The real world
Gaming the world
February 14, 2009
If it seems your children live in World of Warcraft
as much as in meatspace, there’s still hope. :-)
Playing for profit
(Economist, August 26, 2008) and Play games with your resume
(Washington Post, February 6, 2009) both posit
that the skills developed as a successful WoW
player could directly translate into success in
the business world: ‘"showing that people are
developing and applying all kinds of useful
skills in World of Warcraft--data collection and
analysis, collaboration, planning, resource
management and even team management." Remove the
"WoW" identification from the place of
employment, and all of these accomplishments
look fantastic on a résumé.’ Cool, no?
And check out some stats about these virtual worlds (Mother Jones, May 21, 2007): 20 million people as of two years ago?? And who these folks are (ars technica): “A new research study out of the US reveals that gamers are more likely to socialize and generally earn more money (read: have more epics) than nongamers. They also go out on more dates.”
Finally, this just in: Science gleans 60TB of behavior data from Everquest 2 logs. “Thanks to a partnership with Sony, a team of academic researchers have obtained the largest set of data on social interactions they've ever gotten their hands on: the complete server logs of Everquest 2, which track every action performed in the game.” Putting the privacy implications aside (hard to do, I know - do you have no expectation of privacy in this virtual world? Or did you sign it away when you joined?), there may be some very interesting stuff here.
And check out some stats about these virtual worlds (Mother Jones, May 21, 2007): 20 million people as of two years ago?? And who these folks are (ars technica): “A new research study out of the US reveals that gamers are more likely to socialize and generally earn more money (read: have more epics) than nongamers. They also go out on more dates.”
Finally, this just in: Science gleans 60TB of behavior data from Everquest 2 logs. “Thanks to a partnership with Sony, a team of academic researchers have obtained the largest set of data on social interactions they've ever gotten their hands on: the complete server logs of Everquest 2, which track every action performed in the game.” Putting the privacy implications aside (hard to do, I know - do you have no expectation of privacy in this virtual world? Or did you sign it away when you joined?), there may be some very interesting stuff here.
"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
June 17, 2008
So asks Nicholas Carr in the cover article of the
July/August Atlantic Monthly.
I put this here not just because i't's an
interesting and worthy read, but because it
resonates with me, both the good and the bad. The
good is how the technology has quite fundamentally
changed my ability to write: I simply couldn't do
what I do with pen and paper, though like many, I
still like to print out an intermediate draft now
and then to read through end-to-end (but that may
be simply a lack of the right technology to enable
the same ability). The bad is that I, too, have
slowly, over a decade, gone from voracious book
reader to being barely able to keep up with print
publications like the Economist and
Atlantic Monthly. Perhaps the
glass-is-half-full explanation is just that my
information consumption has actually gone up; it's
just different. The article's mention of
neurological rewiring echos Marc Prensky's thought
in Digital natives, digital
immigrants part 2.
On the other hand, I can't say I resonate with the glass-is-half-empty predictions of the article. Change of the sort described just is. If indeed it's a problem - and I don't think so - then the genie is already out of the bottle and all we can do is manage the effects. Wired Magazine's cover article The End of Science and two related articles, Tap Into the 12-Million-Teraflop Handheld Megacomputer and Supercomputing Power Hits the Desktop, Minus the Software, curiously speak in some way to this issue from a different perspective.
On the other hand, I can't say I resonate with the glass-is-half-empty predictions of the article. Change of the sort described just is. If indeed it's a problem - and I don't think so - then the genie is already out of the bottle and all we can do is manage the effects. Wired Magazine's cover article The End of Science and two related articles, Tap Into the 12-Million-Teraflop Handheld Megacomputer and Supercomputing Power Hits the Desktop, Minus the Software, curiously speak in some way to this issue from a different perspective.
A Blueprint for Big Broadband
February 24, 2008
A few weeks ago, EDUCAUSE released A Blueprint for Big
Broadband. This paper goes beyond describing
the need for ubiquitous broadband in this
country (and not just the 3-6Mbps most of us
have) and offers some concrete steps towards
achieving this goal. I think the paper makes for
some interesting reading.
Coincidentally, Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Broadband Initiative also recently released The State of Connectivity: Building Innovation Through Broadband, whose thrust is quite consistent with the EDUCAUSE blueprint (though not as aggressive in timeline). The CPUC also recently announced a $100 million broadband fund for unserved areas of California to help bridge the digital divide.
Full disclosure: I’m a member of EDUCAUSE’s Network Policy Council which developed the Blueprint, though I personally had no hand in it.
Coincidentally, Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Broadband Initiative also recently released The State of Connectivity: Building Innovation Through Broadband, whose thrust is quite consistent with the EDUCAUSE blueprint (though not as aggressive in timeline). The CPUC also recently announced a $100 million broadband fund for unserved areas of California to help bridge the digital divide.
Full disclosure: I’m a member of EDUCAUSE’s Network Policy Council which developed the Blueprint, though I personally had no hand in it.
Texting Fabio
September 01, 2007
Actually, I didn't, because I didn't know where he
was sitting. But Fabio was on my Virgin America flight from
LAX to JFK, and had I known his seat number, I
could have asked to chat with him via the
seat-to-seat chat facility available through the
entertainment console in front of me. Of course,
he was sitting in first class and I wasn't, but
that doesn't mean the flight wasn't a whole lot
of fun and really very comfortable. I'm not sure
how I feel about such seat-to-seat chatting
anyway: as someone wrote in his blog, the
possibilities are a bit creepy.
The styling of the cabin interior is unlike anything you've seen before. (I was in an Airbus 319, but I believe they also have 320s.) It has the same look and feel as an iPod - shiny white plastic - which one wouldn't necessarily think to be a good thing, but it's got a clean, sleek look. Muted purple mood lighting changes according to external lighting and time of day and for people like me who just die under fluorescent lighting, what a blessing.
The fun part is the entertainment center dubbed Red: the 9" "TV" in front of you doesn't just show a movie, it's actually a touch-screen control where you can access a large library of music, radio, music videos, TV, premium movies (this costs money) and foreign TV programs. It also offers you the ability to play games (like Doom - they provide a remote control - that you can play with others on board), do the text chat thing and connect your iPod. The usual display screen showing a terrible map of the country and where your plane currently is is instead from Google maps. And if you need to work instead, no worries about laptop batteries, as there are two power outlets for every three seats - regular 110v outlets, not the inconvenient special power jacks for which you have to purchase special converters that used by some other airlines. Ethernet jacks are already installed, just waiting for FAA approval to be activated (maybe that will mitigate people being allowed to talk on the cell phones during flight?). And wireless, too, apparently - see how.
You can also order drinks and food from the console. Like a touch-screen web page with a shopping cart, you add beverages (usual ones are free) and/or various snacks, swipe your credit card and a couple minutes later a flight attendant comes by to deliver what you ordered. I kept doing this (my credit card statement was pleasantly small, however). It was fun!
But the best part is that VA let me book an exit row for an extra $25: 7.5" of extra legroom for this flight; a no brainer. (They actually have three different types of premium seats available in coach - the two exit rows and the bulkhead seats - which all have different characteristics. Overall, the exit row I was in - 10 - I think was the best. Not as much legroom as the bulkheads, but full recline unlike row 9 and of course space under the seat in front of you. I think the additional charge is $15 for the short-haul flights.) Here's more info on these premium seats.
Wish I could fly VA everywhere. Currently, though, they only fly SFO, LAX, LAS, JFK and IAD. (And to think I'll be flying to Washington later this year - wish I'd known what I know now instead of having to fly United).
The only bad thing is having to fly into JFK, which is just a nightmare.
Well, an update: Virgin America's recent spate of ads include one showcasing the availability of power outlets on their aircraft using a model blow-drying her hair on board. I suspect I'd even take cell phone use on a flight over hair dryers! :-)
The styling of the cabin interior is unlike anything you've seen before. (I was in an Airbus 319, but I believe they also have 320s.) It has the same look and feel as an iPod - shiny white plastic - which one wouldn't necessarily think to be a good thing, but it's got a clean, sleek look. Muted purple mood lighting changes according to external lighting and time of day and for people like me who just die under fluorescent lighting, what a blessing.
The fun part is the entertainment center dubbed Red: the 9" "TV" in front of you doesn't just show a movie, it's actually a touch-screen control where you can access a large library of music, radio, music videos, TV, premium movies (this costs money) and foreign TV programs. It also offers you the ability to play games (like Doom - they provide a remote control - that you can play with others on board), do the text chat thing and connect your iPod. The usual display screen showing a terrible map of the country and where your plane currently is is instead from Google maps. And if you need to work instead, no worries about laptop batteries, as there are two power outlets for every three seats - regular 110v outlets, not the inconvenient special power jacks for which you have to purchase special converters that used by some other airlines. Ethernet jacks are already installed, just waiting for FAA approval to be activated (maybe that will mitigate people being allowed to talk on the cell phones during flight?). And wireless, too, apparently - see how.
You can also order drinks and food from the console. Like a touch-screen web page with a shopping cart, you add beverages (usual ones are free) and/or various snacks, swipe your credit card and a couple minutes later a flight attendant comes by to deliver what you ordered. I kept doing this (my credit card statement was pleasantly small, however). It was fun!
But the best part is that VA let me book an exit row for an extra $25: 7.5" of extra legroom for this flight; a no brainer. (They actually have three different types of premium seats available in coach - the two exit rows and the bulkhead seats - which all have different characteristics. Overall, the exit row I was in - 10 - I think was the best. Not as much legroom as the bulkheads, but full recline unlike row 9 and of course space under the seat in front of you. I think the additional charge is $15 for the short-haul flights.) Here's more info on these premium seats.
Wish I could fly VA everywhere. Currently, though, they only fly SFO, LAX, LAS, JFK and IAD. (And to think I'll be flying to Washington later this year - wish I'd known what I know now instead of having to fly United).
The only bad thing is having to fly into JFK, which is just a nightmare.
Well, an update: Virgin America's recent spate of ads include one showcasing the availability of power outlets on their aircraft using a model blow-drying her hair on board. I suspect I'd even take cell phone use on a flight over hair dryers! :-)
A glimpse into the innovation engine that is DARPA
August 28, 2007
Esquire's December 2003 article Science & Industry: DARPA
and more recently, Daniel Engber at Slate writes
I Want to be a Mad Scientist.
Buy it now!
August 18, 2007
Ever wonder what happens so that when you order a
laptop online, click on the "buy it now" button, and
two days later it shows up on your doorstep? James
Fallows' article in The Atlantic, China Makes, the World Takes,
gives a glimpse of how this works. Amazing.
Scary. Awful. Wonderful.
Not to be missed
August 08, 2007
Two terrific sites with sensational content: ideas worth spreading from
ted.com and pop!casts from poptech.org.
The fun is back
July 25, 2007
It's back again, the exhilaration is, thanks to Web
2.0 - whatever that is. You can become a millionaire just by
working within Second Life (or experience
many things you couldn't otherwise, something of
particular interest to those with disabilities).
You can explore the Earth and everything
on it like never before. Playing World of Warcraft can get
you hired. Your voice can be heard, whether
by video or blog or wiki or twitter, and shared
with half the population of the planet or with a
few friends and family. You have access to more
information and opinion and hyperlocal data than
at any other time in history and combined in
ways that affords so much power. No one knows
what will fly or what will sink, but the ride is
sure a lot of fun... so many things to try, so
many things to do, so many avatars to meet!
Or should we get a first life first? A short thread between IT policy folks on the ICPL list and many of the items on this here my pseudo-blog speak to the glass-is-half-empty potential for problems: threats to privacy, digital disorder, information illiteracy, and on and on.
I admit this is just a setup to point to an article that, shorn of its political nature and specific personalities, is a favorite of mine because it characterizes this issue so well: The Problem with Problem Solvers. Have fun! (But be thoughtful. And hey, I'm a policy person after all.)
Or should we get a first life first? A short thread between IT policy folks on the ICPL list and many of the items on this here my pseudo-blog speak to the glass-is-half-empty potential for problems: threats to privacy, digital disorder, information illiteracy, and on and on.
I admit this is just a setup to point to an article that, shorn of its political nature and specific personalities, is a favorite of mine because it characterizes this issue so well: The Problem with Problem Solvers. Have fun! (But be thoughtful. And hey, I'm a policy person after all.)
The frisson of music
July 11, 2007
"The Murder of Mystery: How Silicon
Valley joined the superstitious fringe as the
enemy of open inquiry" penned by Jaron
Lanier in Discover Magazine, September 2006,
begins sadly, thus: "Last week I had a jarring
conversation with one of the most influential
figures in Silicon Valley. Me: I wish more kids
were learning to be musicians. He: In 10 years
computers will be able to ... generate music
better than human musicians ... There might be
good reasons to teach kids music, but creating a
new generation of professional musicians is not
one of them."
I say sadly, because though we don't necessarily know a lot about the relationship between music and human beings, there is something clearly wonderful between the two. Farhad Manjoo's review of Daniel Levitin's book This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of A Human Obsession in Salon: "Why human beings make and enjoy music is, in Levitin's telling, a delicious story of evolution, anatomy, perception and computation -- a story that's all the more thrilling when you consider its result, the joy of living in a world filled with music ... The brain systems they discovered explain why music -- whether in high school or in life beyond -- can touch you so deeply: Our brains seem to have evolved to maximize musical ability. Indeed, Levitin argues, music has been essential to our very success as a species." There's Paul Robertson's research in this area (Music: an ancient medium for a new millennium is the text of a talk he gave in 2000). And I can't wait for Oliver Sacks' upcoming book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.
Rapture from listening to some special piece of music can be a Stendhal Syndrome experience. The 1993 Arts & Antiques article The Stendhal Syndrome by Alexander Theroux is a much more wonderful portrayal than the Wikipedia version I point to, but it's not on the web. A small passage: "I remember a friend of mine being transported - weeping - as he sat on the floor, feet crossed, listening to Wagner's great opera, Tristan and Isolde."
And speaking of weeping while transported: If you haven't yet read about the experiment with the marvelous violinist Joshua Bell, set up by Gene Weingarten and the Washington Post, do so: Pearls Before Breakfast and also the follow-up commentary.
I say sadly, because though we don't necessarily know a lot about the relationship between music and human beings, there is something clearly wonderful between the two. Farhad Manjoo's review of Daniel Levitin's book This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of A Human Obsession in Salon: "Why human beings make and enjoy music is, in Levitin's telling, a delicious story of evolution, anatomy, perception and computation -- a story that's all the more thrilling when you consider its result, the joy of living in a world filled with music ... The brain systems they discovered explain why music -- whether in high school or in life beyond -- can touch you so deeply: Our brains seem to have evolved to maximize musical ability. Indeed, Levitin argues, music has been essential to our very success as a species." There's Paul Robertson's research in this area (Music: an ancient medium for a new millennium is the text of a talk he gave in 2000). And I can't wait for Oliver Sacks' upcoming book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.
Rapture from listening to some special piece of music can be a Stendhal Syndrome experience. The 1993 Arts & Antiques article The Stendhal Syndrome by Alexander Theroux is a much more wonderful portrayal than the Wikipedia version I point to, but it's not on the web. A small passage: "I remember a friend of mine being transported - weeping - as he sat on the floor, feet crossed, listening to Wagner's great opera, Tristan and Isolde."
And speaking of weeping while transported: If you haven't yet read about the experiment with the marvelous violinist Joshua Bell, set up by Gene Weingarten and the Washington Post, do so: Pearls Before Breakfast and also the follow-up commentary.
Digital disorder vs the Luddite
July 10, 2007
They've gone head-to-head on this now: an
interesting representation of the "Wikipedia vs
Britannica" debate.
David Weinberer is author of Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder. "We're very good at organizing things in the real world ... But ... we always have to follow two basic principles: Everything has to go somewhere, and no thing can be in more than one place. That's just how reality works. But in the digital world we're freed from those restrictions."
Andrew Keen is author of The Cult of the Amateur: How today's Internet is killing our culture and, as you'll see, says himself he is "a disgraceful fascist luddite communist control freak monarchist failed dotcom entrepreneur".
David Weinberer is author of Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder. "We're very good at organizing things in the real world ... But ... we always have to follow two basic principles: Everything has to go somewhere, and no thing can be in more than one place. That's just how reality works. But in the digital world we're freed from those restrictions."
Andrew Keen is author of The Cult of the Amateur: How today's Internet is killing our culture and, as you'll see, says himself he is "a disgraceful fascist luddite communist control freak monarchist failed dotcom entrepreneur".
Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace
June 27, 2007
"Some teens are flocking to MySpace. And some teens
are flocking to Facebook. Who goes where gets kinda
sticky... probably because it seems to primarily have
to do with socio-economic class."
boyd, danah. 2007. "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace ." Apophenia Blog Essay. June 24 .
boyd, danah. 2007. "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace ." Apophenia Blog Essay. June 24 .
“That’s not academic fraud, it’s post-modern learning, wiki-style.”
June 02, 2007
BusinessWeek’s article, Cheating - Or Postmodern
Learning?, provides a novel defense against
cheating that underscores the continuing and
increasing complexity of assessing individual
ability in a collaborative context.
UCLA taser incident video
April 12, 2007
The video of the UCLA tasering incident made
available on YouTube (not for the squeamish -
you’ve been warned) raises a number of
interesting questions. Lauren Weinstein paints this
incident in a bigger picture, and, in a short, wonderful note
on the subject, reminds us that our critical
thinking skills are more important than
ever. And a nice little article in The
Atlantic on the unexpected consequences of
everyone having a camera with them all of the
time by James Fallows. Finally, take a look
at some state-of-the-art digital photo
manipulation looks like from research on content-aware image sizing
presented at SIGGRAPH 2007.
This seems to be a good place to add mention of this unusual piece on fantasy football and information literacy ("National Librarian Sport Declared").
This seems to be a good place to add mention of this unusual piece on fantasy football and information literacy ("National Librarian Sport Declared").