Grid Project

MOM

The Mother of All Demos

This video by Douglas Engelbart is really special. Douglas Engelbart was a genius. His work on computer programing was definitely break ground. As the name of the video suggests, this video his like a tutorial of his program called  WYSIWYG. The program is very similar to excel in the sense that it allowed the user to manage and organize data. Also, the futuristic program allowed the user to copy and paste text like windows and macs do. The program was really futuristic, and I was amazed by how much details were put into it. While watching the video I realized that there is always ground for innovation and most of the technology that we use today come from innovation, but to create or invent something is never an easy task. Furthermore, even if you do succeed you might not necessarily have positive responds. 

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Steve Jobs commencement address is probably the most inspirational speech I ever heard. He was such a genius, charismatic persona. His life was filled with courage and determination. During the speech, he touches three major points of his life. With honesty, he talked about having faith and believing in whatever you're doing. He wanted more and he knew what he wanted. He gave the attendance a great overview of his life at his lowest and highest points. For instance, him being abandoned by his biological parents, or him being dropped from Apple. This speech is not only amazing because it is by the genius Steve Jobs, it is amazing because it gives great advice about life in general. I like the fact that he humbled himself enough to give us such details about his lowest points and believing in himself. Most of the time we want things too fast and we are not willing to sacrifice. This speech gave me faith because through him I definitely know that no matter how harsh life can be sometimes we never know where it's going to get us. As he said we connect the dots backward. He was a free and undisputed genius. His vision impacted so many lives, not only by the outcomes and the products he came up with, but mostly because of his spirit and the spirit he spread through his persona.

Mark J. Stock

Mark J. Stock really blew my mind!!!Going through his work was just amazing to me. His art and vision are just extraordinary amazing. All his pieces were just out there. The way he integrated science work in his art are just brillant to me. The piece that really got my attention is the Inside The Bomb piece. This piece is not only brillant because of its looks, but also the idea behind it. Reading the description made this piece even more relevant and made me respect it even more. I thought it was just perfect because I agree with vision. Sometimes life is just fast and we don't realize what is underneath the result, but we are just quick to judge or we don't take in consideration the process of creation and this apply to pretty much everything around us.

Link

Raymond Kurzweil

Watching videos on him was inspirational to me. As I was watching bunch of videos, I couldn't helped myself think that man is a true genius. A lot of his videos are really realistic and based on technology and how it will affect future society. The one that got my attention is the one on immortality. In that video he explains how immortality will eventually be possible through the advancement of technology. How we will feel and see things. I thought it was a pretty realistic view of the evolution of actual society. Those videos made me more aware of the evolution of technology and realize how far we came from and what's to come in terms of future society.

Triumph Of The Nerds

Watching this video was a great experience. As I was watching I learned a lot about how computers work, or how and who is behind computer in general. This video gave great insights on the birth and the evolution of computers throughout years. While the first part touches on the genesis of the computer and how it originally started while showing how it actually worked. What I found interesting here is the fact that the first personal computer was not as successful as I thought. Moreover, the fact that most people didn't originally believed in its future. Another fact that caught my attention is the number of hours and how much passion was put into it. The apple two for instance was considered a masterpiece, and how it impacted the personal computer industry was even more amazing. Through gigantic sales, and the product itself, a legend was born Apple. Setting new standards for personal computer, apple two was the leader of the revolution. Moving forward, another legend was on the making: Microsoft and Bill Gates. The wily Bill Gates was not only a great programmer, but also a great businessman. With his friends and their cunning minds they settled a deal with IBM another legend in the personal computer industry, the rest is history. After then, nothing was the same. The personal computer industry was soon filled with dozens of other companies that were doing the exact same thing as IBM computer wise, sometimes even faster. Soon enough IBM was stock up with rivals which benefited Microsoft. Probably every computers back then was running on a Microsoft system. One key moment that caught my attention is when IBM developed their OS alongside with Microsoft building their new but soon successful operating system Windows. That particular is even more important because it is the defining moment that marked up the dominance of Microsoft and windows system in the computer industry. IBM now belonged to the past and Microsoft to the future. Deep into the third part I figured that most of the innovation in the personal computer were about tweaking and editing existing system. Xerox for instance, had the idea of the PC way ahead before both Apple and Microsoft. They just didn't believe in the idea. Apple came up with the revolutionary Macintosh. The biggest issue that I came across was the fact that Macintosh wasn't taylorized for cooperation, but much for personal and simple used. Also, as mentioned the scarcity of application and the price. Even though the end was mostly about the competition between Apple and Microsoft, I believe this was a great learning experience. Using computers now days is so common that we tend to forget the effort and passion that drove the first developers and it was great way of understanding. 

Persuasive Games

Games are part of our daily basis. No matter what or what platform of games we deal with, it is part of today's society. As I was scrolling down this persuasive games website I was surprisingly in chock to see the variety of games that are out there without us necessarily noticing them. What I even found more interesting is to see the variety of purposes those games serve. The first one that stood out for me was the game Stone City from the ice cream brand Cold Stone. I was amazed by the way they embedded this game in their training system. It was interesting to see a company acknowledge the efficiency of games in the learning process so much that they would pursue such initiative. Another game that caught my attention was the game Project Connect. I thought this game was a brilliant idea and a great opportunity to learn and understand how these communication ways work. It is a great way of having kids acknowledging their environment and learn how things work around them. Last but not least was the game Windfall. Similar as the ones previously mentioned, this game offers a good learning experience. Overall, I thought these games are proof of how games could be embedded in our lifestyle to learn. Also, as I noticed these games do a good job at engaging the audience which I believe is the key of any game.

Video Game Revolution

The video game revolution has come a long way. This unpredictable success have made the video games industry one if not the most lucrative industry when it comes to entertainment. The video game revolution has not only changed the way we consume video game, but also the way we entertain and see entertainment. Many argue how and who started the movement of video games. In fact, pong was the first game but didn’t really gather a lot of attention unlike odyssey games which were the first home video games. Space invader, pac man had quite an impact on the gaming experience. Until then, the video game industry had grown quite fast, but the biggest breakthrough was Shigeru Miyamoto and his creation. Shigeru Miyamoto is the father of Donkey Kong and Mario Brothers two of the biggest hits of the time. These games were not only revolutionary because of their content but also because of their aspects that allowed you to delve in the crazy mind of their father Shigeru. Allowing the player to fully experience the game as the character, Shigeru is most definitely a pioneer of video game. Shigeru made Nintendo one of the most successful video game back then creating new platforms such as the Game Boy. Despite couple backlashes with violent content, the video games industry continued its growth reaching new stratosphere with the Playstation by Sony and Nintendo 64 by Nintendo. It’s interesting to see the impact of video game on society. Through schools and feminism, the video games industry has encountered various barriers slowing its integration process. Furthermore, the impact of video games on psychology through violent games have created a lot of controversy and the way games are played through new rating system. Social gaming has become trendy because of their ability of gathering gamers sharing the same interest. Overall, video games are undeniably very impactful grossing billions of dollars every year. The impact is even more considerable considering the evolution of technology and internet which all brought together are probably the future of the way we will experience video games.

War of The Worlds Radio Broadcast

Listening to this broadcast was interesting. Where I am from radio is still a big part of the society. It was interesting to listen to part of the history of the USA. It was interesting to hear and experience their mindsets at the time of the broadcast. Obviously, radio has evolved tremendously to get to its actual state. As I was listening to the broadcast I noticed that back then, it was less commercial driven. In fact, the radio host at the programs were more for entertainment purposes, and were focus on creating an experience for the listeners. Moreover, you could feel the excitement as the hosts were presenting various programs. It was new, innovative and it was to become one of the biggest invention of the 21st century.

A Clockwork Orange

This movie has to be the most disturbing movie I've ever watched. The violent scenes throughout the movie are unbearable. Despite the obvious violence of the movie, I thought it was an amazing satire of life. Very well directed, I felt like it touched on various issues of the society as a whole. The used of the song "singing in the rain" as I learned later on was not originally in the book. It was just an improved when making the actual movie to make the violent scenes more bearable. In fact the song "singing in the rain" is very representative of the hollywood society in the late 20's. I thought it was the perfect song to balance out the unbearable violence of the movie. In fact the song itself is quite cheerful. Despite couple backlashes the end result happened to be great and added some type of derision to those violent scenes.

Concert with Mark Snyder and Brad Blackburn

When attending this concert I literally did not know what to expect. When the concert started I felt confused to be honest. I felt like it was some experimental music pieces. The first half of the show consisted of unique sounds composition mixed with interesting videos montage. All the pieces were very personal. Retrieving either an experience or were inspired by his kids paintings or moments. Although, for some pieces I was a little bit off because I did not really like the song it was still interesting to feel his passion in his work. Ultimately, it is the last part of the show that definitely caught my attention. It was such a beautiful experience. First with the accordion accompanying him while playing the guitar. Secondly, with the lady that gave a mesmerizing and incredible performance at the end. It was electrifying, everything was on point. Even though I did not know what to expect at first, I was most definitely impressed. It was such an experience and probably one of my stand out moments here at UT; filled with emotion and passion and I believe that's what art is about. That's why I want to address a special thanks to my professor for giving us such an opportunity to encounter artists and experiencing their art with them.

No world Flip Book Project

As the title suggests, my flip book is about a "No world". What I meant by it is that we are under controlled in the deepest way. Throughout the whole book, the reader can see the eye everywhere. The book is inspired by the way I perceived life in general. The book touches on several aspects of life from the internet(Facebook, Instagram), relationships as a whole, and furthermore Africa, and the pyramid of needs by Maslow. In brief, the eye controls everything; from relationships with other and ourselves, through internet. Also what is happening throughout the world, with the crisis in Africa. Moreover, the eye affects the way we perceive things. Another point that I was trying to make is that money is around us and it blurs the way see things like ART, and Society. This flip book gave me a great opportunity to express my inner self and express the way I see the world through Art.