Comments on: 2 The Computer Says No! http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/neilb/2011/10/01/2-the-computer-says-no/ part of the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:20:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Jen Ross http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/neilb/2011/10/01/2-the-computer-says-no/#comment-16 Jen Ross Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:12:49 +0000 http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/neilb/?p=238#comment-16 This is a beautiful blog post that really works in creatively linking the films from our first two weeks with themes of digital culture and your own experiences. It sent me off in multiple directions of thought. One thing that it brought to mind was a recent xkcd comic about the "password paradox" - http://boingboing.net/2011/08/10/xkcd-on-the-password-paradox-human-factors-versus-computers-brute-force.html . Another was the work that's been done on database subjectivity - by Mark Poster (might be hard to get hold of his 1996 chapter on "databases as discourse", but well worth the effort), and by others like Graham and Wood - I recommend their article and you should be able to get it with your Edinburgh credentials. Graham, S., & Wood, D. (2003). Digitizing surveillance: Categorization, space, inequality. Critical Social Policy, 23(2), pp. 227-248. (Especially the stuff about "dividuals" and our relationships with them. Which connects with the discussion in Sian's core reading this week about our digital doubles. All very energising stuff, Neil.) This is a beautiful blog post that really works in creatively linking the films from our first two weeks with themes of digital culture and your own experiences. It sent me off in multiple directions of thought. One thing that it brought to mind was a recent xkcd comic about the “password paradox” – http://boingboing.net/2011/08/10/xkcd-on-the-password-paradox-human-factors-versus-computers-brute-force.html . Another was the work that’s been done on database subjectivity – by Mark Poster (might be hard to get hold of his 1996 chapter on “databases as discourse”, but well worth the effort), and by others like Graham and Wood – I recommend their article and you should be able to get it with your Edinburgh credentials.

Graham, S., & Wood, D. (2003). Digitizing surveillance: Categorization, space, inequality. Critical Social Policy, 23(2), pp. 227-248.

(Especially the stuff about “dividuals” and our relationships with them. Which connects with the discussion in Sian’s core reading this week about our digital doubles. All very energising stuff, Neil.)

]]> By: Grace Elliott http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/neilb/2011/10/01/2-the-computer-says-no/#comment-15 Grace Elliott Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:39:17 +0000 http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/neilb/?p=238#comment-15 Hi Neil, I think you’ve found your ‘blog voice’ now Neil. I empathise with the plight of trying to access your accounts, remembering which ID and password is for which account, and trying to decode comments that made sense at the time of writing. I’ve also answered a question wrongly, (think I got two digits transposed in my NI No.) and wasn’t allowed to correct it, nor was I allowed to move on to next stage. It’s quite a frightening. I find that some of the security questions asked could easily be answered by a very close friend. Not so secure then. Machines are made and/or programmed by people so are ultimately fallible. Connecting machines and Scottish accents reminded me of this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3JcHhA7M-Y You may already have seen it, but if not then enjoy. The point you raised about the lack of emotion in some of the films we’ve watched has definitely got me thinking. I enjoyed reading your blog. Good use of visuals. Hi Neil,

I think you’ve found your ‘blog voice’ now Neil. I empathise with the plight of trying to access your accounts, remembering which ID and password is for which account, and trying to decode comments that made sense at the time of writing. I’ve also answered a question wrongly, (think I got two digits transposed in my NI No.) and wasn’t allowed to correct it, nor was I allowed to move on to next stage. It’s quite a frightening. I find that some of the security questions asked could easily be answered by a very close friend. Not so secure then.

Machines are made and/or programmed by people so are ultimately fallible. Connecting machines and Scottish accents reminded me of this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3JcHhA7M-Y You may already have seen it, but if not then enjoy. The point you raised about the lack of emotion in some of the films we’ve watched has definitely got me thinking.

I enjoyed reading your blog. Good use of visuals.

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