Viral Data Flux

I have finally submitted all of my other projects and now have the time to dedicate to this brief.

For my final review of last term I presented my work so far. This included the manual glitching of image files using a number of different hex edtors as well as a small flash app which created a generative image using a number entered by the user. I also used an app called Zinc to add the capability to take a screen shot of the image generated.

Through using this method to display various alpha-numeric numbers from my personal life [bank account number, phone number, National Insurance no. etc.] it was mentioned by both Anneke and Spencer that it was interesting that I was taking relevantly public information and encrypting it. This was not a angle that I had considered, in my mind I was just using such information as it was a way of making the images created personal to me [I had also attempted to re-create a DNA-esque format to the images themselves to continue this concept].

It was sugested that I research into Cryptography and Encryption. Despite my initial thoughts [I couldn't see how to exploit this new concept!] I have decided that this is the route that my work shall start to follow. I have another blog post or 2 to write and then I am to continue reading Public-Key Cryptography by Arto Salomaa.

I am also planning on reading [some of] practical cryptology and web security by PK Yeun and The Codebreakers by David Kahn. The former seems to offer some instruction towards creating encrypted webpages, which is an experiment I wish to undertake as part of the development of my initial idea, where as the latter seems to be based more on the historical and contextual aspects of codes through the centuries. I hope to gleam more of a conceptual standpoint from this book to help develop this aspect of my project.

It seems far too late to still be as undecided about my final outcome as I currently am, but this avenue of thought seems to be way too interesting, and extremely geeky for me to ignore.

At this point I have decided to start to look at the creative, rather than destructive elements of my project.

I am aiming to create a small app. that will allow the user to enter a number [preferably one with upwards of 8 digits - passport number, phone number etc] with which I want to create a generative image.

This image would then be a visual representation of that specific number. I would like to attempt this piece in both flash and processing as I believe both have potential to create a strong visual outcome.

I would like to allow the outcome to then be saved as an image file for future viewing. I would like to attempt a visual collection of the important numbers in my life [ascii conversion may be used to allow for alpha-numeric numbers to be included as well].

Ok so I have started to consider this project again, although it is one which has a later deadline and therefore is still taking a back seat compared to other briefs.

However I have decided that it is necessary to document my continuing progress in order to both present what I have done to my group of peers but also to allow me myself to see just what I have [or haven't yet] done.

At the moment I have created a number of different glitched images. These images have been glitched using a hex editor that allows me to view the hexadecimal structure of the images and manipuliate them from the inside out.

I gathered the following images from the DeviantArt gallery of ??.

I initially open this image [the.perfect.ending] as it was my current desktop image. I scrolled down into the body of the hex code [so as not to corrupt the image header - which specifies certain information required to display the image] and insert a string containing the Picasso quote which has become one of the pillars of my concept/s; "Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction".

I feel that the first outcome [as simple as it is] manages to show a distinct change in the subject matter. In the original image we see a cold and grey womans face. Yet at the point where the quote has been inserted we see a small area of blue pixelation and then the rest of the image takes on a far more human appearance, just through the introduction of a skin tone.

To me, this image shows the creation of life through disrupting an image of a not so living face. This was an encouraging start.

I decided to repeat exactly the same procedure for a number of other images to see what effects could be achieved.

As can be seen from the images - the results weren't quite as inspiring. It seems that by choosing to glithc a simple image first and then apply the same glitch to different, more complicated images, that the additional text had no where near the same effects on the displaying of the image.

There was however one acception to this rule, and the following image was glitched in another totally different manner.

Due to the rapid speed that my virtual envrironments presentation is approaching, I have decided to let this project stand still for the remainder of this week.

I shall re-awaken it after my presentation on friday.

I have been experimenting with Glitching images in a variety of ways and I am now seeking to find a way to create a web based application that will allow this to be done via a website.

Minimal.

This client creates a 'scribble' which is generated by reading the entire contents of CNN.com [in a binary format]. This data is then fed into an algorithm which moves a black pixel horizontally when a '0' is present and it moves a white pixel is moved vertically when a '1' is present. The black and white pixels are then attracted to each other.

That's it.

I tried to seek information about Mark Napier, but that too seems to be minimal on his website.

Jonny's opinion is that the client is, for lack of a better term, wank. He thinks that it lacks depth and is unconvinced of the input form CNN. Typing a series of random 1's and 0's in a text document would create the same outcome. This, Jonny feels, means that the client is just a tool that scribbles for the sake of scribbling.

I argue that the concpet behind the client is that it is a visual representation of a live and constantly changing data source. The visualisation just happens to be created using only 2 pixels at a time - one white and one black. I have no doubt that Jonny will leave at least one comment here just for the sake of leaving a comment.

Joshua Davis , the well known and respected designer/coder created a Carnivore client alongside Branden Hall and Shapeshifter.

The client, named 'Amalgamatmosphere' listens for activity on certain ports on the various computers attached to the network. This allows it to distinguish between systems being used to send/receive email, those being used to surf the internet and those that have become idle.

This information is displayed as a series of coloured circles, interconnected by various lines which are dependent on the network connections being made by those systems. Each activity is associated a colour and a sound, which is displayed/played on screen.

The sound generated is affected by the on screen position of the circle representing that particular system.

Like the Active Metaphore client, Amalgamatmosphere seeks to make the invisible network data itself part of the visuals, rather than merely using it as a back-end source of data.

Once again using a Mac in the studio has prevented me from viewing the client in action! This client, it seems, needs to run in Classic. Yet the Mac OS won't let me access it as it seems not to have been assigned a systems folder - I guess that means that it hasn't been included on the disk image used to format these machines.

I actually thought that this one would work as it as an offline demo of the full application, using text documents rather than live data from Carnivore itself to simulate how it works when installed on a network.

Limiteazero is an Italian design studio based in Milan. They work across various fields, including "network installations design, set design, exhibition design, media in architecture and public space, interaction design, digital identity design, sound design, creative-network-software design".

Through their experimental works they explore alternative realtionships between people, their machines and thier environment.

The Carnivore client they created is titled Active Metaphor.

The Active Metaphor client takes the data provided by Carnivore and uses it to create a series of dynamic 3D shapes as well as an audio frequency.

I was unable to run Carnivore locally on this particular Mac so I couldn't try the client myself but there is thankfully a QuickTime movie available on the Limiteazero site which demonstrates the application in action.

Limiteazero state that they are more interested in the flow of data on the network [which is normally hidden form the user] rather than the medium through which it has been displayed.

The IP addresses captured by Carnivore are split into four sections - 123.456.123.456 becomes aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd. These numbers are then used to create the 3D shapes and apply a level of opacity to them.

Different equations are used to create different shapes:

(A*B*C) - generates a cube

(B*H) / 2 - generates a triangle

(4/3) * R * 3,14 - generates a sphere

For the sound generation, Pure Data was used although there isn't much information detailed on the website as to how this works. Limiteazero don't seem to be too confident in their use of Pd and ask for more advanced users to add to the patch they developed.

The sounds it generates are ranging frequencies, which I assume are created using the IP in a similar way as is used for the 3d shape creation.

It seems pointless to download the files to this studio mac as I wont be able to deconstruct and test them to explore their workings as I have no access to Carnivore. This testing shall have to be done later, back at my flat.

*Note to self: Contact studio administrators [via Rob?] and see if it is possible to run Carnivore on one of the machines on the network here to make it accessible from any of the other macs to allow future experiments to be tested.

I had actually started writing about one of the Carnivore clients listed on the site, and then I realised that I should probably look into the Carnivore engine itself.

So what is CarnivorePE?

Carnivore is an application which is based on a similar program called 'DCS1000' and was developed by the FBI as a way of performing electronic wire-taps [I believe it is the reason that Hugh Jackmans character was previously arrested in the film 'Swordfish' for those that are as geeky about random details as I am!].

The CarnivorePE program was developed by the Radical Software Group [RSG]. This version, allows the user to access the internet traffic flowing across a network such as email and web browsing. This data is accessable by the various scripted clients.

Currently the data packets being transmitted can be used by Flash, Processing, Director, Java, Max, PERL, PHP and Visual Basic applications.

The clients created using this information are extremely varied both in terms of the visual language used and the concepts being explored.

It seems that all students have been put into 1 of 5 groups for this terms studio brief [Time-Nature, Time-Man, Cities|Growth, Viral & Social Networks and Memories-Deterioration]. Each groups has been constructed so that we are all working in similar fields of thought rather than simply using the same technologies.

This should in theory allow for a greater mix of input and criticism about each of our individual projects, and to be honest it's how studio [other other modules] should have been structured to in the first year. Tangent!

As detailed in my brief, I wish to create a series of small applications that will take both a pre-made file [image/sound/video] and glitch it in a predefined way. The predefined way shall however be affected by information taken from a live data source. The intention is therefore to glitch the same files at different times to see how differently they come out, despite having used the same data source in each instance.

In disscussing this with Anneke, it has become clear that not only do I need to get my act together and start a) learning the technologies I want/need to use and b) speak to those in the know that can assist me with my desired outcome. But I also need to define a reason for wanting to create these new, altered files. I need to come up with a concept or philosophy that the project should express.

This is something that I have started to consider in a lot of my projects. I am starting to see the beginnings of a theme developing through my concepts. That theme is a form of voyeurism or possibly a form of self-consciousness. Each project has a certain element that either looks into the lives of others, or asks for others to provide their opinion into the lives of others. This is an idea that I wish to explore further in my own time [and is also the start of my first idea for a dissertation for my final year].

As for this studio project I am planning now to study the various carnivore clients developed already to see not only what sort of technologies are used but also, and perhaps more importantly, what concepts are being explored with each of the clients.

The is the initial draft of my personal brief for the permanent flux project -

Create a series of programming experiments that express the concept of ‘Permanent Flux’. Specifically in relations to any flux present in data sources [WiFi/networks/internet/news].

The data from these sources of flux may be used either purely as the visual content or as a data input for further manipulation.

You should aim to experiment with as many different technologies/languages as is possible to offer a greater range of outcomes.

• Experiments should be documented as they are completed {via a blog}.
• Research into artists/designers/programmers experimenting in similar fields should also be undertaken and documented alongside the experiments.
• 1 experiment shall be developed further to become a completed final piece.

Emphasis should be placed initially on the programming aspects of each experiment. Although visual aesthetics are important, they should not outweigh the necessity of good, clean code!

Remember to document/comment the code of each experiment. Inform users of the environment in which the experiment must be situated in order to function correctly {on a local network/online access/on a web server}.