Foundations III: Counter-Culture, Hacking the Dreams of the Information Society
Tumblr Project:
What makes a good microtheme post?
- Gather factual information
- Give background on topic (what it is, creators, etc)
- More than just digital media – talk about culture (theory, concepts, methods,
themes from class)
- Each substantial blog post is like a small essay/paper
- It uses concepts/theories/authors/problems seen in class
- It is not descriptive or factual (i.e. I don’t want a Wikipedia entry) – but
argumentative and analytic
- It makes a claim, an argument about a specific aspect of digital media “Word
processor increases productivity”
- It uses evidences to support your claim
- It is clearly written and demonstrates a strong understanding of the course content
and of academic writing
Where Do I Start?
- Brainstorm Brainstorm Brainstorm
- Ask yourself how you can relate (or not) your digital media with every concept
seen in class
- Gather as much “factual” information as you can in the net weeks and “archive” it
on your blog (there are points for this): news, websites, videos, etc. Give the
source
- Draft:
1. Claim/thesis statement/ argument
- Analysis:
Evidence a) (may be secondary literature)
Evidence b) (may be your own research – proofs)
Evidence c)
- Conclusion
What are the central concepts of cybernetics?
- Regulation and feedback
- System
The Computer Age
“Man has created the myth of the ‘computer’ in his own image, or one of them: cold,
immaculate, sterile, scientific.” – Nelson, Computer Lib, p 304
What are the modernist values associated with the invention of the computer?
- Objectivity and Efficiency
“Giant Brains”
- Eniac: Mainframe Computer (1946)