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Task 12 – Speculative Futures

Simple Food Movement

– a speculative fiction about food processes of the future –

Please click the full screen icon in the lower right to play the game in full screen.

 

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This task was another attempt in the Twine rabbit hole. I have learned a lot since my last attempt – I am able to include name personalization, speech and additional photos. I also finally figured out how to embed the game in my blog, instead of just a link to the file.

I struggled with the story-telling aspect of this task, but I feel as though I’ve captured a possible future with a mandated meal program to combat food security.

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Task 10 – Attention Economy

Well – all I can say is do NOT attempt this task on your cell phone …

Attempt #1

Once I opened it on my computer, I quickly became really good at ignoring the “extras” on the screen, but restarted a few of times after clicking the “wrong” boxes. I was getting a bit frustrated, so I even took a quick break to help my son make his breakfast! It took me a long time to get past the first screen and I still don’t really know what I put in my password that let me through.

The feeling of panic while completing this was definitely compounded by the ticking timer. From reading the Dark Patterns link in the assignment description helped me gain some insight into what would be needed – time, thorough reading and attention to misleading headings.

I was elated when I completed it – I knew some were having a horrible time getting through it! So now my competitive instinct kicked in – can I complete it faster???

Attempt #2
Attempt #3
Attempt #4! Under 2 minutes? Good enough for me!

After attempt #4, I did feel awesome! I was interesting to go through each page and attempt to exactly replicate what I did the previous time – I did use some random letters and numbers at times to make things faster, but the first screen was still the hardest to get through when putting in the password!

In terms of this Attention Economy, it is something that I am constantly talking about with my Foods classes – many don’t understand that companies buy space at grocery stores. The foods designed for young kids are placed lower on the shelves to draw their attention. As a parent I know I have probably spent hundreds of dollars extra at the grocery store over the past 10 years because of my kids incessantly asking for some candy, “fruit” snack or crappy toy. And it’s not the healthy kids food that’s at their eye level!

It is a bit unnerving that if you search once on your phone for a specific item, you start to see ads for it constantly on your social media sites. The amount of information that is stored, shared and used for companies to direct their advertising is scary. It’s definitely something that I will need to make sure my children understand sooner rather than later ….

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Brignull, H. (2011). Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design. Accessed from https://alistapart.com/article/dark-patterns-deception-vs-honesty-in-ui-design/ 

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Task 8 – Golden Record Curation

Looking and listening through the Golden Record, it was so difficult to narrow the 27 recordings to 10. Considering this was sent into space over 40 years ago, these recordings are very much a snapshot in time. I believe was one of the pieces that made this task difficult. Also, many of the tracks are recordings that we just don’t hear regularly in mainstream media here in Canada.

But, like Dr. Smith Rumsey discussed in her lecture “Digital Memory: What Can We Afford to Lose” (2017), we need to look at the past to determine what is needed for the future. These songs have helped to lay the foundation for music as it is today.

I chose my songs based on personal connections and memories. Very few of these songs do I listen to today. The first five songs I chose include some of the classical tracks on the record. While I don’t normally listen to classical music, ever since my first year at UBC in 2000, I have listened to classical music while studying, completing assignments or working on report cards.

  1. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor.
    • The light tones of the flute make this an easy “studying song.” To be stereotypical, most girls played wind instruments while I was in high school band, but I didn’t want to sit in the front (see #8 below for my choice of instrument).
  2. Bach, “Gavotte en rondeaux” from the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin, performed by Arthur Grumiaux.
    • I would love to be able to play the violin and admire the few friends I have that play.
  3. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1. Glenn Gould, piano.
    • I took piano lessons for many years as a child. I still love hearing the impact of light touches on the keys.
  4. Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor.
    • This is a classic. I love the progression and feeling from just the first four notes.
  5. Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130, Cavatina, performed by Budapest String Quartet.
    • A smooth romantic song, this was one that had in my regular study music rotation.
  6. “Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry.
    • I love classic rock so this was an easy choice. A true “classic”.
  7. “Dark Was the Night,” written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson.
    • As a fan of the blues, the slide guitar in this song is beautiful. His smooth humming adds a solemn tone to compliment the guitar.
  8. “Melancholy Blues,” performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven.
    • The brass is what gets me with this song. I played the trombone for 7 years and still pick out the notes behind the trumpet! While I haven’t kept up with playing, I still love the tone of brass instruments.
  9. Navajo Indians, Night Chant, recorded by Willard Rhodes.
    • I was lucky to get my first teaching job in Lillooet, BC in 2005. A community rich in indigenous culture and history, this song reminds me of our many events we hosted at the school to ensure the local songs and dances were remembered.
  10. Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México.
    • This track reminds me of nights at Las Margarita’s on 4th Avenue in Vancouver during my earlier years at UBC! There was often live music from a corner of the room setting a lively mood.

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Click here for a playlist of the Golden Record.

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Reference:

Brown University. (2017). Abby Smith Rumsey: “Digital Memory: What Can We Afford to Lose?”. Accessed via YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=FBrahqg9ZMc&feature=emb_logo

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Task 6 – Emoji Story!

I really enjoyed this task, even though I only use emojis sporadically in my texting – and VERY rarely for entire thoughts or phrases!

I don’t watch a ton of TV or movies so I picked a show that my kids (and inevitably me) watch some mornings before school. If you’ve visited my “about me” section and my initial blog post, you’ll see a common theme! I also thought this show would/could be relatively straight forward to find emojis for the main characters and situations.

I focused mostly on the individual words to summarize, more than the concepts. I think this is a result of the fact that I don’t use a ton of emojis so my creativity is weak in this area!! One thing I did discover, and it is a function of our current society of the last few years, that there is no longer an emoji for a rifle or gun on most platforms – only a squirt gun!! This is something that I didn’t even consider, because as a hunter I have a specific and strict use for my firearms.

I started with the title because I felt it was quiet straight forward – plus I like to start things at the beginning and move to the end. It is similar to how Kress (2005) explained that traditional writings and pages will still exist, despite the new push to allow readers to “enter” a document at any stage (such as online textbooks). Those of us who are used to writing will continue to produce things as such, but the upcoming generation will change things to become more image and link based, so they can access only the information they need (without having to sort through everything else!

In this week’s reading of chapter 4, Bolter (2001) refers to “ekphrasis” and the concept that we need to grasp for this task was his notion of “reverse ekphrasis,” meaning that instead of words evoking images or sensory experiences, we are using images to infer the words. It’s an interesting concept, as I think this reverse ekphrasis involves much more cognitive muscle to decipher what the string of emojis mean! It’s something that is challenging and can have hilarious results (as seen on Ellen’s Game of Games)! Also, as someone who doesn’t watch a ton of TV or movies I think I will struggle with figuring out my classmates stories.

The deciphering of emojis is definitely something that takes practice!

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Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kress (2005), Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, Vol. 2(1), 5-22

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