Response 1-AndrewW

Response 1b.

1.Find a way to stop police Police brutality towards minorities .

2.Mobilize the people/ Distribute and connect info/ share what was inaccessible. The solution lies in eye implant cameras.

Transparent society. Make all people have cameras implanted in their eyes . Record every day. Could pull up evidence in the case that someone was targeted by police for being a minority or foreigner.  Every government employed law officer would be under surveillance . Their phone calls and emails would be open to the public to view.

3. Start a new company who’s focus is in bringing transparency to law enforcement agencies. Force government agencies personnel to wear camera’s at all times while on duty. Force police agencies to publish all closed records, making them available to the public. This would be a very effective solution to the problem at hand. People will always have videos of events that take place in their life. Not super appealing in other regards. As far as the line between serious and playful, people can be as playful as they want once the world is united in total security.

1.WHAT IS NEW MEDIA? Describe the hallmark characteristics of New Media.  How do you think this changes who has the power to “define reality” via the media?  Give an example of where this might be the case. (2-3 paragraphs)

This article was by far one of the most informative that I have read since coming to the University of Maine. My friends for the last year would interject when we all talked about majors and ask “But Andrew, what is new media?” and I never really had an answer for them. I would just list the various projects and programs that we were working with, but was never able to answer that question. Thanks to this article I now know the answer to that question.

New Media, or more appropriately stated, the New Medium, is the new form of communication that has come into existence through recent technological progression. This new medium has the potential to deliver individualized information to an infinite number of people. It retains the ability to send out identical information to all people, but that information can receive input from consumer, developer and publisher.

The problem with communication before was that only select people had the power to send out mass communication. Through the press, through clergy sermons, or dictates from nobles. They were the ones that decided how to shape and deliver information to the masses. However New Media changes this power hierarchy. Now those who are not in the press, or in a place of political power are able to share information, and by extension are able to define reality with their perspective via the media.

2. NEW MEDIA STRATEGIEs

PROBLEM: A DISAPPEARING LANGUAGE

Ian Larson wanted to help preserve the Passamaquoddy language from extinction.

• Solution B  Distribute laptops with video cameras to school kids in the Passamaquoddy community, and ask them to record their grandparents telling stories in Passamaquoddy. Upload these to a Web site along with the grandparents’ definitions of particular words used in the story, and make these words searchable via a tag cloud.

Solution B is the correct answer. It more correctly embodies the many-to-many ideology in a better way. By sending kids into the Passamaquoddy community to learn from different members of their family; not only will each child learn different stories and words, but they will be able to work together to teach one another words they learned independently. This gives them the opportunity to learn from many others and teach many others at the same time. Solution A embodies more a many to one structure with individuals being told where info compiled from multiple others is being kept. This does not grant opportunity for sharing of knowledge.

PROBLEM: NEGLECTED RUINS

Evan Habeeb wanted to make people aware of the beauty of abandoned buildings.

• Solution B  Build a Web site that allows adventurers to print stickers they can leave behind in abandoned buildings they explore. Create the stickers so they can be scanned by a mobile phone to reveal a Web site built to feature photographs taken by those explorers.

Solution B uses the mobilize people strategy discussed in the article. This solution has people going out and exploring location. This alone provides people the opportunity to share the others locations they have found with others who share this hobby/passion. The stickers being linked to a web site is another way of sharing from many to many, giving the users a way to communicate with one another and share ideas, locations, and meet others. Solution A has the problem of not allowing for many to many expansion. A DVD would only be sent to specific locations, only making these locations know to a few people in a less interactive way.

PROBLEM: MISUNDERSTANDING COMPUTER ANIMATION

Ryan Schaller and Jason Walker wanted to help people understand the many layers required to create a computer-animated film, including wireframe, textures, and light effects. As a case study, they created an animation depicting a cartoon archeologist digging for ancient artifacts.

• Solution A Design and build a touch-screen interface that allows viewers to “rub” away layers of the film with their hands to reveal previous stages of the animation as it plays.

In creating a touch-screen interface the software for the film could be accessed through many different communication vehicles. This Solution is innovative and gives individuals the ability to explore the work at their own place and in their own distinct ways. Solution B on the other hand sounds no different that you youtube video and cannot be changed for the purposes of individuals.

PROBLEM: A BROKEN FOUNTAIN

Danielle Gagner wanted to renovate the waterfall fountain under the skylight in the middle of the University Union, which had fallen into disrepair.

• Solution A  Repurpose the existing plumbing to irrigate a garden planted in the former fountain. Research the types of plants that would grow well together at different levels of the fountain, and meet with dining hall staff to find out what herbs or vegetables they might add to salads and other offerings. Then plant these in collaboration with the sustainable agriculture club on campus, and invite students to pick the resulting parsley, strawberries, and other fare from the garden for their lunch.

Solution A is definitely the many to many choice in this example. Repurposing the garden in this manner allows for many individuals with varying skills and knowledge to come together and work on creating and maintaining a project. Beyond that the economic and social integration is a great aspect of this creation. It allows for all members of the public to contribute or reap benefits from the project. Solution B, while it may be aesthetically pleasing, does not adopt the many to many ideology of the other solution.

EXERCISE 2: INVENT YOUR OWN MANY-TO-MANY SOLUTIONS

VISUAL ART IS TOO STATIC

How can you create a mural that responds to individual viewers?

In some places it is quite common to see art work lining the walls of building along the street. There are many examples of graffiti as well as commissioned work both inside and outside of buildings. The problem with works of graffiti is that they are considered horrid defacements of property. The problem with commissioned work is that once it has been payed for it is not replaced for extremely long periods of time. An excellent way to fix both of these problems would be to invest in the placement of electronic wall/board interfaces in a variety of locations including public and private sectors.

These theoretical boards could range in size so long as they followed a systematically set ratio. These boards also come with motion tracking sensors, and/or with a host of other sensors, such as thermal and sound sensors. This allows for pieces that interact with the viewer through motion, noise, or a host of other actions. These boards could be set so that the user is able to upload a piece of art from their device directly to the board. These board would come with software to identify most inappropriate material and sort it out. The boards also send a notification to nearby people asking them if they like the piece and would like to share it. This would allow those who view the pieces to connect with others who enjoy the pieces and spread the upload board culture.

III. THEATER OF THE OPPRESSED