Radio's impact on the world

I was inspired to write this post when I came across a link to the original recording of War of The World's. For those of you who don't know what War of The Worlds is I'll sum it up real quick. In 1938 Orson Welles broadcasted a radio show about aliens invading the planet over the air waves. The unique part about it was that people actually believed the earth was being invaded and a panic ensued. There countless stories of farmers shooting water towers believing that they were UFOs. The hysteria got so bad Welles himself had to go on the radio and announce that it was just a story, and he had to apologize for scaring so many people. 

This story alone is enough to show the impact that radio had on society. Before the radio was common place the quickest way to get news was with a newspaper. This had several drawbacks firstly newspapers needed to be physically distributed and secondly once they were written that was it. No live edits could be made once the paperboy started selling them on the streets. Radio changed this and allowed for constant updates and a continuous flow of information across the nation. Radios reached more people than newspapers in a shorter time. Most people could afford a radio at the time and so it became common practice to sit around and listen to stories and news bulletins on your radio. 

The radio was the first true mass media device, one message could be delivered to a massive audience quickly and uniformly. The radio helped to shape the basis of today's mass communication markets and practices. Without the radio mass media would not have been possible and it still serves as a distribution channel for artists all around the world to this day.

Gifs in Art

I was inspired to write this post about gifs after I clicked on the 8 bit gif link in the syllabus. The link I clicked on contained some gifs of famous scfi and fantasy movies. The unique part about it was that they were all in 8 bit just like an old video game.
This got me thinking about how far technology has progressed in such a short period. It wasn't too long ago that we were playing pong and space invaders. These days there are hundreds of games on the market  that are far more advanced. The resolution is exponentially, and it is common practice for games to run at 60 plus frames a second.

But what does this have to do with gifs paul, and what does this have to do with that annoying gif of the transforming building? Gifs are a great new tool for art and technology, they allow users to create a short "moving image" of something rather than making a video. The gif of the transforming building is a prime example of the benefits that gifs give artists. Before an architect would have to display his or her idea with several consecutive images or a video made in a high end modeling program. Now all they need to do is make their design in photoshop or illustrator, draw the parts they want to animate and then use a gif generator to pull it all together. On top of being easy to make gifs are also very lightweight in terms of file size compared to comparable videos. No need to hit pause or play the gif just does its own thing once its embedded in a site. Gifs are a great piece of technology for artists and open a whole new creative worlds to be explored.




Building Gif Source

Computer History

I stumbled upon the timeline of computer history link in the syllabus and clicked on it because computers have always fascinated me. I was really surprised by the timelines level of detail. I was also very surprised at the original start date of computing. I had always assumed it started some time in the 60's, but computing tech can be traced back to the 1930's. 

The timeline does an excellent detailing the actual path that computers took to get where they are today. I myself thought that computers were just an overnight thing. That is not the case it took almost 60 years of hard work and dedication to get computers to a form that we recognize today. The benefactors of the early computer industry were not companies looking to provide personal computers. Instead a majority of the funding and purchasing came from the defense industry and the government. Early "mainframe" computers were used by the government to tackle the day's complex problems like rocket guidance and space missions. It wasn't until the late 60's and early 70's that computers started to get small. It was in this time that the first electronic reservations systems were designed and built. The laser printer something we all take for granted today wasn't introduced until 1974 and is what would make Xerox famous in the years to come. Many people today don't appreciate or understand the journey that our computers took to get where they are today. So I would like to take the time to thank those that have put their time and effort into getting computers where they are today. I also highly recommend visiting the sight and getting a look for yourself. http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/computers/  

Santa Maria della Vittoria

This link really caught my eye because I have actually visited the church titled above. Unfortunately I can find the pictures from our family vacation to Rome but I do remember taking a photo in front of the alter. The stop in Rome was part of a bigger trip that included Venice and Croatia. However this church had a lasting impression on me the interior was absolutely stunning. The level of detail is what amazed me the most, the robes on the marble statues had such a natural look to them. Even after 400 years the statues still looked pristine, there was no wear or fading on the paintings. Just like the statues the attention to detail was bar none. Everytime I turned my head I saw new work of art tucked away somewhere else, or I looked closer at something and saw that there was much more to it. The builders of this Church wanted to create something truly unique and that is without a doubt what they did.

Stage Door to Broadway

I read and checked out Angel De Quinta's blog titled Stage Door. The blog is an excellent source for Broadway photos, opinions, and much more. Angel's blog reminded me about the first and unfortunately only broadway play I have the chance to see.
I saw The Lion King when I was in fifth grade, and I remember my initial reaction was very negative. I didn't like plays to begin with and I had a hard time sitting still even at movie theaters. But my parents convinced (dragged) me to go to see it, after a while I gave in. I mean what the heck I saw the movie and I liked that how bad could the play be right. So we went to the city picked up our playbills found our seats and waited for the play to start.
I remember very clearly how quickly my attitude about broadway plays changed. Before the curtains opened I was expecting your average set with a few facades made from plywood. But I was dead wrong the set had so much depth and detail, I was constantly finding new things in it that entertained me. I was amazed at how much work was put into the play, the costumes and actors were great not at all what I expected. The play really grabbed my attention and drew me I felt like I was a part of the story not just watching it. When something dramatic happened the crowd would react with me and I would react with them. Another part that really surprised me was the music I never really cared for Disney musicals the whole song and dance just wasn't for me. But the play changed that too the actors did an excellent job of capturing my attention and making the song their own. My favorite part of the whole experience was after the show. On our way back home it dawned on me that I had never seen the Lion King told in such a different way. It was always the same animated to me, but the show really turned it into something different and unique. I would definitely recommend going to see a broadway play even if you are skeptical about live performances it is truly and eye opening experience.