1-In Code art, the artist rarely works alone. Instead she calls upon the power of code to assist. Give examples of different kinds of codes that Code Artists use & abuse to create their work. Gievn this "procedural" approach, how do you distinguish this kind of creativity from art made with pen & ink or paint & canvas? How has the artists' role changes? How has the art changed?

Code artists use computer codes and cultural codes to form their artwork. They use computer codes to design their works, but abuse cultural codes with the messages extracted from their creations. This is similar to art on paper in its process, the work it takes to code a piece of generative art could be compared to the effort of painting a canvas. However, code art differs from traditional art because once it is made it has to be executed, where as traditional art is usually static and simply viewed, but not executed.

2-What function distinguishes the artistic use of code from a merely technical use? Give some examples of this function in a few art works from the chapter.

According to Judson Rosebush, the "goal of computer art is to create the greatest richness and meaning from the fewest lines of code" (edge of art, pg. 17) It is perhaps this idea of meaning that separates artistic code use from technical code use. Artistic code has meaning where technical code has purpose. A good example of what Rosebush is talking about is in John F. Simon's "every icon", which was a short chunk of code, but creates endless possibilities.

3-Give examples of three misuses of browser technology to create art. What was the nature of the misuse/creative use and what was the effect? What issues were raised?

Three examples of browser misuses as art are: the Google group art, I/O/D's Web Stalker, and Bill Cheswick's internet mapping. The google group art was in playful nature, some Usenet users noticed that the way Google colored coded searches allowed them to make posts containing specific characters written in pattern that would create pictures in the browser. I/O/D's Web Stalker was created as an alternative browser to rival Internet Explorer and Netscape, it offered a graphical and participation based alternative to normal text/picture based web browsing. Bill Cheswick's internet mapping is an intriguing graphical way of looking at how information travels through the internet from a more scientific standpoint. None of these raised any issues to my knowledge.

4-Give an example for each of the following: code as syntax, code as tool, and code as experience.

Code as syntax - Duff's Device - Tom Duff
Code as tool - Internet Mapping - Bill Cheswick
Code as experience - The Shape Of Song - Martin Wattenberg

1-What are the three transportation media? What is the difference between a transport medium and a transport vehicle?

The three transportation medium's are land, water, and sky. The transportation vehicles are what we use to travel within these medium's, such as a cars, bicycles, boats, planes, etc.

2-What are the three communication media? Give examples of communication media vs communication vehicles. Email uses which communication medium?

The three communication media are one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many. The difference between communication vehicle's and media is that vehicles are things like television, newspaper, and magazines, but they all function within the "one-to-many" concept of communication media. E-Mail is an example of one-to-many communication medium.

3-What are the advantages/disadvantages of interpersonal communication? of broadcast communication?

The advantages of interpersonal communication is that you can personalize your message to each individual, but it's difficult to reach a large audience. The advantages of broadcast communication are the opposite, you can reach a large audience, but cannot personalize the content of the message.
4-What are the characteristics of the New Medium? Is a many-to-many communication possible without the new technology of laptop, iphone and internet? The characteristics of the new medium is that you can supply a personalized experience to large audiences, essentially taking the advantages of the other two communication mediums. It is not possible to do this without the use of modern technology, however.

1-"Professor Anne O'Dwyer taught me about cognitive dissonance - the psychological discomfort which occurs when you're confronted with a set of facts suggesting that what you're doing or believing is irrational or stupid. You pay $10 to go to a movie, and the movie is pretty bad. But rather than admit that you wasted $10, there's a tendency to say it isn't wasn't really so bad: the acting was impressive, the special effects looked really realistic - whatever you need to tell yourself to convince yourself that you got your money's worth. You want to feel like you're not a sucker. We paper over the cognitive dissonance in much of what we do - the fact that this clearly isn't the best way to be ordering a society, to be living a life - because we've got an awful lot invested in the route we've been pursuing. To admit that it's flawed would be too much dissonance to handle." Pick an issue which you believe the media has "papered over". Describe how you figured out you were not getting the whole truth. What was the more complex truth & why was it hidden (or more important who benefits from the partial truth & who loses? )What is the cost to you and what can you do about it?

News and Media outlets favoring certain stories and hiding others because they are paid by companies to keep certain things under wraps or because they favor certain political parties. For example, many people say that CNN tried to hide the John Edwards sex scandal from the general public because of their liberal bias.

2-In what way have you been encouraged to "sit back, relax, and enjoy the show" and how can you "grab the steering wheel before we go over the edge"?

In many ways we are encouraged by society from a young age to not stir the pot, to mind our place, mind our own business, and try not to create conflict. However, you can grab the steering wheel by doing things like protesting or creating petitions to inspire change.

1. Describe the difference between Political Design and Hacktivist Art. Use an example of each and describe how that work fits the category of design or art.

The difference between political design and hacktivist art is that, while political design attempts to change things using force, hacktivist artists will poke fun at or question things using humor to get their point across.

"Napster" the music sharing software is an example of political design because they created the idea that music should be free by programming the first mainstream p2p file-sharing program. Because of their actions, now this expectation exists, and it will be very difficult to take away.

Hacktivist art is more like what the guy did who wrote the DeCSS code (which was made illegal through a court case with the Motion Picture Association of America) in a theoretical computer language. He toyed with the idea of when something becomes illegal? When the code is written? or when it is compiled? This is more in the spirit of play than political design because it's poking fun at the ruling of a court case, but not making direct efforts to change the result.

2. What does execution mean? How does it relate to computers (ie .exe files). What are some example of executable art? How is execution different from representation? In other words how does each realate to the media paradigms of one-to-many vs many-to-many?

Execute means to carry out or put into effect. Computers are constantly executing tasks, such as any time someone opens a file or document. An example of executable art would be the Barbie voice-box switch, which takes a Barbie Doll and transforms it by giving it a male G.I. Joe's voice and dialogue, toying with the idea of gender stereotypes. Execution is more in the spirit of many-to-many communications, because the user is making some a choice and receiving feedback. On the contrary, representation is more of an example of one-to-many communications, where there is a thing that is being represented, which is usually a static, and it is meant to be interpreted in a specific way and only that way.

3. Why do you think Hacktivist artists find themselves hacking capitalist and political structures that most other people revere? What problem or dangers do they see in these forms of power? Use sample projects to answer this question.

Hacktivist artists find themselves hacking capitalist and political structures because these are problems they see in our society. They see them as driving forces behind cultural norms and use art to try and inspire change. Hacktivist art such as the Simcopter hack, which takes a masochistic game featuring scantily clad women and turns it into a exhibition of homosexuality and a play on homophobia is a great example of this.

4.How do hacktivists confirm McLuhan's prediction that the 'nation-state' wold not survive the advent of electronic media? Do hackitvists challege or question any critical policies of nation-states? Does their practice suggest any alternatives to the nation-state? Or why are they not really concerned about anarchy?

Hacktivists confirm McLuhan's prediction because of the way they challenge the government and its political structures on a constant basis. They are always challenging critical policies of nation states and want to inspire change in political policies through their artwork and statements. I don't think they are necessarily looking for an alternative to the nation-state, but they want to encourage free thinking within it.

With the rise of the internet and social media technology, communication has been faster and easier than ever before. We are now able to exchange information across the world at lightning fast speeds. However, the element of anonymity that exists when communicating online has created new types of problems among America's youth, one of these problems is what's known as CyberBullying. Social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube have opened up a new forum for bullies to feed on their pray, without any of the intimacy of face-to-face communication, often times more hurtful things will be said than in real-life confrontations. Someone can be torn apart on the walls of Facebook or through private messages and it can easily be seen by everyone they know. Luckily, although there are knew ways of bullying that never existed before, there is also new ways of dealing with these problems in a technological manner. Users now have the ability to delete content on their facebook, which may be offensive, or even use features like "blocking" another user to completely cut off any communication between them. While the bullying can be more hurtful in some ways, the solutions can also be much easier and more effective than in real life situations.

1-What is a cyborg, or rather why is thinking about cyborgs useful for exploring identity? Is identity single? dualistic? paradoxical? What roll does gender play in cyborg identity vs conventional cultural identity?

A cyborg by definition is part machine and part human. It is useful for exploring identity because the indentity of a cyborg is singular, unlike that of a human. Human identity is completely dualistic, you are either male or female and by cultural standards, must act as such.

2-Give two examples of cyborgs in books, comics, games, or films you have seen. Describe the cyborg, explain its role in the work, then explain what new perspectives it brings to identity.

The first cyborg I could think of in film was Darth Vader from the Star Wars series. Vader is a human who has a robotic suit that aids him and acts as a life support system. Through the first three movies Vader is portrayed as the ultimate villain, he is ruthless to the point that the viewer might question whether he is human at all, however this all changes at the end of the third movie. Vader removes his mask and reveals a frail human being. In the final three moves of the series, we are taken back into his past and get insight into what lead to him becoming the cold hearted villain he became. This transformation perfectly illustrates the human and robotic sides of a cyborg.

The other most prominent cyborg I can recall from pop culture is RoboCop. In the movie, Alex Murphy is a cop who is shot down and killed by gang members. He is brought to the hospital and pronounced dead, but scientists use his body in a cyborg development program in which they turn him into a super-cop programmed to uphold justice, aided entirely by mechanical parts. Although RoboCop at first seems to be nothing but a machine, he begins regaining some of his human memories and exhibiting some forms of human emotion. RoboCop explores the idea of a man without an identity, trying to recover artifacts of his past self.

3-What does Haraway mean when she writes " the production of a universal, totalizing theory is a major mistake" How does the metaphor of the cyborg undermine the totalizing theories or dualisms that Haraway feels are damaging to our society?

Haraway writes that "the production of a universal, totalizing theory is a major mistake" because she believes that society should not be trying to cram everyone into a singular mold. She thinks that too much pressure is put on trying to conform to a certain set of standards. The metaphor of the cyborg undermines this totalizing theory because rather than trying to categorize a person by gender and whatever social undertones that may hold, it looks at a person from an unbiased point of view.

4-How does her cyborg challenge the white, male, heterosexual bias of our culture? (this bias, for example discourages or punishes white males when acting feminine, or wild or gay; or it rewards women who act like men or like heterosexuals; it is not necessarily good for white male heterosexuals, as it boxes them into this role too) How does the 'monstrous' liberate us? How is this like code art "perversion"?

The cyborg challenges our cultural gender bias' because it blurs the line between male and female into ambiguity. The 'monstrous' liberates us because it is a free, unchained, unrestricted state of mind. The monster is free to do what it pleases. This is similar to code art perversion because of the way it acts against societies cultural bias', like how code artists use their work to freely make social commentary and invoke change.

5-What is liberating, and what is dangerous about a human/machine symbiosis?

A human/machine symbiosis is liberating because it frees up the human side of use to act and think how we please and not how society thinks we should. It allows us to follow whatever goals or dreams we may have without conforming to a certain set of rules. This can be dangerous, however, because regardless of what barriers we break between human and machine (or male and female) in our own minds, these barriers still exist in our society and we will be subject to the scrutiny of those around us.

6-Would you consider yourself a cyborg? Explain how you are or are not a cyborg. Would you like to be a cyborg (sometimes, never, only in play, only when serious)?

I would not consider myself a cyborg by Harraway's definition of the term. I will be the first to admit that I conform to many of societies gender stereotypes about males, such as hiding my emotions and not acting "feminine". In an ideal world without pressures from outside society I would imagine everybody would want to be a cyborg, but the way our world has evolved into what it is today, that seems to be impossible.

1-What are some of the reasons for a surge in digital autobiograpical production from "home pages" to "wearcams?

I think the reason for this surge in different forms of digital autobiographical production comes from natural human's natural curiosity and artistic spirit. With the rise of new technologies like webcams and portable camera's, there will always be people who find new creative uses for these technologies.

2-What is the role of autobotography vis-a-vis technology's "narcotic effect"?

Autobotography is a way of using technology as an extension of self, where as the "narcotic effect" of technology says that when one uses technology to extend them self in one way, they are amputating them self in another way.

3-Jennicam gives us an example of the pleasures of self-disclosure, Mann's WearCams give an example of the dangers of surveillance. Are there dangers in Jennifer Ringley's work (or similar projects)? And what might those dangers be? Conversely, are there any pleasures in Stephen Mann's WearCams?

There are certainly danger's involved in Jennifer Ringley's work with the JenniCam site. Many people would consider her very personal, constant levels of exposure to be dangerous, however other more serious dangers exist from broadcasting one's life 24/7. Someone watching the live cast could easily watch Jennifer leave her house unattended for hours on end, figure out how schedule, and burglarize her house whenever they wanted if they found out the address.
There could also certainly be pleasures in Stephen Mann's work with WearCams. Catching any criminal activity and bringing justice to the situation would be seen as a pleasure in my eyes. As would capturing any humorous candid moments that might occur while the camera's were rolling.

4-Explain how 2 of the blogging projects reshapes our sense of self, life, or writing.

"Blogging a birth" by Ada T. Norton reshapes our sense of life and writing because of it's unique approach to recording an event. While I'm sure many narratives have been written in the past about the birthing process, this one was actually created live in the heat of the moment. This is a unique thing in the literary world, where almost any event you read about first hand is going to be the writers recollection of what happened. In this case the writer is actually feeling the pain as they describe it, which adds a completely new level of realism to the writing.

The "Ubiquitous Diary" is a recounting of the events of author Jason Pettus' life, much like any other blog. However the way Pettus documents these events is what is so interesting and can reshape ones sense of writing. He uses monologues and conversations instead of narratives to share stories with the reader about things that have happened to him. This is a really interesting literary approach because a monologue, especially a written monologue, leaves so much room for the reader to interpret. Monologues don't include insight into the thoughts of the people involved beyond what words they say, so it makes the reader have to really interpret their words to try and get inside the head of whoever is speaking and find out what they are feeling.

5-Pick one of the "moving self-portraits" and explain how the project evokes the mystery of our contemporary lives. What kinds of issues does the portrait raise?

"Modern Living" is a series of very stylistic, animated social commentaries by artist Han Hoogerbrugge. It portrays issues the artists sees in the everyday life of the average person, like vanity or pressure from mass-marketing. The animations, like the issues they represent, do not always have obvious agendas, with their meanings left to the viewer's interpretation. In one instance, a child is shown riding a tricycle and is periodically asked to accept or reject various products. If he chooses an apple, he is scolded, however if he chooses a cigarette he is rewarded. This shows the way that society often glories making bad choices.

6-Katherine Hayles speaks of the "post-human" in describing the cyborgian entities we have become. How do the artists of this chapter create autobotographies of this "post-human" cyborg? Consider, for example Life Sharing and [phage].

Artist group 0100101110101101's project "Life Sharing" is an example of an autobotography of a "post-human cyborg". Their project was to share the entire hard drive contents of their personal computer, including private emails and photo's among other things over the internet for anyone to see. This could actually be the blueprint to what an autobiography of a cyborg should look like, a document of their digital footprint. It is an insight into how we define ourselves through our use of technology.

7-How do digital artists examine the commodification of the self? How has the self become another consumer good, or how does a human being get reduced to a "consumer"? Which digital projects raise theese questions and how do they do it?

Digital artists like Jennifer Ringley are perfect examples of how "the self" has become another consumer good. Through her site "JenniCam", which charged members through PayPal for viewing her everyday activities (and received millions of hits) she was able to turn her life and every day actions into a consumer product. However, Human's get reduced to becoming "consumer's" only because they choose to. A person could start a farm and live off nothing but their land, harvesting produce, spinning wool for clothing, etc. but many choose to consume instead because in most cases being a consumer is easier than being a provider.

8-Describe the autobotography of "invented selves" or avatars. How do Female Extension and Darko Maver raise questions about the nature of digital selves. Why do they use invented selves and what are the reasons for doing so and the effects of their choices?

"Female Extension" by Cornelia Solfrank is an interesting example of an artist creating "invented selves". Her reason for doing so was to expose a judging panels sexual bias in a "Net Art" competition. She created a program that would generate pieces of "Net Art" (essentially just groups of images found in a Google image search placed next to eachother) based on the title that she put in. She then submitted over a hundred of these pieces to the competition, all under names of fake female artists. Upon one of her entries winning the competition, she exposed the judging panels sexual bias, because they had much lower standards for entries submitted by female artists than that of the male artists.