"I NEED A COMPUTER!!!!" - Johnny Demonic
History of the Computer
The Men Behind the Computer
- Charles Babbage
- 19th Century "Difference Engine" (first computing machine)
- Designed to calculate and print maths tables
- Alan Turing
- Studied quantum physics, probability and logic
- Wrote crucial paper clarifying the computability of numbers
- he and his team devised the first working computer, 'The Bombe' (which was used to break the german 'Enigma' Codes.
IBM (international business machine) was the first company to commercially produce computers, in the 1950s.
Xerox PARC developed concepts like the mouse, graphical user interface and pull down menus.
1975- the personal computer (PC) was released. it was called 'O'.
Bill Gates started writing a language called BASIC for this PC, so it could be used for programs like word processing, accounting and some games. in order to market his program, he started a little company in his garage- Microsoft. by the end of 1975 more companies had joined the PC industry.
Apple- Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak produced the Apple I (single circuit board, no case and no keyboard)
- Retail price, $US660.60
- they sold 50.
2 years later Apple II was launched in 1978.
IBM & Microsoft
-Open architecture (buying shelf products from a range of other companies and putting them together as a package)
- There are two things needed for the running of a computer- Operating System and the language.
- Gary Kidall (head of Digital research, Imc)
- Bill Gates (owner of Microsoft)
- Kidall wouldn't sign, Gates found and bought an OS (something IMB needed, but he could not give them) which was developed by Tim Patterson for $50,000, and sold OS and language to IBM.
THE INTERNET
"DAWN OF THE NET" anything is possible...
- A network of networks
- Servers, mainframes, PC's and other devices that use CMC (computer mediated communications) technology, interconnected by telephone system, and most recently broad-band cable and satellite services.
-links people around the world into an information-sharing sysytem.
LAN- local area network
- uncontrolled place
- Carries all types of information
Router- Takes information to where they want to go
R/Switch- Directs the the information
Newtwork interface- sends the info to the next level of the internet
Proxy- the middle man
- opens the package of info being sent out to the network
- Acts as security as well
Package- contains the URL
Firewall- serves 2 purposes
- prevents things from coming in and also from going out.
the Cycle
You --> firewall, router --> internet --> your firewall --> find the URL --> and then sends it back to you with the info that you were looking for.
Early internet Applications
-email
- file transfer protocol (FTP)
- IRC (internet relay chat) msn...
More recent
- IM
- Skype
- Peer 2 peer (p2p)
- mp3
- podcasting
I love the internet!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Walter Benjamin
How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?
Art started becoming, less manual and more technological, a long time ago when the camera as invented, and the ‘freeing’ of the hand of its most important artistic functions and handing it over to the action of the eye looking into the lens.
There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?
- Art is defined by the opinion of the artist - Artists don’t have to make art that fits a certain prerequisite; they can just get an image and manipulate it on their own terms. - Digitally produced art is easy to make, but very difficult to master or to make a really excellent piece of artwork.
Is a photoshopped image "authentic"?
No, by altering the image, it becomes replicated and therefore it has become reproduced. The aura of the image has changed. The technique of reproduction takes away the authenticity of the image and erases all meaning of it beforehand, allowing for new meanings and opinions to be made about the newly reproduced image.
Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)? Images taken by a digital camera and music that has been layered with different types of sounds, are not considered to have an ‘aura’ according to Benjamin. Are these digital things unique?
No. digital cameras have automatic flash operations, automated light enhancers, etc. Mp3 files, are layered with different formats, and even the sounds themselves are produced using different sounds, therefore, they are not unique things. they are purely the completions of several processes of reproduction.
"...We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art..."
--Paul Valéry, PIÈCES SUR L 'ART,
[Quoted from Paul Valery, *Aesthetics*, "The Conquest of Ubiquity," translated by Ralph Manheim, p. 225. Pantheon Books, Bollingen Series, New York, 1964.]
Art started becoming, less manual and more technological, a long time ago when the camera as invented, and the ‘freeing’ of the hand of its most important artistic functions and handing it over to the action of the eye looking into the lens.
There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?
- Art is defined by the opinion of the artist - Artists don’t have to make art that fits a certain prerequisite; they can just get an image and manipulate it on their own terms. - Digitally produced art is easy to make, but very difficult to master or to make a really excellent piece of artwork.
Is a photoshopped image "authentic"?
No, by altering the image, it becomes replicated and therefore it has become reproduced. The aura of the image has changed. The technique of reproduction takes away the authenticity of the image and erases all meaning of it beforehand, allowing for new meanings and opinions to be made about the newly reproduced image.
Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)? Images taken by a digital camera and music that has been layered with different types of sounds, are not considered to have an ‘aura’ according to Benjamin. Are these digital things unique?
No. digital cameras have automatic flash operations, automated light enhancers, etc. Mp3 files, are layered with different formats, and even the sounds themselves are produced using different sounds, therefore, they are not unique things. they are purely the completions of several processes of reproduction.
"...We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art..."
--Paul Valéry, PIÈCES SUR L 'ART,
[Quoted from Paul Valery, *Aesthetics*, "The Conquest of Ubiquity," translated by Ralph Manheim, p. 225. Pantheon Books, Bollingen Series, New York, 1964.]
Topic 5
Lecture- "Why I hate wikipedia"
- Jorge and Casares were having dinner one night and came to the conclusion that mirrors have something monstrous about them especially in the late hours of the night.
- Casares recalles that one of the heresiarchs of 'Uqbar' had declared that mirrors and copulation are abominable, because they increase the number of men.
- Jorge asked Casares of the origin of his statement, he replied that it was in the Anglo-American cyclopaedia's article on Uqbar.
- So they looked it up in the Anglo American cyclopaedia's last pages of Volume XLVI and the first few pages of Volume XLVII. they found 'Upsala' and 'Ural'. No Uqbar.
- information being left out of articles
- made up/false stories
- anybody can be anyone they want on wikipedia
- how do we know the truth?
- conjured up conspiracy theories
- at what point does a theory become the truth?
Authors on Wikipedia base themselves around the open admission of "I don't know what I'm talking about and I'm unsure, but here's a link to something that might be useful to you"
"what is real? how do you define real? if you're talking about your senses, what you feel, taste, smell or see, than all you're talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain." - Morpheus. (The Matrix)
What has become of our 'reality'? And what has become of our perception of reality? Is it true? Is it false? With all the surrounding replicas of reality, plus the new technologies we have become familiar with, how do we know what is real?
virtual reality. the goggles, the gloves and the vests. when you become engaged in this world of virtual gaming, do you realize you are battling against robots? a machine. something that is not real. How does this affect you?
Readings
Jorge Luis Borges, Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.
- Jorge and Casares were having dinner one night and came to the conclusion that mirrors have something monstrous about them especially in the late hours of the night.
- Casares recalles that one of the heresiarchs of 'Uqbar' had declared that mirrors and copulation are abominable, because they increase the number of men.
- Jorge asked Casares of the origin of his statement, he replied that it was in the Anglo-American cyclopaedia's article on Uqbar.
- So they looked it up in the Anglo American cyclopaedia's last pages of Volume XLVI and the first few pages of Volume XLVII. they found 'Upsala' and 'Ural'. No Uqbar.
- They found it the next day. The first encyclopedia they looked at had 917 pages, but the second one they found had 920 pages.
- The extra 4 pages containing UQBAR!
- Both encyclopedias were reprints of the tenth Encyclopedia of Britannica.
"Mirrors and fatherhood are abominable because they multiply and disseminate that universe"
Tutorial
Essay Ideas!
- Music industry and the internet
- Are we becoming a virtual youth?
- The internet made me famous!
- Computer games and children
- 24 hour computer game cafes
- Networking over the internet, are we becoming cyberholics? Can we live without myspace, bebo, facebook, msn etc etc.
- iPod, therefore I am.
- Is cyberlife better than real life?
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Topic 4
Lecture [screening of Alphaville]
This film combines French new wave sensibility with a science fiction story line. At first I felt that this movie was a bit too much for my brain to handle, but then as it progressed, with the voice over man guiding me through, I began to slowly conjure up some sort of idea as to what this film was about. A man who is on a mission to stop some sort of evil, technology driven, computer world in Paris. This film almost felt like an old school, badly remixed version of James Bond, and I say almost, because well, it obviously wasn't quite 'Golden eye'. There were guns, sex and a smartly dressed man who oozed suave and charm. The storyline wasn't clear to me until around the middle of the film edging towards the end, this is probably due to my lack of understanding to start off with. I wish that I could've understood the film more in its technical and historical core rather than just its outer casing.
Readings
Film and Screen Glossary
General Information
Film Review
Critical Essay
French New Wave Cinema
Jean-Luc Goddard]
Tutorial
Communication between friends and family via technology.
msn, yahoo messenger, blogs, chatrooms, myspace, bebo, facebook. The list is goes on and on. With these types of communication devices so readily available to myself, I have found that i know more about what is happening in my family. I see their pictures from the weekends, I can see who they are friends with (and who they are not friends with) and I can read their comments (solely for the purpose of making sure they're not hanging with the wrong crowd- no gossiping involved here!) I can see a side to my brother, my sister, my cousins, aunty's and uncle's, i have never seen before, the side where they are hidden behind a computer screen and keyboard, the side where they can be whoever they want to be. And all thanks to this thing we call the world wide web. through these communication mediums, I can keep in touch with family overseas, reconnect with childhood friends and long lost family and also to just hang out online and catch up on what everyone has been up to. I love it.
Through the influence of my older brother and friends, I started using msn when i was 13 years old and i have never looked back! i became a member of myspace at the same time, bebo a year later and facebook just last year. On all these different platforms i have reconnected with a friend from grade 2, an uncle whom i have never met, but have heard alot about from my dad and i have also managed to track down my grandads second wife's children. Did i mention that i love it?
The fact that all this information was handed to me on a world wide platter at the click on the mouse is incredible to me. to look back on how far we've come since the days of telegraphs, telegrams, morse-code, LETTERS! It's amazing where technology has taken us today. To imagine a world without it would be torture. No internet, computers, no msn. NO MYSPACE! i can hear my brain shrieking and my fingers trembling with the fear of never having the joy of typing witty comments. I think it's safe to say, technology has taken over our lives. Well, my life.
This film combines French new wave sensibility with a science fiction story line. At first I felt that this movie was a bit too much for my brain to handle, but then as it progressed, with the voice over man guiding me through, I began to slowly conjure up some sort of idea as to what this film was about. A man who is on a mission to stop some sort of evil, technology driven, computer world in Paris. This film almost felt like an old school, badly remixed version of James Bond, and I say almost, because well, it obviously wasn't quite 'Golden eye'. There were guns, sex and a smartly dressed man who oozed suave and charm. The storyline wasn't clear to me until around the middle of the film edging towards the end, this is probably due to my lack of understanding to start off with. I wish that I could've understood the film more in its technical and historical core rather than just its outer casing.
Readings
Film and Screen Glossary
General Information
Film Review
Critical Essay
French New Wave Cinema
Jean-Luc Goddard]
Tutorial
Communication between friends and family via technology.
msn, yahoo messenger, blogs, chatrooms, myspace, bebo, facebook. The list is goes on and on. With these types of communication devices so readily available to myself, I have found that i know more about what is happening in my family. I see their pictures from the weekends, I can see who they are friends with (and who they are not friends with) and I can read their comments (solely for the purpose of making sure they're not hanging with the wrong crowd- no gossiping involved here!) I can see a side to my brother, my sister, my cousins, aunty's and uncle's, i have never seen before, the side where they are hidden behind a computer screen and keyboard, the side where they can be whoever they want to be. And all thanks to this thing we call the world wide web. through these communication mediums, I can keep in touch with family overseas, reconnect with childhood friends and long lost family and also to just hang out online and catch up on what everyone has been up to. I love it.
Through the influence of my older brother and friends, I started using msn when i was 13 years old and i have never looked back! i became a member of myspace at the same time, bebo a year later and facebook just last year. On all these different platforms i have reconnected with a friend from grade 2, an uncle whom i have never met, but have heard alot about from my dad and i have also managed to track down my grandads second wife's children. Did i mention that i love it?
The fact that all this information was handed to me on a world wide platter at the click on the mouse is incredible to me. to look back on how far we've come since the days of telegraphs, telegrams, morse-code, LETTERS! It's amazing where technology has taken us today. To imagine a world without it would be torture. No internet, computers, no msn. NO MYSPACE! i can hear my brain shrieking and my fingers trembling with the fear of never having the joy of typing witty comments. I think it's safe to say, technology has taken over our lives. Well, my life.
Topic 3
1501ART_3081_GC: Tutorial Task 4: Questions
Search engines used-
visismo.com (V)
yahoo.com (Y)
blackle.com (B)
a9.com (A9)
hotbot.com (HB)
alltheweb.com (A)
1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?
Onel de Guzman (abcnews.go.com) (Y)
2. Who invented the paper clip?
Johaan Vaaler (inventors.about.com) (B)
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
A small river near Northern Zaire near the village where the first isolate of the virus was contained.(standford.edu.au) (V)
4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
Chile. (earthquakearchive.com) (A9)
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
There are 1,073,741,824 kbs in a terabyte. (t1shopper.com) (HB)
6. Who is the creator of email?
Ray Tomlinson (technewreviews.com) (Y)
7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
Computer virus affecting thousands of computers across the world in mid January 2007, affects most windows based platforms. It spread through attachments via email massage and installed Trojan horse onto recipients computer. (snopes.com) (A9)
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of Australia directly,
what is the most efficient way?
E-mail him though his website- pm.gov.au (Y)
9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School
of Arts) a member of?
The Black Assassins, self confessed- ugliest band in Brisbane. (myspace.com) (Y)
10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
Web 2.0 is the platform on which the internet is used. It's like the base of a pizza, and web pages are the toppings.
- Who, or what, makes one page more useful that another one, so that it is at the top of your search results?
They rank them from most relevant to less relevant keywords that we type in. Also, the more mainstream websites probably get more hits so they are more likely to be useful.
- Favorite search engines and why?
Google has to be my all time favourite, just because it was my first search engine. During this task though, i found A9.com, which i really am enjoying. It's a bit more serious than google, and a lot more precise i've found.
Search engines used-
visismo.com (V)
yahoo.com (Y)
blackle.com (B)
a9.com (A9)
hotbot.com (HB)
alltheweb.com (A)
1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?
Onel de Guzman (abcnews.go.com) (Y)
2. Who invented the paper clip?
Johaan Vaaler (inventors.about.com) (B)
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
A small river near Northern Zaire near the village where the first isolate of the virus was contained.(standford.edu.au) (V)
4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
Chile. (earthquakearchive.com) (A9)
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
There are 1,073,741,824 kbs in a terabyte. (t1shopper.com) (HB)
6. Who is the creator of email?
Ray Tomlinson (technewreviews.com) (Y)
7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
Computer virus affecting thousands of computers across the world in mid January 2007, affects most windows based platforms. It spread through attachments via email massage and installed Trojan horse onto recipients computer. (snopes.com) (A9)
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of Australia directly,
what is the most efficient way?
E-mail him though his website- pm.gov.au (Y)
9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School
of Arts) a member of?
The Black Assassins, self confessed- ugliest band in Brisbane. (myspace.com) (Y)
10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
Web 2.0 is the platform on which the internet is used. It's like the base of a pizza, and web pages are the toppings.
- Who, or what, makes one page more useful that another one, so that it is at the top of your search results?
They rank them from most relevant to less relevant keywords that we type in. Also, the more mainstream websites probably get more hits so they are more likely to be useful.
- Favorite search engines and why?
Google has to be my all time favourite, just because it was my first search engine. During this task though, i found A9.com, which i really am enjoying. It's a bit more serious than google, and a lot more precise i've found.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)