User:Silviolorusso/thematic1/punch
Once Upon a Time...
Once upon a time Aymeric explained us computing starting from the very beginning. He talked about punch cards and how these existed way before computers in textile industry.
Punched cards in use in a Jacquard loom.
Why I consider those cards fascinating
1. Punch cards were crucial for Nazism in order to accomplish the logistic tasks of the concentration camps and the final solution. This story was for long time forgotten. More info in the book "IBM and the holocaust" by Edwin Black.
Nazi Punch card
German Punch Card ad
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===2===. Since 1964, the Free Speech Movement, in their fight agains beaurocracy, took punch cards as symbol of alienation and hyper-rationalization. The students of Berkeley subverted the punch cards wearing them as military tag plates. They also punched some obscene messages or burned some of those.
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Punch cads punched with words, from the phonogram album cover for "FSM's Sounds and Soungs of the Demonstration!"
From the W.E.B. DuBois Club newsletter, Bancroft Library, Berkeley. Courtesy Bancroft Library; reproduced from Rorabaugh
(after p. 50)
Add picture with Strike!
3. During the 60's and 70's punch cards' technology became familiar in the U.S. Punch cards were sent as bills from companies. They also became common in advertisements and even as ornament for christmas trees.
Drawing from advertisment for computer dating
Punch card in the cult series "the Prisoner"
Number 6: I will not make any deals with you. I've resigned. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own. I resign.'
What Does This Story Tell Us Today?
Mario Savio's speech and the way in which students subverted the punch cards oppose to the relationship between technology and power and beaurocracy. The definition of the human being is affected by this relationship. Today these topics still have a value: individuals' informations become commodified by social media and internet services. Mario Savio's speech maintain its value today.
I looked for affirmation of human nature in current services and i found CAPTCHAs particularly interesting from this point of view. Generated by the machine, CAPTCHAs ask users for their human nature. Users confirm their human nature in order to access a service.
CAPTCHA from Google.com
OUTPUT #1 | Re-enactment of Mario Savio's speech
70x100cm Not printed yet!
Made it tweaking this PHP script with the following values:
/**
* SimpleCaptcha class
*
*/
class SimpleCaptcha {
/** Width of the image */
public $width = 4000;
/** Height of the image */
public $height = 1400;
/** Dictionary word file (empty for randnom text) */
public $wordsFile = 'words/en.php';
/**
* Path for resource files (fonts, words, etc.)
*
* "resources" by default. For security reasons, is better move this
* directory to another location outise the web server
*
*/
public $resourcesPath = 'resources';
/** Min word length (for non-dictionary random text generation) */
public $minWordLength = 5;
/**
* Max word length (for non-dictionary random text generation)
*
* Used for dictionary words indicating the word-length
* for font-size modification purposes
*/
public $maxWordLength = 8;
/** Sessionname to store the original text */
public $session_var = 'captcha';
/** Background color in RGB-array */
public $backgroundColor = array(255, 255, 255);
/** Foreground colors in RGB-array */
public $colors = array(
array(27,78,181), // blue
array(22,163,35), // green
array(214,36,7), // red
);
/** Shadow color in RGB-array or null */
public $shadowColor = null; //array(0, 0, 0);
/**
* Font configuration
*
* - font: TTF file
* - spacing: relative pixel space between character
* - minSize: min font size
* - maxSize: max font size
*/
public $fonts = array(
/* 'Antykwa' => array('spacing' => -3, 'minSize' => 27, 'maxSize' => 30, 'font' => 'AntykwaBold.ttf'),
'Candice' => array('spacing' =>-1.5,'minSize' => 28, 'maxSize' => 31, 'font' => 'Candice.ttf'),
'DingDong' => array('spacing' => -2, 'minSize' => 24, 'maxSize' => 30, 'font' => 'Ding-DongDaddyO.ttf'),
'Duality' => array('spacing' => -2, 'minSize' => 30, 'maxSize' => 38, 'font' => 'Duality.ttf'),
'Heineken' => array('spacing' => -2, 'minSize' => 24, 'maxSize' => 34, 'font' => 'Heineken.ttf'),
'Jura' => array('spacing' => -2, 'minSize' => 28, 'maxSize' => 32, 'font' => 'Jura.ttf'),
'StayPuft' => array('spacing' =>-1.5,'minSize' => 28, 'maxSize' => 32, 'font' => 'StayPuft.ttf'), */
'Times' => array('spacing' => -40, 'minSize' => 560, 'maxSize' => 680, 'font' => 'TimesNewRomanBold.ttf'),
/* 'VeraSans' => array('spacing' => -1, 'minSize' => 20, 'maxSize' => 28, 'font' => 'VeraSansBold.ttf'), */
);
/** Wave configuracion in X and Y axes */
public $Yperiod = 206;
public $Yamplitude = 200;
public $Xperiod = 438;
public $Xamplitude = 250;
/** letter rotation clockwise */
public $maxRotation = 8;
/**
* Internal image size factor (for better image quality)
* 1: low, 2: medium, 3: high
*/
public $scale = 3;
/**
* Blur effect for better image quality (but slower image processing).
* Better image results with scale=3
*/
public $blur = true;
/** Debug? */
public $debug = false;
/** Image format: jpeg or png */
public $imageFormat = 'png';
/** GD image */
public $im;
Next Steps | Interpreting an obsolete technology
An interesting aspect of punch card technology could be the limitations regarding the amount of characters, a bit like twitter. Another interesting aspect regards the way in which a message could become a physical object. Another issue to analyze is the encoding system.
Further Research
http://perley.homeport.org/2011/03/punch-card-greetings.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/technology/26captcha.html?src=me&ref=technology
http://www.josscrowcroft.com/demos/motioncaptcha/
http://www.squidoo.com/PixProfit-com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k94PwBrcICE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-PWCBXc5zg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tuDlnT8a_8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz9GPCrUyxE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nmCLjFmNSE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zme5upJK7yA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-mSzUhhyro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7eWy3b-i7I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBkgjXxEQNw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH45Jb8lmSA&feature=related
Hello, for a research I'm currently doing I'm looking for a video of someone solving 1000 captchas. If anyone is interested in filming him/herself while is doing these job, just contact me at the following mail address:
silviolorusso[at]gmail.com
In this way we can discuss payment and other details.
Thanks
website for working on captchas
"Our "Team Work" feature allows your account to become master account of any volume of existing accounts. You will be able to view statistics of your team, evaluate quality of work, receive payments from all accounts in one single payment and effectively control your team. Controlled sub-accounts have more simple interface, which lets your workers to completely concentrate on their work. Please beware: this process can not be canceled. All you accounts' payments will be transfered to your new team's account."
This portal is devoted to data-entering. Your job will help to digitize books and papers. Another goal is to assist to visually and hearing impaired persons wishing to use computers and internet. Currently we work with persons that have poor hearing and vision. Many websites now require so called CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) to be entered in order for the user to continue using website services. This has significantly increased in a few past years: e-mail, shopping and many more websites now require the CAPTCHA to be inputted. Some websites have an audio option, but these are not easy to solve. Our goal is to provide these people with access to web-resources they need.
References
Part of my essay regarding punch cards
- Lubar, S. (1992) 'Do Not Fold, Spindle Or Mutilate: A Cultural History Of The Punch Card', Journal of American Culture, Winter, pp. 43- 55.
- Turner, F. (2006) From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism.
- Wikipedia.org – Punched Card, [online], Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card.
- Wikipedia.org – CAPTCHA, [online], Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha.
- http://vincentsvictoria.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/computer-punch-cards-libraries-history/
- https://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/PDFs/lubar-hollerith.pdf
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhFvZRT7Ds0
- http://www.ehow.com/how_6532179_read-punch-card.html
- http://www.divms.uiowa.edu/~jones/cards/codes.html
- http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/cardint.htm
- http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/Media/PunchCards.html