Get Down Off that Camel

A few things: Logistically, the 95 theses bother me, immensely. As introduced in the forward, the point of the book and theses is to present the some of the most fundamental issues of business operation in networked world in a clear, concise way but with humor. Frankly, there is nothing clear or concise about the theses and they're not funny either. It is as if there were drafted in a paragraph and then split up line by line. So while some of the points can operate on their own, the majority depend on previous lines for context and explanation. I hope the actual chapters are not put together in this haphazard manner.

A few I liked:

73. You're invited, but it's our world. Take your shoes off at the door. If you want to barter with us, get down off that camel!

32. Smart markets will find suppliers who speak their own language.

74. We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.

Map of Online Communities

Click Here to Start

Ok, so I know that this is may seem infantile and I know that this is coming from a non-theorist/newbie in general...but I really don't think that the chart is that hard to comprehend. After the discussion in class (and the more interesting one that happened out of class) I went back and read and re-read the section entitled America (On Civilization III). The more I read it, the more I came to understand that the Fig. C is a pictorial representation of the entire chapter, but not one that hides a deeper meaning depending on how you read it. I believe that in the paragraphs within America, Wark sets up exactly how he wants you to read and analize the chart. He starts off in [052] by defining the x-axis of the 'graph'. "History is a story and geography an image of this topography, in which the boundaries are forever being expanded and redrawn." Wark defines the x-axis as time and each column as a specifc medium that "opens toward certain [specific] possibilities". But media that have been transformed through time. Each medium allows for a certain outcomes but each is also the starting point for the next, chronologically.

"The world of possibility is the world internal to the algorithim. So: a passage, mediated by the novel, from the topic to the topographic; a passage, mediated by television, from the topographic to the topological; a passage, medited by the game, from the topological to as yet unknown spaces..."

Fig. C exists to show the progression of media through time but with examples to show the direct application. The levels mentioned in the chapter parallel the changing complexity of the media and the thought processes/questions needed to achieve that new medium. Life gets progressively more complicated as the once straight lines of the place then of the map are folded onto one another to create a new space. "The line makes topics, maps them into the topographic, then folds the topographic into a digital topology...At each level of the actual unfolding of the line across the world, it offers a glimpse of the virtual in its own image." The simplicity of the story and the line is lost to the complexity of the game. "The question of the form of the game cannot be separated from the question of the form of the world - of gamespace."

Gamer Theory

Firstly, I like this book...I think. But I don't really think that it is conducive to the types of discussion that we are used to having. Judging from many posts and comments, it is a pretty good assessment to say that the majority of the class is confused and/or frustrated with the book. I am definitely among them. While I realize that I am judging this book from a place of very far down on the theory totem pole, I don't think that some aspects of this book are really as complicated as some would have us believe. I do understand that some of the points require a different kind of thinking and application to comprehend them, they are not necessarily hard.

Class Blog 11/18/08

12:06 - the human element. how are you?

12:08 - if gamespace is __ how does the critique work?

12:16 - Paragraph 23. bring back the human aspect back to the gamespace? Wark is critical of the digital in that there are only two choices - yes/no, 0/1...theres no room for maybe. Challenge the digital binary to get more from it. Digitization is the further establishment of stark choices. The largest problem w/ digitization is that fact.....no fluidity, no freedom to move between choices. We have to work on the gap betweent the 0 and the 1. Space within the binary.

The Right Way for E-Waste

For the Digitally Deceased, a Profitable Graveyard

There is something poignant about the process, the systematic destruction of these unwanted, in some cases never used, components. One more reminder of our disposable society.

Finding ways to dispose of America’s increasingly large stream of e-waste is difficult: an estimated 133,000 computers are discarded by homes and businesses every day. In a 2006 report, the International Association of Electronics Recyclers estimated that about 400 million pieces of e-waste are scrapped each year. And while some prominent manufacturers, like Dell and Hewlett-Packard, have agreed to recycle their own equipment, such programs have so far made only a modest difference.

Ms. Kyle’s organization estimates that there are roughly 1,100 businesses in the United States and Canada that dispose of used electronic equipment, but that only a small percentage try to do it in an environmentally friendly way.

The company’s pledge to recycle with minimal environmental impact was another reason Hempstead was sold on e-Scrap. That impact could be enormous — for instance, the picture tubes in computer monitors and television sets can contain up to 10 pounds of lead, a toxic substance.

“We have a zero landfill policy,” Mr. Feinstein said, “and so do all our vendors.” He said he visited MaSeR periodically to ensure that the material was fully recycled.

Insult

Why Osama Doesn't Have A Facebook Account

Why Osama Doesn't Have a Facebook Account:

Al Qaeda may have been a pioneer in exploiting new media to spread propaganda and recruit members. But now, many experts feel the terror group is falling behind. Despite all the hand-wringing in U.S. intelligence circles, Osama & Co. don't seem to be comfortable with Web 2.0-style applications. Marc Lynch explains why, in a must-read post. Here's a snip:

Social networking: one of the biggest problems for a virtual network like AQ today is that it needs to build connections between its members while protecting itself from its enemies. That's a filtering problem: how do you get your people in, and keep intelligence agents out? An AQMonster.com database would be easy pickings - an online list of all the 'explosives experts' would be a gift to intelligence, no? An AQFacebook or AQSpace might create an identifiable universe of jihadist sympathizers, but again would probably help intelligence agencies as much as AQ. Perhaps an AQLinkedIn model, where members need to be recommended by a current member would reproduce the low-tech approach of allowing in trusted members and keeping out unknown quantities. This could potentially strengthen the 'organization' part... but at the expense of a greater distance from the pool of potential recruits who would not be sufficiently trusted to join. Overall it's hard to see how AQ could adapt social networking without creating such vulnerabilities. Its rivals, on the other hand, have no such problems - Muslim Brotherhood youth are all over Facebook.

Mobile, Mutable, Mixed and Mashed

Live Blog of Class 11/11/08

12:12 - media available to forward/send, tag/archive, searchable

12:18 - Bruns and Becky, Brandon, and Corey

12:32 - threat level? Really?...just say no. have had polarized news a while now. debate requires conflict. Bruns views ultimately require homogenity. problem is that mainstream media produces polarization and if they would simply get out of the way the population would naturally move together. blogs dont need to appeal to the masses.

12:37 - what about the social networking sites?

12:41 - if a group reaches consensus, any outlier who comes into that rhelm with a different view point they will be seen as a troll. Shirky and power laws

12:43 - myface and spacebook :). facebook is not for deliberation but for linking, expansion, forwarding of information. accessibility.

1:10 - Tools, France, or games?


Final list:
-- link/org
-- circulation -> advertising, forwarding/sending
-- niche networks
-- user generated, engaging
-- tag archive, searchable, accessibility
-- updating frequency
-- YouTube
-- don't forget the useless, playful, absorbing

Generation O

Presidential Election Delivers on Promise of New Generation of Voters

"Government under Mr. Obama, they believe would value personal disclosure and transparency in the mode of social-networking sites. Teamwork would be in fashion, along with a strict meritocracy."

"The point is that that communication technology is the tool that makes all things possible, from hook-ups and pop songs to protests or the president of their choice."

"There's a lot of attention deficit with this generation. You have to keep people engage and active because its a highly technical society and there are lots of ways to distract our minds."

Change.gov

In an effort to keep the internet momentum going....change.gov

"Share your story and your idea and be part of bringing positive lasting change to this country."

Obama and Hip-Hop Politics

Live Blog 11/6/08

12:03 - continue conversation on Juicy campus? small groups? i dont know about you but it feels like we've had the conversation a million times about hateful facebook groups, emails etc. I might actually be alone in this though.

12:07 - in our little groups. it says a lot about out campus, especially b/c we're so small...everyone knows everyone else's business.

12:16 - not serious enough to have any authority step in. Just a site for "juicy" gossip.

12:28 - too ridiculous, nobody cares

12:31 - consensuses:
- low impact, individual choice, damage already done --> no response necessary.

- the majority of these people are those who want to be talked about, bring it on yourself (a lot of the time), largely for men, shouldnt have HWS input until there are actual threats --) no response

- dont legitimize it, the more you talk about it the bigger it gets.

- seriously guys, i dont care about this....we really need to move on

12:47 - technology in the election--> the hologram on CNN. make the election an interactive spectacle.

12:54 - Obama won b/c of his use of election. emails, social networking, texting, prizes, spurring supporters to take innitiative (bottom up). constant connection and updates.

12:59 - intensity of engagement + feeling of involvement = ?? "in new media you have to believe that it matters."

1:02 - did we help make history? did our generation acutally change anything? did we change the election?

1:11 - sarah palin and tina fey...decreased her credibilty (wait, did she have any to begin w/ ?)

1:18 - bottom up adivertising, "citizen journalism", obama's campaign really utilitzed this

1:19 - metaphor... conceptualize the multiple kinds of media we've seen in the campaigns

Obama Shows Bigger Lead in Polls That Include Cell Phones

Obama Shows Bigger Lead in Polls That Include Cell Phones

Les Obama-McCain Miserables

Machines Set to Count Votes Nationwide Flunk Last-Minute Accuracy Tests

ES&S Voting Machines in Michigan Flunk Tests, Don't Tally Votes Consistently

"The same ballots, run through the same machines, yielded different results each time ... This begs the question -- on Election Day, will the record number of ballots going through the remaining tabulators leave even more build-up on the sensors, affecting machines that tested just fine initially? Could this additional build-up on voting tabulators that have not had any preventative maintain skew vote totals? My understanding is that the problem could occur and election workers would have no inkling that the ballots are being misread."

Uh oh. I foresee the possibility for a 2000 Election 2.0.