This
week, the scheduling was back to normal, and we had two CompSci classes in five
days, featuring “collaborative documents” (wikis and Google Docs) and “digital
manipulation” (Photoshop and remixes).
There seems to be a trend to make our subject sound more intimidating
than it actually is.
Throughout
the week, we continued work on the Conspiracy Theory project, a mission to get
to the bottom of an identity theft (of the “Fakebook” type). So far, it really does look like a conspiracy
theory, involving half a dozen malice-doers.
That seems hard to believe, but then again the whole scenario is
fictional.
“Collaborative
documents” really impressed on me how utterly helpful wikis and Google Docs can
be. Effectively, they present a document
everyone can edit simultaneously; in the case of wikis, there is also the possibility
of having various pages link to each other in a web of information. In effect, a wiki is a mini-Internet. Wikis offer a lot of possibilities I have
rarely used, and get at the core of the good digital technology can do.
“Digital
manipulation” is far less clear-cut in terms of morality. Effectively, it is the act of modifying some visual
work (image, music, video, etc.) using digital media. The downside is that Photoshop is by now used
everywhere, and it is rarely made clear when something has been digitally
manipulated. It’s frustrating not
knowing what’s real; but then again, in the digital world, nothing and
everything is real.
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