Blogging
I think that in general transferring the tutorials to blogs was a very good idea since it tied in very well with the rest of the unit.I personally am quite familiar with this form of online communication, but I guess there were others who weren't and this was quite a good possibility of 'experimenting' with it a bit.
Unfortunately, our blog didn't really go very well. Not a lot of discussions were created and in general there were a lot more people in our face-to-face tutes that were up for discussions (which were always really good). So I don't know why that happened.
Am I a cyborg?
The clearest answer to this I guess is 'yes'. I mean, we all use so many technical enhancements that I doubt there is anyone in this class who isn't a cyborg in that way. I have to say though that I still have a bit of a problem with 'accepting' that idea. I mean, technically, when I use a pen to write something down that makes me a cyborg. This is the part I cannot really relate to because then everything that goes beyond our natural state of 'being naked and living in caves' makes us a cyborg. However, I think that the cyborg-question is definitely one that's relevant asking, especially in this day and age. To me, the idea is very abstract though. I probably am a cyborg. I just wonder whether I can find a person on this earth who isn't then. And I am also undecided whether that's a good or a bad thing.
Evaluation of the Unit in general
I enjoyed the unit because it gave me insights into the world of cyberspace and ideas about it that I never came across before or never really thought about before. In that sense it triggered a bit of a re-thinking. In general, however, I also feel that some of the things we discussed were a bit redundant, in the sense that I still feel that most of the (power) structures (politics, race, gender, etc.) that we have in real live are simply mirrored online. It is not like the internet 'invented' all these things. It was interesting to read and discuss in which way cyberspace overcomes or reinforces those power structures though. I really enjoyed that!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Week 12 Reflective Post
Weblogs
I really enjoyed writing on the blog and thought it was a great to do something so different to all my other units. Some weeks I was craving more discussion on the blog, as I didn’t really feel like our tut did it justice – which surprised me since I thought we had some good discussions in the face to face tuts, and also some tech savvy personal bloggers in out tut group. I wondered if, in addition to a blog/instead of, we could have a sort of chat room where we’d chat online in real time, say in the tut time; maybe that would have generated more discussion.
Cyborgs
I had never considered myself a cyborg before this course, but after learning the concept, and writing my webliography, I have decided that we are all cyborgs. It is amazing how technology is everywhere, yet almost invisible at the same time, melting into our everyday life. You only have to go a few days [or maybe hours!] without a laptop or a mobile phone to see how they sort of become a part of you[!], not to mention all the bodily enhancements that seem so normal to us.
The unit in general
I really enjoyed this unit, I’m a women’s studies major and this is my last ever women’s studies and also Arts unit, so I’m glad it was a fun one. All the topics were pretty interesting, but things I liked best were reading the excepts of the Cyberpunk novels, and thinking about how some things that were once science fiction inform science and technological developments and become a part of our daily lives! I liked the culture-jamming topic as well, and thought that all the workshops were great.
I really enjoyed writing on the blog and thought it was a great to do something so different to all my other units. Some weeks I was craving more discussion on the blog, as I didn’t really feel like our tut did it justice – which surprised me since I thought we had some good discussions in the face to face tuts, and also some tech savvy personal bloggers in out tut group. I wondered if, in addition to a blog/instead of, we could have a sort of chat room where we’d chat online in real time, say in the tut time; maybe that would have generated more discussion.
Cyborgs
I had never considered myself a cyborg before this course, but after learning the concept, and writing my webliography, I have decided that we are all cyborgs. It is amazing how technology is everywhere, yet almost invisible at the same time, melting into our everyday life. You only have to go a few days [or maybe hours!] without a laptop or a mobile phone to see how they sort of become a part of you[!], not to mention all the bodily enhancements that seem so normal to us.
The unit in general
I really enjoyed this unit, I’m a women’s studies major and this is my last ever women’s studies and also Arts unit, so I’m glad it was a fun one. All the topics were pretty interesting, but things I liked best were reading the excepts of the Cyberpunk novels, and thinking about how some things that were once science fiction inform science and technological developments and become a part of our daily lives! I liked the culture-jamming topic as well, and thought that all the workshops were great.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Alice’s Presentation – Smart mobs: the power of the mobile many, Howard Rheingold
Hi everyone,
I'm presenting in class on Friday, so don't forget to come along for out last FTF tut and hopefully some great discussion. Here's what we'll be discussing so you can all come prepared :)
Smart mobs are groups of people who are able to communicate and act quickly using wireless communicative and broadcasting technologies.
“Location-sensing wireless organisers, wireless networks and community supercomputing collectives all have one thing in common: they enable people to act together in new ways and in situations where collective action was not possible before.” (p191)
An example of this phenomenon was Manila residents political demonstration which caused the fall of the Philippines government in 2001 – 20,000 people assembled in 75 minutes through waves of text messaging: ‘Go 2EDSA, Wear blck.’
Activism on this scale relies on many small units of people organising around a shared goal, and using mobile communications to quickly come together from different directions (pp193-194)
Protesters in Seattle against the WTO used “radios, police scanners and portable computers. Protesters in the street with wireless Palm Pilots were able to link into continuously updated web pages giving reports from the streets. Police scanners monitored transmissions and provided some warning of changing police tactics. Cell phones were widely used.” (p193)
Action taken in Seattle and Manila and other places have been termed ‘netwars,’ a mode of action used by both social activists and criminal/terrorist organisations. So there are positive and negative uses of smart mob tactics and technologies.
There is a potential for ‘peer-to-peer journalism’ from phones and other devices used at protests where film footage can instantly be uploaded to the web. (p196)
Smart mob tactics can prompt many people to act and cause ‘massive outbreaks of coorperation,’ which can definitely have positive outcomes, but can also be unpleasant: ‘Lynch mobs and entire nations cooperate to perpetuate atrocities.’ (p197)
Questions for discussion:
What are the implications of ‘peer-to-peer’ journalism that is possible because of mobile technologies? Might this change how traditional forms of media report? Or how we get our information?
How might these technologies be used in positive ways to keep/make governments/corporations accountable to citizens?
How might society change through these mobile technologies?
Are we more connected than ever before? Less connected? Differently connected?
Would receiving a text message like ‘Go 2 Frst Ch, Wear blk’ mobilise you for action?
I'm presenting in class on Friday, so don't forget to come along for out last FTF tut and hopefully some great discussion. Here's what we'll be discussing so you can all come prepared :)
Smart mobs are groups of people who are able to communicate and act quickly using wireless communicative and broadcasting technologies.
“Location-sensing wireless organisers, wireless networks and community supercomputing collectives all have one thing in common: they enable people to act together in new ways and in situations where collective action was not possible before.” (p191)
An example of this phenomenon was Manila residents political demonstration which caused the fall of the Philippines government in 2001 – 20,000 people assembled in 75 minutes through waves of text messaging: ‘Go 2EDSA, Wear blck.’
Activism on this scale relies on many small units of people organising around a shared goal, and using mobile communications to quickly come together from different directions (pp193-194)
Protesters in Seattle against the WTO used “radios, police scanners and portable computers. Protesters in the street with wireless Palm Pilots were able to link into continuously updated web pages giving reports from the streets. Police scanners monitored transmissions and provided some warning of changing police tactics. Cell phones were widely used.” (p193)
Action taken in Seattle and Manila and other places have been termed ‘netwars,’ a mode of action used by both social activists and criminal/terrorist organisations. So there are positive and negative uses of smart mob tactics and technologies.
There is a potential for ‘peer-to-peer journalism’ from phones and other devices used at protests where film footage can instantly be uploaded to the web. (p196)
Smart mob tactics can prompt many people to act and cause ‘massive outbreaks of coorperation,’ which can definitely have positive outcomes, but can also be unpleasant: ‘Lynch mobs and entire nations cooperate to perpetuate atrocities.’ (p197)
Questions for discussion:
What are the implications of ‘peer-to-peer’ journalism that is possible because of mobile technologies? Might this change how traditional forms of media report? Or how we get our information?
How might these technologies be used in positive ways to keep/make governments/corporations accountable to citizens?
How might society change through these mobile technologies?
Are we more connected than ever before? Less connected? Differently connected?
Would receiving a text message like ‘Go 2 Frst Ch, Wear blk’ mobilise you for action?
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