Wikinformation

And together we,
Will forever be
High Fidelity
Definitely
Switching the melody
Can it be the brothers that you rarely see?
They got together for the better
Whether him or me

-Jurassic 5 off the album
Power in Numbers

I found this weeks reading thrilling. The idea that an online community welcoming user input could amass a collection of information "ten times bigger than Encyclopedia Britannica and roughly the same in accuracy" (Tapscott, D. & Williams, A. (2006). Wikinomics (Intro & cap. 1). New York: Portfolio.) to me, is mind blowing.

But at the same time, it makes perfect sense. How much does it cost to send someone to Togo, do research, write about it and have it published? On the other hand, how much does it cost to have someone living in Togo write about there country in their free time? - It costs nothing, and thats exactly whats going on everyday.

I cant help but think of ants, those ants you see on Animal Planet, all working together, hauling leaves, digging tunnels and achieving together what could never done alone.

Cheesy quote time!

"Many hands make light work"
John Heywood

"Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it"
Dwight Eisenhower

What we are witnessing with this Wiki information generation is phenomenal. It is the decentralization of information control, and with the right amount of motivation, self regulation and input, it could change the way we learn, share and grow in ways we never would have thought possible, even 5 or 10 years ago.


Discussion

Who has edited a Wiki before this semester? Which and why?

Have you ever encountered a glaring error on a Wiki? Did you do anything about it?

What sort of information, if any, should be kept off line?

Is there a point when we could become too dependent on Wiki sources over traditional sources of information?

There is no spoon

I just thought of a device. It would be small, a few ounces at most, durable, and have a long battery life between charges. It would store my contacts, notes, my music, pictures and be connected to my PC. It could take pictures and video, receive FM radio, and make calls anywhere in the world. This device cost under a hundred dollars, and, here's the shocker, its gray not black.

This week's readings touched on a wide array of topics ranging from the future of education, puppets, computer aided design in architecture, global revolutions and the notoriously elusive black box.

When I was young, my friend Matt had a black box. It sat on top of the TV and he got HBO and Pay-Per-View for free, all day, everyday. Needless to say, it was awesome.

But that's not the type of black box being talked about today (Jenkins, H. (2006). Introduction: “Worship at the alter of convergence”). Today's idea of a black box is a singular, magical hardware device through which this recently created, ever expanding cornucopia of digital pictures, words, thoughts, videos, debates, commerce, literature and expression will be absorbed.

Oh and porn, can't forget about porn.

Personally, I agree with what was recently written in RDMilner's Blog: "Black Box, will it happen? We’re there Jenkins, “black boxes” are all around us if you know where to look."
As far as one, plug-in-and-go device, I see one final, and huge obstacle. I don't want to blog from my couch, and I don't want to watch ABC's Lost at my computer desk, and I'm not the only one. This may seem like a small statement, but I think its ramifications are keeping the singular black box out of the American home.

Browsing the internet is, for the most part, a personal, often private experience. I ask any of you readers, who has felt uncomfortable sitting in a public library a foot or so away from another browser? And who hasn't sneaked a peak at their screen out of curiosity?

Films, radio, and TV shows on the other hand, are often thought of as social group activities, more suitable for public spaces such as cars or living rooms.

Now there are, as always, exceptions. During a recent trip to see friends, we ended up huddled together in a friend's bedroom watching each of our favorite youtube videos. Some sat in chairs, others on the bed, me I sat on the floor. Some connection between the PC and the TV in the living room, whether it be wired or wireless, would certainly have been useful here.

Key to unlocking the Box

Perhaps the key to the black box is not a singular device, but rather a web that connects our boxes together. Synergy between my phone, my computers (home, work, mobile), my TV, my house's climate control and my fridge, could the black box be a wireless hub bringing all these things together?

This idea of a singular black box, in my opinion, will never fully become reality. To quote the Matrix movie, "There is no spoon", and I believe there is no black box. I want a office and a home theater, and I'm not alone.


Random Reactions, Thoughts, Questions

-The ability to affect the world on a global scale was a power once left to kings, religious organizations, and governments. BrophBlog
To what extent is this still true? What about the social rebellion and revolutions before the age of the internet? Has the internet's wide avaliblity brought with it a mob mentality, anonymity of the web allowing us to act in ways we may otherwise not?


How do you make the site visually appealing to draw the user in but at the same time how do you easily present the necessary information. Jadimauro's Weblog This is an interesting point, one we are discussing in ICM 502. Is there a formula to find the balance? Or is the internet and our relationship in constant flux, changing and evolving as we move forward?


Can each individual be his or her own architect? General tone of Negroponte, N. (2003). Soft Architecture Machines (Selection).
In my opinion, yes. A person can design his or her own home. It could be different, funky, and creative. This house, could also be structurally unsound, collapse, and injure or kill someone. Obviously next would come the lawsuits, trials and settlements. Then designing houses will go back to the professionals.


Is Computer Assisted Instruction, using computer interfaces to enhance and enrich our educational system - a cure all? Question raised in Nelson, T. (2003). Computer Lib (Selection).
I think computers are a great tool, but nothing can replace a human to human interaction. Sure a student can dissect a frog on a computer screen. Then the student can learn human anatomy on a computer screen, complete with 3D diagrams, figures and data. This student could study the history of cardiology, the most recent technological advances, and all the latest drugs. But when they are finally scrubbed up and in the O.R., how will they be able to handle the warm blood, smells and sounds of open heart surgery without the years spend easing into it?

Who needs to sit out on the beach and watch the sunrise when you can just stare at your computer screen?

Are Mash-ups mob art?

A group of persons stimulating one another to excitement and losing ordinary rational control over their activity. Mob as defined on Dictionary.com

Mash ups, an interesting art combining, altering and remixing sound, video, software code and pictures to create a new, indipendant expression or tool. They are often exiting, humorous or thought provoking, and the legal and ethical boundaries have yet to be set in stone. We create them without concern because other people create them, part of a mob mentality. Here are contemporary mash ups I found interesting this week.

Zombies Walk I first heard this song when I downloaded a B-sides album by Sufjan Stevens month ago. Its an interesting mash of one of his songs and a hit song by Kanye West. Then again, I may be bias because it reminds me of riding in my friend Johns boat last summer.

X-men Last Standing Ovation - This just needs to be seen to be understood. Pure hilarity and very well done.

The title of this post is a direct quote from coolgooglemaps.blogspot.com
"Who needs to sit out on the beach and watch the sunrise when you can just stare at your computer screen and track it across the globe. Much much easier that way." This refers to a Mashup that alows you to do just that, track the sunlight as it is cast across the globe. Cool, but better than the real thing?

My last example, Chili Pepers Wet Sand is a video on you tube. While it is seemingly very elementary, is nothing more than a slideshow put to a song, does this qualify as a mash up? It takes seporate elements, fuses them together to make meaning, and a release an expression.

In class on Thursday I would like to discuss what qualifies a mash up, and what are its limitations, if any?

This Guy Might Be On to Something...

Well, really I should say many of these guys, and girls, must be on to something.

Reading for this week focused on our changing world, ranging from the sudden availability to have wildly unpopular movies sent to your door, to becoming great friends with someone you've never met (face to face at least), to groups of people deciding to combine their efforts to do something hilarious, or tragic.

The first article, (Anderson, C. (2004). The long tail. Wired, 12(10).) discusses a recent economic trend shaping businesses today. What this theory boils down to, to quote on of my favorite bands, The Kinks, is "Give the people what they want." An idea that is as simple as it is obvious, but until recently has been economically impossible, due to spacial limitations of both distance and shelf availability.

The ability to ship to and from anywhere has brought the age of diverse products and titles to our finger tips, and with it comes great opportunity both for personal and financial growth.

This trend leads us to "trust" peer user recommendations over traditional advertising (which too often try to shove "hits" into our DVD players). This beckons an important question however, What then happens when an advertiser poses' as a peer reviewer? Is our informal network of trust violated and thus broken?

It is easier, and cheaper, for companies to market one product rather than dozens or hundreds, (this is why we see so many sequels today), and in their eyes could too much product diversity be a bad thing?

In the next article (Beniger, J. (1986). Control Revolution, Introduction (pp. 1-27). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.) the idea of a Control Revolution is proposed, an event so important, the author calls it an central part of the "Third Wave". The article discusses the shifts of control over the past few hundred years, and how it relates to technology, people, and organization.

I got the notion that the advent of technological breakthroughs changed our world (ie nationalization of consumerism, development of bureaucracies) and in turn our world changed the roll, and direction of technological breakthroughs (the personal computer, the Internet).

Said differently, the independent, home and neighborhood centered lives we used to live changed with the industrial revolution into system when in which we became more centralized, cooperative and dependent of each other to make progress and profits.

With this shift however, we moved towards higher technology, such as telephone networks, cell phones, and PDAs, which ironically allowed us to move back towards independence and self reliance. This new concept of independence, a shift towards personal independence and away from household independence is written about in detail in Rheingold, H. (2002). Shibuya epiphany (pp. 1-28). Smart mobs. NewYork: Perseus. [http://loc8ed.com/library/rheingold-2002.pdf].

Beniger reminds us that as witnesses and participants of this shift, we are obligated to ourselves and to the future to keep written records and observations, as this is dramatic change destined to change the world to come.

The creation of Bureaucracies, as mentioned above, leads us into the next article, (Ronfeldt, D. and Arquilla, J. (2001). Networks, netwars, and the fight for the future. FirstMonday, 6(10).) which deals with the conflict between the past (bureaucracies) and the future (networks).


Today is socially significant in terms of networks for two very real reasons. First, it is the anniversary of the September 11th atacks, an event always in our consciousness, especially in the wake of a new video released by OBL. Second, this is the second day of Gen. Petraeus' Iraq Report, a current example of what Ronfeldt and Arquilla "The Dark Side".

In class on Thursday, after reading Petraeus' reports, I would like to discuss the conection between the war in Iraq and the concept of Netwar described in Networks, netwars and the fight for the future.

Blorganization

So part of our assignment this week was to visit several blog related websites, set up an aggregator/reader, subscribe to several blogs and write about it.

First though, a confession.

On the first night of class, we were told that if we had an existing blog or knew how to set one up, we could leave early and be on our way, but if not we should stick around and watch a demo. At the time I didn't have a blog or really any idea of how to set one up, but I gathered my things and left anyway.

Why? Faith in my favorite online service company, Google.

See a few months prior I was exploring Google's services, and saw that they had Blogger, Blog Search, and Reader programs. I had faith that night that when it was time to set up my blog, I would simply click the link and follow a few, simple directions.

My assumption was correct.

Google applications simply work for me. I would say it's safe to say I use the search engine everyday (both at home and for work). I love using Gmail (and the chat feature), and I use Google Maps several times a week.

Getting back to this week's assignment, its no surprise I set up Google's Reader as my aggregator.

It was straight forward, user friendly, and took under 10 minutes.

For class I subscribed to the following tech pages:

fark.com/geek - I visit fark.com all the time at work when I'm bored, and the geek page has quick links to news, new products and trends, usually with a witty description.

New York Times Tech Page - Similar to above, with a more professional spin, and the credibility that comes with the NYT.

CNET - I used this site to get reviews on the cell phone I just bought over the internet, but it is also good for computer and electronic news, trends, and product reviews.

Intro Interactive Blog - Could there be a blog more relevant to class? I think not. Having this subscription will allow me to stay current with any changes or discussion in ICM501.

I can see how using a Reader to consolidate updated posts can be a time saver, but I can also see how easy it can be to fall behind. I set up my reader less that 48 hours ago, and already the amount of new posts in my "in box" is in the triple digits.

I think it will be a useful tool for quick reference, but I must admit I already feel somewhat overwhelmed with information. Perhaps this will pass with time as I move towards using my reader less like an email inbox and more like the front page of a newspaper - that is, something to glance over and select what interests me.

Until then, I think my online habits will be a combination of actively seeking out new blogs, and browsing those of which I am subscribed.

What is a Blog?

Being new to blogging, I've been doing some research about what they are, and where they are going.

This is a site I found interesting, with an analytical look at the numbers, studies and theories surrounding blogs.

Back with a full post in the next 48 hours.

Giants, Paper, and the Old Man by the Pond

A common saying made its way into my mind while reading Licklider, Bush and Engelbart’s writings of a half century ago, which I learned later was used by Issac Newton over three centuries ago.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

These articles put into perspective how phenomenal the tools we have at our disposal today, so often taken for granted, truly are. These writings show us how minds of yesteryear were the driving force behind the information age revolution, whether intentionally or not.

For me these articles serve to provide a background of the thought and work that has gone into computerization of the education and research fields, entertainment, communication technology and tools we now use in everyday life.

In today's context, these articles ask more questions then they answer. And what is interesting, almost funny, is what I will call the paper gap.

Each article this week in one way or another mentions paper, its benefits, limits and roll in human thinking and computer processing.

"An information-storage mechanism in the writing machine permits you to sweep the reading stylus over the characters much faster than the writer can type; the writer will catch up with you when you stop to think about what word or string of words should be duplicated next... This writing machine would permit you to use a new process of compositing text. For instance, trial drafts could rapidly be composed from re-arranged exerpts of old drafts, together with new words or passages which you stop to type in." Engelbart Augmenting Human Intellect, 1962.

"The printer draws a set of closely spaced lines across the paper one after another. As it moves, its potential is varied in accordance with a varying current received over wires from a distant station... Thus, when the whole picture has been covered, a replica appears at the receiving end" Bush, As We May Think, 1945.

"The first thing to face is that we shall not store all the technical and scientific papers in computer memory. We may store the parts that can be summarized most succinctly - the quantitative parts and the reference citations - but not the whole. Books are among the most beautifully engineered, and human-engineered, components in existence and they will continue to be functionally important within the context of man-computer symbiosis." Licklider, Man-Computer Symbiosis, 1960.

What these authors may find hard to believe, if they were to visit one of our Thursday night discussions, is that we are moving closer and closer to a paper free environment. Incoming students are encouraged to by a laptop computer for research, note taking and composition writing. The entirety of our semesters reading material can be found beyond the glass of a computer monitor on the internet. And there exists no physical text book has been assigned or will be used by our 501 class.

These writers, these giants, were brainstorming solutions for problems of there world, a world that was built on ink and paper. A world that has now taken a back seat to the world of the keyboard and mouse.

Ironically however, in order to best absorb and retain the assigned reading, my study routine involves printing, stapling and marking with a pen, paper.

As I mentioned earlier, these articles create more questions than answers, one which came to me this morning while running near my house. Among all the discussion of which goals and ends computers and machines can help us achieve and meet, there remains processes and methodologies that will remain purely human.

I ran by an old man, sitting by a pond playing a violin. He had no goal. He had no assigned task. The only purpose, the only reason he was there, was to be there, to enjoy the sun, water, and fickle last days of summer. Computers may help us calculate, visualize, communicate, and reach conclusions, but there is more to life than achieving concrete results.

There are human experiences where the journey is the destination, the task is the reward, and this computers may never understand, and perhaps never should.

A handshake

My full name is Trevor James Brightman, and I would next put my age, but as that is guaranteed to change, I’ll just say I was born in January of 83, and you can figure it out.

I was born and raised in Lexington, Mass by my hero, my mother.

I suppose she is a major reason I’m entering grad school this fall, see she was a teenager when she had me, who hadn’t yet graduated high school, and I have seen first hand the importance of hard work, organization, and of course education.

I have also seen first hand the best in people, and the power of good will, cooperation and just plain kindness, but more on that in a later post.

Why a MS in Interactive Communication? Because it is the future, and its already here. I’m exited about the changing communication environment, and want to be a part of it, and that starts with preparation, study, and discussion.

The bad news - This is my first blog, so bare with me.

The good news - This is my first blog, and I think it will be a challenging and enlightining experience, and really isn’t that the best kind?