Archive for March, 2008
Discussing Interfaces
If I understood Mushon’s article correctly, the over-arching theme throughout Interface as a Conflict of Ideologies is the idea that while it generally goes unnoticed, the Internet is an undoubtedly biased interface. As mentioned in the ShiftSpace.org introduction video, Internet users commonly mistake the Internet as distributed and open, due in large part because:
The web is celebrated for dramatically lowering the threshold for the authorship of media and communication interfaces. The relatively low prices of hosting, the simplicity and flexibility of HTML and the interconnectivity model of the hyperlink have made the web a revolutionary tool for gaining ownership of media (Mushon 7).
But the truth of the matter is that the Internet is not unlike other interfaces - it contains inherent biases that favor one independent system over the other. Mushon defines interface as ” a point of interconnection between two independent systems” (2), and in the case of the Internet, although the cycle of communication between sender and receiver varies within different website models, the site owner is always favored over the audience member. This fact is more obvious in sites such as the online version of the New York Times, which functions “in a classic one-to-many broadcast format without offering interfaces for users input” (Mushon 8). However, as Mushon goes on to note:
…control over the interface is always kept in the hand of the site owner. Even the highest level of interactive content does not allow authorship of the interface - and so while content can be authored by the owner of the site or its audience the rules of engagement are always defined by one member of the communication cycle.
Even in the instance of Wikipedia where there is no single identified author identity, (which is cited as an example of Commons-Based Peer Production), the many contributors, editors and mere readers that visit the site must work within the confines of the wiki interface. This means adhering to the general layout and code predefined by the owners of the site, which whether noticed or not, restricts the level of interaction possible between the two independent systems. One such Wikipedia-related example is demonstrated in the fact that many contributors are largely influenced to conform to this interface’s disinterest in acting as a place to generate discussions surrounding entries made and edited on Wikipedia - (which is an option that, as Mushon points out, goes largely unnoticed by the vast majority of Wikipedia users due to the link’s deemphasized placement on the site.)
Consequently, because the users or consumers of websites are constantly subjected to the ideologies that are deeply encoded within that given interface, and because such influences often go unnoticed on the Internet, such forces succeed in removing the agency that one has in their interactions. There is no public space on the web, and the web has never had any public space; it is “…a social space completely controlled and privately owned” (Mushon 17). But in Interface as a Conflict of Ideologies, Mushon advocates that we work to gain this agency that, in terms of user-interface online, we never had.
As clearly demonstrated in the ShiftSpace.org video, there certainly exists ways in which people can begin to challenge interfaces despite the restrictions imposed by site owners. For example, Mushon mentions the potential shown by a field of research known as Metaweb, which “stands for web applications and platforms that attempt to expand the interactive features offered by webpages” (21). But in more general terms, he names two strategies we can begin and continue to explore to retrieve user agency in the interface.
The first is known as tactical media (i.e. hacking), which embraces a “hit-and run” use of media where one seeks “not to refrain from engagement with systems, but rather the opposite - extend it” (Mushon 23). And the second is strategic media, which practices a “hit-and-stay” method that unlike tactical media, requires one to take responsibility for his or her actions and demonstrate patience and leadership within that culture. And it is with the use of tactical and strategic media that Mushon sees the possibility “to oppose the logistic media of global power” and attempt to subvert the inherent conflict in interface (Mushon 30).
Scrabulous as A ‘cult’
Blogging on Wordpress 2.5 (-5 teeth)
Things are looking slicker (but probably less familiar) in the backend. Wordpress came up with a new version (which I LOVE!) (I hope you do to). Here’s a screencast that might help you adjust:
*Please don’t use the gallery feature in your posts, what we have (with the lightbox effect) is better.
interface conflicts
In “interface conflicts” Mushon explain the importance of interface in an individual’s path to understanding mediated information.  He argues that User Interface in one form or another, has always existed as layer of mediation in communication, and with the advent of graphical computer software, (and primarily web based tools) has become a vital layer in facilitating how a user (or consumer) constructs his/her understanding of the respective space.
Through looking at Stuart Hall’s “Encoding/Decoding Model,”  Mushon explains how the interfaces on websites and web tools directly effect a user’s conception of identity, and ownership online.  In many ways, interface can be also seen as similar to context.  One example he gives is when the Los Angeles Times tried to add a wiki-style editorial to its website, a la wikipedia.  However, with in a few days of starting the rampant amount of vandalism on the proprietary site forced the times to end the experiment.  Contrasted to wikipedia,  which is actively monitored by thousands of users  for the “good of the commons.”  Without this context of shared ownership (as the Times would have retained all rights to any created content) the wiki platform was unable to keep itself bound together.With this idea in mind, the question remains as to how we as users of the internet will see a positive change in progressing user interface in order to create context outside of conglomerated control in order to benefit individuals. In attempting “to find more open models on the web” Mushon sees three primary ways to “intervene” on the web.
There are two primary methods he sees:
I: Tactical Media
II: Strategic Media
Tactical Media includes “hit and run” types of power subversion, such as Google Bombing, Hacking (both as a technological and non-technological act of repurposing) and singular events that subvert control through interface.
Strategic Media focuses on “hit and stay” modes of intervention, such as Greasemonkey, a feature (For Firefox, Safari, and Opera web browsers (under different names)) which allows a user to change the html of a webpage to make it more usable and more powerful. These scripts are based on javascript, a basic and unversal code for the web which are in tern easily customizable, which means that there are tons of hacks one can try for their favorite websites check: www.userscripts.org
Both of these processes for intervention give users power to take interface control back and place the power in the hands of the web viewers, rather than web servers.
Ultimately, Mushon concludes his paper, saying,
“I see the web our main interface to globalization….new ideas are developing from global interconnectivity, from the free culture and the open source movements and from hacker culture. These new ideologies are developed from the bottom up - from communities sharing mutual goals rather than those in powers defining an arbitrary abstract public. This new action demands a renewed social dependency, openness, creativity, leadership and trust.  The power balance of interface can be reconsidered. It is time for us to sit down and rewrite our rules of engagement.
Also, in an aesthetic mode of interface, Mushon included no tabs in his document 
fresh content.
I’ve been observing 4chan.org for the past few weeks and due to our assignment (an intervention of some sort) - I decided to post (anonymously) an image to the board. I had to make a few decisions: a) which board I wanted to post to b) what I would post to receive some response.
After observing the /b/ random board, I was way too intimidated especially because I am new to the site and a lot of people could pinpoint and were relentless to the newbies. There are a lot of threats on those posts of computer hacking, etc - which I didn’t know whether to take seriously or not so I decided to go to a different topic board.
My friend showed me this site a week or two ago, and I thought I would post an image from there. It’s basically a tumblr site someone created where they would remove Garfield out of the Garfield cartoon.
Posting my Political Video on Youtube
It was a long and arduous process, but I learned a lot from my first experience creating a video and then uploading it on to youtube… Take a look at my piece of art:
Rating System
With all the lolcats I’ve been looking at and with the discussion of rating systems during class. I saw this rating system on the tv carnage website. Pretty cute, if you ask me. It’s not too late for the kitten ratings, you guys. I’m only half-kidding.
http://www.streetbonersandtvcarnage.com/
something silly. nothing academic here
have you ever thought of trying to rip off insurance companies? check this out. just remember that next time you smoke, you could be sued for arson. to read it, just click on the article until it gets big enough to actually read
Brief: Interventions & Interfaces
Hi Class,
We discussed a bit of it today, but we’ll be diving deeper into interface next week with an article by… me. We will also make some more progress on the travelogue and start raising the pace of it towards its conclusion in three weeks.
The coming week is the intervention week, we want to get the full documentation of your action now:
- If you haven’t started your intervention, post about your plan, your objectives and your expectations.
- Try to document your intervention as much as you can. Use links, images, audio, video, screenshots, screencasts. This time, it’s not going meta on that other media environment. This time you’ll be documenting your own travel in the context of that environment–In that sense, you are stepping in front of the camera.
Recommended Reading:
- Mushon Zer-Aviv, “Interface as a Conflict of Ideologiesâ€
Required watching:
For Kati & Max:
- Read the article and watch the introduction
- Summarize it for us in a nicely accessible post to be published by Sunday (the 23rd), ideally running some threads between them.
- Be prepared to present the article and lead the discussion in class
- Post to del.icio.us some links that expand the discussion either about the text or about key themes in it.
Clay Shirky Sheds Light on a WikiWorld
Shirky in his article writes
human life always exists in tension between our individual and group identities, inseparable and incommensurable. For ten years now, it’s been apparent that the rise of the digital was providing enormous new powers for the individual
This doctrine can be adapted to my third travelogue, the Agarwalla brothers who invented scrabulous were garnered individual power based on digital means; they then created a community based on that freedom of individuality to create such a program. I feel as if Wikipedia offers the same rewards and freedoms. Here individuals are able to share information that is then distributed to a larger community. However, here the problem lies with accredited information and research. Rushkoff’s points out that we are not overthrowing the elite but replacing it. It is a celebrated form of individualism that should be focused not solely on context but content as well. Meaning try and understand where the information is coming from and how it is being brought to you the active participant. Most importantly I believe we all need to take Wikipedia with a grain of salt. Most professors disapprove the works of Wikipedia as research, however, in my experience it has served as satisfying starting point on any subject one can think of. My friend and I always joke about the future of Wikipedia, we believe one day there will be a wikipedia page about every person on the world. who know….
