Franki Abraham - Exercise 4

My Clock

Exercise 4: Frank Hu

Exercise 4 Files Here: Time Project

Sadly, PC exploded so I cannot upload to W.

Exercise 4 - Khoi Tran

Here is the link to my project 

Exercise 4-Lauren Arnold

Here is the zip of my files for project 4 Time Based Art.

Exercise 4 - Truc Le

Here is the revision of my Exercise 4 - Dusty Time.

I got the Millisecond and Minute files to display on the web through .html file alright, but the Second one just doesn't run when I open it in Firefox. They all work well if played via Processing!

Exercise 4 - Lauren Owensby

Here is the package of my Processing project "BOOMBOX".

The url to see it in the browser is here, but the pde files are not linking. I have run into the same issue with all of the tutorial files, which I tested in my W drive.

Anyone else able to get it working?

Exercise 4 - Panpan Deng

Here is the revision of my Exercise 4 Reverse Sandglass.

Exercise 3 - Franki Abraham

Exercise 3 - Franki Abraham

Research Presentation about Feng Mengbo - Panpan Deng

Here is the package of my presentation.

Here is the source list of my presentation.

Rotation guide for Processing

A chart of radian and degree values that are passed into rotate function.

Working with processing.js

Here are two examples of Processing sketches ported to the browser with processing.js.

Here is the processing.js reference.

Use firefox to display web pages with processing.js content in them.

Project 3 - edited

Here is the link to my edited recombinant video for project 3: TheJoke

Representations of Time: Examples

Alternative representations of time:

• Robert Smithson: Spiral Jetty
• Olafur Eliasson: Your Waste of Time
• Jeremy Tubbs: Timesample
• Christian Marclay: The Clock
• Golan Levin: Banded Clock 

Reading 4 - Khoi Tran

Although my first coding lesson was more than a decade ago, I am still surprised by how much I do not know about this simple but powerful concept of algorithm.  My first impression of 'algorithm' is a unique, genius, concise collection of steps designed to solve a certain set of problems using a finite amount of input.  Much contrary to music or art where you are encouraged to freely explore in different direction, algorithm is more efficient when the programmer (or designer of the algorithm) has a clear goal in mine and narrows down all the possibilities and use cases.

There are two points that provoke me in this reading this article and our classmates' response:

That algorithm allows computers to predict our behavior and uses that information to adjust the environment accordingly is not a new fact to me.  In fact, as a computer scientist, being able to predict such complex thing as human behavior has been always a dream and a goal much worthy to work for.  I of course do understand that the advent of such ability also means tremendous amount of inherent problems,  so I just offer a few observations about this.

Firstly, there are ways to prevent the machines from knowing about you.  Proxy can be used in downloading without leaving traces, buying can be done via super market instead of online purchase, social networking can be achieved in a traditional way rather Facebook or Twitter.  As the amount of information increases at an exponential rate, the technology and tools to cope with it also become much more powerful.  And we can't use the definition of privacy and security in the past as a standard in the new information age.

Secondly, it's time to put knowledge about algorithm and computer as one of the top priority in learning.  The benefit from these understandings will not only limit to the capability to achieve things but also the ability to partake in importance decisions such how the search algorithms are made and for what purpose.

Reading 4 - Frank Hu

 This was a very informative and thought provoking article. I usually associate algorithms with mathematics or computer science. It is a topic that is clear and evident compared to the high gray zone when dealing with subjects like psychology or politics. Both psychology and politics can be wielded to influence the public, I never considered algorithms were also capable of doing so.

 The author makes an excellent point, if algorithms are capable of influencing the public, why is the public not shaping their formation. The difficulty in understanding algorithms puts them into the hands of the private sphere, of companies with funding and institutions. If professors at Universities were the sole keepers I would not be concerned, but it becomes a concern when companies with investors to satisfy have a stake in the world of algorithms. Politics are also difficult to understand, as is the formation of medication and development of biosciences as it relates to human subjects. These are all in the hands of public influence, algorithm development is not.

 One possibility for this is that algorithms are relatively new and difficult for people to comprehend as a result. The inherent difficulty is not the problem because as I've already mentioned, politics and biosciences are also difficult. This leaves the "newness" to be the only problem. On that, it is very likely that the public sphere will slowly react to the use of algorithms. Over time there is likely to be laws and processes that allow the general public to influence algorithms without the need for deep knowledge on the subject. In many ways this is already happening. Concerns over data and privacy that will eventually shape algorithms have caused websites like Duckduckgo to spike in popularity. If the use of algorithms in the context of inter-connectivity and data retention decline, then in a way the general public is influenced the shaping of these algorithms. Not with policy but with their attention, money and usage.

                                                     Confused Person by New Technology

Reading 4-Reed

            During the article “The Power of Algorithms: How Software Formats the Culture,” I was constantly reminded of a phrase my high school English teacher once said which essentially told everyone the most exciting events take place when you are lost: without a GPS, place to go, or on the main roads. With this in mind after reading the article, I wonder if it’s truly possible to be “lost on the Internet,” Sandra Alvaro would argue that with the advent of algorithm usage on websites, users lose the ability to just meander through websites, but instead are subjected to a funneled path preset by their previous usage because “algorithms make us participate in processes that we are not conscious of,” (Alvaro).  How can users battle against an unconscious entity? Moving forward with technology and coding, could someone use counter algorithms? Is that possible?

            This concept of repeating your own steps and conforming to a predetermined algorithm takes away any conceived idea of spontaneity from users and the human brain. “[W] hen algorithms manage information, they also reconstruct relationships and connections, they encourage preferences and produce encounters, and end up shaping our contexts and our identities,” (Alvaro).  Shouldn’t Internet users be upset by a notion that their identities and their interests are simplified to a few equations, not to mention the invasive tracking conducted in order to construct these algorithms? I believe they should. Considering algorithms filter unnecessary information to provide faster and relevant searches, we are caught in a web of unwanted and unknown patterns.

            With this unwanted and unconscious entity ruling our Internet usage, what would be the best ways to combat the construction of our identities through mathematical equations? If there is an increase in education about the background of the Internet, will there be a backlash? Can we get lost once again in an algorithmically defined society?

 How can algorithms be used?