Thursday, December 4, 2008
Week 14 - Muddy
So ... I've seen a few episodes of Law & Order this week where investigators have been temporarily thwarted by not being able to access online chats because they are not saved in memory. Is there anything to this? I know that a tool like Gmail Chat can "archive" the chats and that might be problematic, but what about programs that don't archive, or have that function turned off?
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Week 14: Organizational Computing, Cloud Computing, and the Future
1- 2. Gruman and Norr, "What Cloud Computing Really Means" and "Explaining Cloud Computing"
The Info World article appears to nail this one: cloud computing seems to be a buzz concept. Though I'm not underestimating how useful cloud computing can be, I see it as another piece of the pie - not a new pie.
While the Explaining Computers video does a fine job of ... uh ... explaining this, another Info World article is also helpful in understanding the concept.
3. The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation
Well ... this stuff is fun to think about sometimes ... While the wholesale disappearance of literacy is something I cannot agree with, a changing literacy is. In a similar article in the New York Times Magazine, Wired "maverick" Kevin Kelly discusses the transition to "screen literacy" which itself shares many of the same characteristics and functions with what he considers traditional "textual literacy." In other words, the basic principles in how we communicate through text are still pertinent to how we communicate visually - but the technology has changed and there are still hurdles to overcoming the unique demands of "screen literacy."
What I quite like about Frey's predictions are his emphasis that libraries should explore "creative spaces" and provide access to more hand-on, studio-type activities and his emphasis on preserving local history. To me, these are two major holes left by information technology that libraries should fill in order to remain relevant physical institutions. Of course, this comes with increased outreach and interaction on the part of library staff - another suggestion I would make if writing this article.
One last consideration here is thinking beyond our need for any technology to communicate. At what point can our physiology or power of cognition adapt to communicate telepathically or to meld with technology. For further consideration, see below:
Long live the new flesh ...
The Info World article appears to nail this one: cloud computing seems to be a buzz concept. Though I'm not underestimating how useful cloud computing can be, I see it as another piece of the pie - not a new pie.
While the Explaining Computers video does a fine job of ... uh ... explaining this, another Info World article is also helpful in understanding the concept.
3. The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation
Well ... this stuff is fun to think about sometimes ... While the wholesale disappearance of literacy is something I cannot agree with, a changing literacy is. In a similar article in the New York Times Magazine, Wired "maverick" Kevin Kelly discusses the transition to "screen literacy" which itself shares many of the same characteristics and functions with what he considers traditional "textual literacy." In other words, the basic principles in how we communicate through text are still pertinent to how we communicate visually - but the technology has changed and there are still hurdles to overcoming the unique demands of "screen literacy."
What I quite like about Frey's predictions are his emphasis that libraries should explore "creative spaces" and provide access to more hand-on, studio-type activities and his emphasis on preserving local history. To me, these are two major holes left by information technology that libraries should fill in order to remain relevant physical institutions. Of course, this comes with increased outreach and interaction on the part of library staff - another suggestion I would make if writing this article.
One last consideration here is thinking beyond our need for any technology to communicate. At what point can our physiology or power of cognition adapt to communicate telepathically or to meld with technology. For further consideration, see below:
Videodrome (1983)
Dark City (1998)
Long live the new flesh ...
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