Monthly Archives: March 2013

Hayles understands “human” and “posthuman” as constructions that emerge from historically specific understandings of technology, culture and embodiment; “human and “posthuman” views each produce unique models of subjectivity.Within this framework “human” is aligned with Enlightenment notions of liberal humanism, including its emphasis on the “natural self” and the freedom of the individual. Conversely, Posthuman does away with the notion of a “natural” self and emerges when human intelligence is conceptualized as being co-produced with intelligent machines. According to Hayles the posthuman view privileges information over materialism  considers consciousness as an epiphenomenon and imagines the body as a prosthesis for the mind. Specifically Hayles suggests that in the posthuman view “there are no essential differences or absolute demarcations between bodily existence and computer simulation…” The posthuman thus emerges as a deconstruction of the liberal humanist notion of human.

Despite drawing out the differences between “human” and “posthuman”, Hayles is careful to note that both perspectives engage in the erasure of embodiment from subjectivity. In the liberal humanist view, cognition takes precedence over the body, which is narrated as an object to possess and master. While popular conceptions of the cybernetic posthuman imagine the body as merely a container for information and code. Noting the alignment between these two perspectives, Hayles uses How We Became Posthuman to investigate the social and cultural processes and practices that led to the conceptualization of information as separate from the material that instantiates it. Drawing on diverse examples, such as Turing’s Imitation Game, Gibson’s Neuromancer and cybernetic theory, Hayles traces the history of what she calls “the cultural perception that information and materiality are conceptually distinct and that information is in some sense more essential, more important and more fundamental than materiality.” By tracing the emergence of such thinking, and by looking at the manner in which literary and scientific texts came to imagine, for example, the possibility of downloading human consciousness into a computer, Hayles attempts to trouble the information/material separation and in her words, “…put back into the picture the flesh that continues to be erased in contemporary discussions about cybernetic subjects.”

This essay surveys the development and current state of electronic literature, from the popularity of hypertext fiction in the 1980’s to the present, focusing primarily on hypertext fiction, network fiction, interactive fiction, locative narratives, installation pieces, “codework,” generative art and the Flash poem. It also discusses the central critical issues raised by electronic literature, pointing out that there is significant overlap with the print tradition. At the same time, the essay argues that the practices, texts, procedures, and processual nature of electronic literature require new critical models and new ways of playing and interpreting the works. A final section discusses the Preservation, Archiving and Dissemination (PAD) initiative of the Electronic Literature Organization, including the Electronic Literature Collection Volume I and the two white papers that are companion pieces to this essay, “Acid Free Bits” and “Born Again Bits.” Intended audiences include scholars, administrators, librarians, and funding administrators, respectively, who are new to electronic literature and for whom it is hoped this essay will serve as a useful introduction. Because this essay is the first systematic attempt to survey and summarize the fast-changing field of electronic literature, artists, designers, writers, critics, and other stakeholders may find it useful as an overview, with emphasis on recent creative and critical works.

In all Animal Crossing games, the player assumes the role of a human character, who moves into a rural village populated with anthropomorphic animals and lives there indefinitely. Gameplay is open-ended: players have no defined objectives, but are instead encouraged to spend their time in the village performing any number of activities, which include collecting items, planting plants or other items, and socializing with the village’s residents. All Animal Crossing games are played in real time, utilizing thesystem‘s internal clock and calendar. Thus, passage of time in the game world reflects that in reality, as well as the current season and time of day. Some in-game events, such as holidays or the growth of a tree, occur at certain times or require some duration of time to have passed.

One notable feature of the Animal Crossing series is the high level of customization available, some of which affects the outcome of the game.The player character is both named and gendered, and its appearance can be modified by buying or designing custom clothes and accessories or changing the hairstyle (introduced in Wild World). The player’s house can also be furnished, decorated, and later expanded: the player can purchase and collect furniture from Tom Nook, the village merchant, and place it anywhere in the house, as well as change both the wallpaper and floor designs. While its terrain, building locations, and initial residents are randomly generated when the game is first begun, the village’s name and anthem, as well as some of the residents’ catchphrases, are also determined by the player.

Collecting items is a major facet of Animal Crossing: the player can explore the village and gather objects, including fruit from trees, seashells, and discarded items. Nearly all objects can be sold to Tom Nook for Bells, the in-game currency. A number of specialized tools are available for other activities such as fishing and insect collecting. Special items, such as fossils and paintings, may be donated to the village museum. The player can choose to socialize with the other animal residents by engaging in conversation, sending and receiving letters, bartering, or playing hide-and-seek. Residents may move in or out of the village depending on the player’s actions.

All installments of Animal Crossing allow some form of communication between players, both offline and online. A single village can house up to four human players, though only one can be exploring the village at any given time.The players can interact via written messages through the village post office or bulletin board. The Nintendo GameCube iteration allowed players to travel to other villages by trading memory cards written with the game data but all subsequent installments allow players to traveland interact online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

Mortal Combat

one of the coolest games for gamecube. it is super fun

Olin Bjork, wow! Incredible ideas indeed for the new generation approaching the classroom transformed by the internet and computers. In the Article Writing in the Wild a paradigm for mobile Composition by Olin Bjork and John Pedro Shwartz delves into the depths of what students of the future and students of contemporary society face by the ever increasing influence of computers in our life. One important topic that this article covers is experiencing learning outside of the confines of the architecturally defined classroom. This concept like many contemporary artistic concepts is post modern. Essentially, questioning the very topic of learning itself, through the expansion of the activity in other environments. Learning occurs at every second of every day, of every hour, however, being taught in a formal setting is an incredibly different climate. For this, one requires supplies, texts, a teacher and a suitable environment for this to occur. Now-a-days people can take their laptops and find their ‘suitable’ environment in a coffee shop or directly from their messy college dorm room which smells of old taco bell farts.

This capability of learning in any environment is a positive and exciting new ability we as students have, however, taking learning outside of the classroom must be done with cautious. The rise in students with attention deficit disorder is cause for concern. If a student goes to a coffee shop with the lecture going on within the lap top, who is to say that the medley of distractions going on around the coffee shop isnt distracting him. Or the cute girl behind the counter is barely giving him attention, but just enough that he can get a quick glance at her ass without being barely noticed by all of his neighbors. These are some of the problems that students like me, doing my homework in a coffee shop face. By the way I too have attention deficit, and love the fact that I can do my class work outside of a boring and dry lecture at 12 pm on a gorgeous Santa Clara Friday.