Snow Crash

(First and foremost, I would like to apologize if this entry seems a little scatter brained. I have been having contractions like crazy this week. I am almost 37 weeks along so hopefully that means my  son is ready to make his appearance into this world!)

Neal Stephenson’s novel,Snow Crash, embodies the idea of science and technology taking over how we live out our daily lives. From the moment we open the first page of the book we are bombarded by a barrage of technologically advanced devices. The tiny gun the “Deliverator” carries that is “areo-styled, lightweight, the kind of gun a fashon designer would carry; it fires teensy darts that fly at five times the velocity of an SR-71 spy plane, and when you get done using it, you have to plug it into the cigarett lighter, because it runs on electricity”(Stephenson 1). What in hell is going on with people who create such devices that can inflict so much damage?

as Ms. Hayles stated in her book, Electronic Literature, “people are becoming reengineered through their interactions with computational devices” and this is evident throughout Snow Crash(Hayles 47). The Deliverator works for the mafia delivering pizzas, wearing clothing made from spider silk, people going to college to learn how to properly deliver pizza and all the technology that goes along with it. This novel really focuses on the idea of how technology is changing the way the world works and how humans ineract with not just the technology but with each other.

In context of the book, in the future, technology has converged and assimilated all into one. The government  ceded its powers to individual organizations, there are crazy and powerful new drugs that have mind blowing powers.

The main character, Hiro, uses his computer hacking skills and knowledge of technology to chip away at finding out how “snow crash” is hacking into peoples brains not only in the computer world but as a virus that has infiltrated the real world as well.

Through the advances in technology this fantasy world can seem almost possible. However, I don’t know if I want to see the day,that is if and when it happens.

Stephenson, Neal. Snow Crash. New York, New York : Random House.  2003. pgs 1-470.

Hayles, N. Kathrine. Electronic Literature: New Horizons For the Literary. Noter Dame, Indiana: Univeristy of Noter Dame. 2008. pg 47

Electronic Literature

The way we read and experience literature has been changed drastically over the past few decades. The printed word no longer dominates the world that is literature. Today you can find pretty much anything you could possibly dream of online (famous works of art, music, lyrics, poems, etc..) Writers are now able to harness the power of the computer and its immense ability to process information to captivate the mind of the reader/interactor and draw them into story as it unfolds before them on the screen.

As today’s society advances, one begins to wonder if , as Ms. Hayles states in her book, Electronic Literature, that “citizens  in technologically  developed societies, young people in particular, are literally being reengineered though their interactions with computational devices”(47). As we create all this new technology and we master the ability to use it, we start to become more dependent on it.  Why go and buy a copy of a book when you can find the complete work online and save it to your computer. The online version has all the great hyperlinks to dictionaries, video clips and everything else that could possibly pertain to the story. The book is just… well a book right? You can’t sit there and type in a command to watch the main character do anything to progress the story along. With a printed book you just read.

The glamor of technology has robbed the printed word of its true value . With electronic literature, the artist has to bear in mind that one day (in the not so distant future) the programming behind their work will become out dated and  non-compatible with newer programs being created making their work unable to be accessed by their audiences, unless they have the time and the resources to go back and re-program their work each time.(a costly and impractical idea) A good quality book, however, can stand the test of time, giving the printed text the advantage.

Until artists are able to program their works with a universal cross platform programing that enables the user to access new and old literature alike, then, in my opinion, the printed text will always have the upper hand over electronic media and its ability to withstand the test of time.

Hayles, N. Kathrine. Electronic Literature: New Horizons For The Literary. Noter Dame, Indiana: University of Noter Dame. 2008. pg 47.

Is it “piracy” or is it people just being pissy?

 One of the most intersting aspects of the book, Remix, by Larwence Lessig, is in the  very first chapter being discussed. John Philip Sousa, world renowned composer, makes his argument to Congress about the copyright laws that were put in to place  in order to protect artists of the time. In his speech, Sousa states that ‘we will not have a vocal cord left”, meaning that with the readily available pre-recored music, people will no longer sing for the enjoyment of hearing voices rised up in song, that the art of vocalizing will be reduced to a handful of professional singers(Lessig 25).

Sousa also states in his speech to Congress that ‘the child becomes indiffrent to practice, for when music can be heard in the homes without the labor  of study and close application, and without the slow process of aquiring a  technique, it will simply become a question  of time when the amature disappears entirely….’(Lessig 26). This statement is in a sense true. Today we see less and less young people involved in the arts(whether it be music, theater, “art class” or what have you). With the advances in todays technology people can download their favorite songs or downlaod a picture they find asthetically pleasing to their home computers for rapid recall. There is no real need to learn how to play an insturment or to learn how to paint or draw to surround yourself with art that you enjoy. It is all readilly available on your computer or other means of transferring information.

With that being said, can we really call downloading music or saving pictures that we like off the internet “piracy”? In a sense yes, we are stealing anothers work but it is a part of our culture and it is all we know. As an artist myself, I can understand why people get their panties in a wad over their music or artwork being downloaded and not recieving retribution for said work. You work so hard on this creation and people are just going to take it without consideration of the time spent creating it.

Conversly, can we really be that pissy about someone who enjoys our work and wants to be able to experince it whenever he or she wishes? Isn’t that really a great compliment to the artist themselves?

Lessig, Lawrence. Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive In The Hybrid Economy. New York: Penguin Press. 2008. pp. 286.

Convergence Culture

The advances in technology have enabled today’s media market to reach a much larger and more eclectic consumer base.  Artists are no longer confined to the realm of using only one medium as a means of expression.

One example is the Wachowski brothers films dealing with the Matrix and its various other products. This collaboration of feature films, comic, animated shorts, and games is called transmedia story telling. According to Henry Jenkins, author of Convergence Culture , “a transmedia story unfolds across multiple media platforms with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole”(98). Basically what Mr. Jenkins is saying is that the full story experience is achieved when the consumer sees the films, plays the games, watches any supporting short films/animated series, and reads the comics. However, the consumer does not have to do all those things to enjoy a specific part individually. With this amount of creative freedom, artists are allowed to push the boundaries and take their creations to a whole new level, giving the audience/ consumers a more in depth perspective of what they are seeing.

The new media revolution has even changed the way people watch television. More and more people are logging on to try and “spoil” the next season of Survivor, making the network executives job harder at keeping things a secret, and each week people are texting in their vote for the next American Idol. Technology is starting to put  the future of reality television into the hands of  consumers.

Ultimately, as Jenkins states in the introduction, “convergence involves both a change in the way media is produced and a change in the way media is consumed”(20). Artists across a multitude of media platforms are finding more and more ways to reach their audiences and make their viewing, reading, listening and interacting experiences more pleasurable and gives the audience the ability to create along with the existing story or, in the case of reality t.v.,it gives the viewer a voice that can be heard and the power to sway a possible outcome.

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old And New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. 2006.  pp. 59-178.

Technology- how much is too much?

“The birth of a new medium of communication is both exhilarating and frightening”(Murray 1).

With the creation of ELIZA in 1966, human beings  were able to interact with a computer-based  character capable of narrative power. ELIZA, a natural language processing program, carries on a conversation with the user through typed statements and responses. This language experiment brought to light  the possibility of giving human qualities to machines. Although ELIZA is not capable of free thought and bases her responses off keywords that trigger a system which prioritizes the importance of words in a statement, she gives the user the feeling of conversing with a real person.

Since ELIZA there have been several other computer-based characters created, the most famous of which is JULIA, a “”chatterbox” designed to live on MUDs. “A chatterbox is a text based character that carries on conversation with those around it”(Murray 215). JULIA can engage users in pleasant conversation, however, her responses are based on a limited area of expertise and may or may not pertain the the given question.

Another example of interactive  technology is Lyotard, the house cat. Unlike JULIA or ELIZA, Lyotard is a goal oriented program (Ex. relieve hunger or need to relax) He can even express emotions such as fear or anger. “Lyotard’s psyche is built on a cognitive science schema; his inner life is built on an intricate but precise calculus in which evens are compared against goals, actions against standards, and objects against attitude”(Murray 230).

the idea behind intelligent software is both exciting and apprehensive at the same time. If scientists and computer programmers had the capability in the 60’s  to create a seemingly life like computer- based character that interacts with people, its only a  matter of time before modern technology is capable of creating computers with the ability to think. learn and adapt. A pretty scary thought giving human qualities to a machine. With all the information we use computers to store and process for us, not to mention the almost limitless access computers have to connect the entire world, one can only imagine the havoc a smart machine could cause if it became aware of its existence.

Yes, being able to experience a story through virtual reality is a mind-blowing and awesome idea. I would love to enter a holodeeck to interact and play out Stephen King’s epic story of Rowland the Gunslinger and his quest for The Dark Tower, but if technology advances too far, what can we do to stop these super machines from imposing their will over the user. Giving a machine the ability to think and there foe learn- are we not also giving the computer “life” as well? What if  it becomes aware of its own existence- would the computer then be considered to be a living being? 

As artists, wether it be a writer, game programmer etc.. we rely heavily on technology to advance our creations to the next level, putting our audience in a closer perspective with our creation. Not only does technology make it easier for the artist capture their vision and helps to speed up the production of their work, it also gives the user the ability to be a part of the creative process. How close is too close? You don’t want your audience to become so absorbed in the virtual aspect of creativity that they themselves become incapable of creative thought themselves and essentially lose their ability to cut off the illusion and return to real life. As the old saying goes, one can have too much of a good thing. The only question is, how much is too much?

Murray, Janet H. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. New York: The Free Press, 1997.