trees are people too

I posted a bit about RSS quite recently, but after further discussion in class I thought I might add a few more points.

As i mentioned in may last post, I became hopelessly addicted. As RSS is now available on nearly every site that updates regularly, I was subscribing with abandon, and quickly discovered that trawling through my daily feeds (some of which can be quite lengthy with media enclosures) was actually wasting a lot of my time rather than saving time, which is the primary function of really simple syndication.

I have since learnt to curb my addiction, and am involved in a pleasant relationship with netnewswire, my computer-based feed reader installed at home. I have also just recently signed up for google reader, as I would like to be able to refer to feeds while at school also. Both have handy features, like telling you how many feeds you have read etc, allowing you to keep great (pointless but interesting) tabs on your daily media consumption.

More interesting, however, was Adrian’s discussion about RSS feeds as an invaluable research tool. By customising a feed through a website such as delicious, I can use RSS to provide me with information that is focussed on a particular topic. Currently I am presenting a project on the topic of technology consumption on Japan, and I am going to use this method to see how much information I can get and how useful it is…

It might need some refining, and I might need to be more specific in my requests, but this makes researching incredibly efficient, especially when used to obtain info on incredibly dynamic subjects (note example of Britney Spears – the action never stops…)

Meanwhile, I have added a few other student blogs to my feeds, and here is a snapshot of what is currently going on, to distract you from the drone of my typing.

I have been using flash as the codec for my latest video installations on my blog. This was because the plugin I was using (podpress) was struggling to display the MP4 files for some reason. I am really anal about these things and it was giving me the sh*ts.

Our discussion in class alerted me to fact that flash was by no means an ideal codec – the primary problem I would have with it is that it restricts the playing of your media file to a limited amount of media players (even though I think it looks very nice).

Never to fear, I am now aware of two new players, embed quicktime (or is it quicktime embed??) and Vpip, both of which I will have installed asap, allowing me to hopefully publish videos with greater ease and in the preferred format. Great news for all.

As media practitioners – journalists, editors, media practitioners, even Public Relations experts – we are best equipped to debunk media myths that might come our way.

We are taught throughout our degrees (hopefully) to understand media trends, to be aware of any spin and sensationalism that goes on in media production today.

Luckily, should you have an off day upon which you might miss such deception on behalf of the media, you can of course refer to media watch (our favourite media watch dog – as they say, everyone loves it until they are on it…).

But even more entertaining is champion of truth Captain Disillusion, who is taking up news editing for the good of the people. Most entertaining, I thought.

Watch the original here. (Yes, it is for real, and yes, it is demoralising that this was considered ‘legitimate news’. Beware.)

I am bumming around the internet looking for inspiration and ideas for my final project, my ‘manifesto’.

I started with some examples from 2006, which I found on mog (thanks, adrian). These were quite helpful, but I need more. This is a medium that is very foreign to me and that I feel least comfortable with, so there is going to have to be a whole lot of risk taking and experimentation if I am going to successfully create something I am happy with. My strength at the moment is research skills, so I am working with that until my prac skills catch up :P

Old but still entertaining is subservient chicken. I do recall at the time being quite excited by the fact that there was a chicken on the internet waiting to cater to my every whim.

Some slightly more sophisticated examples are these from the Tate Modern, this super cool video installation by Vincent Morriset and 17 Life Fables, one of the first interactive films made.

I’ll be adding more as it comes to hand. I am sure the internet is awash with fabulous and inspiring examples of interactive video and film.

In other news, I was excited to read about hypervideo, having just come fresh from the onslaught of hypertext. This is another form of hypermedia, but with different defining features, most prominent being the static quality of text vs the dynamic qualities of video (back to time based media). I think this is also very similar to what we are doing with interactive movies. It’s all good. And I guess, potentially, perhaps a key player in the future of media.

Adrian discusses our second week’s constraint as being roundness, and he talks about this in a quite literal sense – i.e. things that appear or sound “round”.

I am thinking about this, and pondering the suitability of a more lateral approach – perhaps something that is round in a cyclic or repetitive sense?? Something that travels round, rather than is physically round? How lateral/obscure/oblique can we actually be with these concepts? Are we looking for something quite straightforward that demonstrates our technological skills, or is this more about creativity of thought? Surely if we were working in an audio context the demonstration of “round” would have to be quite lateral anyway, one would think.

(This is a rhetoric question, lol. I am just pondering. out loud. Although feel free to clarify if you like, Adrian.)

It may sound daft, but I am still trying to pin down exactly what is ‘time based media”, as this is a term I am not so familiar with.

The term time based media was first used in 1972 by video artist David Hall to describe moving image and sound work by visual artists.

The most simple definition I have found describes time based media as any data that changes meaningfully with respect to time. This might include movie clips, audio clips, MIDI sequences or animations. A key characteristic of this type of media is that it requires timely delivery and processing.

Once the flow of media data begins, there are strict timing deadlines that must be met, both in terms of receiving and presenting the data.

For this reason, time-based media is also often referred to as streaming media.

In today’s online environment, time based media has become a strong feature in new media (the convergance of media and computing), as the ability to create and distribute becomes more and more accessible with developments in technology. Now anyone can grab a digital camera, film a 30 second clip or 30 seconds of audio and post it on the web.

Of course, this isn’t always such a great thing (see below).

So, as I thought, it’s pretty straightforward, really….

I’m back. So soon. I know you missed me.

Again, we are talking about participation. It’s getting a little bit more serious now. As Adrian has mentioned, participation is now more than just turning up and doing the set tasks. As a student, to get the most out of the course, we need to be proactive in our learning… this means addressing a few :ahem: issues with our participation.

Adrian brought up the following aspects of participation as of primary importance:

Creativity
Exploration
Discovery
Risk taking

Here’s how I am going to endeavour to address these aspects:

Creativity – This, to me, means actually pushing myself to create, to make things. Being somewhat of a slug, I will have to push myself creatively to develop during the course. I’d say try and create at least two ‘pieces’ (outside of course tasks) – be it written, visual or audio – that gets my brain working creatively.

Another way to develop my creativity is by trying different methods of achieving the same outcomes, thus hopefully learning new (more efficient?) skills, creating new trains of thought and new problem solving skills.

Exploration – This is a little more interesting and easy. There is no end of resources out there. In addition to class readings/suggested texts, I would like to read at least 1-2 additional resources each week in an effort to develop my skills in exploration and my confidence, as well as new ideas (complementing all other aims). Research research research. This also involves exploring new software, mucking around with it and experimenting… I’ll aim to have familiarised myself with at least 3-4 applications or programs that I have never used before before the course ends…

Discovery – Ties into exploration – One would hope by exploring I might actually discover something ha. But being open to ideas, keeping a constant eye out for relevant information and additional stimulus, should hopefully lead to thrilling discoveries. Be it a blog, a new website or a new type of media, I will endeavour to comment on at least one rivetting discovery per week. This will also mean discovering my own strengths and weaknesses. If by the end of the course I am more aware of where my strengths and weaknesses are integrated media, this will be invaluable!! I’ll have to do this by reflecting on tasks and assessments throughout the semester.

Risk taking – This we be the most challenging for me, as I love my comfy comfy comfort zone.. Pushing myself to try new things, not fear failures, involve my self and speak out – this are all important elements of how I will take risks and how I want my ‘experimentation’ in the course to be… I guess a little more gung ho is what I am aiming for. Ask lots of questions, discuss with classmates, friends and (of course) with Adrian, and actively seek out feedback.

All this comes down to proactive learning, which I (ashamedly) have just discovered is quite different to just active participation. This is about going further than the course demands of you, looking for help when you need it, exploring further than what is given to us, hopefully leading to discovery, hopefully aided by taking risks and pushing myself to be creative. Sounds quite intimidating, actually… Mostly, all this will involve constant documentation of what I am finding out, which will be done via this blog, and allow me to reflect over whether I have achieved these aims by the end of the course…