window size

Hello,

Here are the instructions for controlling window size in dreamweaver.

1. Open Macromedia Dreamweaver.
2. Select Window / Behaviors.
3. Select the link in your HTML document.
4. Click the PLUS ( + ) sign in your Behaviors dialog box and choose
Open Browser Window.
5. Enter the URL of the link and set the desired width and height of
the new window.
6. You can even set other attributes. Then click OK.

You can also do the smame thing with the following javascript….
window.open(“URL”, “windowName”, “width=975,height=719″);

more javascript here

cheers,
Thomas

late 90s nostalgia/ internet art’s accessibility

i don’t have anything enlightening to say about the internet art and nomadic networks chapter by paul, but i did want to comment on how much more familiar i found a lot of the references. i have been enjoying the very new (to me) projects and pieces of art that the authors have been referring to previously, but it felt a little stabilizing to finally understand initially, instead of after repeated reading, what she was saying for once.

internet art is one of the most easily accessible forms of digital art. the majority of us can access the internet through one way or another. faster connections make viewing internet art/participating in internet art more efficient and perhaps more enjoyable, but you can still take part with a modem connection (the only additional tool you’ll need is patience).

a lot of the projects paul referred to took place in the late 1990s, and because i was a 12 year old then and had just gotten access to the internet, i was in full fledge ‘dork’ mode.  i blushed while reading this chapter, remembering all the silly things i used to partake in.  we read about ‘the palace’ –  i remember spending hours there.  oh my.  it was the most novel discovery, though.  the idea of being able to communicate yourself to strangers and represent yourself visually with some degree of creativity was just really invigorating.  and the MUDs that she referred to reminded me of this MMOSG program i used to use, called Furcadia, which was developed from a MUD itself.  it was a lot like the palace actually — a visual chatroom, with a whole setting, story, and rules already developed.  you chose what kind of animal you wanted to be.   i remember i named myself ammerah and had this whole persona developed for my catlike representation of myself.  oh goodness.

well, i was a dork, but many others were too, because these and similar programs were wildly popular in the late 1990s, all due to the internet’s vast accessibility.

Internet Art

The new media seems to be characterized by the very succinct presentation of information.  When I looked at “My Boyfriend Came Home from the War” for the first time, I was really taken by how few words there were to tell the story.  It reminded me of a children’s picture book.  On the one hand, I am impressed by how the creator told her story in very few words, but on the other, I also think that reading an actual story in the traditional form would create a much stronger impression on me.  Typically, reading is pleasurable not only because ideas are interesting, but also because of how the author strings his/her words together.  Perhaps it is the creator’s intent to leave the viewers to fill in the gaps, but presenting too few could also result in a seemingly lack of sophistication.  One could certainly argue that in the same way that it is interesting to see how writers string their words together, one could examine how new artists choose to present a certain idea.  Yet somehow, the brief, flashing messages remind me of commercials and billboard messages on the highway; the impacts are short-lived.When I was creating my interactive, web-based project, I realized that I consciously tried to make my messages short and to-the-point because I knew that the interactive component would tempt the reader/viewer to have a much shorter attention span than if he/she were reading a traditional novel.  Often because of word limitations in SMS and in IM, words and sentences are shortened for convenience.   
Reading is linear, and the new media tries to break away from the traditional form.  But in a sense, I feel like we are losing resolution when we do that.  Life can be represented by a coarse image of the general idea, and the observers are left to fill in the gaps.  Perhaps there are choices that we make along the way, but time (to the present state of knowledge) is linear.  It would be interesting if my autobiography will consist of pages and pages of bullets points. Sometimes I even don’t know what to do with the bits of information that the creator presents.  The GPS-related projects sound interesting, for instance, and they are definitely examples of artworks that are made possible through technology.  It seems more of an exploration of the medium rather than something that is supposed to convey a message.  I guess I don’t really understand what the take-home message is, or how I am supposed to feel when I view the exhibition.

schedule update

Hello,

Due to mountain day, we will be discussing both tuesdays and thursdays readings on 9/28. We will also look at and discuss your projects.

best,
Thomas

mountain day

Hi,
I hope you all had a nice mountain day, and that you didn’t spend it looking at a monitor…

I didn’t manage an entire mountain day, but I did have a great ’stream afternoon’
cheers,
Thomas

net.art in eastern europe

What I found one of the most interesting parts of Greene’s article is that a noticebly large number of the artists mentioned come from eastern european countries. One reason for this could be that for these artists, this new medium was doubly exciting. With all the political changes at that time there were a lot of hot topics/inspiration for projects to grow from. Also though, eastern europe had not had freedom of speech. The internet, especially at that time, did not have any boundaries of this sort, and on top of it one could broadcast one’s ideas across the whole world. I have travelled to some of the slavic and balkan countries and always feel like even today there is a feeling of excitement in the cities that is due to the constant change which is still occurring. I think this environment is perfect for art and it does not surprise me that net.art found response and was experimented with here. -clara

9/26 Net Art by Rachael Greene

I definitely liked this article better. Other than being factual it had many URLs within it that I checked out. Many of them weren’t working anymore. I was interested in seeing the one called Brandon–about which the movie Boys Don’t Cry was based on. Unfortunately that URL wasn’t working either. However, my one of my favorite pieces was My Boyfriend Came back from the War created by Olia Lialina. You can find her work at http://www.teleportacia.org/war I love the break down of the screen into multiple different boxes or frames.  Although she only gives us bits and pieces of text here and there, you can pretty much tell what type of conversation or thought those bits and pieces emerged from.  It gives us insight on what type of person she might have been, and what kind of person her boyfriend was and became. She doesn’t have too many graphics in her piece, but I like that it’s limited. It puts more emphasis on the few images that she does have.

I would consider this piece quite balanced in the sense that it’s not too obscure in the way some art can be and its purpose isn’t too obvious given the amount of text she uses to convey her thoughts / message. What I mean is that if she used only images then we would have to interpret her reasons of putting up those pictures. And if she used only chunks and chunks of text then her message would be conveyed too strongly (if that makes sense).  So I find that this is a very nice balance between being too obscure and too obvious.

[excuse any spelling mistakes]

|Moitri|

On Interactive Fiction

I checked out an interactive fiction (‘Death Reckoning’) online, and it was pretty neat. I did not realize this, but I have created an interactive fiction before—it was about my high school friends and I trying to find our way around our school, and the main character (who the user selects) would run into all our teachers and friends and could choose to have conversations with them. My original mentality was that it would be a fun and interactive way to cherish our high school memories. I don’t think I ever finished, however, because the story got really long and drawn out (too many options for the users!) and I didn’t really know how to end it…. -_-

Montfort’s discussion on interactive fiction was very provocative. I read it three times and I am still struggling with precisely what he is getting at, but I feel that the gist of it is summarized very well by Brenda Laurel’s response—“Nick Monfort’s most important observation is that computer games are a new kind of animal that comes in lots of different sizes, colors, and subspecies.” While narratives and story are essential parts of IF, IF could also contain game elements. The author comes to the conclusion that IF is a “world” rather than a story or a game. In “Death Reckoning,” for instance, the adventure starts with the user not knowing where he/she is and what he/she was doing there. As the user proceeds, he/she comes across a bunch of people waiting in line. All the user could talk to was a woman who didn’t know who the user was or why he/she was there—when I (the user) talked to her, she told me to be patient and wait. Well, I was stuck waiting in line for so long that I lost interest and left the site…. But the amazing part was that although there were no graphics, the (admittedly brief) experience made a rather strong impression on me. The ability to imagine myself (rather than controlling a little cartoon character with a joystick) in the role of the main character and having the power to explore on my own (as in a role-playing computer game) made an impact. The concept that IF is a world makes sense intuitively, because the user can explore (within certain constraints); the experience is unique to the individual user. Overall, Montfort’s analyses of story, game, storygame, novel, world, literature, puzzle, problem, riddle, and machine were all very interesting.

I am rather confused about Brenda Laurel’s mention of the importance of narrative for action games. I think she tries to make the point that Montfort was too overreaching in his assumption that for action games, the storyline is not crucial. She uses the example that in her own research, “narrative construction is a key element of pleasure for girls in the playing of action games.” Well, it is obvious that games such as Ms. Pacman (as mentioned by Montfort) and Mortal Kombat (as Laurel herself mentioned) were popular although they didn’t have very strong storylines. I just don’t really understand what the point of that part of her argument is (perhaps I am missing the point?). Essentially, we have seen that the story can be pulled out of an action game. On a sidenote, unless I am very obsessed and I have too much time on my hands, I wouldn’t read several books on the main narrative and backstory of a computer game before I play it, but I suppose I am just an arbitrary datum.

june

ETS workshops + project ideas

Info about ETS tech workshops is here

We can also do more tech in class if anyone has specific requests.

Please bring project ideas into class for discussion this Thursday.

Cheers,
Thomas

Practicality is the key

The author of Hypertext: The Alphanumeric Phoenix primarily emphasized that the interaction made possible through the nonlinearity hypertext allows for more freedom for the readers.  Readers can set their own pace and create their own unique experience.

While Clara focused on the potential for creativity in the previous post, I was more prone to think of the implications of hypertext on the education system.  At one point, the author states that due to the non-linearity of hypertext, authors cannot assume any prior knowledge on the part of the readers.  I envisioned certain electronic encyclopedias where certain keywords in an article would be ‘clickable,’ and the reader can choose whether he/she needs the additional information.  This promotes efficiency in learning/research and, perhaps, encourages the reader to seek further knowledge (luring them with the ease of access to the additional information).  If viewed as an art, hypertext would certainly represent a link between art and other disciplines.  On one hand, it could encourage creativity; on the other, a popular use of hypertext today is based on practicality.  Interaction (‘automation’ and ‘variability,’ as termed by Lev Manovich) is certainly a major theme of digital art.  I feel that the potential for practicality (more so than its potential for creativity) is its primary reason for success. 

june