A truck full of papers

This blog is about an article regarding the use of cellular phones and other electronic gadgets (click here to read the article). The article is written by Judy Friedlander, as a critical view on all the information we are all carrying with us at all times. The average Australian (this is an Australian article..) carries somewhere between 600mb to 1gb of data on their mp3-players, organizers and cellphones. This is equal to a car filled with papers, this is according to Ray Williams, a professor from the California Institute of Technology. An Ipod with 20gb is said to be equal to 20 trucks filled with papers. This is pretty crazy thought, considering we trust that much information to little ectronical devices which could be destroyed easily. Additionally, if someone are to rob you or find your lost devices, they would be able to go through things personal to you as they want.

This trend has some moral issues of course, considering how much we rely on small electronic gadgets and how handicapped we are without one. I know I am handicapped without my cellphone and mp3player, it's almost as important as a cup of coffee in the morning. However, the fast digitalizing we are currently experiencing has mostly positive effects. We can always reach eachother (I know can be negative as well..), we can transport alot of information without having to pay some guy driving behind us with a car full of paper, and things goes faster. And when you want to be alone, you still can by a simple tap on the right button.

A femisist view on the Terminator

This week, I've read A Cyborg Manifesto written by Donna Haraway. Haraway is a feminist, and in this article she analyse woman's situation the high technological world we are now living in.

A cyborg is a mix of machine and man (i.e. Arnold in Terminator). Ms. Haraway uses this term to "brush aside the old binary ontologies of, for example, male/female, white/black...", arguing that in all such oppositions, the feminists has privileged the 'underdog'. She has a list of transitional words from the 'old hierarchical domintations to the scary new networks', These new networks she calls "informatics of domination". Here's some key terms in my opinion:

Mind - Artificial Intelligence
Second World War - Star Wars
Reproduction - Replication
Sex - Generic Engineering
Bourgeois novel, realism - Science Fiction, postmodernism.

We can see that the right sided words are not natural, but rather biotechnological and 'factory made'. Haraway uses this list to demonstrate how the society has changed, and to illustrate the difference between man and machine. Another media text we can use for this comparison is the film Kôkaku kidôtai by Mamoru Oshii. This film contains cyborgs, DNA merger and more.

Memory Extension

As We May Think is an article written by Vannevar Bush, discussing technological developements Bush felt were just around the corner. The most significant thing in this text however, is Bush's concept of the 'Memex Machine'. Memex (a portmanteau of memory extender) is an early attempt on hypertext, highly influential in later work on arranging information associatively. The idea of the memex was to inspire Ted Nelsons Xanadu Project, considered to be the 'original hypertext project'. Bush also wanted this to be a place were scientists could share projects, and benefit of each others work.

"A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility"

The memex machine was never built, only the idea and drawings was created. It definately looks different than your standard computer, but the Memex machine and the internet has so many similarities that you can argue Mr. Bush as the founder of the idea of internet. The idea of a constantly growing encyclopedia available to all of mankind is real.

Hackers are the worst kind of people.

In War in the Age of Intelligent Machines (1991), author Manuel De Landa writes about how information published by experts was limited to some select users when the computer was invented. Furthermore, Da Landa explains how it changed gradually from that point on, until this article was published. Most significantly, ethics among hackers have changed. The hackers' opinion were (and still are) that information should flow freely, allowing anyone to wants to 'improve the way the world works'. The hackers' would not be stopped by property rights in order to achieve this right.

De Landa believed that hackers have speeded up the amount of interactivity through computers. Hackers were well valued for some time working side by side with scientists, however in later years they have gradually gone over the line. In 1988, a hacker released the first computer virus onto the Internet. This marked the start of computer terrorism as well as a new million dollar crime network. There are still 'good' hackers working with programs to find faults etc, but the term 'hacker' will forever be associated with something weak and terrible.

Scary thing is that one person with a computer and a web connection can be able to destroy the work of millions of people. When will the virus destroying all machines come? Before you even get to read this?

The blade runner

In this sci-fi thriller from 1982, director Ridley Scott takes us to the future, the year is 2019. We are in this film introduced to the concept of human clones, in this particular film created to serve on colonies outside Earth. I think the idea of this happening (which will most likely happen at some point in technoloy) is the most frightening, and to me what really drives the film.

We have in many films seen robots and mechanical persons (i.e. in Star Wars). What makes Blade Runner different is that the clones are made from DNA, which enables their constructors to build copies of flesh and blood, or even modified copies of real people. They can even alter their memory. Another good film bringing up the idea of clones of real people is the 2005 thriller The Island. In this film, rich people are able to make clones of themselves, so that they can get fresh bodyparts from someone just like themselves if an accident happens.

I think these films brings up an important question. How far will we let technology go? Today we are already able to copy sheeps with this technology, why stop there? Clones are not the only matter we need to think about however, technology are going so fast that I doubt anyone really has control of it anymore.

The wiener.

Norbert Wiener is often looked upon as the father of cybernetics. He graduated with a PhD from Harvard at age 18, and pursued his love for computers in the years after. Cybernetics can be understood as the science of control and communication in mechanical and biological systems. Wiener also launched theories on animals as machines subject to feedback, meaning that life-like self control was a ‘simple engineering job’. To my understanding, Wiener is saying that computers are intelligent if they can learn from their own mistakes. I am quite a sceptic when regarding Wiener’s thesis in the 21st century however. Machines are meant to be a tool for humans, but in my opinion they are taking over way more than necessary.

Depending on machines that can easily be tricked by viruses is a scary thought. Wiener meant that people depended too much on machines during the industrial revolution, and I think we are back to that now. I think we can all agree that capitalism and the technological race is the reason for this. Furthermore, I feel that the ones in lead of this race needs to ask themselves whether or not they want to create artificial intelligence and by that risk getting us all slaves for robots. I know I’m scared.

The war baby.

This weeks reading was about Paul Virilio, a man known both for his versatility and his philosophic theories regarding the evolution of man. His interest for this subject began as he from age 8 to 10 experienced some of the 2nd world war's destruction in person. This gave him the inspiration to study the evolution of man and reflect upon it, with special interest of war.

The most interesting thing to me in this interview was Virilios views on how the technological inventions of man also has caused troubles, e.g. inventing a car but at the same time inventing the carcrash. In the 21st century we are facing the consequences of the technological inventions that has surfaced over the past years. Virilio says the monitoring of the world through surveillance satellites is this generations problem.

I think the main problem of the evolution of man is that we do not take time to look back and think things through. We seek new things and new inventions which I think will sometime in the future result in a peak where there is nothing left to discover, or that we run out of resources. This is of course speculation, but I feel that it is reason to worry.

The start of things to come.

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