Week 12 Questions

Christopher Diaz-Mihell

DAI 227, David Cox

April 26, 2011

Week 12 Questions

1) What was the name of the film made by Edwin S Porter that made use of a double-exposure to show a train window view of passing landscape?

            - The Great Train Robbery

2) Who invented the traveling matte shot in 1916?

            - Frank Williams

3) How many weeks did it take to animate the main character in 1933’s KING KONG?

            - 55 weeks

4) Which film made use of the ‘slit scan’ process in the 1960s?

            - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

           

5) In his essay “Industrial Memory” theorist Mark Dery argues that the silver fluid T1000 cyborg character represents a ‘masculine recoil’ – but from what?

            - “Feminization of electronic technology”

6) Tim Recuber in his essay “Immersion Cinema” describes the key idea – that of immersion cinema itself – what is it? What makes it unique?

            - According to Tim Recuber, “Immersion Cinema”, emphasizes the spectator’s experience. He highlights the term by saying, “immersion cinema”, occurs when the “spectator experiences a participation in or interaction with the filmed spectacle through a series of technologically driven simulations on screen and in the theater”. I believe what makes “immersion cinema” so unique is its ability to take numerous technologies and create an illusion or a “new level of simulated audience participation”.

7) In the special effects history links, in the Time magazine history of special effects, there is a description of ‘motion control’ cameras developed for “Star Wars” in the 1970s. What is motion control?(1 paragraph)

            - Motion control is defined as “controlling the motion of a camera or special effects object (eg. model space ship etc), using commands from a computer, so that the exact moves can be repeated as many times. This makes it easy to composite it (i.e. combine it with another shot). George Lucas strived on the success of Star Wars and especially its success that came from its top-notch revolutionary special effects work. With its success they created their very own special effects company called ILM being one of the first purveyors of computer generated imagery and the original parent company of animation giant Pixar.

8) Out of the 14 minutes of Jurassic Park’s dinosaur footage, how many minutes were computer generated imagery or CGI?

            - 4 minutes

9) In the ‘denofgeek’ website, what is the name of the film that features an army of sword fighting skeletons, made in 1963?

            - Jason and the Argonauts

10) In the ‘denofgeek’ site, which 2005 film used a special effects shot to sell the idea of a remake of a famous science fiction story to Steven Spielberg?

            - War Of The Worlds

DAI 227: Virilio Summary

Christopher Diaz-Mihell

David Cox, DAI 227

A summary of: “A Traveling Shot over Eighty Years” a chapter from “War and                                                                                                     

                             Cinema,” written by Paul Virilio.

            In this final chapter, Virilio re-introduces what he called a fusion of perception and warfare. He begins by bringing forth the use of searchlights in the Russian-Japanese battle of Port Arthur in 1904, describing those searchlights as war’s first projectors. From those searchlights on, Virilio describes the ever-growing pace of the development of observation and destruction.  Ultimately meeting one another to create the disaster at Hiroshima, which Virilio describes as a “flash, which literally photographed the shadow cast by beings and things, so that every surface immediately became the war’s recording surface, its film” (Virilio, 70).

            Virilio continues on to later mention the wide variety of invisible weapons developed by the military to make things visible. For instance we saw the creation of radar picture. Virilio writes, “in the wars of old, strategy mainly consisted in choosing and marking out a theatre of operations, a battlefield, with the best visual conditions and the greatest scope for movement. In the Great War, however, the main task was to grasp the opposite tendency: to narrow down targets and to create a picture of battle for troops blinded by the massive reach of artillery units, themselves firing blind, and by the ceaseless upheaval of their environment” (Virilio, 70). Therefore we began to see the surveying of land and its wartime features, such as trenches, moving front lines, shell shock, and even the destruction of landmarks, all of which “impeded vision in one way or another,” and all of which lead to the usage of aerial photography.

            In conlusion you can see how closely related Virilio’s points are to our present time issue with War on Terror. Terrorism and its unseen threat is truly what tends to scare the most of us, very possibly being the reason the U.S. has turned towards increased levels of secrecy and spying.   

Week 11 DAI227 Questions-Topic-Theme Parks & Shopping Malls

Christopher Diaz-Mihell

DAI 227, David Cox

April 21, 2011

Week 11 DAI227 Questions - Topic - THEME PARKS & SHOPPING MALLS

1) In Margaret Crawford's Essay "The World in a Shopping Mall she outlines that 'the size and scale of a mall reflects "threshold demand"' - what is meant by this term?

         - The term “threshold demand” is used to describe a theory put forward by Crawford that describes the correlation between the scale of a mall and its potential customers living within a geographical range to secure profit. Crawford puts forward this idea to highlight the correlation of mall sizes to revenue.

2) In the same article Margaret Crawford describes something called "spontaneous malling" - what does this mean?

         - In the essay “The World in a Shopping Mall”, Margaret Crawford defines “spontaneous malling” as a process that transforms urban spaces into malls without new buildings or developers. This idea is used to describe a society that is dominated by consumerism, where any public shopping zone becomes transformed into a mall.

3) According to Michael Sorkin in his essay 'See you in Disneyland', how did Disneyland have its origins?

         - According to Sorkin a hagiographer had claimed the idea for the park came to Disney in 1938 on a trip to Chicago’s Railroading Fair, “where he was invited to don engineer’s overalls and climb behind the throttle of a historic locomotive, fulfilling a childhood dream” (Sorkin, 206). Which led to Disney creating his very own miniature railroad that traveled around his house, “anticipating the rail-ringed parks to come.” Another myth claims that the parks origin came from Disney’s disgust at its failures of hygiene after a visit to a conventional amusement park. Unlike these stories, Disneyland’s immediate origins are specific. “Strapped for cash to finance spiraling construction costs, the previously TV-shy Disney cut a deal with ABC, then struggling far behind its two rivals” (Sorkin, 206).

4) Michael Sorkin writes in his essay that Disney's EPCOT Center was motivated largely by frustrations Disney felt at his Anaheim CA park. What were those frustrations?

         - These frustrations derived from Anaheim’s surrounding area. Sorkin writes, “Disneyland was beleaguered by an undisciplined periphery: the huge success of the park prompted developers to buy up miles of surrounding countryside, which was promptly converted to a regulation less tangle of hotels and low commerce” (Sorkin, 224). Sorkin also describes how Disney’s troubles or frustrations doubled when he figured he was losing millions to other Hotels housing his visitors.

5) In his essay "Travels in Hyperreality" Umberto Eco describes Disneyland as 'a place of total passivity' - what does he mean by this?

         - Eco uses the phrase ‘a place of total passivity’ to describe how we as visitors must agree to behave like robots when visiting Disneyland. Eco goes on to say “access to each attraction is regulated by a maze of metal railings which discourages any individual initiative.” Eco also writes that the number of visitors entail the pace of the line and “properly dressed in the uniforms suited to each specific attraction, not only admit the visitor to the threshold of the chosen sector, but, in successive phases, regulate his every move (“Now wait here please, go up now, sit down please, wait before standing up.”

FreeMind HW

Questions for Geert Lovink

Christopher Diaz-Mihell

David Cox, DAI227

March 24, 2011

"The colonization of real-time and other trends in Web 2.0"

1) In his introduction, Lovink quotes G.H. Mead who describes "Sociality" as what?

           

­- As “the capacity of being several things at once.”

2) Where did Silicon Valley find inspiration in the post 9/11 reconstruction period? (two things)

           

- “During the post-9/11 reconstruction period, Silicon Valley found renewed inspiration in two projects: the vital energy of the search start-up Google (which successfully managed to postpone its IPO for years), and the rapidly emerging blog scene, which gathered around self-publishing platforms such as blogger.com, Blogspot and LiveJournal.”

3) With tools to oversee national IP range, it is possible for countries to do two things with these technologies. What are they?

           

- “To block users outside the country from viewing, for example, national television online, or visiting public libraries (such as in Norway and Australia, in the case of new ABC online services). They can also prevent citizens from visiting foreign sites (mainland Chinese residents are not able to visit YouTube, Facebook, etc.).”

           

4) Lovink argues top-down considerations with Web 2.0 are less interesting than 'bottom-up' ones. What does he mean by this?

            - “Top-down considerations” with Web 2.0 simply refers to simple knowledge regarding web demographics, such as usability requirements and what application to use in what context. Lovink mentions it is less interesting than “bottom-up ones” for it lacks the excitement of people or activists beginning to utilize their own Web 2.0 tools.

5) What is the function of profiles abstracted from 'user generated content' - how is it then used?

            - They are then sold to advertisers as direct marketing data, in turn users don’t experience the parasitic nature of Web 2.0 immediately.

6) What is 'massification'

            - The phenomenal and sheer number of users and the intensity with which people engage with the Internet.

7) Geert Lovink describes the Internet as an 'indifferent bystander' as a revolutionary tool in the global recession. What does he mean by this?

            - The Internet “does not lend itself easily as a revolutionary tool. It is part of the Green New Deal, but it is not driving these reforms.”

8) Lovink says that power these days is not absolute but ________ ?

            - “dynamic”

9) "Managing complexity" is the aim of authoritarian uses of the Internet such as the Great Chinese _______________?

            - “Firewall”

10) What are "organized networks"?

            - Lovink offers the idea of “organized networks” as the only way to challenge the administrative approach. He notes that “social change is no longer techno warfare between filters and anti-filters, but a question of “organized networks” that are able to set events in motion.”

Week 7 Lecture Questions

Christopher Diaz-Mihell

DAI 227, David Cox

March 16, 2011

Week 7 Lecture Questions

1) Who invented the first computer game on the PDP1?

            - Steve Russell

2) What was the name of the game?

            - “Spacewar”

 3) What was the name of Morton Helig's amusement device that let you smell, hear and see in 3D filmed experiences?

            - Sensorama

 4) What early 1970s movie does an arcade console machine of Spacewar appear?

            - None, but the coin-op video game “Computer Space” appeared in the 1973 release of the film “Soylent Green.”

 5) What was the name of the man who developed the first TV tennis game?

            - Ralph Baer

 6) Who was the man whose company Atari commercialized the idea of the arcade computer tennis game?

            - Nolan Bushnell

 7) What was the name of this version of the game?

            - “Pong”

 8) What are vector graphics?

             - Lines made on a plane through coordinates of a computer.

9) What types of games do vector graphics lend themselves to?

            - Space (Lunar Lander, Asteroids), FPS 3D (Battlezone)

 10) When home computers were first made available, how did owners load games into them?

            - Cassette tapes

 11) What is the name of the 1985 film in which a young Matthew Broderick starts World War III with his home computer and modem?

            - War Games

 12) From what sources did the designer of the Space Invaders aliens draw inspiration?

            - From the octopus like aliens from H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” and from see creatures such as squids and crabs.

 13) What is the name given to the contemporary subculture of 8 bit music made with gameboys and other 80s game technology

            - Chiptunes

 14) "Escape from Woomera" was a videogame which was used to draw attention to the plight of inmates at a remote detention center in desert town in what country?

            - Australia

Week 6 Lecture Questions

Chris Diaz-Mihell

March 10, 2011

DAI227, David Cox

QUESTIONS FOR DAI227 WEEK 6 LECTURE

1) Steve Mann describes his wearable computer invention as a form of clothing or surveillance (cyborg blogging) for one person (fill in the blank)

(see youtube link to Mann interview in web resource page)

2) Steve Mann's concept of opposing camera surveillance with "Sousveillance" is described as a form of “reflectionism”. What is meant by this?

(in ReadingsF)

            “Reflectionism” is a term invented by Mann in 1988 for a philosophy and procedures of using technology to mirror and confront bureaucratic organizations. Reflectionism holds up the mirror and asks the question: “Do you like what you see?”

3) In the section of "Sousveillance" called "Performance Two" Steve Mann describes how wearing his concealed device becomes more complex when used in what type of spaces?

            In spaces that are more highly surveilled such as shopping malls that are semi-public rather than fully public.

4) The final paragraph sums up what Mann considers the benefits of "sousveillance" and "coveillance". What are they?

(ReadingsF)

            “People are more likely to want sousveillance and coveillance, for they lack the protection of the village/community or hierarchical organization. Newly developed technology allows them to surveil the surveillers.”

5) In William J Mitchell's 1995 book "City of Bits" in the chapter "Cyborg Citizens", he puts forth the idea that electronic organs as they shrink and become more part of the body will eventually resemble what types of familiar items?

(ReadingsF)

            “They will become more like items of clothing- soft wearable that conform to the contours of your body; you will have them fitted like shoes, gloves, contact lenses, or hearing aids.”

6) From the same book/chapter, list two of the things that a vehicle that 'knows where it is' might afford the driver & passengers.

(ReadingsF)

            For example, “directing you to the nearest gas station or to the closest inexpensive Chinese restaurant,” or assist in locating a bed for the night. A vehicle that knows where it is could even “tell you what’s on and what open in your immediate neighborhood.”

7) Mitchell tells the story of Samuel Morse's first Washington-to-Baltimore telegraph message. What was it?

(ReadingsF)

            Samuel Morse’s first Washington to Baltimore telegraph message read, “What hath God wrought.”

8) Donna Harroway in "A Cyborg Manifesto" argues that women should take the "battle to the border". What does she say are the stakes in this border war?

(in ReadingsF)

            In “A Cyborg Manifesto”, Donna Harroway says the stakes in this border war are, “the territiories of production, reproduction, and imagination.”

9) Harroway posits the notion that:

"We require regeneration, not rebirth, and the possibilities for our reconstitution include the utopian dream"

What is this dream?

(in ReadingsF)

            Horroway’s utopian dream is of a, “world without gender, which is perhaps a world without genesis, but maybe also a world without end”.

10) Many have argued that 'we are already cyborgs' as we use devices such as glasses to improve our vision, bikes to extend the mobility function of our legs/bodies etc, computers and networks to extend the nervous system etc. What do you think? Are we cyborgs?

(one paragraph)

           

            I find it fairly easy to come up with a legitimate argument when determining whether or not a human being can be classified as a cyborg. Today we define cyborgs as a being with both biological and artificial parts. In that case I like to think that people who have lost limbs and use mechanical parts to live a better life could be considered cyborgs. Even more qualified, as pertaining to the definition would be those beings that operate with mechanical valves or any other artificial part that helps one live or survive.