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CFP Convergence special issue on mobile media in Brazil
by Adriana de Souza e Silva 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

Convergence: The international journal of research into new media technologies SPECIAL ISSUE CALL FOR PAPERS Cell phones and communities: The use of mobile media in Brazil Edited by: Adriana de Souza e Silva (North Carolina State University) Isabel Froes (IT University of Copenhagen) Important dates: Abstracts: February 15th, 2012 (500 words). Notification of accepted abstracts: March 15th, 2012. Full papers: June 15th, 2012 (8000/9000 words). Notification of accepted papers: September 15th, 2012. By the second decade of the 21st century, mobile phones have reached saturation levels in many countries in the world, surpassing the number of landlines and personal computers. Although initial scholarly interest on the social use of mobile phones focused on Europe, Asia, and the United States, the impact of mobile phone on the developing world (or Global South) is increasingly evident and perhaps much more profound. As Ling and Horst (2011) note, “the mobile phone has quietly provided people at the bottom of the income pyramid access to electronically mediated communication; often for the first time.” For many, the mobile device is the first phone, the first internet connection, the first TV set, and the first global positioning system. Among developing nations, Brazil is a key site for studying the social dimension of mobile technologies. The country is part of the so-called BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), an acronym that refers to fast-growing developing economies. Brazil is the fastest growing economy in Latin America, and has over 217 million mobile phones, which represents an average of 111 working devices per 100 inhabitants . The country has also experienced one of the fastest mobile phone growth rates in the world since 2005 (averaging 16.6% annually); is the largest mobile phone market in Latin America; and is the fifth-largest mobile market in the world in absolute numbers, with roughly 217 million subscriptions as of September 2011. However, numbers alone reveal little if not analyzed within a broader social, cultural, and economic framework. The focus on a homogeneous large-scale market leads to overly sanguine perspectives that often obscure how socioeconomic diversity causes and reflects mobile phone use. As in many developing countries, Brazil has astounding income gaps among different sectors of the population which influence and are influenced by technology development and use. For example, the use of high-end services such as mobile banking, and location-based services like Foursquare and Yelp is an intrinsic part of the daily mobile practices of the high-income population in the country. Conversely, the lower-income population in Rio de Janeiro is familiar with the diretão—a mobile phone that allows users to make clandestine calls to anywhere in the world with the use of an illegal sim card. However, Brazil has also been at the forefront of an experimental and innovative approach towards new technologies, forecasted in cultural events that focus on art, music and film festivals dedicated to new and creative uses of mobile technologies, such as the Mobilefest and Arte.mov. Despite this cultural and socio-economic diversity, and the relevance of its marketing, the social use and development of mobile phones in Brazil is largely under theorized and poorly studied. With the goal of contributing to bridge this gap, this special edition invites essays that critically investigate the inter-relations among mobile technologies, culture, and social development within the Brazilian society. Submitted manuscripts are encouraged (but not limited) to focus on four main areas: (1) History of mobile phones in Brazil. Essays are encouraged to explore the development of mobile phones in Brazil, comparing them to the landline infrastructure and internet growth within the Latin America socio-economic and political framework. Authors may explore the development and use of new mobile services, such as the mobile internet, text messaging, mobile apps, etc. (2) Social uses and appropriation of mobile phones. We welcome essays as empirical or theoretical studies dealing with the use and appropriation of technology by low-income communities. Of special interest are essays that explore how mobile and wireless technologies reconfigure the life of community dwellers and how people find new and unexpected uses for existing technologies. (3) Mobile art and games. We invite essays that investigate mobile phones as artistic and gaming interfaces, including essays that explore uses of hybrid reality, location-aware and pervasive activities in educational contexts, media arts, and gaming. (4) Location-based services. Submitted essays should investigate the uses and development of location-based services in Brazil, such as mobile annotation, location-based social networks, and mobile mapping. Proposed abstracts (500 words) are due by February 15th, 2012. The authors will be notified about accepted abstracts by March 15th. Those accepted will be requested to submit full papers by June 15th, 2012. Full papers will undergo a double blind-review process. Submissions may be in the form of empirical research studies or theory-building papers and should be 8000/9000 words in English. Papers must also include a brief biography of the author(s). Proposals and inquiries should be sent electronically to Isabel Froes (icgf(a)itu.dk) About the editors: Adriana de Souza e Silva is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication at North Carolina State University (NCSU), affiliated faculty at the Digital Games Research Center, and Interim Associate Director of the Communication, Rhetoric and Digital Media (CRDM) program at NCSU.Dr. de Souza e Silva's research focuses on how mobile and locative interfaces shape people's interactions with public spaces and create new forms of sociability. She teaches classes on mobile technologies, location-based games and internet studies. Dr. de Souza e Silva is the co-editor (with Daniel M. Sutko) of Digital Cityscapes—Merging digital and urban playspaces (Peter Lang, 2009), the co-author (with Eric Gordon) of the book Net-Locality: Why location matters in a networked world (Blackwell, 2011), and the co-author (with Jordan Frith) of Mobile interfaces in public spaces: Control, privacy, and urban sociability (Routledge, 2012). Isabel Fróes has received her Masters degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Programme at New York University (NYU) and a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro, PUC-RJ in Brazil. She is a lecturer at the IT University of Copenhagen (Denmark), where she works both as a practitioner and scholar in the fields of communication, mobility, art and design. With a focus towards valuable interactions between people and technology, her research analyzes the future implications and current uses of digital media. In her courses she taps into the value of interactive elements in every arena and explores how they could affect the ways new concepts and activities are developed in distinct fields. She has presented some of these thoughts at various events such as the AAM conference (2009), and the IXDA South America (2010). She has taught various courses at Danish institutions such as IT University of Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen and Kolding School of Design as well as Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Querétaro in Mexico. Proposals and inquiries should be sent electronically to Isabel Froes (icgf(a)itu.dk) ________________________ Adriana de Souza e Silva, Ph.D Associate Professor of Communication Interim Associate Director, Communication, Rhetoric, & Digital Media Ph.D program North Carolina State University http://www.souzaesilva.com

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naches
by Barry Wellman 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

I'm astonished but one academic doesn't know what "naches" is. Pleasurable enjoyment; feeling good by doing good. 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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Re: [Air-L] [CITASA] naches
by Barry Wellman 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

yiddish. the language of sociology 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 _______________________________________________________________________ On Sun, 16 Oct 2011, Robert E. Phelan wrote: > Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:28:50 -0400 > From: Robert E. Phelan <rphelan(a)choiceonemail.com> > To: 'Barry Wellman' <wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca>, > 'communication and information technology section asa' > <citasa(a)list.citasa.org>, 'aoir list' <air-l(a)aoir.org> > Subject: RE: [CITASA] naches > > OK, make that two.... I'm having trouble figuring out the etiology of the > word. Latin? Greek? Sumerian? I speak Chinese and am pretty sure it is not > of Sino-Tibetan origin. > > -----Original Message----- > From: citasa-bounces(a)list.citasa.org [mailto:citasa-bounces@list.citasa.org] > On Behalf Of Barry Wellman > Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 7:10 PM > To: communication and information technology section asa; aoir list > Subject: [CITASA] naches > > I'm astonished but one academic doesn't know what "naches" is. > > Pleasurable enjoyment; feeling good by doing good. > > > 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 > _______________________________________________________________________ > > > _______________________________________________ > CITASA mailing list > CITASA(a)list.citasa.org > http://list.citasa.org/mailman/listinfo/citasa_list.citasa.org > > >

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Digital Humanities at Sussex - Warren Sack
by Aristea Fotopoulou 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

Please circulate: DIGITAL HUMANITIES at SUSSEX Friday 21st October 2011 2:00 - 5:00, Attenborough Centre Creativity Zone, University of Sussex. Warren Sack (University of California, Santa Cruz) "Digital Methods and Software Studies after Narrative Intelligence" All Welcome! Aristea Fotopoulou School of Media, Film and Music University of Sussex http://www.sussex.ac.uk/mfm/people/mediaandfilm/person/206365

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How many Friends online = one offline?
by Barry Wellman 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

Academic riend asks "how many internet friends = one f2f friend". He's getting grief f2f and naches with his internet relationships. Reliable answers, anyone? Either ethnographic, quant. I told him that it is hard to disentangle becuase most online relationships are also in-person. But like many of us, he is involved in organizing conferences etc online with people he rarely sees. 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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Digital Divide
by Katy Pearce ucsb 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

Hi all. Hope that you've all gotten back home safely! I'm going to be teaching an MA-level course on Digital Divide/Inequality next term. Anyone taught this sort of course before and willing to send me a syllabus? I'd appreciate it. And of course I'd be happy to compile some things and send them back to you. Thanks, Katy Pearce

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impact of online versus f2f contacts on mood, affect...
by Barry Wellman 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

The person who sent me the request for research findings has further specified what he wants to know. Saddened that all respondent to date have either shown off their "cleverness" or asked for further specification. Not one even tried to answer the question. Concomittantly, I am reading _I'm Feeling Lucky_ by Douglas Edwards: an insider's ethnography of the early Google days. A repeated thought is that the developers kept moving forward with partial procedures. PS: Anyone else old enuf to have the phrase "Douglas Edwards and the News" resonate? 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 _______________________________________________________________________ Barry -- Thanks...I can make the request more formal, ie the impact on mood or affect (if any) measured today of the number of internet and text messages received in the last few days, compared with the impact on affect of the number of f2f encounters during the same time frame, controlling for appropriate factors such as age, gender, education and so on. It would be nice to remove people who contacted ego both ways...there must be a way to do this without making the questions unduly cumbersome... A repeated panel of course could help to clarify issues of causality, since presumably both mood and the number of recent contacts vary over time... Experience sampling as developed by the Chicago psychologist Csikszentmihalyi might specify the matter in terms of contacts within the last hour or two and its impact on current affect. It would be nice to know if somehow has already some this or something like this.

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Re: [Air-L] my media theoretical take on Occupy Wall Street
by qCentral 16 Oct '11

16 Oct '11

Hi all, Prompted by Paul Levinson's take on Occupy Wall Street: I would love to hear more about direct engagement with/at the campaigns on the ground from Paul and others? I heard some FANTASTIC presentations at the AoIR IR12 conference that definitely spoke indirectly to the nascent OWS actions (particularly a great session chaired by Cara Wallis) but I didn't get any chances to hear from researchers working directly with OWS activists or as activist-researchers involved in OWS now? Paul: your blog below is definitely thought-provoking but I'd really welcome hearing how/if your experiences with the movements there in NYC or elsewhere have directly shaped your theories here or are you drawing inspiration from a read of the discourses constructing OWS in popular and digital media? Maybe just an asterisk on your methodological approach here? Best and looking forward to seeing more of AoIR scholarship and action in the OWS mix. Mary _______________________ On sabbatical until January 9, 2012 Mary L. Gray, Ph.D. Associate Professor Communication and Culture Affiliate Faculty, Gender Studies Adjunct Faculty, American Studies Adjunct Faculty, Anthropology Indiana University 800 E. 3rd Street Bloomington, IN 47405 Email: mLg(a)indiana.edu URL: www.indiana.edu/~qcentral Phone: 812-855-4379 Fax: 812-855-6014 BLOG for "Out in the Country, Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America" (NYU Press 2009) @ http://queercountry.fromthesquare.org/ On Oct 16, 2011, at 6:00 PM, air-l-request(a)listserv.aoir.org wrote: > Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:54:34 -0400 > From: Paul Levinson <levinson.paul(a)gmail.com> > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > Subject: [Air-L] my media theoretical take on Occupy Wall Street > Message-ID: > <CALgHpnx5vNsk7_c5QExf1C845hojMKiEcGUyKrV3u+bm7FLc3Q(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Enjoy ... > http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-direct-democrac…... > "Occupy Wall Street, Direct Democracy, and Social Media: A Thumbnail > History of the Media and Politics since Ancient Athens" ... (by thumbnail, I > mean 7 mostly short paragraphs) > > -Paul >

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my media theoretical take on Occupy Wall Street
by Paul Levinson 16 Oct '11

16 Oct '11

Enjoy ... http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-direct-democrac…... "Occupy Wall Street, Direct Democracy, and Social Media: A Thumbnail History of the Media and Politics since Ancient Athens" ... (by thumbnail, I mean 7 mostly short paragraphs) -Paul

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TEI 2012 Art Explorations Submission Deadline Extended to November 30th
by thecla schiphorst 16 Oct '11

16 Oct '11

TEI 2012 Art Explorations Submission Deadline Extended Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI 2012) The submission deadline for Art Explorations has been extended to November 30th, 4:59 pm PST 2011. http://tei-conf.org/12/Main/ArtExhibits About Art Explorations The Art Explorations track at TEI 2012 invites interactive artworks that explore the intersections between rich materiality, sensory & performative interaction and digital and computational expression. The work should be tangibly evocative, thought provoking and content rich. Artworks can employ interactivity through digital installations, technology-enriched fashion and textiles, and interactive products and services. Art Explorations welcomes work from a wide range of practitioners in areas such as interaction design, art, or research, including submissions from students and independent practitioners. Submissions should meet the following criteria: · Relevant : The work must have a tangible aspect, in the form of an installation, object or art piece. · Technological : It must involve computational technology in some aspect of its form or function. · Aesthetic: It must have an aesthetic element in form of craftsmanship and communicate its message effectively through form, function and emotion. · Creative: It must be inventive, in its concept, technical architectural or physical form. Submissions will be selected according to the following criteria: · Concept: Conceptual quality of the work. Is the work new, appropriate, compelling? Does it provoke or intensify critical reflection? Does the work invent new technical or physical approaches to TEI? · Execution (craft): Is the work well realized? Is it built and executed to a high standard? Will it be suitable to exhibit at the TEI 2012 conference? · Aesthetics: Aesthetic quality of the work. Is the material aesthetically provocative and evocative? Does the work invoke, insight or delight the senses? Does it intensify, enchant, amuse or draw on subtle, visceral qualities of experience? · Provocative: Does the work challenge the status quo of art and design theory and practice. Submissions will be selected from a panel of expert jurors. Art Explorations can include but are not limited to: • Art installations involving tactile, sonic, kinetic, and visually rich exposition • Inventions in robotics, sensing, toys, games and entertainment • Materially or textile enriched performative or experiential interactivity • Architectural prototypes experiences and installations Submission Instructions Submissions must NOT be anonymous. The two elements to the submissions are: • a link to a video (hosted on youtube or vimeo) showing the look and feel of the work and highlighting its interactive elements. The video must be no more than 5 minutes in length. Alternately, you can upload your video on the PCS submission system. If submitting your work is not possible in this format, please contact the chairs for alternative video submission instructions. • a 2-page written description explaining the concept, references and rationale behind the project in ACM SIGCHI extended abstracts landscape format (i.e. the template below). This document must not exceed 10 MB in size. Extended Abstracts Word Template Submission: Click here to submit your work At the Conference At the conference, selected Art Explorations will be installed during the demo session. It will be possible to exhibit a poster next to the installation or object. The written description of accepted submissions will be made available on the ACM digital library. There will be no opportunity to modify submitted material after acceptance. TEI 2012 will also post the videos from accepted submissions on www.youtube.com and link directly to this content from the TEI 2012 site. Copyright will remain with authors. Important Details For more information, please send email to the Art Exploration Chair: Thecla Schiphorst – tei2012_artschairs(a)googlegroups.com The submission deadline for Art Explorations is November 30th, 4:59 pm PST 2011

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