THere’s some very interesting reading to be had here . . . . all the different interest and lobby groups are hard at work pushing for or against the proposed changes to Copyright law here in Australia.
Author: Seb Chan
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Hurricane Archive Museum Site
Center for History and New Media has just launched this. Nice use of Google Maps.
The Center for History and New Media, the University of New Orleans in partnership with the National Museum of American History, and Louisiana State Museum recently launched a new digital history project, the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank (http://hurricanearchive.org). I think this is a great example of how digital archives can help document the history of current events. Also, we included a Google map that allows all contributors to plot their locations during the hurricanes or where they took specific photos or recorded podcasts. This offers historians and others a great way to compare primary sources digitally that is more difficult when working with a physical archive.
Here is a little info about the project. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments on the site.
“The compelling images and stories seared into the memories of all who lived through last year’s hurricanes will endure through an online hurricane archive. Anyone may visit the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank: Preserving Stories from Katrina, Rita, and Wilma at http://www.hurricanearchive.org to read the submissions of others before contributing their own memories and pictures to this growing collection. All experiences related to the storms are sought, whether one was directly affected by the storms or served as a volunteer hundreds of miles away.
Useful archive of HCI and usability related ‘quick notes‘ from Human Factors Intl.
Here’s a great introductory article for everyone who is thinking about typography on the screen and how it differs from print.
The popular usage of many type styles is primarily due to the fact that many computer users are content to use only the typefaces that come with a particular operating system. The majority of these typefaces were designed for optimal legibility on screen; however, their presence on the paper often feels unnatural and rigid. Classic typefaces like Bodoni and Caslon will break at smaller sizes on the screen, but withhold a beauty and elegance on paper.
Remember, a typeface that is optimal for the screen is not necessary the right choice for print (and vice versa). The crisper and stronger designs of Arial, Geneva and New York will appear cold and clunky when used on paper. In general, avoid typefaces with city names whenever designing for print.
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Technorati network mapper
Check out this great visual mapper of connections between blogs or ideas in Technorati.
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Search by sketch
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DIY culture
Nice summary of points from one of the speakers at a recent ICA event.
* The concepts of a ‘mainstream’ and an ‘underground’ are laid to rest by networked culture. There are only open and closed networks. Everything is flat.
* Top down control structures (like major labels) are unable to assure quality control in the same way bottom up structures can. In networked culture, quality bubbles up from the bottom, and the role of large entities (like major record labels) as arbiters of taste is undermined as a result.
* Collaborative filtering in trust-based networks is the way in which networked culture will deal with information overload.
* The printed press’ hallowed notion of ‘genre’ is under threat through the processes of user-generated metadata that describe Folksonomy.
* The concept of DIY is less relevant to networked youth culture today as it was when we grew up (with movements like Hardcore). DIT – Do It Together – which finds it’s roots in the Open Source movement’s model of production, is a far more relevant paradigm today.
* Bit-torrent is currently the most powerful distribution technology thrown up by the web.
* DIY culture was always about control, from production through distribution, performance and promotion of cultural product. It enabled people to have control over the end-to-end process of communicating through cultural products. A network of trusted people could be used to oversee all aspects of production/distribution/retail.
* DRM – Digital Rights Management – is a survivalist legal attempt from a desperate culture industry to preserve a revenue model (content ownership) which is at odds with a new medium for culture (digital networks).
* The new revenue model for cultural content in digital networks involves syndication of content with embedded, trackable advertising.
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Excel Drum Machine
A drum machine that runs in . . . . . Excel.
Yes, Microsoft Excel.
Download the ZIP, put the DLL in the /WINDOWS directory, grab the drum samples. Then rock on.
If you have a long journey home then download this great 1hr podcast on the Google book project. It is a good discussion and covers some essential areas around the privatisation of knowledge and the Copyright conflict over Google’s activities.
This is so simple but good!
Interactive for Kids!
Coinciding with ‘Made for this World’, the Gallery launches an online interactive based on exhibiting artist Yayoi Kusama’s fascination with dots. Click to play!