I recently stumbled across a short video made by Googles Maile Ohye, one of the “support enginers” at Google Inc. The video goes into a simple exmplanation of googles privacy and what private information google stores when you make a simple search query.
Very well explained and even has some lovely diagrams….
As the web technologies advance are we giving away too much information about personal lives? Should we be taking steps to enable anonymous browsing of the Internet?
The area that I am most interested in and wish to explore revolves around the many issues and debates with regards to anonymous browsing and digital privacy on the web. Some of the issues that I would like to research further include; Have we become ignorant to the fact that nearly every step we take on the web can be logged, traced, stored and used to “help improve” our web experience?
A major debate online questions Google Inc’s Privacy Policies and their attitude to data privacy. With the slogan “Don’t Be Evil” how can we be sure that this is not a tactical ploy to reel us in and to make us feel safe?
By looking at current debates in this topic area I plan to investigate the motives of capturing and mining data on the web and the effects of these actions. Are these motives for the good of the public or just a sneaky way to increasing profitability, hits and above all gaining even more market share? Or, are their methods for the good of the user’s web experience?
By conducting this investigation I want to understand why and how these companies gather, utilise and process our data. Determining whether or not the power and information that these businesses hold on us as individuals is being used to benefit the end user or benefit the companies themselves. From the second we log on to their websites they are aware of a multitude of information, ranging from what operating system we are running to personal information such as our location. For example Google offer a range of services and by signing up to just a few of their services they will know where you live, your age, and even your bank account details. As Google now own some of our largest online and offline services and products are they really looking after our data or are they using it to take over the web? At present our personal data is in safe hands, or so we would like to think. However, what impact could it have on our lives if companies such as Google change their tactics, policies, or owners?
The desired aim for the project is to create a multilayered representation of a space which is yet to be defined; initial thoughts are the possibility of architecture represented in the form of 3D modelling. As transformation has been the theme of this module I want to show the transformation of somewhere or something that we ignore and take for granted through the period of a day offering the user the experience to travel through time forwards and backwards, enabling a non linear narrative.
The end result will be a video demonstration of the interaction a human could have with a future system. This will demonstrate the notion of being able to document and explore time and space itself.
The inspiration of the project has come from a number of existing “solutions” which try to capturing/represent time and space. Having a particular interest in photography one of the early concepts for capturing time and space was that of Henri Lartigue in the early 60’s with the invention of Slit Scan photography, which was later used in Stanley Kubrick’s, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Basing most of my research on this technique I was lead to the inspiring work of digital artist Alvaro Cassinelli. His interactive installation “The Khronos Projector” created “a video time-warping machine with a tangible deformable screen”. This was a physical environment in which a user can interact and move through time and space through the use of video based media.
To realise the project fully I will need to first define what the end result will be. Choosing my object/environment will be a crucial element to the project and will need careful consideration.
Storyboarding will be essential to the success of this project as elements will need to be synced correctly allowing for a unique narrative and user experience.
Technology/skill sets required to complete this project will probably require 3D Studio Max, Adobe Flash CS3 along with a range of video and photographic resources which ray require filming/capturing.
Basing the theme on transformation I wish to explore the transformation that spaces go through over time. The project will link directly to the module of 4D as it will be exploring time and space. Not only will the project match up to the technical aspects required but the conceptual thinking and process will also count as a major part forming the basis of the project. I will explore the field of digital time-based audio/visual media linking it closely to modern technology. In doing so I will not only hope to gain some extensive knowledge in a field that I am relatively new too, but will also be able to expand and develop on my technical abilities related directly to the course.
At present only web references:
An Informal Catalogue of Slit-Scan Video Artworks and Research
http://www.flong.com/texts/lists/slit_scan/
Khronos Projector
http://www.k2.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/members/alvaro/Khronos/Khronos_Projector.html
Slit-Scan Photography
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/text-slit-scan.html
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/text-slit-scan.html
http://www.k2.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/members/alvaro/Khronos/Khronos_Projector.html
Directly linked to the 4d project that i am proposing. An amazing video.
Today we decided to get our thinking hats on. Myself (Alan), Tom and Simon clubbed together to start thinking about a concept and theme for the company name of the group. After many hours googling, using the thesaurus and generally having a good old think we still don’t have a final name, but we’ve made great progress and this process has enabled us to move on leaving old ideas/themes behind.
Initially we started “brain storming”, we decided to throw some keywords in to the equation. We began to think what our idea was about, who our audience were and tried to keep most of the keyword themes predominantly focused around our niche target audience and market place.
After our initial brain storming session this is a selection of the best keywords that describe our company:
This set a great foundation for us to expand on, we had nailed down our markets, technology and the niche aspects of our company. With these fresh in our mind we decided to focus our thoughts on a more business like theme.
To start off with we decided to think of some corporate names and came up with the following:
Some of these we were really impressed with and could see potential, but we decided to also look into more web 2.0 business names. Sticking with our theme of Retro gaming we focused more on this as the basis for the brand name, something to be recognised for, a house name for 21st century retro gaming.
To get the ball rolling we tried a combination of relevant phrases together:
With a few more hours dedication we should decided on a successful brand to umbrella all of our skill sets under. Look out here comes the 21st century modern retro gaming…. if that even makes sense :)
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Creating any successful game there are a number of core elements which combine to make an exciting and engaging experience.
Some of the game play mechanics we have considered are:
Brilliant video i just discovered online…. gets you thinking….. about ice creams!
So today was the first idat307 4D lecture, already we have the mamoth tast of producing written project proposal with a minimum of 3 pages worth of juicy, contextual writing.
And this years modle theme is based around the idea of “Transformation”.
We were shown a wide variety of previous examples, concepts and ideas but nothing really jumped out as a theme for me to carry through the final year. Anything i could think of has already been done. I guess a little more research into this area might help iron out my concerns/lack of ideas.
The theme of things happening over time seem’s a good topic and fairly interesting, we will just have to see what comes of it.
Now i think i’ll go research something to get some ideas flowing.
Using video cameras, non-linear editing, dome environments, data, mobile phones, locative media, streaming media and other digital facilities available, you are required to explore and innovate the field of digital time-based audio/visual media with consideration of:
• the historical conventions of film and television production
• experimental innovative approaches to these forms by artists/producers over the century
• the opportunities offered by new media forms, synchronous/asynchronous media, multi-location, telematics, etc. You may, for instance, wish to critically consider ‘video’ in terms of interactive tv, surveillance, documentary, entertainment, and communication/information systems or as a combination of the above.
It is the intention of this module that you experiment and explore the transformative properties of the ‘digital’. Take risks, be innovative…
Working as individuals you are required to develop your ideas through a process of small time-based experiments, which should ultimately be resolved through a significant final project. You can realise this experimental work and the project through a number of the possible digital forms such as web based video, interactive video, live video (real time tele-presence) as well as the more conventional recorded video formats/explorations.
If you require a form field to be set as the focus when the page loads, we can use the onload function to make this possible.
All you need to do is use the code below and replace the FormName and FormField with your elements names and all should work fine.
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