News

2009-11-28 15:31:36

Sunny day reminder

Yesterday was sunny - after what seemed like weeks of rain - and I posted an optimistic note to Twitter. My sister-in-law commented back about people getting more "Safety oriented" as they age. I responded with a bit of a rant...

2009-11-27 13:36:54

I'm mad as hell... and I'm not going to take it any more!

The Olympics in Vancouver are starting to annoy people more and more. I think some of it relates to what is perceived as relentless protection of the corporate side of the games - the logo, the picture that the TV cameras will see - and relatively little focus on the human side. Recently this has been thrown into profile by the various plans for protesters and how surveillance will affect people's civil rights.

2008-06-08 12:39:17

What is it with twitter?

Is twitter the latest thing? Or is it an ancient thing, writ new? I argue the latter.

2008-05-09 20:51:36

Everyday life, Web 2.0, and Maria Bakardjieva

A talk by Maria Bakardjieva is always a highlight in my life but today's short overview of her current probe into the "everyday life" of Web 2.0 "produsers" (Facebook and bloggers, so far) was particularly interesting, and though provoking, as usual. I have some notes from my attendance as well as my reaction to some of her comments about Facebook, below:

2008-05-07 21:29:10

Advising graduate students

A highlight of my recent trip to Montreal occurred when each of the members of the research advisory committee took a turn acting as a respondent to one of the grad student's papers. The students presented for about 15 minutes and then the RAC members, at least four of whom are editors of scholarly journals, provided their constructive comments and feedback. Many of their suggestions were generic and would be useful for anyone, and so I took a lot of notes, thinking they would be useful "graduate student advising" tips. I provide them below for your consideration.

2008-04-27 13:01:55

Social networking dividend - the privacy angle

When will my social networking dividend cheque show up? If you think about it, participating in a social networking website, like Facebook or Flickr or even Google, is like working for (almost) nothing. When will they start paying us for a) creating all that content, and b) learning what to buy? The time is coming, I predict. And privacy concerns and legislation may hasten its arrival.

2008-04-26 09:55:36

Education talks?

I teach large undergraduate lecture courses in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. I have been using a range of “voice over IP” technologies for the past decade to extend my teaching to reach more students, to enrich the experience of those students, and expand the types and modalities of teaching. This post has my notes to a recent presentation on the topic.

2008-04-26 08:37:00

Communication Transformed?

Communication is being “transformed” by digital, internet protocol based networks. Or is it? I think it depends on how we gauge transformation of communication.

2008-04-10 17:34:52

Are Some Technologies Biased Toward Sociability?

The iPod has been vilified as an "anti-social" technology but it sometimes doesn't hurt to look at actual use by actual users. I report on a counter example, where my iPod was the spur for social interaction.

2008-02-26 22:30:31

Do you watch movies on your iPod?

I do. I realize that watching movies on a handheld device is not only a source of jokes (i.e., Jon Stewart’s reference, during the Oscars, to watching Lawrence of Arabia on his iPhone) but also some stinging and sharp criticism (e.g., David Lynch’s rant about the subject). I can accept the snide remarks and acknowledge the thrust of Lynch’s argument - that watching on an iPhone isn’t really watching a movie at all, and misses the point - but think there is also another side to the story.

2008-01-29 10:07:53

Can't stop checking your email?

For professionals and older folks it is email, for kids it is their text messages, for sales people and politicos it is the blackberry. The geeks have their "tweets". Whatever it is, the current concern (or latest recurrence of the concern) is that we're checking these things too often. Why? And what happens? I was asked this by a CBC reporter and since I couldn't get in to talk to him in the studio sent in these thoughts.

2007-11-01 19:52:42

Asleep at the blog?

I've not been particularly active on this site (to say the least) over the past five or six months. The time has come to decide whether I am going to keep going. What are the benefits?

2007-05-24 12:08:41

Facebook funerals/memorials?

A "new" phenomenon, of a facebook memorial site, has prompted media attention in the last little while. As usual with these sorts of things, this isn't really or entirely new. There are some links to the past that are obvious and there are some things that are worth noticing. I've collected some of my thoughts here.

2007-05-14 05:22:33

A corollary to Godwin's Law?

Back in 1990 Mark Godwin proposed a law about the time it would take an online discussion group to start being populated with references to Hitler and Nazis. He figured as time went on it was inevitable. I'd like to propose a corollary - that as soon as people start using a new form of communication technology, someone will start labelling its use "addictive."

2007-05-06 15:47:07

Privacy on Facebook

I have been asked to comment on Facebook quite a bit recently. This isn't too surprising, given the popularity of the social networking website and the rate of growth it is experiencing. A frequent question people have is about the invasion of privacy that it represents. Inflammatory words, like "stalking," are tossed around with impunity. In this article I'd like to investigate the reality of those claims and consider the validity of the use of strong language like "stalking."

2007-03-22 13:38:00

The Digest publishes another issue

The Digest, an online scholarly journal produced by SFU CMNS students has published its 18th issue. Congratulations to Roman and all the students.

2007-03-20 23:23:10

Anonymity - Can we lose any more of it?

A Vancouver firefighter, caught on YouTube in an apparent drunk driving situation, is outed to the community. A good thing, no? Perhaps, but we have to think about the longer term implications of a steady erosion of our privacy and anonymity.

2007-03-15 15:01:25

Lakes and rivers of information

A reporter interviews me on wikipedia and my brain turned to metaphors. Here's my latest for wikipedia... lakes and rivers, stocks and flows. And hence different skills required and different strengths built up.

2007-03-13 16:21:00