Living in artificial world!

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I was walking with Xavier crossing Victoria Market* last night to send back the DVDs that we borrowed from VideoEzy. On the way back we saw a new parking machine just beside the atm machine. What triggered my thought at that moment was that the whole parking lot is going to be managed by a machine. It used to be ‘human manage’ system, but now they change it to the ‘machine system’. My thought is not only the transformation from the human to machine systems but more than that.
I wonder…
Why there is a need to change from ‘human to machine’?
What will happen with people job, who’ve been replaced by the machine?

I’ve been reading this book recently, called Authenticity by David Boyle. The first chapter talks about living in artificial world. The world full of new inventions and technologies. I’m not blaming the technologies, but i’m blaming the people who make use of it for making more profits. And designers are involved in this process. We always do. We, designers (in any kind) have always been told to create new invention to make things easy for people to use. How to solve problems? How to help or improve the systems? What can we designers, do to assist in this? Then we came up with new way through technologies, new methods of paying rent, parking tickets, buying our needs and many more.

We also came out with email so we can get in touch with each other as fast as wind. Yes! indeed these new invention, do make things easy. Then everbody wants to have it and use it because it seems like a fashion or trend. People who don’t know how to use computer seem stupid and not into fashion. The effect of an increasingly virtual world, where nothing is quite what it seems, has lead to a growing clamour for what is genuine and human. ‘Human relations are declining in the selling game,’ says the legendary former general Electric chief executive Jack Welch.

But all these technologies do connect us to anyone around the world. Then comes globalization. Globalization is not suddenly going t disappear, sending us all back to a cottage economy. Nor are we going to un-invent the internet and beat our computers into ploughshares. It’s not going to happen. But simply guess globalization is so powerful, there’s an equally strong opposite reaction going on.

We start to be greedy and to forget where all this comes from. I’m not against all this. I find it hard to be far from my computer. I even find it hard to write, because I’m so use to type on my computer. It’s great, i can finish things fast and easily using technologies. But I also realised by writing my own words with pen, or brush, or whatever tools, is giving me a different pleasure, different feeling and i miss it. Well i dont want to continue ranting around this. I should stop for a while, not for long though. I will end this with few questions.

With the human systems change to machine systems, what can designers do not to participate in this?
How can designers nurture the changes?
What are designers participation in this process?

* Victoria Market is a famous fresh food market in Melbourne city. It is one of the tourist attraction.

Note to Myself!

What a relief, after the GRC, I got very good responses and comments from Cameron, Terry and Laurene. Meaning lots of work to do. I still haven’t got the written GRC response yet. And for the moment, I’m busy monitoring the Malaysian Identity Forum. Nothing much at this point. Will write more soon. By the way, ‘Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri’ or ‘Happy Eid-Mubarak’
¦ travellers who, finding themselves lost in a forest, ought not to wander this way and that, or, what is worse remain in one place, but ought always to walk as straight a line as they can in one direction and not change course for feeble reason, even if at the outset it was perhaps only chance that made them choose it; for by this means, if they are not going where they wish, they will finally arrive at least somewhere where they will be better off than in the middle of the forest.

(Descartes, in Harrison 1992, p. 110)

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image by NurulRahman2006

PostGRC

What a relief, after the GRC, I got very good responses and comments from Cameron, Terry and Laurene. Meaning lots of work to do. I still haven’t got the written GRC response yet. And for the moment, I’m busy monitoring the Malaysian Identity Forum. Nothing much at this point. Will write more soon. By the way, ‘Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri’ or ‘Happy Eid-Mubarak’

MI try and error!

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–>Try and Error

Yes! The Malaysia Identity(MI) Research Forum is sailing..slowly but it’s saliling. Just one week ago. Through the process of making it, i find it difficult especially to understand the coding and technical part, that why i choose to work with a profesional programmer. We both have a discussion before making it, while making it and still until now we do have things to discuss about. I realised that working with someone or anyone who is from different background is interesting. It is just the matter of understanding each other and focus on what each of us have to do. Of course, there will be a misunderstood and small arguement while making it. But as long as it is a healthy arguement then I personally think it’s good.

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So now, as the site is up there, next question is how to get people participate. Yes, there are many option to do it, but which is the right on. In this case, as the whole project idea is research, we choose to explore and try. As what Laurene always said to me, ‘just do it’. Although it’s complicated to be in the action ‘just do it, but in this case Laurene is right. It took me a while to understand the ‘just do it’ term that she mention, but i guess as for now its becoming clearer to me.

Exploration of Malaysian Design+Products+Culture!

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As I”m trying to understand and searching for Identity of Malaysia, series of my personal collection cartoon comic book comes across my mine. I did mention in my blog in March 2006, first time I started this PhD about how I fine the cartoon is very interesting and reflects most of my childhood memories.

Lat the cartoonist have lots of sketches about Malaysian. From history, politics, culture, economy, languages and much more that I could think of about Malaysian. So I thought in the search of Malaysian Identity, which I’m still searching that Lat Cartoon book might have it. May be I could analyze the cartoon and reflect it on the Identity of Malaysia.

Below is some of the snap shots from Lat’s Cartoon that related to my research at this moment
Malaysian Design + Products + Culture

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Credit Image: Lat and Gangs Comic Book (1987)
Malaysia First Own National Car – Proton Saga