Digital environments

DATAMOSHING in popular culture

Intro to "Unfriended: Dark Web" (glitching "RTL releasing") - produced as screencast, ie. a computer screen film

Cellular Automata

Amazing ressource: https://www.conwaylife.com/wiki/Main_Page Gun at wiki

Programming languages

Name	Header text	Examples	Characteristics	Conversion
Machine code (source code) (1st generation)	Machine instruction ("opcode") directly readable by processor - as stream of raw binary data or encoded as hex, octal or decimal	Front panel of PDP-8/E		Machine code is fed into a processor whose instruction set defines the manipulation of registers and so on
Assembly code (symbolic machine code) (2nd generation)	One human-readable line pr. machine instruction - symbols for opcodes, addresses, numbers and strings. Also: Macro (macro-instructions) of grouped instructions	MASM (Microsoft)	Describes writing instructions to specific (named) registers in computer. No "return" and thus no concept of "function"	Assembler converts assembly code into executable machine code
Compiler language		C	Operations on named variables rather than "shift position" (e.g. n as int).	Compiler converts to assembly language (e.g. for a specific architecture)
High level with some low level		PL/S BLISS BCPL, extended ALGOL (for Burroughs large systems) C
High level (first major) (autocodes)	First widespread high-level machine-independent language	Fortran [BASIC??] [also COBOL]	nested functions while-do if-then-else

ASSEMBLER (SIMULATOR):

• https://schweigi.github.io/assembler-simulator/ = super nice!
• http://carlosrafaelgn.com.br/Asm86/ = x86 assembler

What is the digital?

Notes on the digital 10th of July 2019

What is:

• computer
• digital
• electronic
• interactivity (especially in the light of cinemachines)
• animation (Manovich + virtual camera (Gravity))
• programmability (hardware and software)
• internet

hybrids of analog-digital cinemachines:

• laserdisc
• video games
• digitally controlled synthesizers
• raster and vector graphics

A definition based on signal, ie. encoding

• composite and so on
• VGA and DVI (hybrid?)
• HDMI

After a definition based on signal, the question remains: What are the operations of the digital?

We must base these in:

• Data as information

bytes are the encoding entity of the digital - these may be alphanumeric, images, sounds, even programs

random access memory/storage is something that is essentially digital

the digital processor defines the operations of the digital. These might be

• logical
• mathematical (adding, substracting, multiplying and so on of operands)
• database (sort, find)
• memory (read, write, goto)

and more.

These are archetypal models of the digital machines, e.g. developed in advanced mathematics, in textile weaving and more.

What does educational computers such as Geniac and Minivac teach us about computers?

How can reality be translated into "digital objects"? (Niels Ove Finnemann's speak)

How does early digital cinema (and art) help define what is "digital"?

CASES:

• John Whitney
• BEFLIX (somewhat similar to ASCII)
• Stan VanDerBeek
• Lilian Schwartz
• Larry Cuba
• Jeffy Schier/Vasulka
• Steve Beck
• Karl Sims (parallel computing)

NEW ISSUES:

• Machine learning [wekinator]
• Quantum computing
• Neurale netværk
• Deep fake (digital transplantation - Pinscreen app [stammer fra SFX])
• Virtual reality (interactivity)

Fra arbejdspapir (20/7-2019)

ERKENDELSE:

Det er måske relativt få af disse displays, hvor der er opbygget et "system" omkring dem, så det giver mening at tale om storage, processor, source osv. (mest film-projektor, raster tv).

Tilgengæld er det meget udfoldet i optisk miljø og muligvis i digital miljø. Det kan hjælpe med at aflive myten om, at der er "mange digitale ting lige pludselig"....?

VEDR DIGITAL:

• Mange digitale "forløbere" er hybrider med andre miljøer, fx.
  • digital kontrol af laser/lys-show (optisk miljø)
  • digital plotting på filmstrimmel (plastisk miljø) - herunder med elektrisk skrivemaskine, med linje (pantograf) og med dot/line-plotter
    + langtidseksponering af bevægelse på film (optisk-plastisk-kombination)
  • digital konvertering til CRT - herunder vektor og raster (elektronisk miljø)
• Det egentlige digitale er et signal kendetegnet ved, at det "pakkes" (encodes og decodes), men i kodningen kan det ikke direkte manipuleres (modsat et elektronisk signal, der kan forstyrres)
• Der findes grader af interaktive og non-interaktive teknologier i det digitale - det gør der nok også i de andre miljøer...