Photo mashup

 Photo mashup from my cabin trip with my girlfriend

Messing With Coding in Pictures

Original Image: Mona Lisa

Original Image: Italian Flag

-Sarah Conte

My Broken Images

Thank You HEEEATH!

Breaking Images

                                                                            Neymar Jr.

             

Dakota

Dakota

Dakota is a piece of electronic literature that was expressed through means of jazz music and words controlled by the music’s flow.  The story is straight and to the point with no time to look deeper into the meaning of each word. You can’t really look for a deeper meaning to the piece because it really doesn’t give you enough time to comprehend each and every word. The music, extremely large text, hard to read fonts, and speed of the text caused this piece to be just flat out difficult to read.  It is a longer piece with a run time of about 15 minutes.  Dakota is not interactive with the reader and there are no rewind, pause, or stop buttons, which can be extremely frustrating.  The text seems longer than it is from the constant, quick word changes and the repetitive music.

The author of Dakota, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, said that this work was based on a previous work called Canto I and Canto II.  Jessica Pressman wrote an article on some of the similarities and made the connection for how Dakota relates to Canto.  Pressman said that Canto and Dakota follow the same storylines, and those come from Pound, who took parts of Homer’s The Odyssey.  Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries actually mentions Pound at the end of Dakota further bridging the connection between the two.

The story was difficult to follow from the fast transitions that chopped up the phrases.  The most a viewer could’ve got out of it through on turn was details from glaces at the flashing words.  Some words were more emphasized than others due to the larger text, which caught the reader’s attention.  These words are the ones most likely to be remembered by the reader.  It’s a piece that needs to be read a few times to understand fully.

The beginning of the story seemed to take place during a road trip where the main character got drunk, and went on a weird adventure.  The F word came up a couple times and stayed on the page longer than most of the other words, which did catch the reader's attention.  Since the story is based off another, it can be helpful the read the story it was based off of.  It could give the reader a better understanding of what the new story is about.  

Is code language?

Coding

Without code, electronic literature would not be possible.  Language is defined as the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way, therefore I would definitely consider code a language.  Every type of technology and communication utilizes coding.

Coding is the language of technology with its own use of grammar, syntax, and diction.  It is used in different ways such as video games, script, and operating systems.  Literature has it’s own patterns to make words, and coding uses that same principle.  Patterns are used to create the language of coding.  It’s that same concept only with technology programming involved.  

Coding is usually split up into two components.  These components are syntax, which is form, and semantics, which is meaning.  Like different languages around the world, coding has it own different languages depending on the purpose and who is using it.  Some of these languages are dataflow, compiled, and arrayed.  Dataflow uses the representation on the flow of data to specify the program being used.  An example of a program that uses this is called Reaktor.  Compiled uses compilers instead of interpreters to implement the program.  Actionscript is an example of a program that uses compiled programming.  Array programming generalize operations on scalars to apply transparently to vectors, matrices, and higher-dimensional arrays.  One example of this program is called Octave.

Coding is a language that can be easily learned just like a language.  Khan Academy shows us that coding really can be learned by anybody.  They had Chris from the Miami Heat and Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas take an hour to learn and do basic things with coding.  They quickly picked it up and described it as learning another language.  It’s very simple and easy to do, but it just takes some time like learning an actual language.

As technology further progresses it becomes more apart of our everyday lives.  Coding is part of the technology that we use everyday, and we will want to understand what is to make these programs happen.  Coding is simple and enjoyable to the people who use it to make what they envision.  It really is the language of programming.  

Google Map Stories:

Log Cabin quest, Michael McConnell - A nice weekend getaway with my girlfriend last year

Annual Hilton Head Island Vacation: Taylor Pierce - About thirty years ago, my grandparents started a family tradition that is still going on today. This is the story of my family's annual trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

The Abduction: Athena Velazquez- A fictional story about the abduction of a father. The story is told by the daughter.

What's My End: Sarah Conte- A mystery story with different endings that explore different locations in Pittsburgh.  This is completely fictional with some choice options to get different endings.

Pry

Pry

Pry is an interactive story that focuses on a former soldier heading back into everyday life.  This is an app that is only available through Apple, and tells an infinite story.  There are multiple interactions the reader can make to change what happens in the story, such as expanding or crunching the page.  Expanding the page will open the man’s eyes and you can see what he sees.  Crunching the page will give more in depth looks into the man’s mind.  It depends on the route the person wishes to take.

Pry is about James, who is a demolition expert returning home from the Gulf War.  The reader explores James’ mind and surroundings as his past and present collide.  What is unique about this work of literature is that not everyone will get the same experience.  Each experience is different and the story is infinitely re-readable.  

Pry was published by Tender Claws which is an art collective and studio founded by Danny Cannizzaro and Samantha Gorman.  Cannizzaro and Gorman have collaborated many times with other works of literature and, even, live performances.

Overall this piece of electronic literature is an experience of infinite possibilities.  The story can be told in many different ways and the timing of the reader’s actions affect how the story plays out.  The trailer that was given for this story was a tease to what the person could actually do.  It gives people encouragement to buy the app for the experience of altering their experiences based on their actions.  The environments seem realistic through the eyes of the man while the text reminds me of what goes through the human mind.  Mind’s can be full of jumbled expressions and deep deceitful desires.  It all depends on the reader and what they want to see and hear.  Do they want to see this man’s present or delve into this man’s past?