January 2021 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

WEBCAST TODAY: Empowering Rural Communities – Opportunities and Challenges
by Joly MacFie 23 Jan '21

23 Jan '21

The second Rural Dev SIG webinar of 2021 - Real Time Text will be running at https://bit.ly/2Y9c0Uy ISOC Live posted: "On Saturday 23 January 2021 at 6pm-7pm IST (12:30-13:30 UTC) the Internet Society Rural Development Special Interest Group (ISOC RD SIG) presents a webinar ‘Empowering Rural Communities - Opportunities and Challenges‘ featuring Mr. Ganesh K, Assistant pro" <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/ruralsig2021-2>On *Saturday 23 January 2021* at *6pm-7pm* IST (12:30-13:30 UTC) the *Internet Society Rural Development Special Interest Group <https://ruralisocsig.org/>* (ISOC RD SIG) presents a webinar ‘*Empowering Rural Communities - Opportunities and Challenges <https://ruralisocsig.org/ruralsig2021-2>*‘ featuring Mr. *Ganesh K* <https://www.facebook.com/ganesh.davangere>, Assistant professor in Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Davangere. *MODERATOR / HOST* *Adarsh B U*, Founder and President, ISOC RD SIG *LIVESTREAM https://livestream.com/internetsociety/ruralsig2021-2 <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/ruralsig2021-2>* *TWITTER: @IsocSig @2ganesh #ruraldevelopment* *SIMULCASTS* *https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/ <https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/>* *https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive>* *https://www.facebook.com/groups/ruralisocsig/ <https://www.facebook.com/groups/ruralisocsig/>* *ARCHIVE* *https://archive.org/details/ruralsig2021-1 <https://archive.org/details/ruralsig2021-1>* *Permalink* https://isoc.live/13567/ - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

1 0

Truth and Trust Online 2021: Open Call for Nominations
by Ahmed Medien 23 Jan '21

23 Jan '21

Dear all, Truth and Trust Online (TTO) has launched an open call for new members nominations to join its Board of Trustees. TTO started in 2019 as an independent initiative and organization and, in 2021, joined Hacks Hackers, a US-incorporated non-profit, as an independent chapter. Our mission is to bring together all parties working toward improving the truthfulness and trustworthiness of online communications. TTO is an annual forum for academia, industry, non-profit organizations, and other stakeholders to discuss the problems facing (social) media platforms and technical solutions to understand and address them. You can view past conferences here (2019 <https://truthandtrustonline.com/2019-home/>) and here (2020 <https://truthandtrustonline.com/2020-home-2/>). The nomination process is open to members who will contribute to our mission with their expertise and help us build a sustainable future for the organization. You can read more about the election and nomination process here in our announcement <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jHQw5XOQ13c4TSuXUDSekPGKXDL2IEcOVf-TDGd…>. You can directly nominate a Trustee here <https://forms.gle/bnAZ1XHz8t4CUm4H7>. You can nominate yourself as well as more than one person. If you do have any questions, do not hesitate to reply back to this email. Best regards, TTO Admin - Ahmed Medien ahmed(a)hackshackers.com truthandtrustonline.com youtube.com/truthandtrustonline <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVfxladyS0NozgeFb-yYPLQ>

1 0

WEBCAST TODAY – The Storming of the Capitol and the Future of Speech Online
by Joly MacFie 22 Jan '21

22 Jan '21

You may recall we last visited Stanford CPC <https://isoc.live/12131/> just after Trump announced Section 230 reform back in June 2020. There's been a fair amount of water, including the recent tsunami, under the bridge since then. ISOC Live posted: "On Friday January 22 2021 at 1pm-2pm PST (21:00-22:00 UTC) the Stanford Cyber Policy Center hosts a seminar 'The Storming of the Capitol and the Future of Speech Online'. A panel will discuss the role of social media during the Trump presidency, including" [image: livestream] <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/cpcstorm>On *Friday January 22 2021* at *1pm-2pm PST* (21:00-22:00 UTC) the Stanford Cyber Policy Center <https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/> hosts a seminar '*The Storming of the Capitol and the Future of Speech Online <https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/events/storming-capital-and-future-speech-on…>*'. A panel will discuss the role of social media during the Trump presidency, including the role of platform policies in fomenting or responding to the recent violence, the benefits and risks posed by steps subsequently taken, and what this means for the future of speech online. *SPEAKERS* *Nate Persily*, Faculty Co-Director of the Cyber Policy Center *Daphne Keller*, Director, Cyber Policy Center Program on Platform Regulation *Alex Stamos*, Director, Cyber Policy Center Internet Observatory *Renee DiResta*, Research Manager, Cyber Policy Center Internet Observatory *MODERATOR*: *Kelly Born*, Executive Director, Cyber Policy Center *LIVESTREAM: http://livestream.com/internetsociety/cpcstorm <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/cpcstorm>* *PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM: http://ow.ly/Fsht50D8L5E <http://ow.ly/Fsht50D8L5E>* *TWITTER: @StanfordCyber <https://twitter.com/search?q=StanfordCyber&src=typed_query&f=live> @persily @alexstamos @daphnehk @noUpside @KellyKborn #section230* *SIMULCASTS* *https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/ <https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/>* *https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive>* *ARCHIVE* *https://archive.org/details/cpcstorm <https://archive.org/details/cpcstorm>* *Permalink* https://isoc.live/13576/ - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

1 0

Call for applications: Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021-2022
by Yang, Guobin 22 Jan '21

22 Jan '21

Dear list members, Please help us spread the word about these fellowships. Thank you! -Guobin Yang *** Call for Applications: CDCS Postdoctoral Fellowships, 2021-2022 The Center on Digital Culture and Society<https://cdcs.asc.upenn.edu/> at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication invites applications to fill two post-doctoral fellowship positions for the 2021-2022 academic year. Applications are welcomed from scholars who have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last three years. The term of appointment is September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022. Founded in July 2019, the Center on Digital Culture and Society (CDCS) supports critical, interdisciplinary scholarship on digital culture, technology, and society. CDCS aims to develop critical approaches to digital cultural studies and create spaces for dialogue and collaboration among academics, citizens, and activists. CDCS postdoctoral fellowships support research on all aspects of digital culture and society which fall within CDCS’s broad mission. For these two positions, we seek scholars whose work contributes to the study of one or more of the following areas: 1) technology and social movements; 2) technology and critical race studies; 3) technology, ethics, and cultural transformation; and 4) digital media and social impact. Applicants from all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences are encouraged to apply. Fellows at the CDCS pursue their own research and participate in the activities of the Center. The fellowship comes with a stipend of $60,000, a $3,000 research fund, and health insurance. Depending on needs, fellows may be asked to teach an online elective course in areas of their expertise. The University of Pennsylvania is an EO/AA employer and we welcome applications from women and minorities. To receive full consideration, applications should be received by February 20, 2021. To apply, please send a cover letter, a C.V., a research statement, and a writing sample as one pdf document to: cdcs(a)asc.upenn.edu<mailto:cdcs@asc.upenn.edu>. Finalists will be notified and asked to arrange two letters of recommendation to be sent to the same email.

1 0

MAB20 will be ONLINE and Call for Papers EXTENDED
by Media Architecture Biennale 22 Jan '21

22 Jan '21

Check out extended deadlines and upcoming events! ANNOUNCEMENT Dear MAB-Community, The MAB20 will now take place from June 28th - July 2nd, 2021 in an ONLINE format. All of the major events such as workshops, keynotes, awards and paper sessions will be accessible online from locations throughout the world. With this change we hope to make the MAB even more accessible worldwide, while also providing an exciting and safe experience to the MAB-Community. We still hope to be able to organise some smaller scale, on-site meet-ups in Amsterdam and Utrecht, depending on the local Covid-19 regulations at that time. Therefore, we will be updating you regularly with more details on MAB's virtual format via our website, social media accounts and this monthly newsletter. So, stay tuned! In the meantime, we are glad to announce the deadline extension of two of our calls: Papers and MAB Awards and the continuation of the series of MAB Livecasts at the Pakhuis de Zwijger! Find more details about this below. We are excited to continue to organise an inspiring and relevant conference for the MAB-community and we hope to welcome you virtually in the Summer/Winter of 2021! ** CALLS ------------------------------------------------------------ MAB20 (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) invites papers from academics, students, and industry practitioners that align to the theme 'Futures Implied' (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) . The paper contributions should address current practices, discuss theoretical approaches, or present novel research that explore and further develop our understanding of media architecture through relevant case studies, design processes, and community and industry examples. Deadline: Extended to March 1st More info >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) MAB20 (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) invites architects, urban designers, artists, and other industry practitioners to submit outstanding projects at the intersection of architecture, urban design and planning, media and interaction design, and art. This call is for projects that are already built or realized except if your project fits the category 'Future Trends and Prototypes'. Deadline: Extended to March 29 More info >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) MAB20 (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) invites students to send in their projects for the MAB Student Awards. An internationally acclaimed jury will select nominees and winners in five categories. During MAB20, a selection of projects will also be presented in an on-site exhibition and awards will be given out during a special event. We look forward to showcasing your innovative ideas! >> Deadline: April 1st, 2021 More info >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) ** EVENTS ------------------------------------------------------------ Yellow Dust 2018, South Korea, Seoul (Photo: Nerea Calvillo and Daniel Ruiz) MAB20 Livecast #3 | Designing Restorative Environments: Moving Beyond COVID-19 Wednesday, FEB 3rd | 18:30 – 19:30 CET at Pakhuis de Zwijger (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) With the arrival of vaccines’ distribution, a crucial momentum is here to rethink how we make our cities once COVID-19 is under control. Assuming, the pre-Covid trend of radical densification continuous, how could Spatial Projects and the perspective of Media-Architecture offer new ways to deal with an increased set of social challenges (inclusivity, diversity, unemployment) and ecological resilience? This MAB20 Livecast will together a group of thinkers and do-ers who can help carve out new perspectives and radical solutions for the monumental endeavours that await our Cities. Join speakers Maria Aiolova (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , Ben Hooker (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , Usman Haque (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) and moderators, Frank Suurenbroek (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) and Indira van ’t Klooster (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) in a rich conversation about restorative environments, media architecture and possible futures. More info >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) ** MAB-COMMUNITY ------------------------------------------------------------ Lithopy - the Cartesian Church of 3D Printing. Director: Petr Šourek. Design: Eva Holá. Photo: Jan Hrdý ONLINE EVENT | Rights to the Blockchain City #1 Wednesday, FEB 10th | 18:30 CET at Pakhuis de Zwijger (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) This is the first episode of a series of three livecasts around digital ledger design, organised by MAB20 organiser Hogeschool van Amsterdam - Play & Civic Media (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , together with: Institute of Network Cultures (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , Het Nieuwe Institute (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) and The University of Edinburgh (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) . As more and more blockchain projects engage in urban systems such as (local) governments, commons communities, and social entrepreneurship, it is becoming clear that they have much greater consequences and influence social systems in fundamental ways. Join a multidisciplinary group speakers in an instigating conversation about the impact of urban blockchain governance systems and explore what might life be like among all these blockchains. More info >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) WORKSHOP | Research Through Design Approaches In Human-Robot Interaction Submission deadline: Monday, FEB 15th, 2021 This workshop sets out to bring researchers across the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Design fields that use, or are interested in using Research through Design (RtD) in their work. In particular, we aim to provide the venue to discuss the potential perspectives and contributions that can be brought to the HRI field by applying Research through Design approaches. To this end, we strongly encourage submissions from researchers, designers, and artists that work at the intersection of Human-Robot Interaction studies and Design Research. This workshop is organised by MAB Workshop Chairs Marius Hoggenmueller (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) and Luke Hespanhol (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) together with researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, The University of Sydney and Cornell University. Sign up >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) Project: Ahsen Cavlak PAPER | Exploring Media Architecture Design in Virtual Design Environments MAB Student Volunteer chair Waldemar Jenek (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , has published a paper about the first case study for his PhD at QUT (Queensland University of Technology) (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) in collaboration with CSIRO's Data61 (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) and Hochschule Bochum - Bochum University of Applied Sciences (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) . The new peer-reviewed research paper, published in the JDS Journal of Design Studio (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , was co-authored with Jenek's supervisors: Glenda Caldwell (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , Jared Donovan (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , Veronica Garcia-Hansen (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) , Matt Adcock (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) and Mingze Xi (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) . In this research, Jenek worked with a group of talented students exploring dynamic media architecture structures modelling in Archicad and animating in Twinmotion. Read here >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) ** MAB LIVECAST SERIES ------------------------------------------------------------ MAB Livecast #1 Media Architecture Today for Tomorrow's Cities (RE)WATCH HERE >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) Image: Impulse, Lateral Office and CS Design (photo: Ulysse Lemerise / OSA) MAB20 Livecast #2 Futures Implied: How Media Architecture shapes our cities (RE)WATCH HERE >> (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) Image: Sonic Runway, Rob Jensen & Warren Trezevant (photo: Scott Ashkenaz) ** JOIN THE MAB-COMMUNITY ------------------------------------------------------------ Follow us on our social media channels below for regular updates. For questions regarding MAB20 please contact info(a)mab20.org (mailto:info@mab20.org) https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53… https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53… https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53… https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53… mailto:info@mab20.org ============================================================ ** view this email in your browser (https://mailchi.mp/cfe8ebc7d0e5/mab20-call-for-student-awards-online-meetup…) Copyright © 2021 Media Architecture Biennale, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Media Architecture Biennale Weesperzijde 190 Amsterdam, Nh 1097 DZ Netherlands Want to change how you receive these emails? You can ** update your preferences (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/profile?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b5324&i…) or ** unsubscribe from this list (https://facebook.us20.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=98b784859935f80b0b03b53…) . Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp http://www.mailchimp.com/email-referral/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&utm…

1 0

CfP: DataTV 2021 Workshop
by Aisha Villegas 22 Jan '21

22 Jan '21

Call for Papers: DataTV 2021 Workshop *Submission Deadline - 19 March, 2021 Dear all, The DataTV workshop is back this year at the ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for TV and Online Video (ACM IMX) <https://imx.acm.org/2021/> The aim of the DataTV-2021 is to address the increasing importance and relevance of richly granular and semantically expressive data about TV and immersive audiovisual content in the media value chain. Such data needs software, specifications, standards and best practices for extraction, modelling and management before it can be meaningfully reused in new, innovative services for TV or other immersive audiovisual settings (360° video in AR orMR) such as: -Content Understanding and Summarization (e.g. to provide highlights of a program according to a specific user, theme or channel) - Recommendation and Scheduling across Publication Channels (Broadcast, Streaming,Social Networks) - In Stream Personalisation of Content (both spatial and temporal modification of text,audio, video) - Personalised and adaptive presentation for various media experiences, including user-user or network-user delivery using interworking media presentation formats 2 types of submissions: - Full papers will have an oral presentation at the workshop - Short papers to be presented as a poster or a demo at the workshop We kindly ask you to share this call with your professional networks or potentially interested parties. Find the full call at http://datatv2021.iti.gr/ * Conference Organizing Committee * Jeremy Foss <http://datatv2021.iti.gr/>, Birmingham City University, UK Lyndon Nixon <https://www.modul.ac.at/user/Nixon/>, MODUL Technology GmbH, Austria Vasileios Mezaris <http://www.iti.gr/~bmezaris/>, CERTH-ITI, Greece Please contact the workshop organizers if you have any questions about the conference at DataTV2021-chairs(a)iti.gr. We look forward to receiving your abstracts! ------ Join the growing DataTV Community----- The DataTV Community aims to bring together experts in the field of (meta)data and television from academia and industry, and build a platform where professionals can share the latest state of the art and innovations in this field. Join the conversation in LinkedIn at http://bit.ly/326vSd9 <https://t.co/tjnq7GnwTV?amp=1> Thank you, -- *Aisha Villegas* Outreach & Communications Coordinator *Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision* *Media Parkboulevard 1, 1217 WE Hilversum * *Postbus 1060, 1200 BB Hilversum | **beeldengeluid.nl <http://www.beeldengeluid.nl/>*

1 0

Live stream MONDAY: Timnit Gebru: Computer Vision -- Who Is Helped And Who Is Harmed? (4pm ET on Zoom)
by Christian Sandvig 22 Jan '21

22 Jan '21

It seems like this might be of interest to this list? Christian ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Christian Sandvig <csandvig(a)umich.edu> Date: Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 10:16 PM Subject: MONDAY: Timnit Gebru: Computer Vision -- Who Is Helped And Who Is Harmed? (4pm ET on Zoom) To: Dear Ethics and AI Enthusiasts, Welcome to the new year! I'm writing with the exciting news that ESC will launch the semester with a talk by Dr. Timnit Gebru. Even if you have already seen announcements of this event, I want to reiterate its significance. In the domain of computing and ethics, Dr. Gebru is one of the most sought after speakers available. Dr. Gebru is a leading and widely-respected researcher in the domain of AI ethics. In addition, Dr. Gebru was recently dismissed from Google after what the MIT Technology Review described as "a protracted disagreement over a research paper...[which] detailed the risks of large AI language models." This has received such widespread attention, last month it led members of Congress to call for a federal investigation. Monday's talk promises to tackle the proposed use of computer vision for such shocking applications as the alleged ability to use your image to identify your sexual orientation, your "propensity to violence," and others. I hope you will join us. All are welcome -- please feel free to forward this e-mail as appropriate. Christian -- Timnit Gebru: Computer Vision – Who is helped and who is harmed? January 25, 2021 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Times are shown in Eastern Time JOIN VIA ZOOM https://umich.zoom.us/j/92549579663 TIMNIT GEBRU Computer Scientist, former Co-Lead Ethical AI Research Team, Google Brain, Founder of Black in AI ABSTRACT Computer vision has ceased to be a purely academic endeavor. From law enforcement, to border control, to employment, healthcare diagnostics, and assigning trust scores, computer vision systems are being rapidly integrated into all aspects of society. In research, there are works that purport to determine a person’s sexuality from their social network profile images, others that claim to classify “violent individuals” from drone footage. These works were published in high impact journals, and some were presented at workshops in top tier computer vision conferences such as CVPR. A critical public discourse surrounding the use of computer-vision based technologies has also been mounting. For example, the use of facial recognition technologies by policing agencies has been heavily critiqued and, in response, companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM have pulled or paused their facial recognition software services. Gender Shades showed that commercial gender classification systems have high disparities in error rates by skin-type and gender, and other works discuss the harms caused by the mere existence of automatic gender recognition systems. Recent papers have also exposed shockingly racist and sexist labels in popular computer vision datasets–resulting in the removal of some. In this talk, I will highlight some of these issues and proposed solutions to mitigate bias, as well as how some of the proposed fixes could exacerbate the problem rather than mitigate it. SPEAKER BIO Timnit Gebru was a senior research scientist at Google co-leading the Ethical Artificial Intelligence research team. Her work focuses on mitigating the potential negative impacts of machine learning based systems. Timnit is also the co-founder of Black in AI, a non profit supporting Black researchers and practitioners in artificial intelligence. Prior to this, she did a postdoc at Microsoft Research, New York City in the FATE (Fairness Transparency Accountability and Ethics in AI) group, where she studied algorithmic bias and the ethical implications underlying any data mining project. She received her Ph.D. from the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, studying computer vision under Fei-Fei Li. Prior to joining Fei-Fei’s lab, she worked at Apple designing circuits and signal processing algorithms for various Apple products including the first iPad. This event is organized by the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS) and co-sponsored by ESC, the U-M AI Lab, and the IT Dissonance Event Series. Link to this event on the Web: https://esc.umich.edu/event/timnit-gebru-computer-vision-who-is-helped-and-… More information about ESC: The Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing: http://esc.umich.edu/ LOOKING AHEAD TO OUR NEXT ESC EVENT: Charlton McIlwain: Smash the Mainframe -- The Collision Between Civil Rights and Computing February 2, 2021 @ 7:00 pm https://esc.umich.edu/event/charlton-mcilwain-smash-the-mainframe/ -------- ESC is generously supported by the School of Information; the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research; and the Department of Communication & Media in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan.

1 0

Platform JMC CFP: Visuality, Truth & Politics
by Sophie Freeman 22 Jan '21

22 Jan '21

Call for Papers: Visuality, Truth & Politics https://platformjmc.com/2020/12/01/call-for-papers-visuality-truth-and-poli… *Volume editors: Sophie Freeman, Geoff Hondroudakis, Maria Kamal, and Brian McKitrick.* Platform Journal of Media & Communication is pleased to announce our latest CFP, inviting submissions from graduate researchers and ECRs. Do consider submitting an abstract and please feel free to spread the word to those who may be interested. Deadline for abstract submissions: 1st February 2021 From photographs to viral videos and memes, images pervade digital communication. In one sense, the global health crisis compresses a media landscape already dominated by branded content, extremism, tokenism, fakes and misinformation hosted on platforms underpinned by logics of surveillance capitalism. The long-discussed spectacle of the image appears, in this sense, to degrade the epistemic function of visuality, breaking the bonds between the visible and the true. Yet, within this milieu, a cell phone video documenting police brutality enabled social media audiences to witness the events that led to George Floyd’s death and galvanised global protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, demonstrating the power of visuals shared in the digital media sphere. Activism and political dissent take on new forms (or recycle old forms with new technologies) to hold power to account through visual forms of communication and witnessing. Such mass movements reveal that the suturing of the visible, the true, and the politically effective remains possible, though it requires enormous collective work. Beyond and beneath these most overt sites of struggle, visuality as a conflux of sensing and representing renews fundamental problems of knowing and being. Scholars such as Wendy Chun have pointed to the technoscientific collapse of the image with its process of becoming. Planetary computation prompts us to rethink how technics make visible the invisible, converting the Earth into a vast sensing apparatus from which data become visual object. Such frames contrast with notions of the photograph as part of social rituals and a means of participating in the “mortality, vulnerability and mutability” of others (Zelizer, 2010, p. 25). Visuality thus also activates ontological questions of the determinations and disjuncts between the frame of the human and that of technical system. This issue of Platform seeks papers which engage with the question: What is the relationship between the visual, the true, and the political today? What does visual signify today in the digital realm in regards to activism and discourse? How do visual technologies bolster reactionary powers through new forms of surveillance and policing? What does the visual signify in terms of representation as such, of the relationship between the sign, its apparatus, and its meaning? Platform invites papers on all aspects related to visual politics and digital media, including but not limited to: * Online and physical activism * Circulation dynamics of visual media * Witnessing and accountability * Collective memory, visibility and accessibility * Images as transient: attention and content overload * Manipulation, interference and disinformation * Online and offline moderation * Ideologies of visibility and concealment * Apparatuses and applications of data visualisation * Sensing and Visual Augmentation * Memes and formats of online cultural artifacts * Image appropriation and remix culture * Images, memorialisation and mourning rituals Please submit abstracts via the form available at our ‘Make a Submission’ page.<https://platformjmc.com/make-a-submission/> Abstracts should not exceed 350 words. Abstract submission deadline: 1 February 2021. Authors notified of decisions: 22 February 2021 Full papers due: 2 April 2021 Please send all further questions to the editorial team via platformjmc(a)gmail.com. Sophie Freeman | Ph.D. Candidate | Media and Communications Tutor | Graduate Editor Platform JMC School of Computing & Information Systems | School of Culture & Communication The University of Melbourne E: sophie.freeman(a)unimelb.edu.au I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land where I live and work, the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nations, and pay my respects to the Elders, past, present and emerging.

1 0

Announcing the Retro Mobile Gaming Database
by Adriana de Souza e Silva 21 Jan '21

21 Jan '21

Hi all, The Mobile Gaming Research Lab <https://mglab.chass.ncsu.edu/> at NC State University is proud to announce the release of the Retro Mobile Gaming Database <http://database.mglab.chass.ncsu.edu/> [http://database.mglab.chass.ncsu.edu/ <http://database.mglab.chass.ncsu.edu/>] (RMGD). The RMGD is an online, publicly searchable database of early mobile games, intended for use by game scholars, students interested in games, and game enthusiasts. The RMGD includes information about games developed between the years 1975-2008. We have selected this initial experimental timeframe to demarcate the release of the earliest handheld games up through the release of iPhone 3G and app store in 2008, when the number of mobile games grew significantly. The RMGD offers a centralized repository for researching games. Prior to this point, it was often very difficult to find information about specific mobile games or to understand how they related to one another, since several early mobile games lacked consistent documentation and were experimental, ephemeral, or small-scale in nature. The RMGD fills this gap by allowing users to search using a wide range of criteria, such as title, time frame, genre, type of connectivity, number of players, place of development, authors, hardware, as well as popular press and scholarly articles written about them. By combining and establishing search criteria, users will be able to trace new correlations among games that otherwise might not be evident. The database also provides a map that shows the geographic locations of where searched games were developed and a list of games with similar features. In addition, users will be able to participate by not only searching for games, but also by suggesting new games! So, if you know of a game that is not currently in the database, you can help to populate our database by suggesting a new game. To do that, simply register for a new account and complete the “suggest new entry” form. The game suggestions will be reviewed by the MGRL staff before becoming publicly available. WE WELCOME YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS! Users can also export their search results as a .csv file, so that the data can be used for any individual research purposes. Finally, the repository is mobile friendly, so you can access it either from your computer or mobile device. Mobile games are a growing and increasingly complex genre. Our database aims at creating a centralized repository for all types of mobile games, including (1) games played on mobile gaming consoles, such as Mattel Football and Nintendo Game & Watch Parachute, (2) games played on mobile phone screens, such as Tetris and Snake, and (2) games played with mobile phones, but that take place simultaneously in physical and digital spaces, such as location-based mobile games, hybrid reality games, pervasive games, augmented reality games, and urban games. The Retro Mobile Gaming Database was developed and designed by the NC State University Computer Science Department Senior Design Center team members:Alexander Chtcheprov, Shrawan Gautam, Neeloy Gomes, and Meet Patel, under the mentorship of Ms. Margaret Heil (Director), Dr. Lina Battestilli (Technical Advisor) and Mr. Michael DeHaan (Technical Consultant). The concept, content and structure of the MGDB was developed by the NCSU Mobile Gaming Research Lab research team, which is comprised of Ragan Glover-Rikjse ( CRDM, PhD candidate) and Akshay D'Souza(STS student), under the supervision of Dr. Adriana de Souza e Silva (Professor of Communication). _________________________ Adriana de Souza e Silva University Faculty Scholar Professor Department of Communication NC State University http://www.souzaesilva.com <http://www.souzaesilva.com/>

1 0

Event "Miniseries" on Fandom+Piracy
by Abigail De Kosnik 21 Jan '21

21 Jan '21

Hi all! I'm hosting a four-event "miniseries" on Fandom + Piracy this spring. It will be all free and on Zoom (just pre-register to attend). Save the dates: Thursdays 2/25, 3/4, 3/11, 3/18 @ 5 pm Pacific!!! https://www.fandomandpiracy.online/ Our list of phenomenal speakers include: Rebecca Wanzo, Kavita Philip, Brewster Kahle, andré carrington, Racquel Gates, Alfred Martin, Rukmini Pande, Alexander Dent, Keller Easterling, Jen Holt, Elleza Kelley!!!!! Fandom and piracy are two modes of countercultural computing, alternative media, distributed creativity, and copying culture. Their critics often characterize them as illegitimate, or even criminal. In this conference mini-series, consisting of two lectures and two panels taking place online on four consecutive Thursdays, we will hear from scholars whose work enables us to understand how fandom and piracy have played a part in the evolution of the internet, how they have attracted millions of participants and become akin to social movements, how they have given rise to digital platforms that both augment and defy the corporatization of media production and the web, and how race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality operate within fan and pirate communities.

1 0