April Advisory Committee Report

A busy month is mostly hidden between the lines of this month's Advisory Committee Report.  To bad, cause I've been really busy.

Posted by prolurkr at 08:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Submission for the MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning

My submission for the MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning is on it's way to review.  Cross your fingers and think good thoughts for me...only good ones work you know.  LOL

That's one more thing marked off the to-do list.  And one more day closer to my "adventure," as Kaye Trammell called my trip.

Posted by prolurkr at 05:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

CFP - Special Issue of Computers in Human Behavior Journal

Integration of Human Factors in Networked Computing A Special Issue of the Computers in Human Behavior Journal

Introduction

With the advancement of the World Wide Web, networked computing has become an essential determinant on how people access and exchange information. The integration of human factors in networked computing has the intrinsic goal of improving the effectiveness of computer-to-human interaction and, ultimately, of human-to-human communication. 

Motivation

Whilst the HCI community looks predominantly at the application layer and the telecommunications community at the lower end of the ISO OSI stack, little work has been published in bridging the gap between these two communities. Indeed, the human element is often neglected in Quality of Service negotiation protocols. Not only does this have a negative and undesirable impact on the user's experience of networked computing, it also discards the potential for more economical resource allocation strategies. With the proliferation of ubiquitous multimedia in predominantly bandwidth-constrained environments, more research is needed towards integrating and mapping perceptual/human factors considerations across the protocol stack and building truly end-to-end communication solutions. 

 Research Topics

The proposed special issue aims to provide a comprehensive synopsis of state-of-the-art research in the area of integrating human factors into network computing, covering both application development and  empirical studies in areas such as virtual reality, multi-sensory based computing, ubiquitous communications, personalization and adaptation according to user needs. This special issue solicits innovative papers on the use of computational intelligence techniques and tools for the adaptive management of multimedia communication networks of the future. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

      *     The influence of task, context and device on the user experience of networked computing
      *     Integration of perceptual, haptic and emotional context in networked computing
      *     User centred evaluation of networked computing applications
      *     Physiological and visual monitoring of human indicators in multimedia systems
      *     The impact of cognitive styles and strategies in tailoring of networked content
      *     Distributed virtual reality systems
      *     Adaptation and Personalisation of distributed content according to perceptual needs 
      *     End-to-end communication architectures incorporating perceptual requirements

 Submission Format

All papers will be peer reviewed. Authors are expected to follow the formatting guidelines of the journal which can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/759/authorinstructions. Please note that for this Special Issue, all submissions should be e-mailed to the guest editors. Submission of a paper implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that if accepted it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher.

Important Dates

Abstract due:  26th May 2006
Notification of paper eligibility  2nd June 2006
Full paper due:  31st August 2006
Reviews due:  13th October 2006
Notification:  27th October 2006
Final Papers due:  1st December 2006

Special Issue Guest Editors

Dr. George Ghinea
School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics
Brunel University
Uxbridge, Middlesex 
UB8 3PH, U.K.
Email: George.Ghinea@brunel.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1895 266033
URL: http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~csstggg2/      

Dr. Sherry Y. Chen
School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics
Brunel University
Uxbridge, Middlesex
UB8 3PH, UK
Email: Sherry.Chen@brunel.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1895 266023
URL: http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~csstsyc/

Posted by prolurkr at 04:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

CFP - Concordia University, Conducting Research Online

Concordia University; Montréal, QC
November 10 - 11, 2006

Technological innovations such as the Internet, cell phones, MP3 players and video game consoles have changed the ways in which people work, play, interact, communicate and define who they are.  As use of these technologies increases, so have the methodological opportunities for researchers who study the ways in which people, both children and adults, use and experience digital culture. Academic interest surrounding these emerging technologies varies as widely as the disciplines themselves.

This poses a variety of challenges in researching digital culture given that every discipline employs unique methodologies specific to their field of study. As this type of research is still emerging, opportunities for the development of original and innovative ways of capturing on-line experiences continue to arise. This makes it particularly important for scholars across a variety of disciplines to come together to share the ways in which they have pushed the limits of traditional methods and overcome the challenges of research surrounding digital culture.

We aim to invite those who have an interest in and experience with conducting research online, not only as a tool but as space of inquiry. We hope to attract a range of scholars, from students who are beginning their research to seasoned academics who can share their experiences working with digital methods. The goal of this symposium is to encourage informal discussion, therefore participation will be limited.  For this, we invite papers that focus on but not limited to:

* Ethical Issues
* Researching video game console culture
* Fieldwork Boundaries & Possibilities
* From online & offline and back again: the question of merging identity
* Post-Virtual Research: Situating the virtual as a space of inquiry after the real/virtual debate
* Ethnography in cyberspace
* The future of qualitative research online

*SUBMISSION INFORMATION:  *
300-500 word abstract, excluding references
Deadline for Submissions: July 1st, 2006
Notification of Acceptance: September 1st, 2006

Please send a copy of your abstract  to *both* Shanly Dixon, Humanitites (dixons@alcor.concordia.ca) & Kelly Boudreau, Sociology & Anthropology (kelly@gamecode.ca)

Posted by prolurkr at 04:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

CFP - "Brushing Up Against The Grain": Creative readings (between the lines) of old Benjamin

This is a conference I wish I could afford to attend.  For those of you downunder, go and send me notes?  LOL

Proposals for papers are invited for a panel at the "Walter Benjamin and the Architecture of Modernity" conference to be held in Sydney, August 17 - 19

Panel Title; "Brushing Up Against The Grain": Creative readings (between the lines) of old Benjamin.

Chair; John Grech

Panel Description

Walter Benjamin often expresses his most profound thoughts with a poetic, mystical, and, one could add, subtle Kabbalistic tenor. Indeed, one of the features of his writing is that he seems quite deliberately careful to camouflage or remove the prospect of creating a direct, indexical significance of what he could be seen to be saying in his writing. Instead of providing textual certainty, Benjamin can sometimes leave his reader with a sense of the mysterious and elusive effect of language and the meaning it can produce.

This panel forefronts the textual ambiguity and uncertainty and seeks creative, innovative, alternative, and/or intertextual dialogues "between the lines" of part or the whole of Benjamin's oeuvre. Welcome approaches would re-read specific essays in Benjamin's work and open up, again, and interrogate the basic questions or problems they pose. For example, in "The Task of the Translator", why does Benjamin finally land in a bottomless abyss where the specific language of an author and their translator opens up to the infinitude of 'pure language'? Or, in "The Arcades Project", to what effect did he so carefully juxtapose the discarded shards of culture into an evocative walk through the arcades of historical debris? And, in "Theses on the Philosophy of History", what does the account of Paul Klee's 'Angelus Novus', amongst images of vanquished Carthagians and victorious ruling Romans, suggest about the way we re-member and re-collect the past?

Other welcome approaches could re-interpret Benjamin's work into contemporary contexts and examine whether his work continues to be relevant. For example, turning to "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", Benjamin goes to great length to show that the greatest threat facing humanity is fascism, and the most powerful weapon the fascist dictator has is modern technology with its capacity to standardise the production of the artifact and universalise its meaning. But is such a virulent anti-totalitarian critique still relevant in a partial, oversaturated age of new media? And is Benjamin really saying that the 'aura' of the reproduced artifact is irretrievably depleted? So how do contemporary advocates of global democracy respond to his critique of the social bonds and cultural relations produced through reproduced/reproducing objects? Then Benjamin ends the "Mechanical Reproduction" essay by portraying communism as a great liberator of humanity, but who, after 1989, or, in fact, after Sartre after Kruschev, still believes this? Is there something still in old Benjamin's consideration of communism that remains productive? What does Benjamin offer in a post 9/11 world?

In addressing such or other questions, this panel asks whether there is an overarching project in Benjamin's writing, and if there is, whether that project is yet, and is always in need of being articulated?

Abstracts of 300 words should be submitted to John Grech <John.M.Grech@uts.edu.au> by 16th June.

Posted by prolurkr at 10:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Anconia RocketPost

I've been using Anconia RocketPost for my blog entries, I love the program but the technical support leaves something to be desired.  I've had a problem running the software that I need their advice in correcting.  To date I have emailed one of the programmers directly, he has commented here in the past, then after receiving no response I submitted a tech support form through the website...still no response.  I'm not sure what the problem is, and I hope they figure out what holds up their customer service so that those of us who have bought the program can use it.

Posted by prolurkr at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

New (in press) book chapter

We received notice last week that BROG's latest work has been accepted. So here is the citation for our new (in press) book chapter.

Herring, Susan C., Scheidt, Lois Ann, Kouper, Inna, and Wright, Elijah (in press). A Longitudinal Content Analysis of Weblogs: 2003-2004. In Tremayne, Mark (Ed.), Blogging, Citizenship and the Future of Media. London: Routledge. Available at http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~herring/tremayne.pdf.

Posted by prolurkr at 03:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Platial Map for Colorado Trip

Platial lets you create custom Google maps, so I set-up one for the Colorado trip. Check out Prolurkr's Colorado Trip. Sorry no RSS feed, which they should have to at least let you know that its been updated.

Posted by prolurkr at 12:57 PM | Comments (2)

Little time for blogging

It's that time of the semester where everything starts closing in...Are all the labs written and posted? Is grading up to date? You know those kind of things. Well this semester it is worse than usual since I will be leaving, in May, during finals week and won't be back until the middle June.

All of this is leading to my telling you that time between posts will be increasing from now, well last week actually, until the sometime at the end of June. Hang with me because interesting posts on blogs and grad school are in the making, I have a list of stuff I want to talk about that I will be using after quals is done.

What I have to do between now and May 7, in no particular order (italics denotes future dates):

• Finish grading for the semester.
  • Completed May 2, 2006..
• Post grades for the semester to the Registrar.
  • Completed May 7, 2006.
• Clean out the last of the stuff in my office, my fellowship will be over.
  • Completed April 25, 2006.
• Write my final report on my fellowship.
  • I've delayed this paper until after May 9 - or when most everything else is done - as it is not actually due until after the fellowship ends.
• Write a 3-page abstract for an edited collection, this includes completing the library research that leads to the abstract.
  • Completed and passed on to a colleague for comment prior to submission, April 24, 2006. 
  • Submitted April 28, 2006.
• Write a short abstract for a conference.
  • Written and submitted April 10, 2006.
• Write a peer review for a journal.
  • Written and submitted April 10, 2006.
• Assist BROG in finalizing our Sunbelt presentation.
  • Completed April 24, 2006.
  • Presented April 28, 2006.
• Get my house in enough order that I can leave hubby alone with the critters without feeling worse about it than I already do because I'm running out on them.
  • Completed May 2, 2006.
• Finalize stuff on the business end of my family farm so that planting can take place this spring.
  • Basically in place as of April 18, 2006. At least I hope this is all of it.
• Get tax stuff done.
  • Completed April 23, 2006.
• Get stuff ready to go to CO - including finalizing routes and reservations while enroute, and packing, among other things.
  • Completed May 3, 2006.
• Revise my Annual Review paperwork based on comments.
  • First revision completed April 13, 2006. Final revision completed April 20, 2006.
• Chair my Annual Review meeting.
  • Completed April 20, 2006. Now to send it around to all the committee members for signatures.
• Get the car checked over before it and I do roughly 2650 miles of driving.
  • Completed April 14, 2006.

Posted by prolurkr at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

CFP - Interdisciplinary Conference in Women's Studies

Interdisciplinary Conference in Women's Studies
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
February 22-24, 2007

Proposal Information
We invite proposals for individual papers, panels, and other presentation formats such as roundtables, posters, and performances with scholarly and/or activist emphasis, addressing the general conference topic of women's studies or the featured theme of "Performing Gender." Proposals are welcome from all scholarly fields and disciplines, including the sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts, design, business, sports, and cultural studies.

"Performing Gender" involves a wide spectrum of subjects and approaches. Possible topics might address the following questions. How is gender enacted? How does gender performance-and critique of that performance-affect other aspects of society? What are the consequences of gender performance? What are the implications of race, class, and nationality for gender performance? How do gender performance, sexuality, and sexual orientation intersect? What facets of gender performance remain largely unacknowledged?
How has the backlash against conscious gender performance framed itself? How do various social groups negotiate gender?

Possible topics addressing the theme of "performing gender":

• The Biology, Sociology, and Psychology of Transgender & Transsexuality
• Race, Ethnicity, and Class in the Performance of Gender
• Media Genders
• Globalizing Gender: International Gender Performances
• Performing Queer Gender
• Marketing and Advertising: The Commodification of Gender
• Gender Identity in the Visual Arts
• Science and the Study of Gender Performance
• Corporate Genders: Doing Business, Doing Self
• Sports and Gender Performance
• Cyborgs, Cyberspace and Cybersex: Performing Gender Online
• Children, the Family, and Gender Performance
• Performing Gender and Medicine: Illness and Etiology
• Gendered Language and Speech Performance
• Gender and War
• The Theater of Gender Performance
• Performing the Academy: Gender in the Classroom
• Literary Genders: Performance in/and the Text
• Fashion and Gender Performance
• Presentations and Representations of the Gendered Self
• Feminism and Gender
• Religion and Gender Performance
• Gender Performance and Ecology
• The Ethics of Performing Gender
• Politics of/and Gender Performance
• Voyeurism: Watching Gender Performance

Proposals for 18-20-minute individual presentations and for posters should be 250-500 words, with working bibliography. Panel proposals should include 250-500 word abstracts and bibliographies for each presentation (2-3 per panel). Workshop and performance proposals (up to one hour in length) should include a description of purpose, form, and content. Include name, contact information, and a brief c.v. with all proposals.

All materials should be postmarked or received by email/fax by September 1, 2006.

Send proposals to
Elyce Rae Helford, Conference Chair
Women's Studies Program, Box 498
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
telephone: (615) 898-5910 fax: (615) 898-5289
email: womenstu@mtsu.edu

Posted by prolurkr at 11:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

CFP - The Archive, the Book, and the Library

The Archive, the Book, and the Library
Proposed Panel for Modernist Studies Association 8 (2006)
October 19-22, 2006, Tulsa, OK

This panel seeks proposals on modernist critiques of (and experimentation with) the technology and institutions of the book. In what ways did modernist authors and movements address the material manifestations of literature, both old and emerging, in an effort to "make it new"? Papers might address the relationship between print and manuscript, the role of the printing press, the relationship between modernist authors and publishers, booksellers, libraries, and universities, the use of the typewriter, methods of reading, and experimental or utopian bookmaking.

Some examples might include: Pound's advocation of a "loose-leaf" system instead of bound anthologies, to keep the best material in front; the influence of late 19th-century sentence diagrams on modernist poetry (e.g., Stein, Williams); the burning of the library in Williams's *Paterson*; avant-garde (especially Futurist and Constructivist) experimentation with printing and typesets; Olson's use of the typewriter (or O'Hara's use of the telephone) and other new technologies; and other related topics.

Please send a maximum 500-word abstract along with a brief bio/CV to Timothy Carmody at carmody@sas.upenn.edu by April 20. Inquiries welcome.

Posted by prolurkr at 11:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Indiana’s stormy weekend

Maybe it's a sign about time change but most likely it is just another windy stormy spring in Indiana. Friday night a tornado did significant damage to Flat Rock Indiana, a small town near my church. The historic local Methodist church looks like it is a total loss, I haven't heard anything official yet. Very heart breaking for their small congregation. Please keep these good folks in your thoughts. (Click on the picture of the church to see a larger version of the image.)

Last night a tornado destroyed a couple of houses, and did lots of damage to others in Seymour Indiana, which is in the county south of us. We had significant winds here and lots of rain. Interestingly we lost our satellite internet and TV connects for about a hour...clouds were too thick. But our satellite radio connection worked the entire time.

Also last night straightline winds or a tornado did some serious damage in Indianapolis, check out the story Regions Bank Building Damage Forces Businesses to Relocate with pictures. Not the states best face to show our Final Four visitors. I'm just glad I didn't have to go to the IUPUI campus today, not only was the city going to be a zoo with all the visitors now a significant number of downtown streets are closed so that pieces of the building don't fall on people.

Oh dear, maybe on second thought it is a time change issue.

Posted by prolurkr at 09:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Indiana’s first day of daylight savings time

Today is Indiana's first day of daylight savins time in over 30 years. What can I say, we ran around resetting clocks last night before bed. What a silly thing to do, as though they can actually legislate the time.

The transition here has been interesting, and knowing Indiana politics I would not assume it's a done deal. You see something like 60% of the population don't want daylight savings time, but our governor was elected on a platform that made daylight savings time one of his top agenda items...Yes I get the dichotomy. Personally I was for the change for many years, though I have not been supporting it this time. The whole thing was handled very badly and that made me reconsider my thinking on the subject.

Just so you know time in Indiana is not a simpler thing now. Take a look at the map on the right, I took this from the Toledo Blade's article Times are a-changin' across all of Indiana. Where I am in south central Indiana we will be on Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The northwestern section of the state will be on Central Daylight Time (CDT). And finally the toes of Indiana, the southwestern counties, are also on CDT. So when you are calling someone in Indiana you better know what county they are in so you can figure out what time it is. LOL And this is an improvement over the old system in what ways? LOL Oh well wouldn't want to let the governor down now would we.

Posted by prolurkr at 09:23 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 2006 Advisory Committee Update

Another month completed, another update written - March 2006 Advisory Committee Update.

Posted by prolurkr at 08:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack