Dibbell's "A Rape in Cyberspace" is an event that took place before times of virtual community rules & regulations. Mr. Bungle, a virtual character in the community LambdaMOO, performed virtual rape on two voo-doo dolls that resembled two other virtual characters named Exu and Moondreamer. The two characters were emotionally victimized by this event, and sought justice against Mr. Bungle. Mr. Bungle was deleted from this community, but created a new account and came back as Dr. Jest. Deleting Mr. Bungle did not solve the problem what-so-ever. Dibbell discovered some time later that Mr. Bungle was operated by an entire floor of a dorm at NYU, and that only one person came back as Dr. Jest.
I have never been the target of virtual rape, but I have been the target of virtual stalking. During my first semester in Pullman I had accepted a friend on Myspace. His name was Brian So-And-So, and he was from Yakima, and my ignorant thinking was well I don't know this guy and he lives far from me. Brian began IM me via Myspace and I discovered he lived in Pullman. To make a long story short he started being an ass one day and I told him I would take him off my Myspace. That's when things got scary...he told me my address, what car I drove, and where I pick up my daughter. The final thing he said was...don't delete me...by the way your daughter is really cute...do you really want a F-ing enemy? I blocked this guy, and contacted WSU campus police. The detective told me that I was being threatened, and this act was considered harassment. I told the detective everything I knew about the guy, and printed off my history of our conversations as evidence. The detective informed me that there was no Brian So-And-So from Yakima, and didn't live in the dorm like he'd claimed. I was told to delete my profile, and to contact the detective if I noticed anyone following me or lurking around. They never discovered this guy/girls identity.
Describing this event is making me cry, because I can remember feeling so helpless and unsafe. I missed school for three weeks, and had severe anxiety whenever I'd leave my house. I began sleeping on my couch, because I was afraid I would not hear someone breaking in if I was asleep in my room. I had to inform my daughters daycare of the threat against her. Needless to say what happens in a virtual environment can indeed carry over and have a negative emotional effect on your RL.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Analyzing Cultural Patterns
http://lab.softwarestudies.com/2008/09/cultural-analytics.html
At the above website I came across an interesting article titled "Cultural-Analytics: Visualizing Cultural Patterns in the Era of "More Media." by Lev Manovich, a visual arts professor at the University of California. Manovich and his team developed the Software Studies Initiative to better analyze digital cultural patterns. In 2008, Manovich received a grant from the US National Endowment for the Humanities/Digital Humanities office, which helped get 300,000 hours of computing time on the Department of Energy supercomputers. Manovich and his team are working towards developing visual systems that can follow real-time cultural flow, and can constantly update data from the web in real-time. The need for this software is due to the effects of cultural and digital globalization. Its become impossible to keep track of "global digital cultures" when there are millions of contributors, and billions of cultural objects.
Millions of people are able to create new media everyday due to sites like Youtube.com and Flickr. People are creating and sharing cultural content, such as, comments, photos, blogs, videos, etc. I think its brilliant that Manovich wants to development software that can use the mass amounts of "born-digital" cultural content to gather information and track global cultures, as the previous tools for collecting cultural data do not apply to the "digital world".
At the above website I came across an interesting article titled "Cultural-Analytics: Visualizing Cultural Patterns in the Era of "More Media." by Lev Manovich, a visual arts professor at the University of California. Manovich and his team developed the Software Studies Initiative to better analyze digital cultural patterns. In 2008, Manovich received a grant from the US National Endowment for the Humanities/Digital Humanities office, which helped get 300,000 hours of computing time on the Department of Energy supercomputers. Manovich and his team are working towards developing visual systems that can follow real-time cultural flow, and can constantly update data from the web in real-time. The need for this software is due to the effects of cultural and digital globalization. Its become impossible to keep track of "global digital cultures" when there are millions of contributors, and billions of cultural objects.
Millions of people are able to create new media everyday due to sites like Youtube.com and Flickr. People are creating and sharing cultural content, such as, comments, photos, blogs, videos, etc. I think its brilliant that Manovich wants to development software that can use the mass amounts of "born-digital" cultural content to gather information and track global cultures, as the previous tools for collecting cultural data do not apply to the "digital world".
Chapter 5 Passage
On pg. 181 in Chapter 5 of Digitizing Race Nakamura discusses a passage by John Perry Barlow, called "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace". This passage discusses cyberspace as being a virtual place where anyone can go, regardless of race, and where one is free to share ideas and/or beliefs without fear. Nakamura gives credit to Barlow, in that he addresses race as a problem of access, but this hope for cyberspace is far from reality.
In the introduction of this book, Nakamura states that cyberspace is anything but a place where gender, race, and ethnicity are considered equal(pg. 34)but rather a place where all of these subjects are amplified. Today, many websites are created to bond a certain race or gender. For example, sites such as ivillage.com are communities for women, which leaves out the other large portion of the population...men.
In the introduction of this book, Nakamura states that cyberspace is anything but a place where gender, race, and ethnicity are considered equal(pg. 34)but rather a place where all of these subjects are amplified. Today, many websites are created to bond a certain race or gender. For example, sites such as ivillage.com are communities for women, which leaves out the other large portion of the population...men.
Friday, February 12, 2010
You Can Not See...It's Beneath The Surface
Nakamura describes a part of the movie in Minority Report(pg. 118), where John Anderton, who is played by Tom Cruise, has his eyes replaced so that digital devices cannot trace his identity. Andertons' eyes are replaced with Asian eyes, but he is not aware of this until shopping in Gap, and he is addressed as Mr. Yakamoto, after having his eyes scanned. This part of the movie is compelling to me, because it diminishes certain stereotypes people may have about race, in regards to the way they "think" Asian eyes "should" look or that a "white" man cannot possibly be Asian. When Anderton is walking out of the store saying to himself Mr. Yakamoto?, it is kind of comical, because he may not get caught by having his eyes scanned, but you know he's thinking the last name is a dead give away in society. It's interesting how when it comes to organ replacement, people don't generally think about race, or at least I've never heard about it. Or maybe if organ replacement is necessary for ones survival, people stop being so ignorant, and realize that we are all created the same, but each have unique features.
This topic made me think of a movie I recently watched named Surrogates. In the movie, Bruce Willis is searching for the person causing "real-life" people to die while operating their "surrogate" robots. Mind you these people stay in their houses while controlling these robots, which are out working and roaming the real world. People who live on the outskirts of town, are considered "outsiders", because they do not want to partake in the new society of surrogate robots. The leader of the "outsiders" is a powerful, big, mean looking, African-American man. However, we figure out the leader ends up being a robot, and is run by an old "white" skinny man, who first created surrogates.
This movie ties in with the other, in that people have preconceived ideas about who people are based on race alone. In the first movie there is a white man who could not possibly be Asian, because of his features?! In the second movie there is a black man who could not possibly be a scrawny old "white "man underneath, because he appears so powerful?!? Maybe this is why there is so much fascination with avatars in the virtual world, as people are not judged on their RL appearance.
This topic made me think of a movie I recently watched named Surrogates. In the movie, Bruce Willis is searching for the person causing "real-life" people to die while operating their "surrogate" robots. Mind you these people stay in their houses while controlling these robots, which are out working and roaming the real world. People who live on the outskirts of town, are considered "outsiders", because they do not want to partake in the new society of surrogate robots. The leader of the "outsiders" is a powerful, big, mean looking, African-American man. However, we figure out the leader ends up being a robot, and is run by an old "white" skinny man, who first created surrogates.
This movie ties in with the other, in that people have preconceived ideas about who people are based on race alone. In the first movie there is a white man who could not possibly be Asian, because of his features?! In the second movie there is a black man who could not possibly be a scrawny old "white "man underneath, because he appears so powerful?!? Maybe this is why there is so much fascination with avatars in the virtual world, as people are not judged on their RL appearance.
Friday, February 5, 2010
It's All About Balance
Always-On/Always-On-You: The Tethered Self
By Sherry Turkle
http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/www/pdfsforstwebpage/ST_Always%20On.pdf
I found an interesting chapter by Sherry Turkle that addresses technology, and how cell-phones are always turned on, and carried with you, meaning you are able to contact or be contacted by people anytime, and at any location. Turkle goes on to describe a trip she took to Paris with her daughter, and how her daughter was constantly texting friends, and describing her experiences while they were there. Turkle worried that her daughter was missing the RL experience of Paris, due to the constant need to feel connected with her friends via technology. Turkle felt as if her daughter never left home...mentally.
For the younger generations the switch from physical to virtual world is done with ease. Older generations may feel pressured by newer technology and societies expectations to be "Always-On" and "Always-On-You", as this can feel like a burden. However, new technology, such as, cell-phones with cameras, Internet, and built in daily planners are somewhat seductive to the majority of the population, as you can do more, and be at more places at once. Turkle is concerned about the fact that technology goes with us everywhere, and this may be taking away from traditional rituals of separation, and a person's need for "down-time". I can see the concern, because as a society we are multi-tasking in ways that previous generations have never been able to. The fact that we can talk to anyone, anywhere, at any given moment and vice-versa, can take away from the separation, and down-time that every human needs. I suppose it's up to the user to acknowledge the need for personal down-time, and simply silence the phone(not just to sleep), and leave it behind once in awhile. Not only do our bodies deserve a break, but our brains deserve one too. Just something to think about...but not too hard :)
By Sherry Turkle
http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/www/pdfsforstwebpage/ST_Always%20On.pdf
I found an interesting chapter by Sherry Turkle that addresses technology, and how cell-phones are always turned on, and carried with you, meaning you are able to contact or be contacted by people anytime, and at any location. Turkle goes on to describe a trip she took to Paris with her daughter, and how her daughter was constantly texting friends, and describing her experiences while they were there. Turkle worried that her daughter was missing the RL experience of Paris, due to the constant need to feel connected with her friends via technology. Turkle felt as if her daughter never left home...mentally.
For the younger generations the switch from physical to virtual world is done with ease. Older generations may feel pressured by newer technology and societies expectations to be "Always-On" and "Always-On-You", as this can feel like a burden. However, new technology, such as, cell-phones with cameras, Internet, and built in daily planners are somewhat seductive to the majority of the population, as you can do more, and be at more places at once. Turkle is concerned about the fact that technology goes with us everywhere, and this may be taking away from traditional rituals of separation, and a person's need for "down-time". I can see the concern, because as a society we are multi-tasking in ways that previous generations have never been able to. The fact that we can talk to anyone, anywhere, at any given moment and vice-versa, can take away from the separation, and down-time that every human needs. I suppose it's up to the user to acknowledge the need for personal down-time, and simply silence the phone(not just to sleep), and leave it behind once in awhile. Not only do our bodies deserve a break, but our brains deserve one too. Just something to think about...but not too hard :)
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