Images

Open Source Cinema

Open Source Cinema is a collaborative documentary project to create a feature film about copyright in the digital age.

Several years ago, I began researching the intersection of culture and creativity – exploring how in the digital age, everything we know about copyright has been turned upside down. From mash-ups to filesharing, creation to distribution, everything is in flux.

 

This all came in to sharp relief when I attended the MGM vs Grokster oral argument in 2005. Outside, the music industry and file-sharing supporters alike protested in large numbers. One music industry veteran declared â??music is like a donut. Pay for the donut, you get to eat itâ??. Meanwhile, a 16 kid told me â??I donâ??t think you can own music – its just feelings. How can you own that?â?? So whoâ??s right? Is culture a product? Will the next generation ever settle for anything less than free? Thats what I want to explore in this documentary, which is tentatively titled Basement Tapes.

 

 

For more information about The Film – check out the WikiFilm.

 

For more information about the philosophy of the project, check out the Maninfesto

Posted on by mklang

Bibliographies

Have you seen Bibme? It’s a cool application for creating, handling and saving bibliographies.

BibMe is your one-stop source for all your bibliography needs!  Donâ??t remember all the information for the source you cited? No problem! BibMe allows you to search from a database of millions of entries to find your source and autofill in the information. Or, if you the source in front of you, you can enter your entries in manually. BibMe also offers resources to help you cite your work properly in the â??Citation Guideâ?? section.

In addition to this the bibliography can be exported into the different bibliographic formats. I thought this was a very cool application.

Posted on by mklang

Digital Waste

Natalie Behring has a photo essay: Inside the Digital Dump on the remains of our technology in the recent issue of Foreign Policy. Behring’s pictures are good and the theme/topic is familiar. Third world nations risking environmental poisoning from the digital hardware we no longer desire or can use.

The images come from the world’s biggest digital dumping ground located in Guiyu, China. Locals work for $2 per day sorting, disassembling, and pulverizing hundreds of tons of digital hardware. The purpose of their work is to get at the valuable gold and copper. Computer waste contains 17 times more gold than gold ore, 40 times more copper than copper ore. But the detritus also leaches chemicals and metals into local water supplies.

Natalie Behring

Call me cynical but I believe that the profits will move out of Guiyu while the environmental damage will remain there.

Posted on by mklang

Academic Language

Every now and then academics revive the discussion on the readability, dissemination and usefulness of research. Most researchers write for a small group of peers. Most of the peers are already aware of what is being done before they actually read the research article. Add to this the depressing thought that only about eight people (this is a commonly cited figure, probably an urban myth) ever read an academic work (research article or phd thesis) and that is counting the reviewers and editor.

All this makes the practice of academic writing seem rather pointless.

PhD Comics by Jorge Cham

Part of the reason for this is that academics tend to become linguistically narcissistic (Oops, sorry – see what I mean). Instead of writing clearly and plainly they fill their pages with complex jargon from within their research field. They then have the arrogance to be annoyed when others have a difficulty reading their texts.

So, now that I have reached this insight (again!) I shall strive to be more clear in my writing (again!)

Posted on by mklang

Old Maps

There is something fascinating about maps, especially old maps. Maybe it’s because they are attempts to explain the world, or new views of the world revealing patterns and shapes or maybe just attempts of other people to find their way.

The webpage for the Norman B. Levanthal Map Center at the Boston Public Library has a pile of old maps in digital format (The library has digitised many highlights from their 200,000+ collection of maps and atlases from all times and places) and an excellent mapviewing tool which allows you to zoom in on the details.

detail of Novus planiglobii terrestris per utrumque polum conspectus (1695)

Start with the virtual tours for an overview.

Posted on by mklang

The invisible man of graffiti art

The New Yorker has published a long piece on Banksy, sub-titled “The invisible man of graffiti art”. Banksy is the famous, but anonymous, UK graffiti artist whose work is a mix of cheeky social commentary and plain fun. Not much is known for sure, but the article writes:

This much is certain: around 1993, his graffiti began appearing on trains and walls around Bristol; by 2001, his blocky spray-painted signature had cropped up all over the United Kingdom…

Since street art is ephemeral, he occasionally issues books filled with photographs of his work, accompanied by his own text. He self-published his first three volumes, â??Existencilism,â?? â??Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall,â?? and â??Cut It Out.â?? His latest, â??Wall and Piece,â?? was published by Random House and has sold more than two hundred and fifty thousand copies…

Ralph Taylor, a specialist in the Sothebyâ??s contemporary-art department, said of Banksy, â??He is the quickest-growing artist anyone has ever seen of all time.â?? Banksy responded to the Sothebyâ??s sale by posting a painting on his Web site. It featured an auctioneer presiding over a crowd of rapt bidders, with the caption â??I canâ??t believe you morons actually buy this shit.â??

Besides his own website and his books there are plenty of images on Flickr (over 18000 images) that have been attributed to Banksy. They may be originals or simply followers of the Banksy style.

Posted on by mklang

Save Bunny

A cute flash game. To save Bunny you have to give him electric shocks, shave him, open him up, move intestines, remove foreign object and insert medicine. All in 60 seconds and without making mistakes. Silly, but cute.

(via Boing Boing)

Posted on by mklang

Da store is closed

The Apple online store is closed… this usually means that they are busy bringing new objects of desire to our attention. Mmm… shiny new laptop….

Posted on by mklang

Time alone with my mind

Sherry Turkle has written an article in Forbes “Can you hear me now?” on how we are losing ourselves to our devices. She brings together images of a world first seduced by technological gadgets and then being enslaved by them.

Much of the imagery is what we have come to expect: audiences at conferences preferring email to listening, consultants networking virtually while ignoring real life, and students doing anything but listening in class.

One brilliant quote from a stressed BlackBerry abusing consultant: “I don’t have enough time alone with my mind”. Wow! What an amazing insight. I have already complained about my teaching workload this term but when I read this quote I realised what was wrong with my worklife. No wonder I am not able to do any good writing (even this blog has been erratic at best) it’s because I don’t have enough time alone with my mind. And even less time to read.

What to do? According to Turkle: To make more time means turning off our devices, disengaging from the always-on culture.

Hmm. While I am always up for a little tech-bashing I really don’t think that turning off devices is the answer.  I think my problem is that I need to stop accepting teaching engagements and other jobs for other people. It is eating all my time and leaving me empty and dissatisfied.

Posted on by mklang

Multiple Mails – Multiple Lives

Jorge Cham, of Phd comics (my favorite), has drawn an excellent strip hinting at the complexity of modern communication. Recently a colleague sent me an email (and cc it to three other of my addresses) asking me which was my “real” address. It got me thinking of how many aliases I have and how many mail accounts I run – most appear in the same inbox but not all.

All the accounts are there for a reason (or several reasons) but it does sometimes feel a bit like a case of multiple personality…

Posted on by mklang