On Wisconsin
On Wisconsin My down the hall colleague, Glenn Sparks, is not just a great scholar, but also a theramin builder and performer….
Author: Sorin Adam Matei
Assistant Vice President for Partnerships in Strategic Defense Innnovation and Professor of Communication at Purdue University, Director of the FORCES initiative leads research teams that study the relationship between technological and social systems using big data, simulation, and mapping approaches. He published papers and articles in Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Information Society, National Interest, and Foreign Policy. He is the author or co-editor of several books. The most recent is Structural differentation in social media. He also co-edited Ethical Reasoning in Big Data,Transparency in social media and Roles, Trust, and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets: Theory and Methods (Computational Social Sciences) , all three the product of the NSF funded KredibleNet project. Dr. Matei's teaching portfolio includes technology and strategy, online interaction, and digital media analytics classes. A former BBC World Service journalist, his contributions have been published in Esquire and several leading Romanian newspapers. In Romania, he is known for his books Boierii Mintii (The Mind Boyars), Idolii forului (Idols of the forum), and Idei de schimb (Spare ideas).
Memories in Nature – Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com
Image via Wikipedia “The conscious, brain-based memories that we humans set so much store by are not the only memories out there.” Think of our immune system for a minute… And then, get ready to learn about plant memories. Truly poetic… via…
University of Illiniois follows University of California down the hole
University of Illinois has only received 7% of its state budget allocation and the interim president announces that its professors will be furloughed (a form of salary cut or partial unemployment). It is a move on a par to UC’s catastrophic budget…
Best YouTube viral videos of 2009
Chosen by MSNBC, the best 2009 YouTube videos include Susan Boyle at Britain got talent, whose Amazon.com CD was an absolute bestseller Dentist doped kid – David at the dentist Funny JK wedding dance YouTube’s 2009 star was Susan Boyle, the frumpy…
Apple Tablet rumors spread. Device said to launch on January 26
Business Week announces as almost sure that Apple prepares a new consumer device. A 7-10 inch, ITouch like tablet. The tablet might use the patents Apple just applied for this summer, which include off screen haptic controls and haptic feedback . Apple…
Higher education becomes more vocational?
Image by dewfall via Flickr New York Times reflects on an emergent turn toward higher emphasis on “skills” in American colleges. Is this desirable? Should we abandon philosophy departments? How about math? THOMAS COLLEGE, a liberal arts school in Maine, advertises itself…
Independent and interdependent task allocation in Wikipedia editorial work
Image via Wikipedia Wikipedia articles that are controlled by a small group of editors that coordinate their work closely seem to be of higher quality. This is one of the main suggestions made by Kraut an Kittur, whose work was previously featured…
Top 2008-2009 Social Media Strategy Books
A list of influential books on designing successful social media strategies. Gillin – Social Media Marketing and New Influencers Safko – Social Media Bible Weinberg – Community Rules Brogan – Trust Agents Connor – 18 rules for community engagement Qualman – Socialnomics…
How come the Detroit Flight terrorist was not prevented from flying?
Janet Napolitano, the Secretary for Homeland Security, explains the failure. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy The explanation might or might not stand scrutiny. Many have pointed to the fact that the recent terrorist attempted attack…
American Drone Aircraft Video Feed Intercepted by Iranian-backed Hackers in Iraq
The Wall Street Journal announces that US pilotless drones patrolling the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan beam down their video feeds in clear. They use no encryption and anyone can just point their dish at the transponding satellite to “grab” the feed.…
Three great examples of corporate policy guidelines for social media campaigns
Image via Wikipedia Chris Lake, at econsultancy, culled from the web several excellent examples of how big corporations train their empolyees to deal sith social media interactions. Here are just three examples: IBM Don’t pick fights, be the first to correct your…
Near touch display manipulation
Multitouch is out, near touch is in…. The BiDi Screen is an example of a new type of I/O device that possesses the ability to both capture images and display them. This thin, bidirectional screen extends the latest trend in LCD devices,…
Google Chrome OS promises stateless computing on a desktop
What is Google Chrome OS? A little on the simple site, but it’s official… Google OS to come next year. The word of the day is “stateless”… The OS is the web browser… The question is if services like Google Docs will…
Carbon tax tied to Earth temperature might chastise doomsayers, convince deniers
Warming trends over the past 400000 years indicate periodinc cooling and warming periods Image via Wikipedia What if there was a way to make happy all those involved in the global warming debate? McKitrick, who wrote Taken By Storm, a book that…
Communication as social form: an autoecological perspective
Simmel – Image via Wikipedia by Sorin Adam Matei Professor, Purdue University citation: Matei, S A (2019). Communication as social form. [Online]. Available at: https://matei.org/ithink/2009/12/13/communication-as-social-form-an-autoecological-perspective/. Introduction: What is communication for? What role does communication play in society? Although it is quite obvious…
Are content farms good for the net?
Will search engines married to pay per click programs be the victim of their own success? And will they in the process drag the web down with them? According to these two articles, from Wired and Read Write Web, the Internet is…
The best books of 2009 according to Publishers Weekly
Image via Wikipedia Publishers Weekly issued its 2009 best book list. The choices, made out of 50,000 volumes, are at times quirky and cute, but overall the list offers a solid image of who is who and what was (and still is)…
Normandy D-day 1944 – Pictures, then and now
The past is not always a foreign country. It is the the same country, only a little different. This collection of pictures, taken by the historian Patrick Elie, illustrates how little has changed in Normandy since 1944. This wonderful photo gallery complete…
Apple iPhone closing in on BlackBerry market share
Image via CrunchBase Apple is catching up, although RIM still dominates the business market, especially that of secure email. Paul Carton, Director of Research at ChangeWave Research, reported yesterday at investorplace.com that Apple iPhone is gaining steadily on BlackBerry’s market share, a…
Obama Raised Half a Billion Online | washingtonpost.com
Image via Wikipedia The total amount raised by Barack Obama online represents a majority of his 2008 electoral funds. Time to take stock of this reality and think about it for the next electoral cycle. Barack Obama raised half a billion dollars…
SIBIS – European levels of Digital Literacy
Digital Literacy: Index value in age groups Top 5 European countries ordered by digital literacy levels (2003) Denmark UK Finland Austria Spain Data is quite old, I was wondering what does it look like today? Sources: SIBIS GPS 2002, SIBIS GPS-NAS 2003…
SIBIS – Measuring European Information Society
Image via Wikipedia European Union has developed a number of socially conscious frameworks for spurring on adoption and implementation of information technologies in all fields of life. This is especially important as Europe is extremely diverse, covering IT landscapes as diverse as…
The Economist best current affairs books of 2009
The Economist has published its best books of 2009 list. Here they are: Amazon.com Widgets
Chrome Extensions Gallery Officially Opens
Google Chrome now supports an extension gallery, just like Firefox. For now only 18 extensions are available. We can’t wait to see what else is in store. via Chrome Extensions Gallery Officially Opens. Related articles by Zemanta Google Chrome for Mac and…
2d codes make slow progress in the US
Image via Wikipedia The Bits Blog reviews the current situation in the United States when it comes for tagging places with 2d codes. If you walk past the gift shop of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, or Meltdown Comics…
New book by Ken Auletta “Googled” – Review – NYTimes.com
NOTE: Auletta’s Googled has been reviewed on this site, as well, by Sorin Adam Matei. Image via Wikipedia Michiko Kakutani reviews Auletta’s latest media book (author also known for “Three blind mice” and “World War 3.0). “Googled” points both to Google‘s successes…
Pacific Research Institute • Publications • Top Ten Energy Myths
Image by melancholic optimist via Flickr A very interesting list of beliefs people commonly hold about energy. # Myth: Most of our energy comes from oil. Reality: Oil represents less than 40 percent of our energy use. # Myth: Most of our…
A day that will live in infamy: Pearl Harbor Anniversary with Walter Lord’s Classic
On December 7 we remember the surprise Japanese attack that turned World War 2 into the greatest military conflagration of all time. On this day it is worth remembering Walter Lord’s wonderful book, Day of Infamy. View Larger Map
New York Times Launches Times Skimmer: A New Way to Read the Paper Online
Image by Getty Images via Daylife The New York Times just launched a new way to read the paper’s stories online. With Times Skimmer, which first launched as a prototype application earlier this year, the New York Times is trying to bring…
Becta Emerging Technologies – Google developing new speedy web protocol
Is Google planning to bend the entire Internet around its new OS/browser? Will it succeed, where Microsoft failed (namely, to become a global, net centric, OS)? Its announcement of a new communication protocol, followed by that of a new DNS infrastructure and…
Gwiki technologies making headway
When we launched Visible Past a few years ago, there was very low interest in geographic wiki applications. Geo wikis are editable sites that interact with mapping services. (For details, see the Read Write Web covergage of our Visible Past Virtual Omaha…
The China Beat · China’s Lincolnophilia
Image via Wikipedia Alan Wachtman, a Fletcher School alumnus, notes and critiques China’s embracing of Lincolnian unity rhetoric In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Abraham Lincoln’s stance on national unity during the U.S. Civil War and his opposition to the institution…
Aplying Goffman’s frame analysis to online fora
Image via Wikipedia An interesting thought about applying Goffman to online phenomena. A student of mine, Christina Kalinowski, wrote an excellent master thesis on the same topic. Will follow up with more soon. Let me start by shining a light on an…
How to derive social networks from web forum, chat, or other time based asynchronous communication data and conversation threads
Social Network Structure Image via Wikipedia Vehovar Vasja and Ziberna Alesia, the first mentioned previously on this blog for his work on recommending systems, proposes this method for deriving social networking data from conversation threads: Abstract of Measuring ties on online forums…
Digital Barbarism, Mark Helprin
Jay Nordlinger, from National Review strongly recommends “Digital Barbarism” manifesto inspired by Churchill’s motto “I am all for your using machines, but do not let them use you.” In Helprin’s own words “What follows is an affirmation of human nature versus that…
Amazing Software Turns Cheap Webcam Into Instant 3D Scanner
Wired: Gadget Lab via Amazing Software Turns Cheap Webcam Into Instant 3D Scanner.
The End Of The CrunchPad
Image via CrunchBase In major setback, CrunchPad, the touch-only computer tablet that wanted to be what the much rumored Apple Tablet should’ve been, is killed on the launchpad. The tablet was developed as a challenge launched by TechCrunch, a popular geek blog,…
Using Social Network to Predict the Behavior of Active Members of Online Communities
Image via Wikipedia Recipe for constructing a recommender system. In this paper we use the social networks of active members (i.e. authors) in online communities to predict their future behavior. We limit our discussion to web forums, the most generic type of…
It’s crantastic!
Image via Wikipedia Welcome to crantastic, a community site for R packages where you can search for, review and tag CRAN packages. via It’s crantastic!.
Network Challenge
Image via Wikipedia To mark the 40th anniversary of the Internet, DARPA has announced the DARPA Network Challenge, a competition that will explore the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to…
Short Guide to Evaluation of Digital Work – Mlawiki
Image by lucykimbell via Flickr Modern Language Association provides this guide to evaluating digital work for promotion and tenure in the academic world. The main criteria it proposes are: accessibility reviews expert consultations dissemination through conferences and publications linkages assessment deposit plan…
IBM Cat Brain Simulation called a hoax
Henry Markram Image via Wikipedia Ridiculous pretense building upon pipedream smoke, this is the feeling a recent fight between computer scientists working on brain simulations seems to communicate. Two scientists have been pursuing the dream of simulating a simple mammalian brain (neurons,…
Nanowires key to future transistors, electronics
Graph illustrating Moore’s law Image via Wikipedia Purdue researchers set foundations for next generation CPUS. Without smaller wires and transistors the triumphal march described by Moore’s law (computing power as measured by number of transistors per chip will double every 18 months)…
James Cameron’s profile and Avatar behind the scenes images from Wired Magazine
Image via Wikipedia James Cameron‘s career is profiled by Wired in expectation of his latest release, Avatar. The movie has the ambition to be the best and most photorealistic 3d digital animation movie of the 21st century. It follows in Beowulf‘s footsteps,…
Recession might get second lease on life if China collapses
Hear, hear…. PRESIDENT OBAMA’S recent trip to China reflects a symbiotic relationship at the heart of the global economy: China uses American spending power to enlarge its private sector, while America uses Chinese lending power to expand its public sector. Yet this…
Caesar’s oldest known bust found in Arles, France
View Larger Map Dredged up from the murky depths of the Rhône River, beneath a heap of wrecked cars, rotting tires and more than 20 centuries of silt, the statue’s white marble visage was plain as day. “My God, it’s Caesar!” Luc…
Mobile Augmented Reality and Mirror Worlds: Blair MacIntyre
What is augmented reality? Diagram by Gary Hayes via Flickr One of the original augmented reality pioneers is Blair MacIntyre, whose work needs to be more widely known… He works at the Augmented Environments Lab (AEL), a research group in the GVU…
Russia and China Endorse Agency’s Rebuke of Iran – NYTimes.com
Diplomatic reports indicate that Russia and China move toward putting more pressure on Iran. An encouraging sign. Hopefully the pirce tag will not be prohibitive or increase in value over time. Russia and China Endorse Agency’s Rebuke of Iran By HELENE COOPER…
Group of Publishers Is Said to Be Building a Newsstand Online – NYTimes.com
Will it fly? Are magazine articles worth anything outside the glossy covers of their publications? A consortium of magazine publishers including Time Inc. and Condé Nast plan to jointly build an online newsstand for publications in multiple digital formats, according to people…
Op-Ed Columnist – The Other Education – NYTimes.com
How good is your (kid’s) musical education? For reasons having to do with the peculiarities of our civilization, we pay a great deal of attention to our scholastic educations, which are formal and supervised, and we devote much less public thought to…
Deletionists – Schott’s Vocab Blog – NYTimes.com
NYT makes “deletionst”–as in “someone who deletes Wikipedia article on a daily basis”-a notable phrase… In the Wall Street Journal, Julia Angwin and Geoffrey A. Fowler reported on a dramatic decline in the number of Wikipedia editors (down by more than 49,000…
Journal of Information Technology & Politics
A notable journal in the field of computer mediated communication: JITP Manuscripts should have significant theoretical and empirical roots, preferably in both political science and IT, but should at least contain significant content in both areas. We are particularly interested in manuscripts in…
Democracy and E-Rulemaking
Democracy and E-Rulemaking: Web-Based Technologies, Participation, and the Potential for Deliberation David Schlosberg Stephen Zavestoski Stuart W. Shulman ABSTRACT. Deliberative democratic theorists and public participation scholars have become increasingly interested in institutionalized forms of citizen discourse with the state, including those facilitated…