Category: Lifestream

For any serious gamer there are few seminal titles more influential than Halo. The flag ship FPS (first person shooter) that accompanied the launch of Microsoft’s XBOX gaming console in 2001 was a major reason that the platform became so successful and has become one of the most popular gaming devices in the new millennium.

Anyone who’s played Halo: Combat Evolved will recall the haunting theme tune that accompanied the main menu and provided background to many of the cut scenes,  large scenic segments and the ending credits. Thoroughly rooted in the past , the early parts featuring chanting monks provided an atmosphere of both mystery (thinking armor clad knights and the crusade) and reverence to a game that was all about vast empty space and a strange, quasi religious experience involving alien covenants and rites of passage for the main character. The later parts of the score inject urgency, power and flight.

Given that many humans would love nothing more than to emulate the Master Chief (the main character and hero of the story) its interesting to note the it is never revealed throughout the entire series whether he is truly just a man of extreme martial ability or, more likely, an augmented meta human gifted with godlike bionic capabilities to achieve his incredible feats of survival and combative prowess. However, the price paid for such a ‘gift’ seems to never be really acknowledge but it is somehow projected? But no doubt,  if such a possibility existed then I dont think there would be any shortage of volunteers! A lesson for would be cyborgs perhaps?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bat1QaCtDhY

Jonathan Sterne’s chapter in the recommended reading  Critical cyberculture studies. (pp.17-28. (ebook)) has been somewhat of a revelation since reading it. In a world obsessed by image, visual stimulation and sight based impact its clear to me that we are effectively missing most of the potential messages and mediums to explore, experience and provide expression with technology. As technology grows ever more capable and inventive we really do need to try and involve more senses in the delivery of ideas involving cyberculture.

(Image: RobotsandAvatars.net)

(Image: Deviant Art)

So it really feels like I’m getting out of the staring gates very late indeed and wel after everyone has passed the first corner. Being away from my normal environment for a week with a heavy dose of international travel has thrown me quite a bit particularly with the EDC’s alternative method or participation and assessment. Additionally it appears that any of my fellow students are the proverbial ducks and are producing some rather incredible lifestream content by the minute. My aim this week (we’re already in week 2) is to catch up and match the standard (if I indeed can!)

Having dived into the first set of videos, some recent conversation and picking up a similar theme from some of the tweets and comments throughout the course Im developing a rather strange sense of….darkness?

Much of the sentiments revolving around some of the initial content has been quite dark. Dark in the sense that future technology, in it various forms and imaginings (whether it be stoic, blood spattered androids on roof tops in the driving rain, cyborg humans suffering devastating breakups or even disappointed desktop travelling desk toy bots), is overwhelmingly seen to ultimately end up in a melancholy way. Even my discussions with colleagues around the ultimate use of tracking by internet companies was negative. I even watched Snowden (2016) on the plan back from Lisbon which was even more unsettling.

Im now perplexed by the different ways that the use of technology and the advantages its brings is only really separated by time and familiarity. All our fears of killer AI cyber punks developing from our creation of smart robot assistants in years to come may just end up being as boring as the television now is. When it first appeared TV was portended to end whole societies and family structures. And it seems to go with a lot of new ideas that way. Thanks Phillip K. Dick, your work is now complete here!

Even one of first readings is titled ‘Whats the matter with ‘technology enhanced learning?’ (Bayne (2014)’. Heres hoping the themes turn more positive soon 😉

Its taken me some time to get up to speed contributing as  I’ve been attending a conference in Lisbon, Portugal this whole week. But I’m finally getting a chance to come up for air so here goes it for my first post on this blocks topics.

Over dinner on Tuesday night with my colleagues and an excellent bottle of Portuguese vino we started discussing how very clever technology around us has become. It was prompted by our remarks that Google and any online experience we were all currently having was being geo located for us while in Portugal. I was being shown offers from local Lisbon shops, restaurants and website without even asking for it! For me this is somewhat annoying. Yes, its good to know whats immediately around me but wheres the sense of discovery from being in a new place? To my surprise I found that I was almost entirely alone in thinking that this localized, doctored feed of information and tracking is somewhat concerning. In fact some there were even were rather happy that Google knows exactly where they are all the time, tracks their every move (in the virtual AND physical world), purchase and buying habits and that it can also suggest suitable music for them based on passed playlists. I was told that I was the weird one for not thinking this was wonderful in all manner if ways.

I labelled them all sheep and carried on drinking but it really floored me that most thought this was ‘quite cool’. Are we really becoming that comfortable with tech at this level that we’re not even gona question its motivations?

This s a bit of a weird subject to kick off my first blog but its been topical so far. More relevant ramblings to come…