Critical Perspectives on Web 2.0
Web 2.0 remains one of those wonderful catch-all phrases which is employed in so many different ways to support a host of different ideas. Rather than leave the term to gain even further layers of hype as it rolls down the digital hillside, a new special edition of First Monday collects some important and engaging perspectives which take a critical look at “Web 2.0” from a number of vantage points:
Preface: Critical Perspectives on Web 2.0
by Michael ZimmerMarket Ideology and the Myths of Web 2.0
by Trebor ScholzWeb 2.0: An argument against convergence
by Matthew AllenInteractivity is Evil! A critical investigation of Web 2.0
by Kylie JarrettLoser Generated Content: From Participation to Exploitation
by Søren Mørk PetersenThe Externalities of Search 2.0: The Emerging Privacy Threats when the Drive for the Perfect Search Engine meets Web 2.0
by Michael ZimmerOnline Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance
by Anders Albrechtslund
Mars
Over the last month or so I’ve been slowly re-reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s epic Mars trilogy; I’m a little way into the second book (Green Mars), but my head is still full of the magnificent world-building that Robinson manages in the first installment, Red Mars. Also, oddly enough, I’ve been fascinated by the way that the way that the plotting in Red Mars – which uses flash-forwards, flashbacks and other jumps – is similar to the way the TV series Lost works. There are parallels, too, between the First Hundred (the first human colonists on Mars) and the survivors of Oceanic 815 (in Lost) in terms of the way their lives are ruled by the geographic isolation and unexpected challenges of territories unknown.
More to the point, with the vivid descriptions of Mars conjured by Robinson freshly in mind, I was really struck by a report which highlighted the fact that the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) has managed to capture images of an avalanche taking place on the surface of Mars!
These images really do capture the imagination. Although Mars is often considered close to a dead planet, burnt out and inactive, looking at these amazing photos really does remind me that our closest planetary neighbour holds many mysteries and far from satisfying my desire to know more, these images tantalise the imagination, and make me wonder what other stories the dusty red planet has to tell. [Via io9]
links for 2008-03-01
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“Girls are more confident than boys about using a computer, a survey of more than 1,000 children suggests. The research by the Tesco Computers for Schools programme found girls were more likely than boys to …”
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Notes on the thorny issue of whether making recordings of lectures available as podcasts reduces student attendance rates at lectures.
links for 2008-02-26
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“Privacy advocates around the world, however, worry that the millions of people entrusting their personal information to social networking sites, of which Facebook is just an example, have almost no control over how it is used.”
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“Amnesty International said today it was “shocked” by a three-year jail term handed down by a Moroccan court to a man who registered a false internet Facebook profile as King Mohammed VI’s brother.”
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“Pakistan has ordered local internet service providers to block access to the popular Youtube website because of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that have outraged many Muslims, an industry official said.”
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Freeconomics?
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“The Federal Government says it is considering introducing an ‘R’ rating for video games, which would allow the sale of more explicit titles in Australia.” (And let games be licensed in a way which actually reflects their content!!)
links for 2008-02-23
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Social networking site Facebook has seen its first drop in UK users in January, new industry data indicates. Users fell 5% to 8.5 million in January from 8.9 million in December, according to data from Nielsen Online.
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“Research shows that among the youngest Internet users, the primary creators of Web content (blogs, graphics, photographs, Web sites) are not misfits … On the contrary, the cyberpioneers of the moment are digitally effusive teenage girls.”
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“Molly Ringwald turns 40 today.” [Via Chuck] A tribute here.
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Lawrence Lessig wants to change Congress – he might run for it, or change it from the outside. Lessig 08 is the hub – watch and participate!
UWA Science Fiction/Fantasy Discussion Group
For any interested Perth folk, a SF/F discussion group re-emerges:
After a long hiatus, the UWA science fiction/fantasy discussion group is restarting in 2008. Meetings will be held on the last Tuesday of each month in Arts G.05, and undergraduate students, postgraduate students, staff and anyone else interested are welcome to attend.
We have two speakers presenting papers in the next two weeks, but are looking for volunteers to fill the rest of the year. Please contact Karen Hall if you would like to give a paper.
26 February (Next Tuesday)
Gotham Central
Presented by David Medlen
A short lived award winning comic set in the world of superheroes but not about superheroes. What does this short lived title tell us about the genre in the 21st Century? A summary of the comic is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotham_Central, and source material will be available in the Scholars Centre at UWA’s Reid Library.4 March
“Against heritage: Invented identities in science fiction film”
Presented by Dr Sky Marsen, Victoria University of Wellington
Pre-reading material for this talk is available from Karen Hall.
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