Volume III, Issue III
SPRING 014
HIGHBRAU
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FUTURE MEDIA
HIGHBRAU MAGAZINE HBMAG.CA Volume III - Issue III - SPRING 014
Words
IMAGES
CHRISTOPHER BARRICK ZACK BRENNEMAN SAM D CHURCH GRAHAM ENGEL NICK FEARNS ETHAN GREAVETTE JOHN GREY NICHOLAS OLIVIA PARKER LENNA TITIZIAN CHRISTINE WESSEL THOMPSON
Mark Ciesluk
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8-9 4-6 17 14-16 19 12-13 16 7 3-4 20 18
GRAZYNA ADAMSKA JOHN GOSSELIN ORPHIA CARA VANDERMEY
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Cover: DANIELLE SHIPLEY BACK COVER: Grazyna ADAMSKA
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
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Graham Engel
Website Editor: Samuel tisi Copy Editor: R. SCHULTZ
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DJ CONAN DJ SAVIOUR BLOODY MARY
THE OFFICIAL THREE MONTH PLAN To be included on our mailing list or inquire about future topics and events contact us at:
submissions@hbmag.ca
Statement of artistic ownership: Highbrau is a limited local publication and is run and funded on a not-for-profit model by an all-volunteer staff. All words and images submitted to Highbrau may be posted on our website and/or printed within this magazine, for which we solicit donations in order to recover our costs of printing and webhosting. All published artists are credited and thanked, but we are unable to offer financial incentives for contributors at this time. You retain all other rights to your own work.
HB #12 - DREAMS & REALITY It has been observed that not only is the universe more strange than we imagine, it is more strange than we can imagine. Nonetheless, we continue to discover clues about our existence which call into question what we think we know about the reality of our experiences, and sometimes suggest that our wildest dreams are not so far from the truth. Highbrau wants to know what you think you know about the difference between when you dream and when you are awake. We want your stories of dreams turned to reality, and tales of times so strange you had to think twice about what you know is real.
Submissions Due: June 1st, 2014
HIGHBRAU SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Words We are soliciting any and all opinion pieces, analyses, stories, poetry, and other original written works. Please send all submissions as a .doc file. Submit 500-750 words for one page with title and picture, 1500-2400 for 2-3 pages. Submissions may be edited by our staff for formatting & clarity. Highbrau strives to provide informed perspectives in all of our articles. If your submission is intended as an argument rather than an expression of opinion (i.e. it makes substantive fact-based claims) we encourage you to submit a list of websites, papers, books, etc. as references and further readings.
Images We are soliciting any and all photographs, drawings, illustrations, comic strips, and other original visual art in any format. Submit images and photographs in the highest resolution possible as .png, .jpg, or .pdf files. Remember that we print in black and white. We can and will transform any colour submissions into B&W images. Images, photographs, and other visual submissions will be lightly edited (brightness, contrast, etc) in order to optimize them for appearing in print.
Send all submissions to submissions@hbmag.ca by the deadline above. Please contact us early to announce your intent to contribute, if possible.
MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE: THE INNOVATIONS OF 3D PRINTING BY OLIVIA PARKER
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want it now. I want it fast. I want it cheap. These are the words of tomorrow, or are they today’s? We now live in a society of instant gratification fuelled by the technology that makes our everyday life easier. One such technology is three-dimensional (3D) printing. Despite having been around for over twenty-five years, 2013 was the year of 3D printing and its rise from obscurity happened with a bang, literally, when on May 5th a video was released showing the first 3D printed gun, the Liberator, being fired. 3D printing is the creation of a three-dimensional object from digital data by using a printing machine to deposit successive layers of material to generate a geometric representation of a product. Each layer comprises a thin horizontal slice of the final object, as if you were building up the layers of a cake. Unlike two-dimensional printing, a 3D printer prints “up” and different printers have the ability to “print” using unique materi-
als like plastic, metals, nylon, or sugar, to name a few. Sensationalized by popular culture, such as the US drama series Elementary (a modernized version of Sherlock Holmes set in the 21st century), tradeshows like The Consumer Electronics Show (which had a dedicated 3D printing pavilion), and the Kickstarter campaign for the $100 Peachy Printer (a low cost 3D printer which raised ten times its crowdfunding target in 2013), it is clear that the 3D printing revolution has begun. But what does any of this mean to the future of media? It means the average Joe is able to become his own maker. Think of the ability to print “anything” you wanted with the simple click of a button; think of the consequences of this power. Practicality Currently 3D printers - commercial or personal - range in price from a few
hundred to a couple thousand dollars. However, DIY (do it yourself ) kits, and the decreasing cost and size of these devices has made 3D printing at home a reality. Significantly smaller than their forefathers, new 3D printers can serve as efficient desktop machines. The data that drives 3D printers are CAD (Computer Aided Design) files produced either from an application or from a 3D scan. Although there are costly applications to produce these files, for the novice there is the Internet. Not only are virtual libraries of CAD files on the Internet, at sites such as thingiverse.com, but you can also use free, easy-to-learn programs, such as Google Sketchup or Blender, to create your own designs. So, now that we have the capabilities for easy, fast, and cheap 3D printing, what can we make? Possibilities 3D printing makes real what was once only imagined. This form of printing offers the ability to create highly customizable products using inexpensive equipment in order to meet the needs of consumers in a wide variety of fields.
Cara Vandermey
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First, 3D printing has the capability to print prototypes rapidly, reiterating the design with incredible detail that is, at times, not even achievable using conventional manufacturing processes, such as using a mold or producing the model by hand. It can also print functional parts. Instead of having to purchase an entirely new machine you just need to download the data file for the broken part from the Internet and produce a usable part using a 3D printer. Second, one of the most important potential applications of 3D printing is in the medical industry. Like something out a Sci-Fi movie, 3D printers may have the capability to print you a working organ. Known as bio-printing, a 3D printer is capable of printing layers of living cells to form a solid product. These living cells would be created using the actual cells of the patient making the potential for organ rejection improbable and removing the need for an organ transplant list entirely. However, while this area of medical research may be a long way from fruition, the use of 3D printing
to create implants and artificial limbs is already in practice. Finally, some of the more creative applications of 3D printing include the ability to print intricate structures made out of sugar or chocolate as well as custom jewelry created using 14K gold and sterling silver. Recently, $125,000 was invested to develop a 3D printer capable of creating “nutritious and flavourful” food for astronauts by using nutrient rich powders. Moving Forward As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. The notion of being able to print almost completely undetectable plastic guns has become a hot topic issue, especially with CAD files easily accessible on the Internet. Many governments are now rewriting or creating new firearm laws until they figure out how to deal with these weapons that can evade metal detectors. For example, do they suggest that by law the gun should be fitted with non-removable metal parts, or should it consist of a
REDEFINING MEDIA FOR FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES BY ZACK BRENNEMAN
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e’ve come to associate newspapers, radio, television and internet with the word ‘media’ because those are the main sources of media we have widely available to us in the early 21st century. While the names of individual communication formats are often used synonymously with ‘media’, they are not the media itself. I would like for us to reconsider how we define ‘media’ in order to draw a distinction between the content and the delivery systems of mass communication. Commonly, the word “media” is used in single or plural noun form, acting as the plural form of “medium.” 4
“Medium” is defined in The Oxford English Dictionary as, “A means by which something is communicated or expressed.” Literally taken, newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet are merely the mediums (delivery system or intermediary device) established for effective communication en masse. I believe that newspapers, radio, television and the internet aren’t the media in and of itself, they just deliver it. As I have always understood it media, literally defined, is simply, communication: thoughts and ideas expressed externally from oneself. If you stop and think about it, all comHBmag.ca
certain volume of metal to ensure it is detected when passing through a metal detector? With 3D printing at home slowly becoming a reality, consumers still need to consider the cost of consumables. Like with any printer you encounter, the paper, ink or toner etc., are all consumables you pay for on a regular basis. In the world of 3D printing you must still pay for the materials which you use to produce your prototypes, and these materials cost a considerable amount of money.
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his technology undoubtedly has potential, possessing beneficial, affordable and surprising applications that will change the future of numerous industries – and much of its potential hasn’t even been realized yet. But, as 3D printing becomes mainstream, many questions still remain. If we do harness the ability to produce our own organs and foods, what will that mean for our economies? What about those who abuse this power? 3D printing is big business, big potential, and big risk.
munication utilizes a medium (or intermediary transfer device) in order for the meaning of the communication to be conveyed from one being to another. I specify “beings” instead of humans because all walks of life communicate specific media by use of mediums: whether that medium be sound (audible noises), by action (physical gestures), by chemical exchange (bacterial exchange), or by technological inventions (social media). When you think about this definition of media in context with human history, media has never really changed, has it? After all, humans began communicating through mediums just the same as all other creatures that inhabit this planet, only our mediums became more complex due to our evolved brain and the necessity for mass communication. It’s not our media itself that has changed: only the mediums used to deliver it.
Under the literal definition of “media,” it could be said that future media will be the same as present or past media. A cave painting or a scroll deliver media just the same as canvasses, radio and newspapers deliver media. Tablets of carved stone are the same as tablets of silicon and plastic; both are mediums by which media is communicated en masse. They’re on different technological plateaus, but they all work to serve the same function: communication of media. ith the literal definition of media in mind, the real question isn’t, what will future media be?, but rather, how can our communication mediums continue to evolve to deliver our media en masse? What new technologies will humans need to invent in order to fulfill our need for faster, more accurate communication? Have we found all the ways to transmit media to one another? So far humans have relied on communication mediums based on sight (words, pictures), sounds (grunts, moans, speech, music), smell (pheromones, perfumes) and even touch (Braille, hugs, holding hands), all of which are mediums that utilize only four of our senses. With the advent of the digital age came the microchip, the Internet, and other digitally based communication mediums which have sped up the delivery of media, but have still relied on the same four senses for effective communication. It turns out they haven’t been as effective as we
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once thought. How many times does it take somebody to actually find the sauce on their face you’re telling them is there? Ever try to describe a profound feeling to someone only to be left speechless, grasping for accurate words to describe what you felt at that particular moment? What if the next technological plateau offered humankind a completely new method of communicating, one that does away with the old, inefficient sensory mediums and transfers sensory media by directly interfacing with the human brain? After all, doesn’t all media begin and end its journey in the brain? It would seem a logical place to start if we’re to communicate more accurately and efficiently. What if future communication mediums were able to record and play back human thoughts and emotions? What if these future mediums allowed you to transmit words, images, thoughts and feelings from your brain to another person’s instantaneously? What if you could access the wealth of knowledge of the internet merely by logging on in your mind? How will future technology affect the evolution of communication?
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magine a digital communication medium shaped like a stylish headset which could interpret a human’s thoughts and feelings in real-time and digitally record them to a storage device for playback. This type of communication medium would broaden
Cara Vandermey
what we define as media because it would translate our brain activity (what we define as “tangible experience”) to digital languages and would convey more sensory information than humans could previously express through our communication mediums. Upon playback a user would see, smell, taste, hear, feel, and experience the digital media recording from the first person perspective of the person whom originally recorded it. You’d see what they saw, smell what they smelled, emotionally feel how they felt and experience the totality of the recorded experience perfectly every time, with no signal loss or degradation. This new media would imprint the sensory data alongside your existing memory patterns and you’d have felt/ processed a completely new experience. We’ll call this new type of media “experiential media” (sensory data recorded and transmitted directly to and from the brain).
Epoc Headset - emotivepoc.com
You could purchase and playback the experiential media anytime you’d like and each time you do, it would feel like you were there, feeling the moment, living the experience. You could use the device to learn new skills and abilities that would otherwise take years of practice to perfect. You could use the device to do things you’ve always wanted to but couldn’t. Always wanted to go sky diving? Ever wanted to explore strange foreign lands and try their cuisine? Ever needed to cram for an important test or wanted to learn an instrument or martial art? One could learn empathy by playing back the experiential media and seeing how it feels to be another person, or to go insane from experiencing the mind of a schizophrenic or a terrify-
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data contained on cyber-brains could remain intact for hundreds of years. Why even have a physical body when your consciousness could remain in a digital state? You could inhabit the vast reaches of the Internet forever, never to die, technically. A bio-digital communication medium such as a cyber-brain could theoretically unlock immortality for human consciousness.
ing nightmare first hand. The possibilities are endless for such a communication medium. Let’s refine this medium a step further. What if such a device weren’t externally worn, but internally implanted or injected? The brain could be injected with unobtrusive implants or infused with nano-machine technology which would act as an extra communication medium between the brain and external sources. We could have the benefits of recording and sharing experiential media, but with the added benefits of microscopic machines preprogrammed to continuously monitor and repair our brain tissue to prevent brain disease and hazardous cancers from developing. We could use these internal mechanisms to further enhance our communication to the point where we could have two way experiential media transfer between a human brain and a computer/ artificial intelligence. Ever wanted to play a videogame from the inside and experience it as if it were real? Just connect to the gaming system via Mind Sync (only an example of just such a service) and play Halo 15 using your brainwaves. No manual controllers required, after all they’d just slow you down. Ever been stranded without a ride? Mentally connect with your car’s computer and have it come pick you up. You would have the choice whether to experience the drive as if you were actually in the driver’s seat (user remote control function)
or have the car do it on its own (onboard automatic control function) of course. How many times have you wanted to use the Internet to look up the answer to a really trivial question, only to not have Wi-Fi? With sophisticated nano-machines, you could log on to the Internet, search for the information, and retrieve the answer in the time it takes a neuron to travel from one axon to another.
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et’s expand the idea further, and imagine the advantages of an artificial brain, a cyber-brain, if you will. The technology that would enable our brain patterns to be monitored and recorded as digital data could also be used to program an artificial brain. For instance, those with terminal illnesses or diseases could be mentally scanned and have their brain patterns stored digitally, before the inevitable expiry of their physical bodies. All the memories, experiences, quirks, hopes, and dreams that make up a personality (as well as how the brain communicates with the body) would be intact as digital information and the alias would be uploaded to a cyber-brain which would then be transplanted to the patient. Upon successful transplant, a person would awaken in a new body and continue to live their life as they choose. What if you could transplant the cyber-brain into a piece of machinery like a tank, or a space probe? Unless the hardware is damaged, or loses power, the
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resent day media is past media is future media. Media itself never changes; it’s the mediums, the delivery systems of media that have had to improve over time. Humans have always transmitted their media to one another through mediums which are based on our five senses. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to share thoughts and feelings between each other without their limitations getting in the way? I believe that future technologies will begin to bridge the gap between man and machine, biological and artificial; when they do, humankind will have access to ways of communication we never thought possible. Sure these technologies are far from being available and would require a multi-disciplined approach to developing communication mediums. But it’s fun to imagine the possibilities, isn’t it?
Orphia
Orphia
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JOHN SMITH BY NICHOLAS
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t was another day for John Smith, journalist extraordinaire. He wasn’t the best reporter, nor the worst, but he was always on time when breaking news stories appeared, making him a valuable asset to the team he was working with. It was a well-known group, one that praised itself for being fair and balanced. It was a good marketing ploy to attract people toward the quality articles they were publishing. Some people were critical of the hard efforts displayed by the team, stating that nothing of value could be found within these pages. Surely, the efforts of the good people working there couldn’t be going to waste in such a way. And it was always superior to the work of the common people, pretending to be reporters with cellphones and YouTube. They just didn’t know what they were doing… It took him by surprise when he heard his superior call for him to meet him in his office. It was the first time that such a thing was happening, making him wonder if he was under evaluation or if he had messed up somewhere. After all, he had a perfect attendance record and no felonies associated to his name. What could this meeting be about? “Hi, John Smith, you might wonder why I called you here’’ said the boss, cracking his knuckles as he watched his employee enter the room. It was a moment that he didn’t enjoy, but it had to be done to make sure that the team would be, once again, productive and aimed toward a greater future.
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he moment of silence passed, the employer resumed his speech, determined on bringing back the rogue agent back to his senses. “You know, the business is all about the ratings. More we have them, better
it is.’’ It didn’t take long for Smith to respond to his boss, curious about the true reason of why he was still here, listening to this. “I know about that, what are you trying to tell me? What is the point of bringing me into your office to repeat that basic information?’’ Moving his arms and fingers, his boss looked at him as if he was a fool, someone who wasn’t able to understand the reality that surrounded him. “You are supposed to know that there is the truth and… the Truth,” he told Smith, wondering why it was so hard to explain something so simple. It was a shame that he had to repeat this message to his underlings. How could they not understand such a simple concept, one that ruled the world? How could they even be hired without that basic understanding of the universe? “But I reported the story as it was! Isn’t that the purpose of our profession?’’ replied Smith, not following what his supervisor was trying to tell him. It didn’t make any sense to him; why would there be a difference after all?
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is boss looked at him, wondering why he was wasting his time on such petty matters, but he knew that it had to be done, for the greater good. “Then let me explain it to you. You see, you just can’t say that accident happened without explaining why. Not only is it mundane, but you are not helping the people. You have to make it… interesting, for their sake. You reported on a car accident, but you missed the opportunity to place the blame on the people responsible for it: the President and his team. That’s what a good journalist would do, for the sake of informing people,’’ he told Smith, sure that it would be enough to explain the situation. Smith looked at his boss, not sure HBmag.ca
if that was a joke or a real statement. It was perhaps the true incarnation of Poe’s law in action. “How is that reporting news? We are neither helping the people nor providing quality information by doing such a thing,” he told his supervisor, confused by the sudden change of tone. “Of course we are helping the population. The news is secondary to how we report it and how we want to deliver it. It is our duty as journalists to take down people we don’t appreciate and drag them down in the mud, unless they retire from their position and hide from the people,” said the director, raising his hands towards the heavens. “Since when are we agents of propaganda?’’ asked Smith, taking a few steps toward the exit, unconformable with the current situation… “Since we know what is wrong, and what is right. Can’t you see? This country is going to Hell! Women are on the loose, homosexuals are pushing their agenda on us, people of color want to be equal to the rest of people, while the liberals and hippies are sabotaging the foundation of this proud country. It is our duty to make sure to bring back the good old days, for if we allow these people to talk and strive, Communism will rear its ugly head soon enough,” said the supervisor, exalted by his own vision of society. “We have to teach the people the truth, before they are brainwashed by the socialist propaganda, which would make them believe that people should be treated with decency, while using this strange, invented notion of bigotry”, the director added, making sure that his message was strong enough to be understood by his subordinate.
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hat’s it, I’m out of here; there is no point in hearing this nonsense’’ said Smith, closing the door behind him. “Fine, leave! I knew you were a Commie! Go, go to the other groups, but you will realize that we are the only ones caring about this country, not like the others!” shouted the director, shaking his fist at the door. They were fair and balanced, unlike the rest, after all… 7
MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER AUGMENTED LIFE BY CHRISTOPHER BARRICK
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ou awaken in a figurative black hole. A room with a mysterious object seemingly suctioning light from the real world. You have almost forgotten what constitutes the ‘real world’. Along the wall is your Rig - a collection of integrated electronics, starting at the top with your HMD (head mounted display). The primordial consumer form of this device, in function and design, was the Oculus Rift™. Designed by Oculus VR during the enlightened early years of the 21st century, it was the first widely successful consumer HMD despite being primitive in comparison to your newest model. The progenitor possessed an archaic IMU, or inertial movement unit, that used accelerometers and gyroscopes to assist in the navigation of virtual landscapes. Its 7” LCD, offering a 90 degree and a 110 degree panel inside of the unit, constructed a stereoscopic 3D image to convince the brain it had escaped whatever mundane reality it had called home before this precisely crafted engagement. While revolutionary in many ways, this behemoth weighed in at 379g - simply incomparable to the technological marvel atop your Rig. Deep, royal blue ink flowing across the back of it reminds you of your adopted name, “Kuengen” - the only name that makes sense anymore. Just below the HMD, hanging on a shoddily repaired rack, is your still second-generation haptic suit. The wiring down the back of it dances in what little light has managed to pierce the darkness of your room. Those wires can be traced all the way back to the consumer grade haptic suit produced by ARAIG - again during the burgeoning years of immersive virtual reality gaming of the 21st century. Although its roots show in the ARAIG, that was simply an output device that used its decoder to send signals to 8
the control centre of the exoskeleton which would then activate the mock nervous system of the suit to provide fairly accurate physical stimuli to immerse the user. Integrated at the wrists are the best wired gloves that your online salary can afford. With the earliest form of these being the Sayre glove (designed in the late 20th century) - current models require much less wiring due to the sleepless nanobots circulating through you. You had still needed a “controller”. You have seen pictures of said devices, but never have never been to a museum to see one in person. Your avatar had and that was boring enough… your brain pausing momentarily to register what you meant by that separation. You often forget where Kuengen begins and you end...
Your life had become Kuengen’s, or his had become yours. Again, that line so faint now...
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urrently, these two devices make up two-thirds of the Rig. Earlier configurations used omnidirectional treadmills that would communicate relative positioning to your computer or gaming platform. One of the first truly successful devices in this vein was the Virtuix Omni™. The specifics of this technology was long ago made irrelevant with the advent of Full Human Integration or FHI, in 2125. That was when the first consumer grade nanotechnology was integrated in to a person for purposes other than medical or professional - so were born the first gaming nanobots. Recreational nanobots were meant to turn the human body into a controller making the you, the controller, just that. Mistakes HBmag.ca
were made, and although not immediately accepted or even successful, today, on the morning of a day that doesn’t matter until you are ‘jacked in’, you have the phantom feeling of these nanobots coursing through your veins. You let it all sink in. You raise your thin, veiny legs from the center of your bed and push yourself to an upright position. That was noticeably more difficult than two years ago when you made the switch from RWI (or Real World Integration) to FHI. Other residents of the virtual landscape known only as ‘Haven’ had kept up a strict regimen of healthy real world nutrients and daily calisthenics. Your life had become Kuengen’s, or his had become yours. Again, that line so faint now... Moving towards the Rig, you grab the haptic suit and without any hesitation, begin to step outside of your apartment, into Haven. In less than a minute you are standing in the complete darkness of your HMD, wearing your haptic suit, wired gloves, with the nanobots ready to tie it all together and take the reins of your adopted persona. With the whispering of one word... “Engage.”
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ou awake as Keungen. Again, you look down at your legs but this time are greeted by firm and muscular limbs, adorned in a glinting mithril layer known as your base armour. You smile and the sensation of Keungen taking on your smile wipes across your face. In one swift motion you are out of the bed and standing in front of your home screen. On this particular morning, a long list of available jobs, or quests as they are quaintly known, sit awaiting your attention on the screen. Tasks that range from harvesting minerals to eliminating kobolds which are invading a local farm, are available for you to complete. The harvesting jobs are sent via your employer, while the more entertaining quests such as creature elimination or PvP (player versus player) are typically a function through which
Grazyna Adamska, MFA, is a local artist and art instructor at the Guelph School of Art, Wyndham Art supplies, and Conestoga College in Kitchener. She provided us with this image and is also featured on our back cover. Graznya offered us this statment of her artistic intent: “In our current media-saturated culture, most of our lives are lived in cyberspace. Even when we practice virtual disembodiment, the body remains a marker for sociological and psychological behaviors. Through the language of painting I attempt to mediate between binary constructs: body/cyber-body; reality/virtual reality. Introspection mediates between memory, sight and disembodiment. In my works transparent plastic films and shiny resins serve as substrates to filter light and as symbolic mediators between the dis-embodied cyberbody and the corporeal body. In other words, painting mediums and translucent materials may mediate between the seen and the unseen.” you acquire the most precious online currency, Accomplishments and Accolades, or ‘AnA’. AnA is your online résumé. Your personal AnA is why everyone in this particular realm in Haven has at least heard of Keungen. Without warning, a red box with ‘Lucidicorp’ in bold through the center moves across the middle of your home screen. Lucidicorp is your employer and only those with the highest AnA are even considered by them. You press the button without hesitation, knowing that this means a job with high AnA and the possibility for a salary boost upon completion. The stream kicks in and your director’s face appears through the brief static. “Squad - we have sighted an enemy transport downed in the center of Elysit, emitting a faint emergency rescue request to their head office. All available units are to report to the following coordinates for a quick briefing on our assault plan. We suspect this transport is carrying their recent harvest from one of their largest farms.
Ajak, out.” You almost salivate at that thought. Keungen smiles again and your hands deftly manage the remaining tasks on your home screen. This could mean a promotion to director if you succeed. You will succeed. Seconds later you are in your ship and preparing to leave the PvP safe zone of your home town. You clench the throttle lever, speak again in your weak real world voice, but this time hear only the strength in Keungen’s throat. “Throttle, engage.” The rumble of your ship sends a chill down Keungen’s spine. A burst of blue flame jets behind your ship and in seconds you are a hawk above your home town of Principium. Who are you kidding; your ship, the Lampyridae, would be insulted by that comparison. You have seen pictures of hawks, and they are not aesthetically or functionally comparable to your ship. The journey begins…
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ll of a sudden a strange sensation takes hold of Keungen - or is it you? The sound coming from the Lampyridae fades from a din to a buzz. Your grip on the throttle loosens and the HMD begins to sway. You desperately try to search your memory for a possible cause, but the world around you begins to lose colour. Panicked and frantic, you fight with desperation, but it only expediates th--THUD… Moments later, you are surrounded by darkness. You feel for your legs , but it takes just a fraction too long. You realize that the darkness surrounding you is real. You’re back in your bedroom and unable to move. Your only instinct is to get your HMD back on because you can feel the rumble of a crash incoming. You struggle and fight against immobility, but as the last of your strength reaches for the display… the crescendo of a space crashing saps the last of your energy. The darkness empties further and you fall into the Haven in your mind.
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HIGHBRAU MAGAZINE REMEMBERS
Freedom & Authority
The Next 50 Years
Drinkin’
This Land
Amusement
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Rachel Baker Aaron The Man City Centre Ashley Camara Joey Bell Sarah Bartman Cody Bartz Ashley Camara Michael Charpentier Jessie Finkelberg Michael Brown Adam Dee Bronwyn Frey Bronwyn Frey Jim Cavill Dr. Renato Cristi Mary Engel Franke James Amanda Hordyk Michael Charpentier Adam Dee Jessie Finkelberg Danielle McCrorey Sasha Koegler City Centre Nick James Fearns Jonah Finkelberg Jane McGuiness Danielle McCrorey Jonny Danger Ariel Kroon Bronwyn Frey Eric Moulds Eric Moulds Adam Dee Robin Mattson John Gosselin Jon Pelletier Amy Placta David Eso Danielle McCrorey Yasmin Kanani Jacob Pries Jenn Pidgeon Irene Gesza Daniel McLeod Sasha Koegler R. Schultz Samuel Tisi John Gosselin Chris Norris Melissa Lukezic Ali Reza Sultani Ian Willms Jodi Koberinski Jacob Pries Jacob Pries Ian Willms Jesse Macleod Mike Reid Tallula Marie Danielle McCrorey Ian Willms Danielle McCrorey Erin Oh Eric Moulds Ian Stumpf Elizabeth Scaramucci Vince Strickland Dr. Byron Williston
Special Thanks to the members of our 4+ Timers club for their support throughout the years:
Danielle McCrorey Bronwyn Frey John Gosselin HBmag.ca
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Vince Strickland Ian Willms David Thompson
TEN ISSUES & ONE HUNDRED ARTISTS
Love & Struggle
Virtual Realities, Virtual Sovereignty
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Andy Battler A. Archer Zack Brenneman Jim Cavill Mark Ciesluk Mark Ciesluk Graham Engel Dr. Rory Dickson Bronwyn Frey Jessie Finkelberg Kali G. Dr. Gary Foster Amanda Hordyk John Gosselin Wm Brian MacLean Dan Kellar Danielle McCrorey Adam Lewis Vince Strickland Ashling Ligate David Thompson Derek Lindman Samuel Tisi Melissa Lukezic Christina Maclellan Danielle McCrorey Laura McDonald Ciaran Meyers Lisa Nguyen J.J. Steinfeld Vince Strickland David Thompson Wandering Ponderer Ian Willms
The Watershed
Drugs
The Harvest
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Kaitlyn Bois Anna Beard Carol Bast E. Greavette Henry C. Daniel Bileu Shara Golshan Adam Cochran Bill John Gosselin Don Davie Crystal Bradford Amanda Hordyk Dr. Rory Dickson Adam Cochran Adam Lewis Georgia Justice Colwell Danielle McCrorey E. Greavette Bronwyn Frey Eric Moulds Harmony Kan John Gosselin R. Schultz Wm Brian MacLean Jeanette Jobson Lauren Stallard Christina Maclellan Liam Kijewski Vince Strickland Rob Phillips Onvit Kwon David Thompson R. Schultz Murtaza Rawan Nestor Smith Zoe Sawchuk David Thompson Theresa Schumilas Jenna Valleriani Cara Vandermey Andrew White Ian Willms
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Email us at highbraumagazine@gmail.com HBmag.ca 11
BATMAN & FUTURE MEDIA BY ETHAN GREAVETTE
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n the dark foreboding corner of crime alley looms a shadowy figure. Another leaping from rooftop to rooftop keeping the streets of Gotham safe. Unlike most comic book super heroes, Batman fights crime without the aid of super powers. Even without super powers, Batman is easily one of the most valuable members of the Justice League. Whenever the Justice League comes across a situation that they can’t solve with a brutal pummeling or with heat vision, Batman is there to save the day. The biggest reason why Batman is still so popular in mainstream media is that anyone who has ninjutsu training, a deductive mind, and 80 million dollars to spare could be Batman. Over the lifespan of the figure, many have donned the cape and cowl to fight for justice. Bruce Wayne is the original Batman, however Bruce Wayne is only a man, while Batman is a symbol. Alfred Pennyworth has assumed the costume many times to help remove suspicion that Bruce Wayne is Batman. When Bane broke Bruce Wayne’s back, the superhero Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley) carried the torch for a while. Unfortunately, Azrael wasn’t able to handle the responsibility of being Batman and allowed a mass murder, Ab-
attoir, to die, which also condemned an innocent hostage to death. Thus, it fell to Batman’s prodigy and adopted son, Dick Grayson, to usurp the Batsuit from Azrael and pick up the pieces. Once Bruce Wayne’s back was fully healed, he reclaimed his cape, cowl, and Gotham city, which was suffering from his absence. The true identity of the man behind the mask doesn’t matter as much as what the symbol of Batman stands for.
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C Comics love to ask, “What if?”, and once made a series of comics called ‘Elseworld.’ Anything is possible in Elseworld, and heroes often find themselves in different time periods or alternate dimensions. In one parallel dimension where Bruce Wayne was killed instead of his parents, a strange twist of fate sees the grieving father Thomas Wayne becoming the Dark Knight. In another possible future, circa 2040, Bruce Wayne is too old to continue his quest for justice and a young boy named Terri McGinnis assumes the mantle of Batman. In another, Damian Wayne, the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, becomes a darker Batman because he is haunted by being unable to save his father. Hence, the symbol of the Bat extends far past any of these fictional
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characters to take on an identity of its own. Batman has been in the media spotlight in just about every medium available. The Dark Knight first appeared on the pages of Detective Comics #27, released in May 1939. Later, those earlier comics were released as graphic novel compilations to help reach a new generation. Many live series have also been spun off from the original printed works, starting with the live action 1943 serial Batman, then the popular 1949 serial Batman and Robin, followed by the adorably campy 1966 Batman staring Adam West. The 1966 Batman was so popular a movie was release featuring all of Batman’s favourite rogues. Batman has also inspired several film soundtracks, including the orchestrated score written by Danny Elfman for 1989’s Batman (starring Michael Keaton), which also featured songs written by Prince. Also in 1989, the first Batman video game, which loosely followed the movie’s plot, was positively received by critics and fans alike.
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o other superhero has had a higher level of total media saturation than Batman. The symbol of the bat has become mainstream in every form of media, including the news. Mark Williams of Michigan, dressed in a Batman outfit, was arrested for obstructing justice on September 29th, 2012. Two state troopers had been searching for a driver fleeing a car crash and Williams refused to leave the crime scene. This wasn’t Williams’ first brush with the police, as he had also been arrested in 2011 for being on top of a business in Petoskey, Michigan, dressed as Batman. The police found Williams carrying a baton, an aerosol chemical irritant, and gloves filled with sand. Batman (Mark Williams) and his girlfriend Batgirl (Brittany Scott) are members of the crime fighting group ‘The Michigan Protectors.’ The Michigan Protectors are the realization of a very chilling prediction Frank Miller
made in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns about the Sons of Batman. In the story, the Sons of Batman are a vigilante group that roams the worst city blocks in Gotham City fighting crime. Vigilante groups are not anything new, but could this be the beginning of a superhero group trend? In another case of masked vigilantism, on February 25th, 2013 a Batman brought a wanted man into the Trafalgar house police station in Bradford, a city in the north of England. From video surveillance it appeared that the two men knew each other. True to form, after delivering the man to the authorities, Batman disappeared into the night before anyone could ask about his connection to the suspect. The man dressed as Batman was clearly using the cape and cowl to protect his identity, and surprisingly, the police still do not know who he was. Even more bizarrely, in an East Lothian supermarket in Scotland, men dressed as Batman, a smurf, and David Hasselhoff helped police capture a criminal. They chased the man (who had assaulted another party goer dressed as Robin) into a Tesco supermarket after they called the police. Most superhero battles have massive collateral damage and this was no exception. The toilet roll aisle was a mess after the men restrained the assailant. While these stories may be dismissed as just a bit of adult cosplay, the fact remains that on these three separate occasions men dressed as Batman were fighting crime.
Each Batman reflects the era he inhabits - so what does this tell us about our current times?
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hat does the future of Batman in media hold? The Caped Crusader has been a media icon from the day he first graced detective comics. He has been reinvented time and time again through the golden, silver,
bronze, and into the modern age of comics. In DC’s Elseworld series, Batman is a force of justice throughout the timeline. In Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, which takes place in 1889 and is set in Victorian England, Batman helps inspector Gordon capture Jack the Ripper. In Batman: Dark Knight of the Round Table, Batman is one of King Arthur’s knights and helps Arthur fight off his half-sister Morgana LeFay. In Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, we find a Dystopian future where Batman returned from retirement to overthrow a corrupt government. Batman fits perfectly into any time period and will be at home in whatever the future may bring. Batman is both a detective and a scientist. He uses both his brain and his brawn to stay a step or two ahead of the villains. Batman is an early adopter of technologies - back in the 60’s, when computers were the size of gymnasiums, Batman had the state-of-the-art Batcomputer in his Batcave, which aided his crime fighting exploits. In the 2008 Christopher Nolan film The Dark Knight, Batman found the Joker by creating a network that accessed everyone’s cellphone and recreated a virtual environment. Batman is always on the cutting edge of technology and will undoubtedly continue to have all of the best toys. Batman has changed with the times, which is a major part of the reason why he is still relevant. In the early days, Batman was armed with pistols and used lethal force to stop criminals. This made it difficult to have reoccurring villains, so Batman adopted a non-killing policy and began to use non-lethal weapons. It was explained that because Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered by a thief with a gun, Batman had an aversion to using firearms. However, in the most recent films, Batman doesn’t think twice about killing non-essential characters. The most recent Batmobiles, from the Tim Burton movies and beyond, are armed with machine guns, missiles, and other nasty surprises, and Batman is not afraid to HBmag.ca
Current DC comics featuring Batman: Batman Lil’ Gotham Batman ‘66 Detective Comics Bruce Wayne — Murderer? Legends of the Dark Knight Batman / Superman Annual Batman and Aquaman Batman and Robin Annual Batman and Two-Face Batman Beyond Universe Batman Black and White Batman: Arkham Unhinged Batman: Batman and Son Batman: Dark Victory
Upcoming Batman projects: - Animated Series Beware the Batman (2014) - Animated FeatureSon of Batman (2014) Assault on Arkham (2014) - Video Game Arkham Knight (2014) - Film Superman vs. Batman (2016) use them.
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ach Batman reflects the era he inhabits - so what does this tell us about our current times? This leaves us many questions about the future of Batman. Will Batman continue this violent trend and be more brutal in the future? Will we see more vigilantes dressed as Batman help the police apprehended wanted men? Will holograms of Batman brood over the rooftops and in dark alleys to keep the criminal element in constant fear? Will the Bat signal loom over our city at night to call the Sons of Batman into action? Only time will tell. 13
HIGHBRAU’S FUTURE MEDIA SURVEY BY GRAHAM ENGEL
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or the ‘Future Media’ issue, I wanted to get a sense of where the producers of localised, independent print projects were coming from, and where they thought the medium itself was heading. Since the invention of the printing press, voices not represented in mainstream media sources - from Martin Luther to the Sci-Fi geeks of the ‘50’s writing fan-fiction, to the world of punk music, to queer thinkers and dreamers - people who have never felt represented politically or socially, have been creating independent print newsletters, leaflets, and ‘zines for purposes of public outreach and community building. Personally, I love independent print from individuals, groups, and organizations that don’t regularly penetrate the mainstream presses, with a special fondness for ‘zines. They are important and interesting because both the more institutional and the more individual projects provide new perspectives on members of my community, and (I would hope) inspire people to create projects themselves, a valuable role in society. However, would independent print media be able to maintain this position in a digital age? This question has been motivated in part by the repeated assertion that ‘print was dying’, either through increased costs versus digital products in the domains of journalism and entertainment, or through the way that people who had ideas and opinions would no longer proceed with the bother and expense of creating an independent print project, but would instead do a blog or project online as the impulse took them (without necessarily being inspired by the festering creativity which has to build before one initiates more tangible projects). Fan fiction is now found
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on web-forums. The Internet has every imaginable stripe of political and social view, right there at the end of a Google search. Everything now is cheaper, easier, more immediate, making the question of, “Why bother with print?”, pertinent. While I could see the appeal of operating exclusively within digital domains, I did not and do not buy into the idea that print outlets are dead as a medium.
you faced or overcame? 4. What do you see as the future of print media? 5. What is your background in relation to this project? (I.e. Is this project part of your career or profession, or is it more of a hobby or a passion, or something else altogether?) 6. Will you continue working in, or if you have left will you come back to, print media? Why? By sending emails and Facebook messages, and through a few fortunate face-to-face interactions, word spread of this project. In this first round of the survey, I received three responses. Brian Seeger, from Toronto’s Offerings Magazine was first to respond to the survey. Responses soon followed from Robert Callaghan (liaised by an unnamed volunteer – thank you, kind stranger!) from The Outreach Connectionin Toronto, and Natalia (Nat) S. of Kitchener-Waterloo’s Nark! ‘zine, done on FB in real-time using the survey questions. Together, the three formed the initial pool of survey respondents. What follows is a summary of their responses. Outreach Connection
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aving discovered that I wanted to know more about what other people were doing in the world of print, or had done, and where possible why, I formulated a survey: 1. Please describe in 50 words or less your print media project. 2. Given the state of print media (i.e. increased costs; the rise of digital platforms and their replacing print as people’s primary information source, etc.), why did you get involved in this project? 3. What were some of the challenges HBmag.ca
Outreach Connection (OC) is a Toronto based paper sold by “Low-income people [who] buy this newspaper for 40¢ and sell it for $1-2.” It has “independent”, “informative and entertaining articles”, and has been in print for over 1,000 editions – “that’s nearly 20 years!” The paper is run by a team of dedicated volunteers and devoted publisher Robert Callaghan, who has been producing the paper for almost 20 years, maintaining the “responsibility and trust of twenty year relationships with vendors and customers [that] makes Outreach Connection what it is today...” Callaghan does OC more out of passion than as a career, as a member of a community more than as a job; Callaghan “has accepted a commitment and stood up to [his] responsibility…[he] can’t let [his] vendors down”. Callaghan says that the biggest
challenge is the regular task of having a finished product created on-time and on a next-to-nothing budget in a digital era where the “industry… has seen many giant corporations and papers fail and fold.” Despite this, Callaghan thinks print still has a chance. “[…] writers like to smell the paper in which they’re printed, readers love to feel the page that they are reading from, and in years to come, if ever the world ended or a reset button [was] pushed, you’re probably more likely to find a copy of Outreach Connection than a device with Blog TO on it.” Offerings Newspaper www.offerings.ca Brian Seeger tells us that Offerings Newspaper is a “monthly independent newspaper covering oddball music and art in Toronto”, which has been running as a non-profit, volunteerbased organization since June 2011. The paper is mailed to subscribers across Canada, and they have over 30 drop-off locations in Toronto. While funding has been the biggest challenge so far, it has not been insurmountable: “It amazes me the cheap cost of printing the newspaper. We print 1000 copies a month and are completely funded by a handful of advertisers. I invite anyone to check out the amazing Centra Web in Toronto (www.centraweb.ca/) where we currently print the newspaper. Cheap and friendly!” Offerings has applied for grants as well, but has not yet been able to succeed in obtaining one - “Grants Shmants! (Give us a grant please)”, says Seeger. Another challenge has been the logistics of a print project, from layout to distribution, and further, “once the paper is out there, you can’t edit out something controversial.” Much like Outreach Connection, Offerings is a labor of love on behalf of the writers, editors, and volunteers who make it happen. Says Seeger, “If it wasn’t for our amazing team of volunteers it just wouldn’t be possible. I don’t know why they, or I, do it. We
must be insane! But love is crazy.” While Seeger doesn’t necessarily see print dying, he does think that “print is being influenced by digital media. You see ink spilling hashtags on newspapers just because it’s considered familiar to the modern reader. You can’t click on a sheet of paper dudes!” Seeger is not a print media professional; he was a sound artist living in Toronto, who started with Offerings as a concert listing editor who then began work on the website and their subscription service. “I have no experience in journalism, but I love Offerings…It’s completely a labour of love.” While working on a print project is a ‘labour of love’ for Seeger,
John Gosselin
maybe it is also a reaction to the fastpace and instantaneousness of the digital age. When asked if he will continue working in print, Seeger says “Absolutely. The Internet is a damned nuisance that makes information too easy to digest - like a pureed banana. The most challenging things in life are the most rewarding and I’m going to keep on peeling my banana!” Nark! Because most print projects are of a regularly occurring format (e.g. HBmag.ca
weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.), it might be easy to forget the irregularly scheduled projects that can exist outside of the world of planned and organized groups. In this category you would find ‘zines, like KitchenerWaterloo’s Nark!. Made by local ‘zinesters Nat and Blair, Nark! is a “bit of a mish mash. We just wanted to get our thoughts out in the world, [and were] really inspired by queer and punk culture…[we] are interested in lots of different kinds of art so we decided to smash it all together.” Thus, Nark! was born. For them, it was important to get involved in print so that people could have a physical copy of their work, in order to “make something real rather than on Facebook.” When asked about challenges, expenses were mentioned, but they also had a source for free printing which helped motivate them to create. “We’re cheapos to the max, but that also made us want to do it more.” The hardest part for the makers of Nark! was “just taking the time to actually do it. We thought of making it in the summer and didn’t actually finish it until after New Year’s. Putting it all together took 2 or 3 days, but drawing and inking and then fixing it up in Photoshop takes a lot longer.” When asked about their view for the future of print media, Nat said that, “As more big companies turn to virtual advertising print media will become even more alternative, and be an even greater way for communities to stay together. I think more queer [people] will take over print media and make it more relevant to them as an escape from mass media’s bullshittery…and also find a way to put .gifs on paper.” While it may be uncertain as to when it will come out, Nat is happy to report there is a future to Nark!, as at least one more issue will appear.
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o be perfectly blunt, this was a relatively limited sample of participants in the varied cultures of independent print media. There are many, many more producers of ‘zines, papers, magazines, and newsletters (and what all else!) who were not 15
contacted successfully. To that effect, it is more honest to say that no conclusions should be reached from this brief scan of the local print media environment. However, it is interesting to note some trends. While cost is a potential deterrent, it is not a dealbreaker. Each project discussed had a strategy for dealing with those costs, and, in some cases, multiple strategies, both successful and not. These strategies also included production, distribution, and content creation being achieved through volunteer labour. Further, in all cases, each producer had a belief that print media would persist. This could be because of a particular writer or reader’s preference, or because print remains an
avenue available for those who do not have access to the same social resources that mainstream society would (e.g. folk who are oppressed through formal and informal denials of access to equal representation and participation in common social systems due to age, classism, sexism, racism, homo- or transphobic discrimination against them, etc.), or the belief that a tangible printed product will have more permanence than a virtual project. In some cases, though, these brief surveys raised more questions than answers; is it passion, or being committed (pun intended), that would cause someone to persist in the world of independent media? With deadlines, innumerable tasks, and re-
lationships to be honoured, creating a print project can be a heavy burden. What factors contribute to causing a person to step back and disengage from the work, and which help a person to dig in and become more involved? Further, what other strategies exist to keep the project funded, operating, and alive? Subscriptions, donations, free opportunities to print, volunteers, grants, donations; what other options are there? To find the answers being sought will require more investigation and examination, a worthy and interesting task. However, it is one which will need to remain for a later edition.
THE UNIVERSAL TELEPHONE COMPANY AND YOU BY JOHN GREY
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irst, your fingers had to really work,
Turn a metal wheel, digit by digit, on its unforgiving axis. Then you learned to push the numbered buttons, hear the echo of the ease in short, reassuring beeps. Then your voice nudged hands aside. You spoke the numbers into a control panel that lit up with each consonant and vowel of understanding. Then you only had to think them, prod, upon the landscape, a silent mental footprint
for science to follow at fantastic speed. Always though, a simple uncritical inroad to a complex art... conversation. Then technology, unsatisfied with the rein of distance, whisked you a hologram of the other party to float before your story, pick it apart with presence, peel it down to its truth. Then the person themselves appeared, molecules reassembled in a disquieting touchdown on the shifting sands of what you were saying. HBmag.ca
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No getting away from them... now you had to love your lovers, befriend your friends, be family to your family. There was no place to dump your excess baggage, no way to move on, nowhere to go to away. No wonder you’re anxious for the next great breakthrough... the person you call becomes a part of you and the talk is all inside, or they become all of you and chit-chat is unnecessary. In fact, you’re waiting for someone to call and say it’s already happening. The call could even be from you.
ABE AND SON BY SAM D CHURCH
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be and his son had been hiking for three hours when they came to the campsite. Here, away from the city and all the disruptions it brings, he was going to teach his boy how to be a man. Together, they set up the tent; they start the fire; they cook their dinner. Abe even let his son try chopping the wood. When everything was done and they were all settled, it was time to turn on their media boxes. Once they got their media feed for the day, they could have the rest of the evening to themselves. “Do we need to turn on our media boxes?” asked the son. “Of course we do.” “But why?”
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be remembered when he was a boy and he asked his father this very same question. He was told of a time when people took in their media through machines that made sounds and created pictures, not like the ones today that are surgically implanted into your skull; that send the sounds, images, tastes, smells, and tactile sensations right into the synapses of your brain. Back then, a half-hour media feed would have taken six hours. Media wasn’t mandatory back then either. Though most people consumed that much media out of their own freewill. Abe never understood it. There are days, like this day in mountains, where he would love to not have to turn on his media box. Unfortunately, to miss a day would result in him and his son being sent to rehabilitation.
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Cara Vandermey
hile Abe was contemplating this, his son sat there, waiting for an answer. Abe smiled gently. “Because we have to.” Satisfied with that answer, his son crawled into his arms. Then HBmag.ca
Abe reached to the back of his son’s head, where the control panel is, and switched it on. The boy’s eyes shut as the signal was being delivered. Abe then turned on his own box and the world around him disappeared. First he was bombarded with advertisements. 30% is the minimum intake of commercial material for the standard population. Abe is required to add an additional 20% to ward off divergent thinking. For the same reason, his box does not receive news or documentaries. At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary about Abe’s media feed. Then he felt a sudden shock, followed by a message that was not auditory, or visual, or tactile. It was just a message in his head. His eyes opened and he saw the world around him blend with that sent to him through his media box. He could smell the mountain air as well as the new cinnamon buns available at Happy Burger for a limited time only. He could see the trees and the rocks and the used cars for sale at rock-bottom prices. Then this thought, which was sent to him through the media box, took control of Abe, as though it were his own intuition.
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ompletely unaware of why, other than because he had to, Abe grabbed his son and threw him on the ground. The shock automatically switched off the boy’s media box. Now conscious of what is happening, the boy looked up at his father in terror, seeing his blank face and the knife in his hand. Abe pinned the boy down and held the knife to his throat. He was about to slice his son’s jugular open when the toilet tissue commercial came on. And as the animated lamb said, “Because we don’t want to hurt the children, we have made our tissue 70% softer,” Abe knew that he could not go through with this. He dropped the knife and held his son. And as the boy cried in Abe’s arms, he did the only thing he could think of to calm him down; he told him a story. 17
PROGRESS BY CHRISTINE WESSEL THOMPSON
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he family was neatly arranged around the metal meeting table. Gramma pointed out how much it resembled the old style kitchen tables from her youth. They were all about to play with a square shaped picture that lay flat on the table. The power had been out for an excruciatingly long time, and the family members looked bored, frustrated, and unhappy. The youngish looking boy stared at the picture in confusion while Gramma explained that it was actually a board game called Clue. She looked at her two grandchildren and sensed that they didn’t have a clue how to play it. She smiled at them, and made a funny joke about Oldendayers… but they did not return her enthusiasm. Due to the storm, and the power outage, the family did not have access to their logic devices. These devices had become so central to life that people were literally lost without them. They could not speak to others, work, drive, shop, or find sources of entertainment. The last outage had come four months before, and it had left this family isolated, alone, and desperate for a whole five hours. This time, the power had already been out for more than 7 hours.
Their logic devices were all propped up against the wall, begging for use. Gramma talked about a time when she was young, and power outages were an opportunity to have fun. She told her grandchildren about cooking on a campfire, playing board games, and telling stories around a candlelit room. No inquisitive looks. No sparkle in their eyes. No emotional response whatsoever. After a few moments had lapsed, the family snorted and grumbled. They were unable to appreciate this opportunity to interact face to face. They didn’t respect history, conversation, or family. They didn’t know how to do anything other than use their logic devices.
They did not realize that Gramma would be the key to their survival.
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ittle did they know that the power wasn’t coming back on. Their logic devices did not warn them of this impending fate. Their logic devices would now be rendered useless. The members of this family would never again shop, drive, interact, work, or
entertain themselves using these devices. They did not realize that Gramma would be the key to their survival. She was the only family member who remembered life before. She was the only one who knew how to do things the Oldendayer’s way. In fact, the rest of the family had no idea just how difficult their lives were about to become. They could not depend on their logic devices to teach themselves how to talk with others face to face. Their logic devices would not train them in the crucial skills they would need to live beyond tomorrow. It would take some time before they would comprehend that life would be different now. Harder. The Oldendayers would have to guide the masses. They would have to preach an ancient ideology. A logic that worked in darkness. One that worked until the heart didn’t. This stronger, resilient logic had worked for centuries…before the devices. It had worked because it had all come from within.
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ramma worried though. She knew that society would resist going back. People believed too much in comfort; they had forgotten how to think and feel. She would offer her wisdom. Survival would require an intrinsic motivation though, and she knew that her own family lacked this very quality. The Oldendayers would outlast technology and its dependents. But, then what?
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HBmag.ca 18
PRINT MEDIA IS SICK (NOT DYING) BY NICK FEARNS
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s a journalism student, you cannot get away from the people predicting the death of print media. Print media may not be dying, but its current business model is sick. There is an ongoing transition from a printbased paradigm to one centred on generating as many hits as possible for your website. The problem? Good journalism costs money. “There has been a hugely shifting landscape,” says Charlie Kopun, professor of journalism and media studies at Niagara College. “There is more pressure to create content.” Kopun, a former editor at The Toronto Star and The National Post, points to the number of journalists employed in newsrooms across the country. “Major news organizations are employing half as many people as they were.” With fewer reporters having to cover more stories and create more content, the most labour intensive types of stories get pushed to the margins. Newspapers are no longer as worried about their role as “watch dogs” because investigative stories can be the most expensive to produce. Paul Dayboll, Journalism program co-ordinator at Niagara College, says “my hope is that people come to the realization that without journalists we don’t have a democracy.” Dayboll says there will always be journalists, but news organizations have to adapt to a new, online world.
People rely on the journalists who cover those meetings to explain, in everyday language, the actions of their local governments.
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feel that there are at least two distinct methods one could pursue to try and capture a piece of the internet pie. The first idea is to present something hyper local, the second idea is to capitalize on the ideological siloing that is going on. As more and more news organizations are consolidated, the topic of national or provincial news can be found almost anywhere, but truly local issues can be harder to find. Most people do not have the time, knowledge, or patience to sit through a city or regional council meeting and understand what is going on, even though local government can have the most effect on your everyday life. People rely on the journalists who cover those meetings to explain, in everyday language, the actions of their local governments. Focusing on local issues and events can help you carve out a niche to survive. You can then fill out the site with other kinds of stories people care to read about like sports and entertainment.
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s for capitalizing on ideological siloing, people are more and more able to read things on the internet that confirm and conform to their personal world view. People do not always want to be challenged, and instead prefer to have news presented in a way that already conforms to their view of the world. What does that mean for journalists? It means finding your part of the political spectrum and writing creative, inventive articles and supporting a political stance or party. By charging a low monthly subscription fee for full access to the website, the operator has a baseline of income and can provide a print product as an extra luxury. These ideas are not golden bullets that have been untried before. Wilf Dinnick, a Canadian-born journal-
ist, launched OpenFile.ca, a site dedicated to community journalism. In a blog post from April 2010, Dinnick outlined the concept of OpenFile.ca, writing: “Over the past few years I’ve watched the news business change dramatically. Big media companies have struggled to figure out how to adapt to the way people are getting their news in the digital age. My biggest fear was that real journalism, stories that affect you and your community, would get lost as traditional news outlets scrambled to come up with a quick fix that would lure back their dwindling audiences.” OpenFile.ca expanded its base of operations from Toronto to Montreal, Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa. There were also plans to expand to Hamilton and Waterloo, but the website traffic was underwhelming. But then, in September of 2012, the website went on hiatus due to lack of funds. At the present time, internetbased ads cannot contribute as much money as print ads can.
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s more and more news websites put up paywalls, people will return to the idea that good journalism is worth paying for. When someone publishes something under their real name, and not a pseudonym, they are accountable for their words. The same cannot be said about a blogger, who could be operating out of anywhere. One thing is clear; the newspaper industry is undergoing a restructuring. This may result in fewer jobs for journalists at some levels, but the demand for solid, truthful journalism will never go away. Dinnick’s fear of stories important to local communities disappearing still has a ring of truth to it today, but what has failed can return. The Internet has opened up the possibility of new business models, it is now up to young, enterprising individuals to find their niche and thrive. Nick Fearns is a journalism student at Niagara College in Welland, and writes for the community paper Niagara News, which can be found at Niagara-news.com.
HBmag.ca 19
WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY?
1860
The Pacific Telegraph Act rules that messages be processed in the order of their reception; the base concept for neutral communication.
2003
The term “Net Neutrality” is coined by law professor Tim Wu in his paper, “Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination”.
BY LENNA TITIZIAN
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he concept of “net neutrality” is that the internet should be provided by Internet service providers (ISPs) without discrimination. This means an Internet without bandwidth throttling on content, without preferential fees to receive premium content, and without blockage of sites.
Currently, in Canada, the Canadian Radio-televsion Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulates the internet through the use of “Internet traffic management practices” (ITMPs). These rules require ISPs to provide access to the Internet in a non-discriminatory manner, with charges relating to usage only. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not have such direct authority over their ISPs, due to the Internet being legally classified as an “information” service rather than a “communications” one. On January 24, 2014, a U.S. appeals court rejected the FCC’s previously standing Open Internet Order, effectively killing the concept of net neutrality in the United States. A new piece of legislation – the Open Internet Preservation Act – has been introduced in an attempt to reinstate neutrality to the Internet.
For More Information: Net Neutrality in Canada openmedia.ca michaelgeist.ca netneutrality.ca A website by University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist
Net Neutrality in the United States savetheinternet.com A website from Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Internet
whatisnetneutrality.org/timeline
May 2005
The FCC issues “Open Internet Principles”, laying the basis for net neutrality.
May 2005
Shaw stops supporting third-party VoIP service, unless users pay for premium Quality of Service (QoS).
July 2005 Dec 2005 2007
Comcast is sued over their throttling of BitTorrent; they deny it; it’s proven; the FCC ultimately rules against them. Bell admits to throttling P2P traffic.
May 2008
The SaveOurNet.ca Coalition organizes a net neutrality rally on Parliament Hill, which leads to new discussion about net neutrality.
Oct 2009
CRTC sets the ITMP rules into place, assessing discrimintory practices on a case by case basis.
Dec 2010
The FCC files the Open Internet Order, which rules that ISPs cannot prevent access to competitors, such as Netflix.
Jan 2011
CRTC allows usage-based billing in Canada.
Sept 2011
The FCC releases rules for Preserving the Open Internet, to “reinforce freedom and openness”.
Nov 2011
Rogers is called out for throttling the online game World of Warcraft.
Mar 2012
Bell announces they will officially phase out the throttling of P2P traffic.
Dec 2012
Rogers officially phases out throttling of P2P traffic.
Jan 2014 20
Rogers admits to throttling peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic.
Nov 2007
A detailed timeline by Public Knowledge
HBmag.ca
As Telus union workers go on strike, the company blocks subscribers from accessing “Voices for Change” – a union-led website.
U.S Court of Appeals rules the FCC cannot regulate the Internet due to its classification, allowing paid prioriziation of content via ISPs. The Open Internet Order is otherwise upheld.
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