The Michigan Daily - M° ichigandaily.com
Friday, October 28, 2011 - 5
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, October 28, 2011 - 5
There's an app for that
"Thou art a filthy toe rag and thy member is small of stature."
o beyon the Bard
Shakespeare's roots
aren't integral to
Anonymous'
By SEAN CZARNECKI
Daily Arts Writer
Long after most of our names
have faded away, the words of
Shakespeare will remain fresh
on the lips
of the world,
whether or
not the Bard . y
penned all Anonymous
his celebrated AtQualityl6
works. But
what would Columbia
happen if one
of English literature's great
champions were not a man from
humble origins, but a nobleman?
What then were the words of
Hamlet, Prospero and Macbeth
supposed to mean?
According to director Roland
Emmerich's ° "Anonymous" the
claimofauthorshipfor therevered
dramas belongs to Edward de
Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.
In the film, the plays were writ-
ten during a time of uncertainty
with an obvious political agenda.
So instead of simply standing as
works of art, they're considered
artifacts of a conspiracy. What
follows is a taut, relentless story
that contains all the elements of
anepic tragedy.
During this tumultuous time,
Queen Elizabeth (Vanessa Red-
grave, "Atonement") is under
the council of a powerful fam-
ily called the Cecils. In order to
protect their wealth, the Cecils
urge the queen to pronounce
King James of Scotland her
successor. To prevent such an
ascension and reveal the Cecils'
intentions, de Vere uses a man
named Shakespeare - a very
drunk Shakespeare - as a front-
man to release plays, at once
protecting himself and freeing
himself to take political jabs.
It should be noted the film
never opens with "Based on a
True Story." As such, "Anony-
mous" should be received as his-
torical fiction, not fact - which
may unfortunately dull its
potency as an argument against
Shakespeare. But then again,
we should be thankful that the
premise of the film - the tan-
talizing question of whether
Shakespeare was a fraud -
doesn't at all eclipse the story. So
while the film may not be cred-
ible academically, it neverthe-
less succeeds as a driven Tudors
political drama.
"Anonymous" knows only one
direction: forward. The plot's
vibrant pacing allows the audi-
ence to be enthralled by the
story's political intrigue and
passion, while wisely choosing
moments to paint an intimate
portrait of Edward de Vere.
As the Oxfordian champion,
Rhys Ifans ("Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows: Part 1")
walks the cold corridors with
heavy eyes, ink-stained hands,
but more importantly, the con-
fidence of a Renaissance genius.
Ifans conveys a weary knowl-
edge we never once dare dis-
pute, nor do we question his
passion. Above the groundlings,
he mouths out his plays' lines as
they are delivered on a wonder-
fully rendered stage, and when
the actors step forward to take
a bow he revels in the audience's
applause.
But Ifans only makes up a
half of de Vere's entire charac-
ter. The story is also deeply con-
cerned with his past, chiefly his
romance with Elizabeth I. Jamie
Bower's ("The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn - Part 1") per-
formance as the young earl in
his mid-twenties completes the
film's de Vere as both a poet and
a lively nobleman trapped by the
duties of his social status.
Originally supposed to be
de Vere's frontman instead
of Shakespeare, Ben John-
son (Sebastian Armesto, "The
Tudors") and de Vere perhaps
share the most interesting
relationship. Caught between
envy and admiration, it eats at
Johnson to watch the plays, to
know de Vere's voice clearly
speaks volumes over his own.
Yet despite Johnson's compara-
tively incompetent skill, it's later
revealed that de Vere respects
him and yearns for his approval.
While the rest of the film is con-
cerned with political ambitions,
this aspect touches lightly on the
nature of writing but fortunately
manages to see enough screen
time to round the film out.
In the end, Johnson declares
de Vere "the soul of the age."
No matter who penned them,
Shakespeare's works have
climbed to the pinnacle of Eng-
lish thought and literature,
remaining an irrevocable part of
today's cultural capital. The film
inspires debate with an enter-
taining story and solid perfor-
mances, and helps to clarify and
refine the work of Shakespeare.
By LUCY PERKINS
Daily Arts Writer
A phone is a lifeline, a solu-
tion to a problem. The power
these handheld devices possess
is remarkable and often taken
for granted. Students silently tap
their coveted Droids or iPhones
- strategically placed behind a
notebook or calculator - using
touch-screen technology to text,
check Facebook or just to stay
awake during lecture. But some
students at the University don't
take them for granted, because
they know what it's like to make
an app - from start to finish.
In the College of Engineering,
students enrolled in Electrical
Engineering and Computer Sci-
ence 441: Mobile App Develop-
ment for Entrepreneurs learn
about the importance of soft-
ware engineering by develop-
ing mobile applications and the
many opportunities glowing
beneath their fingertips. The
course educates students on how
the mobile landscape is formed,
and expects students to have
designed, tested and released a
functional mobile app by the end
of class.
The types of programs in the
class run the gamut from an app
called ASKMessaging, which
helps people struggling with
fine motor control type e-mails,
to an app called Boolinkr that
finds and sells used books, vid-
eogames or any product with a
barcode.
Roki Soeharyo, an LSA senior,
is taking EECS 441 this semes-
ter and is one of three students
working on Boolinkr. Accord-
ing to Soeharyo, users who have
Boolinkr will automatically
detect other devices that have
the app and are selling the prod-
uct the user is looking for.
"I think that there's a big
market for used books, video-
games, movies and whatnot,"
Soeharyo said. "People have
tried exchange programs before,
and this is just one way to trade
things locally."
ASKMessaging is a continua-
tion of a EECS 481 Winter 2011
semester project. EECS 481 is
another software engineering
class i
Chris I
Engine
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"We
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amatet
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But
phone
solely:
Fou
organi
proble
tions f
been
ed by Engineering senior current size of about 30 mem-
McMeeking and five other bers. Apoorva Bansal, a Masters
ering students. student in Engineering and a
ording to McMeeking, leading member of MSuite, also
oup developed the iPhone acknowledged the relevance
a of the app after speak- of creativity and visual appeal
ith therapists at Mott when designing and program-
en's Hospital who work ming mobile apps.
patients struggling with "Inherently pretty applications
otor control. The patients are more appealing and popu-
't target the small but- lar," Bansal said. "We actively
handheld devices, which look for graphic designers, but
yping e-mails and similar they're hard to come by for some
ies impossible. reason. Programmers can only do
Messaging addresses the so much - you really need some
m by highlighting each level of beautification."
the keyboard for a few So far, MSuite has developed
s at a time. If the user a CTools mobile app and is cur-
a letter in a specific row, rently working on several oth-
she waits until it's high- ers including one for the men's
I and then taps anywhere basketball team. It will serve as
screen. Each letter in the an electronic nameplate in the
d row is then highlight- locker room on which players
at a time, and the user can check stats and access their
individual letters in the schedule for classes and upcom-
vay. ing games.
According to Bansal, MSuite's
steady growth and the increas-
U' students ing relevance of the mobile appli-
cation market have led to the
nd creativity discussion of a new Engineering
course specifically designed to
ith mobile train students how to program
and create mobile apps.
:now-how. "(EECS) 441 teathes students
about the mobile landscape, but
there isn't a good intro course to
help develop the mobile space,"
Meeking is now a founder Bansal said. "We need a course
KApplications, a mobile that focuses on learning skills."
ation company created as With the possible addition of
uct of his group project. faculty who are experts in the
ompany is now working mobile landscape, the Universi-
Android version of ASK- ty can keep up with technology,
ging. As the app is tested Bansal said.
ecomes fully functional, "I've met with alot of talented
eking hopes to focus more freshmen who may not have the
its aesthetic appeal. programming ability for mobile
're trying to add a cre- development right now, but they
spect to it," McMeeking definitely have the ability to
We don't want it to look learn," Bansal said. "Michigan
ur, and the ones that are will have a much stronger pres-
sful are the ones that look ence (in the mobile application
Flashy apps are the ones market) if we get these students
e downloaded." up and running."
classy or not, mobile But, accordingto Bansal, what
apps aren't developed is most important about learn-
through classes at the 'U.' ing how to make an app is how
nded in 2009, student to creatively design a solution to
zation MSuite solves a problem - and at the Univer-
ms through mobile solu- sits in this day and age, many of
or the University and has these solutions can be found in
steadily growing to its the palm of your hand.
6:16 PM
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The student organization MSuite created a CTools mobile app and is now working on one for the m
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