June 2011 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

The Mood of Information
by Andy 08 Jun '11

08 Jun '11

Hi, is it possible for the below to go out on the mailing list? Many thanks and best, Andy Hello AOIR-folk! My new book has arrived in shiny hardback and is now available for purchase. It is somewhat enigmatically titled "The Mood of Information: A Critique of Online Behavioural Advertising". The blurb on the back says: "The Mood of Information explores advertising from the perspective of information flows rather than the more familiar approach of symbolic representation. At the heart of this book is an aspiration to better understand contemporary and nascent forms of commercial solicitation predicated on the commodification of experience and subjectivity. In assessing novel forms of advertising that involve tracking users’ web browsing activity over a period of time, this book seeks to grasp and explicate key trends within the media and advertising industries along with the technocultural, legal, regulatory and political environment online behavioural advertising operates within. Situated within contemporary scholarly debate and interest in recursive media that involves intensification of discourses of feedback, personalization, recommendation, co-production, constructivism and the preempting of intent, this book represents a departure from textual criticism of advertising to one based on exposition of networked means of inferring preferences, desires and orientations that reflect ways of being, or moods of information." Mark Poster reviewed it, commenting: "The confusing yet omnipresent world of digital media require analysis of specific sites and types of content. One could do no better than turn to Andrew McStay's The Mood of Information to learn about some fascinating yet troubling developments in the region of "behavioural advertising," the tracking of marketing activities by consumers. I endorse this volume for those interested in the reconfiguration of privacy that its topic explores." If your interest is piqued, the link to the publisher's page is: http://tinyurl.com/3bhjn8t The introductory chapter is available from http://tinyurl.com/6jm9om8 Do also drop me a line at mcstay(a)bangor.ac.uk if you're looking at similar sorts of stuff and would like to get together on a project. Best, Andy

1 0

Goldsmiths MA/MSc in Creating Social Media
by dan mcquillan 08 Jun '11

08 Jun '11

announcing the new Goldsmiths MA/MSc in Creating Social Media : http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-creating-social-media/ "What does social media look like after recent events in Japan, North Africa and the UK? What will you create? This unique theory/practice programme combines computing and cultural studies to provide you with the practical and critical skills to shape the future of social media. The MA/MSc is a collaborative theory/practice programme across the Department of Computing and the Centre for Cultural Studies, and is part of the newly launched Centre for Creative and Social Technologies. Based on global examples, you will explore the technological and intellectual questions that have risen to prominence with the social web. You will critique existing approaches and tools, and plan, develop, hack and implement ground-breaking applications and campaigns. You will not only analyse: you will create. New social media platforms, at their best, develop new online forms of connecting, relating, sharing and competing. Effective and innovative social media creation, therefore, involves deep theoretical and practical knowledge of both software development and social processes." feel free to pass on my details as first point of contact. many thanks dan Dr. Dan McQuillan Lecturer in Creative & Social Computing Goldsmiths, university of London http://www.gold.ac.uk/computing/staff/d-mcquillan/ MA/MSc developers blog: http://macreatingsocialmedia.wordpress.com/

1 0

New Zealand Discourse Conference - 5-7 December 2011
by Philippa Smith 08 Jun '11

08 Jun '11

Apologies for cross posting but I am aware that there are many discourse analysts who have an interest in Internet research too. This is a great opportunity to visit New Zealand for the exchange of intellectual ideas as well as a chance to see the country! Keynote speakers are Teun A.van Dijk, Pompeu Fabra University, and Monica Heller University of Toronto, Canada. Call for submissions ends June 30 2011. See: www.aut.ac.nz/nzdc3 Kind regards Philippa Smith Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication AUT University Auckland NEW ZEALAND 3rd New Zealand Discourse Conference “Engaging with Discourse Analysis” 5-7 December 2011 AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand Call for papers Following the successful New Zealand Discourse Conferences in 2007 and 2009, submissions for the 3rd New Zealand Discourse Conference are invited from academics and others interested in a discourse analysis approach to understanding the social world. Keynote speakers Teun A. van Dijk Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain Monica Heller University of Toronto, Canada Themes The conference organisers invite submissions that focus on discourse analysis to address theoretical, methodological or empirical research issues in a variety of themes including, but not limited to: Community and health Gender and diversity Education and learning Globalisation and development Finance and capital Ideology, power and knowledge Culture and identity Media Marketing and consumption Place, space and time Public policy and the state Practice and praxis Professions and institutions Language and communication Work, management and organisation Science and technology Conference options There are three options for conference inclusion: presentations, workshops and symposia. Please see the appropriate guidelines below and make your submission by 30th June 2011. Submission guidelines Submissions are accepted on the basis that at least one presenter must register and attend the conference. Co-presenters are encouraged, but they must also be registered for the day of their presentation. If there are multiple presenters for one paper, it is important that the presentation time is strictly adhered to. Presentations Please submit an abstract which should be no more than 300 words in length and a maximum of four keywords. Each presentation will be allocated a 30 minute time slot, 20 minutes for presentation followed by 10 minutes for discussion. Workshop Conference workshops provide an opportunity to explore discourse analysis in a practical workshop mode. The number of workshop slots is limited. A 500 word abstract plus a reference list should be submitted for consideration. Workshops will only proceed if they attract a minimum of 10 participants. The time for each workshop is 90 minutes. Symposium A symposium is an integrated, interactive engagement between two or more presenters and the audience. The focus of the discussion should be a clearly identified theme that reflects an emerging issue in discourse studies. Participants will make individual or collaborative presentations linking their perspectives to the theme, with ample opportunity for discussion. A nominated person will moderate the discussion. Symposia should be designed to run for 90 minutes including at least 45 minutes for discussion. Proposals for symposia are to be presented in a 500 word abstract for the symposium as a whole and will be evaluated against the following criteria: • the relationship of the topic to the conference focus on discourse analysis • the range of expertise and/or points of view represented by the presenter(s) Please submit abstracts by email before 30th June 2011 to nzdc(a)aut.ac.nz Send your submission as a separate Word document and include in the body of the email, the title of the paper and the details of a contact author, phone and email address.

1 0

Fwd: Ethical Inquiry through Video Game Play and Design: A Symposium
by Lois Scheidt 06 Jun '11

06 Jun '11

May be of interest. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Assoc for Practical & Prof Ethics <appe(a)indiana.edu> Date: Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 1:31 PM Subject: Ethical Inquiry through Video Game Play and Design: A Symposium To: APPE_NEWS(a)listserv.indiana.edu Ethical Inquiry through Video Game Play and Design: A Symposium Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics DePauw University October 10-12, 2011 A growing number of designers and critics have demonstrated that games can mediate ethical inquiry through the simulation of moral choice and consequence. This concept of games as models for moral problems has motivated a search for ethical criteria that might guide the design and analysis of video games. The symposium will consider the claims that video games might serve as a platform for ethical inquiry, that they offer a new means of investigating social relations between human beings, and that their interactive capabilities allow them to act as mirrors for self-examination. How do video games promote ethical positions? Can they enhance our ethical sensibility by simulating moral problems? Should simulated experience reinforce the ethical principles of real experience, or should it, as play, be allowed to transgress them? Invited Speakers Peter Molyneux has been creating video games for three decades, and invented the “god game” with Populous in 1989. As founder of Lionhead Studios, now a subsidiary of Microsoft Game Studios, he has developed a number of innovative and popular games that incorporate moral choice as a central aspect of play, including Black & White, Fable, and The Movies. Michael Abbott is Associate Professor of Theater at Wabash College, where he has led the effort to add the video game Portal to the core curriculum. He writes lively and informed commentary on video game culture on his blog, The Brainy Gamer (http://www.brainygamer.com/) Edward Castronova is Professor of Telecommunications at Indiana University, where he established the Synthetic Worlds Initiative, a production team focused on creating online games to foster the teaching of political economy, history, and literature. His books include Exodus to the Virtual World and Synthetic Worlds. He blogs at Terra Nova (http://terranova.blogs.com) John Gosney is Faculty Liaison for Learning Technologies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he also teaches literature and American studies courses using novel pedagogies integrating computer gaming. His publications include Beyond Reality: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming. Kathy Vrabeck has been a president at both Electronic Arts and Activision. She has also headed the digital division at Legendary Pictures, a partner in the production of films including The Dark Knight and Inception. She currently serves on the boards of Zeebo, Inc. and GeekChicDaily (http://www.geekchicdaily.com/) Call for Proposals We invite 250-word proposals for presentations addressing any ethical dimension of video games. We especially encourage perspectives on the potential for games to pose moral dilemmas and foster sharper ethical awareness. The proposal deadline is August 1, 2011. Seating and accommodations are limited. Registration is $75. Please direct inquires and proposals to Harry Brown at hbrown(a)depauw.edu. -- Lois Ann Scheidt Doctoral Candidate - School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, Bloomington IN USA Webpage: http://www.loisscheidt.com CV: http://www.loisscheidt.com/cv.html Blog: http://www.professional-lurker.com FOIA Counter-Narrative: Walker, Wisconsin, Madison, Maddow, Tea Party, Obama

1 0

Learn to Use DiscoverText to Gather and Classify Electronic Text - Free Webinar Noon Tuesday EST
by stu＠texifter.com 06 Jun '11

06 Jun '11

Learn to Use DiscoverText to Gather and Classify Electronic Text Free Webinar Tuesday at 12:00 PM EST To register: [1]https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/137847889 This Webinar introduces new and existing DiscoverText users to the basic document ingest, search & code features, takes your questions, and demonstrates our newest tool, a machine-learning classifier that is currently in beta testing. This is also a chance to preview our "New Navigation" and advanced filters. DiscoverText's latest additions to our "Do it Yourself" platform can be easily trained to perform customized mood, sentiment and topic classification. Any custom classification scheme or topic model can be created and implemented by the user. Automatic classifications can then be set as document filters with adjustable thresholds. For those following the trajectory of this software, this new set of functionalities represents a leap forward. You can also generate tag clouds and drill into the most frequently occurring terms or use advanced search and use combinations of text and metadata filters to create "buckets" of text. Next week we are launching v2 of our tag cloud tool which will give users considerable flexibility to build the visualization that best represent their discoveries and inferences. The system makes it possible to capture, share and crowd source text data analysis in novel ways. For example, you can collect text content off Facebook, Twitter & YouTube, as well as other social media or RSS feeds. Dataset owners can assign their "peers" to coding tasks. It is simple to measure the reliability of two or more coder's choices. Crowd sourcing with 50 coders is no problem. A distinctive feature of DiscoverText and its free, open source pre-cursor CAT, is the ability to adjudicate coder choices for training purposes or to report validity by code, coder or project. This technique allows researchers to report validity scores (% valid) alongside reliability measures (Fleiss' Kappa). So, please join us Tuesday June 7 at 12:00 PM EST (Noon) for an interactive Webinar. Find out why sorting thousands of items from social media, email and electronic document repositories is easier than ever. Participants in the Webinar will be invited to become beta testers of the new classification application. ~Stu -- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman [2]http://people.umass.edu/stu Editor, JITP [3]www.jitp.net Director, QDAP-UMass [4]http://www.umass.edu/qdap Founder and CEO, Texifter [5]http://www.texifter.com References 1. https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/137847889 2. http://people.umass.edu/stu 3. http://www.jitp.net/ 4. http://www.umass.edu/qdap 5. http://www.texifter.com/

1 0

Free Digital Edition - Per Mollerup's PowerNotes
by Ken Friedman 06 Jun '11

06 Jun '11

Dear Colleagues, The International Institute for Information Design and Swinburne University of Technology Faculty of Design have released a free digital edition of PowerNotes by Per Mollerup. In a world that suffers from cognitive overload, too much and too badly organized information, simplicity is more important than ever. PowerNotes presents simple, but powerful, principles for planning, design, and delivery of slide presentations. Download available at this URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/191214 Media release with description appears below. Ken Friedman Professor Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | University Distinguished Professor | Dean, Faculty of Design | Swinburne University of Technology | Melbourne, Australia | kenfriedman(a)groupwise.swin.edu.au | Ph: +61 3 9214 6078 | Faculty www.swinburne.edu.au/design -- Improve presentations with PowerNotes Professor Per Mollerup has produced a guide to help presenters create professional looking slide presentations. PowerNotes covers the planning, design and delivery of a slide presentation and offers practical tips for improving presentations. "We've all endured mediocre visual presentations in classrooms, lectures and conferences with presenters delivering slide presentations that bear all the hallmarks of poor design thinking." Mollerup said. "The fact behind this sad state of affairs is that many professional lecturers and other speakers have never come to terms with slide presentations based on software like PowerPoint and Keynote. According to Mollerup, most presenters give presentations that don't make the most of the educational potential of the speech-plus-visuals format. "They give presentations where the visual part is not coordinated with the spoken part, in fact where the visual part is directly counterproductive to the spoken part. As a result, they don't present themselves and their subject to their best." Mollerup said that once you understand the rules, you can bend them. "Professional opera singers sometimes turn their back to the audience, sometimes lie down, or even eat, while singing. In the same way, skilled presenters occasionally bend some of the otherwise sensible recommendations presented in PowerNotes. That is their professional prerogative, earned by talent and practice, lots of practice. Everybody should learn the rules before breaking them." -- Per Mollerup is Professor of Communication Design at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. He has written a number of books on design including: Marks of Excellence, the history and taxonomy of Trademarks; Collapsibles, A Design Album of Space-Saving Objects and Wayshowing, A Guide to Environmental Signage, Principles and Practices.

1 0

Reminder: Call for videos for the third issue of Audiovisual Thinking
by Inge Ejbye Sørensen 06 Jun '11

06 Jun '11

Reminder: Call for videos for the third issue of Audiovisual Thinking Please note that June 15th 2011 is the deadline of the call for videos for the third issue of the online journal Audiovisual Thinking (www.audiovisualthinking.org) the world's first journal of academic videos. We welcome videos on the theme of 'The real, the virtual and the digital' as well as Reflections, 'opinion’ or ‘reflective’ audiovisual pieces. What is Audiovisual Thinking? Audiovisual Thinking is a pioneering forum where academics, practitioners and educators can articulate, conceptualize and disseminate their research about audiovisuality and audiovisual culture through video. International in scope and multidisciplinary in approach, the purpose of Audiovisual Thinking is to develop and promote academic thinking in and about all aspects of audiovisuality and audiovisual culture. Advised by a board of leading academics and thinkers in the fields of audiovisuality, communication and the media and hosted by Copenhagen University, the journal seeks to set the standard for academic audiovisual essays now and in the future. Video submissions are welcome from all fields of study and, as one would expect, the main criteria for submissions are that the discussion and thinking are conveyed through audiovisual means. The third call for videos closes on June 15th 2011! For more information, watching academics videos and submitting your own, please visit the website www.audiovisualthinking.com or contact the editors: Inge (on behalf of the editorial board) inges(a)hum.ku.dk

1 0

UNESCO’s second World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries
by Monica Murero 05 Jun '11

05 Jun '11

How will digital reading affect human thinking and concentration? The UNESCO’s second World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries will discuss "The Book Tomorrow, the Future of the Written Word” (FOCUS 2011 from 6-8 June Monza, Italy). The event will offer great opportunities to network and discuss. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/debating_the_f… Monica Murero PS - Aoir Member? Vote by TODAY at aoirvote11(a)gmail.com http://aoir.org/2011/05/13/monica-murero-candidate-for-vice-president/ Vice-Presidency Candidate ------------ Monica Murero , Ph.D. AoIR Exec, 2003-2009; AoIR Treasurer, 2005-2009 AoIR Honorific Lifetime Member Director E-Life International Institute Associate Professor in Politics of e-Government and in Sociology of New Technology University Federico II, Italy Consultant, World Health Organization LinkedIN: http://it.linkedin.com/pub/monica-murero-ph-d/16/52/606 Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/monica_murero or @monica_murero E-MAIL murero.monica at gmail.com WEBSITE: www.elifeinternational.org and welcoming Barry Wellman's invitation...Recent Academic Work (Books and Presentations): Murero M., (dec 2010) Digital Literacy: Introduction to Social Media. Libreria universitaria.it. Milano, Italy. Murero M., (forthcoming, 2011). Social Media: Theory and Praxis. Carocci, Italy. Murero M. (2011). Web Empowerment For The Cultural Heritage Organizations: Towards A Pragmatic Framework, chapter in Katz J.E., LaBar W., and Lynch E., (2011) Creativity and technology: social media, mobiles & museums, MuseumsEtc. Book's preview: http://museumsetc.com/products/technology-and-creativity Murero M. (Sept. 2011) Alice gets sick in Facebookland. Paper to be presented at the international conference Medicine 2.0, University of Stanford, USA. Murero M. (Sept. 2011). Alice in Social Media Land: Privacy, Security and Geo-Surveillance in Tomorrow’s Internet-Saturated Society. Paper to be presented at The Symposium A Decade in Internet Time. Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University, UK. Inviato da iPad

1 0

Deadline extended CFP: Digital Diasporas and Transnational Social Movements: Capital, Labor, Mobility and Identity
by Radhika Gajjala 05 Jun '11

05 Jun '11

*CFP: Digital Diasporas and Transnational Social Movements: Capital, Labor, Mobility and Identity* Editor - Radhika Gajjala (see http://personal.bgsu.edu/~radhik ) "Digital diasporas" occur at the intersection of local/ global, national/ international, private/public, offline/online and embodied/disembodied. In digital diasporas, a multiplicity of representations, mass media broadcasts, textual and visual performances and interpersonal interactions occur. The term *"digital diaspora"* is most often used to talk about how diasporic populations the world over use the Internet to connect to each other. Scholars such as Anna Everett (2009) and Jeniffer Brinkerhoff (2009) have each used the phrase in relation to very specific situated histories of forced migrations (African American histories of slavery) and transnational travel respectively. The link to labor flows and hierarchies of colonialisms and digital globalization is clear in both. In most general usage of the phrase "digital diaspora," however, it is used to describe migrant populations without attention to the specific conditions of subjectivity that produces diasporas. Further, it is interesting that international NGOs (specifically the United Nations) and Transnational corporations as well as National businesses have mobilized the notion of digital diaspora in "reverse brain-drain" efforts where very materially successful transnationals and migrants with moneys to invest actually get to return home. In the past I have edited a couple publications that center around South Asian Digital Diasporas (a Special Section of New Media and Society in 2006) and South Asian Technospace (a co-edited collection of essays). My intent with this next volume on digital diasporas is to include material that helps elaborate on the more current platforms where links between transnational capital and labor flows can be mapped in the context of the increasing NGOization and ITization of the globe. Thus questions include (but are not limited to) - why "digital diaspora" and why now? What forms a "digital diaspora" within gaming environments and social networks? How are non-profits and transnational corporations (similarly or differently) mobilizing this idea of digital diaspora in relation to labor and capital flows? How does a "digital diaspora" form - how does it "look" - how does it function and so on. >From prospective contributors, I will need an extended abstract of 800 to 1000 words that fleshes out the theoretical and methodological approaches in relation to a specific site that will be examined. Due Dates: 1] Extended abstract due on July 26th, 2011 2] You will hear back about your abstracts by August 15th 2011 - with suggestions on how you can proceed if the abstract is considered acceptable for the collection 3] Full essays are due by October 1, 2011. If you have questions regarding the publisher and what exactly I'm looking for and so on - feel free to email me - <Radhika(a)cyberdiva.org> radhika(a)cyberdiva.org <Radhika(a)cyberdiva.org> with the subject header "digital diasporas." -- Radhika Gajjala Director, American Culture Studies Professor of Communication Studies and Cultural Studies 101 East Hall Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, OH 43403 http://personal.bgsu.edu/~radhik

1 0

Software to assist making back-of-the-book subject indexes
by Leurs, K.H.A. (Koen) 05 Jun '11

05 Jun '11

Dear all, This summer I will be assisting the editors of an anthology. I have spoken to various people who have worked on generating back-of-the-book subject indexes, mostly manually, while some have opted for software, either using Word indexing options to stand-alone applications. A detailed overview of software options is available from the American Society of Indexers, http://www.asindexing.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3319. However, I would like to tap into the lists collective intelligence to decide what's best. What are your best experiences? Manual or automated? We are considering asking contributors to the anthology to mark a number of (total) 15-20 critics, concepts and places in the book that they would like to have included in the index in the proofs. Best regards, Koen. Koen Leurs | Aio / PhD student Gender Studies | Research Institute for History and Culture | | Utrecht University, the Netherlands | Muntstraat 2a | 3512 EV Utrecht | Room 1.12 | www.koenleurs.net | www.uu.nl/wiredup |

1 0