Horror movie spliced to cat reactions for convincing effect

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What is skeuomorphism?

Dan "O'Hara argues that, strictly speaking, the term skeuomorphism refers only to those vestigial elements in nature or artefact that survive from an original form, even though they are no longer required. At its broadest, this definition extends to the levers and dials in a modern aircraft cockpit, for example, which no longer connect to systems directly, but instead are merely inputs and outputs of a computer that actually controls things. Such controls are skeumorphs because they are holdovers from the days before computerised aircraft, and have been left in their original form for the benefit of pilots, who are used to them working in a particular way.

So can a digital depiction of something properly be called a skeuomorph? It is more accurate to refer to it as a visual metaphor that calls to mind a physical skeuomorph without really being one. The iPhone's notification panel, with its imitation linen effect, was not descended from an object that was once made of linen. The switch that, say, allows you to switch an iPhone into Airplane Mode is not an on–screen replacement for what used to be a physical switch. In the early days of graphical user interfaces, designers employed familiar devices, such as folders, trash cans and other objects commonplace in the office. The result was that operating systems ended up being littered with depictions of things that had never existed inside a digital device; the on–screen 'trash' icon is not the vestigial remnant of an actual trash can that was once part of the computer, which is why it is really a metaphor, not a skeumorph. (That said, as computer graphics became more detailed, the original blocky icons gave way to more detailed depictions of trash cans, folders and so forth, which are arguably skeuomorphs of visual metaphors.)"

(Glenn Fleishman, 25 June 2013, The Economist)

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Identity performance: YouTubers, real-life dolls and cosplayers

Fig.1 "My Strange Addiction: I'm a Living Doll", TLC, Season 5 (2014), original air date 1 January 2014.

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Virtual girl called 'Sweetie' used to stop webcam child sex tourism

"To show how unrestrained child predators can act but also to show how easy it is to track them down the Dutch child rights organisation put itself in the shoes of a 10–year–old Filipino girl. With an innovative technology the virtual character Sweetie was created to be controlled by Terre des Hommes researchers. From a remote building in Amsterdam the researchers operated in public chat rooms. In a very short period, over 20,000 predators from around the world approached the virtual 10– year–old, asking for webcam sex performances. While the adults interacted with the virtual girl, the researchers gathered information about them through social media to uncover their identities. With this evidence Terre des Hommes Netherlands is pushing all governments to adopt proactive investigation policies, with a world wide petition, starting today."

(Hans Guyt, The Hague, 4 November 2013, Terre des Hommes)

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Pulp International: retro popular culture and graphic novel illustration

"Yes, fifteen years ago it was. We were kids who didn't know squat about print publishing and now we're older and we don't know squat about web publishing. But we hope Pulp International manages to entertain. It's a bit different from our old Pulp, but it's similar in many ways too. We'll be looking for pulp everywhere – certainly in the usual places, like books and magazines, but also in music and art. For that matter, we'll also be looking for pulp events – that is, real–world crimes with a touch of deceit or corruption. And lastly, we'll be posting images from blaxploitation, sexploitation, noir, horror, sci–fi and psychedelia films, because these too seem like pulp. At least to us. So there you go. Nothing is permanent, and this site won't be either, but as long as it's fun, and you enjoy it, we'll be here."

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