Welcome to my journal entries page! The newest entry will be at the top of the page.
11/02
“Our presence is expected to be the start of a transaction.” This quote from the article stuck out to me because of how true it is. I don’t think we as humans truly recognize how much of our lives is part of capitalism. There are few times or ways that we can exist and have fun without it being capitalized and/or spending money. A library is one of few places where we can exist and create without having anything expected of us. The same goes for handmade websites…we aren’t using anything except our own coding skills and creativity to create something original. We don’t have to pay money (unless we want to for very specific additions), and we are free to take up as much or as little space as we wish. “Technology’s influence is not a problem to solve, it’s a situation to navigate.” Technology is incredibly helpful, but some things, especially social media, makes us unhappy overall. I personally am trying to get off my phone more and limit my time on social apps, although some days are better than others. I think some people wish to eliminate all technology cold-turkey, rather than sitting down and deciding which social media is a positive addition to their life. Whether we like it or not, technology is a big, necessary part of our lives now, and by getting rid of it entirely, it would likely be detrimental instead of helpful. The nice thing about being human is that we have free will and can decide what we keep/don’t keep in our lives. We can limit certain technologies and keep others. We can make our lives, and therefore the web, what we want it to be.
10/14
10/14 Apple Talk was a really beautiful project in my opinion. Two computers, thought to be the pinnacle of technology during that time (2007), and still thought to be today, talk back and forth using state-of-the-art text-to-speech technology….or so thought. The sentence they start with becomes more and more incomprehensible due to computer error..how interesting! If computers are meant to be perfect and meant to replicate human activity perfectly, how can they be making errors like that? I think the project is a reflection of how imperfect everything is, including technology. Although technology can certainly enhance human experiences and make life more efficient and/or easy, even they are capable of making errors. A human-created machine, thought to be perfect, is actually as imperfect as the creator.
10/09
I really liked the idea of thinking about the web as a building material vs a canvas. I feel like with a canvas, there’s an expectation to completely start from scratch and bring the materials yourself. But with a building material, you already have the tools you need and it’s up to you to think of an idea and execute it with those provided building materials. Looking at David Hockney’s The Scrabble Game, you start to get a better understanding of what web is and how it’s built up. There are individual elements that, while might not make much sense separately, contribute to a bigger overall picture and make the design of a website what it is. Looking at a new website with the “beginner’s mind” visual also helps me personally, because I tend to get caught up in little details.
09/27
Synchronous Exchanges: instant messaging isn’t talking nor writing, it’s a gray area Dot Dot Dot: the buffering icon is the sole barrier between us and a completely smooth virtual world. the ellipses used in messaging lets the user know that an action is occurring; however, once it disappears with no follow-up message, the receiving end is left confused, worried, anxious, etc. Premeditation: social media incorporates the ellipses and anticipation factor with features like “your friend is typing…” which keeps you glued to your phone in suspense. Mute Conversation: group chats allow us to put on a different face depending on the audience. the larger the group chat and more frequent the messages, the less the members of the group pay attention. this fragmentation of different personas is seen across multiple social media platforms, and this spreading out leads to a social media addiction because the user is awarded dopamine for multitasking. Social Serialization: social media “stories” have combined the idea of livestreaming and allows the user to craft their perception depending on the site. social media platforms are becoming more and more similar with the passage of time, so the differentiation becomes nonexistent. Hangout At Work: notifications and timelines being introduced into “work apps” have started to combine work and play; employees are expected to be “always on.” work apps have increasingly become more casual, so the purpose becomes unclear. You Are The Product: our attention is becoming increasingly disruptive between friends and work on social media and mobile communication. as time passes, it will become more difficult to separate work and play in the digital sense.
09/20
I thought it to be an interesting comparison between the binary world of computers and the lack of binary in real life. I like how computers are able to take on intricate tasks and communicate complex messages while also being a binary system. The comparison between art and computers really struck me as well. I am having a bit of difficulty picking up code and often have to reference or copy things I did earlier, but the phrase that said that the computer will reveal itself to me if I give it enough time made me feel better about not being as knowledgeable as I would like to be. Just how you sometimes don’t understand a work of art at first, you also might not understand a computer at first glance, or maybe not after the second or third or fourth glance. I also thought it was cool that silicon chips and city plans have similarities. It goes to show just how impactful computers can be, and that the notion of repetition and geometric patterns applies to both architecture and technology.
09/04
J.R. Carpenter’s explanation of handmade web is inspirational to me. The act of creating a website completely by hand, from scratch, being described as a rebellion against corporations and the easier ways of creating websites, is right up my alley. I’ve always wanted to learn coding, and by creating my own website, I am not only learning how to code, but also applying it to something that is completely my own. It is much more exciting to see a website that has clearly been touched by an individual than to see one that was clearly created by a group or a preinstalled template. The reading also mentions how today’s society is nostalgic for a time when the internet was simple; this “simpleness” still exists today with the creation of handmade websites, but today’s society is all about speed and convenience rather than the slower manual labor that goes into creating a website. I think the cool thing about the internet and creating handmade websites is that they never have to go away; this “nostalgic” experience can and will exist today thanks to creatives who don’t mind and even enjoy the process. I hope to become one of those creatives.
08/27
The notion that a website can be anything was intriguing to me. Thinking about a website as a puddle, or a shelf, or a garden, changed my way of thinking about it. It’s an individual creation and place to be original and separate from the rest of the web. It’s easy to Google search “website maker” and be redirected to a vast collection of websites that function as website-makers; it’s much harder to learn the building blocks of making a website, how they were originally created and intended to be made, and then learn to make it yourself. I want to be an artist with an individual website, making my own, completely original space to create and let grow alongside me. I also thought the “Rant About Technology” article was accurate by stating that technology is a coping mechanism and is often misdefined by society. Technology isn’t just things powered by electricity and the internet; it’s also fundamentals of life, such as making fire and wheels. Society leans too much on the internet-based forms of technology and fail to recognize the simpler technology humanity was founded on.