Transcript Computation as a Medium - Georgia Institute of Technology

Media Codes and Conventions
Week 2
LCC 2700: Intro to Computational Media
Spring 2005
Janet H. Murray
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Last week ….
The computer is a medium.
Creates the Don Quixote/Ciotat Train/Eliza illusion
a material substance that contains ideas through
inscription e.g. bits
transmission
0011 binary code
digital media formats (video codec) (gif, jpg)
representation
asci, letters, words, texts, etc.
temporal and spatial formats and genres
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Computation as a Medium
•
•
•
•
•
•
Not merely a tool or technology or conduit
Inheritor, expander of media traditions
Medium: inscription, transmission, representation
Media conventions bring coherence
Convergence disrupts coherence
How to invent a medium
– Import legacy conventions to new format to discover
its unique affordances;
– Discover , refine, employ new conventions that
exploit and organize these affordances
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Computation as a Medium
•
•
•
•
•
•
Not merely a tool or technology or conduit
Inheritor, expander of media traditions
Medium: inscription, transmission, representation
Media conventions bring coherence
Convergence disrupts coherence
How to invent a medium
– Import legacy conventions to new format to discover
its unique affordances;
– Discover , refine, employ new conventions that
exploit and organize these affordances
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Web Page Assignment for last week:
Make a home page for this course. Include your name,
course name & number, email link, an image of
yourself, and an element that is appropriate to the
general idea of “Computational Media” . Include area
for links to all of your assignments. Include short
biographical statement.
• Observe appropriate format and genre conventions for
an academic course-specific student web page.
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Class Web Page: Include
• Title (Name of Student) visible at top of page(s)
• Menus visible without scrolling at top or left
• Photo of student visible at top of page, sized
appropriately
• Links to assignments in orderly list
• Biography with degree of formality while still friendly;
information appropriate to class
• Playful / thematic element characteristic of digital
medium
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Class Web Page: Avoid
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Moving flashing pointers [temporal convention]
Moving text scroll [temporal convention]
Overly informal, slangy diction (‘Sup; well allrighty then; Hi there!)
Characterizing yourself or your work negatively, offering apologies
(“crazy”) using offensive words “retarded”
Thanking people for visiting
Enormous pictures
Underlining without linking
The word “random”
Overly busy backgrounds
Pages that require scrolling (without anchors)
Centered text, especially
multi-line centered text which is
harder to read than left-justified text
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Examples of Web Page Coherence
•
Biography in appropriate tone:
http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/%7Emurray/courses/lcc2700sp05/locker/dhunt/assignme
nt1/index.html
•
Layout with left navigation, no scrolling
http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/%7Emurray/courses/lcc2700sp05/locker/mhansen/assign
ment1/index.html
(but do not use “links” as label) (navigation disappeared?)
http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/%7Emurray/courses/lcc2700sp05/locker/mchu/assignmen
t1/index.html
http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/%7Emurray/courses/lcc2700sp05/locker/nbowman/assign
ment1/index.html
http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/%7Emurray/courses/lcc2700sp05/locker/pbonaparte/assig
nment1/aboutme.html (but do not center text!)
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Your web presence
Check out the Grad Students’ web sites for more polished examples:
http://idt.lcc.gatech.edu/people/students.php
Remember your home page for the class is not your all-purpose site.
You can link to your academic home page.
We have given you room on the server for a general student home
page if you are a CM major. (Make an index.html file for you www
directory) Advice: Use it to set up a site that employers can look at,
including CV and portfolio
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Summary of Week 2:
• Review of Codes and Conventions
• Properties of the medium
– Procedural
– Participatory
– Encyclopedic
– Spatial
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Patterns of Representation
Whenever I design a chip the first thing I want to do is
look at it under a microscope -- not because I think I can
learn something new by looking at it but because I am
always fascinated by how a pattern can create reality.
Danny Hillis The Pattern in the Stone
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Patterns of Representation
Whenever I design a chip the first thing I want to do is
look at it under a microscope -- not because I think I can
learn something new by looking at it but because I am
always fascinated by how a pattern can create reality.
Danny Hillis The Pattern in the Stone
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Patterns of Inscription:
(Wedges; Electrodes)
700 BC Cuneiform Clay Tablet
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Patterns of Transmission
(Ideograms; Logic Gates, Bytes)
700 BC Cuneiform Clay Tablet
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Patterns of Representation
(Words; Instructions)
700 BC Cuneiform Clay Tablet
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Code
A system of rules, laws , or regulations (standard)
A system of symbols, letters or words given arbitrary
meanings for transmitting messages requiring brevity
or secrecy (from dictionary.com)
Codes are arbitrary, socially negotiated:
we agree that shaking hands /saying “hello” = greeting
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Codes are arbitrary social agreements
Semaphore flags for ships
turning starboard
yes
keep clear of me
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Logical Codes (Symbols)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Traffic signals, telephone numbers, urls
Morse Code, Braille
Computer code
Semaphores
Gang colors
Quantitative and mathematical symbols
Logical codes are unambiguous, based on 1 to 1
correspondences between code systems
They work best for domains with constrained possibilities
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Cultural Codes (Signs)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Alphabet
Language
Laws (as enforced)
Images (except some iconic signs)
Gestures (e.g. obscenities vary by culture)
Dress codes: e.g. jeans vs suits; cowboy boots
Social stereotypes
Rules of Politeness
Ideological categories (religious, political)
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Cultural Codes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rest on communities of interpretation (e.g. teenagers)
Interpreted according to context
Have more than 1 possible interpretation
Include embedded logical codes, e.g. words/letters
Overlap and embed one another
Change over time
Differ across communities
Are often unconscious or “naturalized”
Work for the messy world of human experience
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
First Telegraphs Looked Like This
Flags on Poles, Lanterns at a Distance
turning starboard
yes
keep clear of me
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Morse Code (1838)
Telegraph rests on the invention of the electromagnet,
activated remotely by electric wire plus Morse Code
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Paper output telegraph 1844
Smithsonian Collection: Samuel Morse
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Braille (1829)
Based on a grid of 3 rows of 2 dots per letter. Earlier code
based on sounds was unsuccessful. Braille is based not
on sounds but on alphabet of written language using
conventional spelling. 63 characters include shorthand
for common words and punctuation.
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Morse Code (~1835)
From inscription on paper as dots and dashes to
inscription by short/long sound using key
Dot = 1 time unit
Dash = 3 units
Letter break = 3 units
Word break = 7 units
40-50 words per minute for expert operator
Typewriter key descendent of telegraph key
1855 key invented
TELEX used with early networked, time sharing,
interpreted code computers a descendent of telegraph
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Codes always pushed to greater
expressiveness, new conventions
Emoticons and TLAs
 ^^^
MYOB
Morse code abbreviations
AA (all after)
OM (old man = any male operator)
YL (young lady = any female operator)
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Organizational Formats Bring Coherence
•
•
•
•
•
Labels on clay tablets
Single direction writing
Pages, paragraphs, chapters, indexes, title page
Shots, edits, multi-reel length movies
Genre conventions: news articles, sitcoms, textbooks…
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Organizational Formats Based on Codes
• Labels
– Names, addresses, urls
– Menu items on web page
– Categories of knowledge
• Listing. agglomerating
• Segmenting
– Physical segmentation:
pages, book length, 1 hour
TV show, record album
(from vinyl segmentation)
– Semantic segmentation:
paragraph, article, song..
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Organizational Formats Based on Codes
• Sorting
– Like attributes
– Hierarchies (a kind of)
• Spatializing
– Tables of information
– Library Shelves
– Web page grid
• Sequencing
– Temporally (syllabus)
– Causally (narrative)
– Symbolically (by alphabet,
student number, etc.)
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Digital Organizational Formats
•
•
•
•
•
•
Standard nomenclatures
Database
Web addresses
Menu for a CD-ROM or DVD
Controlled vocabularies
Metadata attached to data files
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Digital Genres / Participatory Codes
•
•
•
•
•
Productivity tool
Web site
Web store
Newspaper
PC Game
Intro to Computational Media
•
•
•
•
•
Icons, menu bars
Underlined/colored links
Shopping cart icon
Link to weather at top
Mapping to arrow keys
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Media Conventions (codes, formats, genres)
• Sometimes Media-Specific
– Telegraph shorthand not suitable for IM
– Jump in story unnecessary on web
– Theatrical acting vs film acting
• Sometimes Trans-Media
– Spoken language, written text in multiple media
– News tells who, what, where, when, how, and why
– Tragedy, comedy, mystery stories cross media
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Activity of coding forms a tradition
Telegraph to Computer
• Key strokes into letters into code
• Networked information devices transmitting messages
Library to Computer
• Storing information in discrete labeled containers
• Sorting information
• Retrieving information by category and label
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium
Key Concept:
A Medium evolves by expansion/refinement of its
technologies, codes, formats, and genres
Clay Tablet
Papyrus Scroll
Manuscript codex (pages)
Printed Book
Fresco
Oil Painting
Photography
Cinema
TV
Computer
Intro to Computational Media
W eek 2: Properties of the Medium