Learning Log for module 2.4 - Time & Space

Harris, Laurel. 2003. Time, space. In Theories of Media (University of Chicago). Archived by WebCite.

Comments on this article:
'The work of French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) posits understanding as existing in the mind alone and casts doubt on experience produced through corporeal sense perception. ' 

Comment: To understand this sentence replace corporeal with bodily.


Comment: Important finding by Isaac Newton:
'...absolute space exists because, while objects may be moved in relation to each other, space itself cannot be moved.'

Comment: Important by Lessing on Des Cartes and Newton:


'In 1766, German writer Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Laocoön applied the Enlightenment sensibilities of Newton and Descartes to media theory.  Lessing states that pictorial representation (see drawing and painting) should strive for spatial purity and that poetry must represent time, or the changing moment.'

Laurel Harris:
'Media open and shape our experiences of time and space.  Experientially, if not literally, human beings can operate on radically different time-space coordinates through media from painting to writing to film.  Media also shape time and space experienced in "daily life" from forming space through architectural intervention to standardizing time to enable trade and communication.  Theories of time and space, whatever their diagnosis, must account for the radical physical restructuring of time and space which has taken place over the last century.  Technological developments in communications media (from the telegraph to the telephone to email), travel (the airplane), and the dissemination of information (television to the internet) are perceptually reducing and conflating the lived experience of time and space, as discussed by Harvey and McLuhan.'

Comment:
Being members of the Internet Society, are we about to loose the plot? It is true that we experience an increase of speed as we experience things happening quicker, being solved quicker and that there is a constant feeling of urgency. Things develop quicker and as a result the shear number of events happening around us almost simultaneously are simply overwhelming. As a result, I understand that the perception of time and space has changed, not time and space themselves.        

Soraj Hongladarom 2002:
The Web of Time and the Dilemma of Globalization

Translation: Ephemeral - short lived / mundane - profane


Chapter Modern Conception of time: 'The invention of mechanical clocks effectively divorced time from space, whose union was the basis of the medieval con- ceptionception (Giddens, I 990, pp. 1 7—1 8). Time becomes like modern space, which is empty and is the same everywhere (Burke, 1985, p. 276). With the advent of the mechanical clock, time ceased to be exclusively connected with natural phenomena and people’s lives became connected instead with its beat (Lee & Liebenau, 2000b, p. 47). Time be- came quantified and commodified. As Appadurai (1996) points out, time itself becomes consumable, and leisure time is as much work as work itself (pp. 79—85).'

Translation: Commensurable - Acceptably measurable 


'The advent of information and communication technologies has created a dramatic impact on the existing conception of time. Many computers come equipped with a connection through the Internet to one of the several provided NTP (Net Time Protocol) servers, which effectively tells the client machine the time according to the time zones set by the user. Since the time zone of the machine can be set by the user, the machine in effect does not stand in the local time zone. Instead it floats about and can belong to any time zone whatsoever. Time is completely disconnected from place, or even space. The clock in these computers is not set by referring to any locality, but is set through the network to one of the NTP servers very far away. Thus when one sets one’s watch after one of these wired computers, in effect one does not belong to the nation or the place where one happens to be in. One can be a citizen of the world itself.'

Comment: I belong to the nation of which I am a citizen. I may also accept the Internet Community as a seperate nation, making me bi-national. As this nation does not deal with borders, it is indeed a world nation. Although time zones might blurr, the sun will always stand above the earth at a certain time of day and the day will remain any equivalent of the modern standard time of 24 hours. As a result, changing the time on my clock does not change my nationality, it only changes the time zone I feel most familiar with. Further I don't think anyone would deliberately change the clock from local time to any other time around the world without purpose. The most popular purpose would be to align with somebody in a different time zone.

World time could be measured from the dateline in the Pacific, adding 24 hours separated by longitude slots of 15°. This would certaily create confusion with the traditional conception of time that regards Greenich (UK) as the centre of modern time, but it would ceretainly make sure it is noon, where the sun is in its zenith. Wherever we are in the world, our time is measured either Greenich time plus up to 12 hours or minus 12 hours.

Translation: Modicum = Minimum



 

Learning Log for module 2.3 - Users & Developers

1. With reference to Facebook, an online game, or any other Internet application or technology, look into how the developers and users negotiate its development:

   a. Are there examples of the developers and the users disagreeing with some change or other? What was the outcome of these?
   b. Have the people using the application found uses that the developers may not have anticipated?

Great examples to look at are Open Source Content Management Systems (OS CMS) like Joomla (Open Source Matters Inc, 2010), Drupal (Buytaert, 2010) or Typo3 (Typo3 Association, 2010). These applications heavily rely on the input by both users and programmers, also referred to as ‘the community’. They provide forums in which decisions are discussed, amongst them alternative program scripts, modules and what flows in to the latest release. All three are available free of charge.


My personal experience with an OS CMS goes back to October 2002 when we, as an ICT-department in a mortgage bank decided to use EgoCMS (Egotec, 2010) to implement a website on the Intranet of the organization. The web site should mirror the entire collection of rules and regulations in a reference book. Each web page would provide a set of instructions that would relate to other instructions creating one big weave of interrelated bits of information, each accessible to selected groups of employees.


However, the problem was that the CMS was programmed in PHP, while we were running Windows 2000 servers. As the business Egotec, providing the CMS, was still very young and they were keen to have the bank on their reference list, the management went to great extent in customizing their standard software to the needs and requirements of us, the customer. 


Why would the bank go through the lengthy process of heavily customizing a standard tool to implement something that would usually not fit together? Today this is an eligible question, but in 2002 options were still very slim. You could either use a CMS like EgoCMS for the total amount of 30,000 Euros or something like NBS Infopark (Infopark, 2010)which would have cost about 250,000 Euros in 2002.


An example from Australia in terms of collaboratition between users and developers  is Careerhub (Visual Eyes Creative Software, 2010). Careerhub hosts almost the entire set of 39 Australian university job engines. Maintaining the web site of Swinburne University, I am the middleman between staff and the provider, administrating our mandate of Careerhub called SwinEmploy Swinburne University, 2010). As we heavily use the application for posting jobs, registering students to our services, announcement of events etc. , we also retrieve all sorts of statistical data to give evidence of the efficiency of our services. It has happened randomly that we needed specific reports that were not available with the standard version. If it was of mutual benefit to other universities to implement a change or to create another report from the central database, Careerhub would be happy to fulfill our wishes without any extra charges. To help the community keep up with latest developments and tpo encourage discussions, founder Darren Hughes established a blog (Hughes, 2010).

The great advantage that all parties gain from collaborations like this, where issues are openly discussed in the community is that they learn through a trial and error process and gain insight into each other’s way of thinking. 


Reference

Buytaert, D. (2010). Drupal. Retrieved November 3, 2010 from http://drupal.org/community

Egotec GmbH (2010). Egotec WCMS. Retrieved November 3, 2010 from http://www.egotec.com/en/Applications/Web+Content+Management.html

Hughes, D. (2010). Careerhub Central Blog. Retrieved November 3, 2010 from http://blog.careerhub.info/

Infopark AG (2010). The Infopark Story. Retrieved November 3, 2010 from http://www.infopark.com/1036388/infopark-story

Open Source Matters Inc. (2010). Joomla! Retrieved November 3rd, 2010 from http://community.joomla.org/

Swinburne University (2010). SwinEmploy Login Page. Retrieved November 3, 2010 from http://www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/careers/SwinEmploy_Welcome.html

Typo3 Association (2010). Typo3. Retrieved November 3, 2010 from http://typo3.org/community/about/

Visual Eyes Creative Software (2010). Careerhub Homepage. Retrieved November 3, 2010 from https://www.careerhub.com.au/default.aspx

Mod. 2.1 - Power & Economy (incl. Discussion Board post)

Reading Brendan Gilbert et al., “Web Content/Social Networking,” Blog, Corporate Power in New Media, May 14, 2008.
Comment:
Michael Arrington, chairman of edgeio.com and founder of techcrunch.com, said, “Power is shifting toward the individual, operating at the edge of the network and away from the giant companies at the center of the network…It’s a paradigm shift for everyone on the Internet.” (Business Week article)


Discussion Board post "Internet Access"

1. Power operates in many ways on the Internet, let's take one example, that of Internet access, to discuss power (no more than half a page):
1. Are there limits to when, what (sites), how much, and where you access the Internet?
2. How can you transgress those limits and what are the possible consequences?
3. Is it possible to lose your access and what are the ways this might happen?

When: Internet users are most vulnerable against electrical power failure. I live in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne where a storm in April last year resulted in a four day power outage. Relying almost entirely on the Internet to communicate with the outside world I realized how vulnerable you are without electrical power. I believe those in the electrical industry to hold the power over economy in their hands in the future.

What: Over the last months there has been a lot of discussion about trying to censor the Internet. Fortunately that is only possible to a certain extent and for limited time (Ricci, 2009). I do have limited access over certain material and I am happy to do so: Those limitations are access to bank accounts, association Web sites, Police etc. However, each of these limitations also take away control from the user. As WikiLeaks (2010) constantly reveals, there are a lot of things going on behind closed doors that are deliberately kept away from the public audience to prevent outrage or in simple terms, the loss of power.

How much: The only quantitative limits I see are those of data transfer speed and my own ability to process the data I am reading and listening to. Further data access may be limited by those who want to feed me a teaser in the aim to sell more of the same to me. This is how online advertising works in many cases. One example is downloading music for pay from Myspace accounts. Some artists limited their songs to certain lengths or reduce the quality in the aim to make visitors download better quality or complete tracks for pay (Karlsson, 2010).

Where: In terms of where I have access to the Internet depends on the device I have at hand. In a mostly rural place like Australia access is a different story, compared to the situation you will find in densly populated central Europe. In terms of “where”, the power lies with the Internet access provider and those who sell the devices that enable me to connect with a provider.

Does access vary?
Further, access varies significantly depending on affordability and locality. Living in a first world/western world culture the Internet is a crucial part of everyday life. It affects almost every part of my life and my being. In third world countries, apart from affordability and accessibility, illiteracy is another major issue the prevents these people from accessing the Internet. So the power not only lies with those who control it, but also those who have the ability to use it.

How do economic relationships conflict with or support existing power structures through the Internet? Choose an example from your first module and discuss on the discussion boards.

Reference

Karlsson, J. T. (2010). Familjen. MySpace. Retrieved from http://www.myspace.com/familjen

Ricci, C (2009, February 9). Censoring The Internet. The Age. Retrieved from http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/censoring-the-internet-20090206-7zcw.html

WikiLeaks (2010). About. Retrieved from http://wikileaks.org/media/about.html

Assignment 2 - Essay - Research: Peter Hook Interview on TripleJ

Hi all,

I wonder if others are trying to put something together for an essay about music. I am still researching and accidentally came upon this interesting interview on TripleJ Radio:

Peter Hook was a member of the Manchester band Joy Division. In the late seventies this band produced music that was completely at odds with anything else you coud hear in those days. In May 1980 their singer, Ian Curtis, took his life and the band Joy Division seized immediately. Sonn afterwards, the remaining band members foundet New Order who are most popular for their 80s hit Blue Monday. Peter Hook was the bassist of both bands and decided to celebrate Ian Curtis' life by going on world tour with friends (among them his son), playing the entire first album titled Unknown Pleasures and their hit single Love Will Tear Us Apart.

The interesting thing about the interview is, that it was recorded on Jack Hook's (Peter's son) 21st birthday. Jack as his farther plays base and belongs to the band refered to as friends. Peter Hook was the same age as his son when he started his music career in the mid-seventies and both are self taught musicians. While Peter learned by the book, Jack learned from the Internet. Peter gives some very interesting insight into the difference of producing music in his days and how it has changed nowadays with all the opportunities the Internet provides:
"...thanks to the wonders of Youtube where nobody has to wonder what anything's like anymore, they can now go on YouTube and see what everything is like - it certainly takes the mystery out of life".

Here is the full interview:
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/triplej/tomalex/peterhook_2010_09_27.mp3

Cheers,

Volker

Assignment 2 - Essay - Recommended Readings: Cultural Studies

Chapter 10: Cultural Studies and the Culture in Everyday Life
John Fiske

Very annoying way of writing. We've been told to avoid long interwoven sentences and to make sure we put our point across to the reader. Well - what about this sentence from the first paragraph of this reading:
As the mundanities of our social conditions are set aside, or distanced, by this view of art, so, too, are the so-called sensuous, cheap, and easy pleasures of the mind.

...and: The culture of everyday life works only to the extent that it is imbricated (!) into its immediate historical and social setting.

Comment on Boudieu:
Boudieu's theory of the habitus extends the concept of habitus to such extent, that it includes the entire appearance of a person, not only the person's behaviour. Therefor it includes lifestyle, language, taste and dressence. Habitus provides an indication of ranking or status in society.

What does Fiske mean? About Brett Williams, who gives an example of both living in a mainly black, working class culture, and providing an academic account of it:
Her study details some of the key-features of habitus whose culture is of the material density of embodied practice.

Page 156, bottom: As Leal comments "The social system that broke these kinship webs is reproduced in the symbolic system within the photograph framse" (p.23) and these lost kinship webs are reasserted, reformed through bricolage.
Why does Leal make the assumption that a social system is to blame for the situaton, not the decision of the people to change something in their lifes? Is that irrelevant?

Explanation
Sardonically: Bitter in a sarcastic way.

Finally found something interesting to contextualise:
The supermarket is a densely woven texture of commodity information and display, but through her routine practices the experienced shopper transforms information overload into an information-specific setting.

Here is my comment on the above, the way I put it on Blackboard:

Hi Jane and Fellow Students,

I am on page 7 of the 22 page excerpt of John Fiske's book Cultural Study. I've learned about habitus in the sense of Bordieu and a lot about the opressed black society and the difference between those from North Carolina and those living in the Washington D.C. suburbs. I've learned about the high value of plastic flowers ("because they cost money...") in the dense conditions the opressed black society finds, living in the suburbs of Washington D.C.

I'm not sure what to make of this for our studies.

However, later on in the text I found something to contextualise/discuss:
Fiske states that Lave (1988, p.2.) cites an example of contextualised maths. It is about a woman shopper negotiating how many apples to bring home considering four kids, limited space in the fridge and the season being summertime.
Friske (1992) continues to cite Lave in his text: 'Lave observed that this woman is not interested in in a generalisable answer that relates to the problem n terms of a universalised criterion of right-wrong, but that problem shaped each other in action in a specific setting. In this material setting the shopper's cognitive processes are part of a physical relationship with the goods on display.
The supermarket is a densely woven texture of commodity information and display, but through her routine practices the experienced shopper transforms information overload into an information-specific setting.'

I assume, what both are trying to say is that she focuses on her shopping.

Specifically the last sentence made me think that we have the same situation online. The Internet is also a densely woven texture of commodity information and display. The experienced Internet user transforms information overload into an information specific setting.

What do you think?

Reference
Fiske, J. (1992). Cultural Studies. New York, N.Y.: Routledge
Lave, J. (1988). Cognition in Practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press