotions. The world of Ryan is rendered as a surrealist, yet very believable version of our own. The life experiences of the characters are imprinted on their faces and bodies. Larkin himself is emaciated and wasting away. Whole parts of his face and head simply do not exist, yet somehow a full portrait is created through his mannerisms. The film was really an amazing marriage of art and technology.
I had alot of fun browsing around Ken Perlin's homepage. I loved reading his ideas on using technology for education. One of his Java applications was a basic sketch of an idea to use a simple, fun program to teach kids basic programming skills at a young age. In much the same way, he indicates, as we now read our children Dr. Seuss books to teach them to read more complex works later in life. It was alot of fun exploring the expressive properties built into just a few basic animations of a cube, or a simplified human construct. His work promises to further the expressive and educational abilities of the digital medium.
The film Microcosm was a real treat. I have seen many documentaries about creatures large and small, but none of been able to simply give such a close look at such small creatures, essentially letting them speak for themselves. The film's creators put many years of work into developing new technology for the film, but the effort was definitely worth the payoff. They have literally opened a window to a different world, one never viewed by the general public before. In the film, the insects become comic actors and actresses in a massive performance. The story of their mere existence is interesting enough to keep a viewer watching.
Similarly, Winged Migration, though I only saw a tiny bit of it, seemed like a monumental undertaking with a fantastic payoff. I can only imagine the difficulty of not only developing the technologies necessary but gaining enough trust from the birds to achieve that kind of close contact. Again, Winged Migration is exemplary of technology melding and fusing with a medium to massively expand its expressive and practical potentials.
The New Media Reader's two introductions serve as an excellent launching point for the focus of this class. The first introduction was a relatively linear history of new media, beginning with the dawn of the computer age in the 1960's, up through the end of the eighties as the computer revolution reached a peak. I discussed not only major computer scientists, but also authors, designers and philosophers who have had an impact on new media and the digital age.
The second introduction spent a great deal of time on searching for a kind of definition of "New Media". Whether as existing media augmented by computers, or media entirely based in computers. The interesting thing about defining New Media is that as technology advances and becomes increasingly bound to all media, any kind of definition becomes more and more blurred and inevitably useless.
The Garden of Forking Paths is cited often in the introductions to The New Media Reader as a major inspiration for computer scientists developing systems like html. The story centers around a non-linear book, through which the reader can progress back and forth, through many possible outcomes and story changes. An important part of the novel describes the book as being infinite without being either linear or looping. It is, in a sense, a massive web, continually splitting and expanding outward, sometimes referencing itself, sometimes ending wildly differently. At the end of The Garden of Forking Paths, The narrator murders the man who has explained his ancestors book to him. He murders him not out of spite or anger, but simply to deliver a message, as he is a German spy. He knows he will be arrested and tried from the beginning of the novel, yet he still commits the crime, an outcome which the reader does not expect from the way the victim treats and helps the narrator.
The short story is interesting because of its theme of the nonlinear. One can see the inspiration to computer programmers and the development of html as a nonlinear system, unlike the linear punch cards and computer systems of earlier days. The story may or may not be directly responsible for much of the computer and internet revolution, but it is at the very least an interesting way to look at and think about modern computer systems.
Landreth's later film, Ryan, is far more interesting and full of character. It is a biography of Ryan Larkin, a once great animator whose life fell apart, depicted as an interview between Larken and Landreth. The way the characters' and their environment congeal and emote together was a benchmark in animation, digital or otherwise. Ryan is a potent example of the ability to use high technology to convey powerful emotions. The world of Ryan is rendered as a surrealist, yet very believable version of our own. The life experiences of the characters are imprinted on their faces and bodies. Larkin himself is emaciated and wasting away. Whole parts of his face and head simply do not exist, yet somehow a full portrait is created through his mannerisms. The film was really an amazing marriage of art and technology.
I had alot of fun browsing around Ken Perlin's homepage. I loved reading his ideas on using technology for education. One of his Java applications was a basic sketch of an idea to use a simple, fun program to teach kids basic programming skills at a young age. In much the same way, he indicates, as we now read our children Dr. Seuss books to teach them to read more complex works later in life. It was alot of fun exploring the expressive properties built into just a few basic animations of a cube, or a simplified human construct. His work promises to further the expressive and educational abilities of the digital medium.
The film Microcosm was a real treat. I have seen many documentaries about creatures large and small, but none of been able to simply give such a close look at such small creatures, essentially letting them speak for themselves. The film's creators put many years of work into developing new technology for the film, but the effort was definitely worth the payoff. They have literally opened a window to a different world, one never viewed by the general public before. In the film, the insects become comic actors and actresses in a massive performance. The story of their mere existence is interesting enough to keep a viewer watching.
Similarly, Winged Migration, though I only saw a tiny bit of it, seemed like a monumental undertaking with a fantastic payoff. I can only imagine the difficulty of not only developing the technologies necessary but gaining enough trust from the birds to achieve that kind of close contact. Again, Winged Migration is exemplary of technology melding and fusing with a medium to massively expand its expressive and practical potentials.
The New Media Reader's two introductions serve as an excellent launching point for the focus of this class. The first introduction was a relatively linear history of new media, beginning with the dawn of the computer age in the 1960's, up through the end of the eighties as the computer revolution reached a peak. I discussed not only major computer scientists, but also authors, designers and philosophers who have had an impact on new media and the digital age.
The second introduction spent a great deal of time on searching for a kind of definition of "New Media". Whether as existing media augmented by computers, or media entirely based in computers. The interesting thing about defining New Media is that as technology advances and becomes increasingly bound to all media, any kind of definition becomes more and more blurred and inevitably useless.
The Garden of Forking Paths is cited often in the introductions to The New Media Reader as a major inspiration for computer scientists developing systems like html. The story centers around a non-linear book, through which the reader can progress back and forth, through many possible outcomes and story changes. An important part of the novel describes the book as being infinite without being either linear or looping. It is, in a sense, a massive web, continually splitting and expanding outward, sometimes referencing itself, sometimes ending wildly differently. At the end of The Garden of Forking Paths, The narrator murders the man who has explained his ancestors book to him. He murders him not out of spite or anger, but simply to deliver a message, as he is a German spy. He knows he will be arrested and tried from the beginning of the novel, yet he still commits the crime, an outcome which the reader does not expect from the way the victim treats and helps the narrator.
The short story is interesting because of its theme of the nonlinear. One can see the inspiration to computer programmers and the development of html as a nonlinear system, unlike the linear punch cards and computer systems of earlier days. The story may or may not be directly responsible for much of the computer and internet revolution, but it is at the very least an interesting way to look at and think about modern computer systems.
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