Changes to the quotes sidebar

Today after a great lunch at Joe's Crab Shack with Elijah - Thanks E - as I drove around running errands, I finalized my decision to remove John McCain's quotation from prolurker's sidebar during the Presidential Campaign. While I deeply appreciate McCain's words, and had noted after the quotation the full citation for them, but it still feels too much like a political endorsement that is contrary to my beliefs. So I have replaced McCain's words -

Don't let fear convince you that you're too weak to have courage. Fear is the opportunity for courage, not the proof of cowardice.
McCain, John (2004, September). In Search of Courage: Finding the Courage Within You. FastCompany, 51-56.

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.

When they locked up the incurably sick, I remained silent; I was not incurably sick.

When they came for the Jehovah's Witnesses, I did not speak out; I was not a Jehovah's Witnesses.

When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for the people in occupied countries, I remained silent; I wasn't a person in an occupied country.

When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

Rev. Pastor Niemöller was a distant relative of my childhood neighbor Clarence Niemoeller, a man for whom I have a deep and abiding love and respect and that goes for his wife Etta too - both have moved on to the next life and are missed here. Clarence bore a resemblance to the Rev. Pastor. Not that you can tell from his 1917 sophomore year group picture the only photo of him I found online.

Posted by prolurkr at 07:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

CFP - Emerging Ethical Issues of Life in Virtual Worlds

Emerging Ethical Issues of Life in Virtual Worlds
Call for chapters

Scholarly articles on emerging issues of life in virtual worlds such as Second Life are solicited. Work that connects streams of ethics research and theory to virtual worlds as they are and to what they are developing into is particularly sought. Among the virtual world issues explicitly invited are: privacy, monitoring and eavesdropping, the fear of being exploited, the loss of identity, ethical impacts of aesthetic decisions, values and ethics manifested in the social processes and their relevance for activities such as design there, professional ethics, standards of integrity given identity issues and practices, malevolence and altruism, legal and ethical doctrines of confidential and privileged information, ethics for students and instructors, ethical development stages and issues, vandalism, harassment and crime, how ethics and values are inscribed in the discourse and practices of social groups, and how they can change and emerge in the midst of pragmatic concerns, such as collective tasks.

Proposals of any length are welcome, though the more detailed and clear the easier it will be for us to have it properly reviewed. Also, include your full contact information, institution affiliation and position. Please include information on your related publications and other work.

Schedule.
Proposals due August 15, 2008.
Notification of acceptance/rejection decision after review process, September 1, 2008.
First drafts of chapters due, January 15, 2009.
Revised final drafts due, March 15, 2009.
Publication, June 15, 2009 (Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC).

Editors: Charles Wankel, St. John's University, New York, and Shaun Malleck,
University of California, Irvine. Send all correspondence to bothwankelc@stjohns.edu
and skmalleck@gmail.com . Include in the subject field VW ETHICS.

Posted by prolurkr at 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Podcasters wanted for a study

Hello Podcasters!

My name is Kris Markman and I am a researcher in the Department of Communication at the University of Memphis. You are invited to participate in a survey of independent podcasters. The goal of this research is to find out more about what you are doing and what has motivated you to become a podcaster. The survey is online and your responses are anonymous. By participating in this survey, you have a chance to help spread the word about podcasting and increase the visibility of independent podcasters to academics and the general public.

To find out more information about the survey and to participate, please go to https://umdrive.memphis.edu/kmmrkman/www/podcasting.html

You can find out more about me and my research at my home page:
https://umdrive.memphis.edu/kmmrkman/www If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at k.markman at memphis.edu

Thank you!

Kris M. Markman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication
University of Memphis

Posted by prolurkr at 07:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Research in GoogleBooks

So many of the books I want to read are not available through the Indiana University Libraries or are in long-term storage, I place that must be on Pluto given how long it takes to get a book out of long-term storage. I long ago found that many of the books I want are available on GoogleBooks but given first the problems of reading lengthy works on a computer screen and the lack of annotation tools or page prints, I had pretty much only gone to their site to double check front matter before I put through an inter-library loan fo the real paper book.

Well I think that practice might have changed today. Today I found FireShot, an add-on for Firefox that allows you to both take page shots and annotate them. I still love SnagIT for clips but the annotation feature here might make FireShot the preferred alternative for this researchers work with full pages. Hummm Wonder how I can use it for research?

p.s. This is a first release so undoubtedly there are a few bugs to workout.

Posted by prolurkr at 11:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Internet Studies Festival

Ahh to have easy access to Europe...where, I have to admit, a lot of the fun academic stuff happens.
___________________________________________________
Are you a researcher or postgraduate student studying the Internet? Are you a recent graduate, interested in doing an MA in Internet and Communication studies? Then this event is for you! Liverpool John Moores University invites you to the *Internet Studies Festival*: an exciting one-day event that brings together young and experienced scholars working in the area. Join us on *the 18th of July 2008 from 10am all day* to learn about Facebook and blogging; on-line communities and chatrooms; Internet in many languages and ethics of Internet research. Come and get a chance to meet colleagues from around the UK, John Moores staff and current MA students who are at the
forefront of this new and exciting field

The Festival will include presentations, discussions and an exciting book fair. Tea, coffee and lunch will be provided to all registered participants.

To register (free of charge!) please visit our website: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/MCA/91522.htm

Posted by prolurkr at 09:41 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack