Virtual Communities at OCAD

Memory Architecture Project

2007-12-20T12:41:00.001-05:00

Hi guys,
Sorry I couldn't attend, I was bed-ridden for a most of the week.

Anyway I wish you all a safe and happy holiday, and best wishes for the upcoming new year and new years to come.

Andrew.

photos from last critique

2007-12-14T00:31:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry, but I only have three pix; nevertheless,
it is worthwhile to see, and if you have pix, please post. :)

Jill

Michelle

Fiona

~Bryn

Grounding Space

2007-12-12T09:52:00.000-05:00

The final concept for the memory architecture project that I created is to design a space where patients at Baycrest, as well as general visitors to the space can rest and re-group their thoughts. The current location of the "Grounding Space" is at Art Metropole on the second floor of the building.

Through research into memory loss, I found that there is a positive correlation between cognitive memory loss and anxiety. When people forget the tasks that they had planned to do, anxiety increases because the person feels overwhelmed with the fact that they do not know what they have to do, and where they need to go, therefore feeling like they are "floating" out of their body and disconnected to the present reality. This is also known as dissociation. In order to cope, or to feel re-connected to present reality, it is helpful to practice grounding techniques, in a safe place like the "Grounding Space" in Second Life.

Some grounding techniques include: (from http://www.mosaicminds.org/safe-ground-new.shtml#list)

Breathe - slow and deep, like blowing up a balloon.
Take your shoes off and rub your feet on the ground.
Open your eyes and look around. See you are in a different place than then.
Move around. Feel your body. Stretch out your arms, hands, fingers.
Peel an orange or a lemon. Notice the smell. Take a bite. Focus on the taste.
Pet your cat, dog or rabbit.
Spray yourself with favorite perfume.
Eat ice cream! Or any favorite food. Pay attention to the taste.
Repeat "this is now, not then"
Go for a walk. Feel the sunshine (or rain, or snow!)
Count nice things.
Dig in the dirt in your garden.
Turn lights on.
Play your favorite music.
Hug a tree!
Touch things around you.

This list comes from "mosaic mind," which is mainly trauma-focused, but it is also about being mindful. Many of the items on the list have practical applications on Second Life, like putting feet on the ground/or floor, playing music. Some of the sensory applications like smell and taste can be mimicked virtually on second life, and at the same time, the participant can actually practice the grounding in real life. I think "Grounding Space" should be a mobile project, so that it can be moved between islands on Second Life, or for other practitioners to be able to buy the project to use in their work with patients as well.

I have approached this project on an emotional level, but it also addresses issues of physicality of emotions and feeling whole in your space. I had some challenges creating my Avatar, but I am happy with the concept and will continue to build on the project. Next year, I plan on incorporating Second Life into my thesis to research and produce applications in Second Life for trauma patients and to create healing environments in Second Life where the patients can create art as a form of therapy. This is also my interest for Grad School, so I am looking forward to exploring the project further to support my portfolio and research presentation at Concordia for the Art Therapy program.

Lev's Final: Instant Life In Second Life

2007-12-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

Click on the title to check out my blog. Have fun.

Goldie the Memory Avatar

2007-12-12T09:34:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately I was able to build my recreational room in SL I couldn't get the program to run long to build anything. This was extremely fustrating because I tried with my mac and my pc and neither were strong enough to run the program. I hoping to try later in the week when my projects are done because I found some interesting things that I would like to try out.

Anyways my memory avatar is based on my Grandmother who as you know has alzheimer's. The prototype of her family room and the function of it.
The tv actually serves as a memory bank for family events, social gatherings, vacations, personal experiences, and what I call "The Discovery Channel" which is a bank of pictures, videos, and descriptions of people in my Grandmother's life. On the memory avatar blog I created there is a more descriptive information about the use of the avatar from last class that I updated with the screen captures I created.

Even though I had a lot of difficulty with using SL, I found it useful on aiding me with my animation skills. I was able to build on how created three dimensional objects that were animated using scripts. I feel that this will help me understand flash and javascript actions a little more even though they're not exactly alike.

Created by Alicia Francis

Memento Machinima

2007-12-12T08:44:00.000-05:00

Although I was unable to actually film a machinima on my own for this week, I developed a website that deals with the concept of a machinima filming service for people with impaired memory.

I may have struggled a great deal in the development of this project, I feel that I learned a lot about the filming process without even getting to the filming point.

Do please check out the link attached to the title to see the website I developed.

To see examples of machinima, I reccomend checking out:

Four Eyed Monsters Machinima
Odessy Art Machinima
Second Life Media Page
Bells and Spurs: a full-length feature film from Second Life

To read more about filming machinima,see:

Making machinima in Second Life
The Second Life Wiki: Machinima

Ghazaleh's Memory Architecture: thesis growth

2007-12-12T01:03:00.000-05:00

Hi class,

I'm sorry I can't be there today, I'm out of town and I will be joining you on SL.

The objective of my thesis has been reflected in my virtual communities assignment and the avatar assignment. I have decided to update my architecture assignment with the new driving force of my approach to a networking site configured through a semester of "making connections":

measuring the potential evolution of an idea into actualization through collaboration

The avatar reflects the profiling component of my virtual community by framing identity (strengths, skills, accomplishments, education etc.) through fashion. The architecture is a reflection of the participation and collaboration component of my site which is what makes the site actually work.

It is about problem solving and collective intelligence to be the judge of effectiveness and impact of an idea into fruition based on user ratings.

So, here in Second Life I've created three cubicles:
-yellow is for idea
-pink is for method
-and green is for the problem
(no particular reason for the choice of colour)

This piece of architecture shows the type of activity that the users would be engaged in:

On one side you can go inside the cubicles and actually participate in the generated content. You are a part of making the site work, so you can contribute, critique and get inspired by other ideas, methods and problems - which all go in a cycle, by the way.

On the other side, all the content is generated and up for exposure and showcase. This reflects the type of audience that chooses not to participate and observe.

You can also just sit down and use the site as your source of media and get updated on what is happening based on your identified interests and preferences.

This concept works with memory because once you contribute, the content is tracked down by your profile and you will be able to identify yourself through your generated content and your contributed content to the network.

If you would like to know some more details, I have an earlier post describing my thesis and its growth.

My Memory Architecture

2007-12-12T01:01:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

For this part of the project, I was interested in looking at how Second Life could assist with the prospective memory of individuals suffering from memory loss. Prospective memory (in the words of Brian Richards) relates to carrying out an intended action at some specified future time i.e. attending a doctor’s appointments or work. By using technologies offered by Second life such as notecards, external linking, date and time scripts, mailboxes and alert systems, I created a memory architecture that essentially works like online calendar system. The way it is set up is that there is a mailbox for each day of the week. Family members, friends, co-workers can help individuals suffering from memory loss keep their appointments and schedules by dropping off notecards in the respective day of the week mailbox. An upright flag on the mailbox is an indicator that someone has dropped off a message for the user.

These notecards that are received can/ should contain information such as:
when the appointment is
where it is and with a link to the google map
who they are meeting with a link to a picture
why he/ she is meeting them
what he/ she will be doing there.

The text indicating the day of week above the mailbox serves as a reminder that only appointments of that particular day can be dropped in this particular box. Likewise, separating the mail according to each day of the week makes it mentally and visually more clear to the user what day the notecard is relevant for.

By using an interface (mailbox) that is familiar and carries many semantic connotations to the real world, I think that users may feel more comfortable interacting with this system. One of the biggest hurdles I found with Second Life was how hard it was to figure how the interface worked as it was very unlike that of …say the interface of a cellphone or email system. For people who may not understand what a notecard is, this memory architecture can help them look at notecards as letters that you receive in the mail.

Also attaching a familiar artifact to the memory architecture (in this case my starbucks cup) I thought would make it more recognizable and personal to the user. This directly addresses something Guy Proux mentioned in his lecture about patients being able to recognize the environments better when filled with artifacts that are personal to them or speak to an event in their early past that they are still able to vividly remember.

Actually, as a side note here…I found an awesome article by the New York Times about the topic of "Alzheimer and Architecture" where they were saying that “familiar objects helped patients find their own room better than name tags” . Click on the title to read full article. Worth your time!

Cheers
Fiona

Memories and the Art of Second life

2007-12-11T22:59:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

As you may all remember from my previous project, my mother created an avatar of how she remembered/perceived herself. I did this as she is in Montreal dealing with Cancer and I am here in Toronto, unable to be there for her.

To continue on this theme, I created a functioning scrabble game for her to play. Again, this is a way for her and I to connect online together. We have been playing scrabble together (in person) since I could spell.... she typically wins but I give her a good run for her money. This interaction reinforces our bond, and is a special moment between her and I. Since we are in separate cities, I wanted to provide her with a means to still play (or win) at scrabble with me. Additionally, she could also play it with others, if she pleases.

You will notice a blue orb right beside the scrabble board. The tiles are randomly generated and given to the avatars to a maximum of 7. It can also detect when u have 7 or not. This wasn't an easy feat of programming and I am quite proud that I managed to figure that one out! Its because of this orb that one doesn't need to posses the tiles in their inventory to be able to play.

I have yet to figure out an electronic form of score keeping. But i got so involved in getting this together that once the holidays have started, and I have more time, I am going to try and figure it out.

Much to my chagrin, this Second Life thing is growing on me. :)

Looking forward to seeing everyone else's in class!

Memory Final

2007-12-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

2234177 Jill K

This is my final project for the semester for this class. It consists of two walls that will aid in memory loss. The two walls consist of photos from two different categories. One wall is a photo album and a reminder of who my immediate family is and what they look like. The second wall is the same deal but for my friends. These walls are to remind myself, if I am in the situation o f forgetting people’s faces, of the people I love and trust. If I ever get confused or disoriented I can go online either via cell phone, palm pilot, or my laptop and quickly log in and visit this area. To complete this project it would be even more use full if I could click on one of the pictures and it connects me to a website that me and that person have made together that documents our lives and reminds me of past events. Even if the link was to a website like Facebook.com it would be sufficient.
Anyone can uses this method can customize it to their own family and friends or even build more walls to create categories for co-workers, distant relatives and even second life friends and their first life equivalents.
So that is my final project. Have a good Holiday break.

Jill Korgemagi

Progress Report

2007-12-11T18:04:00.000-05:00

Hey guys,

I'm having the same problem with logging into SL and staying functional. I finally got my laptop back but I can't stay on SL long enough to do anything and I can't get to Judith's house. ARGHHHHHHHH, I guess it's going to be a late and long night for me... see you guys in the morning!

Alicia

Second life maintenance work

2007-12-11T16:33:00.001-05:00

heyy everyone,

Is anyone else having touble logging on to Second Life? Their maintenance work is taking rather long! I thought it would be over by now.

Fiona

Transit and Tribulations

2007-12-09T15:55:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: Ok, it's Sunday at 3:45 and I'm at school. Apparently transit takes longer on Sundays. Like, nearly 3 hours each way. ARGH! Also - the school computers can't handle video capture in SL without crashing SL - and the school computers don't allow me to install new/seperate video capture software! Also... no one I know is ever online when I am! No one to ask about gestures or re-enactment/filming help....

Lesson learned: if Machinima Memories were ever to happen, the service would require fairly high-powered set of computers and a staff of 5 minimum. Website designing I go.

~Kat

ps- Judith, there's a bus and a shopping cart on your SL front lawn....

Machinima and Meltdowns

2007-12-08T23:56:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

My memory architecture project is going very slowly... my home PC can't handle logging on without crashing, my boyfriend's macbook can't capture video without crashing secondlife either.... so I'm really not sure how I'm going to film this!

In lieu of a finished machinima, I think I might develop a prototype website for a machinima filming service. We'll see. I'm going to go to the school tomorrow to see if I can get it to work there.

If anyone has gotten a hold of a simple 'rain-making' object or a hug animation/gesture, a donation of one would really help me out!

I'll try to be filming tomorrow night or Monday night, depending on how it all goes.

~Kat

my memory avatar

2007-12-06T22:48:00.000-05:00

So, this is my avatar, "Locitar Frog." I had a lot of trouble making it because SL was not working on my computer and I couldn't log-in sometimes too. Nevertheless, here she is and I'm content with the results.

Sitting under an installation at Art Metropole Sitting on a cushion at the Ah Lounge Amphlitheatre

Flying through the trees on Odyssey Isl. Sitting on an installation by Zenya Z. at Art Metropole

my thesis evolving

2007-12-03T18:28:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone

Just an update on what the focus of my thesis has become inorder to differenciate and strengthen its "collaboration" focus.

the big idea is:

An online network to expose, develop and support effective methodologies and ideas.

That's it in one sentence. It will be executed in the next semester and the process books will be designed as well.

It's been great to be a part of this class. I won't be present the next class but I will post my architecture assignment and have it in Judith's place for next week. If I can get online, I'll see you there. If not, it's been a pleasure having you all in the class.

The guest speakers were wonderful.

Thanks Martha and Judith.

Ning - create your own social network

2007-12-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

According to the recent blog entry in World Changing about The Business of the Social Graph, Ning is going to kick Facebook's ass.

Machinima filming

2007-12-01T14:55:00.000-05:00

Hey there!
Thanks for putting the word out for me, Judith!

I won't have the opportunity to actually film until next weekend - this week I'm working on getting all the necessary avatars, gestures and locations figured out, as well as a storyboard and testing different video capture software (it seems that the in-game video capture software crashes every time I use it - on my Mac or PC).

I don't think I'll need many 're-enactors', but some extra 'camera operators' would be ideal. Let me know if you're interested!

~Kat

GUY PROUX WEB VERSION -

2007-11-29T12:54:00.000-05:00

THIS JUST IN FROM MARGARET GRISDALE, manager of the President's office --

(GUY PROULX)... graciously agreed to having his presentation videotaped
and provided permission for us to post it on our Web site. The posting
will be made as soon as our staff can edit the footage. Given that a
number of pressing projects currently under way, this may take a couple
of weeks. We shall endeavour to have it posted as quickly as possible.

Guy Proulx documentation // Kat's Machinima Shoot

2007-11-29T12:48:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody --

Guy Proulx was fantastic! If you missed it, they did video the lecture last night. Call Eric Schwab at the library to find out about how to see this documentation. If he doesn't know, get back to me.

Kat is scheduling an SL movie production using Machinima -- Ian Ah and I will take part and maybe you can too

-- may be best for us to meet you on-world, then Kat can tell us who to log on as and give us instructions -- or she may be able to give us a "costume" as inventory then we could don the costumes and follow her directions. Ian will have suggestions on this -- Maybe we can find some in-world folk who'd like to participate

-- I will enjoy the experience! Meanwhile, I shall continue with machinima research.

-- I suggest that Kat post her SL "production time" on the blog and we can join in as virtual actors and extras if she'd like...

Jill - Virtual Community

2007-11-28T11:52:00.000-05:00

Virtual Communities

A virtual community is an interaction between people or persons via internet, exchnaging information and ideas. There are many names for virtual communities; e-communities, social network, and online communities. Virtual communities can be small or big, they can also be with people you know in reallife or with people you have only met online.
Th internet is a growing media that allows us to publish and interect and exchange information digitally. The internet has also been dubbed the “Third world”
Virtual communities can be a passage way to develop a group that is far away from eachother or bring together old friends and family. People may have the same ideas and interests but may be half way across the world. The virtual community allows a connection between people.
There are so many communities out there. Some communities are art based, some are for intereactions with school like forums or online courses, also there is msn where you can silently talked to your added friends. Then there are others like myspace and facebook where you can customize a page that is your profile and where you can interact with other members of that site. I think though some people abuse virtual communities and post themselves. So many people have posted themselves by taking pictures and writing about their everyday lives. I think that is abusing the site because virtual communities are for sharing and not for gloating.
What is also interesting with virtual communities is the members that join them . There are different stages in being a member. The first stage is the peropheral stage here the person is not yet a member but is a viewer of the community. The second stage is called inbound also known as a newbie and this is where the person is investigating the community. The third stage is called insider or regular and this is where the person becomes a member of the community. Then boundary is the fourth stage which is where they become more involved and sustain their participation in the community. The final stage is called outbound and this is when the member decides to break off and leave the community. Every person is different and it might take a verylong time to break away from the community since its is what helps to define out profile on the internet.
I found an online community that organzies and catalogues family trees and your family name so you can add to your digital family tree as the years go by and add other historic information. It’s a memorial site and keeps track of your origins. You see where your family was first from and where it was circa 1920. Its quite a fascinating site that can help to presurve your family identity.
Virtual communities are becoming more and more popular. They can be used for school, social, leisure, and even work. They allow us to stay in contact with people or to allow ourselves to meet new people who share the same need to communicate in our busy fast pace world. Virtual communities can even get so big and great its own culture.
People who can’t identify or relate to preexisting communities go out and create their own. There are of course guidelines to creating your own online community. First there has to be a sense of usefullness. If the site or community is not worth connecting to then there isn’t really a reason for it to exist. So the creator has to be flexibile and allow for member’s input and make the community easy to contribute to and to access. You have to be open for change. Allow suggestions from members and to allow your knowledge to evolve. Then you have to allow your members to be credited and have to measure their contributions. Then finally to allow members to respond to other members.
Virtual Communities are a new phenomenon in the late 20th and early 21st centery and I think will just get bigger and bigger until the internet is no more.

Works Cited Page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_communities

http://www.linkpendium.com/genealogy/USA/sur/surc-K/surc-Kor/surc-Korgemagi

http://archive.ord/index.php

http://www.ourmedia.org/

http://www.akakurdistan.com/

http://www.nytimes.om/special/bosnia/

http://web.macam98.ca.ac.il/~horit_a/chkpoint.htm

http://www.drik.net/

Virtual Community Project – “Double Lives”
By Jill Korgemagi

For my Virtual community project I am doing an online do-over book. I was first ispired by the do-over book called “Pretty Little Mistakes.” It’s a book where you choose your own adventure but in this case its like a passage of your life. You get to choose where you want to go and your actions affect your decions. Usually in one sitting you can can read through your life starting after high school.

So my idea is to recreate this type of fantasy exploration but put it on the internet where you can create your own avatar and then have a profile where you can document your double lives. Other members can look at your avatar and can read about your adventures. For the stories themselves when the website is initially posted there will be a set amounrt of stories but then when people become members and have a certain amount of double lives they can add their own stories and passages, but they will have to be screened and approved by the website directors. You can’t just post any story they have to be okayed.

The format of my community can be considered to be sonic memory. It’s a website where people can share their own stories or post fictional stories to aid in the doublelive adventure.

The meaning of this project is for people to be able to go on imaginary adventure. I think istis a popular concept, many people do the same thing through books, video games like the sims or RPG games, movies, and other websites like Second Life. I think it would be fun to have your own avatar that could look like whatever you want and then you can have a proflile. The profile will post the picture of your avatar and you can add your friends or add stories that you like so you can tract their stories. It’s a media sharing and media swapping based community.

I think my audience will be very dynamic. I think it will attract young and older people. People like to have fun and with this community people will be able to see what its like to make other decisions in life and to see how else their life could be like, whether it be realalistic or fantasy.

I would like there to be different life categories. There will be different catgeories like fantasy, space, realiasic, historic, and even missions lives you can explore.

Assignment #5

2007-11-28T08:49:00.000-05:00

Assignment 5 – Memory Architecture in Second Life

What would happen if myself or a family member started to forget the faces of their friends, family membes, or even co workers. What cold I do toeither help myself or help a faily member remember. Clear because Second life is an internet place where you can do anything I am going to use it to aid in this sort of memory loss. So lets just say that I am forgetting faces. Because I use the internet on a regular basis and I have an account on second life I will just make myself the one with the memoryloss. To aid in my dimentia I will produce a capsule that as an avatar I can enter and explore. It will be a sort of gallery where I can see pictures of my family, friends, internet friends and co workers. Using four walls and section each awall for each group of people I need to remember.
So I can interact with the people on secondlife but can teleport to the specific place to go visit the gallery if I need aid to remember someone.

Jill Korgemagi
2234177

Lynne Heller show - fun after class

2007-11-27T22:29:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow after class Jim Ruxton and I will be walking to RedHead gallery to see Lynne Heller's mixed reality show at 401 Richmond -- it will be a fun little lunch walk together, followed by a great show with the artist in attendance. Lynne may even attend our class. Then, later this evening - Guy Proulx's lecture. Lots to learn and enjoy today.

GUY PROULX / BAYCREST lectures at OCAD

2007-11-27T14:35:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow Night (Wednesday) PLEASE DON'T MISS - YOU'LL LOVE THIS TALK.

President's Speaker Series: Dr. Guy Proulx
The Aging Brain: How Art and Design
are Changing the Way We Care
Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 6:30 pm

OCAD President Sara Diamond invites you to attend a thought-provoking lecture by Dr. Guy Proulx, Director of Psychology at Baycrest. Dr. Proulx will share how art is a gift providing light and creativity taking dementia out of the darkness of pathology. In his words, "Memory has evolved as a wonderous time traveling machine that allows us to recapture the past or imagine possible futures. The power of art and environmental design can do much to reduce excessive disability associated with the aging brain and its related diseases. Confused minds are too often the results of disabling environments and crippling attitudes."

AVATAR-Show & Tell @ The Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity

2007-11-23T20:52:00.000-05:00

PART I
AVATARAVATARAVATARAVATAR

On Thursday November 22, 2007, Researchers from the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity at OCAD held a show and tell session for their weekly open house with the theme of, "Avatar," and I thought it would be beneficial to post my notes to the VC Blog. Shortly after the Avatar discussions, VC Prof. Martha Ladly presented her Masters thesis on mobile technology navigation, called "Park Walk".

So what is an Avatar?

Mark Poon, OCAD Alumnus and Researcher

Synapse

build us (humans)
around us, therefore part of us
reality

Terri, Researcher

Non-permanent conditions of our existence
medium of the emergent self
Weild(ed/ing)
"Avatard"
Therefore, we must design for emergence

This is Fiona Chung, AKA Avah Greenwood

Researcher
"Multiple Personality Order"

Avatars are/give superpowers
Context demands content
choice/making; social matrix

Invisible Majority

More visible vs. invisible

Who Are You Really?

Outwardly, you are that person whom you project yourself to be
Inwardly, you are more you
ex. blogging- individual conversation with the/ your self

Researcher

Avatars are "beautiful prototypes"
Psychophysiological technique of facial electromyography to find the Avatar
Phonesthesia
Ancestor simulations
Telecommunicate
Ex. Marshall McLuhan- telecommunication theory
Fractal Geometry as "supernatural avatar"

I think an Avatar is:

Tools of extension; allow us to step into other realms without leaving our worlds
Applications in:

Play
Education
Production
Social Psychology

There is no straightforward answer to "What is an Avatar".

What is an Avatar?

Part II
Professor Martha Ladly presented her Masters thesis to the group at 3pm.

http://mobilenation.ca/mdcn

"Park Walk"

Some valuable information was shared, in regards to working towards a Masters Degree:

Generate a project concept: Create a user-friendly navigation-based application for mobile phones in High Park, Toronto.
Write out the methodology > see website for Park Walk
Apply and test > see website for Park Walk
During the creative process,

Think of the user----> Firmitas
Apply to the design (cell phone)---->Utilitas
Design (the interface)--------->Venustas

Important to note:

Documentation; storage of files in a library
Develop demos to present to committees and panels

Write the report

paper copy
digital copy on DVD

*There are probably many more steps, but this is helpful to know what it is like to go through the process of working towards a Masters Degree.

In reflection, Martha states that her creative process during Park Walk was not free from barriers:

GPS Drifiting

cloudy
rainy
leafy

Solution to this problem: Move the location to Grange Park; test and design.

Reflection on the experience of Grange Park:

"I would make it less didactic and more mysterious"—M. Ladly

In conclusion, but not in-conclusion... Martha is moving on to explore other areas and interests (including, of course, our Virtual Communities class).

Check out these sites:
Android
http://code.google.com/android/index.html
TED Prize
http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/6
Buckminister ("Bucky") Fuller Challenge
http://challenge.bfi.org/
One Laptop Per Child Project
http://laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

—Bryn Ludlow, Nov. 23, 2007

U2 Concert in SL

2007-11-22T01:48:00.001-05:00

really cool

Second Life Prision???

2007-11-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

I found this article the other day too... forgot to mention it in class... I think the title of this post says it all....

Article about the Future of Interactiive Communities.... as promised!

2007-11-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

Its a long article but very interesting!
Richard Bartle's predictions for the future of interactive communities...

on a side note: he makes mention of a software called "3d mailbox". I would check out the link if you want a laugh...

see you next week!

Lynn Heller's show featuring SL at Redhead Gallery

2007-11-21T12:55:00.000-05:00

LYNNE HELLER’S ‘really [this show is rented]’
PREMIERES NOVEMBER 21
AT THE REDHEAD GALLERY IN TORONTO -- 401 Richmond St. W.

Lynne Heller enjoys the best of both worlds. In one life, she is a gifted multi-media artist, living in Toronto. In SECOND LIFE, an Internet-based virtual world, she is Nar Duell, a character or ‘avatar’ Heller created as a ‘resident’ of SECOND LIFE.

Beginning November 21, Heller and her intrepid avatar Nar Duell will construct a mixed reality installation at the Redhead Gallery. SECOND LIFE, the three-dimensional animated world, will face off with ‘first life’ – also known as the real world.

Everything in SECOND LIFE is garish, bright and two-dimensional. It’s a world built out of algorithms and fuzzy imported j-pegs. Nature clashes in the ironically flat 3D universe where trees are two-dimensional images intersecting at right angles to simulate the lushness of leaves.

A ‘garden’ in a SECOND LIFE gallery will be projected onto the walls of the Redhead Gallery. Visitors will be able to watch Nar Duell tend her SECOND LIFE ‘garden’ in real time. At the same time, Heller will tend plants in a live garden at The Redhead Gallery. Webcams will capture the action and, in a reiterative loop, video of gallery visitors will be streamed into SECOND LIFE to play on a wall in the SECOND LIFE gallery, also in real time.

James Elkins, the E.C. Chadbourne Chair, department of Art History, Theory and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, says Heller “could be the one per cent or less than one per cent using SECOND LIFE this way. What is being done in these environments is new and doesn’t behave the way people expect art to behave.”

Heller’s interest in examining disparity is captured in ‘really’: “On the one hand, there are our desires and yearnings; on the other, reality. And in between there is a wide gap filled with our very human day-to-day struggles while we live, work, and play. Dreams and reality bumping up against each other… in odd juxtapositions, quirky coincidence and endearing fumbles. My current work reflects my interest in exploring our adaptation as we wander around – mostly lost – improvising in this rocky terrain. I love contemplating our humanity and finding beauty amongst the modest, ‘overfamiliar’ artifacts of our culture.” Her website: www.lynneheller.com/really

An artist and designer, Heller works in a number of disciplines. Principally known for her work in fibre, she has also created new media pieces, sound, websites and installations. She completed her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004. Group exhibitions include: The Stray Show (Art Chicago), Wide Borders: Heller, Roy &Thiessen (Burlington Art Centre, Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery in Owen Sound, Cambridge Library and Gallery). Solo exhibitions have been shown nationally and internationally in Havana, Chicago and Santa Fe.

really [this show is rented] runs from November 21 to December 15, with a reception on December 1, from noon to 5 p.m. Heller and Nar Duell will be present at the Redhead Gallery and the SECOND LIFE gallery throughout the show. The Redhead Gallery is located at 401 Richmond Street West in Toronto. Exhibition hours: Wednesday to Saturday, noon – 5 p.m.

Memory Avatar

2007-11-21T12:33:00.001-05:00

Hi guys,

The avatar that I created was produced strictly from inherit emotional symbolic and semiotic aspects that I found interesting throughout my life using visual and auditory applications.

Various elements such as the color and features of the avatar reflect cultural significance from various elements of fantasy and reality. The avatar itself would have inherit audio capabilities which take the voice of people I've heard of (though that function may not be available due to my fear of these online banking systems) and in accordance, gesture that person.

These elements coalesce into a single unified being of tangible memory fragmentmentation.

The idea seems nightmarish in a Phillip.k. Dick sort of way but that's how I see it.

Now for something completely Second

2007-11-21T12:02:00.000-05:00

Hi persons (engage political-correctness)

Some links I reference come from the Play behaviour and game design course that I'm also taking at OCAD in regards to Second Life immersion :

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5huaC9fnUY7gEVtK-K8pt_5lorjaw
An interesting article about applying something called Brain Control Interface (BCI) as a means for paralysis patients to control a second-life avatar.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/12/second.life.irpt/index.html#cnnSTCText
What is regarded as news "in-world"? as the original poster mentioned, does this prove second life's importance or is it simply a means for corporate marketing ?

http://alpha.cbs.com/primetime/csi_ny/
CSI:NY using Second life as a premise for a murder episode.

Art on Second Life

2007-11-21T09:04:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,
Here's a blog about art that's popped up on second life. Neat stuff, check out the title link.
~Kat

Speaking of social networks...

2007-11-21T08:25:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

I found this article on wired magazine about some of the social networking sites that are on the web today. Pretty hilarious check it out.

Class on Wednesday Nov 21st

2007-11-21T01:14:00.000-05:00

I will be in class after the break, and will look forward to joining you all then!
with best wishes
Florence Freenote

The Gallery of Memories

2007-11-21T00:03:00.001-05:00

I believe that when we don’t know much about our past and our grandparents we have the same feeling as someone that has lost part of his or her long time memory. Both ask the same questions: who am I? Where have I come from?
My grandfather has tried to answer these questions for my family by documenting the story of his life and pictures of our past generation. He has documented all of those in his notebook. What he has done has provided me with a world full of memories that I can refer to whenever I want to recall these memories.
Second life has given me the ability to recreate this world in virtual format. It has given me the ability to present these memories in a way that will be interesting for visitors. I have presented these memories in a gallery like environment. I have relatives around the world that each of them can find their answers here. They can come here and visit the gallery and learn more about their past generation. The next generation will also have the ability to come here and learn about their aunt sisters.
My avatar is a representation of my grandfather who decided to document all these memories in his notebook and past them to the next generation as an inheritance so we learn from them and apply them to our life.

SL on Facebook, and other destinations that you've browsed

2007-11-17T13:40:00.000-05:00

Hello,

SL is on Facebook in a group... I'm scared to join..haha- would you? I like the anonymity of SL as it is.

What are some destinations that you've visted on SL?

Check out this place in China:

Yaoi Province > 207, 31, 25

*there's a building called, "Fingerpaint" and artists post their work on the walls, much like a gallery, but SL version. The content is "mature", nevertheless, the concept is interesting.

"I am a man." —Clarence Thomas

2007-11-14T19:53:00.001-05:00

People who seek to define themselves by race have experienced racial prejudice and are driven on anger to find their own identity—not the identity of their given label—and ultimately they will return to the beginning, more vulnerable than ever.

Race is not a project with a beginning and an end. We must be ourselves and live our own lives because it is the only life we will have.

-BL

Not including theories of reincarnation, does this argument/ statement make sense? I am also researching racial identity.

Race-The Floating Signifier

2007-11-14T19:20:00.000-05:00

Race, the Floating Signifier: Featuring Stuart Hall
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=...
http://www.mediaed.org Arguing against the biological interpretation of racial difference, Hall asks us to pay close attention to the cultural processes by which the visible differences of appearance come to stand for natural or biological properties of human beings. ...

(In response to Andrew's piece on interracial identity)

(WARNING- THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC ARCHIVAL IMAGES FROM THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES SHOWING LYNCHING AND VIOLENT ACTS, AS WELL AS SWEARING. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.)

Avatars consume as much electricity as Brazilians

2007-11-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

So as promised in my comment to Bryn's post, here is an article comparing the amount of electricity consumed by an avatar in second life compared to real human being is our Real Life. It is an interesting read, and certainly shed a new light in my eyes of how even in virtual spaces there can be and should be concerns for the environment.

Cheers
fi

Virtually There

2007-11-14T13:28:00.000-05:00

"With the tourism boards of Ireland and the Netherlands setting up shop in Second Life, Ivor Tossell wonders if visits to the online world can entice tourists to actually board a plane and go".

IVOR TOSSELL

Special to The Globe and Mail

November 14, 2007 at 8:51 AM EST

"In Second Life - a place where people can frequently be found without underpants - nightclubs act as chat rooms with a visual twist. This particular establishment, a popular pub called the Blarney Stone, was set up by Tourism Ireland, but virtual-world ventures are starting to pop up at the behest of destinations around the world in a bid to attract real-life tourists."

"Mitham points to the Mexican tourist board's replica of Chichen Itza in Second Life. The board built the attraction in part to promote its bid to have the ancient ruins added to the list of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

"I'd certainly never heard of Chichen Itza myself before entering Second Life," he says.""

"I would be shocked if a lot of people visited virtual Dublin then decided they had to go to Dublin," says Peter Ludlow, a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto and the author of The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse, a book that chronicles his time as the editor of the virtual world's in-house newspaper.

Ludlow says that, for the moment, virtual versions of real-life destinations have the qualities of simulacra - Disneyland-like imitations that don't necessarily evoke the real thing.

"If you have a simulacrum of Venice in Las Vegas, for example, I don't know that that makes you want to go to Venice in the same way as a travel brochure does."

A Second Life simulation that can accommodate a few dozen patrons at once won't reach nearly as many eyeballs as a brochure, Ludlow points out. "

(I'm not related to Peter Ludlow..haha)

Good article. Wonder what the SL Herald is like?

~Bryn

Second Life Memory

2007-11-14T11:13:00.000-05:00

Here is my final avatar that will help my Mother to remember certain things she has to do throughout the day. using Second Life when I am away I can send here specific reminders to allow her to recall the information she needs to finish what she starts. Two forms will be sent to her, one being a snap shot of the avatar with a little message to reminder to "feed me, walk me, pet me" The I will also send the picture and attach the day planner for her so she can print it out.

Jill Korgemagi 2234177

Because I simple can’t remember triple grande 3 pump non-fat no-whip Cinnamon Dulce Latte

2007-11-14T10:10:00.000-05:00

When working at Starbucks for a couple months, one of the biggest challenges I faced was trying to remember the drinks that customers ordered and then repeating it in the order that was only satisfactory to Starbucks standards. This order being # of shots, then the size, then type of syrup, then type of milk, then any custom attribute like whip or no whip and THEN the actual drink – yes I know, quite a handful. It also didn’t help that I only worked 2 days out the week and would often forget parts of my training upon returning to work the following week.

In having this project now, I wonder if perhaps my work experience could have been enhanced had I been introduced to Second Life earlier. This in many ways became one of my research questions, and in response to this project I created an avatar that would aid me in my inability to recall words in a specific order.

In hearing the past two lectures, few of the points that really stood out in my mind were 1) Gayatri’s notion of chunked memory and how that can be a very effective tool in retrieving information as in the case of phone numbers which are separated by dashes to aid in remembering these arbitrary strings of numbers.
2) Brian’s talk about semantic memory which is the memory of meanings, words and conceptual knowledge non-specific to any event and how this is preserved in patients irrespective of amnesia.

Keeping this information in mind, I looked at tools like mnemonics link systems which chunks arbitrary words together by creating an association between the individual elements. For instance, random words like cell phone, car, and socks could be linked in a mnemonic story like my cell phone was ran over by a car and as a result I buried my dead cell phone in a sock.

A visual mnemonic link system would then be a string of words linked together through a memorable and absurd imagery, which also creates a story. In my case, for example, the words of shot, size, syrup, milk, custom, drink could be translated into an image of a camera taking a shot of my dwarf-sized, maple-printed cow drinking a whipped latte.

Using our understandings of words like shot, size, syrup, etc and replacing it with connoted imagery heightens the absurdity of the story and also makes it much more memorable. Through features and functions, like building and wearing objects, texture mapping, sending snapshots to email, my avatar will be able to play out the absurd imagery and have its appearance archived in the form of email for future reference. It is also quite possible now to actually print out your 3d avatar in a 3D form (see www.fabjectory.com). This could very well be another option to have my second life stay connected to my real Life.

Goldie the Memory Avatar

2007-11-14T09:25:00.000-05:00

My memory avatar was created to help my grandmother with her alzheimer's. The avatar's name is Goldie and on secondlife her name is Goldie Oldrich. The avatar is basically used as a memory bank of events, people and experiences that happened throughout her life.

There is a more descriptive information about the avatar and its purpose on my blog: Goldie the Memory Avatar.

Avatars as Memory Tools

2007-11-14T08:54:00.000-05:00

My concept for using the Avatar as a memory tool is posted entirely on the link attached to this title.

I've taken to posting everything to my .mac website and my OCAD webspace to save space on the blog.

I feel there is a lot that can be done with this!

2007-11-14T00:10:00.000-05:00

Assignment # 4
Memory Avatar

The Segmented Memory Worm Man

More information will be available in class on Wednesday - this is a brief summary.

Their code exits only in a volatile memory and they are installed by a memory disability.
The worm -- a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite with a life span of two weeks- - it is Asexual
It focuses on deciphering the genes and cellular processes that govern memory and learning.
It even has a vehicle to get around in Second Life - to enable faster access
it is still genetically modified and bio-engineered - to work within a closed circulatory system and true segmentation of the memory system. Pushing the envelope of what Second Life is capable of.
It directly effects the brains procedural and declarative memory systems. By being a reminder to the user.

Inspiration for the memory worm came this article :
http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2006/06jan09/worm.html

Avatar concept: Fashion as Identity; Identity as Experience

2007-11-13T23:02:00.000-05:00

What we wear and how we look is our only way to communicate who we are to people without dialogue. Clothes are indicators of our personalities, likes, values and subcultures we may be a part of. We are in a constant stage of reflecting our identity and the only way we can do that in the physical world is through our bodies. Our bodies are physical representations for defining how we choose to be perceived as individuals.

Second Life is a place where the physical world limitations open doors for imagination and creative approaches, and new possibilities in an alternative physical world, where we have more choices on how to be perceived. Imagine if what you wore told a story about who you are based on what you've experienced. How can fashion become a closer representation of who we are? How can we track our experience in an avatar "fashion"?

I see the body as a medium.

If the body is perceived as a medium to communicate identity through experiences, we can begin to see how our memories play an integral role for who we really are and how we define reality. Memory is visually documented through photographs, writing, art, video and audio. To bring memory into visual form has been the reason we exist. So, why can this medium of our bodies not be a vehicle for documentation and communication along with aesthetic appeal?

These are my thoughts for creating an avatar and hopefully I'll be coming up with examples of how I can achieve this with Second Life.

Memory Avatar

2007-11-13T20:29:00.000-05:00

Hello All.

I have been enjoying the guest speakers throughout the past weeks. It is fascinating that something so complex is inside of us all. The human body is a fantastic place...

Recently, my mother was diagnosed with stage two cancer. This is the 3 type of cancer she has had in 6 years. For the first two times, i was able to be around for her. Unfortunately, this time I am far away, and unable to be there at a moments notice.

With that, I wanted to make a memory avatar for my mother. This avatar would remind her that i am there for her, and that her incredible strength will get her through it all. Additionally, it would help remind her that her family can be her strength, when she doesn't feel up to it.

To do this, I wanted to create the avatar in my image that contains several outfits with images of my family. Additionally, this avatar would send messages to my mother daily, providing words of encouragement and love.

This week, I started to create this in second life. However, I have run into some issues with the software and usage.... I am having difficulty making lindens to upload skins. I was filling out surveys, but for some reason, couldn't get more than 10 lindens total... I am not sure if I wasn't filling them out properly. I also attempted to "camp" but again, couldn't figure out how to accomplish this...

Maybe someone can give me some tips on this?

See you all in class...

National Geographic : Memory

2007-11-12T18:09:00.000-05:00

If you missed Martha's fascinating hand-out last week - Joshua Foer's story in this month's National Geographic on Memory - here's a link to the complete text online. Send it to your friends. I think the piece is well-written and thought-provoking - but I'm curious to get Brian Richards' perspective, now that he's joined our blog. Welcome, Brian and Angela!

2007-11-12T15:53:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone , It's Brian,
I just looked through the postings they look great. Angela is eating all my girl guide cookies...I was warned about you OCAD types having limited food budgets.

Hello!

2007-11-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

Hi to everyone in the Virtual Communities class,
This is Angela Petranik writing. I am a 4th year INTM student doing an independent study at Baycrest under Judith's supervision. I'm at Baycrest today and have just joined the blog, and thought I would introduce myself. I have also helped Dr. Brian Richards join (he gave a presentation to your class on Hallowe'en). We are both going to take a look at some of the work you are doing. It looks interesting so far! I can't wait to see more when I come sit in on the class this Wednesday. See you all then!
-Angela

You Only Live Twice - SL doc on YouTube

2007-11-11T12:18:00.000-05:00

Check out this 45-minute doc about Second Life that aired on CBC newsworld recently - now on YouTube.

as requested

2007-11-08T11:37:00.000-05:00

hyperlinks to the smell-o-vision links (i thought blogger would do it automatically, but alas...)

EnGadget

Sparkplugged

Oxford Journals

PORTAGE

2007-11-07T18:18:00.000-05:00

Here's the link to PORTAGE: The Canadian Mobile Experience

We've been talking a lot about it in class, so why not give you more info!?

The Portage team is looking for RAs (Research Assistants) for the Winter term. You can volunteer, earn a credit, or possibly be paid. Visit the site for more information about the application process.

~Bryn

Second Life Memory Assignment

2007-11-07T12:50:00.000-05:00

Second Life Memory Assignment

For this assignment I have decided to create two avatars that are in the form of my two pets. One being my border coil German Shepard, Leeloo and the other in the likeness of my cat Yaksha. I chose these forms to create in Second Life to aid in my memory project specifically to help my Mother remember things to do during the day. Sometimes my Mother gets scatter brained and forgets about things she wants to get done. So I am going to design these pets in Second Life and then I can send my mom a “to-do list” via email through Second Life to remind her.

The things to remind her will be to walk and feed the pets and also I will make a list with her the night before and send it to her through email of things she needs to get done. I think it will be better for her to receive an email that she can re read and even print out. It will have appointments and places.. It’ll be easier for her to relocate it instead of a list that she will probably forget. Also because I’m not home all the time I can send her emails through out the day to remind her of little things. This won’t be an everyday thing, because it’ll only be necessary for specific days where a lot of things will be going on.

Jill Korgemagi 2234177

Locitar

2007-11-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

Using the memory technique of Loci, developed in Greco-roman cultures, I will create an avatar who will use this method to help users recall memories.

Locitar is the name of my avatar. It will be a tool for users to interact with in a virtual reality setting. The user can use a mobile device to log their daily tasks into. For example, "breakfast-toast, coffee; store- shoes; work- binder, printer; travel home- umbrella, jacket". The nouns used in the log (shoes, printer etc.) will be presented inside the familiar space of the user, so their bedroom, or den and Locitar will be available to answer questions as the user travels through their day. Images of the nouns will be shown in the room the user chooses and when they ask Locitar what they have to do at the store, an image of a pair of shoes will show up. The user will also be able to look forward in the database to see what else they have to do, and Locitar will show them other symbols reminding them of their tasks to do later in the day.

Scent and the Screen

2007-11-07T10:03:00.000-05:00

I still think that scent in accompanyment with screen technology is not so far away!
I think I was misunderstood when I brought up the topic - so I've added a couple links that relate to the japanese version of the 70's concept of "Smell-O-Vision".

http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/12/japanese-movie-theaters-to-get-internet-controlled-smell-o-visi/

http://sparkplugged.net/2006/04/japanese-smell-o-vision/

http://ietfec.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/E89-A/11/3327

I understand that scent association is different for every person, but when thinking about memory aides, new associations might be made be giving the memory-disabled individual a whiff of an unusual scent when dealing with a specific item they need to remember, and have a 'scent displacer' that they can carry around to release a certain smell based on a button (ie: this smell will remind me where I put my keys because I smelled it when I put them down last).

I know the technology isn't there yet, but I think it's close, and not a bad thing to design for.

Machinima Memories and iKnow

2007-11-07T08:35:00.000-05:00

Conceptually, I was having some difficulty with this projct. I thought for a while about how an avatar could be used as a memory tool that would NEED to be an avatar, rather than some other 'reminder' tool (ie. PDA, cellphone, notebook, etc).

It seems to me that the outfitting of an avatar is it's most unique quality - the fact that you can save numerous different looks as 'outfits' would be practical for reminding oneself about people.

Enter concept for iKnow - the avatar that has an outfit to represent each of the people you know. Each outfit is developed to look as much like an aquaintance, friend, family member or work associate as possible. Each outfit is named after their real-life doppleganger, and has associated notes in the inventory which compile basic information about that individual, including recent conversations, any planned future meetings and any particularly memorable events.

So, there's idea one.

Then I discovered the topic of the Machinima. This is cinema that is filmed in virtual environments - an environment like Second Life is ideal. Using screen capture techniques and minor video editing skills, short films can take only minutes to develop, and can even be entirely free. This struck me as an incredibly useful tool for those with memory disabilities - ether for those who have lost early memories or cannot develop new ones.

Idea 2, Machinima Memories. A service for those with severe memory problems, Machinima Memories is a project which 'films' 're-enactments' of important parts of a person's life (that had been left unfilmed, ie: first meeting someone, a first date, etc). Using basic video editing, music and voice overs, coloration effects and subtitles can be added to impart the emotional impact of the event. These films could be wached repeatedly to try and 'hammer in' a memory for someone with this disability, or just kept on hand for watching for someone who will never be able to truly remember the event.

This is something that would never be possible to afford to recreate in real life with traditional film, but with the use of Second Life, it becomes fast, virtually free, and 'easy' (as far as filming goes).

There we go, some seedling ideas that might just blossom :)

Pictures from the Sound Cycles & Mobile City Exhibit

2007-11-07T02:58:00.000-05:00

Here's a few pictures of an exhibit that I went to at the Interaccess Centre. They don't look very interesting because I was the only one there, but I digress. The sound bikes by Jessica Thompson were really interesting in it's construction process. I loved how she created an interactive product that involved sound being produced by movement. If you guys haven't seen this exhibit i suggest you check it out! PS. IT'S FREE (laughing out loud)!

My memory avatar!

2007-11-07T01:16:00.000-05:00

My avatar's name is Goldie. I'm creating her to help my grandmother remember things she needs to do or remember throughout her daily.

The avatar is named after my grandmother and is a younger version of her. I chose to produce a younger vision of my grandmother because its easier for her to remember the things in the past rather than the present. I figured she'd remember a younger her. Since my grandmother is somewhat religious, I thought I'd play off the angel image as well as a younger version of her. The avatar would be dressed in a gold wrap dress and have a shining glow about her to represent the heavens. This would help my grandmother feel comfortable and at ease with the avatar as she learns how to use the avatar to help her with memory.

The avatar's main uses would be to send alerts on things to remember to do, have memory bank of images of people in her life, events that happened, helpful quotes to get my grandmother through the day without feeling disconnected.

I thought that the best way to produce this avatar was to create a virtual home similar to my grandmother's home in second life to create similarity. She would also be able to access this location through a hand-held device that would log her into secondlife and the avatar's home. This would allow my grandmother to go out and enjoy life without missing vital information from her avatar. She would also be able to post new alerts, messages, events, and people through this device. The device includes headphones and a speakerphone so she can hear the alerts, a voice recorder to record the information and a camera to take pictures of things she wanted to remember.

POSTED BY ALICIA FRANCIS

Lev's Memory Avatar Project

2007-11-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

Though it is still very much in the preliminary stage - my Memory Avatar Project is looking pretty weird.
I call it the Segmented Memory Worm
They are microscopic - genetically modified and bio-engineered - to work within a closed circulatory system and true segmentation of the memory system. It directly effects the brains procedural and declarative memory systems.
My final presentation will include illustrations and clear schematic of what exactly this is - until then - it is a mystery.
Lev,

Discover Igloo.org!

2007-11-06T17:18:00.000-05:00

Another post by me.. :p

Looking backwards

2007-11-05T09:26:00.000-05:00

Hey. I was just poking around this blog's archives, rereading, posting a couple comments, noticed some interesting things. Seriously, check out your old posts and comments - some have comments from non-members of the blog.

Note that:

Almost everyone has comments on their older posts.
Bryn posts something useful/interesting all the time!
Random readers, and even some of the artists that we've talked about, have commented in response to some of the older posts!

See you Wednesday,

Kat

Virtual Beach, Toronto

2007-11-03T21:06:00.000-04:00

I am writing about the situation of the Beach area in Toronto, Ontario. The area of Queen & Woodbine Sts. to Queen & Neville Park Avenue is called "the Beach". It extends down to Lake Ontario, where there is a Bay, Ashbridges Bay, and over the past five years, the merchant zone along Queen Street East have taken a turn for the worst. Or have they?

Businesses come and go naturally due to economic inflation and deflation, but the beach now has more coffee shops, bars/pubs, banks, medical/dental offices and drugstores than it needs. Without biases, I would like to question why this is happening because for good, or for bad, the Beach or the Beaches is not the same place that it used to be.

With money from the bank, coffee in your hand, a doctor nearby and a pub to go to at nighttime, the beach seems to be a good place to live. Services offered at these places is quick and convenient. But with a current increasing interest in environmental concerns on political, legal and emotional levels, the Beach is not standing up to its name.

Below Queen Street East is a stretch of boardwalk and a bike/rollerblade path to go on for 3 km. After that, the path is extended through the Gardiner to Harbourfront. This means that it is accessed by people living downtown, as well as people living in the Beach community.

Every season and every year, there is a community festival hosted by the Beach and the Beach Business Improvement Association, as well as other corporate sponsors and donors. These events bring in the masses to the Beach, who often choose to live in the area for its pleasant scenery and location—a city within a city is often the feeling you get living here— water, sand, parks, sun, pools, and then city, residential space, office space, business space. With the increase in population, it is expected that a community has to conform to the new needs of its inhabitants, but the issue is that businesses who have been around for ten or twenty years are shutting down due to the high inflation of rent. Prime locations mean prime pricing and this is completely draining the Beach of culture.

The business area of the Beach is now a virtual community, with consumers passing through the community to pick up a coffee, pick up their Prescriptions, pay their bank bills, pick up their groceries. "Pick up and pay" are words often found online, and the association is connected to words like, "fast, need, now, want, have, own, get, take".

Greed and need are taking over the artistic Beach which used to be a place where you could wander in and out of boutiques, restaurants with fine service, galleries, retail stores with unique pieces and at the same time, pay your bills, get your drugs, go out to the pub with friends and then walk home along the boardwalk with a feeling of satisfaction and also knowing that the community hardware store would be there the next time you walk by.

This form of development is simply not sustainable. The Beach has been experiencing an influx of vandalism, homelessness, and empty storefronts and is at risk. Let the internet be the internet and the Beach be the Beach. We are a society of get, take, now, want, have, own and time seems to be moving and shifting faster than the neurons in our brains. It is no wonder people are depressed in the winter months, when due to the cold temperatures at the Lake, all is left are some pubs and grocery stores. Virtual Communities can be places for speed and efficiency because that is the nature of the internet, but there needs to be a divide between that and a more passive form of entertainment. High tech meets low-tech; for a community to survive, these systems cannot overlap.

The BIA needs to honour the current businesses, not shut them down. Community members need to participate in decision-making at the Political Level. Rent needs to be decreased for businesses. The Beach life needs to be revived. Current community members need to share with new community members the culture and feeling of the Beach. Changes to the business community suggested to the Municipal Representative need to be monitored by a Sustainable Urban Development Advisory Committee. People need to be heard. The community voice is the voice of the Beach. To move forward, the Beach community needs to pull together and guard the long-standing traditions and cultural practices of the Beach for today's generation and generations to come.

-Bryn Ludlow, Beach community member

*can members of Virtual Communities please edit this content- I would like to send it in to the Toronto Star, or Beach Metro Newspaper.

We are smart!

2007-11-02T22:51:00.000-04:00

Mobile tech, SMS, Virtual Communities/Communications LINKS

2007-10-31T13:11:00.000-04:00

Some good resources to check out re- mobile tech and virtual communities:

http://frontlinesms.kiwanja.net/
Description
Since 2005, FrontlineSMS has empowered many grassroots NGOs the world over. Today, thanks to FrontlineSMS, development workers in Afghanistan are receiving daily security alerts. Hundreds of coffee farmers in Indonesia are being given access to new markets. Elections have been monitored by civilians in Nigeria. It was used to co-ordinate official election monitors in the Philippines, and human rights campaigners in central Africa are using the software to reach out to victims

From modest beginnings, the FrontlineSMS success story continues to grow

FrontlineSMS has been cited in many NGO and industry research papers, websites and publications. It was shortlisted in the 2007 Mobile Messaging Awards, named WSIS "ICT Success Story of the Month" for its use in monitoring the Nigerian elections (also reported in the international press), and recently received considerable funding from the MacArthur Foundation

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=110540

Description
Video and still images captured in real time have informed fire crews and local residents in the San Diego area about the location and severity of threats to life and property since fires broke out earlier this month. Accident investigators from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) have requested these images that were captured by the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN).

You are Here!

2007-10-30T22:55:00.000-04:00

I am fascinated with creating a need for today’s consumer. In 2006, only 8% of all products created a need whereas the reaming 92% filled our current needs. Apple has been at the forefront of creating needs for the past few years. Did you know you wanted your music in a small portable device before the Ipod was introduced? Today, portable devices are at the forefront of consumer electronics sales. Such devices are evolving quickly, and extra features are in demand. I believe that virtual communities are going to continue to get larger through the use of portable devices, particularly cell phones. New technologies are being added to cell phones regularly, including GPS location hardware/software.

Although not available on all phones yet, GPS is the future of cell phones. With the advent of Facebook, we are becoming more interested in our “friends” whereabouts. My interactive community is called “You are here”. It uses the GPS technology in your cell phone in conjunction with a Facebook-like website. When you enter a new place eg: a store, museum or restaurant, you cell phone will alert you as to what your friend’s opinions are of this location. It does this by communicating using GPS technology and the entries received by users on its website. Additionally, you can invite friends to your location by using your cell phone. Using their GPS tracking, they can find you and that location easily.

This is not limited to your own city, buy can be used around the world! The technology exists for this to happen. A device like the iphone would be ideal for this service.

“You are here” creates a need that has not been satisfied.

I tried to attach the file I created... but its too big. Will have to upload it when i arrive at school...

Your Spark is the story of my life

2007-10-30T09:43:00.000-04:00

I've been inspired by social networking since it first hit the net with Friendster but it was not until the simplicity and addictiveness of Facebook, my involvement with the inspiring active community of TakingITGlobal -- alongside the the rise of blogging sites,YouTube's video sharing, Flickr's photo sharing, del.icio.us' bookmark sharing and other virtual communities that have made communication easier and more effective -- that I decided to pursue a thesis in designing a virtual community of my own; to use my skills as a graphic designer and observer for facilitating a process: using the Internet to enhance lives.

I came across Don Tapscott's Wikinomics shortly after I discussed my idea with my professor last year, which went on to prove that there is a lot of information on these sorts of matter and virtual communities are changing the Internet, changing lives and enhancing the way we communicate, help others and network. Wikinomics is the first book that talks about "mass collaboration" on the Internet and gives examples of all the different community websites starting of course with Wikipedia and open source information sharing. Some other highlights from his book are examples of "ideagoras": a marketplace for ideas from people who have the skills to the people who need their minds for innovation. The most successful website doing this is InnoCentive:

"In our Open Innovation Marketplace, Seekers- commercial, academic, and nonprofit organizations - draw on a global network of Solvers - more than 125,000 engineers, scientists, inventors, and business people - to meet challenging needs and move their organizations forward in the following areas:

• Physical Sciences
• Engineering and Design
• Chemistry
• Math and Computer Science
• Life Sciences
• Business and Entrepreneurship"

Pursuing my interest in social activism, over the past year I have also been researching social networking websites for people interested in social and global issues and non-profit organizations that need their voices heard. Besides the highly international and successful TakingITGlobal (which was also featured in Tapscott's book as an example for how Internet can promote activism) I looked into sites like idealist.org, igloo.org, design21sdn.com and was also really inspired by the philsophy and the amazing community of open-minded, like-minded people on zaadz.com which assured me that if you have a purpose, a heart and a strong mission with your site, you will attract the right minds and hearts, and your site will serve its purpose to connect others with the same goals.

My offline inspirations come from initiatives like ThinkTank at OCAD where designers from all backgrounds come together to discuss the potential for their skills in contribution towards community, humanity and sustainability. I'm also very drawn towards MIT's Comparative Media Studies (CMS) program that is designed for a multi-disciplinary education from literature, arts and media, history and so on to develop highly skilled students for the world that has yet to define jobs for their multi-faceted and informed minds. The head of the department Henry Jenkins has written quite a number of books and essays on this very subject about collaborative intelligence; he has been considered a living McLuhan of the 21st century. I'm inspired by the future and the potential for collaborative pursuits for defining that future...and Internet is the most amazing tool we could have ever asked for as species on this planet.

My life's story up to this point is really the main reason for this challenging undertaking. I've always had many interests that I've been passionate about -- sports, writing, reading, health, history, cultures, helping people, philosophy, nature, art, music and many other fascinating fields that provide endless knowledge -- and as a result of that I've met many inspiring people from various skills and strengths from different areas of profession. My community and group involvements have ensured me that I love to bring people together to inform and inspire eachother, as much as I like networking myself. I want people to see their potential through collaborative pursuits, and I mean that literally.

"JUST DANCE" - Everybody just dddddaaaaaaaannnnnnnccccccccceeeeeeeee!

2007-10-30T01:48:00.000-04:00

Hey guys check out my virtual community called, "JUST DANCE." It's a community created for reggae listeners. Read a more descriptive outline of the website at JustDance.com Blog.

Virtual Wardrobe Coordination

2007-10-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

finally posted..

Here it be~

In my research phase I looked at a place named NorSim (or The Lands of NoR) in second life. It is a roleplaying community, the environment looks dark and depressing but it is well populated and the residents seemed happy to be there. From there I found out more about roleplaying communities in general.

research

My virtual community prototype went in another direction. I wanted to solve a recurring problem I have with my friends, which is the need to coordinate our increasingly eccentric wardrobes when we partake in the many adventures that falls upon our otherwise normal lives. Usually this is done over the phone which never fully works out due to the lack of visual aid, none of us can fully remember every piece of clothing owned by each of us nor can our minds sucessfully render what we would look like when we all stand together. The other method is to have a slumber party the night before our adventures, thus being all in the same place when we wake up to dress. This method is immensely fun, however it is quite impractical (schedules, distance, the need to stuff entire wardrobe into suitcase and dragging it from Oshawa to Oakville, etc) and cannot be done every time.

My application will provide a solution to these problems. It is an online event planner and wardrobe coordination tool. The event planning part allows friends to figure out who is going to be at which party, this technogy already exists in things such as the 'Events' componant in Facebook. The second part of it will allow you to create an avatar. You will be able to customize physical appearence such as hair, skin colour, height, etc. After having a base avatar, you will be able to create cloths to put on. The idea is to have simple tools which allow you to create virtual replica's of the real cloths that you have. With all the cloths you create placed in an inventory, when you decide to attend a certain event, you will be aable to place your avatar into a space and dress him/her in the cloths from your, this space is a sort of virtual dress-up room which allows you and your friends to see what item will be worn when the event happens in real life, and from there you can choose to make adjustments as you see fit.

I thought about the possibility of collaborating with clothing brands to create a database of items, which would reduce to need for the members to actually create the virtual versions themselves. When they buy a new shirt, they can scan the barcode in to the computer and it would put a predone virtual version of it in your inventory. However I quickly had doubts about how much this would help me. My friends and I tend to wear our most obscure or heavily modified variety of items, and it would not be possible to cataloge every product from every brand around. Since this project is being built based on my needs, the corporate collaboration idea is scraped.

Anyways, in the file name I called it 'Eventor', but that sounds cheesy.. and the event planning component really isn't the main point of this thing. To say the truth I haven't been able to come up with a proper name... so I'll call it WARG

WARG

~ Marco.

[updated Nov 14 2007]Other, My Virtual Community

2007-10-29T19:57:00.000-04:00

The virtual community I present to you is a deviation from your standard forum-based community. It's kind of a pet project for a family member. The goal originally was to create an e-zine reflecting interracial/mixed/etc.. or individuals or people who are affected including new couples, or people who like to contribute to the idea. The second emphasis was to establish a new cultural definition of 'mixed'.

The project was to help those who do not have a percieved societal notion of background or culture to connect to others who have the same disconnection to the proper notion to the societal definition.

Cheers,
Andrew

Newseum

2007-10-28T21:17:00.000-04:00

My Report & Virtual Community

2007-10-27T17:21:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!
I still haven't fully recovered... but I -have- managed to get my report and virtual community online!
Check out the title link to see my report on the MyOCAD virtual community (which I hope no one else covered, but hopefully everyone is aware of) and a short write-up and link to my (functioning!) virtual community, SugoiClub!

Virtual Communities as a means for facilitating process

2007-10-24T15:22:00.000-04:00

My apologies to everyone for my third absence of class.

I was a guest speaker along with co-founder of TakingITGlobal and great friend Jennifer Corriero in Keith Rushton's Think Tank class introduing TIG to the classroom and drawing connections between social issues and a virtually community of social activism that is one of the most active online communities of its kind.

The site hase over 165,000 members from every single country in the world. The target is informing, inspiring and involving youth to get involved in their local and global communities by using TIG as a resource to come together and use as a tool and networking method to reach others global and inspire others to take action. It's a pretty remarkable, extremely successful and very touching community online, which is why I thought it was very relavent for me to share my experience with you and my reason for missing class. It was a really eye-opening experience for second year Think Tank students -- they are going to be working in groups to problem solve and come up with some ideas for TIG and how we as designers can look at some of the challanges TIG faces and how we can provide growth, increase visibility and sustain this inspiring community of activism.

As I hope you are aware that my thesis project is about actualizing a virtual community that aims to bring together people (now I'm focusing on institutions and different departments) and facilititate communication, access and interaction amongst those fields of study and allowing people to communicate for the purpose of colloboration.

I have also made a huge connect with CEO of Octopz who has created an innovational online platform for project collaboration which I will use toward my benefit for the collaboration feature of my website and use an already existing platform and work with them to better engage the site and its members.

Lots of exiting things here and I will be sharing more visuals with you very soon.

-Ghazaleh

Create your own community

2007-10-24T09:04:00.000-04:00

Virtual communities exist everywhere— on websites, scientific labs, mobile devices, in boardrooms, classrooms and in an imaginary world constructed by a child imagining bigger and better life experiences.
In this report, I chose to research the website, stumbleupon.com and have adapted ideas from this virtual community to apply them to my prototype website for Canadian Artists Against Sexual Assault/ Artistes Canadiens Contre L’Assaut Sexuel (CAASA/ACCAS). With this prototype design, I hope to launch it in-time for the group registration at the Ontario College of Art & Design.
With so many websites available to the world today, it is hard to keep track of all of the valuable resources, while filtering out the obsolete. So StumbleUpon! Is a place where you can diverge from your favourite listing on your computer such as the popular site of Google, and you can click the Stumble! Button to navigate an infinite number of sites to find new and innovative templates for information and communications.
StumbleUpon! is therefore a networking system within a networking system, because it has a database of websites, but also has a database of other “stumblers” who contribute to the database by visiting websites, presenting their ‘thumbs up, or thumbs down’ rating to StumbleUpon! and add new sites to the StumbleUpon! database with the ratings.
The concept of StumbleUpon! is simple: anyone can stumble upon a good website, but this group has named the concept and created a virtual community out of it (www.stumbleupon.com). As members, or visitors to the website, you don’t have to contribute to the database and can just view the sites to gather research or to play games; however, the membership registration process is quick and easy and you do not have to disclose any personal information right away, compared to other membership registration-focused websites such as hotmail, facebook, SecondLife and so on.
If you do decide to become a member of StumbleUpon!, then the second phase of registration is to select the categories of websites that you are interested in studying, or visiting during leisure time. This is a good idea, because for example without the categorical selection process, an artist would have to view sites based on molecular biology and a scientist would have to view art history pages, when these people do not habitually enjoy, or need to focus on those areas (www.stumbleupon.com). The list includes subjects such as, “art history, photography, multimedia, computer programming, cyberculture to Buddhism and beyond. When the toolbar is set-up on your web browser, all you have to do is click the ‘Stumble!” button and a window will appear with a website that fits into one of the categories of websites that you’ve chosen. If you keep clicking “Stumble!”, you will view websites in a random order, but under the categories you’ve chosen at registration, and you can change these categories at any time.
There are so many benefits of having StumbleUpon! on your computer and setting up a free account. When you are feeling under-motivated and can’t concentrate or focus on the work you have to do, StumbleUpon! helps you to diverge and take a break by looking at other sites. A similar action that you may have taken in the past when writing with pen technology, is to go outside and take a walk, but this virtual community offers the techno-break of the 21st century. It is like mind-mapping, but without the map. With so much technology now, inspiration takes training and innovative ideas are not as easily developed. Creativity Coach and Psychologist, Eric Maisel states:
Artists have available to them two working states, absorption and concentration, and each feels qualitatively different from the other. When artists are absorbed they are lost in time and space and oblivious to their surroundings…[I]nspiration flows from it. Choreographer Maurice Béjart wrote, “When I start work, I have a total vision of the final work—this vision lasting but one second.” The absorbed mind sees whole books, whole ballets, whole movies in a flash (Maisel, 33).

In this case, inspiration is literally in the hands and the mind of the artist. For the filmmaker, the film is literally projected on an invisible screen before their eyes before it is produced and directed. For the artist, the canvas floats in the air above their heads like it is already hanging in the Louvre. If you are not the type to envision the completed piece from start to finish in your work, you may be the “concentration artist” which Maisel describes as involving, “[M]uch more of an effortful state (33).” I believe that artists shift between both phases during the process of creation and they are not static in the process; nevertheless, an artist as Maisel states, “[m]ust also be able to concentrate, to work in the face of distractions (33).” Through these processes of absorption and concentration, motivation rises and falls, and the artist in the creative process is faced with having to focus when they can’t, or having to be open-minded when they need to focus. For the artist in this situation, having a website such as StumbleUpon!, they can diverge away from focusing intensely or being open-minded when they need to focus and can visit websites which will not only be informative, but will also provide entertainment and perhaps inspiration to overcome the creative process block that they are experiencing.
Until StumbleUpon!, Professors and employers were the people to give you linkages to exciting and innovative websites, but now it is the StumbleUpon! community of ‘stumblers’, or average people who are providing the sites for you to browse and bookmark. This says something about the internet and online communities in that they are becoming more and more ubiquitous to society and with everyone in the know of the exciting websites, it begs the question of, “will the internet sustain itself?” Will people overcome the machine, or will the machine overcome people (Haraway, 517)? Do we need the internet? Will we need the internet?
StumbleUpon! began in 2001 with the idea to narrow-down searches online based on your personal interests, to present user-rated web content based on categories defined by the StumbleUpon! team. Their focus is on establishing and creating virtual communities, and the section on the site called, “About StumbleUpon!,” states:
Information on the Internet changes rapidly. StumbleUpon is a dynamic approach to keep on top of this ever-evolving pool of knowledge. StumbleUpon filters through the vast amount of information on the web to direct Stumblers to high quality web sites which are relevant to their personal interests. An obscure but interesting site can be immediately shared with other like-minded users. Old or low-quality sites can be removed if their ratings become too low. The participation of community members helps maintain a database of the most up-to-date and highest quality sites possible (www.stumbleupon.com).

This feature is so important to the virtual community because living in such a high tech world where practically everyone is online, instant messaging each other and sending email at home or on their way to work, social life has been altered due to the “invasion” of web-based technology. Content needs to be condensed to make browsing efficient. There seems to be an increasing amount of websites with the idea of the virtual community as the primary focus of the website. This can feel somewhat comforting to the average web browser, and they no longer have to feel alienated from their peers, or from the world. Anyone can network on StumbleUpon!; you can show your profile, your list of favourite websites, post your photograph and can send emails to other ‘stumblers’ to potentially meet in-person and form lasting relationships (www.stumbleupon.com). This idea is not new, but it is gaining increasing popularity as more people become ‘users’ and connect online and realize that the Internet is not something to be afraid of, but rather can be a place to collaborate, to dialogue and to network with the choice of leaving your living room, or to meet in-person.
My virtual community, Canadian Artists Against Sexual Assault/ Artistes Canadiens Contre L’Assaut Sexuel (CAASA/ACCAS) currently exists as a community on igloo.org (www.igloo.org/caasaweb). It was initially set-up to offer a safe place for people living in Canada to dialogue about sexual assault issues in Canada and to gain support from other survivors; however, the site is under-used and readership is low. The first application of the idea for CAASA/ACCAS was established on Facebook.com and membership expanded to one hundred people within the first month. Marketing for the igloo site compared to the facebook site is taking much more effort because facebook has such a presence in media culture on the news as well as online and word-of-mouth. Nevertheless, the concept is there, and the support from current members is strong.
The igloo site is an excellent starting place for any non-profit organization, but it does seem to focus more heavily on the left-brain analytical and logistical research and development method of thought and practice, so for art groups to establish themselves and maintain their presentation as arts-based groups, igloo is not a lasting forum unless igloo adapts their marketing and design for artists (www.igloo.org/caasaweb).
The Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) launched their formal application process and system for student groups last year, and for CAASA/ACCAS, this is an excellent opportunity to expand and to reach the arts community, while staying focused on the mandate and vision of the group. Colleagues on CAASA/ACCAS and I are in-process of applying for student group status at OCAD and are excited for the opportunities that OCAD offers to student groups, such as webspace on the OCAD server, free use of rooms and offices on-campus, student centre exhibition space, have the opportunity to participate in university events, are promoted through OCAD’s website and publications, and are eligible for student organization funds through the OCADSU grants policy (GetInvolved, Brent James, OCAD).
Using the design template of StumbleUpon!, CAASA/ACCAS members will be able to select categories in the area of sexual assault and the arts in Canada that interest them, or that they’re interested in learning more about. In design of the prototype for part two of this assignment, I have designed a user-friendly arts focused and informational website to be used as the OCAD student group website for CAASA/ACCAS. The site will act as a hub between the groups’ core site on igloo.org and the facebook site:

Structure of CAASA/ACCAS Virtual Communities:

www.igloo.org/caasaweb>>>OCAD student group>>>Facebook Discussion Forum/Advertising site

Using references to the StumbleUpon! web structure, the OCAD site will act as a community networking system and users will be able to “favourite” the categories that interest them, and will be able to access information about group functions and upcoming events. After the site is created and connected with OCAD, a goal is to send the coding and template to other institutions across the country to bring CAASA/ACCAS to their student, and staff populations and make the virtual community of CAASA/ACCAS at OCAD a national virtual community among other campuses in Canada. As a result, more people will have access to resources, art will be created and presented online in virtual communities as well as real life communities and the goal and CAASA/ACCAS mandate will be met. Violence will be exposed in art creations so stigma in society will be minimized. This will support a stronger foundation for victims of sexual assault to stand up for themselves with support around them to report perpetrators to police. Governmental systems will pay more attention to prevention of sexual assault rather than correctional services and penalties for committing crimes of sexual assault will be strictly enforced.
It is amazing how virtual communities can facilitate a place for change and growth by offering resources and safe places for people wanting to make these changes happen. StumbleUpon! is a starting point for the creative process, and it is a place of respite for those moments of techno-fading, or mind-blocks. Adapting the features of StumbleUpon! to the prototype design of the website for the student group, Canadian Artists Against Sexual Assault/ Artistes Canadiens Contre L’Assaut Sexuel (CAASA/ACCAS) at OCAD will present an innovative method of searching and collaborating online and to meet in-person, thus balancing the use of technology with interpersonal communications. The result will be a great website, a motivating virtual community and a hope for positive change in society.

PASS IT ON

2007-10-24T08:47:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

The virtual community I created is called "PASS IT ON'. This online network allows people share to stories about their belongings and track their journey as they release into the physical world. People who find/claim this belonging are prompted to log on to PASS IT ON and also share their stories of how they found it and what experiences they had with it. In doing so, the website becomes a collective of stories documenting the history and journey of artefacts from our physical world. I wanted to create this online community because I think it would be awesome to look at an object and see beyond its superficial surfaces. I would love to realize the intrinsic value of an object based on where it came from, the lives it had touched and the places it had travelled.

Fiona

Lev's Assignment # 2 : My Virtual Community Called 'Buddies'

2007-10-24T08:41:00.001-04:00

Click on the title to link directly to the blog I made for my virtual community.
Hopefully you all show up today - because I have Buddies CD's for anyone who does.
Lev,

My Visual World

2007-10-24T08:41:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone
I have always paid attention to the world around me for inspiration. I have always tried to look around me and collect any visual piece that seems interesting and I have always tried to share them with my friends who have the same interest. From few years ago I have kept a journal which I decided to call “creative journal” and I’ve put anything that I thought can be an inspiration in it. I always wanted to share this journal with my friends and I have always interested to see what they have found. I thought that a virtual community can be a great way to fulfill this purpose so I decided to create a blog and call it “My Visual World”.
The blog and inspired me the most is a photoblog by Sam Javanrouh and the address is http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/
This blog will be a tool to show visual pieces that me, my friends and people in my career see everyday and think that they worth to share with others.

Thesis, The Digital Threads Network and the flu

2007-10-24T08:14:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!
Last week I attended a multi-day workshop with world-reknown electronic textile inventor/artist Joey Berzowska from XSLabs, and yesterday morning was my mid-term critique of my thesis... you might have noticed I've been sick for the last couple classes, even though I've been there, but I think I was just holding myself together for those two events. It seemed like the mment my crit was over, my flu took over my whole system. I haven't managed to finish my Virtual Community project for posting, and I'm really in no state to make it in to class - I'm sorry, I was really looking forward to seeing everyone's presentation!

I'll have my research paper and community prototype up on the blog befor enext class - but with how I'm doing right now, I'm not entirely sure when (just posting sitting at the computer long enough to post this is making me dizzy).

Please post your projects on the blog! I'd love to see what you're all up to! See you next week.
~Kat

Considerations and IDEAS for Assignment 2

2007-10-24T00:13:00.000-04:00

Here are Prof Doyle's notes from our conversation regarding the considerations and ideas for Assignment 2 - Create your Virtual Community - just click on the title to download the document.

Both your research summary and your prototype are due in class this week, for presentation from the blog. Please also hand in your research in printed form. Looking forward to your presentations!

Virtual Communities in Depth

2007-10-23T14:55:00.000-04:00

Here is my Virtual Communitites project

Jill 2234177

TED ideas worth spreading

2007-10-23T09:46:00.000-04:00

I came across ted.com website in one of my classes. You can find lectures about many new ideas by professionals in here. On of the lectures is about weblogs. I found it interesting and related to our class.

check it out,

Goly

Lev's Research on Craig's List

2007-10-16T16:29:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody - for that research thing I decided to cover the classified ad, and community network site www.craigslist.org. Not only is Craigslist important for being the 7th most viewed site on the english speaking internet, but I think the site deserves attention for becoming immensely successful without advertisements or typical commercial concerns of internet companies.
Here is the founder... Craig... (what did you think he was going to be named) Newmark, explaining his philosophy on why not-selling out was probably a really good idea.

Also another neat thing... here is a picture of their headquarters...

Not exactly what you expected, was it?

I think they seem like pretty humble people and not like your typical computer internet tycoons - and if I some day work for a company I hope it has similar ethics to www.craigslist.org/ . They seem to have realized that maximizing for profit gets in the way of breaking new ground - so cheers to them.
Lev

Jill's Audio BLog

2007-10-16T10:55:00.002-04:00

Licensed Video BLog - Mini Assignment

http://web.mac.com/jiruhill/iWeb/Site/Jill%20K%20Audio%20Project.html

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License.

You only live twice

2007-10-16T10:45:00.000-04:00

hello everyone,

just wanted to share something i came across. it's a documentary on second life airing on oct 31, on cbc newsworld. check out the above link.

Cheers
Fi.

all my Nuit Blanche photos

2007-10-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

I didn't see much of the whole thing because I was tired and didn't go to all the sites.

View all my photos

2007-10-12T16:04:00.001-04:00

Lev's Nuit Blanche Report

2006’s Nuit Blanche was a surprisingly awesome and engaging artistic experience. I was really impressed with the overall notion that I could never be quite certain if something was an artwork, performance, or just coincidence. The factors of this year, Nuit Blanche, 2007 were all set up to make up for a successful, if not better, follow-up to last year. However, unseasonably warm September weather, and a positive word of mouth regarding last year’s event sparked the curiosity of thousands of GTA citizens enticing them to take to the streets and see what all the fuss was about. This caused a crowd that was overwhelming in its massiveness and added long line-ups to nearly every event. Though this may have hindered my hopes to attend as many installations as possible – I still managed to take in enough to end the night feeling sated. Part of the intrigue of Nuit Blanche is not following any set plan. It is in the discovery of great things quite by accident and seeing how artists and their installations adapt to the continuous flow of viewers.

Starting off in Yorkville was probably not the wisest decision but the description of the sound installation located at the old Lower Bay Subway Station struck me as too interesting not to attend. When we arrived there was already quite a large line-up. Throngs of people wandered the streets of Yorkville, the SUVS blaring music and pushing the crowd out of their way did little to add to the enjoyment. While my friends and I waited in line, we watched a stunt man (with no apparent safety harness ) descend one of the office towers using a cable. Not exactly my idea of thought provoking art, but the crowd sure liked it. When we finally entered the venue, it proved to be worth the wait. It was entitled the Ghost Station, and it was by British Colombia artist Kristen Roos. The Lower Bay station is normally closed to the public, but on Nuit Blanche it looked great. The lack of any advertisements created a certain ambience that allowed the sound installation to become really effective.

Making our way to the University of Toronto campus, we witnessed the dance party going on underneath the recently renovated ROM. Like the stunt man in Yorkville, I did not exactly understand the artistic merit of this, but the capacity crowd did not seem to care, as they danced away to eardrum shattering techno. The next event we came upon was the Area 51 exhibit. Due to the misty cloud that hovered around the U of T campus, I initially mistook this for a repeat of the fog installation that engulfed this area last year. Last year’s fog was a mess, kids running around and slipping in mud, but it was also surprisingly disorienting in that it obscured your sense of the familiar. This year’s fog was much more controlled, and had a different and more theatrical purpose; to give the illusion of an alien autopsy being performed. The setting looked great, but it still had that feeling of being a little too much like an amusement park and less like a compelling art installation.

Around this time I started to get a little restless and the urge to see something that had some integrity and depth - or at least something to get my mind going – became pretty strong. So in a serendipitous moment unique to Nuit Blanche, I received a phone call from my sister– Emily. She gave me hurried instructions to meet her as soon as possible at the base of Trinity Bellwoods Park near Queen St. West. The artist featured there was a mutual friend of ours; Christ De Castro, and he required assistance from volunteers to construct giant paper cranes out of cardboard. It was fun to see something like this featured at Nuit Blanche - getting a lot of mileage out of a basically inexpensive idea. Everybody who was involved had a great time though. After the cranes where built - the artist and some friends proceeded to carry them down Queen St. - but myself, distracted by the events of the night and didn't follow them any further. By the time I had made it to the 6^th floor at OCAD, where the Second Life installation was set up, all of the computer monitors where turned off in the lab, except the large projection screen, which was being controlled by the Pilate’s ball. I had a go at it and enjoyed myself immensely. It was a relaxing alternative to the intensity of the crowds outside.

The events I have highlighted are only a few of the significant moments I experienced at this year’s Nuit Blanche. Although, in my opinion, this year’s event failed to live up to high standard set last year, I look forward to Nuit Blanche becoming a staple of Toronto’s art culture.

“Crowd” by Kristan Horton

2007-10-11T11:27:00.001-04:00

Nuit Blanche installation review
“Crowd” by Kristan Horton

by Ghazaleh Etezal
10 Oct 2007

I got off the subway at Bay and decided to begin my exploration there and meet up with my friend. While waiting for him, I walked around the Yorkville area and saw a huge line up for something. It wasn't huge; it was gigantic and I had no idea what it was for. I was a bit disappointed to see that line; it wasn't something I had experienced last year at Nuit Blanche. I then found out that the lineup was for the Bay subway "ghost station" which was apparently really cool. I really didn't feel like lining up for anything for an hour. My friend arrived and we just started walking around. Both of us were tired that night and we had not thoroughly reviewed the handbook and didn't know exactly what the hot-spots were. We did remember that we had wanted to check out the Japan Foundation, since we're both very intrigued by Japanese culture. So, our first stop was there. Line up --again, but this one was short and it was for a gallery exhibition of a Canadian woman's paintings from her trip to Japan's rural communities of individuals with bright colours and Japanese influenced vibrancy.

I didn't find it anything spectacular...really. We were actually both expecting Japanese art since we were in fact in the "Japan Foundation". So, the first stop wasn't very exciting. We then passed by the ROM, which didn't have anything but a bunch of people standing in front of it and lights were being projected on the Crystal expansion. Nothing to see there and I was getting agitated because a: I didn't like overwhelming crowds and b: I was worried if the whole night was going to be like that and if I was actually going to enjoy an experience.

We walked down to the U of T and our first choice was to see the wolf and deer installation, but we couldn't find it and I think if there were actual wayfinding signs for the installations it would have been very convenient, but that's just my opinion.

U of T campus was...interesting? I don't know what the balloon was all about, or even the squash courts. I found them meaningless and not very engaging. I don't think public spaces were used enough at Nuit Blanche. Big fields could have been used more effectively, especially when you're dealing with a massive herd of people strolling through from site to site.

We were both getting disappointed but not to say that we weren't having a good time. I actually really enjoyed walking through the city of Toronto at nighttime. I would never go through the U of T campus or walk towards Queen's Park at that time of night without a reason and I really began to appreciate what the Toronto city landscape had to offer. The night was beautiful and the art I saw was the art of people coming together in a city at night to walk the city and engage through observation and experience. The art of people in a city environment was very beautiful for me.

We had a set goal to reach the "Crowd" installation at Queen's Park. I had marked it as a spot I really wanted to stop at when I read its description in the handbook. My friend assured me that that stop would be great and we would enjoy it and I would write about it (he senses these things quite well). We reached Queen's Park and saw a couple other installations before we hit my favourite part of the night: the "Crowd".

The night was about light. It was the technique of light, sound and space that I was looking to enjoy at Nuit Blanche and Kristan Hortan did a very well job of attracting my eyes, ears, full attention and engagement with his conceptual installation. Located at the south end of Queen's Park near College street, "Crowd" was what I would describe as an environmental sculpture designed like a stage / stadium structured with metal poles and illuminated by a number of positioned lights designed to encapsulate the essence of nature with light, camera, sound and people.
The official Nuit Blanche description of the installation was the following:

"“Crowd is an encounter of the alien. What is elsewhere is experienced here. What is “heard” is an orchestration of time and space. What is “seen” is the collective exposed within a colossal and immersive light environment. Crowd juxtaposes the stationary with the transitory, effectively setting the stage for a close encounter."

We found so much meaning, so much peace and so much power in Hortan’s piece that compelled us beyond our control to sit down and enjoy the experience in the park. I found it so interesting that the installation piece itself – as in the built physical element – wasn’t what drew people towards itself; it was the lighting, the trees, the loud speakers projecting sounds of music as if being performed on stage, and voices and sounds drawing connections to a certain experience – like a cockpit for example or happy whistling or even opera singing. It was about the atmosphere it created with the loud projection of sounds and music, amongst a stage of light that invited people to circle around and enjoy being a part of the piece, as if they were the essential elements for completion of the installation.

Horton is a widely recognized artist from Toronto who has had exhibitions around
the world:

“Kristan Horton was born in Canada in 1971. He studied at Guelph University and the Ontario College of Art and Design. He has had an international exhibition career since the late 1990's including Glassbox, Paris (FR), ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland, Inter Communications Center, Tokyo.”

His sculptures have been recognized for creating a fourth dimension using time and space. NOW magazine credits his work for having such quality:
“Horton scores big points for pushing sculpture brilliantly into theoretical physics.”
In Contemporary magazine, Toronto writer and OCAD faculty member Ian Carr-Harris reflects on another installation of Horton’s as collapsing “natural cycle and mechanized ambition in a form of reveire on distance”.

Horton seems to really have a strong sensitivity on how to engage, captivate and reflect upon the connections between senses and environments using time and space as his tools for design. He sure opened my eyes and ears to new possibilities with installation art in public spaces.

Sources

Carr-Harris, Ian. “Kristan Horton”. Contemporary 2006 Annual. 2006:67.

Horton, Kristan. Official Website. 10 Oct. 2007 http://www.kristanhorton.com.

Temple, Kevin. “The physics of sculpture, Kristan Horton's brilliant work takes form into a new dimension.” Now Magazine. November 24-30.

What are you?

2007-10-10T13:56:00.000-04:00

Reflection within the ripples.
Pursuing an identity within a multicultural society.

Michelle Picard Project #2

2007-10-10T09:42:00.000-04:00

Community Journalism- Bryn

2007-10-10T09:38:00.001-04:00

"Violence both establishes and preserves the Law"—Naghat, 2005

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Ceramics no more

2007-10-10T09:35:00.000-04:00

Hello again,
Here's my series of podcasts on the dissolution of the Ceramics Program at OCAD.
I actually have another 3 interviews via audio recording, but I was really interested in working with film editing, as I'd never done that before. I found Final Cut Pro to be too complex, even after our in class demo, so I did all of them on iMovie. It took me a long time to figure it out, but I have a vague idea how to edit video in it now!

I did a series because it seemed that I was either without a 'story' of the 'interview' was too long... so I tried editing numerous different sets of film.

Enjoy!

~Kat

Interview with a silly vampire...

2007-10-10T09:28:00.002-04:00

Marco has interviewed his friend Tiffany. She doesn't like being video'd or photo'd, because she's a vampire. I only got her voice.

I had a crap load of problems with the sound quality. Between not getting a clean recording and me converting it too many times... the result sounds like crap. I'm not very happy with it. ( x_x)a ...rawrgh...

>here it be<

~Marco < yup. that's my name.

The Distance

2007-10-10T09:28:00.001-04:00

Hi
For the purpose of this project I have recorded a series of long-distance phone-call conversations that I had with my friends and relatives during this long weekend.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Nuit Blanche.. finally

2007-10-10T02:28:00.000-04:00

did anyone else have problems with the blog this week?
( >_<)~ Rainy shall try one more time before class!

Yes.. Nuit Blanche experience finally...

Excerpt from my review~

"The project in most basic terms is an amplifier. It looks like a series of brass instruments assembled in an oval. Around this oval are small mouth pieces much like those of a trumpet. By putting an earbud of their headphones up against one of these mouthpieces, music from their music player will be sent through the metal tubes and amplified to come out of the silver horns several times louder than from the headphones."

Full review here

Here's a little video... sorry for the crappy quality on this.. and the photo too... I went solo that night. Lack of friends causes malfunctions.

Community Project - OCAD Student Voice

2007-10-09T23:31:00.000-04:00

OCAD Student Forum 2007: What's In A Name?

After some commotion at the last Town Hall meeting, it is evident that OCAD's renaming needs a lot more assertive debate and critical problem solving. There are many issues that have arisen with the OCAD administration's drastic decision to re-name and re-brand the school, without any genuine communication, research and discussion with the OCAD internal and extended community for the making of this decision.

A completely student organized event, this meeting is an opportunity for students, faculty, alumni and professionals to truthfully address their opinions, concerns, suggestions and visions for the future of this school. We have a lot to talk about. Wise action will not be made if we do not dig into the root of the problem here. It's time to bring our voices together and listen to one another if we want to make any change that is for the best interest of this thriving community.

This heated session will be documented and its recording has the possibility to be publicized. Make a presence, voice your opinion, listen and be receptive to people with perspectives different than your own. It's time to be realistic, intelligent and more importantly democratic about this decision.

These are questions that we will be discussing...

1. Is the renaming necessary? Why and for what purpose?

2. Is it wise for OCAD to put "University" in its official identity name considering its studio based education and current circumstances?

3. If the re-brand and renaming is an absolute, what thinking must we go through to consider a new name and identity? How do we problem solve with our creative abilities to embrace the education and community here at OCAD?

Here is the pdf I had projected for this meeting.

Here is the full Town Hall meeting that took place a week prior to this initiative.

Here is the second half of the Student Forum on audio

the mountain story

2007-10-09T22:28:00.000-04:00

Hello Hello,

So i decided to interview my dear friend raphy. When it comes to romance he has lots to say and definitely a lot of stories to share. This particular audio captures him explaining his perceptions towards romance and if these perceptions have a place in this world.

Enjoy,
Fiona

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Lev's Audio Interview

2007-10-09T21:28:00.000-04:00

Okay - so for my audio interview I decided to interview someone pretty close to me... It's my sister: Emily Cocarell - and she certainly had something to say. I let the tapes roll for about 30 mins and asked her a variety of questions about living in Toronto, Nuit Blanch, the night life, and what sort of community she thinks she is part of. I posted it on Myspace for now, so feel free to check it out, if the above link does not work just copy and paste this url: http://www.myspace.com/levesonandfriends

Note to Teachers:
The fidelity of the recordings seems to have gone down on the myspace stream - but my original recordings are much more hiss free. I will bring them to class on my USB port for you guys to have on Wednesday.

Enjoy,
Leveson Cocarell

Bryn's Txtual Healing Experience

2007-10-08T20:05:00.002-04:00

Imagine walking along a street and a crowd of people stand before you, some laughing, some with their heads down and clicking away on the keypad of their cell phones. Speech bubbles are seen on a building wall above your field of vision, an artist hands you a thin piece of paper with a phone number on it. He says, "Send a text message to this address and it will appear on the wall above." The project is called, "Txtual Healing" and artist, Paul Notzold is the creator of this interactive, textual experience.

Click the link above to read more of my review of Txtual Healing by Brooklyn New York artist, Paul Notzold.

Nuit Blanche Review & Documentation

2007-10-08T15:04:00.000-04:00

Click on the title to see 99 of my photos from Nuit Blanche, or read my review.

Sorry it's so negative folks :P

Leveson's Nuit Blanch Experience

2007-10-07T20:41:00.001-04:00

Or as I heard someone call it that night: 'Newt Blanch'

That night I took a break from the swarm of people and found some peace at the base of Trinity Bellwoods Park near Queen St. West. All of the above photographs were taken by my sister, Emily - on her Polaroid camera. The artist featured is a friend of ours Christ De Castro, and he can be seen in the following photographs constructing his giant paper cranes out of carboard. It was fun to see something like this - getting a lot of mileage out of really basic (cheap) ideas. Everybody who was involved had a great time though. After the cranes where built - the artist and some friends proceeded to carry them down Queen St. -- but myself, I got distracted by the events of the night and didn't follow them any further.

I covered it more in my paper -

Lev.