Week Three Post

This week we touched on Costello's Chapter 8, concerning graphics, as well as being introduced into Photoshop.

I am astonished when I consider all the different graphics that are around each of us everyday. Before starting this class, and more recently this chapter, I saw pictures as pictures and screens as screens.

I never put much thought into what all goes into making pictures, or screens, or even the very letters that I am typing. All the details and algorithms that go into making graphics blow my mind.

Something else that I have ignored in the past, and am glad that I know now, is the differences in image formats. Before, I used what was default, or what I recognized as using in the past, and never put much thought into what makes a JPEG a JPEG and a GIF a GIF. Now, this is very useful knowledge that will help me in the future, as well as in this class.

On Thursday, Photoshop made me feel alive. There is something about this program that awakens my creative and explorative side. I played around with the program for two hours after class, I could not stop!

Check out my version of the space practice exercise. See if you can tell where the "Milky Way" is in this picture.

I am very proud of my work, though I do wish Saturn's shadow-side were a little darker. Oh Well.

Costello' Chapter 8 and what took to create this photo are one in the same. I still do not know my way around all of Photoshop's tools quite yet so I improvised where I had to. When I transferred the Earth and Saturn into this black space, there were very small white areas around the planets from where I cut and pasted them onto the background. Obviously this was not something I could leave, so when having to improvise was all I could to, I went to the paint brush.

Even with the smallest paintbrush, my shaky hand could not do what I wanted to. Then I remember several figures in Costello's book where he zoomed in on a section of the graphic, exposing the small pixels that made up the graphic. So I zoomed into the edges of the planets like a telescope and edged them as best I could. Though it did take a little time, it turned out well, plus my OCD side was very pleased.

I am looking forward to next week when we learn about and (I assume) use some cameras so I can, hopefully, work some Photoshop magic on pictures to make them spectacular.

Week Two Post

On Tuesday, I was in charge of reading McLuhan's chapter 22, "Motorcar."

As he seemed to do through the entirety of his book, McLuhan wrote about the topic at hand, in this case the "motorcar," and whatever else came to his head.

McLuhan relates the automobile to the social life of humans, and does a good job at it.

First, he spoke of how the use of the horse drastically changed once steam-engines and motored vehicles were invented. He pointed out that we did worry looking for new ways to use the horse, for we had more important matters to handle, like what we could do with motor-driven vehicles. The horses slowly settled into being used in races, casual strolls, or holding two pieces of paper together. Which they do not mind, all except being slaughtered for glue I assume.

McLuhan said that if we had worried about what to do with the horses at the time of the beginning of the automotive industry, automobile production would have been hindered.  This example can be applied to how we humans act, well most of us. When something bigger and better comes along, we put down our old toys and pick up the new ones.

McLuhan also stated the he believed that the car will go the same way as the horse, I am curious as to when we can say he was correct.

He says, "It is the framework itself that changes with new technology, and not just the picture within the frame." This sentence to me some time to wrap my head around. What I think he means is that, using the horse v. car example, when something new comes around that can change the world, it changes the world in its own unique way.

Something that caught my attention and made me think about, was when McLuhan said, "...the car has become an article of dress without which we feel uncertain, unclad, and incomplete." This statement could not be more true than in today's world. People like cars and clothing which make them stand out in a way that makes them feel accepted. What you drive, as that which you wear, tells others a little about who you are. If you dress nicely and drive an expensive car, others who dress nicely and drive expensive cars are likely to accept you, and maybe even seek out your attention.

The same can be said about people who drive shitty cars and wear not-so-nice clothes, but slightly different. If two poorly dressed strangers were in a crowd among high-class citizens, the two would feel more comfortable talking to each other than with an of the others. This is because they have something in common, their attire, and maybe a similar spite towards the rich.

Switching subjects, Aurasma is pretty amazing. The abilities and possibilities of this application are almost endless. I look forward to seeing this concept mature and evolve in the years to come.