Reflective Post

I feel that the use of blogs has potential as a learning tool, but ultimately failed to succeed in this unit. The reason being, that there wasn't enough comments on individual posts to stimulate discussions that went beyond the relevant readings. There were however, a couple of tutorial posts that did succeed in this, receiving numerous comments that facilitated a lively discussion. I feel that this shows the potential of this unit to become successful, if it can encourage students to blog more frequently. For me, never having used a blog, this unit exposed me to a new tool for communication. It was interesting to set up one of my own and use it to search and comment on others' posts. I found it easier to communicate my ideas through the blog than openly in tutorials, as i felt it allowed a sense of anonymity (even though my name was posted!), free from the embaressment i may face if i say the wrong thing in class.

Going into the unit, i originally expected the emphasis to be more on feminism in technology. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lectures had a broader base, looking into the effects of technology on all individuals; male, female, black, white etc. I found the lectures interesting, but when it came to some workshops, tasks appeared pointless. The tutorials were however, relevant to lectures and my tutorial group stimulated some interesting discussions throughout the semester.

Do i now consider myself a cyborg? No. I do not feel i am so immersed in technology that it has become an extension of me. Although i use technology on a regular basis, my reliance on it is limited as i spend more time in the offline world communicating face-to-face. However, my potential to become a cyborg is everincreasing in this digital age, where the boundaries between what is biological and artificial are blurring.

All is full of love...

Hey guys just a random little post, came across this song from bjork it's kinda old, but the video clip is pretty amazing!!! Check it out :)

Someday my Prince will come

Once upon a time (in the first week of semester) a comment was made about people's involvement on blogs. As legend has it, participants on the world wide web would log on to blogs to:

a) read other people's work

b) read other people's work and contribute their own thoughts

c) write simply to read over what they had written

Although this next statement makes me appear far from the heroic prince charming and much more like the self absorbed ugly sister, I feel I fall under category C. It was not that my work was astonishing in any way, on the contrary, multiple readings became an exercise of edit and criticism, however this use of review allowed me to know my own opinion. The use of blogging within this site encouraged me to construct thoughts I would otherwise have neglected to create or develop. For another unit I take, my tutor asked us to conclude what writing meant to us. At the end of the tute she explained that for herself, writing offered the opportunity to discover her thoughts and feelings about particular concepts, situations etc. I think for this reason, blog activity is a perfect utensil for Self Net:I.

With many foreign concepts flying around the unit, (many I have found to be very relevant to my life) blogging not only allows the chance to explore them, but presents an example of how we utilise and depend on technology within our own lives. It is a funny thought that I have become dependent on technology as an extension of my mind and body, and I am sure many feel the same. A mobile phone now makes me feel safe at night, a treadmill provides me with exercise and a hand written essay just doesn't seem as intellectually stimulating as a typed, justified, size 12 Times New Roman Document. In an age where we can crop, copy and cut faster than we tie our shoes, ignoring the intensive relationship we have with technology seems an act of naivety.

So in conclusion:

I am cyborg hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore...

Will my introduction into the blogosphere fear transfer me from an ugly sister into prince charming? I'll have to ask my fairy godmather the answer to that. But I can speak for myself when I say my appreciation and awareness for blogs has grown a lot stronger than when I first took a seat in our week 2 tutorial. And the next time I need some knitting help, political guidance or just some good old fashioned recipes, I know what I'll be typing into google.

Reflective Post

While the use of a blog for learning purposes seems interesting on paper, I'm not sure how well this worked for me in practice. I found that while weekly summaries of readings via tute presentation posts, complete with cyberlinks, was something nice that you don't get in other units, it was easy to forget about the blog for a while, only to return and be overwhelmed with the amount of posts that you should have been keeping up with. But I suppose that was my own fault. I find that the blogs I visit in my own time are generally full of pictures and links, rather than large blocks of text, thus it became a task to read and keep up to date with this blog without getting distracted by things like Youtube or Facebook. A reflection of our shortened attention spans due to our own technology perhaps? Also, something interesting I found with this blog was that although I know your faces from tutes, I don't know many of your names, and I would often read posts and wonder who they were written by, trying to match names and faces. Because of this, I feel like there's a strange sense of disconnected community with these blogs.

I wish I could be one of you's who arn't tragically reliant on technology, and could proudly say that I'd be fine without my computer or mobile phone, but the truth is, I really don't know what I would do without my gadgets. I lost my iPhone earlier this year, and it was a sad but very real emptiness that I felt. I remember dramatically telling people that I felt like I had lost a piece of myself. I realise this is somewhat pathetic and materialistic, but with things like hard-drives and phones, so much of your life is stored on it that when you lose it, it really is like losing a part of yourself. So from this, I will reluctantly admit that I do consider myself a cyborg.

I really enjoyed the content of this unit. I have come across most of it already in my years of doing communications/cultural studies, but still like the relevance to life that the readings hold. This was one of those units where I would find myself talking to friends about weekly topics or readings, and they would be impressed with how interesting my course sounds. :) So with this, thanks, and goodluck with your essays everyone.

Meet George Jetson

Am I a Cyborg? Honestly, I cannot claim the symbolic image of a Cyborg as an adequate representation of myself. Most of my life is spent offline and away from technology, sure I use it, but it is no part of me or my identity. In the end, it all comes off, and we have to have a shower sometime. I do agree that we construct and project our identities, whatever they may be, and we use technology, but to use the Cyborg beyond the symbolic and fantastical is like watching an episode of The Jetsons; in twenty years time, will they think of us as naïve and so preciously innocent? The tool, the technology, is an object grasped and utilised by the human- it is still separate from the human. Technology is another act of perfomance, a dress up, that does not necessarily present a real individual- what ever that is.

What I really enjoyed about this unit was an alternative and more contemporary perspective of Feminist theory. I am a Feminist and I love it, so to learn of these new and exciting ideas and theories, and more technological based, is a real treat. Even more so, as I have been taking the history unit, Medieval and Early Modern Women, comparing the contemporary digital age to that of two-hundred to nine-hundred years ago was academically challenging and brilliant, as you get a little glimpse of what continues and what changes- and really, some things never do! The technological change and spread of information caused by new developments in printing, and thus education and learning, mirrors that of the internet. The fascination with how gender and sex are influenced by this revolution is just as strong in these periods.  And employment, the same week we covered employment and the influence of technology, I looked at early-modern women and work. The change in technology, and the new processes, altered their lives in many similar ways. Work was in the house, and work was gendered, and still is gendered along with technology.

The collapse of the distinction between what is private and what is public also reflects our ancestor’s lives five-hundred years ago. There is no real distinction, just as there is no distinction between what is natural and what is artificial. The home is, and was, a porous structure that lets in public voices and influences that affect the private and individual self. The internet and new technologies are just embodiments of that.

My discomfort within a group exists on the internet- the words I type are equally prone to consorship as the words I speak. Our technology is subject to how we percieve it, and the human is always present. It is dependant upon us, it cannot exist if we do not exist.

Thank you for the great unit.

Reflection

Hey guys,

Though I see how this blog could be considered more of an outlet for shy students who are uncomfortable voicing their opinions than an offline tutorial environment, I feel that posting work up on a blog made me feel ever so slightly more paranoid. What you've written is there forever and can be "judged" forever, more so than a transient spoken comment. If a blog is not anonymous, then I think that a lack of confidence to speak one's mind can be transferred from an offline situation to online. (But that could just be me.) That said, I do feel that the blog allowed access to a lot more information than I generally got out of the tutorials - although as was mentioned before, huge blocks of text can be intimidating. Perhaps the discussion wasn't as great, but the information was definitely there... forever. Also, I have never been part of a blog before and am happy that now I know how to post something and make hyperlinks.

In regards to the unit in general, my feelings are positive. I did enjoy much of the content and found the readings to be very interesting - points were brought to my attention that I had never considered before. The tutorials could also be quite informative - it was worthwhile to hear what everybody thought and some good discussions were generated.

Do I consider myself to be a cyborg? Being honest, I hated the term "cyborg" from the very beginning. Perhaps it came down to its phonetics more so than even its connotations, but I still do not like the word; as such I would never want to label myself as one out of pure irritation by it. But in the context of Harraway's article, I suppose that yes, I am something of a cyborg, because technology has become such a crucial aspect of my life. A large portion of what I know has been learnt through watching television and surfing the internet, and if we are looking beyond electronic / "modern" technologies, then most of my time is spent making use of various other technologies such as books, or language. I am happy to live in an age where these technologies are available to us. So in that context, yes, I do consider myself to be a cyborg, and a proud one at that.

As will become obvious, a Rant

Blog/tute method:

While the blog had potential, ultimately, I think it failed in this case. Logging on to look at the posts was unappealing; I’ve an aversion to looking at huge blocks of Arial, which blogs (compared to paper handouts) seem to produce. The lack of comments for most of the posts meant that discussion rarely extended beyond the tutorials. In general, I think that paper handouts could have done a better job. Most presenters read from a printed sheet containing what they had said in the blog post. Distributing copies of this would have been useful in creating discussion, as people could have something to look at; the information being right there in front of them, rather than lurking outside on people’s computers.

Blogs are not a good place for mandatory assignments. The huge influx of posts in weeks 3, 7, and 10 clogged up the blog, making it hard to find particular posts.

I suppose that it encouraged the posting of summaries, which would be useful for people who didn’t do the readings. It could be useful for people who feel awkward contributing to tutorials, but evidence would be needed for that.

The tutorials were a lot of fun, though they sometimes risked skipping over major issues. This was probably due to there being no set questions, but rather, presenters created their own. It is easier and, often more conducive to discussion, to respond to a bold assertion, even in disagreement, whereas open questions are easy to be ignored. When this happens, discussion can be lost in favour of anecdote-trading. A more directed tutorial might also increase the number of comments made on the blog.

Another thing I thought was an issue for the tutorial was the choice of readings each week. Quite often they were not closely related to one another. This meant that it was hard to get a sense of what was at stake in the different areas such as virtual communities, online activism, etc. Also, this made it difficult to grasp the interrelations between different thinkers; inter alia, this had the effect of making essay research more troublesome than it needed to be.

The Unit:

I think the unit skipped over too much. This was due, I feel, to the fact that very little theory was employed in explaining what was happening in different areas of interest. There would be a hint of Lacan here, or a nod to Baudrillard there, but never in depth, never comparing different theories, and never enough to explain the phenomena. Too often it was just a snippet from Haraway, and then an avalanche of examples. This was particularly noticeable in the lecture on video games, as theories were mentioned yet not discussed, and many examples were contentious, if not outright incorrect. On the other hand, the week three lecture on race was interesting and informative.

This skimming was a shame, because the subject matter itself was very interesting and relevant.

Do I regard myself as a cyborg?

According to Stelarc, we have always been cyborgs – from the moment our pre-historic ancestors decided to pull a burnt stick from the fire pit and scribble on the rock, thus inventing mediated communication. Actually, I suppose it would have been earlier, when someone got bored of eating roots and scavenging animal carcasses, and decided to throw a stick at an antelope.

In any case, if we are to take Stelarc at his word, we have been cyborgs for quite some time now. Certainly a long time before the advent of computers. All this makes the question above kind of moot. ‘Being a cyborg’ has very little to do with extensive use of computer technology. Cyborgs are, if anything, a useful conceptual tool. I doubt Haraway would overly care how often you use facebook. Rather, the cyborg concept should point us to things like competitive friending, the connections formed by ‘liking’ a page, and how these things give information to businesses who data-mine the site in order to target the appropriate products and services to individuals, who are now defined by their data.

If the question above is rearticulated to “Do I think that the cyborg is a useful concept?”, I would probably answer in the negative. It is interesting, perhaps, but isn’t powerful enough to replace all other theories, concepts, and metaphors that we could use to look at identity, society, and technology.

Reflective Post

This unit has been very interesting for me because it has almost been a continuation and an in depth study of topics and issues I have briefly come across in some of my Communication Studies units. It has definitely opened my eyes and made me a lot more critical in the way I view and use technology, more so than I had previously been. Donna Haraway’s Cyborg theory was probably the one I had the most difficulty with simply because I did not want to accept the fact that I am so deeply imbedded in technology, that I have basically lost my “humanity” and become a mechanical organism. Unfortunately this idea has been reinforced the whole semester, and my dependency on technology to function normally has increased significantly. And now I can finally admit that I am a Cyborg!

A few weeks prior to starting this unit I had accidently discovered blogs and ventured into the world of online interactivity and found some that were very relevant to my interests and offered a new way of sharing information and trends. The simple and concise writing manner, hearing from “normal” everyday people like myself also made blogs a lot more relatable and enjoyable than magazines or academic journals. This is the second time I’ve used a blog like structure at UWA, and I think it’s a really good way of letting people express their ideas and thoughts in “safe” environment. Firstly because there isn’t that pressure of public speaking, which hinders some of us shy ones, and secondly because you have time to think about what you want to say, your ideas are usually slightly more coherent and relevant to the discussion (well you’d hope so). I found the blog was a great continuation of the tutorial and was really helpful with some of the readings; the summaries and main points was an excellent way of getting some sense out of some of those readings and was also really useful as a recap. In terms of interacting with others, I didn’t feel very connected for instance after doing my presentation and posting it on the blog two people responded to my questions but I completely forgot to check the blog and by the time I did and answered back I never got a response simply because something new had been posted. And when I responded to a presentation I didn’t get a response either, I think this is one of the problems with a blog is that there is always new information and it is difficult to keep up with it, especially if you don’t check it everyday.

And just to finish off at first I was a bit confused and daunted by this unit because of some of the terminology and issues involved, but after a few weeks I started to see connections to things I had previously learnt which made me feel a bit more confident but also made things a lot more enjoyable. So thanks for a technologically mind opening unit! :)

Final Post - A Reflection

Blogging. Before I took this unit I had only the most cursory knowledge of blogs. I had read a couple of blog entries but I didn’t follow any blogs regularly and I had never participated in keeping or commenting on a blog. I found that keeping a blog for this unit was useful. It was useful to read the perspectives and critiques of my peers regarding tutorial readings, particularly if I was having issues with the article. It is also a good way to share other information and post link to sites that are related to the themes of this unit. In this way, the tutorial class is much more connected and blogging seems more useful than Blackboard on WebCT in keeping us connected. Having said that, I still felt shy about posting on the blog, as with speaking in class. The knowledge that my words would forever be “out there” and that anyone could access the blog made me hesitate, nevertheless, I think that blogging is useful for learning puposes. It creates a space for students to discuss ideas, post links and challenge each other (intellectually speaking, of course). It is also very accessible, one can access the blog beyond the 45 minute tutorial time and it presents the potential for onging discussions.
As to whether or not I consider myself a cyborg now, I would have to say that yes, I do. I think that in some ways it is naïve to believe that we can separate ourselves from the digital technology that we use. We are affected psychologicaly and behaviourally by our external world, by what we see, touch, the language that we use and the ways that we communicate. We are cyborgs. Technology has become a part of us, an extension of ourselves. If I forget my mobile phone at home, for instance, I become slightly anxious and paranoid that I am suddenly not reachable, that I am “offline”, so to speak. The digital technology that we have created has become part of our identity.
Finally, the unit is general. The unit is extremely relevant to our lives and our futures and I found it enjoyable. There were issues that were raised that I had never considered before. The better that we understand the digital age in relation to the self, the better that we will be able to navigate it.
All the best guys

Hi guys, just wanted to post this link, its a clip of the movie "Surrogates", and I think it conveys a very similar concept to "NOtime" in Hayle's article about creating avatars that could live parts of our lives for us, so that we are able to get more done. Have a look and see if you agree.

Week 12 Post

I have to say that when i reflect back over this unit i have certainly learned a lot more about the digital age. What was most useful for me in regards to the topics we have covered this semester is that the things we discussed in the unit have been closely linked with a lot of the previous communications units i have done. I did a whole unit on digital games last semester and in a lot of my other units we have spent time discussing similar issues about the virtual world as we did here, so for me it was really interesting to build on the ideas that i had already formed about the virtual world. However, in saying that i hadnt really considered the idea of cyborgs and particularily Donna Haraways ideas of the cyborg, so that for me was especially interesting.

In some ways i think that we are certainly cyborgs, according to Haraway's definition that a cyborg is a "hybrid of machine and organism" yes i think we can be seen as cyborgs in that light, as most of us spend a fair amount of time im sure browsing the internet or having an involement with some kind of virtual community be it facebook or something similar and that to me is having some kind of connection with the machine, in that respect it kind of becomes a part of us. The machine then, helps form our identity in a way and i think in this way we are cyborgs or i certainly can consider myself one.

In terms of using the blog, i actually found that it was really quite useful. I am a pretty shy person and i much prefer to express my ideas and opinions in writing as i often feel quite intimidated speaking in front of lots of people, so for me in that respect it was a really comfortable way to express my ideas. I also found that i was kind of forced to think a lot more carefully about what my posts say whereas when i speak in tutorials my ideas are not as concise. I also found the blog useful in that it was accessible all the time and i had time to think about things that were said in the tutorials and could spend some time thinking about them before adding to them where as with class discussions it is more about thinking on the spot and your responses have to be more immediate. Overall, i have enjoyed this unit and have found it interesting expanding my ideas and learning more about how we operate in the digital age. I have enjoyed using the blog and found it very useful to read and respond to others ideas and also to express my own opinions on topics covered in the unit. Thanks everyone.

REFLECTIVE POST

I have found this unit very interesting, from when I first chose to take it at the beginning of the semester, to now, coming to the end, and having learnt so much! This unit has opened my eyes so much to what goes on online, I almost feel that I was naive before, as I had no idea about cyborgs, or how consumed people can become when they join online communities. I must admit, the 'virtual' world does scare me a little, but at the same time having studied this unit has made me open my eyes so much more to what is actually out there, and I have definitely developed a fascination with many things we have covered this semester.

I think the use of blogs for learning purposes has been effective and it has been interesting to see how other people have been thinking and developing their ideas about the many subjects of the cyberworld that we have covered. It has definitely helped me to be able to read other people's posts and see if I am on the right track or not, and to help develop my own ideas by agreeing or disagreeing with the other students. But unfortunately I haven't felt fully comfortable with the blog and writing my opinion for all to see. I have felt a little self conscious knowing everyone could read what i had written and possibly not agree, but I guess that is all part of the learning process.

After studying this unit I can now say that I am a cyborg! As a student I obviously spend a lot of time on my computer researching and doing assignments, and of course I have a facebook obsession, and check my facebook numerous times a day. I am very active and tend to exercise while listening to my ipod, and now I feel that I can't be as motivated or push myself as far as I can when I have the music from my ipod, to help give me that extra push. So I can also admit to relying on technology pretty much everyday. I work at Lorna Jane in Claremont and when I make a sale, I have to use a computer to record the sale and open the till. But the piece of technology I think I probably rely most heavily on, is my mobile phone. It is always with me and I don't even bother wearing a watch anymore because I just look at my phone when I need the time. So all in all, I can say that I am definitely a cyborg!

The unit in general was great, I really enjoyed the material we covered as well as our active discussions in tutorials. I really liked all the people in my tutorial, and valued their comments and opinions. It was great that we could hold such great discussions, as it made the unit even more enjoyable and worth while. I can definitely say, that I will walk away at the end of semester with a whole lot more knowledge on the mysterious and incredible cyberworld, and I am very grateful for that! Thank you everyone, and thank you Alison!

Blog/Unit Reflection (I wanted to come up with a better title, but unfortunately that was not meant to be...)

How has this unit been for me? I have really, really enjoyed it. There have been so many issues brought to my attention that I would have never thought about on my own. And I feel like the tute group we had was really really insightful. Sometimes I end up in tutes where no one really wants to say anything, so I say things, and then I feel like I’m the only one speaking, and then it gets awkward..... Not so with this tute! In my eyes anyway...

Are we cyborgs? I guess I would have to say that in my particular work environment, yes I am. I work at KFC, and I generally spend most of my time being the voice that comes through the speaker-box, pleasantly asking you to place your order when you are ready. As you rarely see me, you probably don’t see (but do logically realise) that I wear a headset, without which I could not do my job. I spend the majority of my shift with this headset attached to me, binging away in my ear whenever a car reaches said speaker-box. And in my daily life, I am connected to some form of technology most of the time. If it’s not me listening to my mp3 player while sitting in the library, it’s me obsessively checking my phone in case someone messages me. Ditto for emails. And Facebook. But does this make me a hybrid in my everyday life? I don’t believe it does. When I get to the point that I cannot live my life without technology (like I can’t do my job without it), it will be a sad day. But I think that is when I would classify myself a cyborg.

Has blogging been successful for me? I would have to say no. I have enjoyed the experience, and I think it can be a valuable tool for learning at uni (especially seeing as class sizes are increasing), as it allows a space for people who don’t usually engage in the discussion to get involved. That being said, I personally feel a bit uncomfortable with it. I have found that I struggle to come up with coherent sentences; there are so many times when I have deleted whole paragraphs and left out ideas just because I felt like I couldn’t express the ideas without sounding stupid or pretentious. For some reason, it’s always one or the other with me. Also, in a tute, if you say something that doesn’t go quite right, there is no written record of it, it generally just stays behind in the room. But with the blog, there is not only our tute as an audience, but also any random stranger who may find themselves looking at the blog. That’s a bit disconcerting. But on the plus side, I can now make active hyperlinks!! Sometimes you just need to celebrate the small achievements in this life. So will I start a blog? At this point, I highly doubt it. I think I will just leave that to the experts, and go and play a quick round of Tetris on Facebook.

second life

hey guys, i was just having a read of one of the older posts written by Jen called 'Creating a cyber-self' and while i was doing some research earlier on in the week, i came across a similar sort of thing. It was a news article called 'How Second Life seeps into Real Life.' It is about an online gaming program in cyberspace, where people can basically create an avatar of themself, and it can represent them in which ever way they choose. It mentions that it is a game which allows people to express themselves in ways they feel they need to, but cant literally do it in reality. I found it really fascinating so have a read of it if you have time... otherwise, goodluck everyone for the research essay =)

REFLECTION!

The use of blogs for learning purposes from what i've so far experienced can be said to be very beneficial. I feel this is the case as it allows for further discussion of unit topics outside of class, particularly because class time is so limited. It's also beneficial for those who find certain topics unclear in class or after reading the readings, it's always dicussed further on the blogs each week so therefore allows for us to get a better understanding. Blogging is also very easily accessable as its available every day, at any hour of the day so in that provides students with the flexibility outside of class time to understand topics and post relevant issues. It also has the capacity to make those who struggle on the spot to talk in class, like me, to think longer and express ourselves more clearly. Blogging is also beneficial for learning purposes as it helps people feel more comfortable in their expressing ideas and promotes input from everyone as you have the time to post whenever.

In regards to being a cyborg, i feel i am not. As Donna Haraway writes a cyborg to be " a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of a cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction," more specifically a being with both biological and artifical traits. In this i dont consider myself to bind into this definition at all as i don't consider technology to play such a huge role in shaping who i am. Although i am a regular user of multiple technologies on a daily basis, i still feel it doesn't control my every day life and hence my own embodiment and as a result why i do not consider myself as a cyborg.

I found this unit to be very enjoyable and interesting. It's been interesting particularly because of the encorporation of setting up a blog. By this use of online participationg it made the unit a whole lot more enjoyable and i found helped me alot in terms of further learning with the weekly topics. It's been a great way for those like me who are new to the whole blogging experience to learn how it's done. This unit opened up my mind to wider issues concerned with the online world and because i feel i can relate to alot of it, i feel thats the reason being for why i found it to be a great unit to study. Well, thats all from me.
Gabi :)

Sign Out.

Flesh and Metal: Reconfiguring the Mindbody in Virtual Environments

Tutorial Summary

N. Katherine Hayles in Flesh and Metal: Reconfiguring the Mindbody in Virtual Environments, uses three visual reality artworks to support her argument that our “bodies (including cognitive body) and the world are not independent of each other but rather exist in relation with the ongoing flux.” She goes on to say that it is relation that becomes the beginning rather than mind and body (as pre-existing entities), it is “flux from which the body and embodiment emerge.” There is a loop between biology and technology environments which enhance our experiences.

Hayles focuses on the artworks; “Traces” by Simon Penny which places emphasis on the immediate proximity of the body, “Einstein’s Brain” by Alan Dunning and Paul Woodrow, which emphasises room sized dimensions and placement of artefacts and simulated projections and “NOtime” by Victoria Vesna which enacts human interaction universally.

“Traces” is a three-dimensional environment in which the human body is used in a virtual reality artwork. It differs from other conventional virtual realities, as there is no separation of the human form. Penny was exploring the concept of relation between the mindbody and its immediate surroundings. The experiment used three dimensional cubes (voxels) which “trailed behind the rendered model of the user’s body, gradually fading through time.” Tracking systems and sensors were attached to the human form and were used to record movement in space and time. Results from Behaviour Traces showed that the Avatar could not only mirror movement but in fact its traces had the ability to break off and move independently as a flock. This virtual reality artwork confirms the notion, “experiences of embodiment transform and evolve through time and relation with intelligent machines”.

What would it mean to be embodied in a virtual reality that was not devoid of what Penny calls “eye candy”? Would our experience of interacting in a virtual reality (VR) with our body and mind be different to our experience of VR with our mind only?

Hayles goes on to explore the duality of the brain and mind along with the idea that the world and the body are no longer thought of as being separated by boundaries. The skin is no longer the distinction for the end of the body. She uses the artwork “Einstein’s Brain”, to explore the idea that what we perceive (in that space in time) is in fact our reality.

A virtual reality was created which consciously was not a reflection of the “real world”. Anatomically Lifelike Interactive Biological Interface (ALIBI) acted as a “navigational interface” that was activated by body warmth, breath and whispering. New, simulated worlds continually opened as a result of interaction with ALIBI. Users wore goggles which allowed them to see either the simulated world or a mixed reality with both real and simulated worlds. Helmets were worn which recorded biological responses that triggered other simulated images. Two other components added to this project were images of historical events and a viewing room where observers could watch the interactions unfold, although their perception of reality was different to the participants’ perceptions of reality.

With the use of feedback loops; user’s response-interactions with artificial body-production of simulated worlds, endless possibilities can exist. ”Einstein’s Brain” challenges our understanding of consensual reality by creating different virtual and actual realities which compete and conflict in their stimuli. Hayles supports the notion that “human experience is a mixed reality “which derives from human embodiment, the world and technology.

If “Einstein’s Brain” can alter our perceptions of reality by merging virtual and real worlds together, what does this mean for our understanding of reality? Maturana seems to believe that what we perceive is our reality. But will we be able to distinguish between what is real or not? Can we manipulate our worlds through perception?

“NOtime” came into being as a result of the postmodern condition of having no time to do all the things that we wanted to do. The idea was to create avatars that could live parts of our lives for us while we were busy doing the things we had no time for. The avatar was able to engage in all aspects of human interaction including death. The vision of virtual reality was based on the belief that human and intelligent machines have cognitive systems and that these enactments could be global but had equal importance for local interaction. In actual fact what was created was a virtual reality where time was a required element for the successful growth and interaction of the avatar, thus defeating the purpose that it would save time.

Does the time we spend online within virtual realities detract from the quality of life we could be having if our time was better spent elsewhere? Do you agree or disagree?

Just something to think about, see you guys on Wednesday!

A Decade of Gender and Computer Games

Apologies for the late post...

Henry Jenkins and Justine Cassell - "From Quake Grrls to Desperate Housewives: A Decade of Gender and Computer Games"

Summary

This article deals with the seeming lack of females in the realm of computer games in both the creation of games as well as the playing of them. In its analysis of this situation, the article examines various methods that have been tried to encourage female participation in gaming circles, and the outcomes of those efforts.

In relation to the playing of games, we find that the design of the games themselves may be quite gendered. that is, they have been designed in such a way that they will appeal to one particular gender more than the other. This may be on account of the game designers being predominantly male, or because the game was designed with a particular gender in mind. Certainly, the former method has being quite successful on account of the great number of male gamers and designers compared to females.

The latter method, however, can be problematic. This is due to the fact that the games may often employ stereotypical features that will supposedly appeal to a large portion of a particular gender. For example, the producer of the Desperate Housewives game, Mary Schuyler, was quoted as saying that, "the game is loaded with gossip, betrayal, murder and sex -- you know, all the things that women like" (pg. 7).

Along with ideas of why it is that girls don't play computer games as often as guys, the article also deals with the issue of there not beings as many girls being involved in the creation of games. Much of this stems from various assumptions regarding the idea that such a workplace -- and, more generally, anything involving computers -- is a place for males.

Questions

Is there value in aiming games at particular genders and what risks are present in such an avenue? For example, consider the quote by Mary Schuyler regarding the creation of the Desperate Housewives game that "the game is loaded with gossip, betrayal, murder and sex -- you know, all the things that women like".

Would game companies be better off by encouraging more females to enter the game industry? What sort of obstacles lie on this path and how could they be overcome? Consider the quote at the end of the fourth page of the article.

Are computer games valuable to society? What benefits can they bring? What risks do they carry?

Capitalism: A Fairytale

*** If sarcasm does not read well over the internet, this is a warning to say that this is a bit of a parody.


The Normalisation of Flexible Female Labour in the Information Economy

Melissa Gregg

Mellissa Gregg looks into the results of the social and technological changes of the past decades, which is feminism and the immergence of new technologies in this age of the ‘new economy’. Her specific focus is on middle class Western women entering the workforce and the impact of new technologies enabling them to have ‘flexible’ work, by being able to work at home, so that they are able to maintain their primary role as carer within the home and contribute to the labour market, thereby consecrating a preferable version of (post)feminist subjectivity suited to neoliberal economics and ideologies.

This choice, however, relies heavily upon the different flexible labour performed by women in other parts of the globe, who are exploited in order to create the product needed to sustain the neo-liberalist economy (smells like the Bourgeoisie).

“It acts as a critical background for a larger project studying the impact of information and communication technologies on work and home life, specifically their role in breaking down the distinction between the so called ‘public’ and ‘private’ sphere personae.” – Melisa Gregg

Although though this may be true for the Bourgeosie, work and the public and the private spheres has been, and are, fluid realms for many other classes and peoples throughout history.

Her argument is supported by the role of mainstream media normalising preferred uses of new media technology for work purposes, and to limit the aspirations of middle-class feminist politics to an individual level.

My focus for this presentation is, as Melisa Greg said in her introduction, the ethical challenges facing both feminist and labour politics in the so-called ‘new-economy’.

The actress Tilda Swinton, in an interview for her film I am Love, described capitalism as a ‘fairy-story’, as the Bourgeoisie surround themselves with pretty things in order to forget the many people that they are exploiting. The idea of fantasy can be seen in the media and advertisement, which Melisa Greg examines in her paper; these are constructed realities and ideals presented in advertisement to influence the consumer.




The advertisements for Software, such as Microsoft’s ‘We See’, focuses on the idea of the individual  in a creative sector of the ‘new economy’, where they present independent labour away from an office, where the worker can be independent and free with a romantic bohemian lifestyle. The lines between personal hobbies and creativity and the public employment are blurred. The selling of dreams, or the promotion of fairy-stories, can also be found in the advertisements for mobile phones that present a work lifestyle that is leisurely, active and cosmopolitan. One does not have to be stuck in a boring office, they can be out and about, living their life, but work at the same time. It is promoting the individual, but my question is: by blurring these distinctions, is the worker’s private life taken over by work? One is being defined by their labour. And, is this lifestyle only accessible to a privileged few? We all would like the lifestyle of an artiste.

The most horrifying aspect of this paper is the idea that neo-liberalism has adopted feminism – it just doesn’t compute. There can be no doubt that feminism has achieved the right for women to work in the public space, because it is seen as an inherent good and a commonsense manifestation of feminism over the last century. The only problem is that it can be assumed that we are ‘post’ feminism, that feminism is no longer needed, but it is clear that we have still a long way to go.

Women now have the choice, so is everything good? The only problem is that it is naturally assumed that women’s work must be flexible work- to be able to ‘have it all’: the career and the happy household. As said by Germaine Greer, the only thing women have all of, is all of the work! The care-giver in family relationships is not the same responsibility for men. Where is the equality in that? It is also assumed that the work women do within the household is not real work at all, and often that work in itself is mixed in with home, leisure and the private sphere. The new economy is hanging onto the middle-class nuclear family. “Rather, it is as an equal witness to a commonly imposed experience- of limited freedoms packaged within a predefined set of choices.”

Is the new-economy just the old-economy with colourful packaging?  Reinforcing the paradigms of the nuclear family, gender roles, existing class structures and the exploitation of the working class for the privileges of the Bourgeoisie?

 Why 'Having it all' still means 'doing it all'

Housewife Superstars

Sonia Williams: How you can make money in the new economy www.giveitagowhathaveyougottolose.com.au and www.showmummythemoney.com.au

Conflict minerals

The Enough Project.
Our demand for electronics fuels the world's deadliest war. It's time to end it.

As well as the petition, check out the From Mine to Mobile Phone link (bout 2/3 down on the RHS), which is a supply chain recap, & the CNN link (bottom left) Rape & Murder: funded by cell phones, which talks about the strategic & commonplace use of rape as an intimidation tactic to deter local villagers from challenging illegal mine sites.

On a personal note: I heard about this when an entire village was held hostage by militia for 4 days, and about 45 women raped at gunpoint, repeatedly and systematically, in front of their families. I was driving home, listening to ABC Newsradio. I cried during the interviews with survivors and an aid worker, shocked and horrified that this was a business decision, part of the process that my purchases fund. I spent the next week blogging about it and trying to find a company that traced the supply chain to ensure it wasn't buying conflict minerals, or was in favour of industry-wide reform and regulation. I put off buying the netbook I'd been planning on buying until I'd done the research & checked for an ethical alternative, and when I couldn't find one I bought it anyway.

An education beyond the classroom: Excelling in the realm of horizontal academics

take a second to digest that title. it was coined by a female college graduate for a fake/joke thesis she created in powerpoint, that ended up going viral. it even ended up on the Today Show and garnered international coverage. it is essentially a list of thirteen men she had sex with during her college years, complete with their names and photos, ordered by score. yes, she scored them, based on their looks, size (not weight), personality, aggressiveness, creativity, talent (not sporting), and "most importantly, [her] level of entertainment." she then went as far to transcribe sexy messages and bedroom chat, and then convert the data into graphs and present a critical summary.

the linked article engaging with 'the fuck list', posted on jezebel which offers 'celebrity, sex, fashion for women' and is a kind of new wave youth feminist blog (kind of), assumes a positive stance about the whole thing. it shows the thing in its entirety, with names and faces blurred. when it first came out, however, the author never intended it to be seen by more than a few friends, and as i mentioned previously, the men's names and faces were there for all to see. evidently this caused alot of strife for the author, as the men she chose to detail were the who's whos of the college lacrosse team, etc. anyway, she had great sex, really bad sex, drunk sex, public sex; all kinds of sex. basically her sex was out there. she was treated like a princess and treated like a sex toy. very controversial, and perhaps hard to take a stance on; particularly from a feminist cyborg point of view. the blog itself offers this tidbit:

"We're not condoning putting any of these sorts of things in writing or within range of the Internet, especially when using the real names of your partners. But you know what? Here's another reminder that women can be as flip, aggressive, or acquisitive about sex as men can. And there's nothing wrong with that, as long as all parties are consenting. (Of course, these guys didn't consent to have their performances publicly evaluated, but there you go. Again, people, do not put it in writing.)"

in a way, this reminds me of jennicam. sex is part of everyday life, and there's no reason not to be able to talk or joke about it- only if it is not harming another. the author deeply regrets the whole ordeal and the embarassment suffered by her 'subjects;' at the same time, she says that frat groups do similar things all the time. i like the idea of a woman seeking and controlling good sex, where the man will not treat her as a piece of meat. and no, i don't think it makes her a slut. i say good on her, i think it's hilarious- although she definately should have thought to blur out the names and faces herself before clicking send.

BLOGS HELP US TO LEARN

Hey everyone

Im going to post my week 12 post now, as i have so many assignments due in the next two weeks.

After participating in this unit, i have learned the relevance of blogging, and i finally see why so many people, especially students spend so much of their time on blogs. Boulos et al, in 2006 writes " Because of their ease of use and rapidity of deployment, they offer the opportunity for powerful information sharing and ease of collaboration."(Boulos et al, 2006) This is very true, and especially in my experience of using this blog, i have found that it has been a great way to participate in discussion. It is very beneficial to people who are not confident to speak in tutorials, and gives them an opportunity to share what they think without having to speak in front of people. I think Blogs are a great way to enhance our learning experiences, as it creates discussion and many different opinions are contributed. I found that in cases where i was not to sure of what my opinion was, or when i lacked understanding on a topic, the blog was there and easily accessible, so i could read what other class mates had written and used their understanding to further my own. This easy access to the blog may be both a positive and negative factor. In my case, using it to further my own understanding is potentially useful, but what we have to bare in mind is 'How accurate are the posts, and Is the information posted reliable?' I found the blog beneficial to me, as the use of language among our blogging group was easy to understand, the posts were all interesting and most of them were very relevant to the class discussions.

Even after a whole semester of participating in the Weblog, i still don't consider myself a 'cyborg'. I do not spend hours on end, posting blogs or reading up things, i tend to just use the weblog when i am in need of a better understanding, so i feel that i am not completely attached and addicted to my computer. I am a Facebook user too, but even that doesn't convince me that i'm a cyborg. The definition of a cyborg is "a human being whose body has been taken over in whole or in part by electromechanical devices; "a cyborg is a cybernetic organism"(wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn) and i do not fit myself personally into this definition, therefore i cannot call myself a cyborg.

I found this unit particularly different to other units that i have done, The involvement online, and the participation in the blogs has made it in some way more exciting and more beneficial to 'us' as the 'users', especially as i am from Zimbabwe, and internet access is very limited, therefore i have never been a blog user- well at least untill now =) The Workshops have contributed to our understanding too, and i found that the relevance of speaking about identity, friends and ethics in the digital age has given me a greater awareness of what is happening on the internet in our modern day to day actions. I like that we can access use the blog in order to get new ideas and opinions for our final essays.

Thanks guys for being an AWESOME blogging group =)

reference

Maged Boulous, Innocent Maramba, Steve Wheeler, 2006, 'Wiki's, Blogs and Podcasts', Mmc Medical Education, 6:41

Facebook: Are we known by the company we keep?

I came across an article; 'The Role of Friends' Appearance and Behaviour on Evaluations of Individuals on Facebook: Are We Known by the Company We Keep?', which explores how information presented on online forums, such as Facebook, influences the impressions people make of us. No longer are face-to-face interactions the only way impressions of people can be made. A significant shift has become evident towards online give and take mechanisms in impression formation. Additionally, the ability of individuals to post information onto other's profiles alongside an increasingly 'Googleable' world, changes the way identities are being represented, with some resulting in perceptions of identity that are not necessarily intentional.

This article brought to mind related discussions we have had about the identities we project online and how they can be used in different ways- some not necessarily in the ways originally intended. Online, people have the ability to experiment with their identity and ways they interact with others. Virtual identities may therefore differ from the ones projected in real life. Assumptions are made that these online communities are personal and private; with users therefore exercising the freedom to post whatever materials they wish. Recently however, sites such as Facebook have been utilized for other means. For example, employers are now seeking out potential employees by locating their profiles. Based on information presented; employers are making decisions on whether these individuals are 'suitable' for the job.

This raises issues, as evidence suggests that not only does the information selected by the owner of a particular profile influence the impressions made about them, but so does the contribution of information by 'friends' onto that profile. "The possibility that individuals may be judged on the basis of other's behaviours in such spaces prompts the question: Are we known by the company we keep?" Possibilities for new social communities such as Facebook to be used in these ways, forces users to re-examine the content displayed not only by themselves, but by others on their profiles. Individuals no longer have the legal/ ethical right to such freedoms without possibile consequences reflecting negative impressions being made.

The article also included a study, which found that favourable/ unfavourable statements being made on an individuals profile directly effected the impressions being made about them. Negatively valenced messaged about certain moral behaviours increased male profile owner's perceived attractiveness, whilst they caused females to be viewed as less attractive. These findings also relate to previous discussions made about how virtual, online communities reflect the values and attitudes, even stereotypes of real life societies.

"Mobile phones get Cyborg Vision"

Hi guys!

I found this article, "Mobile phones get Cyborg Vision" and thought it was very interesting, and very relevant to the unit, because I know all of us are very dependent on our mobile phones for so many things! I often wonder where I would be, and what I would do without my phone! It just seems to hold so much valuable information.

It is clear that we have become so dependant on these small pieces of technology for calling people, texting friends, or emailing work. Mobile phones as advanced as the iPhone, have almost any application imaginable, and very soon (once it has been launched), they will have 'Augmented realiy' (AR).

Recently, Augmented Reality has now become available for handsets. "Via the video function of the mobile phone's camera it is now possible to combine a regular pictorial view with added data from the internet just as the fictional Terminator was able to overlay its view of the world with vital information about its surroundings". This is incredible, and the video clip at the top of the article is fascinating, so please watch it to see how crazy cool Augmented Reality is.

The video clip uses the example of how the UK firm Acrossair has used Augmented Reality to launch a new application for the iPhone, that helps people in London to find their way, exactly, to a tube station closest to where they are at the time.

It is bazar to think that when you turn your mobile phone's camera on, and let it view your surroundings, it will immediately identify where you are, and when you lower your mobile phone's camera so that it is facing the ground, arrows will appear to show you which tube stations are closest to you, and exactly how you get there.

Today, we are all cyborgs, we are all depend on mobile phones. We all live on our laptops, and we all try to keep up with the newest technologies, and at the rate technology is going, if we don't keep up, it is clear that we will get left behind! It is scary to think how dependant we have become on today's advancing technology. The more advanced technology becomes, the less things we have to do ourselves. "Eventually, it seems possible that mobile phones might play the role of a kind of supplementary brain". What do you think?

I hope you are all as fascinated by Augmented Reality as I am! Enjoy reading the article everyone!!

Offline/Online: it's a fine Line

It seems the age of technology is so prevalant even our police force feel the need to get involved.

An article released by the BBC in 2007, speaks of a 'virtual theft' that occurred online which led to a real life arrest. The article discusses how a 17 year old stole 4,000Euros worth of virtual furniture on the site Habbo to refurnish his own online environment. The reason this theft was punishable by "real-life" laws is because the items purchased on this online community were bought with real money.

This particular article mirrors many of the topics discussed in this week's tute. How far is too far online, and what act's should or will result in real life punishment? In this case it seems the difference that lead to an arrest, as opposed to Mr Bungle's escape, is the fact that physical entities were involved (money.) It seems damage that can be labelled objectively (such as financial damage as opposed to psychological damage) is the key.

Although I find it an absurd thought to invest money into virtual environments (or at least a virtual product I can not hold, wear, or physically experience - I guess that last point can be debated,) it was the ending of this article that really shocked and appalled me. Apparently a man in China was murdered for the theft of an online virtual object. This vicious crime is a wonderful example of how involved people can become in an online world. I would hate to judge online-gamers or condemn the virtual world that offers them so much joy, but it has to be said that in some cases extreme involvement with online communities can be unhealthy. The examples given in this story make one point very clear to me: we are very much a Cyborg Race.

Creating Your Cyber-Self

For my reflection on a news story or weblog, I'm going to discuss an article called "Creating Your Cyber-Self"

From BBC online, this article, published in November 2000 discusses the new technology of scanning oneself to create a virtual 3D image that can represent you online. I thought it was interesting because whilst it was written in 2000, several times in the article it discusses how this new technology will revolutionize the way we represent ourselves online. They claim that the technology, which will be ready in a year to eighteen months, will have us putting a 3D version of ourselves in different forums all over the internet and in the gaming world offline. Sadly, this didn't happen. Whilst the technology may have been developed, there has been no significant or obvious integration of this technology into the average persons daily internet use. Nowhere do I find myself seeing or experiencing an identical digital version of myself online.

I think this is interesting because of several things. Firstly, I think it reflects peoples desire to maintain a certain amount of anonymity online. People don't want others online to have a complete digitised image of themselves to talk to. Yes, we find ourselves more and more talking via webcams, on programs like Skype, but I think that that reflects our desire for human contact with each other, rather than our desire to have a version of ourselves posted up there on the internet for all to see.

I also think that people are saying here that whilst they like to have a sense of the person they're interacting with online, they realise that a virtual scan of someone is not that person, but rather just that, a virtual scan of them. It seems that it is integrally different to have a photo of oneself (a true and accurate snapshot of a moment in that persons history) online, rather than a 3d image. I think the image suggests a certain loss of humanity, rather than a gain in humanising technology, which is why I think it never took off.

I think this article is also pertinent in its dealings with personal information. Whilst we seem to all be happy to represent ourselves online via websites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace via text and graphic media, there seems to be a recognition of the fact that we would be able to manage the flow and use of information about ourselves online. If a digital image of ourselves, accurate from head to foot, was to be available to others on the internet, personally I would be scared people would start stealing my image. Its ironic, because we publish so many images of ourselves online all the time, but the concept of someone having that kind of data about me- the exact proportions and measurements of my own body- feels like too much to let loose on the internet. But maybe that's just my own irrational insecurities, because realistically if someone wanted to steal my identity there is surely more than enough information on me available already online.

On that lovely thought, I'll say farewell :)

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

“THE WRITING BALL IS A THING LIKE ME: MADE OF IRON
YET EASILY TWISTED ON JOURNEYS.
PATIENCE AND TACT ARE REQUIRED IN ABUNDANCE
AS WELL AS FINE FINGERS TO USE US."

“Our writing tools are also working on our thoughts.”

--Nietzsche

In what should be terrifying news for self-declared technophobes, the internet is devastatingly (and perhaps irreversibly) changing the way we think. The reason for this is simply the way information is given to us on the web. The huge proliferation of blogs, many with posts of only a few paragraphs; news feeds; multiple tabs; and status updates limited to 420 characters in length – these things may be making us stupid. This superabundance of readily available and instantly accessible information seems to destroy our ability to concentrate on longer texts. We skim, but don’t read. There is too much out there to sit and think about what we have just finished reading. In short, we are being trained – programmed, if you will – to think in a new way, a way that is incompatible with the style of thinking that has been common to most humans throughout history. Taking this argument to the extreme, it will not be long before people will find it a great struggle to get through one of the books that populate our libraries.

The Net is not all awesomeness and unicorns. It is no doubt a great thing that people can access a lot of information, that groups can form and exert power that would not ordinarily be available to them IRL. This paper, though, shows the dark side of the Net. Haraway, for one, recognized that such a side existed. But whereas for her, not being at all a determinist about technology, the new sources of oppression and other problems were the structured relations among people, now it seems like the technology itself threatens us.

Of course, we have always had this relationship with technology, especially that technology surrounding communication. Plato feared that writing would destroy our intelligence, because we would not carry information around in our heads, but only give the impression of having knowledge. Gutenberg’s press faced the same arguments. Nietzsche, using an early typewriter so he could write while going blind, wrote to a friend about how the machine guided his thoughts. And our current communication technologies have always given us the metaphors we use to describe the mind.

This may mark me as a Luddite, but the possibility of becoming a pancake person scares the shit out of me. Even as I write this in one of the eleven tabs open in this browser, I fear that my cognitive abilities are slipping in a way that cannot be accounted for by stress and sleep loss. We may have always been cyborgs, but I never signed up for this. My only hope is that there is a way to make the most of the Net’s liberating potential without losing contact with history, without losing my mind.