Lecture 5 Summary

In today's lecture we had guest lecturer Mr Jason Nelson whom discussed "Net.Art and Digital Creativity."

At the beginning of the lecture each student briefly introduced themselves and explained which course they were enrolled in. This gave the class the opportunity to know each other a little more and for a change gave a chance for an informal lecture.

In the past decade the Internet and its functionality has evolved. As Jason Nelson explains the Internet has been used to "shop" online through various mediums such as Ebay and pet.com which enabled users to "shop" online however a disadvantage with this technology medium is that the users are not able to physically inspect, touch and interact with the product. This can be further exemplified as Jason explains when a child purchases a toy usually they enjoy unwrapping the product, touching and interacting or playing with the product rather than viewing it on the computer which does not allow them to have the same interaction.
Jason discussed the 'number one economy source on the Internet' - Online Gambling. He illustrates that online gambling is dominately popular because of how effortlessly users can lose their money. Not suprisingly porn was the second economy source on the Internet as Jason outlined this is because of the privacy aspects as many users view as an advantage, as he exemplified.

Jason subsequently discussed the idea of the Internet being anonymous as fabricated. He illustrated that through the users IP address anyone can track where the user is located. Although this can be countered through a program called 'IP Blocker' which enable users to block other people from seeing what the user has downloaded.

Jason then introduced his digital artwork through his website : http://www.secrettechnology.com
I found it be very fascinating as he showcased his various digital art pieces. I found them intriguing on how and where he got his inspiration from in creating these digital art. Jason's digital art allows users to interact with the art pieces. Interestingly Jason said he was not really the artistic person which can create drawings or sculptures rather he said that technoloogy enable people without any talent a chance to create.

And through this he demonstrated that the Internet was full of 'one-day gimmicks'which people create, for instance the Million Dolloar homepage created by a young guy(http://www.milliiondollarhomepage.com/blog.php). This website is full of pixel images which are sold at various prices which ultimately made a million dollars in total.
This is an example of some of the gimmicks people create that can be found on the Internet.

Jason discussed also the idea of 'viral' which can be defined as an online flu pandemic, a certain object such as a video or an email spreading through the Internet at a fast rate.
Clearly the Internet's functionality is no longer traditional as it continues to evolve. I found this lecture to be very interesting and fascinating it gave me a different outlook of the Internet and its functions.