Web Observations Terms Module 3

Digitality

The inclusion of this image in this blog entry, It’s a Girl!, illustrates how digitality enables the distribution of photographs on the web. It is a sonogram of my daughter that was taken at University Health Care Center in Syracuse, New York, on February 14, 2006. My wife, Dr. Laura Weiser-Erlandson, scanned the printed image and saved it as a jpeg file on a flash drive. I plugged the flash drive into my PC and uploaded the file to my blog entry. This chain of activity was made possible by the fact that the image was digitized.

Theoretically, the image could have been saved in digital format when it was created, sent to me directly via e-mail and uploaded to the blog from the PC, thereby eliminating any physical manipulation (scanning) of the original image. Furthermore, this could have been done on any PC with web access in any location.

Hypertextuality

The concept of hypertextuality is represented in this Reuters story, Iraq FM urges cautious government formation, by the pull-down menu next to the first word, Iraq, in the story. Clicking on the down arrow next to the word displays a list of related sources, news stories, etc., all of which are accessible due to the hypertext links included in the list.

Interactivity

My father-in-law, James Weiser, sent me an e-mail on Saturday, February 18, 2006, containing a link to a game, Target Practice for Deadeye Dick, that is accessible on the web. It is a first-person shooter game in which the player is acting as Vice President Dick Cheney. The player is required to shoot numerous quail flying over the head of Texas attorney Harry Whittington without hitting him. Requiring the player to adjust their aim and deciding when it is safe to fire at the birds characterizes the interactive nature of this and other web-enabled games.

Dispersal

Reuters published another story online, Cartoon protestors defy ban in Pakistan, regarding the latest developments in the cartoon jihad in Pakistan and included a link to a video clip related to the story. Uploading digital video footage of such an event to a computer server with web access enables both large media outlets like Reuters and individuals to distribute coverage on a global scales within minutes of an event taking place.

Virtuality

Information Design and Technology 507-35 offered ay SUNY IT in Marcy, New York, illustrates how the web embodies virtuality in learning pursuits. This course is taught online and students are required to submit their assignments to Dr. Steve Schneider by summarizing the results of their research through blog entries and posting links to these entries via the virtual classroom. The virtual nature of this arrangement precludes the necessity of having the participants travel to a central location to attend lectures or conduct research. Virtually everything required to conduct or participate in this course is provided by web-enabled computer hardware and software.