“You know what your trouble is? You’re the kind who always reads the handbook. Anything people build, any kind of technology, it’s going to have some specific purpose. It’s for doing something that somebody already understands. But if it’s new technology, it’ll open areas nobody’s ever thought of before. You read the manual, man, and you won’t play around with it, not the same way. And you get all funny when somebody else uses it to do something you never thought of.”
~William Gibson “The Winter Market”
Ping.fm is just one example of a "modular distributed conversation" application designed to work with multiple social media services. (illustration/Courtney Engle Robertson) I've been using Ping.fm for almost a month and what I noticed that the service allows me to form my thoughts without worrying about how it may fit...
Many times I am forced to use a locked computer that has limited access online and zero ability to add software that I need for other projects. This point of frustration is why I believe initiatives such as the Open Source project and, more importantly, Portable Apps will be a vital...
It seems that Apple, Microsoft, and Google are shying away from rigid, structured operating systems as the future of their respective companies. Apple and Microsoft have essentially spelled out that their next version of their OS (Snow Leopard and 7) would be the last traditional OS they would offer. Both...
One of my friends (Drew) has a fantastic blog that presents the critical issues of politics. The "Pseudo Body Politic" has the right balance of analysis, insight, and humor. Mainly, I'm jealous of his ability to write every day. So, I've been inspired by his work. Since the election is...
First of all, the Association of Internet Researchers held a fantastic conference this year at the IT University of Copenhagen. The building is indeed an architectural work of art and is a beautiful complement to the learning that occurs in this institution. I feel that sharing what I've learned during...
Virtual ethnography will begin at the end of the interview stage. I will randomly choose five Facebook users from each campus from those who participated in the interview process. I will send those selected an email explaining virtual ethnography and how I'm interested in the Facebook presence. I would further...
Beyond my personal ontological & epistemological tenants, I feel I need to address the broader issues of research which fit into the realm of hyperscholarship. I am borrowing the term hyperscholarship and its content from the study conducted by Patricia Harkin. She uses the term hyperscholarship as a means of...
Access is one of the cornerstones of communication policies and regulations. There is two version of access that needs to be addressed for universal access to be available. Hardware availability and network connectivity comprise the first level of access, material access. Without these primary physical considerations, access to the online...
