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.

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.

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 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.

1. Incite a riot
2. Better troll other people
3. Better understand the internetz
4. 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.

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!

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.

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

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?