Week 12: WWW Community

30 minutes: Discuss Vannevar Bush’s significance in 1945 and now. Pop quiz at discretion of instructor.

Use these questions as a guide for the Vannevar Bush discussion. Note, the page numbers refer to the article as published in the New Media Reader, available at Flaxman Library.  Students read Vannevar Bush, As We May Think, 1945 (NMR, p.35-48), online: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/194507/bush

1)    What year was Bush’s article written?  Where was it published?  What  kind of audience was this written for?
2)    What does the editor’s comment prior to the Atlantic Monthly essay say about Bush’s feelings about WWII?  Bush alludes to this himself  also in the first few paragraphs of the essay.
3)    Who was Bush?  What kind of research did he do before WWII?   Specifically, what kind of collaborative research did he do?
4)    What was Bush’s true passion and research interest?
5)    What does Bush say about progress? In particular, what is his general  attitude about increasing specialization to fuel advancements in  science (p. 37, NMR)?
6)    As you read through the article, what devices of the future does Bush talk about?
7)    What is the Memex? (p.44-45, NMR)  What would a user wish to do with the Memex?
8)    What medium is the Memex’s vast storehouse of information written on?  (p.44, NMR)
9)    On page 44, Bush makes a distinction about how libraries index  information (alphanumeric systems) and how the human brain works  (association).  In this section, Bush discussses his concept of  trails.  What are trails, and how might they be useful on a device like the Memex?
10)    Today, do we have any software that allows us a “trails-like” glimpse of our actions?  What are some examples?
11)    Why do you think Bush’s conceptual invention, the Memex is significant?
12)    Why do the writers of the introduction to this essay believe Bush’s contributions to be vital to creative individuals interested in knowledge management tools?
13)    What tools do we have today that are similar in concept to the Memex?

30 minutes: How are these Web 2.0 tools relevant to artistic research? Define Web 2.0 technologies.  Discuss and demo: social bookmarking (delicious.com), social networking (facebook.com), folksonomies (youtube.com, delicious.com, any site using user-generated tagging), citizen journalism, and various newsfeeds as a research and communication tool for artists in particular.

30 minutes: Additional demos, time permitting:

-How to set up a delicious.com URL archive
-How to set up a Google or Yahoo news reader/content aggregator
-How to help people find your blog/website through SEO (search engine optimization)
-How to have your blog entries post on Facebook (via Notes)
-How to have your delicious entries post on Facebook
-How to set up a Twitter account
-How to navigate and network in Second Life
-How to optimize your blog for SEO, search engine optimization, CLICK FOR HANDOUT ON SEO

>Screening

If time remains, have class display blog or news links that are of interest to them.  Some examples of art and design blogs:

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/
http://www.artletter.com/index.html
http://ecoviz.org/
http://infosthetics.com/
http://design-milk.com/
http://transition.turbulence.org/blog

>Sketch 10

Begin to create a delicious link archive.  Please add at least 2 blogs that you deem relevant to fine art or design and tag with the “saicwired” tag.

Add your delicious widget (Dashboard>Appearance>Widget) to your blog (Sketch 1) page on your website, and add your delicious link to your Blogroll, or Links page (see “Links” in Dashboard).

>Reading

Jay Rosen. “PressThink: The People Formerly Known as the Audience.” Department of Journalism at New York University. 27 Jun 2006. 16 Jul 2007. Available at: http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/06/27/ppl_frmr.html

Mattathias Schwartz, “The Trolls Among Us,” NYTimes Magazine August 3, 2008. Available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?ex=1376366400&en=9ef46c2d72b245ec&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

>Writing: Write a short post on your blog about either article.  Start your post by asking a question that you would like to ask your classmates about the article, i.e. “Have any of you ever been a victim of trolling?”

>Study for final exam (instructor’s discretion, can be casual and oral, or formal and written). Click for study guide.

As  you prepare for final critique—consider attending a SAIC Wired make-up and review session to get extra help with your website from volunteer Wired TAs.