just want to save what i have so far

This major is generally known as ICAM to all the students and faculty on campus. It is available in the Music and Visual Arts Departments although it can go very deeply into computer science topics. Every student, whether in the Music or Visual Arts Departments, must enroll in lower and upper division classes that are meant to open their eyes and lead them to their mode of expression. It is not available in the Computer Science department because it is not meant to be the main course of study. It may be the form of art or music but intellectually it has nothing to do with its ideas or goals.

[edit] history

Interdisciplinary Computing in the Arts Major, also known as ICAM, was first introduced as an undergraduate major in the fall of 1998 at the University of California, San Diego. After the initial introduction of the major, too many students tried to declare ICAM as their major and therefore had to enforce a pre-major requirement of at least a 3.0 GPA in order to enroll in its advanced classes. Just recently (meaning fall 2007) the pre-major requirement was removed and it is no longer an impacted major.

from computer power and human reason - joseph weizenbaum

"That science is creative, that the creative act in science is equivalent to the creative act in art, that creation springs only from autonomous individuals, is such a simple and, one might think, obvious idea."

that everything comes from a singular idea no matter the form. ideas drive art; ideas drive technology.

ELIZA reminded me of a program like photoshop that lets you use "plug-ins" for different topics. if you want to make something look old you use a different filter. if you want to discuss a different topic you insert a different program. they are the same in the computer sense. it also reminded me of the matrix when NEO was learning all that crap about fighting and shit. the only difference is that a human can learn. i guess that is what artificial intelligence is trying to do. but at ELIZA's time that was not possible.

there were different topics that came about in the article:

1. some psychiatrists thought it could actually be of help to clinical society to use the DOCTOR program on patients.
2. people formed bonds with the DOCTOR program after interacting with ELIZA a few times. maybe it was because it was a place where everything would be secret. a computer cannot gossip. thats why people got mad when he wanted to read their conversations. it was almost like talking to yourself yet still having an audience.
3. the DOCTOR program also made people believe a computer could understand language. it seems impossible that a computer could learn like a human especially in the field of having your own ideas. can a computer make art that wasnt based on the programmer's idea of art?

it is man's responsibility to limit technology?

six selections by the oulipo

so upon reading this assignment all i could think of were those books about choosing your own adventure. i remember reading one; then, i thought i was too cool to be seen with a "choose your own adventure" book. It also reminds me of MadLips. they are also reader interactive. I guess this reading was assigned to give us an introduction to this form of literature so we could move on to the next step of computer assisted literature whether random or not.

A HUNDRED THOUSAND BILLION POEMS

since i did not participate in its true literary function i found the poems to be very boring and also annoying. making no sense. participation was key to this form of literature because randomness was key to these poems.

having no meaning also gave it a chance to have meaning. two lines, to different trains of thought, brought together to support each other but it never happened for me because i was unwilling to photocopy and cut up papers. i am a bad student.

YOURS FOR THE TELLING

when first seeing this literature i thought it was cute. for one thing it was short enough to keep my attention whether it was interesting or not which it was not. it was just the structure that was cute.

it seemed like the ending should have been multiple. i guess that technology did not come about yet. although there were 2 endings they both ended the same way. almost like a cop out. so this literature only based on form not content.

COMPUTER AND WRITER

there are 3 different types of literature involved here:

1. author > computer > work
2. author > computer > work > computer > reader
3. author > computer > reader > computer > work

i guess these three are the next level to the previous reading during the oulipo because now the same concept is used with computers. randomness is based on the programming involved.

these 3 different types demonstrate what the direction of a computer will be or is. a computer has become the ship and not the content. it is there to help express yourself or whatever it is your expression is about.

it is still nothing on its own. it is never the main attraction and is soon becoming a given instead of a plus. It seems all the readings in this assignment is about the use of computers as a helper. Just like the poems and short story without computers, now that there are computers it is an extention of the same meaning. it does not make its own meaning or form. computer science will one day become a GE. kids are learning programming languages in school already.

will ICAM last forever?

so i decided to write about another topic but i do not know if it will be deleted or not. this time i have been defending myself for the reason this topic should be allowed. i am writing about ICAM at UCSD.

here is wat i have written thus far:

Interdisciplinary Computing in the Arts Major, also known as ICAM, was first introduced as an undergraduate major in the fall of 1998 at the University of California, San Diego. It is available in the Music and Visual Arts Departments although it can go very deeply into computer science topics. Every student, whether in the Music or Visual Arts Departments, must enroll in lower and upper division classes that are meant to open their eyes and lead them to their mode of expression.
After the initial introduction of the major, too many students tried to declare ICAM as their major and therefore had to enforce a pre-major requirement of at least a 3.0 GPA in order to enroll in its advanced classes.