Look Into My Crystal Ball...

What is the future of Digital Cultures? I can't pretend to know but I can speculate that perhaps we are going to move into a new computing age of distributed intelligence. It’s also known as the agent-based model or multi-agent system in which free agents work together as a collective to attain a goal. It’s kind of like ants in an ant farm. This combines complex systems, game theory, evolutionary programming and emergence. They can help us model behaviours under circumstances that we cannot simulate in real life.

These agents as a whole would be capable of 'learning' and evolving. One day they might even be able to evolve to a standard of complex behaviour that surpasses ours. The basic idea is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Its many years away but not impossible. If we look at African Termites one termite cannot achieve much, but together they can build massive complex colonies. The most impressive thing is that there is not one termite in charge. No architect or foreman to design and engineer the building of said colony. It’s a combined effort. All of it is achieved with no one in a position of higher authority.

For many reasons this would not work with humans. We need someone to be in charge and be held liable in case anything goes wrong. But would an agent-based model need anyone in charge? I certainly think the future of Digital Culture lies in artificial intelligence and I think agent-based models might be the most interesting area to develop. I have learned a lot in Digital Cultures this year about how the Internet actually works, which I intend to use to my advantage as a student. I've also learned that technology has a huge impact on society and culture, which has been very interesting to think about. I'm looking forward to spending the summer trying to build my own computer, and will try keep my eyes and mind open to better notice how society and technology evolve together.

The Chicken or the Egg?

In Sweden it's estimated that 80 percent of the population is online. Technology has been built in to society and I can see it here where a lot of people meet and socialize online though networking sites. Sometimes that's where the relationship is begun rather than in real life. People starting Uni together meet online first then when they get on campus.

Our culture and society has been affected by technology. Its been incorporated into our everyday lives but does technology affect society or has society affected technology? I think society does help drive technology as we 'keep' what we like to use and ignore other technology that perhaps does not benefit us directly. The Internet has given us a new way to socialize, shop, and communicate. The gadgets that we buy however sometimes don't seem to really belong to us as mentioned previously, because we cannot modify them. Like 'jail breaking' and iPhone will void your warranty.

Technology can connect people all around the world and business’s too. Welcome to the age of globalization. As a third culture kid I have been lucky enough to travel a lot, but everywhere I go I can always find a McDonalds. I see people my age mostly wearing the same style clothes and in many cases the same brands. Branding has become the latest comercial trend. Globalization does come at a cost. Poorer nations are exploited to the benefit of the West and are feed lines about how corporations can aid them into a Western lifestyle.

It's important to remember that not everyone has access to the same technology we do, and though technology can do great things (like helping people organize protests) all technology comes at a cost. I don't want every nation in the world to become like a Western one, because I'm not sure we have the right balance between culture and technology. We already really so much on technology and are more interested in getting the latest gadget than learning about our own history and cultural heritage. I don't think technology should take over our lives but it does have the potential to improve them if used right. What is the right use of technology? I'm not going to lie: I have no idea and I have no idea if the chicken or the egg came first.

Big Brother Sucks

As a private person I don't like the fact that I'm caught on CCTV as often as I am. It's not that I'm in the habit of breaking the law I just don't like it, just as I don't like people reading over my shoulder. I don't think people need to be monitored all the time, and even when an incident occurs CCTV doesn't always help solve the issue as it should. I worked in a petrol station once and whenever someone drove off without paying we would try get their number plate from the cameras, but the quality was so bad that most of the time we couldn't.

Who is watching us anyway? Someone has to be employed to sit there and monitor the screens and try picking out 'suspicious' behaviour. It's also noted that when people know they are being watched they modify their behaviour anyway. The internet has brought about it's own security issues with some clever people creating new software to track your keystrokes and use the information to hack into your personal banking. Identity theft has also risen. Is the Internet just another way of tracking us? With thinks like facebook's Places you check in your location so people know where you are, and it can be a useful tool but it still seems a creepy to me. I don't want people to know where I am all the time as there is no need.

I've been waiting to meet someone at an agreed time and place, and still gotten the text message from them of 'where are you?'. I'll be right where I am supposed to be. If I want you to know where I am I will tell you. Technology is already apart of my life in a big way and I love being able to check my email on my phone whenever I want but as for my where abouts and what I'm up too is for me to decide to tell you. I don't need every aspect of my life broadcast and I'm concerned with you is moderating the moderators.

To be Free or Not to be Free?

Ubuntu

I've had to pay out a substantial amount of money to get the Office package from Microsoft so I could install it on my sisters PC. Even with student discount it was quite painful. That was before I found out about Open Office. I had no idea I could have benefited from this free software that is operates exactly like Office, but without the price tag.

If we look at the open source movement I can see the benefits for people like myself who cannot really afford to shell out money on new operating systems and software packages. Debates rage on about whether copyright eliminates consumer choice, and though I recognize it is important to acknowledge the author of a program (as it’s important to recognize the author of a novel) does it really benefit the consumers? Are the authors really getting their fare share of the sales at the end of the day, or are the companies marketing and selling the product taking most of the profit? I believe that they are and that copyright does not indeed aid the progression of science or art.

Steve Bellmer who is the CEO at Microsoft has been quoted as saying that "Linux is a cancer" as it is a free operating system that rivals Microsoft. I have a few friends who run on

(Linux) and to me it's not as user friendly as Microsoft, but the fact that it comes at no expense gives it major brownie points. Companies are now quick to sue others over intellectual property rights, but can you honestly own an idea? Many people are capable of having the same idea and I don't think it's fair to prosecute on those grounds. An idea cannot be owned. In the States smaller companies have to argue "fair use" to be able to get away with using someone else’s published work.

This summer I've set myself the personal project of building my own computer, so I can better understand how they work. I'll also be using all the free software I can get my hands on to run the computer. I think companies already exploit their consumers too much, and that’s why I'd rather have an android phone where the apps might not be as high quality but they will be free. I believe ideas should be free and anything realised into the public domain you should be able to use to create other things otherwise what’s the point of publishing it? I'd like to think that Sweden will shortly be following Brazil's example and the open source movement will gain global momentum.

Once a Cheater Always a Cheater?

I have a confession to make. I used to cheat when playing Red Alert back in the day when it was on Playstation one. I used to use the money cheat so I could build my perfect army then destroy my competition, so did I actually win? I wasn't playing by the rules so I don't think so. I did use the cheat as a self help tool when I first started playing. However I was only playing against the console and no one else so I wasn't dsrupting anyones game. Was I really cheating if no one knew and no one's game was being disruped? Was I cheating myself? I think perhaps I was but as a result learnt to play the game better, and then stopped using cheats. To be honest I just wanted to get better than my twin so I could beat her.

What about players online who use cheats to see though walls? They are also playing by thier own rules. The major difference being that they are in a space where the rules are outlined for everyone, and presumably everyone else is playing by those set rules. They are disrrupting the game for the others. Some people even enter into games with aimbots that shoot to kill with perfect accturacy. Its considered cheating by many for much the same reason of game disruption. I've stopped cheating as it's just not as much fun for me, and I'd feel guilty if I was cheating in a mulitplayer game like Call of Duty.

Cheaters are playing thier own game and it's not fair on other users. Other people can use game glitches to thier advantage, but is this cheating? I'm not so sure. Glitch 'hunting' can become a game in itself with forums devoted to listing various glitches in games and how they can be used to your advantage. What is the difference between cheating and freeform play? To me, as long as your not disrupting another persons game then all is fair in love and war.

Can You Log on so You Can Come Out And Play?

I Have a Library Card but I Still Love the Internet

I was on the bus going to work one dark winter morning and the guy sitting in front of me was reading from a Kindle. I have to admit I started reading over his shoulder. I have read criticisms over the battery life and the screen being quiet difficult to see in the sunlight, but it seemed to be working just fine to me and would take up much less space in my backpack then the book I was reading at the time. I decided I'd look into buying one.

Imagining myself back where I used to live, Malta, on the beach with a kindle didn't really seem right. What if it got wet or got sand in it? I was put off by the price and also the odd fact that Amazon can take your book back if the publication is withdrawn for some reason. If I buy a gadget then it belongs to me and I think I should be able to do what I want with it (including modifying it if I want to).

However the internet has given us some interesting new ideas on books. They no longer need to be read in just one way and have one ending.

Literary Hypertext books change with your decisions. The ending can change and the main body of the book can be completely different when reading it another time. I have tried to read one such book and to be frank I found it really confusing, but I was impressed by the potential. I think I had issues following the narrative; which lead to my confusion.

All in all though I'm on team hypermedia. One of the reasons I love reading online is that you can always follow a link to get more information, or see a video relating to what you have just read about. It may be perhaps because I'm the kind of person who is either completely interested and therefore wants as much information on the subject as possible, or I'm completely uninterested and will be happy just to know the basics on that particular subject.