News and Technology

21^st century is the age of information technology where 24/7 news circulations is the order of the day. Gone are those days where a morsel of information took days and months to reach the recipient. For instance, Pheidippides ran over 25 miles in a single day to bring news of the Greek victory at the Battle of Marathon. In the late 80's the cult of Pigeon Post was also common in Europe as also in subcontinent nations.

Each and every day 'something' in happening in and around the world that needs an attention. Thanks to media and technology this events/incidents are audible, visible, timely and easily reachable. Starting from Floods, famines in a country to massive annihilation of a city due to bombings, victory of a nation in sporting events, weather forecast to Royal Wedding- all comes under the huge cloud of information, yclept as 'NEWS'.

So, What is News?

 It is "new information about a subject of some public interest that is shared with some portion of the public.”- Mitchell Stephens¹

Kurt Loder, an American journalist said- “well, news is anything that’s interesting, that relates to what's happening in the world, what's happening in areas of the culture that would of interest to your audience.”

The copious amount of work devoted in circulations of news is an understatement to justify how much societal commitment news have become. The role of journalist in such a scenario has become important. Kovach and Rosenstiel (2006) charted few codes depicting the purpose of good journalism, like obligation to the truth, loyalty to the citizens, discipline of verification, independent monitor of power, keeping the news comprehensive and proportional and so on. However, MoJo (Mobile Journalism) and CJ (Citizen Journalism) have altered the styles and standards of conventional journalism. The practice of Citizen Journalism and social networking has made the work of journalism much easier and effective. Content is the king, there’s no need to maintain very high journalistic standards. The over use of news circulating in various media outlets can give rise to a glug of news, which Prof Garry Whannel terms as Vortextuality. Also, there are chances, of improper and derogatory journalism, a sort of plagiarism in a bad way called Churnalism; popularized by Nick Davies in Flat Earth News.

Reference:

1)      Class Presentation by Steven in Uni of Beds (2011).

Images Reference:

http://newswriting.pbworks.com/f/1298516108/old_typewriter.jpg [Accessed: 05-12-2011]

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/Violin/Violin0802/Violin080200017/2496867-computer-keyboard--key-news-conceptual-technology-background.jpg[Accessed:05-12-2011]

http://www.unsaint.org/Main.files/wtc_005.jpg [Accessed: 05-12-2011]

http://www.nitro-digital.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/billboard12.jpg [Accessed: 05-12-2011]

http://bealesblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/mojo.jpg [Accessed: 05-12-201]

Studying Digital Games

Cyber-Culture remains incomplete without the study of digital games. The genre can be simplified into the difference between ‘Narratology’ versus ‘Ludology’.

Narratology is the understanding of the game in terms of narrative structure, agency, characters and plot.¹ Janet Murray's Hamlet on the Holodeck narrates; the future of Narrative in Cyberspace is the first medium/book where 'Cyberdrama' has been preached. Stories define how we think, play and understand our lives. Murray discusses the unique properties and pleasures of digital environments and connects them with the traditional satisfaction of narrative.

Ludology on the other hand was coined as a popular expression.² It denotes the study of the games in general, where Ludus, comes from a Latin word means game, and logos is a Greek word which has many meanings but most appropriately be translated into reasoning, science or also measurement. Thus, it is understood primarily as the scientific measurement of play activity excluding the interpretations of humanities debate about gaming based on scientific understanding of gaming based on experimental data.

Some of the key terms like Agency, Aporia and Epiphany can help further for understandings,

Agency:  In an ergodics an action is developed by the player during his/her interaction with the game, and not as a pre-defined sequence of events that cannot be modified. Taken from Action Theory, Brenda Laurel defines agency as “the power to take action” while Murray³ goes further and claims that agency is the feeling that one has an effect in the system.

Aporia & Epiphany:  Taking the participation of the player into action, Aarseth advocates a view that the basic structure of any ergodic art form is dialectic between aporia and epiphany. Aarseth, claims that Aporias are NOT ‘semantic gaps that hinder the interpretation of work” but instead “localizable” “roadblocks” that must be overcome by some unknown combination of actions.’ And epiphany is a sudden, unexpected solution to the impasse of the event space. Other importance aspects of this study being Steven Poole's- Videogame Incoherence where he discusses the concepts of Incoherence of Causality, Incoherence of function and Incoherence of Space.¹ 

Some of the common methodologies for studying digital games are as follows: - Richard Bartle's- Four Suits, Erving Goffman's Frame Analysis, Robert A. Stebbins- Serious Leisure and Jonas Heide Smith's Game Theory.

References:

1)      Class Presentation by Steven in Uni of Beds (2011).

2)      Frasca, G. (1999). LUDOLOGY MEETS NARRATOLOGY: Similitude and differences between (video) games and narrative. [Online]. Available from: http://www.ludology.org/articles/ludology.htm [Accessed: 04-12-2011]

3)      Murray, J.H. (1997). Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. New York: The Free Pres.

Images Reference:

http://cultureandcommunication.org/tdm/nmrs/fa1/files/2010/11/ludologyfightnight.jpg [Accessed: 04-12-2011]

https://depts.washington.edu/critgame/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/keywords_wordle_2.jpg  [Accessed: 04-12-2011]

http://mmogsandyourteen.org/pics/diversity_char.gif  [Accessed: 04-12-2011]

 

Intellectual Property Rights

“Intellectual Property Rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.” The creations of mind are like inventions, industrial design for article, literacy and artistic work, symbols that are used in commerce.

Intellectualproperty rights are broadly divided into two categories: Industrial property and Copyright. Industrial property includes features like inventions, trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source. On the other hand, Copyright includes literacy and artistic works such as novels, poems, plays, films and musical works etc.

In contemporary digital, multimedia, cyber-world; IPRs is extensively growing phenomenon and proved its importance over the time to safeguard the intellectual capital and intangible assets. Therefore, “individuals, firms and the public sector are using IPRs to privatize knowledge-based assets and creative expressions.”¹  

WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) defines further the boundaries of IRPs. WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook: Policy, Law and Use; classify additionally the needs, importance and legal aspects of intellectual property rights.

A Common person may also benefit from this IP rights. IP rights reward creativity and human endeavor which fuel the progress of humankind. For instance, the huge source of entertainment world, the multibillion dollar film, recording, publishing and software industries that devote their work in bringing pleasure to millions of people worldwide- would not exist without copyright protection. And since the patent system provides rewards, researchers and inventors gets extra incentives to continue producing better and more efficient products for consumers.

References:

1-      Andersen, B. (ed.) (2006). Intellectual property rights: innovation, governance and the institutional Environment. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

Image References:

http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/images/ipr.gif [Accessed: 30-11-2011]

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/usinfo/30145/ejs/ipr_600.jpg [Accessed: 30-11-2011]

http://www.second-man.com/wp-content/uploads/Ryan/iprightscampaign/ip_ad_worth_protecting.jpg [Accessed: 30-11-2011]

The Showcase of WEB 2.0

Exactly 20 years ago, scientists at CERN developed a "group work tool" called WEB into a global information space with more than billions of users. With time, it has entered a new phase which is more social and participatory. Web has entered its second phase- a new, improved Web version 2.0.

"Web 2.0 is a term you love to hate or hate to love but either way; you'll know you'll get folk's attention by saying it."¹

Web 2.0 is more than a set of 'cool' and new technologies and services. Michael Platt offers five powerful ideas at its heart that are changing the way of people's interaction. These are defining characteristics¹ of Web 2.0:-

·         Network and devices as a platform

·         Data consumption and remixing from all sources including user generated data

·         Continuous update

·         Rich and interactive UI

·         Architecture of participation

Tim Berners-Lee the creator of World Wide Web maintains that Web 2.0 is really just an extension of the original ideals of the Web that does not warrant a special moniker. Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that deals with the services like:

·         User generated design: A web design that fulfils the need of end user and empowers the user to perform certain customizations within the design.²

·         Crowd-sourcing: Millions of contributors lead a website to state of higher relevance.

·         Dynamic content

·         Power decentralization- It is self service model.

·         Web as a platform- It doesn't require a client download condition. No matter what operation system you use, it doesn't hamper web2.0 applications.

However, its specialty lies in the technology of interactivity. In a Prosumer model, producer and consumer both have equal say and importance in a virtual community. The concept of Folksonomy (Folk + Taxsonomy) is often used in social networking for example in facebook as photo tagging.

Web 1.0 was all about connectivity, while Web 2.0 is a piece of jargon which doesn't have any fixed definition but it is supposed to be relationship of people to people and the importance of user ownership of data.

References:

1)      Class Presentation by Dr. Gavin Stewart in Uni of Beds.

2)      Kidd, T. T. & Chen, I. L. (Eds.) (2009). Wired for learning: an educator's guide to web 2.0. USA: Information Age Publishing Inc.

Images References:

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/249213_10150274946379940_116337554939_7345964_7031644_a.jpg

[Accessed: 23/11/2011]

http://flatclassroom10-1.flatclassroomproject.org/file/view/web2_0.png

[Accessed: 23/11/2011]

http://www.webdesignworlds.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Web-2.0-5.jpg

[Accessed: 23/11/2011]

http://electronicportfolios.com/web2/class/web-2.0-concept.jpg

[Accessed: 23/11/2011]

Cyberculture: An Introduction

It is the study of the cultural practices¹ constructed (in relationship) with digital devices. The word ‘Cyber’ refers to the science of ‘cybernetics’, is derived from Greek verb “Kubernao”, which means to “to steer”, in present context it means “to govern”. It connotes the idea of navigation through a space of electronic data and also a knowhow of controlling it, achieved by manipulating the data. Culture studies is a vast field of literary study that devotes in the understanding of the ways a meaning is generated, disseminated and produced and commonly includes the social phenomenon of ideology, ethnicity, class, gender and sexual orientation².

In understanding the vast subject of cyber-culture it is imperative to understand the key concepts and terminology associated with it, for example- Cyborg , Virtual Reality, Cyber text, Ubiquitous computing, Web 2.0 technology, California ideology , etc.
The concept of Cyber-Space is also essential. When we say we are in office, that denotes a location where the building is situated, but where is the exact location, when we say ‘I am online’. Cyber-space is a virtual space where communication appears to occur. The term was first coined by William Gibson where he described his vision of a global computer network, linking all people, machines and sources of information in the world, and through which one can move or navigate as through a virtual space². Cyber activities and sciences are best venture of new media. The distinguishing feature that makes it different from all other Medias is its domain of ‘interactivity’. The audience can communicate with the content, program, person via digital interface.

It’s a new accessible communication space and certainly can’t claim that everything digital is “good” , the issue doesn’t remain whether we are for or against technology, but “whether we recognize the qualitative changes in the ecology of signs, the unfamiliar environment that results from the extension of new communication networks throughout social and cultural life.”³

References:

1)      Lamal, P. A. (Ed.) (1997). Cultural contingencies: Behavior analytic perspectives on cultural practices. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

2)      Class Presentation of Dr. Gavin Stewart in Uni of Beds.

3)      Levy, P. (2001). Cyberculture. Translated by: Robert Bononno. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (p. X)
Image References:
1) http://www.erowid.org/library/books/images/chaos_cyberculture.jpg
[Accessed: 14-11-2011]
2) http://www.artie.com/cm/art/artists/barclayshaw/neuromancer.jpg
[Accessed: 14-11-2011

Information and the Organism

One of the cogent distinctions that separates the notion that machines can do everything what a human can do is ‘humans can think’¹while a machines doesn't possess self-thinking creative prowess. Human beings have the power to “perceive, understand, predict and manipulate” which makes them superior species. AI attempts "not just to understand but also to build intelligent entities." ²

John McCarthy, 1956 describes the phenomenon of Artificial Intelligence as the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.¹

Artificial Intelligence is the study and design of intelligent agents, where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions which maximize its chances of success. The application of it has been successfully conducted on ‘cyborgs’ and the concept is referred as ‘cybernetics’ after the name of the book Cybernatics: Or Control and Communication in the animal and the Machine written by Norbert Wierner.

The hallmark of this creation is dependent on ‘body modification’ explored by Kevin Warwick, Stelarc and Samppa Von cyborg. They argued that body modification is an ever evolving structure. In this regard, robotic limbs, microchip implants are only the start of a new dawn.  However, the thing that stands apart is ‘intelligence’. 

"Intelligence is the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world. Varying kinds and degrees of intelligence occur in people, many animals and some machines."³ But, the problem is it is hard to generalize "what kind of computational procedures we want to call intelligent." Thereby a question arises- "Are machines intelligent or not?"

Simple answer-NO. Computers carry only those tasks that require only mechanisms that are well understood today. Sometimes machines acts as simulating human intelligence but not always.

A computer works hundred times faster and they possess long term memories than homo-sapiens but, they don't possess IQ or Intelligent quotient.

It is nearly impossible to analyze the performance of human level intelligence; hence it is a conjecture than robots/androids will catch up the power of normal human intelligence one day. The attempts are featured in films like the Terminator series, Matrix etc but this still far from reality.

References:

1)Class Presentation of Dr. Gavin Stewart on 4^th Nov 2011 in Uni of Beds.

2)Stuart j. Russell. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. [Online] Available from: http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/artificial_intelligence_quotes_ii.html

[Accessed: 08/11/2011]

3)McCarthy, J. (2007). What is artificial intelligence? [Online]. Available from: http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/whatisai/node1.html

[Accessed: 07/11/2011]

Image References:

1)http://www.philosophyofinformation.net/blog/uploaded_images/ai-callan-709542.jpg
[Accessed: 08/11/2011]
2) http://farm1.static.flickr.com/120/299078131_507febc71a.jpg
[Accessed: 08/11/2011]

Ubiquitous Computing & Surveillance

Ubiquitous Computing¹ is often known as the age of "calm technology" as it refers to the phase when technology recedes into the background of our lives. Often coined as "Third Paradigm", it is roughly the opposite of virtual reality. In a virtual real world, people are forced to live inside a computer-generated world; Ubiquitous Computing forces the computer to live out here in the world with people².

In the context of new media ubiquity refers the massive extent and growth of digital devices, its density and interconnectedness of networks. The proliferation of digital devices (mobile phones, mp3 players, sat nav systems etc) has developed to that extent where the computers act as an embedded function of our physical environments³.

Amidst new media and cyber generated world, it is important to maintain our identity. Due to this ubiquity, there is a chance that identity of an individual can get hacked through cyber crimes. To protect the identity of a person, so that other person cannot hack the data the imminent need for a surveillance society. Surveillance is two-sided, and its benefits must be acknowledged. Yet at the same risks and dangers are always present in large-scale systems and of course power does corrupt or at least skews the vision of those who wield it. The use of CCTV in shops and other public places, chip & pin in banking, use of barcodes, RFID are actually close observation of a person taking primary concern of safety and privacy⁴.

If this safety can be prevailed, then Ubiquitous Computing is a revelation. Embedding computation into everyday objects and simultaneously interactions will only benefit the society in terms of progress and communication. Everyone wants a private life. Also, Ubiquitous Computing has become necessary. In such a scenario, issues of surveillance, read as safety and privacy protections are good for everyone.

References:

1)     Youtube Video: Ubiquitous Technology. [Online]. Available from:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysJAMQgwma8

[Accessed at:3/11/2011]

2)      Ubiquitous Computing [Online]. Available from: http://www.ubiq.com/ubicomp/

 [Accessed at: 3/11/2011]

3)      Class Presentation of Dr. Gavin Stewart in Uni of Beds

4)      Wood, M. D. (ed.) (2006). A report on the Surveillance Society. [Online]. Available from: http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/surveillance_society_full_report_2006.pdf [Accessed:2/11/2011]

Image Reference:

http://www.tokyo-ubinavi.jp/en/image/jikken_image.gif [Accessed: 2/11/2011]