星期一, 7月 27, 2009
Come Picnic
From 23 to 25 September 2009, thousands of creative minds from all over the world will come together in Amsterdam for the fourth ‘converence(sen)sation’ PICNIC. An inspiring, fascinating and entertaining festival, with several keynote speakers like Media Futurist Gerd Leonhard, Biomedical Gerontologist Aubrey de Grey, and many others.
星期三, 6月 03, 2009
China blocks social media ahead of Tiananmen anniversary
via and the following link
BEIJING - Two days before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, mainland netizens have been blocked from using social networking sites including Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail and Microsoft's new search engine Bing.
According to China sources, Twitter became inaccessible in the country at 5pm on Tuesday, widely noticed to be blocked after access of popular external programmes Tweet Deck and Twhirl also became patchy or non-existent.
“We started to notice an even more random and broader approach to website filtering in Beijing over the long weekend just passed. Those of us in the China marketing community are accustomed to heavy-handed filtering of blameless as well as politically sensitive websites, but this week, with the 20th anniversary on Thursday, has largely rendered the web unusable for us,” said Simon Cousins, chief executive of PR agency Illuminant Partners, describing the internet’s performance as “off kilter” all week.
“This latest block of Twitter and Flickr really hurts us, and our ability to service our clients in the mainland. They’re both important business tools.”
Cousins added that access to Tweetie, an iPhone application, via China Mobile was also blocked.
A Beijing-based agency source added that the 2 June blockage was “particularly bad” because his company’s external server based in San Francisco was also unable to process requests for Twitter and Flickr URLs.
The block is a setback for Bing, which only debuted its Chinese-language site this week.
The event followed reports that users on social networking sites also experienced difficulty as pages either stalled or had delayed loading times.
A representative from Yahoo, owner of Flickr, could not be reached in time for press.
星期五, 6月 08, 2007
Cultuur 2.0 : International conference and lab on 30&31 May 2007
Cultuur 2.0 is a challenge, a 2-day international conference and laboratory to introduce a Web 2.0 mindset into the creative processes and strategies of cultural institutions.
‘Cultuur 2.0’ borrows from Web 2.0, the new generation of internet applications and practice that emphasize generating, sharing and classifying content, collective intelligence, collaboration, sharing, reviewing, ranking, rating, and empowering users. In which ways can such developments be applied in the cultural sector? Will cultural institutions generate other forms of content or approaches by embracing the Cultuur 2.0 mindset and connecting to the active internet user - or would this mean the end of culture as we know it?
Highlight of previous reviews from main organiser of Cultuur 2.0, Virtueel platform :
E-shrines -e-shrines by Saad
1.Exploding Borders
In the Netherlands, as everywhere else, the development of digital technology has coincided with a quiet revolution in the role of the museum in society. Heritage institutions have become more aware of their audience than ever before, thanks to the democratisation of the industry, a change in emphasis in collections away from the elite and the extraordinary and towards the everyday commonplaces of community and social history, and — last but certainly not least - the need to prove themselves worthy of funding. The latter factor has added urgency to the modern imperative to ‘find new audiences.’
At the same time, says Virtual Platform Director Cathy Brickwood, technology allows the once-insular heritage sector to address that increasingly important audience as never before. The question now is, how to do it, and what to say? Possible technological tools range from the ubiquitous (the internet, mobiles, and the PDAs which sometimes replace the familiar audio tour), to the up-and-coming (like the RFID tag, although hopefully not used to the extent of the pioneering Japanese museum which embedded no less than 7,000 into the floor of a single exhibition room), and the unique (the Memory Table designed by Mediamatic that was showcased in the VP workshop, the Take Away Museum, and which is now being used by Amsterdam’s Imagine IC in a project to preserve the memories of elderly Indonesian immigrants to the Netherlands). The choice is already extensive, developments are bewildering swift, and heritage professionals rarely know much about the latest technologies — except that they are lagging behind.
2. What gives between the curator and the informed amateur?
The networked society we currently live in is witnessing a change in the role played by cultural organisations. It is the heritage organisations in particular, with the traditional mandate to conserve material and develop knowledge that will have to adapt their strategy most. The digital classification of cultural heritage is not just a matter of building an online database. It is also a question of contextualising information and coming up with ways of sharing the knowledge created and experienced in those organisations.
Here a report on the workshop ‘Digital Cultural Heritage’, organised by the Virtueel Platform and Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland, as part of the Amsterdam New Media Institute Summer School 2004. The Workshop used practical examples of how these developments are changing relations in the cultural sector.
3.The virtual community is the new lab
Waag society and V2_ are the most successful new media labs of the last fifteen years in the creative sector. It is without precedent that they have made their vision relevant to an organisation such as Surfnet, an academic node. From the margins to the academic discourse, how did that happen so quickly? The liberal climate of the eighties that supported the preconditions for the development from the public domain, has created space for this.
The climate has changed drastically now. The policy of tolerance has become narrower and the government propagates ideas like security and certainty. V2_ and Waag society are developing into independent knowledge environments in contrast to universities and corporate R&D labs. Their foremost challenge is in not wanting to become like them. University discourse is characterised by a textual approach to quality and this is recognised as being increasingly irrelevant to daily life; and with that also to policy making and the needs of government.
The question is which new creative strategies can develop in the present climate. Which strategies are able to respond to important social issues. How can we formulate the research questions embedded in current policy relating to everyday life? There are two important questions that have to be integrated: the creolization of the Netherlands, and the trend towards closed interfaces that are not accessible to professional amateurs (proam). If you’re looking for a new V2_, or Waag society you won’t find it. The new lab is the virtual community itself. The measure of openness of the alliances that come together there determines its role as the mover of the creative industry.
4. THE ANTI WEB 2.0 MANIFESTO from my favorite Andrew Keen (see link in Punk), author of the new book " Cult of the Amateur"
summary of his points:"The Adorno for idiots"
5. On the lighter side : Web 2.0 remixed
‘Cultuur 2.0’ borrows from Web 2.0, the new generation of internet applications and practice that emphasize generating, sharing and classifying content, collective intelligence, collaboration, sharing, reviewing, ranking, rating, and empowering users. In which ways can such developments be applied in the cultural sector? Will cultural institutions generate other forms of content or approaches by embracing the Cultuur 2.0 mindset and connecting to the active internet user - or would this mean the end of culture as we know it?
Highlight of previous reviews from main organiser of Cultuur 2.0, Virtueel platform :
E-shrines -e-shrines by Saad
1.Exploding Borders
In the Netherlands, as everywhere else, the development of digital technology has coincided with a quiet revolution in the role of the museum in society. Heritage institutions have become more aware of their audience than ever before, thanks to the democratisation of the industry, a change in emphasis in collections away from the elite and the extraordinary and towards the everyday commonplaces of community and social history, and — last but certainly not least - the need to prove themselves worthy of funding. The latter factor has added urgency to the modern imperative to ‘find new audiences.’
At the same time, says Virtual Platform Director Cathy Brickwood, technology allows the once-insular heritage sector to address that increasingly important audience as never before. The question now is, how to do it, and what to say? Possible technological tools range from the ubiquitous (the internet, mobiles, and the PDAs which sometimes replace the familiar audio tour), to the up-and-coming (like the RFID tag, although hopefully not used to the extent of the pioneering Japanese museum which embedded no less than 7,000 into the floor of a single exhibition room), and the unique (the Memory Table designed by Mediamatic that was showcased in the VP workshop, the Take Away Museum, and which is now being used by Amsterdam’s Imagine IC in a project to preserve the memories of elderly Indonesian immigrants to the Netherlands). The choice is already extensive, developments are bewildering swift, and heritage professionals rarely know much about the latest technologies — except that they are lagging behind.
2. What gives between the curator and the informed amateur?
The networked society we currently live in is witnessing a change in the role played by cultural organisations. It is the heritage organisations in particular, with the traditional mandate to conserve material and develop knowledge that will have to adapt their strategy most. The digital classification of cultural heritage is not just a matter of building an online database. It is also a question of contextualising information and coming up with ways of sharing the knowledge created and experienced in those organisations.
Here a report on the workshop ‘Digital Cultural Heritage’, organised by the Virtueel Platform and Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland, as part of the Amsterdam New Media Institute Summer School 2004. The Workshop used practical examples of how these developments are changing relations in the cultural sector.
....It’s clear that in the future museums are going to become increasingly hybrid organisations.
The presentation model looks like this:
Level 1 presentation
Level 2 formats; enlargement/scenarios/stories
Level 3 selections; focus
Level 4 objects; standardised descriptions
In addition to these internal discussions, at an external level decisions are being made about strategic alliances and the forms of cooperation that will reinforce the museum’s own identity. In addition the museum will need to consider the need for a strong identity of its own, and whether it’s necessary to create a brand for the Rijksmuseum.
Heritage organisations are generally very much focussed on content. In the case of the Rijksmuseum it’s very interesting to see how they have exchanged a content driven strategy for a media strategy. This then raises the question: if the Rijksmuseum develops a media strategy on the grounds of its own media infrastructure, does the museum not then become a broadcaster? An independent media producer?....
3.The virtual community is the new lab
Waag society and V2_ are the most successful new media labs of the last fifteen years in the creative sector. It is without precedent that they have made their vision relevant to an organisation such as Surfnet, an academic node. From the margins to the academic discourse, how did that happen so quickly? The liberal climate of the eighties that supported the preconditions for the development from the public domain, has created space for this.
The climate has changed drastically now. The policy of tolerance has become narrower and the government propagates ideas like security and certainty. V2_ and Waag society are developing into independent knowledge environments in contrast to universities and corporate R&D labs. Their foremost challenge is in not wanting to become like them. University discourse is characterised by a textual approach to quality and this is recognised as being increasingly irrelevant to daily life; and with that also to policy making and the needs of government.
The question is which new creative strategies can develop in the present climate. Which strategies are able to respond to important social issues. How can we formulate the research questions embedded in current policy relating to everyday life? There are two important questions that have to be integrated: the creolization of the Netherlands, and the trend towards closed interfaces that are not accessible to professional amateurs (proam). If you’re looking for a new V2_, or Waag society you won’t find it. The new lab is the virtual community itself. The measure of openness of the alliances that come together there determines its role as the mover of the creative industry.
4. THE ANTI WEB 2.0 MANIFESTO from my favorite Andrew Keen (see link in Punk), author of the new book " Cult of the Amateur"
summary of his points:"The Adorno for idiots"
5. On the lighter side : Web 2.0 remixed
星期四, 3月 29, 2007
誰在掌控e-世代的第四權
日期：2007年4月28日(星期六)
時間：下午2時30分-4時30分
地點：創Bookcafe(香港中環域多利皇后街9號中商大廈2字樓[中環MTR C 出口])
嘉賓：蘇玉平小姐(香港城市大學英文及傳播系導師)
胡麗雲小姐(香港記者協會主席)
祇要有一部具有數碼攝錄功能，並能上網的手提電話，任何人都可以隨時隨地拍下任何片段，即時發放到互聯網上的視訊分享平台，供人瀏覽。想像一下，在完全不知情的情況下，你在公眾場合上的舉動成為公民新聞的題材。感覺如何呢？
過去，新聞是由從業員以第一人身份，親身採訪消息來源而成。現在，記者於網上發掘新聞題材及消息來源；又或由公眾提供數碼影像配合編輯或記者的文字演繹，組合成新聞。但網上消息來源的真確性，既難以確認，往往因此成了報道失實的陷阱。
隨著新媒體（New Media）的蓬勃發展，公民新聞(Citizen Journalism)引起各界關注。新聞道德的界線在哪裡？如何平衡公眾的知情權和私隱權？如何區別不偏不倚的新聞報導與有立場的新聞評論？
在e-世代裏，誰掌控著第四權？
無論是網民抑或非網民，都歡迎齊來參與傳播沙龍，發表你對網絡媒體的意見，和嘉賓講者一起探討「e-世代的第四權」。
關於講者：
胡麗雲，現任香港記者協會主席及言論自由小組召集人。先後修畢中國語文及法律。擁有新聞工作經驗15年，曾在在不同報章、雜誌、網站及電台工作。
蘇玉平，美國南伊利洛大學傳播學系畢業後，於印第安納州立大學主修教育媒體。適逢互聯網及多媒體正萌芽生長，遂於傳統媒體以外涉獵各樣新媒體。曾於美國IUPUI大學教學中心任媒體顧問，回港後曾任職於職業訓練局及科技大學，現任城市大學英文及傳播學系導師。研究興趣範圍遍及互聯網、博客、社區網、流動電訊、電視、電影等，思想則游走於傳統和新媒體之間。
星期日, 3月 18, 2007
The book of imaginary Media: Excavating the Dream of the Ultimate Communication Media
Have you ever wondered if one day Windows 2028 might just know what you're thinking and type it? In this collection of essays, a selection of today's top media and sci-fi theorists weigh in. The Book of Imaginary Media explores the persistent idea that technology may one day succeed where no human has, not only in space or in nature, but also in interpersonal communication. Building on insights from media archeology, Siegfried Zielinski, Bruce Sterling, Erkki Huhtamo and Timothy Druckrey spin a web of associations between the fantasy machines of Athanasius Kircher, the mania of stereoscopy and "dead" media. Edwin Carels and Zoe Beloff descend into the cinematographic caverns of spiritualism and the iconography of death, and renowned cartoonists including Ben Katchor depict their own visionary media fantasies. On the enclosd DVD, artist Peter Blegvad provides hilarious commentary in a son et lumie version of his On Imaginary Media.
PUBLISHED BY: NAi Publishers
FORMAT: Paperback, 6.75 x 9.5 in. / 292 pgs / 50 b&w / with DVD.
ISBN: 905662539X ISBN13: 9789056625399
PUBLICATION DATE: 03/01/2007
Price : $39.95
星期四, 3月 01, 2007
細看侵權刑事化諮詢文件
from 思考 :
日前，政府推出了侵權刑事化諮詢文件。當中，政府所建議的方案，有些極為嚴厲，影響著每一位有使用互聯網的香港人。知識產權關注小組寫了數篇文章，嘗試深入淺出地大家一起閱讀這份文件，分析當中的影響。
日前，政府推出了侵權刑事化諮詢文件。當中，政府所建議的方案，有些極為嚴厲，影響著每一位有使用互聯網的香港人。知識產權關注小組寫了數篇文章，嘗試深入淺出地大家一起閱讀這份文件，分析當中的影響。
知識產權關注小組 - 細看侵權刑事化諮詢文件 (1)
知識產權關注小組 - 細看侵權刑事化諮詢文件 (2)
知識產權關注小組 - 細看侵權刑事化諮詢文件 (3)
星期五, 2月 23, 2007
You Must Be Streaming
In a sudden reversal of fortune, newspapers have taken to online video and might just beat TV news at its own game.
W e think we know that the professional news media, especially newspapers, are obsolete, that the future is all about (excuse the expression) you—media created by amateurs. But such PowerPoint distillation tends to overlook the fact that mainstream media are not all simply shriveling and dying but in some instances actually evolving. And in evolution, there are always fascinating transitional iterations along the way. Such as newspapers’ suddenly proliferating forays into online video. (And now magazines: Time Inc. just announced a new “studio” to develop Web video.)
Whereas the YouTube paradigm is amateurs doing interesting things with cameras, the newspapers’ Web videos are professional journalists operating like amateurs in the best old-fashioned sense. One of the Times’s new Web-video stars, David Carr (as the jolly-noir, movie-tasked Carpetbagger), recalls that when the Times’ video operation started fifteen months ago, his bosses said, “ ‘Let’s give it a whirl.’ Which is the exact opposite of the Times’ usual DNA. ‘Let’s give it a whirl’—that’s not something that comes up a lot.”......................
NY magazine
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