Tron and Wikileaks

The parallel I found between Tron and Wikileaks is the idea of a few high powers withholding the truth from the large majority. The film also expresses the idea that these truths can be uncovered by a few among that majority. Tron and the User for example are equivalent Julian Assange and Bradley Manning. Tron has the information, the User has the power; Bradley Manning has the information, Julian Assange has the power to expose it.

My Interests Stand with the Truth

I've been gathering information on the psychological effects of solitary confinement; the type of imprisonment that Bradley Manning, the Whistleblower who leaked highly classified information to WikiLeaks, is currently under. I'm interested in how it is affecting his mental state because I believe it could be a Government scheme to get Manning to turn on Julian Assange by brainwashing him to testify against Assange. This intrigues me because it is an example of the extreme measures government goes to in order to hide certain information and proposes the larger question of WHY?

I'm also interested in how further "Wiki" leaks of confidential documents and whatnot will change our politics and shape our civilization in the decades to come.

WikiLeaks tells me that while Digital Media is very much in government control, there is another side of it that is slipping away from this manipulation...and I like it. Keep the truth coming, for the truth shall set you free...

Gathering

Currently my method for gathering consists of google and the library. I'm pretty content with these tools for collecting information. However, in the process of gathering, I found that I could take a different approach to my researching. For instance, after taking a peek at a few of the links, I realized that searching doesn't have to be about finding this one particular thing that I type into the engine. In fact, it's better to use searching as a tool for discovery and that means I have to go about searching without assuming that I know what I'm looking for, but rather with a general idea or topic. Subject directories could be a useful addition to gathering information as well. Gathering entails properly being able to cite your web sources, so I guess that's another skill that I could add on to my current experience with Step two of the DMA process.

The Framing

The framing of DMA is a little intense right now. I'm still trying to figure this class out because it's unlike any class I've ever taken. In a way that's kind of what framing is though; a beginning where a rough idea or concept is laid out before you, put in it's place. The framing of content materials is especially interesting. I like research done by Sugata Mitra and how kids are able to essentially teach themselves when given technology and groups to work in. It was amazing to see where his work went after his initial framing; placing a computer in a wall in a country where they weren't common and just simply seeing what happened. One other piece that I thought was particularly interesting was the "High Rise: Out My Window" interactive narrative by Katarina Cizek. Her initial framing was a 360 degree perspective on the lives of people who live in concrete buildings. These people were from all over the world and not only were very different themselves but so were the high rise concrete buildings they lived in (i.e. the projects, a friendly neighborhood). I experience framing in my own life on almost a daily basis. I write songs and it always begins with a small idea that I work out and then it develops into a greater whole, but not without the initial framing. Essentially my image represents all of the random framings I've been in exposed to in DMA thus far and my confusion in some cases about how they all tie together. It all makes sense in an information overload kind of way.