Research Question
Iterations in top-down order, latest first:
(wk9.1)In the internet-of-things landscape can privacy play a role in preventing machine derived identification?
(wk8)In a public space filled with IoT devices, can privacy play a role in protecting a person from machine derived identification?
(wk3.2, as submitted for assessment)
Does the propagation and pervasiveness of an internet-of-things require a redefinition of the boundaries and privacy of the self because the internet is talking to my phone and I can't hear it.
Where once a tool or machine could be considered as an extension of human will and desire, now with a network of complex general-purpose computers programmed for interaction and prediction we have a machine "intelligence" that wishes to and does connect to us whether we are aware of it or not.
How can we determine what is honest, meaningful or private when we can never be sure that the "voice" at the other end is the "person" we know; or even if it is a "person" at all?
To explore the idea of machine to human interaction I will investigate the current use of state-of-the-art technology deployed as audio beacons where a device in a public location will communicate to a mobile phone at near-ultra sonic audio frequencies, beyond typical human hearing range, for the purpose of accessing personal information about the phone's owner.
(wk3.1)The propagation and pervasiveness of social-media derived alternatives to the world-wide web and an "internet-of-things" require information and a connectedness unprecedented in human society. In this reality how does a human define the boundaries and privacy of the self?
(wk2)Due to the increasing use of social-media/internet and its aligned technological platform, how is the concept of privacy defined and enacted?
(wk1-supervisor) Social spaces are increasingly contested by digital means, given the recent development of audio beacon technology is there a critique through artistic investigation in a digital project?
(wk1.2)Technology is a form of (process to) overcoming alienation that is resultant from individualism. Symbolic interaction is not soical interaction.
(wk1.1)Social spaces are largely consummed by commercial spaces, individualism has isolated people to a society of the few and technology is used to overcome this reality.
What and Why?
Social-media/internet and its associated technology is so complext that it requires a simplified analogy to comprehend, this allows undeclared data/information and function to pass from human to machine.
Demonstrate via the the current use of audio transmitted beyond human hearing that interacts with a webserver and a mobile phone unbeknownst to the user.
a.k.a. Dr Botlove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet.
Semester 2
Week 8 -
Edits, edits and more edits. An Edit Intensive was held for the uni session in wk 7 - 3 hours of editing on printed paper. Was very productive, more so than on-screen editing. A lot of changes in the structure, where bits are positioned and their order etc. Thesis now is at Draft Four and 9427 words. The argument still needs more refinement and supporting sentences, some linkies needed. Plus the biblio and refs - more of them. Elsewise, the project website is up with 3 pages so far, using the landing-page, self-contained template. Still need a better viddy and decide whether to publish CFP_Ultra or have it as a downloadable bianry...
Week 7 -
Refining the layout and structure of the thesis during wk 7 in prep for an editing blitz due to take place on the Tuesday session wk8 in the lab. The introduction is the key to set the tone and the structure so this is taking the bulk of the time so far. Will be thinking about the project aspect too, website and film of scenario. App code is on github finally plus there is a soundcloud track for the A-Za tones.
Week 6 -
Split uni week over two earth weeks that sees the submission of the First Draft of the thesis. In a rough shape but the intention is to put ideas and concepts in the locations suitable for making a cohesive thesis. Now in the second week of wk6 Draft Two is being fashioned in individual docs plus a separate biblio. The intro is followed by domain one which is the critical engineering methodology, then is domain two that is the theorists review and then comes the discussion of how the things revealed in domain one can be thought of via domain two. Then the end is a conclusion. Should be seeing super in wk 7.
Week 5 -
Demonstration of the IoT lamp and phone app to super went well with good discussion about presentation aspects that should be looked at. The writing of draft one has probably ended with 13539 words plonked into sections that are supposedly useful to have as sections. So an Intro, Domain 1, Domain 2 and Conclusion. Intro has the context and outline of what the project is and why. Domain 1 has the lit reviews for legal and M&C, domain2 has the Crit Eng stuff and methodology explanations and the Conclusion is where everything else is dumped. Possible some of that needs to be put in the intro (ie, stuff about what the thesis and project is not) but it all needs much rewriting and organising. Mid sem break this week plus draft one submit.
Week 4 -
Edited and mixed to mp3 an interview with a fellow student about her research. Made a fun little soundscape for submission. Wrangling thesis as a plan and into a thing, an actual word based thing. It has a ticket, natch. Requiring a last minute look and defence of using Crit Eng as a methodology, or similar. Week 5 will have a demo of IoT lamp and phone at super's place of business.
Week 3 -
Normal class of chats and things. Mainly this week was a good meeting with supervisor to discuss the outline of the thesis, what, if any, role the project component can take, the use of source code, mentions of decompiling (no) and various things that will enable the thesis to shift a gear. Good times. Will post the layout somewhere under Thesis.
Week 2 -
Lots of draft writing taking place, aiming for about 1200 words a day. These words are mainly notes to self or recollections as well as a sort of experiment in creating an outline for the thesis. Also required to interview another student about their thesis and then they interviewed me. Ouch. An elevator pitch. Anyway the other student is doing a thing on the tv show Girls via Luce Irigaray, which sounds interesting. I recorded the interview using CFP_Recorder (hpf +18k) and turned it into a 4.5 min soundscape cos why not.
More coding on the prototype app with graphical elements (floating clouds and a dropping speaker cone) added to see if they can add some sort of meaning to the video, ie app does some stuff that seems innocent (?) yet in background has nefarious processes um-ahhh. This may end up convoluting the demonstration somewhat...
Week 1 -
mainly some admins for the coming semester, plans for the duration etc. Me to get back into figuring how to turn it all into a thesis.
Mid year break
Work on the project app continues with a working version called CFP_Ultra that runs a service that peridodically listens for audio via the hardware microphone and then runs a check on whether a frequency and amplitude match certain criteria. Successfully transmitted and decoded A-U via near ultra high freqs from the IoT lamp. Now its times to figure how to demonstrate this in a film that can be submitted as part of the thesis and discussed within the thesis as well. It needs a story arc, says Kurt.
So far I have modified the app to use a transparent activity view with only a debug textview and a start/stop button visible. This activity then invokes a short length toast when a certain letter is received. This will occur 4 times to display 4 different states of what is occuring. The Interrogator page has pics and vids here and should probably be renamed. Another variation of the toast message:
1. A nearby beacon can be heard...
2. Listening to instructions...
3. Starting background app, connecting to internet...
4. Sending phone (identity?) data...
5. Finished. Stop app.
Some sort of variation on the above, that can be interpreted from watching the film so it is then possible to discuss what is occuring and why it could be (is) of concern.
Week 13
This week is all about MH4U and the final two essays for MCF and RS, both involving the concept of Privacy in respect to M&C theories and In Context. Both will be added to the documents section at wk13 end.
Week 12
End of semster classes offers a bit of a fizzer but otherwise it's all over now except for the last three essays.
RS - Discussion on writing the essays, thesis as a draft in week 6, thesis should be 10-12k words and also needs to be layed out in InDesign... w the actual f. Apparently it needs to look pretty else no one will want to read it. Well, no one in M&C. Gotta submit final essay by end of week 13.
LAB - Final presentation of the lamp and phone picture, lots of backslapping, "good job XO" yadda yadda. Final essay is good and has been submitted via yoko email as a pdf (well, the "I don't want to read too much" is going to love the 24 pages - 1-6 of essay, the rest are code appendices). End of line.
MCF - The Assign One marks were found so everyone relax, we are stuck with our original marks. Two examples of Concept Reports are up on BlkBrd too. End of line. Essay coming along nicely, submit by end of week 13.
Week 11
The downward slope for end of semester, woooot. All the subjects have assignments due for week 12-13 of lots of words 'n' letters.
RS - More exercises in a neologism (eh?) and a use of Crit Eng as a methodolgy that still seems to pass muster, so I think its a GO.
LAB - No lamp presentation as I got distracted with everything occuring at 12:30pm that day. So I showed a picture of the lamp, received a desultory, lacklustre response apart from some notable exceptions, thanks guys. I think I have abandoned trying to understand just wtf the lab is supposed to be telling me. I think it has told me things that it's supposed to, as the research has progressed in ways unforeseen. But it is like another language.
MCF - Assignment One's marks have been lost by the tutor, this has occured to multiple students btw. I no longer have the paper copy of that assignment so I have no idea what my marks were... anyone? This class got a null for week 11.
Week 10
No more shoes. No really. No more farkin' shoes. The desire to go into the mid-year break with a clear understanding on how I will be spending that time building, coding and writing is of paramount importance. The "Interrogator Lamp" is getting solid. It needs proper feedback, which of course XO can't provide. Added Interrogator lamp page, hopefully it will still be needed by mid-sem 2.
RS - The use of Crit Eng seemed to go down ok so I will assume I am on the right track with that one. Need some more research into it and what it could possibly mean. Oh the neologism thing. Firstly "smashtasticalbomb" is silly, secondly "smashtasticdural" is also silly. But as way of description: I will reveal a situation found in contemporary society that I believe should be illuminated in a way that is understandable to the lay person with respect to any concerns regarding an individuals privacy. But this is for the lit review apparently, so its inappropriate.
LAB - Ditto usual lab stuff. Shoe got dropped in favour of the speaker lamp. Which apparently is too complicated, someone (grrr) prefers the shoe thing. Whatever. The ideas behind the lamp make it more appropriate for a prototype anyway, and is an example of trying to apply Critical Engineering thinking to the thesis question via the project. For wk11 I need to demo the lamp in a way that provokes some sort of question as to how I will investigate my thesis. And folio of precursor work plus an essay on its history (1000 words) to be presented in wk12.
MCF - Turned up to listen out for information regarding the next (and last) assignment for this class, report of a concept. The concept will be privacy, or as I keep typing it "provacy". This will be useful to nut out a major component of the thesis, theory and lit review. What is privacy and why is it important to my research. Evaluate the texts in how they are useful to my research, it needs to be demonstrative in this, ie how is text A useful to what part of my understanding and/or thinking about concept A... 4-6 articles can be referenced, not the 6-10 written in the assignment brief.
Week 9
A long time was spent continuing the mid-course correction. It mainly meant figuring on an actual theory framework, the suitability and methodology of presenting the project part and several days spent excavating the goo and PCBs from a "smart" light bulb.
RS - More discussion and further understanding of the idea behind the thesis format that was derived from the 3 part venn diagram where a + b = c, or theory applied by a methodology can equate to the thesis. Apparently. And a reminder of the upcoming sketch essay assignment.
LAB - The usual lab stuff. The precursor 2 turned into a IoT shoe that used the URL transmission of BTLE google spec and broadcast /iml/ where some idiot's shoe website was duped. Everyone leapt to install the google app (lol) and then played around with it. However, a more useful encounter with some lad what said, disaffectedly, why should I (he) care. This is in fact the most useful thing to think about, regardless of technical knowledge in what I (me) am doing, how would the user (audience) know, understand or even care? This leads to crticial design where it makes the viewer ask questions about a thing. This led to Critical Engineering (amen) and it has a theory of sorts. That I can use.
MCF - 2nd null, umm-ahhh, i'm dobbing on you.
Week 8
A new version of thesis topic question has been added to this page, as now is the time to refine from the broad sweep of reading that has been done. Now it is time to sort out the bibliography, the writing and all the other things. Having a better question would be a good place to start.
RS - this week was an exercise in attempting to define the thesis into a three part venn diagram, with 2 problem domains and an outcome/intersect as the third circle. This was and will continue to be a useful exercise to progress things along in a timely fashion, hello week 8.
LAB - "The Silent Poet". Thats enough on that part. Anyway, the shoes are a thing now so I think I will get a pair from the shops and make them IoT their identity, or something. I don't really know what to do with the shoes other than laborious itemisation of characteristics that "would" constitute the shoe's identity.
MCF - got a dev/null this week cos stuff, and it was Freud, and some other stuff. Next week has Butler for the readings so that could be good.
Week 7
What is there to say about this week, other than maybe the "reflective" writing that was performed for one of the prerequisite classes...
If ever there was a reason to walk the street at night it would be when the rain is lightest. Each step takes the reason and glides it effortlessly across a veneer of water. A light that punctuates a closed doorway also falls through an open one. Several beats occur as drops, telling no one of its impetus to fall. Somewhere a radio plays Ella and she sings of dying a little. There will always be time for that, if only a remembrance would surface in time and in the time that it was needed. To that place where resolution is made available such that it is possible to determine which way it is. Chancing that it will always be circling, always repeating, every corner and sideways glance. Until that silence. That space that's in the silence. That space that was a void evolves its nothingness into everything. And the silence is a noise. A noise so complete it envelops and connects with every perspective until there is nothing left untouched. And that is when it presents itself as the singular, finite and futile response.
And shoes. Lets just remember that there will be shoes.
Week 6
A week of refinement and pruning. Making sensible instead of strange. The start of implementing the identityML, human_entity_device.xml and its ontology is a major step forward
LAB - Precursor 1 is abandoned/superceded by the next iteration. The "poetry" angle is abandoned due to its irrelevance. The key word now is ontology and an identyML is being developed for use with some gcm code and an android app. This will be the token that gets passed by phone to server.
RS - the usual better understanding of M&C concepts is achieved by attendance, so that's good. Still not sure about the use of the double loop reflective thing. Other than knowing that it is to mainly confirm that I am not the archetype. Pushing on with writing and editing, mainly editing.
MCF - the assess 2 presentation was yucky as a performance but the written submission plus the others got us a good mark. I think this subject can have a Null ticket for a bit, until the next submission which is a Report On A Concept.
Week 5
Long week, with the usual mixed bag of lollies. Thesis reading has progressed well with lots of journal articles read and the biblio being expanded and categorised into types of articles. No more reading technical stuff for a bit, more of the theory surrounding human, society, privacy and meaning for this with a few key journals being found and key names of researchers.
LAB - Need to get on with precursor 2 which may or may not evolve from the first. Speaking of which, technically the performance went well, except for not mirroring desktop to projector (idiot), but conceptual it fell on its arse. I think no one understands it and I don't know how to make them understand it. So was kept back with some other dunces and we had to write about what it is (copied to written page) that we are trying to do in this precursor. So much for asking questions with no answers, it turns out I had to write an essay answering those questions, or at least asking those questions... BOBBY!
RS - biblio cameback with some suggestions for people to look up - very handy - and the general idea that I should broaden my research into "less technical areas". Aight. Also, remember that submitted written stuff in this class may (or will definitely) get published for others to read : so less tongue-in-cheek huh. Easy tiger....
MCF - the class what constantly asks me to analyse in a way I'm not very good at (or even understand) some texts that I end up disliking, this time for week 6 I gotta present with three others my part of the text which contains the line "The discovery of this triad of non-representational and non-recollective rememberings meant the virtual explosion of the hegemony of older models of memory." (italics my own, natch). This and other lols, especially when the author wrote a chapter on forgetting and then forgot where he put it...
Week 4
Split week due to chocolate eating season. Possibly less use of this section and more use via the Trello board. Maybe this can be a weekly summary of events? Detached rmit from Opera and am now using Firefox - due to many reasons but mainly Google. Met with supervisor (Tom) had a good and reassuring chat about things in general, good egg. Bought a burner phone, attempt to create an "archetype" from it. This week mainly saw the chance to start reading all the journals, articles, parts of books that I am adding to the biblio.
LAB - continue the addition of mespeak to bot, switch char freq to being +10k.
RS - Submitted bibliography. Received Assess 01 results (72) which revealed what was assumed - not sure how to write a question about things that I'm not sure about yet.
MCF - Text analysis assignment submitted, will be interesting to see what things are said about it in relation to my understanding of the criteria and this sort of conceptual analysis.
Week 3
RS - Apparently the journal is more of a bullet point list of things to-do etc, so this weekly part of the site will only perhaps serve as reflections. The to-do list will be an actual booklet (Moleskin natch) with some sort of diagramatic schedule as a diary of sorts. Today is also day to submit the question and a paragraph of what the question means as an upload to a dropbox. The rmit one. And there will be a section created just for the writings as in-class exercises.
MCF - Analysing texts, the assignment is to do some group-think presentation for a topic chosen from a list. I picked 'memory' for no reason other than the person sitting next to me picked. There are two texts to read and analyse. Also, next week is the submission date for the analytical review of the two texts for 'communication', 2000 words +/-10%. Don't forget.
LAB - The poetry machine bot thing is now working better, it also now has a js script that renders the poem into character frequencies in hertz based on sekkrit stuffs. And thanks to HTML 5 web audio api, it also has an oscillator to sound the char freqs at a rate of 100ms with a -10000 to make it audible for now. It's mildly annoying. Mainly I think it will be an experiment into the intersect of human and machine, or rather the divide.
Feedback was to work out "what is bothering about the machine generated poetry". The lack of human agency is probably best defined from the coder's perspective of not wanting aesthetic code but functional code and nort wanting to try and create a program that would create aesthetically pleasing poetry - not that I know how. But that can't be demonstrated with what I have done so far, if at all. The only other perspective is from the end user human. Or a web crawler. The php will not render until a user looks at it, so it's not real until someone looks at it. Is that where bothersomeness lies - in making the user bothered by a script attempting to make poetry. Or will they think its just some crap webpage.
Research into the question is slowing due to the increasing workload for things other than figuring out the question. But it's getting there. I think it will be
Week 2
Provides further insight into the awareness that my critical approach is not necessarily similar to others in the year. But, thankfully, there are areas of overlap. This is ultimately hard to ascertain when some sessions aren't as participatory as others. This is after all a communication field. Communicative field. Communion. Common. Shush.
Making strange - initially considered to be at odds with the direct problem at hand which is trying to come up with the question and how to write/produce the thesis/artefact. But of course, it is entirely helpful, such as lateral thinking may be. So what could be more strange than trying to write experimental poetry...? Weaving central themes within any activity is useful to clarify their existence as well as purposefulness. So the central ideas of "What is privacy" and "What/where is the human agency" seem pertinent at this stage.
How to demonstrate this making strange in what is known as a "pre-cursor" project, or as I would prefer a proof-of-concept model, or test article. So construction of a webserver php based bot that generates poetry is being developed - link in sidebar, or here if that's too much trouble. The intention is to investigate the human agency in writing code that will run on a machine and create its own artifact, the poetry. Is the code poetic? Is it purely functional? Form follows function, functional asthetics, etc. And the human interpretation of the machine. L'homme ex machina (French and Latin, what are you nuts?). But is it all basically an extention of the first non-human object deigned to be used for a human purpose. Or should that be elevated...?
Week 1
Mainly this was being informed as to how the course should function, what the expectations are and possibly the use of fear to encourage scholarly veracity. There is and will continue to be a focus on group activities as a way of encouraging an inter-disciplinary understanding of your own output. This is both enlightening and enveloping - Occam's Razor, and this is an heuristic technique. This, as well as the the word-du-jour "self-reflexivity", will require intellectual absorption. Don't forget the biscuits.
And reading. Always with the reading...
