October 2009 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

FW: [TriumphOfContent] FW: Web can help elderly surfers slow dementia
by Michael Gurstein 23 Oct '09

23 Oct '09

This is very good news for many of us I think ;-) MBG Michael Gurstein, Ph.D. Director: Centre for Community Informatics Research, Development and Training Vancouver, CANADA http://www.communityinformatics.net Cape Town, SA (in conjunction with Izandla Zethu SA) http://www.izandlazethu.co.za/ -----Original Message----- From: TriumphOfContent(a)yahoogroups.com [mailto:TriumphOfContent@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Anjana Basu Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 6:10 PM Subject: [TriumphOfContent] FW: Web can help elderly surfers slow dementia >From The Sunday Times October 18, 2009 Web can help elderly surfers slow dementia Ivy Bean, who is 104 years old, is the UK's oldest Tweeter on the social networking site, Twitter. Jonathan Leake, Science Editor GOOGLING is good for grandparents. Internet use can boost the brain activity of the elderly, potentially slowing or even reversing the age-related declines that can end in dementia, researchers have found. Using brain scans, they found the internet stimulated the mind more strongly than reading, and the effects continued long after an internet session had ended. "We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function," said Gary Small, professor of neuroscience and human behaviour at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In the research, Small and his colleagues worked with 24 men and women aged between 55 and 78. Half of them had used the internet a lot; the others had little experience. At the start of the research, they were asked to conduct a series of internet searches while their brains were scanned using a technique known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This measures changes in blood flow around the brain to work out which parts are the most and least active. After the initial scan, participants went home and used the internet to carry out specified tasks for an hour a day at least seven times over the following fortnight. Then they had a second brain scan, again while searching the internet. Small and his colleagues found the impacts began immediately, with the first scan demonstrating brain activity in regions controlling language, reading, memory and vision. By the time of the second scan, however, the activated areas had spread to include the frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, areas known to be important in working memory and decision-making. The researchers suggest internet searching stimulates brain cells and pathways, making them more active. "Searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults," said Teena Moody, a UCLA researcher who co- wrote the report with Small. Moody believes internet searching challenges the brain more than reading because people need to perform several tasks at once. These include holding important information in their own memory while simultaneously assessing the information on screen and extracting the parts they want from graphics and words. The research will be presented tomorrow at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, where the impacts of ageing on the brain are a big theme. It has long been known that as people age, their brain functions and abilities also change. In many respects these changes are beneficial - verbal and social skills tend to improve until at least late middle age, for example. In other areas there can be declines. One of the best known is mathematics, as shown by the number of mathematicians and physicists who do their best work early and then struggle to match their youthful performances. It is only in recent years, however, that researchers have been able to use technologies such as fMRI to observe the brain in action and measure the changes that come with age. What they have found is that as people age, their brains undergo structural and functional changes, often including atrophy, reductions in cell activity and increases in deposits of insoluble protein. All of these can reduce cognitive function. In Britain, for example, around 700,000 people suffer from dementia, a condition in which so much of the brain has died that function is severely impaired. Small and Moody's argument is that brains are similar to muscles, in that the more they are exercised, the healthier they become. So, activities such as internet use, reading and socialising can slow or reverse normal age-related declines. Small said: "Our most striking finding was that internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading." Other neuroscientists support the idea of exercising the brain but question the benefit of spending too much time on the internet.

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thoughts on CHI
by Barry Wellman 23 Oct '09

23 Oct '09

I haven't been to CHI for 11 years (so grain of salt).... It's an excellent conference for seeing how computer scientists interested in social software work. I learned a lot. However, when I went, it was a closed group very interested in small-group apps, even as the internet was flourishing. This, I hope, has changed. You get a lot of schwag for what you pay. The fees are aimed at corporately funded and computer scientists with bigger grants. Nevertheless I felt welcome. Indeed, I gave a plenary talk once. But... I could never get an article accepted in a refereed session. I grew frustrated, and I quit going. I was told is that because my articles didn't provide practical design principles. OTOH, like many rejectees, I felt the refereeing was obtuse and unfair. YMMV If you do send in a paper, please note that the deadline for papers is for receipt by the powers that be -- not (as in the social sciences) for the date of submission. I once got burned by this, howled, but to no avail. You play by Their Rules. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________

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web demographics
by spinal＠rpi.edu 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

I am researching children's use of the Internet and looking for recommendations for websites that offer reliable demographics for web research. Do demographics available at Alexa or Quantcast, for example, offer accurate representations of site visitors? As variables such as age, gender, etc., can be different than that of an actual website user, are all web demographics to be considered unofficial estimates? Thank-you in advance for any suggestions. Lillian C. Spina-Caza PhD Candidate, ABD Language, Literature & Communication Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 110 8th Street Troy, New York 12180 USA spinal(a)rpi.edu

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Re: [Air-L] Social Histories of information technologies
by Guillaume Latzko-Toth 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Not exactly what you ask, but for sociotechnical histories of digital networks, I suggest that you follow this thread in Air-L archive: Topic: [Air-L] what sources do you use for a "history of the Internet"? [1]http://listserv.aoir.org/htdig.cgi/air-l-aoir.org/2009-July/019332.h tml In a broader scope, here are a few references that you might find useful: Bardini, T. (2000). Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, Coevolution, and the Origins of Personal Computing. Stanford (Calif.): Stanford University Press. Flichy, P. (2007). The Internet Imaginaire. Cambridge (Mass.): The MIT Press. [[2] http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11122 ] Rheingold, H. (1995). Tools For Thought. The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology.Online: <[3] http://dlcvm.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00002256/01/Tools_For_Thought.pdf > Schaffer, S. (1994). Babbage's Intelligence: Calculating Engines and the Factory System. Critical Inquiry, 21(1), 203-227. -Guillaume I would appreciate any recommendations for histories, especially social histories, of computing or information tech. Thanks! Christopher J. Richter Associate Professor Communication Studies Hollins University PO Box 9652 Roanoke, VA 24020 540-362-6358 _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers [4]http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: [5]http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: [6]http://www.aoir.org/ ------------ Guillaume Latzko-Toth Ph.D. candidate in Communication Studies Université du Québec à Montréal [7]http://grm.uqam.ca/?q=latzko References 1. http://listserv.aoir.org/htdig.cgi/air-l-aoir.org/2009-July/019332.html 2. http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11122 3. http://dlcvm.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00002256/01/Tools_For_Thought.pdf 4. http://aoir.org/ 5. http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org 6. http://www.aoir.org/ 7. http://grm.uqam.ca/?q=latzko

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Social Histories of information technologies
by Christopher Richter 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

I would appreciate any recommendations for histories, especially social histories, of computing or information tech. Thanks! Christopher J. Richter Associate Professor Communication Studies Hollins University PO Box 9652 Roanoke, VA 24020 540-362-6358

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Seeking submissions for ICA 2010 panel on virtual worlds
by CarrieLynn D. Reinhard 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

We are looking for two researchers interested in participating in a panel we are proposing for the upcoming International Communication Association conference to be held in Singapore June 22-26, 2010. The conference has stressed the need to examine the political, cultural and technological challenges facing communication in the modern age, and has even highlighted the growing presence of virtual worlds as locations and means for communication. Research into virtual worlds has received increasing attention in the conference, the organization, and universities around the world. At Metaverse U in 2009, there was much buzz about interoperability, increased and diversified worlds, simplified tools for user-generated worlds, and the 3D internet. Decades worth of research on virtual worlds, digital games, virtual reality and avatars has generated hundreds of articles with a variety of methods and methodologies on display. At this past Transforming Audiences 2 conference in London, there was much discussion on new media reception studies sometimes “reinventing the wheel”, not being reflectively cognizant of theories and studies that have gone on before in reception studies, or even in other fields of inquiry. Is the field of research into virtual worlds on a similar trajectory? We know a lot about virtual worlds, but how aware of we about what we and others are doing to know virtual worlds? How much are we learning from others? Given the complexity of virtual worlds, is there is single methodological approach to study them, or should a multiple, mixed approach be undertaken? And if so, how? In connection with an upcoming special issue for the journal Convergence on methods and methodologies in virtual worlds research, we are proposing to do a panel at ICA 2010 that addresses these issues. Additionally, we want a panel comprised of a variety of methodological viewpoints that do not present in isolation; in other words, we do not want researchers to just present on what they have done. Instead, we are proposing a panel that is a structured discussion of people with different methodological approaches to discuss, in a series of rounds, what they do when they study virtual worlds. First, each panelist will talk about what they did in their study(s) – what method/methodology they chose and why, and what they learned from what they did, with more focus on method/methodology than knowledge about the phenomenon. Second, each panelist would reflect on what the other panelists have said, indicating what they learned from each other, where they saw overlaps and/or divergences. Third, we would open it up to the audience to comment on what they learned, to offer suggestions the panelists have not offered, and/or to ask questions about method/methodology (saying that questions about results can be handled outside of the panel). We believe suggesting such a panel would be seen favorably by ICA given a) the topic of challenges to understanding how to understand virtual worlds and b) the unique nature of the panel that is more than just a series of presentations. We are asking if you would like to participate because we find valuable both your approach(es) to studying virtual worlds, and your demonstrated ability and desire to reflect upon these approaches. If you would like to participate, please send a title and brief abstract (no more than 150 words) on what method(s) and/or methodology(s) for what study(s) you would be addressing in the discussion. That is, how you place yourself in the field of research on virtual worlds in terms of what your approach is, and one or two studies that illustrate this approach you would like to discuss. Please have this sent to me by NOVEMBER 3rd as we need to gather the panel proposal together to send out November 6th. We apologize for the shortness of this time period; we had not anticipated how many people were not planning on attending this conference. You will be notified by November 5th if we are using your submission. PLEASE NOTE we are looking for people who are able to be in Singapore for the conference. If you have any questions, then please send them along. CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, PhD Virtual Worlds Research http://worlds.ruc.dk/ Roskilde University Department of Communication, Business, and Information Technologies Building 43.3 Kommunikationsvej 1 DK-4000 Roskilde mbl: + 2280 5128 "If we understand that everyone is connected to everyone else in some way or another, it makes it hard to hurt any single one person, for who knows if we might unwittingly hurt someone we love." - CDR 9/20/02

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Digital Material
by Mirko Tobias Schaefer 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

as to the 'newness' of media, especially so-called new media: as many others we also had/have quite some doubts about the newness, the virtuality, the immateriality, the utopian promises and the 'participation'. Our book "Digital Material. Tracing New Media in Everyday Life and Technology" addresses these issues and presents the ongoing research at the Utrecht University new media group. We're not there yet, but we aim at developing something like a 'materialist' perspective on digital media and social interaction online. Comments and critical feedback are very welcome! The book is published at Amsterdam University Press (distributed in the US through Chicago University Press) under a CC license. Of course, you can also download it/spread it/print it: http://www.let.uu.nl/tftv/nieuwemedia/images/uploads/Digital-Material.pdf More Information: Digital Material. Tracing New Media in Everyday Life and Technology by Marianne van den Boomen, Sybille Lammes, Ann-Sophie Lehmann, Joost Raessens, Mirko Tobias Schaefer Amsterdam University Press Three decades of societal and cultural alignment of new media yielded to a host of innovations, trials, and problems, accompanied by versatile popular and academic discourse. New Media Studies crystallized internationally into an established academic discipline, and this begs the question: where do we stand now? Which new questions emerge now new media are taken for granted, and which riddles are still unsolved? Is contemporary digital culture indeed all about ‘you’, the participating user, or do we still not really understand the digital machinery and how this constitutes us as ‘you’? The contributors of the present book, all teaching and researching new media and digital culture, assembled their ‘digital material’ into an anthology, covering issues ranging from desktop metaphors to Web 2.0 ecosystems, from touch screens to blogging and e-learning, from role-playing games and Cybergoth music to wireless dreams. Together the contributions provide a showcase of current research in the field, from what may be called a ‘digitalmaterialist’ perspective. About the editors: The editors are all teaching and researching in the program New Media and Digital Culture <http://www.newmediastudies.nl>at the Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

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Affective fabrics of digital cultures: feelings, technologies, politics
by Adi Kuntsman 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

dear colleagues, apologies from cross-posting. please distribute widely Affective fabrics of digital cultures: feelings,technologies, politics 3-4 June 2010, The University of Manchester http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/ricc/events/digital_affect/index… Plenary speakers: Una Chung (Sarah Lawrence College) Patricia Clough (Queens College, CUNY) Anne-Marie Fortier (Lancaster University) Melissa Gregg (The University of Sydney) Athina Karatzogianni (The University of Hull) Luciana Parisi (Goldsmith, University of London) Organiser: Adi Kuntsman (RICC, The University of Manchester) This two-day international conference brings into creative tension two fields that are receiving growing scholarly attention: cultural studies of affect, public feelings and the politics of emotion, on the one hand, and scholarship on digital culture, new media and information-communication technologies, on the other. The conference aims to create a space for intellectual dialogue between the two fields by examining the relations between technologies, and in particular, new digital technologies – the Internet, digital cinema and photography, mobile communication, CCTVs, computer games – and affective politics. Bringing together contributions from the fields of sociology, media and cultural studies, arts, politics and science and technology studies, the conference will engage with the following questions: How does affect work in on-line networks and digital assemblages? What are the affective regimes of on-line sociality? What kind of perceptions, sensations, affective movements and public feelings emerge in our highly mediated and digitalised environments? What is the cybertouch of war, violence, terror? What are the structures of feeling that operate in the digitalised everyday and computerised ordinary? How can we theorise psycho-political formations of nation, race, empire, population and generation in the age of digital reproduction, mediated visions and globalised communication technologies? How do digital cultures shape our political horizons of fear, anxiety, mourning, hate, hope? We invite submission of abstracts for individual papers or round tables. Alternative presentation formats are welcome; please contact us to discuss further options. Please send your abstract (300 words for individual papers, 500 words for round tables) by 1st of February 2010 to Adi.kuntsman(a)manchester.ac.uk. Candidates will be notified by 15th of March 2010. Selected papers will be considered for post-conference publication. -- Dr. Adi Kuntsman Leverhulme Early Career Fellow Research Institute for Cosmopolitan Cultures The University of Manchester Second Floor, Arthur Lewis Building, room 2.007 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/ricc/index.html http://adi.kuntsman.googlepages.com/

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on a slightly different topic?
by Charles Ess 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Sorry if this is unnecessary clutter - but does anyone have experience / recommendations for a Mac-based utility that I can use to keep track of the amount of time spent on different tasks? Free is good, but a really good package would be worth at least some money. Suggestions and recommendations appreciated! Many thanks in advance, - charles ess Institut for Informations- og Medievidenskab Helsingforsgade 14 8200 Århus N. Denmark mail: <imvce(a)hum.au.dk> tel: (+45) 8942 9250 Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies Drury University, Springfield, Missouri 65802 USA ³There¹s a lot of human nature involved in economics, so if you are an idealist, you should take up astronomy.² Garrison Keillor

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CFP for the Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization
by Pam Brewer 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Dear Colleagues-- I would like to cordially invite you to submit proposals for a new journal that will focus on the theory, practice, and teaching of professional communication in critical global contexts. The CFP is copied below. Best, Pam -- Pamela Estes Brewer Assistant Professor Department of English Appalachian State University phone 828-262-2351 fax 828-262-2133 email brewerpe(a)appstate.edu *Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization* Barry Thatcher (Founder/Editor-in-Chief), New Mexico State University Kirk St. Amant (Assistant Editor-in-Chief), East Carolina University This Journal publishes research articles on the theory, practice, and teaching of professional communication in critical global contexts such as business, manufacturing, law, health, education, technology, environment, and others. The Journal welcomes articles with diverse rhetorical styles, types of inquiry, and contexts of research, but articles are to be submitted in English and grounded in relevant theory and appropriate empirical research methods. The Journal is peer reviewed with an editorial board consisting of experienced researchers and practitioners from over 20 countries. The Journal’s main objectives are to: * Develop better theoretical models of global professional communication; * Develop a variety of valid and ethical research methodologies for global professional communications; * Improve the practice of global business and manufacturing through more effective communication; * Improve the professional communication in critical cross-cultural and international contexts such as the environment, immigration, health, energy, economics, and human rights; * Develop inquiries and research agendas that address the most pressing issues and challenges for communicating in the context of globalization; and * Develop better curricula and materials for teaching global professional communication, not only in the United States and Europe, but around the world. Special attention will be given to developing nations. The journal will be free or “open access,” using PKP open source software and housed at Eastern Carolina University. The first edition is planned for June 2010, and it will be published thereafter on a quarterly basis. We will start accepting manuscripts in late fall 2009. Watch for it online as www.rpcg.org <http://www.rpcg.org>. For more information on the journal, contact Barry Thatcher (bathatch(a)nmsu.edu <mailto:bathatch@nmsu.edu>) or Kirk St. Amant (kirk.stamant(a)gmail.com <mailto:kirk.stamant@gmail.com>).

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