Lecture 9 - Networked Creativity (by Jason Nelson)

Lecture 9 – Jason Nelson Internet Use. Creative uses of technology
What are some of the more creative uses of the net?

Jason first showed us a very cool real time disaster map that reports all the disasters that have been reported in the world in real time. You can even get details of the events. This site connects to emergency management services all over the world. It is run on Google maps. He then showed us a bunch of interesting sites such as www.speedtest.net. On this site you can check the speed of your internet connection. We connected to a site in Perm Russia and downloaded a bit of data. Ist ping then downloaded a bit of data in 0.62ms. ISP can tell you exactly which physical address data comes from. All off this really brings home just how the Internet is a living breathing instant network. I realized that seems obvious and a bit stupid but when you see in a graphical format, and in real time, data going from a computer in the room to a computer in Russia and back again, it becomes a lot clearer that this is live network of untold computers all communicating with each other NOW. Very cool.

We also learnt about some techno security, surveillance stuff. For example all colour prints have code in them to prevent counterfeit money. Keylogger records the keystroke you make on the computer. Employers can and do use these to monitor your work performance and use of their property against company policy. They are not obligated to tell as it is their property. Archiving of email by unis and companies.

Jason then showed some of the ways creative people are making money from the web as well as just having fun. Such as:
Generators – a whole bunch of tools that people use to automatically create something. Douchebag name generator.

What makes people successful on the internet are people that are continuously create content, like Homestar runner, a successful home run weekly cartoon – The business makes a lot of money selling related products – shirts, posters, etc.

Portable apps – open source repository of software, much of which can be store software on a memory stick. Eventually some people see PCs will just be interfaces to the internet. A bit like the terminal – server setup of the old days, but the Internet will be the server. We only investigate the net in little (1min – 2min) chunks. We find stuff and pass along. The internet is one of the last places that people do things for free. In that sense the open source community is a unique phenomenon in the world.
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Searching is a big thing as the power of Google can attest.
Freewaregenius.com – site that reviews freeware.
Technorati – search engine / directory for blogs. Can see how many people follow the blog (its popularity). In the 90’s yahoo use to keep info in directories. These days one can use different ways to search, such as on Google by clicking more. Google Wave – the next generation of emails + real time doc sharing + chat window. Can work on docs at the same time from different locations. Perhaps the next wave of communication software?

We then looked at some of Jason‘s art. This was an interesting experience for me after having reviewed his site the previous day. I must confess to not really being a arty type of person so I didn’t really appreciate his work much. Hearing him as well as other more arty type people in the room comment on it really opened my eyes. Learning some of Jason’s motivations behind what he had done made it more understandable. I also learnt a new appreciation for digital art and its unique qualities, such as making artwork with the browser as the canvas. How it is art that is unlike anything before it, even though, much like the convergence of technology, it is creating a new form from the old by converge the art of music, painting, animation etc. I found this opened my eye’s and gave a new appreciation for digital art. Not that I think I’ll start hanging around galleries, but I will approach with a more open mind.