Sunday, December 15, 2013
FINAL EXAM
Our FINAL EXAMINATION is on Tuesday, December 17th, 7:00-10:00PM
• YOU MUST BRING YOUR STUDENT ID CARD (OR PHOTO ID) TO THE EXAM
• It will have some multiple choice, some "fill in the blank," some essay answer.
• You will NOT need a blue (examination) book.
• Please bring a pen only.
• The exam will only take around 90-120 minutes.
[Not all of these materials will be on the exam, but if you have a fair understanding of the below materials, you should do fine on the exam. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO DO ALL OF THE READINGS ASSIGNED TO DATE]
Innovation • Diffusion • the "Software" and "Hardware" components of technologies • a "Technology Cluster" (think: "bow and arrow" or "DVD and DVD player") • Adopter Categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards • Diffusion across a social structure is unlikely to be uniform • Opinion Leader • the Attributes which Increase Adoption: Relative Advantage, Complexity, Trialability, Observability, Compatibility, Adaptability • Defining "Technology": "A system created by humans that uses knowledge and organization to produce objects and techniques for the attainment of specific goals" • technologies can be perceived as systems, requiring organization, resources, and other technologies • technologies do not always respond to existing needs, but can generate new needs • the goals achieved by a technology do not have to be practical nor beneficial • technological advancement does not necessarily generate social advancement • the stage of "scaling up" - bringing an invention from the point of discovery to mass marketing and production • often a technology comes into adoption because related (supporting) technologies are now available • often significant refining changes in a new technology take place during the "scaling up" process - when the technology is perceived as usable and marketable • The Innovation-Decision Process: Knowledge > Persuasion > Decision > Implementation > Confirmation • Knowledge - sometimes the awareness of the need or problem does not come first, but instead the innovation is discovered and then applied to a problem/need • "Preventative Innovations" - usually adopted at a slower rate, because their benefits are not usually visible in a short time • Social Construction of Technology - That technology is the product of a society and its needs and that it is shaped by social factors • Technological Determinism - That technology shapes the society, that technology influences and causes changes in a society • the differences between Darwinian Evolution (biological) and Lamarckian Evolution (man-made materials): "Natural Selection" vs. "Artificial Selection" • "Selective Regimes" the pressures upon a technology (or organism) which dictate how "fit" or "adapted" it is - humans determine many of the selective regimes of technologies • the range of "generalist" to "specialist" technologies • the levels of human social complexity: band, tribe, chiefdom, and state and their differences • the greatest changes - from "tribe" to "chiefdom" • the significant advantages of "craft specialization" (over no specialization) • why economy is necessary when craft specialization exists • how social ranking and stratigraphy is generated by craft specialization and economy • "Dunbar's Number" - the proposed psychological limit for "strong" relationships, and how it can affect social relationships in populations over ~150 (the presence of "strangers") • "clan" systems as a mechanism for generating social bonds in large populations where "strangers" exist • Selective Exposure - individuals expose themselves to materials which are in accord with their views and needs • Selective Perception - individuals often ignore materials which are not relevant to their views, needs, or interests. • 3 Types of Knowledge: Awareness Knowledge - knowing that the innovation exists; How-To Knowledge - knowing how to operate the innovation (more complex than awareness knowledge); Principles Knowledge - knowing the underlying mechanics or principles of the innovation (rarely needed to adopt or operate an innovation, usually the most complex of the three types) • "Early Knowers vs. Late Knowers" - Early Knowers (when compared to Late Knowers) have a higher education, are more cosmopolite, have more interpersonal communication channels, and participate more • Mass Media Channels - reach large audiences rapidly, creates knowledge, can change weak attitudes, relied upon more heavily by early adopters. • Interpersonal Channels - allows 2-way communication (feedback and questions), more effective at changing strong attitudes, and more important in the "persuasion" stage of adoption. • Cosmopolite Communication Channels - more important at the knowledge stage, more important for earlier adopters • Localite Communication Channels - more important for the Innovation-Decision process overall (adoption) and more important at the Persuasion stage specifically. • Early Adopters/Early Majority take less time from Knowledge to Adoption than Late Majority and Laggards do • The 1998 MMR Vaccine Scandal - Andrew Wakefield (et al.) published a study linking the MMR vaccine to autism, proposing that the vaccine weakened the intestinal lining which permitted unidentified materials to enter the bloodstream which affected the developing brain (later adding that the mercury-based preservatives may contribute to this process, and also that the combined effect of three simultaneous vaccines overwhelmed the immune system, enabling this process); Wakefiled was found to have falsified his results, omitting certain materials, and that his study was shaped and directed by law team interested in advancing a suit against vaccine manufacturers • The results of Wakefiled's panic - a number of people decided to forego the preventative innovation (vaccinations), now many populations are below the "herd immunity" levels for common (yet preventable diseases), thus we are now seeing the results: large outbreaks of measles, mumps, etc. among populations with insufficient percentages of vaccinated members • Why did the spread of the idea and practice of not getting vaccinated spread more rapidly and more thoroughly than the idea and practice that the MMR vaccine scare is illegitimate and that being unvaccinated is dangerous and that one should resume the practice of vaccinations? • Two Significant Landmarks in Technological Progress: Social Complexity and Rationality: Societies which are below a certain level of social complexity do not technologically progress beyond a certain point due to lack of specialists in their society (scientists, researchers, etc.); Societies which lack a rational general ideology can have limited technological progress because they lack a systematic way to recognize, analyze, and solve problems - they lack the fundamental methods of science which allow developers to effectively address problems, and to even recognize problems • Social Construction of Technology - That technology is the product of a society and its needs and that it is shaped by social factors • Technological Determinism - That technology shapes the society, that technology influences and causes changes in a society • Robots, unlike most technologies, are an extension of human will/ability • Swarm Robots: primitive social interaction, altruism, and deception (early models of robot-robot social interaction) • Masahiro Mori's "Uncanny Valley" and the obstacles it poses in the development of human-robot social interaction • Robots in the Combat Arena: they don't represent human life, can be designed to not fatigue, improved performance, lack of moral/psychological trauma • the ethical fears about the design of the EATR robot • The "Turing Test" - a test to determine if artificial intelligence "understands" conversation, or simply learns to jumble around terms • The "Frankenstein Complex" - the fear of being dominated by our own (robotic) creations • Human Obsolescence in the workplace - robots replacing "de-skilled" human labor • The Luddite Fallacy and Robots - unlike other "labor-saving technologies," robots are often designed to replace the human worker, rather than amplify human labor
Friday, October 25, 2013
ASSIGNMENT #3: BIRTH RATE and IDEOLOGY
• The Papal Encyclical called the Casti Connubii (Pope Pius XI) expressed Catholic prohibition against artificial birth control in 1930.
• The Papal Encyclical Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI) re-affirmed the general position that artificial birth control is prohibited among practitioners of Catholicism, in 1968.
• One might make a reasonable assumption that nations with large Catholic populations would have birth rates which reflect an absence of birth control measures (less birth control = higher birth rate). And likewise, nations which do not have a significant population that is prohibited from using artificial birth control measures would have lower birth rates (more birth control = lower birth rate).
• YOUR ASSIGNMENT: To examine the validity of the above assumptions, your assignment is to collect statistical data for 6 nations which have a high percentage of Catholic citizens (65% or more): look at their birth rates, and perhaps investigate infant mortality rates, average lifespan, average income, average education level (anything that you suspect may have a significant influence on birth rate) . . . does a high percentage of Catholicism actually have a correlation with a high birth rate or are there other variables (such as infant mortality, poverty levels) that appear to correlate more closely with birth rates than religious belief? In class, we looked at some statistics from Mexico, Spain, and Italy. You are welcome to use these three nations in your study (as 3 of the 6 nations you examine).
• Use the online CIA World Factbook as your source for data (though you can certainly use other resources if you want): it is easy to use, the pull-down menu allows you to select a nation, and the statistics are organized by groupings such as "People and Society," etc.
• OUTGROUP: you also need to collect data of 3 other nations (3 additional nations to the 6 that you will examine = 9 nations total) which do not have a notable Catholic population (less than 5%) and who also do NOT have a population practicing a religion or ideology which may have prohibitions (for or) against birth control (for example: China has undertaken a population control program for several decades, limiting the population birth rate - this would not be a good example to use, given that their birth rate is strongly affected by this national program).
• On your team blog, each student must post the results of her/his research: which nations did you look at, what statistics are you using for your analysis, the statistics themselves, and what are your conclusions? Does Catholic prohibition really have an influence on birth control use (reflected in a high birth rate) or do other factors appear to play a greater role in birth rate (poverty, education, infant mortality rate, short average lifespan, etc.)? Though there is a technologically conservative prohibition against birth control among Catholic populations, does this prohibition really exist in behavior?
• To receive full credit, your analysis and conclusions need to be CLEARLY EXPLAINED, and justified by the data. You can present your data in list form with a text explaining your conclusions, or simply include the data in the text of your analysis.
• THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ON YOUR TEAM WEBSITE BY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1st.
• The Papal Encyclical Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI) re-affirmed the general position that artificial birth control is prohibited among practitioners of Catholicism, in 1968.
• One might make a reasonable assumption that nations with large Catholic populations would have birth rates which reflect an absence of birth control measures (less birth control = higher birth rate). And likewise, nations which do not have a significant population that is prohibited from using artificial birth control measures would have lower birth rates (more birth control = lower birth rate).
• YOUR ASSIGNMENT: To examine the validity of the above assumptions, your assignment is to collect statistical data for 6 nations which have a high percentage of Catholic citizens (65% or more): look at their birth rates, and perhaps investigate infant mortality rates, average lifespan, average income, average education level (anything that you suspect may have a significant influence on birth rate) . . . does a high percentage of Catholicism actually have a correlation with a high birth rate or are there other variables (such as infant mortality, poverty levels) that appear to correlate more closely with birth rates than religious belief? In class, we looked at some statistics from Mexico, Spain, and Italy. You are welcome to use these three nations in your study (as 3 of the 6 nations you examine).
• Use the online CIA World Factbook as your source for data (though you can certainly use other resources if you want): it is easy to use, the pull-down menu allows you to select a nation, and the statistics are organized by groupings such as "People and Society," etc.
• OUTGROUP: you also need to collect data of 3 other nations (3 additional nations to the 6 that you will examine = 9 nations total) which do not have a notable Catholic population (less than 5%) and who also do NOT have a population practicing a religion or ideology which may have prohibitions (for or) against birth control (for example: China has undertaken a population control program for several decades, limiting the population birth rate - this would not be a good example to use, given that their birth rate is strongly affected by this national program).
• On your team blog, each student must post the results of her/his research: which nations did you look at, what statistics are you using for your analysis, the statistics themselves, and what are your conclusions? Does Catholic prohibition really have an influence on birth control use (reflected in a high birth rate) or do other factors appear to play a greater role in birth rate (poverty, education, infant mortality rate, short average lifespan, etc.)? Though there is a technologically conservative prohibition against birth control among Catholic populations, does this prohibition really exist in behavior?
• To receive full credit, your analysis and conclusions need to be CLEARLY EXPLAINED, and justified by the data. You can present your data in list form with a text explaining your conclusions, or simply include the data in the text of your analysis.
• THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST BE ON YOUR TEAM WEBSITE BY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1st.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
MIDTERM INFORMATION AND STUDY GUIDE
Our midterm exam is on Wed, Oct 16th.
• YOU MUST BRING YOUR STUDENT ID CARD (OR PHOTO ID) TO THE EXAM
• It will have some multiple choice, some "fill in the blank," some essay answer.
• You will NOT need a blue (examination) book.
• Please bring a pen only.
• The exam will only take around 90-120 minutes.
STUDY GUIDE: HERE ARE SIGNIFICANT MATERIALS FROM THE LECTURES WHICH EXAM QUESTIONS MAY ADDRESS:
[Not all of these materials will be on the exam, but if you have a fair understanding of the below materials, you should do fine on the exam. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO DO ALL OF THE READINGS ASSIGNED TO DATE]
Innovation • Diffusion • the "Software" and "Hardware" components of technologies • a "Technology Cluster" (think: "bow and arrow" or "DVD and DVD player") • Adopter Categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards • Diffusion across a social structure is unlikely to be uniform • Opinion Leader • the Attributes which Increase Adoption: Relative Advantage, Complexity, Trialability, Observability, Compatibility, Adaptability • Defining "Technology": "A system created by humans that uses knowledge and organization to produce objects and techniques for the attainment of specific goals" • technologies can be perceived as systems, requiring organization, resources, and other technologies • technologies do not always respond to existing needs, but can generate new needs • the goals achieved by a technology do not have to be practical nor beneficial • technological advancement does not necessarily generate social advancement • the stage of "scaling up" - bringing an invention from the point of discovery to mass marketing and production • often a technology comes into adoption because related (supporting) technologies are now available • often significant refining changes in a new technology take place during the "scaling up" process - when the technology is perceived as usable and marketable • The Innovation-Decision Process: Knowledge > Persuasion > Decision > Implementation > Confirmation • Knowledge - sometimes the awareness of the need or problem does not come first, but instead the innovation is discovered and then applied to a problem/need • "Preventative Innovations" - usually adopted at a slower rate, because their benefits are not usually visible in a short time • Social Construction of Technology - That technology is the product of a society and its needs and that it is shaped by social factors • Technological Determinism - That technology shapes the society, that technology influences and causes changes in a society • the differences between Darwinian Evolution (biological) and Lamarckian Evolution (man-made materials): "Natural Selection" vs. "Artificial Selection" • "Selective Regimes" the pressures upon a technology (or organism) which dictate how "fit" or "adapted" it is - humans determine many of the selective regimes of technologies • the range of "generalist" to "specialist" technologies • the levels of human social complexity: band, tribe, chiefdom, and state and their differences • the greatest changes - from "tribe" to "chiefdom" • the significant advantages of "craft specialization" (over no specialization) • why economy is necessary when craft specialization exists • how social ranking and stratigraphy is generated by craft specialization and economy • "Dunbar's Number" - the proposed psychological limit for "strong" relationships, and how it can affect social relationships in populations over ~150 (the presence of "strangers") • "clan" systems as a mechanism for generating social bonds in large populations where "strangers" exist • Selective Exposure - individuals expose themselves to materials which are in accord with their views and needs • Selective Perception - individuals often ignore materials which are not relevant to their views, needs, or interests. • 3 Types of Knowledge: Awareness Knowledge - knowing that the innovation exists; How-To Knowledge - knowing how to operate the innovation (more complex than awareness knowledge); Principles Knowledge - knowing the underlying mechanics or principles of the innovation (rarely needed to adopt or operate an innovation, usually the most complex of the three types) • "Early Knowers vs. Late Knowers" - Early Knowers (when compared to Late Knowers) have a higher education, are more cosmopolite, have more interpersonal communication channels, and participate more • Mass Media Channels - reach large audiences rapidly, creates knowledge, can change weak attitudes, relied upon more heavily by early adopters. • Interpersonal Channels - allows 2-way communication (feedback and questions), more effective at changing strong attitudes, and more important in the "persuasion" stage of adoption. • Cosmopolite Communication Channels - more important at the knowledge stage, more important for earlier adopters • Localite Communication Channels - more important for the Innovation-Decision process overall (adoption) and more important at the Persuasion stage specifically. • Early Adopters/Early Majority take less time from Knowledge to Adoption than Late Majority and Laggards do • The 1998 MMR Vaccine Scandal - Andrew Wakefield (et al.) published a study linking the MMR vaccine to autism, proposing that the vaccine weakened the intestinal lining which permitted unidentified materials to enter the bloodstream which affected the developing brain (later adding that the mercury-based preservatives may contribute to this process, and also that the combined effect of three simultaneous vaccines overwhelmed the immune system, enabling this process); Wakefiled was found to have falsified his results, omitting certain materials, and that his study was shaped and directed by law team interested in advancing a suit against vaccine manufacturers • The results of Wakefiled's panic - a number of people decided to forego the preventative innovation (vaccinations), now many populations are below the "herd immunity" levels for common (yet preventable diseases), thus we are now seeing the results: large outbreaks of measles, mumps, etc. among populations with insufficient percentages of vaccinated members • Why did the spread of the idea and practice of not getting vaccinated spread more rapidly and more thoroughly than the idea and practice that the MMR vaccine scare is illegitimate and that being unvaccinated is dangerous and that one should resume the practice of vaccinations? • Two Significant Landmarks in Technological Progress: Social Complexity and Rationality: Societies which are below a certain level of social complexity do not technologically progress beyond a certain point due to lack of specialists in their society (scientists, researchers, etc.); Societies which lack a rational general ideology can have limited technological progress because they lack a systematic way to recognize, analyze, and solve problems - they lack the fundamental methods of science which allow developers to effectively address problems, and to even recognize problems.
• YOU MUST BRING YOUR STUDENT ID CARD (OR PHOTO ID) TO THE EXAM
• It will have some multiple choice, some "fill in the blank," some essay answer.
• You will NOT need a blue (examination) book.
• Please bring a pen only.
• The exam will only take around 90-120 minutes.
STUDY GUIDE: HERE ARE SIGNIFICANT MATERIALS FROM THE LECTURES WHICH EXAM QUESTIONS MAY ADDRESS:
[Not all of these materials will be on the exam, but if you have a fair understanding of the below materials, you should do fine on the exam. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO DO ALL OF THE READINGS ASSIGNED TO DATE]
Innovation • Diffusion • the "Software" and "Hardware" components of technologies • a "Technology Cluster" (think: "bow and arrow" or "DVD and DVD player") • Adopter Categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards • Diffusion across a social structure is unlikely to be uniform • Opinion Leader • the Attributes which Increase Adoption: Relative Advantage, Complexity, Trialability, Observability, Compatibility, Adaptability • Defining "Technology": "A system created by humans that uses knowledge and organization to produce objects and techniques for the attainment of specific goals" • technologies can be perceived as systems, requiring organization, resources, and other technologies • technologies do not always respond to existing needs, but can generate new needs • the goals achieved by a technology do not have to be practical nor beneficial • technological advancement does not necessarily generate social advancement • the stage of "scaling up" - bringing an invention from the point of discovery to mass marketing and production • often a technology comes into adoption because related (supporting) technologies are now available • often significant refining changes in a new technology take place during the "scaling up" process - when the technology is perceived as usable and marketable • The Innovation-Decision Process: Knowledge > Persuasion > Decision > Implementation > Confirmation • Knowledge - sometimes the awareness of the need or problem does not come first, but instead the innovation is discovered and then applied to a problem/need • "Preventative Innovations" - usually adopted at a slower rate, because their benefits are not usually visible in a short time • Social Construction of Technology - That technology is the product of a society and its needs and that it is shaped by social factors • Technological Determinism - That technology shapes the society, that technology influences and causes changes in a society • the differences between Darwinian Evolution (biological) and Lamarckian Evolution (man-made materials): "Natural Selection" vs. "Artificial Selection" • "Selective Regimes" the pressures upon a technology (or organism) which dictate how "fit" or "adapted" it is - humans determine many of the selective regimes of technologies • the range of "generalist" to "specialist" technologies • the levels of human social complexity: band, tribe, chiefdom, and state and their differences • the greatest changes - from "tribe" to "chiefdom" • the significant advantages of "craft specialization" (over no specialization) • why economy is necessary when craft specialization exists • how social ranking and stratigraphy is generated by craft specialization and economy • "Dunbar's Number" - the proposed psychological limit for "strong" relationships, and how it can affect social relationships in populations over ~150 (the presence of "strangers") • "clan" systems as a mechanism for generating social bonds in large populations where "strangers" exist • Selective Exposure - individuals expose themselves to materials which are in accord with their views and needs • Selective Perception - individuals often ignore materials which are not relevant to their views, needs, or interests. • 3 Types of Knowledge: Awareness Knowledge - knowing that the innovation exists; How-To Knowledge - knowing how to operate the innovation (more complex than awareness knowledge); Principles Knowledge - knowing the underlying mechanics or principles of the innovation (rarely needed to adopt or operate an innovation, usually the most complex of the three types) • "Early Knowers vs. Late Knowers" - Early Knowers (when compared to Late Knowers) have a higher education, are more cosmopolite, have more interpersonal communication channels, and participate more • Mass Media Channels - reach large audiences rapidly, creates knowledge, can change weak attitudes, relied upon more heavily by early adopters. • Interpersonal Channels - allows 2-way communication (feedback and questions), more effective at changing strong attitudes, and more important in the "persuasion" stage of adoption. • Cosmopolite Communication Channels - more important at the knowledge stage, more important for earlier adopters • Localite Communication Channels - more important for the Innovation-Decision process overall (adoption) and more important at the Persuasion stage specifically. • Early Adopters/Early Majority take less time from Knowledge to Adoption than Late Majority and Laggards do • The 1998 MMR Vaccine Scandal - Andrew Wakefield (et al.) published a study linking the MMR vaccine to autism, proposing that the vaccine weakened the intestinal lining which permitted unidentified materials to enter the bloodstream which affected the developing brain (later adding that the mercury-based preservatives may contribute to this process, and also that the combined effect of three simultaneous vaccines overwhelmed the immune system, enabling this process); Wakefiled was found to have falsified his results, omitting certain materials, and that his study was shaped and directed by law team interested in advancing a suit against vaccine manufacturers • The results of Wakefiled's panic - a number of people decided to forego the preventative innovation (vaccinations), now many populations are below the "herd immunity" levels for common (yet preventable diseases), thus we are now seeing the results: large outbreaks of measles, mumps, etc. among populations with insufficient percentages of vaccinated members • Why did the spread of the idea and practice of not getting vaccinated spread more rapidly and more thoroughly than the idea and practice that the MMR vaccine scare is illegitimate and that being unvaccinated is dangerous and that one should resume the practice of vaccinations? • Two Significant Landmarks in Technological Progress: Social Complexity and Rationality: Societies which are below a certain level of social complexity do not technologically progress beyond a certain point due to lack of specialists in their society (scientists, researchers, etc.); Societies which lack a rational general ideology can have limited technological progress because they lack a systematic way to recognize, analyze, and solve problems - they lack the fundamental methods of science which allow developers to effectively address problems, and to even recognize problems.
Friday, September 27, 2013
ASSIGNMENT #2: WILL IT BE ADOPTED?
YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
• Find a new product and write a brief analysis/evaluation of this product - provide an explanation of why or why not this product/technology will be adopted (or not), and if it will be adopted slowly or quickly. Explain why in terms of RELATIVE ADVANTAGE, COMPATIBILITY, ADAPTABILITY (RE-INVENTABILITY), and OBSERVABILITY.
• Please provide an image of the technology/product you are analyzing and provide a link to a site where it can be found.
• Please offer a detailed description of the technology/product you have selected. Simply writing statements like "I think this product has good chance of being adopted" will guarantee no credit on the assignment - make an effort to really think about the technology/product and what about it will ensure that it will be adopted or not.
• Find design errors, and even feel free to suggest improvements which will increase its change of adoption.
• Have fun.
• SOME HELP: If you're looking for good "state-of-the-art" materials, here are a few good sites to point you in the right direction
* Notcot.org
* ThinkGeek
* JapanTrendShop
* BoingBoing.net
Monday, April 29, 2013
"MAKER CULTURE," "GREEN TECHNOLOGY" AND "UPCYCLING"
• Theo Jansen's biomechanical creations:
• The "Make Magazine" blog: LINK
• Dale Dougherty (Maker Faire founder), talking about the Maker Faire:
• Sugru.com's "Fixer's Manifesto": LINK.
• A vehicle powered by an electric screwdriver: LINK.
• Behold, the "jet motorcycle":
• Minivan + Helicopter Turbine Engine:
• The "Riot Wheel":
• When a beach is used as a landfill for several decades (Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, CA)
[image credit: Meganpru/flickr]
• The eWaste recycling industry in China's "Guiyu Town" (Guangdong Province): LINK
• "Stop Me" music video (Planet Funk), filmed in Guiyu Town:
• Finding ways to make products with simpler, more "environmentally friendly" materials; Nicolas leMoigne's concrete stools: LINK.
• The IKEA cardboard digital camera.
• The IKEA cardboard digital camera.
• Upcycling.co.uk
• The "Metrodeck" playing cards made of up cycled New York Metro cards.
• A nice example of an "upcycling/maker" project: making a wi-fi amplifier with a soft drink can: LINK.
• Upcycling: The "Re-Ply Chair":
• New York artist "Swoon" and her associates created floating artworks composed of salvaged urban materials: LINK.
• Stephen Glassman's "Urban Air" Project:
• Designs for the "greening" of areas of New York City: LINK
WEB 3.0 and NEW NEW MEDIA
AUGMENTED REALITY
Moosejaw X-Ray App from Gary Wohlfeill on Vimeo.
AUGMENTED REALITY TOUCH INTERFACE
TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE (YOU CAN USE PAPER) [DigInfo LINK]
AUGMENTED REALITY "OBJECTS"
AUGMENTED REALITY BUSINESS CARD
Hewlett-Packard develops a "glasses free" holographic display [LINK].
GOOGLE'S "PROJECT GLASS"
"TRANSCENDENZ" - A fictional film by Michaël Harboun
Transcendenz from Michaël Harboun on Vimeo.
THE LYTRO "PLENOPTIC" CAMERA
Start here. Get to know the basics. from Lytro on Vimeo.
TUPAC "HOLOGRAPHIC" PERFORMANCE
HATSUNE MIKU "HOLOGRAPHIC" CONCERT
Interview with Autodesk (3-D printer company) CEO Carl Bass [LINK]
The OMOTE 3D "Photobooth"
3D PRINTING
THE 3D PRINTSHOW, LONDON 2012
Researchers at Heriot-Watt University develop a stem cell 3-D printer to "print" living tissues [LINK].
In the United States, many regulated firearms merely have certain components regulated. With 3-D printing technology, people are already printing the regulated parts, enabling them to possess and produce (un)regulated firearms: PopSci articles on the company "Defense Distributed" which is offering the 3-D data for controlled firearms components [LINK].
3D printing handcuff keys [LINK].
Moosejaw X-Ray App from Gary Wohlfeill on Vimeo.
AUGMENTED REALITY TOUCH INTERFACE
TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE (YOU CAN USE PAPER) [DigInfo LINK]
AUGMENTED REALITY "OBJECTS"
AUGMENTED REALITY BUSINESS CARD
Hewlett-Packard develops a "glasses free" holographic display [LINK].
GOOGLE'S "PROJECT GLASS"
"TRANSCENDENZ" - A fictional film by Michaël Harboun
Transcendenz from Michaël Harboun on Vimeo.
THE LYTRO "PLENOPTIC" CAMERA
Start here. Get to know the basics. from Lytro on Vimeo.
TUPAC "HOLOGRAPHIC" PERFORMANCE
HATSUNE MIKU "HOLOGRAPHIC" CONCERT
Interview with Autodesk (3-D printer company) CEO Carl Bass [LINK]
The OMOTE 3D "Photobooth"
3D PRINTING
THE 3D PRINTSHOW, LONDON 2012
Researchers at Heriot-Watt University develop a stem cell 3-D printer to "print" living tissues [LINK].
In the United States, many regulated firearms merely have certain components regulated. With 3-D printing technology, people are already printing the regulated parts, enabling them to possess and produce (un)regulated firearms: PopSci articles on the company "Defense Distributed" which is offering the 3-D data for controlled firearms components [LINK].
3D printing handcuff keys [LINK].
Thursday, September 6, 2012
ASSIGNMENT #1 - ESSENTIAL TECHNOLOGIES
YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT:
• A close friend of your who works for the Center for Disease Control has contacted you in secret: she informs you that a "Zombie Virus" has emerged in South America and will arrive in the Bay Area within less than 2 weeks. The general public does not yet know this. Your friend tells you that their predictions indicate that this plague will spread across the globe and will "burn itself out" within a year.
• You have less than 1 week to prepare: You only have U.S. $1,500.00 on a credit card. You will remain in the urban wastes of the Bay Area. You will need to buy supplies NOW.
• With a $1,500.00 budget, find online the supplies that you will need to survive for 1 year in the urban wasteland of the Bay Area.
• All supplies must be portable - you have to carry everything.
• You need to buy everything you will need - you cannot make assumptions about finding supplies.
• There will be no running water, no electricity, no phones, no Internet.
• AN EXCEPTION: you can raid grocery stores for food, toilet paper, and feminine hygiene products - you only need an emergency 3-day supply of food. You can purify found water (you will need to get a water purifier). You cannot get batteries at the grocery store - you have to consider how you will power electrical devices.
• ANOTHER NOTE: if you can find it for sale on the Internet, you can buy it - illegal items can be purchased, if purchasing them online can be done.
• The Zombies die within 4 weeks of infection (yet the pandemic is predicted to last a year); infection comes from bites and bodily fluids, however the virus does not survive in water sources. Zombies may attack you. They lack coordination to climb ladders, and they cannot think. They never sleep, they wander and eat.
• You must get supplies for shelter, cooking, and defense. You also need appropriate clothes. You also need to consider means to find and communicate with other possible survivors. You also need to consider medical problems for the next year.
• Defense: guns need bullets, machetes don't.
• You cannot include possessions that you already own - you have to buy everything new.
• Shipping costs do not need to be included in your budget.
• You will need tools to build shelters and defenses, yet you need to be prepared to move at any time.
• YOU CANNOT RELY UPON ANY FICTIONAL SCENARIOS: you can't make plans to live in a shopping mall, raid hardware stores, etc. You cannot predict what the next year holds.
• DUE SEPTEMBER 11th:
• STUDENTS MAY WORK IN TEAMS OF 2 (shared budget of $3,000.00/can share tents, etc.).
• EACH STUDENT NEEDS TO POST THEIR RESULTS (in the form of a single .jpeg image) ON THEIR TEAM WEBSITE.
• YOU WILL CREATE AN ORGANIZED COLLECTION OF PRODUCT IMAGES, LABELED WITH PRODUCT NAMES, MODELS, AND PRICES.
• COMPUTE AND LIST YOUR TOTAL COST.
• YOU CAN USE "GOOGLE SHOPPING" PRICES.
• YOUR FULL NAME MUST BE ON YOUR ASSIGNMENT.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)