Ah, here's an example of that corruption I was talking about!
As the digital realm becomes all pervasive we must be aware that there are strings that can and will be pulled behind the scenes. This is actually pretty damn awesome! In a scary way, that is. And leave it to those crafty Russians to be the ones behind it.
"we can now see how social media has become the battlefield of a new war for freedom of speech"
Here's the story of PROTEST!
We've seen social media at use in the Arab spring and it looked like it would play a role in Russia as well; as people have been calling out their leaders for rampant corruption. BUT they've figured out a way to negate protesters social media advantage. By inundating twitter with information they've drown out the relevant and made it useless.
I believe this was one of the worries I had voiced in our distance reading seminar... the availability of all this information isn't necessarily a good thing. We lose sight of greatness. With the so much text available to us as scholars perhaps we're just burying what's important. Too much information can be a bad thing.
Beware the dangers.
It was noticed this time but I doubt that will always be the case. Thing can and will be subtly guided from behind the scenes.
Friday 9 December 2011
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Farewell DH
Our time together has been wonderful. Sadly it is now at an end. I will shed a tear or two. But I will remember the advice of one Dr.Suess
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
Goodbye Digital Humanties!
I leave you with this musical outro.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
Goodbye Digital Humanties!
I leave you with this musical outro.
Friday 18 November 2011
And the Sticker Goes to...
To date the most useful tool I have picked up through my exposure to the digital humanities has been, without a doubt, the acquisition of Adobe Acrobat Pro. As a student in history I have worked with PDFs for years now and the lack of interaction with them has definitely been an issue. Now I can do all of my note taking and highlighting right there on screen and save it as a part of the file. Not to mention actually being able to search the text now! This is most beneficial. The process of reading and note taking used to be extremely jerky for me. Where I would read and stop to take notes. (I'm clearly too cheap to be printing off all of my PDFs) Now the process has become quite smooth. And when I can actually bring my laptop to class, all the better. There no need for highlighters, pens or paper.
....although I am still going to use the pen and paper method when it comes to essay prep.
Not only can I interact with PDFs on a whole new level I can actually create my own PDFs! I've already done this with a few websites. It's just so much easier to make 1 PDF of the various pages on a website that I can highlight and comment on. This in combination with Evernote could be a particularly formidable combination in the repertoire of a grad student. Although, to be perfectly honest Evernote has not at this point in time made it into my daily useage. I need to make it a habit somehow. It should be something I use without thinking and this isnt the case. I often forget that I have it at my disposal.
And of course there are other methods I utilise, such as dropbox, Zotero and blogging ... and in the future I expect to use in some form or another all of the methods I've been exposed to except the Mac exclusive ones. At time point in time however I award my gold star to.... Adobe Acrobat Pro!
....although I am still going to use the pen and paper method when it comes to essay prep.
Not only can I interact with PDFs on a whole new level I can actually create my own PDFs! I've already done this with a few websites. It's just so much easier to make 1 PDF of the various pages on a website that I can highlight and comment on. This in combination with Evernote could be a particularly formidable combination in the repertoire of a grad student. Although, to be perfectly honest Evernote has not at this point in time made it into my daily useage. I need to make it a habit somehow. It should be something I use without thinking and this isnt the case. I often forget that I have it at my disposal.
And of course there are other methods I utilise, such as dropbox, Zotero and blogging ... and in the future I expect to use in some form or another all of the methods I've been exposed to except the Mac exclusive ones. At time point in time however I award my gold star to.... Adobe Acrobat Pro!
I will NOT support discrimination!
What didn't work for me...
Well ... the short answer is anything for Mac. For obvious reasons I can't rally behind any of these tools. Personally I think, and I'm sure Robert will agree, that they are too limited in their scope. Discriminatory in their very nature. And elitist. I can never endorse such discrimination.
Personally I dont think I'm missing out too much on DevonThink. As I've mentioned in previous blog posts I'm not the most organized person, I've adjusted to the chaos that is my work space. And to be perfectly honest I think that organizing and keeping my work organized would just end up creating more work for me in the long run. It might not be pretty but I get things done. Being able to cross reference all my work would no doubt be neat but it's not essential for what I do... in fact it might just end up being a distraction for me! So DevonThink Im sorry to say that you and I weren't meant to be!
As for methods outside the Mac exclusive ones that I most likely won't be utilising... well wordle and Ngrams are fun... but I don't see myself using them for any serious purpose. But aside from that I'm sure in my professional career I will be using many of the tools, methods and general conceptions that I have been introduced to (ever so briefly) this semester. My only regret is that digital experience has to be cut short so soon! I'm sure I could have been converted with regards to some of the methods I didn't take to initially.
Well ... the short answer is anything for Mac. For obvious reasons I can't rally behind any of these tools. Personally I think, and I'm sure Robert will agree, that they are too limited in their scope. Discriminatory in their very nature. And elitist. I can never endorse such discrimination.
Personally I dont think I'm missing out too much on DevonThink. As I've mentioned in previous blog posts I'm not the most organized person, I've adjusted to the chaos that is my work space. And to be perfectly honest I think that organizing and keeping my work organized would just end up creating more work for me in the long run. It might not be pretty but I get things done. Being able to cross reference all my work would no doubt be neat but it's not essential for what I do... in fact it might just end up being a distraction for me! So DevonThink Im sorry to say that you and I weren't meant to be!
As for methods outside the Mac exclusive ones that I most likely won't be utilising... well wordle and Ngrams are fun... but I don't see myself using them for any serious purpose. But aside from that I'm sure in my professional career I will be using many of the tools, methods and general conceptions that I have been introduced to (ever so briefly) this semester. My only regret is that digital experience has to be cut short so soon! I'm sure I could have been converted with regards to some of the methods I didn't take to initially.
Monday 14 November 2011
Dragon dictate.
I've downloaded the program and have spent a little bit of time speaking to it in order to train it up. Turns out that it doesn't like to listen. After spending about half an hour reading to it it decided that it didn't want to remember. So I had to retrain it with far less enthusiasm.
While I havent fully explored all the program has to offer I have used it the only capacity I probably will in the future. I used the program to take notes for me. Instead of writing out the bits of text I've highlighted I can just read outloud while continuing on. This is awesome as it doesn't interfere with my flow of concentration. I doubt that I will use the program for anything serious as it is prone to making mistakes and completely misinterpreting me.
At least with note taking it can take down the jist of what I'm saying and I don't have to worry too much about the editing process.
I have found, though, that it has the ability to make me rage. I can't help but get frustrated with my dragon when it doesn't listen and repeating myself doesn't help. Hopefully with more training it will be better at listening to what I have to say and will be less inclined to do its own thing.
Overall this will be a useful program for me in the future, if only in a limited capacity.
I've downloaded the program and have spent a little bit of time speaking to it in order to train it up. Turns out that it doesn't like to listen. After spending about half an hour reading to it it decided that it didn't want to remember. So I had to retrain it with far less enthusiasm.
While I havent fully explored all the program has to offer I have used it the only capacity I probably will in the future. I used the program to take notes for me. Instead of writing out the bits of text I've highlighted I can just read outloud while continuing on. This is awesome as it doesn't interfere with my flow of concentration. I doubt that I will use the program for anything serious as it is prone to making mistakes and completely misinterpreting me.
At least with note taking it can take down the jist of what I'm saying and I don't have to worry too much about the editing process.
I have found, though, that it has the ability to make me rage. I can't help but get frustrated with my dragon when it doesn't listen and repeating myself doesn't help. Hopefully with more training it will be better at listening to what I have to say and will be less inclined to do its own thing.
Overall this will be a useful program for me in the future, if only in a limited capacity.
Sunday 13 November 2011
One Piece of Rotten Fruit Can Ruin My Appetite
Oh Mr. Gee, such an idealist! I wonder how the weather is up there on your high horse?
I don't know why I've got my back up after reading his two posts...I agree with pretty much everything he's saying about the current state of education.
Money is ruining education and it shouldnt be. Universities shouldnt be job training. High school should suffice for employers. You tell em sister! But as long as we're talking about things that shouldnt be. Well, Paris Hilton shouldnt be famous and children shouldnt be starving in Africa and I should be married to a rich supermodel who wants nothing more than to support me.Why does the ideal world elude me?!
I think perhaps why I've got my back up is because Gee is condemning what I'm living through right now.
It's all well and good to question the system, but c'mon Mr.Gee! We haven't had a say in the design of the education system. We've just been a product of it and we still need employment afterwards. So, I'm sorry but I still believe that what universities do and teach must be applicable to todays society. Sad as that is. Unfortunately it's not an ideal world we live in. Your time has past, you're in a wonderfully secure position where you can criticise and lament the fact that university is a bunch of useless hooey detracting from the overall state of academia and human knowledge.
Honestly, even as I'm taking issue with the postings I realize it's ridiculas because to such a large extent I do agree. And I understand that it's useful to question. And people should be educated for a love of education and knowledge.
I think perhaps he's come across a little bit elitest to me? I dont know what it is. But I know I'm sufficiently torn.
As for tagging in museums ... I understand the appeal. You can draw people in, they become more invested and have a deeper experience. But this seems so very dangerous to me! Simon did make a note of trolls and I was extremely happy to see that in her article. But despite this recognition she seemed to gloss over it. Saying ah, well... it's not as big a deal as you'd think.
Madam, I am going to sabotage every interactive museum piece I can. Irrelevant and offensive tags all day long. Because that's what trolls do and they delight in it.
I'm a jerk, I shouldnt have access to metadata.
And if the solution is to screen the user input... doesn't that just negate all of the openness and accessibility appeal? People don't like doing things that are pointless (in general) so if they realize that the time they spend tagging things might not be used in anyway they are far less likely to become engaged. And what about the stupid or pointless tags that will sure result from well intentioned but less insightful patrons? If you decide to remove them have you not just alienated those who contributed those tags? Or even those who might have had similar reactions or ideas for a tag but did not themselves tag? To allow that access and interactivity only to revoke it could potentially be more damaging than to have never allowed user input in the first place.
What of professionalization? The curators and archivists and catalougers? Are we just saying eff em? Applying web 2.0 concepts beyond the computer screen? Anarchy! I understand that curators are fast becoming obsolete but let's not insult their profession before we throw them out onto the street!
Me to we, personalized experiences and deeper engagement.. I'm all for. But we should be wary how we accomplish these things. There has to be a better way than letting the general public screw with metadata.
As Simon says in her conclusion 'it's a trust decision' and that's why I think it's so scary. I know that there are people like me out there who take great pleasure in duping the unwary and overly trusting.
What's that thing they say about bad apples?... The troll will always prevail.
I don't know why I've got my back up after reading his two posts...I agree with pretty much everything he's saying about the current state of education.
Money is ruining education and it shouldnt be. Universities shouldnt be job training. High school should suffice for employers. You tell em sister! But as long as we're talking about things that shouldnt be. Well, Paris Hilton shouldnt be famous and children shouldnt be starving in Africa and I should be married to a rich supermodel who wants nothing more than to support me.Why does the ideal world elude me?!
I think perhaps why I've got my back up is because Gee is condemning what I'm living through right now.
It's all well and good to question the system, but c'mon Mr.Gee! We haven't had a say in the design of the education system. We've just been a product of it and we still need employment afterwards. So, I'm sorry but I still believe that what universities do and teach must be applicable to todays society. Sad as that is. Unfortunately it's not an ideal world we live in. Your time has past, you're in a wonderfully secure position where you can criticise and lament the fact that university is a bunch of useless hooey detracting from the overall state of academia and human knowledge.
Honestly, even as I'm taking issue with the postings I realize it's ridiculas because to such a large extent I do agree. And I understand that it's useful to question. And people should be educated for a love of education and knowledge.
I think perhaps he's come across a little bit elitest to me? I dont know what it is. But I know I'm sufficiently torn.
As for tagging in museums ... I understand the appeal. You can draw people in, they become more invested and have a deeper experience. But this seems so very dangerous to me! Simon did make a note of trolls and I was extremely happy to see that in her article. But despite this recognition she seemed to gloss over it. Saying ah, well... it's not as big a deal as you'd think.
Madam, I am going to sabotage every interactive museum piece I can. Irrelevant and offensive tags all day long. Because that's what trolls do and they delight in it.
I'm a jerk, I shouldnt have access to metadata.
And if the solution is to screen the user input... doesn't that just negate all of the openness and accessibility appeal? People don't like doing things that are pointless (in general) so if they realize that the time they spend tagging things might not be used in anyway they are far less likely to become engaged. And what about the stupid or pointless tags that will sure result from well intentioned but less insightful patrons? If you decide to remove them have you not just alienated those who contributed those tags? Or even those who might have had similar reactions or ideas for a tag but did not themselves tag? To allow that access and interactivity only to revoke it could potentially be more damaging than to have never allowed user input in the first place.
What of professionalization? The curators and archivists and catalougers? Are we just saying eff em? Applying web 2.0 concepts beyond the computer screen? Anarchy! I understand that curators are fast becoming obsolete but let's not insult their profession before we throw them out onto the street!
Me to we, personalized experiences and deeper engagement.. I'm all for. But we should be wary how we accomplish these things. There has to be a better way than letting the general public screw with metadata.
As Simon says in her conclusion 'it's a trust decision' and that's why I think it's so scary. I know that there are people like me out there who take great pleasure in duping the unwary and overly trusting.
What's that thing they say about bad apples?... The troll will always prevail.
Tuesday 8 November 2011
Weathering the Storm
Trees that don’t bend won’t last the storm. Let’s face it. We’re living through a paradigm shift. The singularity is approaching and there’s no turning back. Really the only logical thing we can do at this point in time is embrace it. Traditional methods of teaching and learning are changing. Hell, the internet is changing our the wiring of our brains. Whether it’s ultimately good or bad doesn’t matter anymore, just that it is.
Just a few short years ago you would have seen me digging my heels in, while decrying all things digital for raising up the lowest common denominator. Now, now it seems so futile. Instead I’ve learned that we have to bend and adjust. The digital realm isn’t going to disappear (if it does questions of pedagogy will be the least of our worries.) We have to work with it and incorporate it into our lives in anyway we can. This just seems like a logical step. We should be tearing down the barriers between the broader spectrum of society and academia. Perhaps then we will be able to offer the lowest common denonminator something on their own terms and help them to better themselves.
It only makes sense that the traditional pen/paper/books/essays format of education must change to reflect society. That's not to say that the traditional methods aren't very good, or that digital methods are inherently better. What's important is that the rest of society isn't holding on to traditional methods. Just look at the role mobile phones play in society compared to less than a decade ago. As much as we like to think that the ivory tower is insular, and in some ways it is, it is still a part of society. The students coming into and leaving university are all a part of society. I can validly say 'in my day' and I'm not even old! Things are just changing too fast. The longer we adhere to traditional teaching methods the more will are going to have to play catch up when it does come time to reflect society. It seems naive to me to think otherwise.
Just a few short years ago you would have seen me digging my heels in, while decrying all things digital for raising up the lowest common denominator. Now, now it seems so futile. Instead I’ve learned that we have to bend and adjust. The digital realm isn’t going to disappear (if it does questions of pedagogy will be the least of our worries.) We have to work with it and incorporate it into our lives in anyway we can. This just seems like a logical step. We should be tearing down the barriers between the broader spectrum of society and academia. Perhaps then we will be able to offer the lowest common denonminator something on their own terms and help them to better themselves.
It only makes sense that the traditional pen/paper/books/essays format of education must change to reflect society. That's not to say that the traditional methods aren't very good, or that digital methods are inherently better. What's important is that the rest of society isn't holding on to traditional methods. Just look at the role mobile phones play in society compared to less than a decade ago. As much as we like to think that the ivory tower is insular, and in some ways it is, it is still a part of society. The students coming into and leaving university are all a part of society. I can validly say 'in my day' and I'm not even old! Things are just changing too fast. The longer we adhere to traditional teaching methods the more will are going to have to play catch up when it does come time to reflect society. It seems naive to me to think otherwise.
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Dream a little dream
Scrivener and DevonThink
Two awesomely awesome programs that have saved my academic career!!!!
That's what I'd be saying if I was the proud owner of a mac. But alas, I am not and am therefore doomed to failure. I may as well start my spatula work right now. At least I can look forward to future access to a gold card and an early grave due to congestive heart failure.... DAMN YOU MAC! Hm, I could be damning apple or fast food in this situation.
I did download the beta version of scrivener and have taken a look at it. It's interesting and I can understand the appeal. I would probably make the switch if I had a mac. Im on microsoft works so I can't say I'm all that invested in a word program. As for using the beta... well Im not going to throw any of my current work into a beta version that is going to expire in less than a month. That would be quite foolhardy.
I do know that scrivener would be extremely compatible with the way I do my writing. You may have noticed reading my blog (Dave, I know you have) that I like to write stream of consciousness. This means that when Im writing an actual paper I constantly have to reorder my ideas in order to create a sense of flow and clarity for the reader. Being able to rearrange chunks of text without copying and pasting and deleting and recopying and crashing would be amazing. Even just to see the progression of a paper without having to print it off and write in the margins what each paragraph is about would be extremely useful for me. But like I say, Im not going to start work on a beta version that will expire before I have completed my paper. It just isnt in the cards for me at this point in my life. Maybe one day.
A boy can dream.
Blog on devonthink to follow...
Two awesomely awesome programs that have saved my academic career!!!!
That's what I'd be saying if I was the proud owner of a mac. But alas, I am not and am therefore doomed to failure. I may as well start my spatula work right now. At least I can look forward to future access to a gold card and an early grave due to congestive heart failure.... DAMN YOU MAC! Hm, I could be damning apple or fast food in this situation.
I did download the beta version of scrivener and have taken a look at it. It's interesting and I can understand the appeal. I would probably make the switch if I had a mac. Im on microsoft works so I can't say I'm all that invested in a word program. As for using the beta... well Im not going to throw any of my current work into a beta version that is going to expire in less than a month. That would be quite foolhardy.
I do know that scrivener would be extremely compatible with the way I do my writing. You may have noticed reading my blog (Dave, I know you have) that I like to write stream of consciousness. This means that when Im writing an actual paper I constantly have to reorder my ideas in order to create a sense of flow and clarity for the reader. Being able to rearrange chunks of text without copying and pasting and deleting and recopying and crashing would be amazing. Even just to see the progression of a paper without having to print it off and write in the margins what each paragraph is about would be extremely useful for me. But like I say, Im not going to start work on a beta version that will expire before I have completed my paper. It just isnt in the cards for me at this point in my life. Maybe one day.
A boy can dream.
Blog on devonthink to follow...
Saturday 29 October 2011
I'd Kill to be Educated
HEADSHOT!
I'm not wasting my time at all! I'm educating myself in the pocesses of war! I believe I've logged enough hours playing FPS games to be considered an elite soldier. Because if games are educational and I play games I'm learned, right?
Eh, well I guess it's a little more complicated than that. Or so those DHers involved in playing and gaming would have me believe. Actually I don't think that those digital humanists behind gaming for education fully know what's at work, or what should be at work. Again this week the semanics of playing and gaming in the digital humanities seemed to be a hang up for those involved. Such a pedantic bunch! Disputes about serious games being an oxymoron. C'mon, I'm pretty sure you digital humanists get the jist of where your collegues are coming from and what their meaning is. The arguments about what is important in creating a truly educational game and how we can assess learning through games seem a little more pertinent than terminology.
What is an educational game? What is a persuasive game? Are they the same? I won't lie, Bogost was slightly confusing for me. Or maybe I'm just overthinking precedural rhetoric because I'm supposed to be the expert this week. I still dont know what exactly constitutes a solid educational game. But then again, maybe there is no one formula.
Maybe I AM a becoming and elite soldier because I'm learning some of the processes behind war. I know it's wise to move from cover to cover. I know that flanking makes the most sense. I know that you shouldnt enter a room in hostile territory blind. Breaking these rules gets you dead.
So many questions... I guess we could test whether I've become and elite soldier by dropping me into an actual battle but I'm not the biggest fan of this idea.
Similar parallels might be drawn between learning history through games in the classroom. I think first we have to decide what's important when teaching history. Then we have to consider what will work within the traditional institution. As things stand I would say that understanding historical processes is what's important in history. But the student doesnt really get into that until university. Until then history is content driven. While this might not be the best practice it makes sense for the design of the school system. Schools are based on testing and assessment. Can you imagine a school system that didnt rely on pitting us against one another in a competition for those oh so gratifying marks? A school where the children had fun learning? Where they showed up to class not because they were forced into it but because it's actually a better way to spend their time... Neither can I.
I'm not wasting my time at all! I'm educating myself in the pocesses of war! I believe I've logged enough hours playing FPS games to be considered an elite soldier. Because if games are educational and I play games I'm learned, right?
Eh, well I guess it's a little more complicated than that. Or so those DHers involved in playing and gaming would have me believe. Actually I don't think that those digital humanists behind gaming for education fully know what's at work, or what should be at work. Again this week the semanics of playing and gaming in the digital humanities seemed to be a hang up for those involved. Such a pedantic bunch! Disputes about serious games being an oxymoron. C'mon, I'm pretty sure you digital humanists get the jist of where your collegues are coming from and what their meaning is. The arguments about what is important in creating a truly educational game and how we can assess learning through games seem a little more pertinent than terminology.
What is an educational game? What is a persuasive game? Are they the same? I won't lie, Bogost was slightly confusing for me. Or maybe I'm just overthinking precedural rhetoric because I'm supposed to be the expert this week. I still dont know what exactly constitutes a solid educational game. But then again, maybe there is no one formula.
Maybe I AM a becoming and elite soldier because I'm learning some of the processes behind war. I know it's wise to move from cover to cover. I know that flanking makes the most sense. I know that you shouldnt enter a room in hostile territory blind. Breaking these rules gets you dead.
So many questions... I guess we could test whether I've become and elite soldier by dropping me into an actual battle but I'm not the biggest fan of this idea.
Similar parallels might be drawn between learning history through games in the classroom. I think first we have to decide what's important when teaching history. Then we have to consider what will work within the traditional institution. As things stand I would say that understanding historical processes is what's important in history. But the student doesnt really get into that until university. Until then history is content driven. While this might not be the best practice it makes sense for the design of the school system. Schools are based on testing and assessment. Can you imagine a school system that didnt rely on pitting us against one another in a competition for those oh so gratifying marks? A school where the children had fun learning? Where they showed up to class not because they were forced into it but because it's actually a better way to spend their time... Neither can I.
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Deadliest Warrior: Traditional Humanities Vs. Digital Humanities
Who IS the deadliest warrior?!
Pretty sure it's me but that's not the point.
I think this simulation business is pretty damn cool. And while I understand the draw backs (some of them have been voiced by me with regards to previous DH topics) they are meaning less and less. What is important is the new vehicles for conveying and interpreting historical data. Text is old news. A few weeks ago I probably would have been inclined to disagree. And while a part of me still does that part is getting easier and easier to silence.
I think the largest part of my enthusiasm for the digital humanities is that it is so much damn fun! This can't be work, can it? Am I even learning? Is what we're doing even constructive? How could that be when it's so enjoyable? Isn't history something that must be beaten into you? Any discussion I've ever had with a PhD candidate has led me to believe this is indeed the case. I also really enjoy the digital humanities because it speaks to such a wide audience. Again this might be because it's exciting and fun.
It speaks to a wide audience because it has applications that aren't at all limited to the ivory tower.
Take for example the simulation and the ABMs from this week. We can of course apply it to our humanities research (not just history) but I can see potential governmental applications. I mean, policy makers HAVE to use simulations in order to inform themselves, right? I don't see how they couldn't.
As of right now I'm excited for my playing and gaming seminar next week. We'll see if that changes over the course of the week though. Because ... what happens when play becomes work? Is it still play? I have a feeling I'll find out veeeery soon.
Pretty sure it's me but that's not the point.
I think this simulation business is pretty damn cool. And while I understand the draw backs (some of them have been voiced by me with regards to previous DH topics) they are meaning less and less. What is important is the new vehicles for conveying and interpreting historical data. Text is old news. A few weeks ago I probably would have been inclined to disagree. And while a part of me still does that part is getting easier and easier to silence.
I think the largest part of my enthusiasm for the digital humanities is that it is so much damn fun! This can't be work, can it? Am I even learning? Is what we're doing even constructive? How could that be when it's so enjoyable? Isn't history something that must be beaten into you? Any discussion I've ever had with a PhD candidate has led me to believe this is indeed the case. I also really enjoy the digital humanities because it speaks to such a wide audience. Again this might be because it's exciting and fun.
It speaks to a wide audience because it has applications that aren't at all limited to the ivory tower.
Take for example the simulation and the ABMs from this week. We can of course apply it to our humanities research (not just history) but I can see potential governmental applications. I mean, policy makers HAVE to use simulations in order to inform themselves, right? I don't see how they couldn't.
As of right now I'm excited for my playing and gaming seminar next week. We'll see if that changes over the course of the week though. Because ... what happens when play becomes work? Is it still play? I have a feeling I'll find out veeeery soon.
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Evernote...
Well I'm not as thrilled about this digital method as I have been about some of the past ones. I think it's probably because I destest organization. That must be it.
I have however used it to clip some web pages and I may continue to do so. Only time will tell. I mean as far as that goes bookmarks in my browser have served me well in the past. And as far as leaving notes for myself... well when I do use notes I'm apt to forget that I've created a note in the first place. And if I forget that I've made the note ... well generally by the time it comes up again it's become obsolete.
I understand how this might be a useful tool for those of us with a more organized life but it simply doesn't jive well with how I run the show.
Although my organizational skills are something I have intended to work on. Perhaps I'll give evernote a shot and see if it can do anything for me in this regard...though I am pretty set in my ways. Getting so old. Evernote certainly hasn't had that 'WOW THIS IS FKIN AWESOME!!!!@!#@#@' impact on me that some of the other digital methods have had. It might also be because I don't have a smart phone so I can not always be connected to Evernote.
Post Seminar....
Well Professor Kee telling us that this is one of his top drawer tools certainly got me rethinking the whole thing. Perhaps I will attempt to use it on a regular basis. I'm sure that once I've accustomized myself to it I will be singing a different tune.
I can see how it is useful to just jot down a note to refer to later, in the interests of not inturrupting flow. But it seems that this is a tool more suited to people who are always connected. This for me is not the case. Nevertheless I will make an attempt to make this tool work for me! Beyond the clipping, that is.
Well I'm not as thrilled about this digital method as I have been about some of the past ones. I think it's probably because I destest organization. That must be it.
I have however used it to clip some web pages and I may continue to do so. Only time will tell. I mean as far as that goes bookmarks in my browser have served me well in the past. And as far as leaving notes for myself... well when I do use notes I'm apt to forget that I've created a note in the first place. And if I forget that I've made the note ... well generally by the time it comes up again it's become obsolete.
I understand how this might be a useful tool for those of us with a more organized life but it simply doesn't jive well with how I run the show.
Although my organizational skills are something I have intended to work on. Perhaps I'll give evernote a shot and see if it can do anything for me in this regard...though I am pretty set in my ways. Getting so old. Evernote certainly hasn't had that 'WOW THIS IS FKIN AWESOME!!!!@!#@#@' impact on me that some of the other digital methods have had. It might also be because I don't have a smart phone so I can not always be connected to Evernote.
Post Seminar....
Well Professor Kee telling us that this is one of his top drawer tools certainly got me rethinking the whole thing. Perhaps I will attempt to use it on a regular basis. I'm sure that once I've accustomized myself to it I will be singing a different tune.
I can see how it is useful to just jot down a note to refer to later, in the interests of not inturrupting flow. But it seems that this is a tool more suited to people who are always connected. This for me is not the case. Nevertheless I will make an attempt to make this tool work for me! Beyond the clipping, that is.
Saturday 15 October 2011
Digital Smells like Revolution.
This weeks readings have got me excited ... and scared. The singularity approaches. That was all I could think while doing my work for this weeks seminar. Self replicating machines? Digitizing smell? Tranduction of energy? WHOA! Let's slow down here. I'm going to be living a a computer before I know it.
Despite my terror, or maybe because of the terror, I was fascinated by this weeks readings. What really got me was when Turkel advocated that we stop thinking of digitization in terms of immateriality and to instead think of it in terms of transduction of energy. It really did make me think of the singularity. I wonder if I'll see human minds merging with computers in my lifetime?
It kinda reminded me of this clip I happened upon a few weeks ago. In it scientists are recreating mental images by scanning people's brains.
I liked the concept of playing to learn as was laid out by Turkel and Elliot. We really have become dependent on text. And while I don't necessarily think this is terrible (we all know how to interact with it and what to expect.) I don't think that our predisposition towards text should limit us. Of course this is tough in the university setting which is based around age old practices and standards, but this needs to change. And digital humanities are evidence that it IS changing. By playing with history whether it's in simulations, through recreation of artefacts, by reconstructing historical expirements and smells or by mapping, we are able to develop new questions and approach history from new perspectives. Not to mention that we are often struck with our most profound and insightful thoughts when we aren't looking for them.
For some reason I don't really have any problems with the concepts put forward this week. That seems strange to me. I think I must be missing something! As Turkel had mentioned in his blog we can't predict the future, so we don't know how this self replicating technology will play out for the humanities, or society in general... although I s'pose society in general is a concern for humanists. Hopefully something will come up in our discussions. I wouldn't want to be wholeheartedly onboard with something.
Maybe I don't have a problem with the concepts this weeks because self replicating machines allow for wealth without money and the means of production will finally rest in the hands of the everyman! Down with capitalism, save the environment! RepRaps for all!!
Despite my terror, or maybe because of the terror, I was fascinated by this weeks readings. What really got me was when Turkel advocated that we stop thinking of digitization in terms of immateriality and to instead think of it in terms of transduction of energy. It really did make me think of the singularity. I wonder if I'll see human minds merging with computers in my lifetime?
It kinda reminded me of this clip I happened upon a few weeks ago. In it scientists are recreating mental images by scanning people's brains.
I liked the concept of playing to learn as was laid out by Turkel and Elliot. We really have become dependent on text. And while I don't necessarily think this is terrible (we all know how to interact with it and what to expect.) I don't think that our predisposition towards text should limit us. Of course this is tough in the university setting which is based around age old practices and standards, but this needs to change. And digital humanities are evidence that it IS changing. By playing with history whether it's in simulations, through recreation of artefacts, by reconstructing historical expirements and smells or by mapping, we are able to develop new questions and approach history from new perspectives. Not to mention that we are often struck with our most profound and insightful thoughts when we aren't looking for them.
For some reason I don't really have any problems with the concepts put forward this week. That seems strange to me. I think I must be missing something! As Turkel had mentioned in his blog we can't predict the future, so we don't know how this self replicating technology will play out for the humanities, or society in general... although I s'pose society in general is a concern for humanists. Hopefully something will come up in our discussions. I wouldn't want to be wholeheartedly onboard with something.
Maybe I don't have a problem with the concepts this weeks because self replicating machines allow for wealth without money and the means of production will finally rest in the hands of the everyman! Down with capitalism, save the environment! RepRaps for all!!
Monday 10 October 2011
Method's and Blogs - Detractions
Adobe Acrobat Pro. Well, after uh... borrowing the program... and using it instead of the reader to view my PDF articles, I can say it's definitely a step above. Clearly I haven't seen the full potential of the program yet. The OCR stuff kinda, sorta confuses me a bit. I'll have to talk to Spencer about it. Already though I am happy that I'm able to actually interact with my PDFs. Highlighting makes life so much simpler. And being able to add my own sticky notes where ever I want is great. Of course, I'll probably end up writing it all out into a notebook but... still pretty damn cool. It'd be interesting to see some articles thrown back into circulation with people's highlighting and side notes, almost like finding those awesome doodles or jot notes in the margins of old books. Sometimes it's pure gold. Other times it just has me flipping to page 65 ... then 110, 88, and 42 for no reason at all.
I can draw on the documents when I grow bored with them. I can stamp it or underline or strike text. So much fun to be hadruining enhancing documents! I can even attach recordings to the text. This Pro business is pretty nifty!
While playing with Pro I also learned that there's a read aloud option?! Probably not great for me to use as I won't actually absorb anything useful. But robot voices do soothe me, perhaps I've found a new way to fall asleep.
How much of this was available on the Reader, I don't know. But even if it was there it was never anything I used before the upgrade.
Just as an aside from reading William Turkel's blog. the IRISpen is effin AWESOME! I think I want to play with one. I'm sure it's well out of my price range, what with being a starving student an all, but it seems like a hella cool toy!
Blogoshpere
I've just come across a treasure trove of MRP related information through a blog. What has me particularly excited is a rendition of Haig's war diaries in the National Archives. I'm sure I would have been using this source in my MRP so it's pretty cool that I've come across an audio version online. Gotta love the blogosphere! The Great War Heroes blog, although dated, has a decent amount of information that is directly related to my MRP topic so I'm pretty happy with the find.
Another one I came across, Thoughts on Military History is pretty interesting for me, not because the material is relevant to my topic but because the approach is. Apparently the author of the blog is Ross Mahoney who is doing his PhD at the University of Birmingham. He is looking at the leadership effectiveness of Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh Mallory. This is along the lines of what I want to do with Sir Douglas Haig, in attempting to understand the leader to better understand their policies while at war. Leadership theory is something I'll have to look into further. He outlines his thesis on his blog and describes what he is doing, so I thought that was pretty cool.
I can draw on the documents when I grow bored with them. I can stamp it or underline or strike text. So much fun to be had
While playing with Pro I also learned that there's a read aloud option?! Probably not great for me to use as I won't actually absorb anything useful. But robot voices do soothe me, perhaps I've found a new way to fall asleep.
How much of this was available on the Reader, I don't know. But even if it was there it was never anything I used before the upgrade.
Just as an aside from reading William Turkel's blog. the IRISpen is effin AWESOME! I think I want to play with one. I'm sure it's well out of my price range, what with being a starving student an all, but it seems like a hella cool toy!
Blogoshpere
I've just come across a treasure trove of MRP related information through a blog. What has me particularly excited is a rendition of Haig's war diaries in the National Archives. I'm sure I would have been using this source in my MRP so it's pretty cool that I've come across an audio version online. Gotta love the blogosphere! The Great War Heroes blog, although dated, has a decent amount of information that is directly related to my MRP topic so I'm pretty happy with the find.
Another one I came across, Thoughts on Military History is pretty interesting for me, not because the material is relevant to my topic but because the approach is. Apparently the author of the blog is Ross Mahoney who is doing his PhD at the University of Birmingham. He is looking at the leadership effectiveness of Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh Mallory. This is along the lines of what I want to do with Sir Douglas Haig, in attempting to understand the leader to better understand their policies while at war. Leadership theory is something I'll have to look into further. He outlines his thesis on his blog and describes what he is doing, so I thought that was pretty cool.
Sunday 9 October 2011
Place? But I'm a Historian. Give me Time.
Well, I just finished the readings and I feel like I should spit something out while my head is still reeling.
First off, I've gotta hand it to Bodenhamer in the Introduction passage for pointing out that this whole
GIS approach doesn't necessarily jive well with humanists. Inputting data, grids, coordinates, NUMBERS?!
I don't know about the rest of you humanists but part of the reason I was drawn to the humanities was to seek refuge from numbers. And don't even get me started on using the numbers. Maths are the bane of my existence.
Needless to say I found this weeks topic slightly troublesome. Especially when Novack mentioned that GIS has a steep learning curve. Text encoding. Fine. GIS, not so much.
That being said, I will admit that there are some interesting implications to using maps. They do seem like they could be a big help in conceptualizing patterns over time. The consideration of place, especially situated in time seems so simple. But it's also something we as historians often overlook or take for granted. Yea it's something that we often to take into account but it's often cursory... And when references to place are embedded in the textual descriptions we often only formulate our conceptions of place in the broadest of terms. There's no doubt in my mind that GIS and interactive mapping will help to generate more of the questions that drive humanists in their quest for meaning. We can make concrete our conceptions of place in time, or over time. This is good, we are finally moving beyond text. In this post textual age the field needs to incorporate fresh methods. But, like I said... I don't particularly want to be the one doing the design work on the maps.
The concept of teamwork brought up in the Knowles reading is a good one. Perhaps it is time to dispel the age old image of the lone wolf historian. Perhaps this is something to think about in a graduate program. Interdisciplinary teams working together on a project. An historian working with a geographer and sociologist on an HGIS project could produce far more interesting results than teams made up of a few people from the same discipline. Although I'm sure there are bureaucratic hurdles that woulds prevent any such endeavor from being undertaken at a graduate student level.
I look forward to our discussion because like Val, this is all new to me. Our discussions certainly help me better understand some of the concepts being discussed in the readings. And I could definitely have a firmer grasp on all things GIS. Spencer's explanation of the Ngram in last weeks discussion for example made me realize that I had been placing too much scholarly weight on the tool. I should have taken it as something more akin to wikipedia than perhaps a peer reviewed journal article... to revert back to a more comfortable text based analogy. Although I still hold to true all of my rantings and ravings regarding distant reading and the proliferation of information!
First off, I've gotta hand it to Bodenhamer in the Introduction passage for pointing out that this whole
GIS approach doesn't necessarily jive well with humanists. Inputting data, grids, coordinates, NUMBERS?!
I don't know about the rest of you humanists but part of the reason I was drawn to the humanities was to seek refuge from numbers. And don't even get me started on using the numbers. Maths are the bane of my existence.
Needless to say I found this weeks topic slightly troublesome. Especially when Novack mentioned that GIS has a steep learning curve. Text encoding. Fine. GIS, not so much.
That being said, I will admit that there are some interesting implications to using maps. They do seem like they could be a big help in conceptualizing patterns over time. The consideration of place, especially situated in time seems so simple. But it's also something we as historians often overlook or take for granted. Yea it's something that we often to take into account but it's often cursory... And when references to place are embedded in the textual descriptions we often only formulate our conceptions of place in the broadest of terms. There's no doubt in my mind that GIS and interactive mapping will help to generate more of the questions that drive humanists in their quest for meaning. We can make concrete our conceptions of place in time, or over time. This is good, we are finally moving beyond text. In this post textual age the field needs to incorporate fresh methods. But, like I said... I don't particularly want to be the one doing the design work on the maps.
The concept of teamwork brought up in the Knowles reading is a good one. Perhaps it is time to dispel the age old image of the lone wolf historian. Perhaps this is something to think about in a graduate program. Interdisciplinary teams working together on a project. An historian working with a geographer and sociologist on an HGIS project could produce far more interesting results than teams made up of a few people from the same discipline. Although I'm sure there are bureaucratic hurdles that woulds prevent any such endeavor from being undertaken at a graduate student level.
I look forward to our discussion because like Val, this is all new to me. Our discussions certainly help me better understand some of the concepts being discussed in the readings. And I could definitely have a firmer grasp on all things GIS. Spencer's explanation of the Ngram in last weeks discussion for example made me realize that I had been placing too much scholarly weight on the tool. I should have taken it as something more akin to wikipedia than perhaps a peer reviewed journal article... to revert back to a more comfortable text based analogy. Although I still hold to true all of my rantings and ravings regarding distant reading and the proliferation of information!
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Method's and Blogs - Distractions.
The digital method this week included Wordle and Ngram. These tools gave us a feel for what textual analysis might entail. And while I can see how a wordle might be useful in a presentation I don't really expect to be using either of these tools all that often.
The Ngram Viewer was fun and it could be a great tool for seeking out trends... but how far is it to be trusted? When I clicked a certain set of years for a topic it turns back some of the results from Google Books. Depending on how refined or narrow your search is this could potentially turn back millions of results. What I'm curious about is why the first 10 results that pop up are the first 10 results? It can't really be relevance, especially in a broad search for the trends of certain terminology, as any result turning up that term should be just as relevant as the next. Unfortunately the Ngram info page didn't really shed any light on this for me.
Some Blogs and Twitter
I have continued combing through the World History Blog's old posts.. hundreds, scratch that, thousands- dating back to 2007, though the blog dates back as far as 2003. It is a great general history blog and touches on virtually every aspect relating to history. From the history of certain countries (Laos for example) to the programming on the hisory channel, to the horse, to digital humanities. This blog really does provide a broad range of material for anyone interested in the field of history in a more general sense.
I also checked out Professor Kee's page which I linked to through twitter. I reluctantly admit that I wasn't subscribed before this. I am now though. I promise!
I thought the post about the PhD track being aimed at becoming a tenured Professor was an interesting thing to turn up, as it was actually something I was thinking about over this past weekend. I wasn't thinking about it because I plan to do my PhD in history but rather, because I am not. This thought came about because of a TA workshop I had attended on Saturday morning. It seemed to me that the workshop was speaking to the TAs, many of whom are doing their masters, as if it was a given that everyone there would be interested in pursuing a PhD and becoming a Professor. I'm sorry but this just isn't the case. It's almost as if by pursuing a post grad (especially in history) you are simply taking workplace training, this isn't necessarily something I agree with. As was evident in Professor Kee's quoting of Grafton and Grosman they seemed to be indicating that this direct track to the ivory tower might even be limiting should the candidate decide they do not want to become a history Professor. There are other things you can do with history outside the ivory tower. And the skill set developed through the study of history is extremely adaptable and desirable in the wider world beyond the campus.Perhaps this fact should get more recognition within the department.
Not exactly the most 'on topic' entry but that's the beauty of blogs, ain't it?
The Ngram Viewer was fun and it could be a great tool for seeking out trends... but how far is it to be trusted? When I clicked a certain set of years for a topic it turns back some of the results from Google Books. Depending on how refined or narrow your search is this could potentially turn back millions of results. What I'm curious about is why the first 10 results that pop up are the first 10 results? It can't really be relevance, especially in a broad search for the trends of certain terminology, as any result turning up that term should be just as relevant as the next. Unfortunately the Ngram info page didn't really shed any light on this for me.
Some Blogs and Twitter
I have continued combing through the World History Blog's old posts.. hundreds, scratch that, thousands- dating back to 2007, though the blog dates back as far as 2003. It is a great general history blog and touches on virtually every aspect relating to history. From the history of certain countries (Laos for example) to the programming on the hisory channel, to the horse, to digital humanities. This blog really does provide a broad range of material for anyone interested in the field of history in a more general sense.
I also checked out Professor Kee's page which I linked to through twitter. I reluctantly admit that I wasn't subscribed before this. I am now though. I promise!
I thought the post about the PhD track being aimed at becoming a tenured Professor was an interesting thing to turn up, as it was actually something I was thinking about over this past weekend. I wasn't thinking about it because I plan to do my PhD in history but rather, because I am not. This thought came about because of a TA workshop I had attended on Saturday morning. It seemed to me that the workshop was speaking to the TAs, many of whom are doing their masters, as if it was a given that everyone there would be interested in pursuing a PhD and becoming a Professor. I'm sorry but this just isn't the case. It's almost as if by pursuing a post grad (especially in history) you are simply taking workplace training, this isn't necessarily something I agree with. As was evident in Professor Kee's quoting of Grafton and Grosman they seemed to be indicating that this direct track to the ivory tower might even be limiting should the candidate decide they do not want to become a history Professor. There are other things you can do with history outside the ivory tower. And the skill set developed through the study of history is extremely adaptable and desirable in the wider world beyond the campus.Perhaps this fact should get more recognition within the department.
Not exactly the most 'on topic' entry but that's the beauty of blogs, ain't it?
Friday 30 September 2011
Sure, I'll Join the Horde
I'm glad that a couple of my concerns came up in the nytimes articles from Cohen! Digital humanists seem to been a keen and enthusiastic lot, so a little tentativeness is good.
I will admit, despite my (very real and well founded) fears there are very interesting possibilities with the massive collections of books.
The kind of massive searching and cross referencing these catalogues allow will radically changes the nature of history and what it means to be a historian. No doubt some things will remain the same but the times, they are a'changin.
In our last discussion Robert brought up the point that not every humanist has to understand the ins and the outs of the coding and other changes within the digital humanities. However, it seems that we as historians WILL have to learn more of the ins and the outs of the digital realm. Perhaps history as we have known it in the past is disappearing. Well not disappearing, rather it might become subsumed by the digital humanities. Seems to me that the same thing may happen to other disciplines as well.
A ...meta discipline? Why ...that's not very post modern at all! Maybe it's a sign that we're entering the post postmodern.
This isn't necessarily a terrible thing. History, in my opinion at least, is already multidisciplinary. The digital humanities will just tie it in closer with other areas. This will allow, and eventually demand for new standards. While I'm still wary and I imagine I always will be... (So much corruption! Everyone is out to get me!) I'm actually excited for this paradigm shift. The old boys club won't be able to hold out for much longer! Stick it to the Man, man!
No offense to the historians of the old cloth but soon enough you'll HAVE to make room for new thoughts, ideas and practices.
So, I've decided. I will willingly allow myself to be assimilated into the digital humanities. While I still urge caution and vigilance, I fully embrace the Mongol horde that is the digital humanities.
I will admit, despite my (very real and well founded) fears there are very interesting possibilities with the massive collections of books.
The kind of massive searching and cross referencing these catalogues allow will radically changes the nature of history and what it means to be a historian. No doubt some things will remain the same but the times, they are a'changin.
In our last discussion Robert brought up the point that not every humanist has to understand the ins and the outs of the coding and other changes within the digital humanities. However, it seems that we as historians WILL have to learn more of the ins and the outs of the digital realm. Perhaps history as we have known it in the past is disappearing. Well not disappearing, rather it might become subsumed by the digital humanities. Seems to me that the same thing may happen to other disciplines as well.
A ...meta discipline? Why ...that's not very post modern at all! Maybe it's a sign that we're entering the post postmodern.
This isn't necessarily a terrible thing. History, in my opinion at least, is already multidisciplinary. The digital humanities will just tie it in closer with other areas. This will allow, and eventually demand for new standards. While I'm still wary and I imagine I always will be... (So much corruption! Everyone is out to get me!) I'm actually excited for this paradigm shift. The old boys club won't be able to hold out for much longer! Stick it to the Man, man!
No offense to the historians of the old cloth but soon enough you'll HAVE to make room for new thoughts, ideas and practices.
So, I've decided. I will willingly allow myself to be assimilated into the digital humanities. While I still urge caution and vigilance, I fully embrace the Mongol horde that is the digital humanities.
Tuesday 27 September 2011
So many Blogs. Where are the Gems?!
Well I've been searching for blogs to follow that seem relevant to my general area of interest ( for my MRP that is) and I'm not so sure that there are going to be recent up to date blogs for it.
Don't get me wrong, I have found blogs that suit me just fine. However most of them seem to be dead. Or if not dead only marginally realted to my topic. Ah well, perhaps I will find a couple of gems yet. Im sure they are out there I've just been looking in the wrong place.
What I have turned up so far includes a blog referencing a WW1 poety database which, even if I cant use directly, is definitely useful for providing context and great for general interest. But of course I lost the post I wanted almost immediately in the multitude of less relevant information! Oh internetz, contributing to premature hair loss.
Another blog is quite extensive with regards to all things military and I'm almost certain it will come through for me in the future! I am also following WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier which has provided some war letters in past posts and is definitely a blog I am going explore further.
These on top of the blogs of my peers!
So much to keep track of! I'm certain I'll only get better at managing all of it. At least... I hope.
Don't get me wrong, I have found blogs that suit me just fine. However most of them seem to be dead. Or if not dead only marginally realted to my topic. Ah well, perhaps I will find a couple of gems yet. Im sure they are out there I've just been looking in the wrong place.
What I have turned up so far includes a blog referencing a WW1 poety database which, even if I cant use directly, is definitely useful for providing context and great for general interest. But of course I lost the post I wanted almost immediately in the multitude of less relevant information! Oh internetz, contributing to premature hair loss.
Another blog is quite extensive with regards to all things military and I'm almost certain it will come through for me in the future! I am also following WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier which has provided some war letters in past posts and is definitely a blog I am going explore further.
These on top of the blogs of my peers!
So much to keep track of! I'm certain I'll only get better at managing all of it. At least... I hope.
Text, Markup and Apocalypse
So. Text encoding and mark up, eh? How about that.
I'd be lying if I said I knew wtf the readings were about this week. A basic introduction to what text encoding actually is would have been nice. I think I've managed to catch the basic gist of the intent behind most of the chapters. I mean, I can grasp semiotics, with things like symantics and pragmatics. But ... well I don't think I grasped one thing that McGann was saying. As far I'm concerned nothing at all was said. Maybe I was just in a poor mindset at the time. But, I dont think so. I somehow don't think I'm alone on this one.
To be perfectly honest, I have not given text a whole lot of thought in and of itself. In my mind it's always been how we convey information to each other. I've never really thought of the structure itself as being all that important. Rather it's simply been the current vehicle we use to convey ourselves and our ideas, so I s'pose in that respect I have thought of it as a medium.
But I didn't realize there was this much going on with regards to it.
Some of the important things to note and consider that I drew from the readings
The good:
Access and openness, first and foremost. Even if some (Hockey) might disagree with the importance or interest of this aspect.
Fluidity - You can play with digital forms more easily. There is an ability to manipulate that comes with digitizing. And like someone tinkering with an engine by dismantling it we may find new and interesting aspects of text and works that were before unseen.
Searchability and cross referencing
The bad & dangerous
Fluidity - There is more potential for manipulation. Whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Corruption - perhaps things such as structure have been lost in the digitization and markup of a poem. This radically corrupts the intended meaning. Seems to me this can happen we are all just human after all.
Access - Knowledge is power. There is money in knowledge and money goes hand in hand with power. While it is cynical and perhaps unlikely, the monopolization of all things digital IS a potential. This is something that should be monitored and kept as open as possible.
Restrictive - By the same token that it allows for more tinkering there is also the risk of restricting ourselves. While projects like TEI trying to create a universally accepted method for encoding and markup is not necessarily a BAD thing it IS dangerous... In the years to come we may find that the structures we imposed in order to aid us and create a broader cohesiveness have actually hindered other possible outcomes.
I might sound overly cynical and pessimistic here but that is not my intention. These are good things. But caught up in our optimism and excitement for new potentials we must also keep in mind that there is also the potential for things to go astray in unexpected ways. The road to hell is paved with good intentions after all! We might find out that we have set up blocks and handicaps that stunted the growth of the field. It's best to look for these gaps before they fester into a bigger problem and something has to be amputated.
I hope at least a portion of this has made sense and been relevant. Or at least gotten someone thinking. I won't be surprised if that's not the case however and I'm sure I'll have to revise this post when I'm feeling a little fresher.
I'd be lying if I said I knew wtf the readings were about this week. A basic introduction to what text encoding actually is would have been nice. I think I've managed to catch the basic gist of the intent behind most of the chapters. I mean, I can grasp semiotics, with things like symantics and pragmatics. But ... well I don't think I grasped one thing that McGann was saying. As far I'm concerned nothing at all was said. Maybe I was just in a poor mindset at the time. But, I dont think so. I somehow don't think I'm alone on this one.
To be perfectly honest, I have not given text a whole lot of thought in and of itself. In my mind it's always been how we convey information to each other. I've never really thought of the structure itself as being all that important. Rather it's simply been the current vehicle we use to convey ourselves and our ideas, so I s'pose in that respect I have thought of it as a medium.
But I didn't realize there was this much going on with regards to it.
Some of the important things to note and consider that I drew from the readings
The good:
Access and openness, first and foremost. Even if some (Hockey) might disagree with the importance or interest of this aspect.
Fluidity - You can play with digital forms more easily. There is an ability to manipulate that comes with digitizing. And like someone tinkering with an engine by dismantling it we may find new and interesting aspects of text and works that were before unseen.
Searchability and cross referencing
The bad & dangerous
Fluidity - There is more potential for manipulation. Whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Corruption - perhaps things such as structure have been lost in the digitization and markup of a poem. This radically corrupts the intended meaning. Seems to me this can happen we are all just human after all.
Access - Knowledge is power. There is money in knowledge and money goes hand in hand with power. While it is cynical and perhaps unlikely, the monopolization of all things digital IS a potential. This is something that should be monitored and kept as open as possible.
Restrictive - By the same token that it allows for more tinkering there is also the risk of restricting ourselves. While projects like TEI trying to create a universally accepted method for encoding and markup is not necessarily a BAD thing it IS dangerous... In the years to come we may find that the structures we imposed in order to aid us and create a broader cohesiveness have actually hindered other possible outcomes.
I might sound overly cynical and pessimistic here but that is not my intention. These are good things. But caught up in our optimism and excitement for new potentials we must also keep in mind that there is also the potential for things to go astray in unexpected ways. The road to hell is paved with good intentions after all! We might find out that we have set up blocks and handicaps that stunted the growth of the field. It's best to look for these gaps before they fester into a bigger problem and something has to be amputated.
I hope at least a portion of this has made sense and been relevant. Or at least gotten someone thinking. I won't be surprised if that's not the case however and I'm sure I'll have to revise this post when I'm feeling a little fresher.
Sunday 25 September 2011
I think I'd still rather mark up text with a pen...
So many dead ends!
I've quickly discovered that HTML is rather simple in theory. But less so when nothing goes according to plan. So much frustration.
Showcasing my new skills
I hope that these HTML skills will allow me to:
- Better understand the internetz
- Seem more competent
- Better troll other people
- Incite a riot
That is not the order of importance however, here are my desires in order from the most important to least.
- Incite a riot
- Better troll other people
- Better understand the internetz
- Seem more competent
Traditionally I've though of tables as a place to eat, discuss, or play drinking games. But apparently in HTML they serve a different purpose. Although I'm sure there's a drinking game somewhere in here.
| First Column | Second Column | Thrid Column |
| I'm number one | I'm number two | I'm done playing |
That was an extremely sloppy and ineffectual table. Where are my boxes? WHERE?!
Well, it doesn't seem like I've done a whole lot. But it sure as hell feels like I have!
So, I have an extremely long way to go.
Well my previous post I did using HTML. I didn't use any of the shortcuts provided by the blog. I can tell you it would have been much more pleasant and taken me about a third of the time if I had. But at least I can say I've done it now, right? <strong>RIGHT?</strong> It might even be fun to play with once I become a little more well versed with it!
But for now I'll be damned if it doesn't make my eyes feel like they're going to bleed out of my skull and my brain feel like it's spent some time in the boxing ring.
I would imagine I'm going to try to mess around with HTML in my regular travels throughout the internet now. Probably just making things bold or italicized to start. Just until I get a feel for where I can and can't get away with things.
As for the tutorials themselves the HTML Dog site was particularly useful as it was quite straightforward and user friendly for someone with no HTML experience.
The one tutorial was telling me to save a text file as an HTML file and to open it in my browser. That didn't work at all and was quite frustrating. I'll have to look into why that was. I WAS saving it as an HTML file, so that wasn't the problem...just to preempt those of you who might be inclined to think that. Let's just say I know to check the plug before I press power. :\
In the future I'll try to compose more of my posts using the HTML function just to practice... and make my life a little more difficult.
But for now I'll be damned if it doesn't make my eyes feel like they're going to bleed out of my skull and my brain feel like it's spent some time in the boxing ring.
I would imagine I'm going to try to mess around with HTML in my regular travels throughout the internet now. Probably just making things bold or italicized to start. Just until I get a feel for where I can and can't get away with things.
As for the tutorials themselves the HTML Dog site was particularly useful as it was quite straightforward and user friendly for someone with no HTML experience.
The one tutorial was telling me to save a text file as an HTML file and to open it in my browser. That didn't work at all and was quite frustrating. I'll have to look into why that was. I WAS saving it as an HTML file, so that wasn't the problem...just to preempt those of you who might be inclined to think that. Let's just say I know to check the plug before I press power. :\
In the future I'll try to compose more of my posts using the HTML function just to practice... and make my life a little more difficult.
Wednesday 21 September 2011
Dangerous Definitions
Many of this weeks readings attempted to define, or make sense of digital humanities. While I understand the desire to do so it seems to me that there is something to be gained in leaving it open ended. If the field is left open ended outsiders will be more likely to chime in with their own two sense. No doubt some of this chiming will be useless noise but there will also be masterpieces. A firm definition of the field would no doubt aid in its professionalisation but again, this will only serve to alienate the dabblers. This, in my opinion, would be great folly. The digital humanities have to mirror, to a certain extent, the internet in general. And much of what makes the internet such a wonderful (and terrifying) place is that it provides a space for dabblers to do what they love. To close off, define and professionalize ( and I would argue that they are all interrelated) will only serve to slow the progress of the field in the long term.
The digital method this week included blogs, twitter, RSS and google reader. I'm not so sure I will be very active with my own tweets and I'm afraid they are likely to get me in trouble. Also, it's not time to riot just yet! Since my blog and twitter were already account all that was left for me was to subscribe to other blogs and make some sense of my google reader page. I've done both. And by done both, I mean that I have followed the applicable prompts.
I have a feeling that this is going to get very messy, very fast. I already have way too much on my plate without this added distraction. This despite the fact that I'm doing my very best not to subscribe to every page Charlie Sheen related!
The digital method this week included blogs, twitter, RSS and google reader. I'm not so sure I will be very active with my own tweets and I'm afraid they are likely to get me in trouble. Also, it's not time to riot just yet! Since my blog and twitter were already account all that was left for me was to subscribe to other blogs and make some sense of my google reader page. I've done both. And by done both, I mean that I have followed the applicable prompts.
I have a feeling that this is going to get very messy, very fast. I already have way too much on my plate without this added distraction. This despite the fact that I'm doing my very best not to subscribe to every page Charlie Sheen related!
What the Haig?!
After presenting my MRP topic, or rather my area of particular interest, I am no closer to solidification. I am however still sure that I want to focus on the character of Sir Douglas Haig and what that meant for his role within the military. I believe that the key to making sense of the contentious 'Haig' question lies within a study of his character and psychological traits. At the same time, the society and military culture of his time are equally important aspects as they would have deemed whether the traits he possessed were desireable in a military leader or not.
The topic is broad. Daunting even. There are still many possible areas for me to explore within my area of interest. However, I plan feed off Dave's love of all things military in the coming months and I think perhaps that might help me solidify the direction in which I want to travel for my MRP.
I also believe that some of the digital methods we will be exploring throughout this term will aid me a great deal in organizing my chaotic thoughts. From this I hope that I will be able to pull out particularly important themes and weed out some of the less essential aspects relating to my topic.
The topic is broad. Daunting even. There are still many possible areas for me to explore within my area of interest. However, I plan feed off Dave's love of all things military in the coming months and I think perhaps that might help me solidify the direction in which I want to travel for my MRP.
I also believe that some of the digital methods we will be exploring throughout this term will aid me a great deal in organizing my chaotic thoughts. From this I hope that I will be able to pull out particularly important themes and weed out some of the less essential aspects relating to my topic.
Monday 19 September 2011
I Ain't Gamin, I'm Making the World a Better Place
The next time anyone says anything bad about gamers or gaming culture, just pull out this little tidbit
Thursday 15 September 2011
The Stealth Drop
Just so happens that this weeks readings and digital tools combine to make me seem like some sort of secret agent.
I can say I full appreciate William Turkel's desire for privacy while working on his super secret project. I too often prefer privacy for such matters. It's nice to seclude a clever idea from the world and to nurse it, making it truly your own design. By sheltering the idea from outside forces he gains a greater degree of control over it. Able to mold it and remold it in new and exciting ways. Of course, in so doing one runs the risk of never fully realizing the idea. With no outside forces invested, even on a cursory intellectual basis, there's no impetus to settle on the particulars. It could be the idea reworked thousands of times only to be taken to the deathbed, brilliant but unfinished. But hey, at least he'll never lose it due to a failure of his electronic devices.
The dropbox is a great device and I find it sad that I didnt have one when I was still on a desktop. Although, it's not at all surprising that someone on a desktop wouldn't be aware of useful digital devices. Simple to use and handy, it is a tool that should probably be a little more ubiquitous. Then again, the more popular something becomes the less likely it is to remain free and uncompromised. I've already dropped all of my current work into a dropbox and can sleep that much easier at night.
I have to say that I already feel more intouch with my technological side. Now that I've finally gotten a push to become at least partially involved in coding (as basic as it is) and the digital realm maybe I can become that super l33t haxxor and take down some establishments. You can wreak havoc on the Man with a somwhat less than working knowledge of html, right?
I can say I full appreciate William Turkel's desire for privacy while working on his super secret project. I too often prefer privacy for such matters. It's nice to seclude a clever idea from the world and to nurse it, making it truly your own design. By sheltering the idea from outside forces he gains a greater degree of control over it. Able to mold it and remold it in new and exciting ways. Of course, in so doing one runs the risk of never fully realizing the idea. With no outside forces invested, even on a cursory intellectual basis, there's no impetus to settle on the particulars. It could be the idea reworked thousands of times only to be taken to the deathbed, brilliant but unfinished. But hey, at least he'll never lose it due to a failure of his electronic devices.
The dropbox is a great device and I find it sad that I didnt have one when I was still on a desktop. Although, it's not at all surprising that someone on a desktop wouldn't be aware of useful digital devices. Simple to use and handy, it is a tool that should probably be a little more ubiquitous. Then again, the more popular something becomes the less likely it is to remain free and uncompromised. I've already dropped all of my current work into a dropbox and can sleep that much easier at night.
I have to say that I already feel more intouch with my technological side. Now that I've finally gotten a push to become at least partially involved in coding (as basic as it is) and the digital realm maybe I can become that super l33t haxxor and take down some establishments. You can wreak havoc on the Man with a somwhat less than working knowledge of html, right?
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