New (and extended) final paper topic

Essentially what I will do is argue that the digital divide is ever moving and changing in size, but will never close. Part of this is due to current approaches that seem to focus on getting people onto the Internet and into cyberspace with the appropriate tools, but as we more fully migrate into cyberspace issues similar to those that create barriers between people and communities in the real world will continue to divide communities and fragment cyberspace.

(Sorry for the repetition below)

Although society may ensure everyone has access to cyberspace, has the mental tools to assert themselves in cyberspace, and can afford access, new issues have already started to and will continue to perpetuate the digital divide in other ways. The digital divide will become less about the issues noted at the top of this paragraph and more about accessing people and content in cyberspace. The digital divide will never close; current events and those in the recent past demonstrate that this gap will continue to hinder our ability to find equal footing in cyberspace for the foreseeable future.

Resources:
Carvin, Andy. "1's and 0's: Mind the Gap: The Digital Divide as the Civil Rights Issue of the
    New Millennium." Information Today. MultiMedia Schools, January 2000. Web.

- Explanation of digital divide and solutions
Carvin points to several factors that contribute to or make up the digital divide. I will use these to outline a common conception of what the digital divide currently is. One of the major issues Carvin notes is community; this will also be my major point. Overally, I will use article this as a starting point to illustrate how "solving" these issues and getting more people into cyberspace will also migrate these divisions into cyberspace communities and ultimately create new barriers.

Cotten, Sheila, William Anderson, and Zeynep Tufekci. "Old Wine in a New Technology, Or a Different
     Type of Digital Divide?". New Media Society 11.7  (2009): 1163-1186.


- Technology/Tools perpetuate the digital divide
This article explores the differences in how tools (mobile phones) are used by male and female users and how these different experiences in cyberspace, which are created through inexpensive, increasingly common, and non-uniform devices, are creating new barriers, not to entry, but between people and resources in cyberspace. I will use this source to explain how an increase access can cause fragmentation of a relatively uniform space as more people and means are added to the mix.
[May also find additional resources exploring how rich multimedia experiences in cyberspace can lead to issues of who and what we can access (e.g mobile devices (iPad/Phone) with no Flash, but certain resources require Flash).]

Kolko, Beth and Elizabeth Reid. "Dissolution and Fragmentation: Problems in On-Line Communities," 
     CyberSociety 2.0. Ed. Steve Jones. Thousand Oaks, Calif.:Sage Publications. 2000.

 - Self-selecting communities and inconsistent identities continue digital divide
In this essay Kolko and Reid discuss, in further detail, issues similar to those Dibbel discussed in "A Rape in Cyberspace." The article explores how people interact in online spaces, what issues arise, identity inconsistency as we more fully involve ourselves online, and how this level of anonymity can ultimately break online communities and create distance between users. I will use the examples noted in this essay to expose the fragility of wholly virtual communities and how these communities can create closeness, but at the same time keep people from fully engaging with others.


McCalla, Gordon. "The Fragmentation of Culture, Learning, Teaching and Technology: Implications for the
     Artificial Intelligence in Education Research Agenda in 2010." International Journal of Artificial 
     Intelligence in Education 11 (2000): 177-196.

-Further information related to Kolko article
This article discusses community retraction/specialization/exclusivity in the face of a growing pool of information and people. Not everyone will have access to information at the same time. They will have the ability to get the information, but certain (self-)imposed boundaries or restrictions in their "corner" of cyberspace will result in them accessing something ahead of or behind the curve that, given the rapid pace of change in today's cyberspace, will leave them disconnected on some level.


Souza e Silva, Adriana de. "From Cyber to Hybrid: Mobile technologies as interfaces of hybrid spaces." The 
      Cybercultures Reader. Ed. David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. New York: Routledge, 2007.
      757 -772.

-Increases access to cyberspace through cheaper and more convenient(?) devices.
Souza e Silva explores the proliferation of cellular phones and how new spaces are being created. This increased access can potentially lead to bridging the digital divide. However, even as indirectly noted in the article, these spaces become divided through geography, technology, and community connections. I will use this as a counter point of sorts to my argument and point to examples in the article to link to other articles and points in my argument.

Ada Lovelace Day

Prior to being introduced to it by way of this blog post, I was completely unaware of Ada Lovelace Day. I know about Ada Lovelace, but the idea of a day devoted to Ada Lovelace and other women in technology and science is new to me, but completely awesome. 

Initially I started thinking about women in traditional science who I learned about in elementary and high school; unfortunately, it seems like women in technology and science are under-represented and those who are noted receive most, if not all, of the attention (Lovelace and Curie specifically). So, I decided to consider women in the more contemporary realm of the web and one of the first women to come to mind was Lifehacker.com founder Gina Trapani. I've read Lifehacker off and on for the past few years and the resource/community she has built is impressive and her efforts are something everyone should aspire to.

Before actually checking Ginatrapani.org, I assumed that Gina was primarly a blogger and focused more on book writing after becoming less involved with Lifehacker.com. However, that's just a small portion of Gina Trapani's contribution to technology. She's also a programmer of several internet tools and is working with a company on a platform that the White House will use to gain insight into what people in various social networks think about policy and other issues.

Check out http://ginatrapani.org/ to see all the other cool stuff she's working on.

The Final (Topic) Countdown....

That title is terrible, I'm sorry. Anyway, I've been struggling finding a topic I want to stick with and I think what I've settled on is teetering on the verge of report and argument, so I'd appreciate any feedback.

The current iteration of the web and cyberspace communities in general have been called collaborative, social, and supportive. Most of these have positive connotations, but anti-social and negative activities still occur all these years after the events outlined in Dibble's "A Rape in Cyberspace." Although we like to think that people and cyberspace have evolved over the past 10+ years I argue that cyberspace has tremendous potential for creating good, but it is also a cesspool for awfulness, which can be seen on a regular basis. Examples: Myspace suicide, griefing in online games, chatroulette trolls, etc.

I may also argue that this is not necessarily happening because people take on "different" identities in cyberspace, but rather accentuating latent or suppressed facets of their real world identities. Real world has more to do with crafting specific identities and rules of conduct than cyberspace. Supporting concept: Idea that there is less risk and fewer perceived enforced norms in cyberspace/virtual spaces.

Points!

So, after I posted that Lara Croft post, I was thinking about the ways games could change how we percieve things and I remembered the following video I watched earlier in the week. It's from a video game conference called DICE and the presentation in the video concerns points, virtual and real "value," and incentivizing everything through ubiquitous computing and game systems.

PS3 Games - E3 2010 - Guitar Hero 5

Dude Looks Like a Lady?

Not an Aerosmith fan, but the title seemed appropriate. Moving on...

I was kind of torn trying to choose just one article to cover for this week's blog post, but I decided to look at an article we read for Tuesday: "Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender-Role Subversion in Computer Adventure Games." I kind of wanted to look at the idea of griefing in online communities and games that was presented in "A Rape in Cyberspace," but there were aspects of the Lara Croft scenario(s) that I wanted to hash out in a blog post. Let's time warp back to the start of my post and actually get to the article by Schleiner I opted to look at.

As the title implies this article is all about the video game character Lara Croft who is featured in the (still ?) popular Eidos franchise Tomb Raider. Schleiner breaks down the roles that Lara Croft fits into in gaming culture; not within the pantheon of gaming characters so much, but within the minds of gamers. Schleiner discusses the positions of Lara Croft and the player in several different player-avatar relationships in her efforts to explore how or if understandings of gender will change through playing games as characters of another gender. I agree with most of the points made in the article with the exception of the "Lara as Drag Queen" section.

Schleiner posits, "Male players of games like Tomb Raider are drawn into identification with the female avatar [...] [allowing] players to experiment with 'wearing' a feminine identity , echoing the phenomenon of gender crossing in Internet chat rooms and MUDs" (223). Now, given the state of gaming technology and popular game design at the time I do have some issue addressing this part of the article, but it seems that Schleiner is stating that Tomb Raider and Lara Croft present this great boon where "boundaries between [...] gender norms [...] will become more fluid" (223).Considering the way the game is represented and the limited interactions the player has with the world through the character, I don't agree with this assessment. This isn't to say that I don't think games can lead to a situation where there is a blurring of boundaries between genders and/or gender roles, but I don't think Tomb Raider and the character of Lara Croft are particularly effective at  doing so.

Initially, her statement might seem like a given considering that Lara Croft is/was one of the only major game heroines, but in the context of Tomb Raider, this assessment does not hold true. Schleiner points out many of the following issues with the way Lara Croft is presented, but the aforementioned conclusion is still presented. The first issue I have with this section is the fact that players can have a go at "wearing" another identity. I'd argue that this is nearly, if not completely, impossible given the locked third person perspective of the game. My disagreement has less to do with mirroring the virtual donning of a new skin in first person view and more with the conceptual disconnect that is added by a third person view. In third person view, the player is constantly aware of the disconnect between their own skin and that of the character. There is already the clear barrier of the hardware (controllers, screen, speakers, etc) and that of the unreal virtual visuals, but in third person view an additional layer or filter is added because the player is not only aware that they are merely acting as a puppeteer. Additionally, the character and its appearance is always placed in the center of the player's view. So, not only does the player have to immerse themselves into the virtual through the hardware, but now they also have to try to mentally augment their perspective to get past the centrality of the female character's appearance. I'm not saying that the player should not be aware of the character's gender, but rather the gender of the character shouldn't be this central to the experience because it seems to remove some an opportunity for the player to create a strong mental/emotional link. If something happens it seems like it is more of a situation of "Oh, look what happened to Lara" instead of "Oh, look what happened to me." The player is basically watching these things play out and the character is little more than something to draw the player's "gaze" rather than build a substantial connection.

The second issue I have with Schleiner placing Tomb Raider in the role of tool for gender blurring is the fact that there seems to be very little interpersonal/intercharacter activity within the game. Schleiner states, "Human non-player characters sometimes impart information [...] [but] the game shifts to a [...] mode, which precludes involved player interaction" (223). If the player is continually distanced from the character's role and interactions which are often key to defining who the character is in terms of gender and general personality, how can Lara Croft and Tomb Raider act as a gender blurring tool as it is positioned? Everything the player actually experiences while controlling Lara is very generic and could be experienced using a character of any gender or even a non-gendered character. Other than presenting a female form, Tomb Raider doesn't actually do anything to co-mingle or break established understandings or interpretations of gender. I see where watching a female character perform these typically male actions in a male dominated space could give one pause, but the design of the game keeps Lara (and the player) from the role of drag queen.

If we go back to the first statement I quoted and consider the comparison between Tomb Raider and MUDs in changing notions of gender, we can start to see how far away Tomb Raider is from meeting the goal stated by Scheiner. In a MUD, the player is actively playing as another person, potentially with another gender. As I tried to point out above, Lara just becomes this distanced virtual other that the player happens to be controlling within the context of Tomb Raider.

Stop! Hammer Time!

I had originally planned on writing about Haraway's "A Cyborg Manifesto," which Dena covered in the last round of theorist summaries, but then I decided to check out the other groups to see what other technologists had written. All were intriguing, but I decided to go with Manovich's article titled, "Friendly Alien: Object and Interface," which is the article Mike covered last time.

I selected this article because I am taking a human-computer interface class this semester and the content of the article seemed interesting and relevant. Besides, I figured I should learn more about what Manovich has to say since I still haven't finished the copy of The Language of New Media I checked out.

I didn't really read Mike's summary or comments that thoroughly at first because I didn't want his take on the article to slant my take on things. After reading Manovich's article, formulating my ideas, and finally reading Mike's post, I think I came away with something sufficiently distinct.

Irrelevant note: I don't know if this was a transcription error or what, but I'm going to call out the following misprint/error: "It will require lots of work and imagination before aesthetically satisfying solutions will be find." For shame.

Beyond my unqualified comments regarding editing or whatnot, this article was good, even if it is too short. This article feels more like a detailed set of notes than an article, but it poses some interesting information and insights into how people currently engage with computers/technology and how that may or should change. I'm not saying that the way the article is composed is bad or anything, in fact I like it, but it's pretty light on discussion of theory and contains more information about "cool stuff" in general. As a result, it is easy to focus on the objects rather than ideas if the reader does not have sufficient background knowledge. Onward -

Manovich jumps into talk about how the impression and interpretation of interfaces have evolved over the years. This idea is demonstrated through a discussion about artworks by Milos Manelas that show how we've gone from being wrapped in a tangle of cables and surrounded by beige boxes to using devices that seamlessly integrate into our clothing, living spaces, and environments in general. No longer are we doomed to a desk full of cables, we have integrated/convergent technology that can more deeply integrate into the lives we have or want to have. I kind of dispute this idea because a third of my desk is currently strewn with cables and wired devices, but maybe that's more a comment on my poor cable management skills. Anyhow, with increased ease of use and technological invisibility, computing devices have gone from being these utilitarian fringe geek culture objects to fetishized objects of desire, status, and style.

The specific example Manovich uses involves an apparently upper-scale consumer electronics store in Paris that has made these high-fashion pieces of tech the center piece of their stores and business. They aren't just there to show off what they can do, but how they can enhance one's style. He then discusses how this is good because it shows an increasing comfort with this inanimate Other (or alien as Manovich puts it), but it is bad because there's no reason, real integration, or benefit connected to slapping a pretty pattern on a portable gaming system or BeDazzling a cell phone. This type of enhancement is detrimental because it creates an incongruity or "discontinuity" that is distracting and takes the user and others out of the experience the device is offering. After explaining this odd situation of people trying to shoe horn technology into traditional aesthetic frameworks, Lev talks about deeper integration of form and interface/experience. In my mind this was starting to sound like form follows function, but that idea is quickly refuted in the article ("This does not mean that from now on 'form follows interface.'") and replaced by the idea of mutual accommodation. Neither side of the interface/form coin gets preference; they both work in tandem to create a sensible user experience. In his closing remarks, Manovich notes that we're still at an early hybrid state where there seems to be a desire to smash art and science together without enough concern with how one impacts the other. We currently operate these "friendly alien" interfaces that we cope with, but they are not ideal or unified. However, progress is being made in bringing rather low-tech common/natural objects together with high-tech computing and interfaces. He points to the example of smart objects, which are seemingly normal devices that invisibly hold and integrate advanced experiences. Although he doesn't mention this in his article, a quasi-smart object can be seen in some implementations of Microsoft's Surface technology. There is still some disconnect between the form and interface, so I am reluctant to call it a "smart object," but it's a tangible example.

As I noted above, I think the cool things Manovich noted in this article are secondary to the ideas of integration, convergence, and shifting relationships to technology. If we, as a society, really want to be able to use computers as tools to do more work we have to get a point where it is as easy to use as a hammer. I'm being a little too simplistic, but I think the comparison stands. Whether it is through culture norms or some other innate understanding, you can give a child a hammer or better yet a hammer-like toy and within moments they understand that interface and form. There is an immediate connection with a tool that has many uses ranging from killing foes to building homes. The combination of simplicity and applicability has made the hammer a lasting and seemingly indispensable tool throughout history.

Having systems that look nice and require tons of training or don't make sense in a given context does not lead to ubiquitous use, just a larger niche. I, and I imagine many others, argue that without an ultra inclusive user base that has a very high level of fluency with the interfaces, human progress and invention will start to stagnate. I'm sure some idea would eventually emerge to overcome this compartmentalization of technology and continue the process of cultural evolution, but why not make computing more accessible and useful to everyone instead of the relatively elite group of the wealthy and/or educated. Accommodating both ends of the form and interface spectrum while also accommodating the integration of high technology will lead to fundamental and surprising changes in cultures and societies.

Manovich, Lev. "Friendly Alien: Object and Interface." Manovich.net,
    2006. Web. http://www.manovich.net/DOCS/friendly_alien.doc. 
    February 18, 2010.

I Am Going to Get Medieval on Your Person.

I opted to go with something aside from a science fiction film because I haven't watched any in a while, but I did see Pulp Fiction for the bajillionth on IFC the other day. I hadn't read chapter three of Digitizing Race at that point, but as I was thinking about my blog post after class I thought the episode of the movie featuring washed-up boxer Butch (Bruce Willis) and crime lord Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) could apply to the issue of race and technology that Nakamura discussed when talking about The Matrix series and Minority Report. Yes, there is much more to discuss in Pulp Fiction re: race and power, but I'm going to try to limit this to two topics so it is more manageable for all involved.

In order to see where I'm going, it's necessary to go over my understanding and interpretation of facets of Nakamura's argument. The points I found most compelling and applicable to Pulp Fiction are found on pages 116, and 118 of Digitizing Race. On page 116 Nakamura writes about technology present in the Matrix and Minority Report to demonstrate how black characters either have antiquated (or less potent) versions of technology used by whites or use the same technology as whites, but only in superficial or support roles. Regardless of the level or interaction or integration, the black characters can never meet or exceed the power or technology wielded by the white characters. On page 118, she writes, "Seeing is always seeing in relation to the state; attempts to break this deadlock result in the loss of all personhood, a condition under which one enters the dead space or alpha channel of sociality." I think everyone gets this point, but I'll elaborate. In other words, "the man" owns you whether or not you buy-in to that arrangement. In relation to contemporary times, if you don't go along w/ norms and go off the grid or operate within a structure outside that of general society, you don't get the same access and affordances of that society (existing in the alpha channel). However, once attempt you re-enter that society and function as if you don't subscribe to those societal rules and norms, you lose all rights to your person(hood) and are open to control by those in power.

On to Pulp Fiction, considering that the parallels are not exact, I am going to have to make some generalizations or slight modifications to Nakamura's exact quotes and try to fit them into a contemporary, realistic, and Pulp Fiction-y framework. (Side note: The title Pulp Fiction and term realistic seem at odds.) So, rather than treating technology as interfaces or computers as Nakamura does in her argument, I'll look at technology in terms of weaponry. Similarly, Nakamura uses seeing and its constant tether to the government in Minority Report to elaborate on ownership of the body and information. However, I'm going to replace state with white men (typically those wield most political power throughout the world) and rather than sight, I'll look at what is "yours," what you independently/personally control, and power.

Without explaining all the "episodes" of the film, I'll just say that Marsellus is positioned as a strong, powerful African American male figure throughout the narrative. However, the scene I noted at the beginning of this post reflects Marsellus's tenuous, if not completely fiction control of his own body, technology, and power within a largely and almost exclusively white context. I suppose I should quickly recap this act of the film to make sure everyone is on the same page. Although the statute of limitations on spoilers is up on this movie, skip the next paragraph if you've never seen the movie and want to watch it some time. Actually, if you want to watch Pulp Fiction without it being spoiled, you might want to skip this post all together.

[If you want to watch the crash and the end of the pawn shop scenes, you can watch you tube clips here and here.]

Butch (Willis) is strongly advised to throw a boxing match, by Marsellus, in exchange for money and Butch agrees. Butch does not go through with the deal, wins the fight, and inadvertently kills his black opponent in the ring. Butch flees. Marsellus and his henchmen attempt to track down Butch without success until Butch pulls up to a stop light/sign and Marsellus walks across the street in front of Butch's car. This begins a confrontation where Butch hits Marsellus with his car and then crashes said car into oncoming traffic. Marsellus and Butch both survive and are being watched/tended to by crowds of exclusively female bystanders. Upon coming to, Marsellus shoots at and begins chasing Butch. They wind up in a pawn shop where Butch beats up Marsellus and prepares to shoot him. However, the pawn shop owner (?) uses a shotgun to convince Butch to stop and the pawn shop owner proceeds to knock both of them out, tie them to chairs, and gag them. Marsellus and Butch are both bound and gagged and find themselves at the mercy of two "hillbilly boy[s]" (the pawn shop owner and a police officer/guard named Zed) who "randomly" selects Marsellus (using the eny meeny miney moe rhyme) to be raped. Marsellus is taken to an adjacent room while Butch manages to escape his restraints and flee the area, only to be compelled to save Marsellus. Butch browses through an assortment of pawn shop goods and eventually finds a Japanese-style sword that he uses to kill the pawn shop owner and keep Zed at bay. Marsellus gets the pawn shop owner's shotgun and shoots Zed. Butch and Marsellus part ways - The end, basically.

 So, how does that mess of a situation from Pulp Fiction intersect with The Matrix and Minority Report? Indirectly, but through Nakamura's assertions outlined above. Looking at the first issue of technology, we do see Marsellus in a role where he wields "technology" in the form of a hand gun and attempt to use that technology to assert some level of control against Butch. However, due to Butch's luck or divine gift, Marsellus is largely ineffective when he attempts to use this piece of technology. You might say, but he did shoot someone in that scene. Yes he did, but it was a woman bystander who was looking after Butch. And that's a whole separate topic. Anyway, Marsellus attempts to gain or assert power by using a weapon that is traditionally associated with western (white) warfare and can't do it. However, Butch (white), whose father was a soldier in Vietnam, appears to be completely fluent and adept at using a gun. Even a completely unrelated white character (the pawn shop owner) uses a gun with apparent ease. I'm not saying that only whites can use guns in the real world, but I am saying that in the context of this scene from Pulp Fiction, it appears that only white people are sufficiently capable with technology. You say, Marsellus does use a shotgun. Agreed, he obviously shoots Zed, but he's using it to support Butch in his rescue/revenge mission. You could argue that Marsellus was using technology on his own for his own goals, but Marsellus wasn't able to use the technology of the shotgun without the presence or intervention of Butch. Without Butch he was completely at the mercy of the two white hillbilly rapists, which brings me to point the second.

The whole idea of control over one's self (conceptually), body, and ability to manage or assert power is a pervasive one regardless of race when faced with advances in technology, but if we look at the situation in Pulp Fiction and historically, it is largely shaped by race and the control exerted by whites over non-whites (the state over the populace). This is a harder topic to tackle because it requires a significant level of reshaping to get Nakamura's argument to fit in such different confines. However, if we look at the portion of this act starting at the point Butch and Marsellus were bound to their chairs, we can see how Zed and the pawn shop owner act as the state or controlling power structure while Butch and specifically Marsellus wait to see what will happen after they left their own criminal underworld and entered the white's world of the pawn shop. This might seem ridiculous, a bit of a stretch, and contradictory since I just aligned Butch with whites a moment ago. Fair point, but I argue that this situation is slightly different in that the two power holders in this situation don't seem to consider Butch part of their world, he is put on the same level as Marsellus (at least superficially because I can't speak for the motivation of fictional charcters). After the completely arbitrary and degrading use of the eeny, meeny, miney, moe rhyme to select Marsellus, we can see how the rapists and potential murders have completely taken away any power, control, or ownership away from Marsellus. Not only by binding him and rendering him helpless, but also by violating his body through rape. While he held a substantial level of power outside the rules of society, as soon as he re-entered and attempted to behave in the same manner, those with power took control of Marsellus and attempted to remove his personhood and remove him from this societal model.