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20Nov/08

Annotated Links of Interest: November 20th 2008

Links of interest for November 20th 2008:

New Study Shows Time Spent Online Important for Teen Development [MacArthur Foundation] - "Results from [a] ... US study on teens and their use of digital media show that America’s youth are developing important social and technical skills online – often in ways adults do not understand or value. “It might surprise parents to learn that it is not a waste of time for their teens to hang out online,” said Mizuko Ito, University of California, Irvine researcher ... . “There are myths about kids spending time online – that it is dangerous or making them lazy. But we found that spending time online is essential for young people to pick up the social and technical skills they need to be competent citizens in the digital age.” [...] Significant findings include – There is a generation gap in how youth and adults view the value of online activity; Youth are navigating complex social and technical worlds by participating online; Young people are motivated to learn from their peers online." [Full Report]
Musicians Get Meta in Guitar Hero and Rock Band [Waxy.org] - "There's something satisfyingly self-referential about watching talented musicians try to play their own music in Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Especially when they're worse than you." (So, the connection between Rock Band, Guitar Hero and actual instruments seems ... tenuous at best! )
Google iPhone app baffled by foreign accents [The Age] - "A new voice-recognition search tool for the iPhone has problems understanding British accents, leading to some bizarre answers to spoken queries, reports say.The free application, which allows iPhone owners to use the Google search engine with their voice, mistook the word iPhone variously for sex, Einstein and kitchen sink, said London's Daily Telegraph.... But British iPhone owners had less luck when speaking the word iPhone into the application - a Scottish user was offered a porn website after it mistook his search for sex, the Telegraph reported." (What's all this about the AmericaniZation of English? )

Tagged as: apple, creativity, culture, digitalculture, embodiment, english, games, guitarhero, iphone, language, learning, rockband, UK, usa, youth No Comments

3Jul/08

Links for July 3rd 2008

Interesting links for July 3rd 2008:

Virtual Worlds Research: Past, Present and Future (Vol 1, No 1) [Journal of Virtual Worlds Research] - The inaugural issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research is out, showcasing some excellent research and situating virtual worlds in an ongoing and dynamic research context. It's also an exemplar of open publishing: all content is online and under Creative Commons licenses.
Uni cheats outsource to India [The Age] - "Computer Science students are farming out their coursework to cheap programmers in countries like India and university staff admit they are powerless to detect and prevent it....Various well-established sites already sell students essays and other written work."
Is YouTube Killing Video Originality? [NewTeeVee] - "...more people are creating ...video than ever before... The issue becomes when people start creating for the playcounts. What?s the fastest way to rack up a million plays on YouTube, land an agent and get on Oprah? It?s not by making something new!"
VioletBlue VioletBlue - An archive of all of the posts that Boing Boing deleted in relation to sex blogger Violet Blue. Looking through this archive, it's hard to see how these deletions haven't damaged Boing Boing's historical presence.
Firefox download record official [BBC NEWS | Technology] - Mozilla has officially made history with a new Guinness world record for the largest number of software downloads in a 24-hour period. The final record breaking 8,002,530 downloads for Firefox 3.0 took place in June with parties in over 25 countries.