Architecture

I am building a website right now and I am still relatively new at the process. Building a site takes time, patience and planning. Everything must be organized so with each click the viewer gets closer and closer to their destination. The site also has to be clear and understandable. It is difficult because too much information can put off the visitor, but sometimes the amount of information is unavoidably massive and the designer just has to work with it. While I am building I am thinking of Lessig and how he wrote about the "building" and "architecture" elements of the web in Code. In a way building a site can be like a puzzle, where the pieces have a correct placement and the designer must find it. Every choice the designer makes must have a reason, there should not be any decision made without a basis. There can be a lot of maintenance as well, even redundancy. Although, the final product is well worth all the hard work. When the site is up and running on the web, it is cared for like a lit candle on a cake making its way to the birthday boy. The carrier must pay careful attention to their footing as to not blow out the candle. Little adjustments and steps here and there, but after all the trial and error to get the site to work, the designer must be careful not make a mistake since everything is linked together. It is also interesting how even once the site is complete, there is still another challenge to undergo. Every browser system displays and reads code differently. On top of that every server is unique, so a website changes it's skin with every set of eyes. The designer must also make herself mobile and look at the site from every angle possible to make sure everyone can view the site correctly. One last thought about websites, which I love, is that even when all is said and done I still can't help but want to take the site to the next level. Sites were meant to constantly change, spiders on the web ignore stagnant sites. The process is never really finished, and thank God for it.

Streamlining

I have been thinking how I can take this blog thing and veer it in the direction that is most suited for me. Seeing that I am an artist, it seems most appropriate for me to gravitate toward what the web has to offer as far as art is concerned. I began to research the web and art and how the two intertwine. I found definitions of what Internet Art is. I followed a trail until it led me to an artist named Young-Hae Chang who creates Internet Art. I especially thought this piece was appropriate to share with the class. She asks a lot of questions that we have touched on already in Lessig. One thing in particular that resonated with me was when she mentioned that a website is a story of someone's life. How true. I am going to streamline my blog into a discussion about art on the web. Whether it be Internet Art, someone's photography, writing, a website or whatever I deem worthwhile and shareable. Lets start with this.

Lessig's Four Themes

Lessig set up his book by telling the reader four different stories to communicate four themes that he plans on addressing. The first "regulability" was emphasized in the story about gambling and how a leader did not want her people gambling, but the people found a way to do so through the internet, because it was difficult to track down where the servers were. The second theme "regulation by code" describes regulability being capable by code. Each space on the iternet offers its own architecture, which determines its own set of rules. The third theme "latent ambiguity" relays the story of the worm and teeters on the idea as to whether the worm really breaches our rights. We would first need to re-examine the definition of "search" and how it is understood. What the amendment originally meant does not exactly match up with what the worm is doing, so there are quite a few holes to fall through. The last and fourth theme is "competing sovereigns" from the story about Jake from Ann Arbor. This theme discusses how the norms in cyber space are different, and do not necessarily relate or comply with other locations, such as reality.

Internet and Inhibitions

I was reading the article Leslie contributed about the effects the Internet has on social interaction and depression based on the studies of Psychologist Robert Kraut, PhD. As I am reading this article I am relating the unhealthy participation on the web to addiction. The web has taken on the role of a drug, but we will use alcohol for this purpose. Alcohol has a known effect of lifting inhibitions for its users. The freedom this release offers allows for the feeling of confidence, an adrenaline fix or even the feeling of being social when that ability is normally hindered. As the article states, "Like any technology, the World Wide Web can lead to good or bad behaviors." The web becomes an enabler for this addictive behavior. If anyone knows anything about addiction you will also know that addiction is there regardless of the web's presence. These people are looking to the web to offer them something they normally struggle with, therefore they are already conflicted. However, a society that is so significantly based in the web makes recovery for that individual that much more difficult.

Gains and Losses

I have began thinking about the question "what have we lost and gained with the presence of the internet?" So, I thought I would make a list...

Gains:

Locating Family Members: http://www.familysearch.org/
Finding Old Friends: http://www.myspace.com/
Getting Dates: http://www.match.com/home/mymatch.aspx?
Obtaining Directions: http://www.mapquest.com/
Discovering if there are Sex Offenders in your Area: http://www.familywatchdog.us/
Hearing Local Opinions: http://annarbor.craigslist.org/rnr/
Ordering Movies to your Doorstep: http://www.blockbuster.com/
Buy and Sell: http://www.ebay.com/

Not to mention one can find whatever they want. Go ahead try it: http://www.google.com/

I find it harder to list things that we have lost. Let see...

Losses:

We talked about this: http://www.stefangeens.com/graphics/blog/letter-cover-front-s.jpg
Maybe less of this: http://www.nuim.ie/location/tour/photos/south_library02.jpg
Less of these: http://www.learntoplaymusic.com/US/images/CD-Case-6000-6.jpg
Not so many of these: http://sleepygi.setupmyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/WindowsLiveWriter/postittable_1101F/post-it-table%5B4%5D.jpg

I am having a difficult time thinking of anything worthwhile that has been lost due to the internet. If anyone can think of anything feel free to chime in.

Fellow Students' Blogs

Evan: http://plisner.blogspot.com/
Kimberly: http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/eng280kim
Leslie: http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/Eng280Leslie
Elizabeth: http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/eng280elizabeth/
Scott: http://racevoelkleng280.wordpress.com/
David: http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~melnick
Michael: http://mike-eng280.blogspot.com/
Thomas: eng280farce.blogspot.com

Code 2.0 Response 1

I never thought about government and the internet in the same connotation. Although, now that I think about it there are many governing entities outside of the traditional ideals one might refer to when thinking about "government". I think one particular entity that comes to mind is Google. Now, I love Google for being in Ann Arbor, but you have to go through them first if you ever want to be found on the internet. They determine which web sites are worthy enough to be featured above others and this is exhibited in their "page rank" that they distribute. There are certain rules that must be followed, criteria that must be met if one wants to be found on the internet. If you have the money and the right words, AdWords or proper SEO will do the trick.

Lessig also asks the question "Why is cyberspace incapable of regulation?" Of course it is though. Web sites are categorized, ranked, bought, advertised and lost on the internet. This last placement of web sites interests me, the "lost" aspect. When I Google something and click further and further down the listed results, I may stumble upon an abandoned web site. A haven of information that just sits there, possibly from years ago. It is easy to get lost on the internet, perhaps see something one day and never be able to find it the next. There are massive amounts of information on here, a file cabinet that stretches and grows. I love it.

Lessig speaks of the act of building and thats all the Internet does is build and build, but to no such destination. The internet is an example of the way we think, one thought to the next, and speed matters. Information must not only go through the appropriate channels on the internet to be found, but it has to be quickly accessible. If a site stutters and takes a second too long to open, forget it. The viewer is gone. This brings me to another of Lessig's points: privacy or access. I believe there is no privacy, and access is the core objective here on the internet. To even go one step further I would think access and contribution are the two main elements of the internet. I can access any bit of information that exists in the world and I can also contribute to that database.

My final thought here is that as different as online and offline are, they are very much the same. The two have merged with one another so much now since the internet has taken on such an impacting place in our society. The internet is not a secret within a small community, it is a fundamental way of our life. When something is so significant it will never extend beyond government's control but rather it becomes a matter of interest.