Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Bri Cassara Final Hypertext Proposal

Little Brother deals a lot with the concept of surveillance. In the beginning of the book, Marcus goes into detail describing the technology used to track the students by the use of “walk recognition”, barcodes, and other devices. Before the plot even gets complicated there is a presence of a privacy issue.
As the plot unfolds, surveillance becomes an even larger problem. Marcus must learn to double check/triple check every step he makes so he is able to keep his name “in the clear.” The DHS resorts to extreme surveillance for a “good” reason.
I read 1984 during my freshman year of high school and remember being disturbed at the thought of Big Brother “watching” me. The book goes into great details regarding the extent of Big Brother’s “all-seeing eye.” I want to take a look at what would happen if the “Big Brother” type surveillance hit Santa Clara University.
In the beginning of Little Brother, Doctorow describes the “walk detecting” camera in such detail. If these types of cameras exist (which I’m sure they do), I’ve never heard of them. I want to think of possible surveillance systems that could (and might) enter into my life. I want to think of different systems that make me feel extremely uncomfortable, that way I can fully understand the negative aspects of Doctorow’s “surveillance.”
I’m not sure what form my final remix will be in. I want to look at different rooms that I use: my bedroom, the bathroom, the classrooms, Benson, my RLC’s basement, etc. My goal will be to create a possible world where someone is watching us.
I was considering the idea of a newspaper type hypertext where different articles explain different rooms and different surveillance systems, but I’m not sure that I’m sold on the idea. I’m unsure about the specifics of this hypertext, but know that I want to deal with this subject matter.

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