For me, the first term that came up when trying to compare Wikipedia to Encyclopedia Britannica was "Marshall McLuhan." He is not only a well known author but he has also influenced our contemporary view on media. First I searched for the term in Wikipedia, which resulted in a massive article about Marshall McLuhan and almost anything relating to him. When looking for the same term on the EB-site, the result was not that very satisfying.
At first, the text looked like a short introduction and my eyes immediately searched for links to reveal the rest of the material, but no; what I thought was the introduction was actually the entire article for this well known figure. The text simply presented McLuhan’s life and achievements in less than one page. One of the reasons why I chose to search for McLuhan was also that he often is cited or mentioned by many experts when they discuss or write about, for instance, "media". Since the EB-website is written by experts, I thought it would be obvious that such an influential person would be presented with, at least, more than 200 words.
Anyway, on Wikipedia, the information is structured in a very clear way; the text begins with a short description of the term "Marshall McLuhan" and continues with a box that contains an overview of the different paragraphs of the article. If one scroll down the website, the paragraphs become visible. Nevertheless, On EB, the text is just displayed as static text with no obvious structure. For example, they could have used some sort of site map or overview with links, as Wikipedia does.
However, I tried one more search on both sites. This time I searched for "Joost." Joost is an upcoming web 2.0 TV-service, created by the founders of Skype and Kazaa, which will use peer to peer technology to connect people's computers and broadcast live TV. Wikipedia did not surprise, once again the search resulted in a rather long article about the subject. Encyclopedia Britannica, on the other hand, did not find anything.
What strikes me is how much information one can find on Wikipedia and that the service, most of the times, has very fresh information to deliver. Still, the content may seem somewhat inaccurate or sometimes misleading, since the articles are written by many non-experts, but I think that eventually the content will be corrected, since anyone can come with suggestions, which therefore include experts as well. Encyclopedia Britannica seem to have quality articles, but the many times the user cannot find what he or she is looking for, since EB seem to leave out so many areas, makes Wikipedia more tempting.
Wikipedia is a folksonomy website that grows and becomes stronger when more people are using the service. The fact that people contribute with their knowledge to feed this forever-growing database of wisdom, obviously unite the world to some degree. Although Wikipedia does not reflect the ideals of a country or nation, it indeed reflects the ideals of the world, and especially, it keeps up with the time we are living in.
With Blinding Criticism
With tears in their eyes,
a blinding smile
and a cool fairy tale
Cynics serve their country.
American Idol-haters mockery
Tragic heroic coverup
Incredible criticism for a 17-year-old.
Week after week you demonstrate.
Cute american teenage race, your power is blinding us.
a blinding smile
and a cool fairy tale
Cynics serve their country.
American Idol-haters mockery
Tragic heroic coverup
Incredible criticism for a 17-year-old.
Week after week you demonstrate.
Cute american teenage race, your power is blinding us.
Thoughts on Digital Art & Literature
About
Artport is a site by the Whitney Museum to exhibit digital artists. The site mainly operates as a database, very similar to how traditional museums function. Every month, an artist's creations are presented in a sub page. Basically, the site is an online museum for digital art. Nothing more, nothing less. Rather boring actually.
In comparison to Artport, the Site Rhizome.org really handles the technology in a slightly more interesting way. Instead of displaying the artworks in a traditonal sense, Rhimezone instead breaks loose a bit by incorporating some of the advantages today's Internet offer (I may be wrong). They function as a channel that is looking for upcoming artists that are innovative. Moreover, Rhizome also has services that may help others to be aware of what is happening in the world of digital art, such as: the calendar, discussion boards and a daily newspaper.
Wikipedia Articles
When using a computer to express one self in various art forms, it can be described as Digital art. This can also be applied to external art sources that are not yet digital. Therefore, once scanned in to be represented by ones and zeros (binary code) is simply when something can apply as Digital art.
Internet Art can be described as where artists use the Internet as a medium to distribute digital art forms, such as video, mail and so on.
New media art is a rather broad concept which describes creations deriving from any new technologies, ranging all the way from conceptual art to biotechnologies.
ILB
ILB (I Love Bees) was an ARG (Alternative Reality Game), which may be seen as a complex and modern game version of Roleplaying games. ILB was, according to me, a very unusual and odd promotion campaign, for the Halo 2 game. THe game's use of the Internet makes it a good example of Internet Art. I do not like the idea of calling this project a game. Rather I would like to describe it as a modernized and somewhat retarded treasure hunt, but without something worth looking for.
Implementation
The Implementation project is a novel spread all over the world on sheets of stickers installed on various locations and places.
This project is very similar to Shelley Jackson's "The Skin Project", where Jackson invites participants from around the globe to tattoo a word from her text on the body. These tattoos are then being photographed and collected to be presented on a website. Even though it may seem strange for some, I really think these kinds of installments are very interesting. The fact that people from all around the world are collaborating to help putting the artwork together is itself amazing. This shows a struggle, not among each other, but a struggle towards a collaboration where heritage, money or social class no longer matter, with one goal - to make art together.
Artport is a site by the Whitney Museum to exhibit digital artists. The site mainly operates as a database, very similar to how traditional museums function. Every month, an artist's creations are presented in a sub page. Basically, the site is an online museum for digital art. Nothing more, nothing less. Rather boring actually.
In comparison to Artport, the Site Rhizome.org really handles the technology in a slightly more interesting way. Instead of displaying the artworks in a traditonal sense, Rhimezone instead breaks loose a bit by incorporating some of the advantages today's Internet offer (I may be wrong). They function as a channel that is looking for upcoming artists that are innovative. Moreover, Rhizome also has services that may help others to be aware of what is happening in the world of digital art, such as: the calendar, discussion boards and a daily newspaper.
Wikipedia Articles
When using a computer to express one self in various art forms, it can be described as Digital art. This can also be applied to external art sources that are not yet digital. Therefore, once scanned in to be represented by ones and zeros (binary code) is simply when something can apply as Digital art.
Internet Art can be described as where artists use the Internet as a medium to distribute digital art forms, such as video, mail and so on.
New media art is a rather broad concept which describes creations deriving from any new technologies, ranging all the way from conceptual art to biotechnologies.
ILB
ILB (I Love Bees) was an ARG (Alternative Reality Game), which may be seen as a complex and modern game version of Roleplaying games. ILB was, according to me, a very unusual and odd promotion campaign, for the Halo 2 game. THe game's use of the Internet makes it a good example of Internet Art. I do not like the idea of calling this project a game. Rather I would like to describe it as a modernized and somewhat retarded treasure hunt, but without something worth looking for.
Implementation
The Implementation project is a novel spread all over the world on sheets of stickers installed on various locations and places.
This project is very similar to Shelley Jackson's "The Skin Project", where Jackson invites participants from around the globe to tattoo a word from her text on the body. These tattoos are then being photographed and collected to be presented on a website. Even though it may seem strange for some, I really think these kinds of installments are very interesting. The fact that people from all around the world are collaborating to help putting the artwork together is itself amazing. This shows a struggle, not among each other, but a struggle towards a collaboration where heritage, money or social class no longer matter, with one goal - to make art together.
Virtual World, You Say?
I have been waiting patiently for Second life to work on my PC with Windows Vista for weeks now. Unfortunately it did not help to wait for the drivers to be updated. Instead I borrowed my girlfriend’s computer for a little while and tested Second life. After some weeks looking forward to enter the world of second life, I finally entered the virtual world. Within moments, my expectations were crushed! (: P) I tried to optimize the graphic settings in the program, but still, it is so darn ugly. We are now in the year of 2007 and I was sort of expecting more of today's technology than I was introduced with. The computer is very fast and has one of the better graphic cards for laptop computers these days and a very fast Internet connection (24mb), but that does not help. The world looked awful. Anyway, I kept on playing. It took me a while to understand how to leave the training course, but when I once did I met a bunch of people trying to communicate with me. Most of them were avatar chicks, but as well some misformed creatures that wanted to have virtual sex with me.
I kept on travelling through a couple of cities. The more I went on, the more I experienced some really cool things, for example, a rock concert, art exhibitions, museums, schools and much more. Nonetheless, what fascinates me is that even though the world is virtual and there are hardly any boundaries, yet this virtual world is quite dull. For example, why present art in old fashion ways as we do in "reality" instead of playing with the medium to make art even more exciting which in turn may attract a broader audience.
Anyway, before I started using Second Life I had the impression of the world as being very beautiful, exciting and liveful. instead I got a world that seem to be put together by some "computer geeks" (Linden team) that tried to create a virtual world similar to the one described in Stephenson's "Snow Crash," which they obviously did not succeed with. Even so, the idea is very interesting, but so far it appears that these so called "computer geeks" put the world together in a hurry and with too much money controlling their ambitions. For me, Second Life is an even worse version of a simple chat program. I don't want to spend time in a world that is even more boring and ugly than our own "reality.” Hopefully in a short time I will be proved otherwise.
I kept on travelling through a couple of cities. The more I went on, the more I experienced some really cool things, for example, a rock concert, art exhibitions, museums, schools and much more. Nonetheless, what fascinates me is that even though the world is virtual and there are hardly any boundaries, yet this virtual world is quite dull. For example, why present art in old fashion ways as we do in "reality" instead of playing with the medium to make art even more exciting which in turn may attract a broader audience.
Anyway, before I started using Second Life I had the impression of the world as being very beautiful, exciting and liveful. instead I got a world that seem to be put together by some "computer geeks" (Linden team) that tried to create a virtual world similar to the one described in Stephenson's "Snow Crash," which they obviously did not succeed with. Even so, the idea is very interesting, but so far it appears that these so called "computer geeks" put the world together in a hurry and with too much money controlling their ambitions. For me, Second Life is an even worse version of a simple chat program. I don't want to spend time in a world that is even more boring and ugly than our own "reality.” Hopefully in a short time I will be proved otherwise.
Thoughts on Folksonomies and Last.fm.
There are extremely many people using and enjoying folksonomies or so called social
networks, but there are also very many that do not like them. I am one of those that like the concept, even though I have just started to get familiar with some of all new networks popping up every day. Sure, I am not so fond of the idea of identities competing with each other to become famous among the rest of the community, but I see it from another perspective; that we are just contributing (helping each other), not competing. All contribution perhaps gives inspiration to others that in turn may continue the artistic circle. In a way, culture is blooming more than ever through networks like folksonomies. Some of my favorite folksonomy sites are YouTube, Deviantart, Flickr and Last.fm. First I planned to bring up and talk a little bit about YouTube as it has been one of my favorite sites since it started. Instead I will make you somewhat acquainted to Last.fm because that is the site I am using most often nowadays. Besides, everybody is probably writing about YouTube.
The last.fm site is the top product from the team that created the Audioscrobbler music engine. More than ten million times a day, Last.fm users "scrobble" their tracks to the last.fm servers, helping to collectively build the world's largest social music platform. The site collects the wisdom of the crowds; delivering each user's musical profile to make personalized recommendations, connect users who share similar tastes, provide custom radio streams, and much more. With the August 2005 relaunch, Last.fm supports tagging of artists, albums, and tracks to create a site-wide folksonomy of music. Users can browse via tags, but the most important benefit is tag radio, permitting users to play music that has been tagged a certain way.
This tagging can be by genre ("metal"), mood ("chill"), artist characteristic ("baritone"), or any other form of user-defined classification ("seen live").
The network allows me to always be able to listen and access music I like, wherever Internet is available, but also experience other genres or artists that I ordinary would
skip or miss out on. When clicking around on the site, one can find, for example, music by Metallica which then can be linked to similar artists, or users that listen to similar music. In turn, this let me explore the community and at the same time educate myself with help of the band and music information that can be found on each page. This is one of few serious communities or folksonomies I have found that integrates me with the medium. The site is not just about exploring new and interesting music. It also focuses on allowing the user to constantly become more aware of music as culture in context of a society where art is becoming more important than before. Nevertheless, even though we are more absorbed by music, music as art also tends to be a hollow phenomenon that needs to be revived.
networks, but there are also very many that do not like them. I am one of those that like the concept, even though I have just started to get familiar with some of all new networks popping up every day. Sure, I am not so fond of the idea of identities competing with each other to become famous among the rest of the community, but I see it from another perspective; that we are just contributing (helping each other), not competing. All contribution perhaps gives inspiration to others that in turn may continue the artistic circle. In a way, culture is blooming more than ever through networks like folksonomies. Some of my favorite folksonomy sites are YouTube, Deviantart, Flickr and Last.fm. First I planned to bring up and talk a little bit about YouTube as it has been one of my favorite sites since it started. Instead I will make you somewhat acquainted to Last.fm because that is the site I am using most often nowadays. Besides, everybody is probably writing about YouTube.
The last.fm site is the top product from the team that created the Audioscrobbler music engine. More than ten million times a day, Last.fm users "scrobble" their tracks to the last.fm servers, helping to collectively build the world's largest social music platform. The site collects the wisdom of the crowds; delivering each user's musical profile to make personalized recommendations, connect users who share similar tastes, provide custom radio streams, and much more. With the August 2005 relaunch, Last.fm supports tagging of artists, albums, and tracks to create a site-wide folksonomy of music. Users can browse via tags, but the most important benefit is tag radio, permitting users to play music that has been tagged a certain way.
This tagging can be by genre ("metal"), mood ("chill"), artist characteristic ("baritone"), or any other form of user-defined classification ("seen live").
The network allows me to always be able to listen and access music I like, wherever Internet is available, but also experience other genres or artists that I ordinary would
skip or miss out on. When clicking around on the site, one can find, for example, music by Metallica which then can be linked to similar artists, or users that listen to similar music. In turn, this let me explore the community and at the same time educate myself with help of the band and music information that can be found on each page. This is one of few serious communities or folksonomies I have found that integrates me with the medium. The site is not just about exploring new and interesting music. It also focuses on allowing the user to constantly become more aware of music as culture in context of a society where art is becoming more important than before. Nevertheless, even though we are more absorbed by music, music as art also tends to be a hollow phenomenon that needs to be revived.
My Thoughts on Digital Cultures
When thinking about the concept "digital cultures", I first think about the encounters of millions of people occurring online everyday. These meetings bring us together, but they also keep us apart. Time spent online is inevitably time spent in a greater or lesser degree of detachment from one's physical surroundings, including local others. Nowadays, almost everyone has decided that local detachment is all right, because we do it when reading, watching television, listening to music, and so forth. But there are still questions about how Internet use will impact on these other forms of detachment, for instance in reading less or, worse, less well. Nevertheless, the further we move into a society fully integrated with digital technology, the more we will witness a "static society". With static I mean a society where culture is mass consumed in a way that uniqueness or experiences do no longer exist.
Right now, we are in the middle of the web 2.0 era and We are quickly rushing toward the future where people will be even more integrated with technology, to a time when we no longer can be called humans, but "human 2.0". At this stage we are becoming more machine than man and I am afraid that we somewhere on the way to that era will program even our minds to be less human.
Today, various communities and games on the net open the way for spontanous conversations and contacts, virtually anywhere. Culture such as music and film has turned into small mp3 and divx files which easily can be spread all over the world within a few minutes. In turn, these art forms become less unique. Sure, one might say that it is good that art is available for all, but too much information being ploughed into our minds will make any culture superfluous.
The value of people as well as art will be forgotten and just a remote memory to some. Therefore, this static society will gradually emerge as long as digital cultures go hand in hand with mass consumtion. Nevertheless, this correspond to reading a book. There are several ways of doing it, but skimming and scanning when surveying is how most internet users operate. This also leaves out the very notion of semblance.
Right now, we are in the middle of the web 2.0 era and We are quickly rushing toward the future where people will be even more integrated with technology, to a time when we no longer can be called humans, but "human 2.0". At this stage we are becoming more machine than man and I am afraid that we somewhere on the way to that era will program even our minds to be less human.
Today, various communities and games on the net open the way for spontanous conversations and contacts, virtually anywhere. Culture such as music and film has turned into small mp3 and divx files which easily can be spread all over the world within a few minutes. In turn, these art forms become less unique. Sure, one might say that it is good that art is available for all, but too much information being ploughed into our minds will make any culture superfluous.
The value of people as well as art will be forgotten and just a remote memory to some. Therefore, this static society will gradually emerge as long as digital cultures go hand in hand with mass consumtion. Nevertheless, this correspond to reading a book. There are several ways of doing it, but skimming and scanning when surveying is how most internet users operate. This also leaves out the very notion of semblance.
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