Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Lemon Computer + Who makes the results?



Saw this post a while back and thought the project seemed interesting (?), at least for someone/somefarm with lots and lots of fruit... the possibility of using the chemical reactions/electricity in fruits as a computer.... more here.


Also, in response to Bjarki's lovely post... you remarked (and used) the power (death grip?) of google for the image search, bringing up some interesting image results, I have been reading a bit of this essay/article thing
here and here, (and here) and although I haven't really digested all of it, (and sometimes it goes into nutty zones) the author(s) bring up interesting points about Google and its use of its own technology in creating its own forms or the basis for its authority...


"That is why PageRank[TM], which, as we have seen, is not merely an algorithm, becomes the cultural prism through which Google intends us to
analyse everything. In a certain sense, what we witness, is an enforced extension of the peer review system - which works all right within the academic system - to the whole gamut of human knowledge."



This all may be a little off topic... but I think it relates to the kind of cultural capital/producers etc. discussion that sort of comes up in Miwon Kwon's book... and also, it should be noted, the 'blog' that we are using is a part of the Google system (bought by google in 2003), requires a google account to use.... etc. But the content is still ours, right?....



"By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Picasa Web Albums, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute and publish such Content"... from terms of service

2 comments:

  1. A different model of the factory farm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53HQ4lJzyVA

    This Betty Boop cartoon from 1933 shows two possible relationships between humans and nature. The firs is exploitative and based on violence, the second is one of productive harmony with technology mediating between human and nature. Seeing the inside of a Perdue factory or a mechanized slaughter line for cattle gives a very different idea of the role of technology in farming. I wonder if the promise of technology as shown in this cartoon can still be meaningful. That is if we want a different relationship to nature or the production of food does that have to mean going back to older methods, or could it be done through a transformation in our relationship to technology?

    ReplyDelete
  2. interesting that the desireable PH range in citrus for "fuzzy logic" zone is between 2.5 and 3, which places it exactly between the lemon and the mandarine (tangerine). love the "hello world" map/drawing - it would be interesting to make an update using lemons and mandarines, or maybe all the Deep End fruits including the failed varieties of Bacon avocados and Valencia oranges.

    also, I too, thought about the google connection when I signed on the blog and agreed to google's conditions. google is us...

    great post, eric!

    ReplyDelete