betwixt & between

Farewell to Betwixt and Between

2007-08-31T13:53:00.000+02:00

I have finally forced myself to admit that I have too many blogs. I have a regular blogging berth at nmrg and I have my occasional 'project blog' at Writings not for WIMPs. I enjoy blogging about my work life and research interests so I have decided to pour my blogging energy into these two. My personal life is well 'personal' (in so much as that word has any meaning in the era of facebook and google) and not really something I have enjoyed blogging about. So it is time to say farewell to this blog. It was a fun experiment while it lasted!

This will be the last post on this feed. If there are any more it will either be me being absent-minded or else it will be some kind of internet nuisance...either way you can be forgiven for ignoring it!

regards

G

Adam Greenfield

2007-08-21T16:50:00.001+02:00

Adam Greenfield
Originally uploaded by Esthr

I am blogging about Adam Greenfield's book over on nmrg (http://mad.beds.ac.uk/nmrg/ ).and I have just found this image to illuminate the page.

I have a Facebook account

2007-08-02T12:24:00.000+02:00

Further to my previous posts about having a MySpace account I have now joined the long line of lemmings leaping into Facebook. I have to say that so far it has proved to be a much more lively experience than the odd bit of spam (and the odd good friend) that has marked my months in MySpace. I have bumped into a number of old friends and I have also made some new acquaintances.

My move to Facebook was prompted by the fact that some of my students were doing research on social software. It seemed appropriate to have a look in at what was going on. However, this has also introduced complication in the supervisor/student relationship as I now know when the guys are out on the town, who they were with and where it all ended up. I have to say that for the most part their photos and their posting of their antics make me rather jealous.

I have particularly enjoyed the Facebook applications. Now when I add a book to my library or I book mark an interesting page on del.cio.us it pops up on Facebook and others comment on what I have read or make recommendations. This is a good example of the power of a mash-up. i have also enjoyed the fact that these applications are built by third party types rather than by facebook. A good example of what an open API can do for your business.

However, I do wondered at the sanity of a system based on a database. Facebook collects and centralises data that hitherto was either tacit, not collected or lay moldering in all sorts of locations. It is all very Big Brother 2.0 don't you think!

However, I have decided that betwixt and between is my personal blog so I will take those thoughts over to nmrg (my work blog). See you on the dark side of the moon!

Boats at Crealy's Adventure Park

2007-07-30T18:25:00.001+02:00

Boats at Crealy's
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart

It is the summer holiday again.

Unlike last year, however, when I was fried alive whilst down in Devon this year it rained.

Not to worry there was still plenty to do and the sun did come out during a family outing to Crealy's Adventure Park. We even had chance to get wet for fun on these strange circular boats.

I have a mySpace page

2007-06-27T17:27:00.001+02:00

I have succumbed to the urge to join in with all the rampant self-promotion and social networking boo-hooey going on over on mySpace.

You can see my profile if you like at the imaginatively title URL - http://www.myspace.com/gavinandrewstewart.

I am interested to know whether any good will come of this rather feeble attempt at self-marketing or whether I still remain Mister Nobby No-gigs at the end of the year.

Let me know what you think!

Poetry and Jazz - Hitchin Festival 2007

2007-06-16T11:41:00.000+02:00

Tuesday 3rd July at 8.00 pm

“I remember, I remember…” – an evening of poetry on the theme of Childhood

New this year: ‘Open Mic’ –your chance to participate in the Festival

Choose a poem of up to 40 lines about Childhood– one of your own or by someone else – then ring 01462-431098 to book a reading slot (places are limited) plus Ware Poets reading poems about their own youth (mis-spent or otherwise!)

Interspersed with Jazz from Brian Benton (sax) and Russell Williams (keyboards).

The British Schools, Queen St., Hitchin (opposite Netto) Tickets £5 from the Festival Box Office, 27 Churchyard, Hitchin SG5 1HP or ring 01462-453336 for credit card bookings 10am – 3pm (after 11 June)

Tuesday 17th July at 8.00 pm

Two contrasting poets - Alan Murray - winner of the Torbay Open Poetry Competition 2004. Alan’s very accessible poems frequently reveal his other life as a philosopher. Ann Drysdale author of 4 collections published by Peterloo Poets. Ann’s well-crafted verse ranges from the thoughtful to the witty – often simultaneously.

Interspersed with Jazz from Brian Benton (sax) and Russell Williams (keyboards).

The British Schools, Queen St., Hitchin (opposite Netto) Tickets £5 from the Festival Box Office, 27 Churchyard, Hitchin SG5 1HP or ring 01462-453336 for credit card bookings 10am – 3pm (after 11 June)

Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition 2007

2007-06-14T10:03:00.000+02:00

I have had some good news today. I won 4th Prize in the annual Ware Open Poetry Competition with 'Theatre of War: Summer 1940'. According to the competition organizers there were 1269 entries so it was nice to have a poem singled out. My poem was listed with some poets that I know and value (Michael Henry, Jenny Hamlett, Andre Mangeot). It was also very pleasing to be picked out by Tamar Yoseloff, as she is a poet-critic I have come to value of late (more of that later).

There is going to be a competition reading so if you are in or around Herfordshire on Friday 6th July 2007 then there will be a reading at 8.00pm at the Ware Arts Centre. The first half will be the competition winners. The second half will Tamar Yoseloff.

See there!

Library Thing: Outage

2007-06-11T10:27:00.001+02:00

I knew I should not have sung the praises of the Library Thing widget the other day! For having put the thing in I was greeted with this message when I log on this morning to add a new book:

We're having some issues with a database, and had to take the site down. We're working on it, and the site will hopefully be back up later tonight. Our apologies for the outage.

To be fair, this kind of thing can happen to the best of us. I have knocked over a database or two in my time. I don't want to single out library thing, however, this kind of problem draws attention to a particular quality of a 'web service'. It is only any good if you can get access to the thing.

Now I know that all software is unreliable, however, a web service is unreliable in an interesting kind of a way. Let's face it, you can not get out the manual and fix a web service. Furthermore, you can't re-install it or even switch the server off and on as a last resort. You have to wait and wonder (and then look foolish). Now I know this means that I probably won't waste lots of my time on an unwanted repair task (there are economies of scale even when the service is free to the customer). Furthermore, it also means that library thing will have professional staff to get sweaty and swear but it is still largely out of my control. It is an unwelcome return of the black box blues. Furthermore, it is a return to a deep sense of frustration because the danger of any kind of outsourced service (web-based or otherwise) is that you become dependent upon it to function when you need it (and it will, of course, always fail at the least opportune moment).

I wonder how reliable web services are? Am I making something of nothing here? I welcome your comments!

Rabies? Me...!

2007-06-05T21:12:00.001+02:00

Rabies? Me...!
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart

Nice shot from a day at Greenwich.

Library Thing Widget

2007-06-05T16:50:00.000+02:00

I am having a widget day.

I have added the Library Thing 'Recent Books in My Library' widget code to the left-hand column of this blog. I think it provides a nice splash of colour to an otherwise rather dull format. It makes me look literate (which is a good look for a writer) and alive to what is going on. I also fills up a rather large hole underneath the technorati widget I added awhile back. I also noticed that Library Thing provide me with an opportunity to add an Amazon associate number to this widget. At present I don't have an associates number so any click through revenue will go to the nice people at Library Thing. However, if the pennies get any tighter I will forced to join the long list of bloggers who live off their internet advertising revenues. Que sera sera!

Gavin Stewart Poetry Reading: Leighton Buzzard Library

2007-05-10T15:52:00.000+02:00

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came to my reading at Leighton Buzzard on Tuesday 8th. The venue was pretty much full and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Thanks also to the organizers of the Leighton Buzzard Arts Festival for putting on such an excellent series of events.

PS Don’t forget to attend ‘Voltage’ a reading by Mark Goodwin (Tuesday 15th May 2007 Leighton Buzzard Library 12.30-1.30pm - Tickets Free)

nmrg blog: participation

2007-04-27T16:00:00.000+02:00

I have just posted about 'participation' to the new 'nmrg' blog. This is a collaborative blog which is being conducted by members of the new media reading group of the School of Media, Art and Design at the University of Bedfordshire.

It is nice to be part of this collaboration. It takes the pressure off me to keep posting. It is also nice to be part of a research community which is interested matters similar to my own interests. I enjoy the delicious tag 'nmrg' almost as much as I enjoy the post!

From Morph to Flushed Away: Peter Lord

2007-04-26T20:27:00.000+02:00

From Morph to Flushed Away
Peter Lord, 15th May, Cope Auditorium, Loughborough University

Loughborough University School of Art and Design is pleased to
announce its public lecture series exploring dynamic issues in
contemporary art and design.

PETER LORD is co-owner and Creative Director of Aardman, which he co-
founded with his long-time collaborator David Sproxton in 1972. As a
director, Lord has been honoured with two Academy Award® nominations
for Best Animated Short, the first in 1992 for Adam, and again in
1996 for Wat’s Pig. He has also earned BAFTA nominations for Adam,
The Amazing Adventures of Morph and War Story.

In 2000, Lord teamed up with Nick Park to co-direct Aardman’s first
full-length feature Chicken Run, starring the voice of Mel Gibson,
which was a commercial and critical smash. Lord also
produced the Oscar-winning first feature length film starring Wallace
and his faithful canine sidekick Gromit. Wallace and Gromit - The
Curse of the Were-Rabbit was released in 2005.

Lord was involved in the production of Aardman’s latest feature film
Flushed Away which was produced in collaboration with DreamWorks in
Glendale LA. It was Aardman’s first foray into CGI and was released
worldwide at the end of 2006. Peter continues to be heavily involved
in the development of Aardman’s future feature films.

Peter Lord is a visiting professor at UWE and also attends numerous
animation and film festivals to give talks and sit on jurys.

In 2006 Peter Lord and David Sproxton celebrated 30 years of Aardman
and were awarded CBE’s in the Queens Birthday honours list.

The talk will be accompanied by an exhibition of Aardman archive
material, includng a cartoon history of Aardman and a special
screening of short stop motion animations made by local students as
part of a series of workshops held over the Easter Break.

Tickets for this event are free, but must be booked through Animation
Academy. Please contact Gareth Howell - g.s.howell@lboro.ac.uk to
book a ticket.

Kindly supported by the Helen Jean Cope Trust.

www.animationacademy.co.uk

Earth Day 2007: Soulbury Millennium Green

2007-04-22T16:29:00.000+02:00

I have just found out that it is Earth Day today. This is a pleasant coincidence since I have just been up at Soulbury Millennium Green on a working party day. It was great to see how much this project has developed since the 1990s when I first worked as volunteer putting in a dipping platform over the pond. I was impressed by how much the vision set out in the run up to the year 2000 has become a reality.The fruit trees have mature and everything looks less raw. It was also nice to working outside again on a fine Spring.

Sometimes this small planet of ours is a joy to be around!

Ever wondered what happens to all that stuff that folks chuck into the canal

2007-04-21T19:26:00.001+02:00

Clearing out the Grand Union Canal
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

Cycle Protest at Wing Road Roundabout

2007-04-21T13:44:00.001+02:00

Cycle Protest at Wing Road Roundabout
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

I was up at the Cycle Protest on the roundabout on Wing Road this morning as a citizen-journalist. I was happy to support this cause because a bridge is required to provide safe access for school children and adults commuting between Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, Wing and Aylesbury.

The bridge was promised in the original plan for the Linslade bypass but Bucks CC now say they will not build the bridge because they have run out of money. The ill-considered actions of Bucks CC have been condemned by a wide cross section of the population and by local and national politicians including Andrew Sealous, MP.

You can see more pictures on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinandrewstewart/sets/72157600102257305/

Boris Johnson at the University of Bedfordshire

2007-04-20T16:04:00.000+02:00

What to make of Boris Johnson?

I know this an unlikely question for me to address on 'Betwixt and Between' however the question arose because the University of Bedfordshire played host to the Shadow Minister for Higher Education today and I was lucky enough to attend the Q & A session that marked the end of his visit.

I have to say that my first impression of Big Boris is that he is something of a caricature. He bumbles and mumbles (and his hair resembles a peroxide haystack). However, he also has charisma and is quite capable of delivering both wit and charm. For example, he began his opening remarks to the gathered audience of students and staff by noting that he was glad to be in Luton as “it was one of the few places in the UK that I have not insulted”. He then followed this up by re-iterating (apparently from memory) many of the bullet-points made by the VC over the course of the day that placed the University of Bedfordshire as a “top” institution. This was greeted, needless to say, by crowd-pleased applause. We were not quite eating out of his hand but we were not throwing eggs either!

The structure of the Q&A session was also an insight into the world of Boris. The VC offered him a chance to make some opening remarks (Policy on the hoof? Remarks about Conservative plans for the HE sector?). However, our guest avoided making a speech and instead made some well-received remarks - about the importance of getting positive male role-models into primary schools - the need to support physics in schools and universities - and then conducted a straw poll on the renewal of Trident. He then moved on to the questions from the audience.

One of my colleagues raised the difficulties faced by students with disabilities. This is an important issue. The UoB, for example, has 900 students with registered disabilities and we are keen for them to complete their degrees. However, many students across the country are dropping out of courses due to lack of adequate funding. Boris gave the impression that he was listening and willing to take up the issue in Westminster.

The issue of the Aimhigher scheme also came up. Boris avoided the obvious oppositional stance noting that he thought this scheme was "good" before noting that it might necessary to question whether its methods are working.

Boris made a number of commitments to social justice and equality of opportunity while answering questions. For example, he argued that it was important that every child could read and write properly ('synthetic phonics', 'grammar' and 'zero tolerance of errors in punctuation' were the dish of the day). He also sounded convincing when he argued that we needed to give VCs more autonomy so that they could run their institutions as they see fit.

However, I felt that some of the questions from the floor were dealt with without recourse to a substantive answer. Questions about the RAE, student funding and others got short, rather vague answers. Boris was, however, willing to ask questions which gave me the impression that he was genuinely keen to hear an answer to the question that audience had posed him. Sometimes, however, this willingness to listen also gave the impression that the MP for Henley did not really know what his policy might be on these key areas.

Boris was never without a quotable word. He is sound-bite man. I found myself jotting down his quips even when I found his answers disappointing. For example, the Q&A drifted onto the subject of the governance of Oxford and Cambridge. Boris noted that despite the financial issues it was highly unlikely that either of them would become a private institution, noting that they were a "hotbed of cold feet".

I began this posting by asking a rhetorical question. What to make of Boris Johnson? Well he is a mix bag really. A colourful, energetic and charismatic man with a rather odd manner. Whether he will make a good minister of state is another question. I recommend seeing the man up close and I also recommend that you see through his charm and ask yourself about his answers (as well as his hair do).

Flickr = 2000 views

2007-04-10T11:45:00.001+02:00

Space Centre - Leicester
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

I noticed today that I have clocked up over 2000 views on my flickr account. It seemed fitting to post one of my latest pictures to mark this small milestone event.

My five most-viewed pictures make some interesting reading:-

Number 1 is an image of Pat Kane ( WetWetWet?) playing lego at Playtime! last autumn (140 views). He's a pop star so I guess his fans are looking at this one ( though I would be intrigued to know how they come across this particular image - tags? search engine?)

Number 2 is a picture of the the toilet queue for the Big Green Gathering BGG (107 views). There are no famous people in shot, however, I included this image in a flickr group dedicated to the festival and I am guessing that there are a number of people ( like me) fascinated by the pragmatic side of big public events.

Number 3 is a photograph I am actually proud of. This is a an image of a 'green goddess' piece of art work I shot at the BGG last summer ( 106 views).

Number 4 is a also a rather nice shot of a group of kids playing with a large inflatable world (93 views). I am proud of the fact that a couple of people have even made these last two images favourites. I am not a photographer so it is a great honour to have a stranger pick out one of my snaps.

Number 5 is an image from 1989. I loaded up some scans of the pictures I took in Berlin when the wall came down (85 views). This is clearly still an important event as a number of my images of this historic moment have been looked at over the last year.

The image that accompanies this post is a detail of the air conditioning system on the tower of the Space Centre in Leicester, UK. I rather liked these bits of pipe because they reminded me of hands clutching the side of the building. Let's see how well this image does in Gavin's photo chart 2007.

Nexus: Call for short films

2007-04-05T11:06:00.000+02:00

As part of it's programme of art on the metro, Nexus presents a video showcase of short film work at Gateshead central station. The project has been made with Nexus working in collaboration with local practitioners. We wish for the screen to be a public resource. It's initial run will be for the next 3 weeks, from Saturday 24th March, but if there is enough enthusiasm for the projection we will be extending it's run. If you feel you have a work that you would like to contribute to the screen, a short film you think we would find suitable 1-5mins in length, and viewable for all ages, and would suit the environment then please email: mailto:NexusVideoArtScreen@hotmail.co.uk.

PhD Graduation - University of Beds

2007-04-03T14:29:00.001+02:00

Gavin's PhD Graduation
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

www.gavinstewart.net will be down for maintenance

2007-03-30T17:41:00.000+02:00

Please note www.gavinstewart.net ( and all its subsidiary sub-domains) will be down for essential server maintenance from Friday 6th April ar 15:00 through Saturday 7th April at approximately 20:00. This blog, however, will be up as it is kept on a different service!

Tequila sunrise

2007-03-30T17:32:00.001+02:00

Tequila sunrise
Originally uploaded by Woof !.

Another cool image from that man Woof!

Out of Hours: University of Beds March 21st 2007

2007-03-26T13:17:00.000+02:00

I have just read a nice write-up of the Out of Hours event at the University of Bedfordshire written by Kevin Doran . Both Slippage and Moon Road (which is part of the Homecoming project) are up on the web so you are welcome to check them out. He described my work as "interesting and well put together". Kevin also managed to capture some of the other performances on video which he has put up on YouTube. He seemed to be particularly taken with Dave Bessell's piece. I must say that I agree that DB's entrance was very atmospheric and somewhat like a scene out of the classic film 'Alien'.

Number of the Beast: President Bush in Office

2007-03-26T12:55:00.000+02:00

Did you know that there are 666 days until we get a new president of the Benighted State of America?

I know this somewhat odd fact care of the 'President Bush Countdown' add-on for the Firefox browser.I have to say that this number still looks rather large to me ( plenty of time for the fool to mess things up further). However, it is enjoyable to watch the number tick down towards zero. Now you could accuse me of being rather over-optimistic about the outcome of the next ( or for that matter any other) presidential election. However, I have yet to find a plug-in that deals directly with issues of race, systemic injustice, mass media manipulation or other cultural issues. However, there are lots of other interesting and useful add-ons on the mozilla add-on site (Of course, you will have to download and install firefox before you enjoy all these goodies!).

Artist Talk: Dominic Smith: Isis Arts

2007-03-22T09:50:00.000+01:00

Artist Talk: Dominic Smith

6:00 – 7:30pm
Wed 21 March
Isis Arts, 5 Charlotte Square
Newcastle

Please join us for an informal presentation by artist Dominic Smith, the first artist in residence as part of the new series of micro residencies at Isis Arts.

Dominic will introduce his practice and his new project, Secret Server Life (working title) in the top floor studio space at Isis Arts. Refreshments will be served, providing a convivial atmosphere to chat with Dominic about his work and find out more about the work of Isis Arts.

Dominic Smith is a Newcastle-based artist working mostly across network and sound-based practice. He is also a co-founder of polytechnic, an artist-led group dedicated to the development of open source technologies and tools for artists.

The event is free and everyone interested is welcome. However space is limited, so please RSVP to margie at Isis Arts: isis@isisarts.org.uk or ring 0191 261 4407. Unfortunately, the studio space is not wheelchair accessible.

FREE Lunch Time Poetry at Leighton-Linslade: Stewart and Goodwin

2007-03-15T15:32:00.001+01:00

FREE Lunch Time Poetry at Leighton-Linslade
Arts Festival May 2007

May 8: Buzz Words (Gavin Stewart)

A rare live-performance from prize-winning poet Gavin Stewart. Fellow poet Neil Fulwood praised his work observing:-

"I found in Gavin Stewart's poetry humanity, insight, experience, a wealth of subtle phraseology, a sense of nostalgia unsullied by sentimentality, and an almost heartbreaking use of understatement."

Enjoy work from his previous collections Biology Lessons (1999) and Sounding Out (2001), and new material from his forthcoming collection, Ripening.

May 15: Voltage (Mark Goodwin)

Climber and award winning poet Mark Goodwin invites you on an exploration of high voltage verbs and linguistic innovation. His poetry ranges from direct and accessible to ambiguous and playful. The focus today is: being in as well as being alive landscape.

Mark was BBC Wildlife Poet of The Year 2003, and has published over 170 poems in magazines and ezines. He often collaborates with other artists and writers.

Where and When
Both events are in the Leighton Buzzard Theatre Lounge 12.30 to 1.30PM.

Free Tickets
In advance from the Theatre Box Office, Lake Street tel. 01582 818801, or at the door.

I am intrigued by idea of embedded art - so here goes nothing...

2007-03-14T13:33:00.000+01:00

LineTo experimental by ~Volcanic-Penguin on deviant ART

Dr Strangelove - More lovely stuff from Woof!

2007-02-22T19:54:00.001+01:00

DrStrangelove
Originally uploaded by Woof !.

Media Company Wanted for Belsay Hall Project

2007-02-20T21:49:00.000+01:00

Maps and Skins media project

Fee: £16,200

Timescale: March – September 2007

Deadline for applications: Wednesday 28th February 2007
Interviews in Newcastle: Tuesday 6th March 2007

English Heritage and ISIS Arts are seeking to appoint an experienced media company that uses gaming technology to work with young people and a professional artist to produce an interactive game as part of a high profile exhibition at Belsay Hall in Northumberland.

Applicants will be expected to have the relevant media skills, an enthusiasm for working with young people from a hard-to-reach audience and proof of producing high quality work in this field.

An artist will also be appointed to deliver a workshop programme working directly with the young people at Belsay during April and May 2007. This work will be informed by the project proposal of the appointed media company. A separate budget and brief is available for the workshops and there is 30 artists days plus a budget for materials and equipment hire.

'Picture House'

English Heritage will be delivering its fifth major arts and design festival, 'Picture House', at Belsay Hall in May 2007. Belsay Hall is an 18th Century property managed by English Heritage, located near Ponteland in Northumberland.

Sixteen artists, designers and scenographers will each make new work for the rooms of Belsay Hall. Each new work will take as its basis the histories that lie within this extraordinary historic site. The results will form a major exhibition that will attract and widen the heritage audience and will present this historical site in an entirely new way.

Three of these artists are commissioned and curated by Dott 07 (Designs of the time 2007). Juha Huuskonen, the Finnish organiser of some of the most exiting and
innovative festivals for electronic art and subcultures in the world is curating these three commissions for Dott 07. This is an initiative of the Design Council and the regional development agency, One North East and is a year of community projects that explore how design can make a positive difference to our daily lives.

More info is available from the ISIS website:
http://www.isisarts.org.uk/opportunities.html

Artist Wanted for Belsay Hall Art Project

2007-02-20T21:42:00.000+01:00

Maps and Skins Media Project

Artist brief

Fee: £6,000 (30 days)
Additional funds are available for materials and equipment

Timescale: March – August 2007

Deadline for applications: Wednesday 28th February 2007
Interviews in Newcastle: March 2007 (tbc)

English Heritage and ISIS Arts are seeking to appoint an experienced artist, to work alongside a media company, to work with young people to produce an interactive game as part of a high profile exhibition at Belsay Hall in Northumberland.

Applicants will be expected to have the relevant media skills, experience and an enthusiasm for working with young people from a hard-to-reach audience and proof of producing high quality work in this field.

'Picture House'

English Heritage will be delivering its fourth major arts and design festival, 'Picture House', at Belsay Hall in May 2007. Belsay Hall is an 18th Century property managed by English Heritage, located near Ponteland in Northumberland.

Thirteen artists, designers and scenographers will each make new work for the rooms of Belsay Hall. Each new work will take as its basis the histories that lie within this extraordinary historic site. The results will form a major exhibition that will attract and widen the heritage audience and will present this historical site in an entirely new way.

Three of these artists are commissioned and curated by Dott 07 (Designs of the time 2007). Juha Huuskonen, the Finnish organiser of some of the most exiting and
innovative festivals for electronic art and subcultures in the world is curating these three commissions for Dott 07.This is an initiative of the Design Council and the regional development agency, One North East and is a year of community projects that explore how design can make a positive difference to our daily lives.

More information about Belsay and the project is available from the ISIS website:
http://www.isisarts.org.uk/opportunities.html

'Maps and Skins' project

'Maps and Skins' is the education based arts project that will run alongside the 'Picture House' project. It will be co-ordinated by ISIS Arts, an independent visual arts organisation based in Newcastle with overall management resting with a steering group of staff from both organisations.

The project has been funded through a Heritage Lottery 'Your Heritage' grant applied for by English Heritage. This contemporary method of interpretation has been chosen to appeal to young people to draw them to the site and gain a greater understanding of their heritage. The project will bridge heritage and the arts by giving young people access to the rich history of Belsay Hall, the people who lived there and the events, which took place.

Drawing inspiration from the theme of Picture House, a group of young people will work with a professional artist to develop, devise and create a virtual game.

As part of creative workshops, led by the artist (and assisted by an education heritage worker) the young people will visit the Belsay site, take part in heritage-themed workshops, and devise creative scenarios, which will form the basis of a computer game creating an interface, which can also be used on the internet and via a touch screen console at the site.

A first stage game will then be produced by a professional media company with experience of producing games, which will be launched at Belsay in July 2007.

Further workshops will be organised and delivered by the appointed artist during the summer. These sessions will be held at Belsay with other groups of young people who will have the opportunity to try out the game and add visuals and text.

Role of the Artist

The artist will:

• Research and develop ideas for a new interactive game around the heritage themes of the Picture House exhibition

• Run creative workshops with young people at Belsay to produce story-boards and original art work towards the production of an interactive computer based game

• Utilise the variety of archives and resources available to the project for example oral history recordings in liaison with the Heritage Education Worker

• Collaborate and engage with the other participating workers, to include an introductory session outlining the approach to project delivery

• Assist in production of leaflet, which will explain how the public visiting the exhibition may interact with the game

• Regular updates and meetings with key individuals/steering group

• Support the production of the final game for exhibition at Belsay Hall from July 2007 and for inclusion on the Picture House website

• Contribute to the overall success of the project by supporting the management, marketing, dissemination and evaluation of the project

Essential skills:

• Relevant skills to run creative workshops with young people

• The ability to research, interpret and present ideas and information

• Experience and enthusiasm for running workshops with young people from a hard-to-reach audience and a commitment to ensuring their ideas are an integral part of the game

• An interest and enthusiasm for heritage and varying methods of interpretation

• Experience of working collaboratively within a project

• Experience of working on fixed term projects with tight deadlines

Key on-site workers, a project steering group and the ISIS Arts education co-ordinator will support the artist throughout the project but it is important that the artist has experience of working with young people.

The artist will have 30 days (£6,000) to spend on the project and a minimum of 20 days will involve working with the young people. The rest of the time will be for meeting, research, planning and development. There is a further materials and equipment hire budget of £2,000 for the production of artwork during the project.

At the start of the project the artist will run a session for key workers introducing them to their art practise and their proposed approach to working with young people.

The workshops

The workshops will respond to the ideas and needs of the participants and will take place at Belsay Hall.

At this stage the management group is very open and flexible as to the type of game produced but it must bear reference to the rich cultural heritage of Belsay and involve the young people in a meaningful way from the early ideas stage through to final production.

As the game is being developed we envisage that it will be necessary to give the young people ways of noting down their thoughts and feelings, making sketches or storyboards, taking pictures etc. The workshops may include icebreaker sessions, led and self-guided tours of the site (heritage interpretation), meeting the designers participating in the 'Picture House' exhibition, exploring current games and gaming technologies, digital photographic and video sessions and story-board creation.

The young people

The project will work with young people of school age (11-16) who are at risk of exclusion or disaffection from mainstream education. Anecdotal evidence shows that young people in this age group are less likely to participate in heritage activities and feel heritage is less relevant to them than primary age children. Research has also shown that interpretative material involving interactive messaging, audio and visual elements is becoming an increasingly popular way of encouraging young people to engage in heritage activity.

The Platform

A Windows multimedia PC will be housed in the new discovery/access room located near the entrance of Belsay and will be how the game is accessed. Digital cameras and inputs, scanner, Bluetooth input and OCR software will also be provided.

Outcomes

An exciting and engaging game, which bridges heritage and the arts and that responds to the ideas of the young people involved

Management

A steering group comprising of representatives from English Heritage, Belsay’s Picture House exhibition and ISIS Arts will manage the project and support the artist taking part in this project. Regular monthly meetings will be held either at Belsay or in Newcastle at the ISIS offices.

The artist will be supported by the ISIS Arts education project co-ordinator. The co-ordinator will be responsible for contracting the appointed artist, administering the project budget, setting up the programme of workshops, setting up and administering the steering group meetings, assisting with the organising of the final exhibition and launch event at Belsay, facilitating the production of the publicity and marketing, in liaison with English Heritage, and for monitoring and evaluating the project.

Timescale

March 6th Recruitment of Media Company
Mid March 2007 Recruitment of artist
March-April 2007 Artist research and project planning
April-May 2007 Workshops with young people
May-July 2007 Production of first stage game
Early July 2007 Installation of game on site and Picture House website
July 17th 2007 Launch and celebration event at Belsay
August 2007 Workshops at Belsay during Picture House exhibition
September-October Production of final game

Introduction to English Heritage

English Heritage is the Government's statutory adviser on the historic environment . We report to Parliament through the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. English Heritage is funded in part by the Government and in part from revenue earned from our historic properties and other services. We work in partnership with the central government departments, local authorities, voluntary bodies and the private sector to: conserve and enhance the historic environment; broaden public access to heritage; and to increase people's understanding of the past.
We also care for over 400 historic buildings, many of which are
open to the public and educational groups.

The work of the Learning Department is to engage new and existing audiences with the historic environment through dedicated programmes
of education and outreach. We aim to help people understand and learn from the historic environment, to value it, care for it and – ultimately – enjoy it. We work with a variety of partners including schools, LEAs and other organisations to engage over 500,000 learners at our properties per year. Further information can be found at www.english-heritage.org.uk/learning.

Introduction to ISIS Arts

For 15 years ISIS Arts has been at the forefront of pioneering exciting new opportunities for artists in the field of media arts from its base in North East England. Founded by arts graduates with a passion for lens-based media, ISIS is committed to producing challenging work of exceptional quality that is accessible to diverse audiences, but most importantly is artist-led.

Our work falls into three main strands - artist residencies and commissions, artist professional development and education, with schools or based within a community setting. We place equal value on these areas of work, believing artists need to be supported to develop their practise and that artists can in turn support their communities through programmes of arts in education.

With a busy digital studio, ISIS promotes the use of new media in the arts and works with around 90 artists a year on projects and training. For further information visit http://www.isisarts.org.uk

Application procedure

There is no application form. Please send a current CV and a 2-page outline describing why you would be suitable for this role, your relevant skills and how you would approach the residency working with the young people.
Please enclose examples of previous work, including CD ROMs, DVD's, video/mini DV, publications, images and the names and addresses of two referees who can comment on your professional work.

Send to: ISIS Arts, 5 Charlotte Square, First Floor, Newcastle, NE1 4XF
Deadline for applications: Wednesday 28th February 2007
Interviews in Newcastle: to be arranged

Equal Opportunities

ISIS Arts seek to ensure that no present or potential member of staff or project participant is treated less favourably than another on grounds of age (up to statutory retirement age), class colour, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, political persuasion or sexual orientation. ISIS Arts premises have limited access. However, we aim to ensure that as many of our activities are as accessible as possible. If you have any particular access needs, please contact us

I am Loving this - Beginners Guide To Faking Your Death On The Internet

2007-02-19T20:33:00.000+01:00

I am loving this too - Story time with Mama by Woof!

2007-02-19T17:40:00.001+01:00

#2 - Story time with Mama
Originally uploaded by Woof !.

Good old fashion literacy!

One More Link: Yet More Technorati Rankings

2007-02-19T16:48:00.000+01:00

I have just collected another link from Chris Joseph - Digital Writer in Residence at the Institute of Creative Technologies, De Montfort University, UK. This gives this blog another link from another blog and an increase on the rankings of about 50,000 (Ranking: 1,214,544 - 5 links from 3 blogs. I guess this shows how the power curve starts to get steeper at this point in the curve ( though it is still basically flat). I should not expect to see another huge leap in my fortunes until I have collected many more links. Of course, links are only one way of looking at traffic. All the old indicators do still apply - anyone remember those dodgy-looking hit counters at the bottom of everyone's home page. However, they show a level of commitment beyond merely glancing at the old piece of copy. Perhaps I ought to resort to paying people to link at this point - Now that would be sad!

The Power of a Link: Long Tail Still!

2007-02-19T14:07:00.000+01:00

You might remember that I was making some rather light-hearted comments awhile back about how unpopular this blog was by discussing its technorati ranking. Humour aside, I think that these technorati rankings demonstrate some interesting points about the 'long tail' of blogs. For example, I got a link 'in' today from Tim Wright (there you go Tim - there's a link back for you!) and now I find myself at Rank: 1,268,382 (that is 5 links from 3 blogs). This is a rise of about 500,000 places on my ranking of yesterday on the basis of receiving just one extra link from one other technorati blogger. This result suggests that the curve is very flat indeed this far to the right of the y-axis and that it is very nearly at 'zero links' for a huge number of blogs. This, in turn, is interesting because some half-million bloggers or so have gone to the effort of setting up a blog and gone to the further effort of claiming this blog through technorati but they still have less than 5 links. Why do they do this?

I claimed in my self-mocking post that I was writing the worse blog in the world (though I knew for a fact that this was not true because another one of my blogs is much worse with a ranking of 2,704,224 - no blogs link here yet!). In truth, what I think it means is that there is a huge amount material available in the public domain that is of interest to a tiny but engaged readership. Taken collectively, this 'long tail' represents something of a success story ( let's say 2 million blogs with two links each = 4 million links) though this guess-timate means that it makes only a tiny part of the overall blogosphere. However, I believe that the ratio of 'hit' blogs links to long-tail links will change over time because these 'long tail' blogs serve the kind of readership that would not have been well served by print technology or indeed traditional websites.

British Consulate, Canberra, ACT

2007-02-19T13:27:00.001+01:00

British Consulate, Canberra, ACT
Originally uploaded by luton man.

This fine image of the British Consulate in Oz was taken by one of my esteemed colleagues at the Univ of Beds.

I am posting this image here by way of protest. As the British Government, in its finite wisdom, thought it would be a great wheeze to require my colleague to fly all the way from the UK to Australia and back simply to get a bureaucratic seal put on his documents - thus permitting him to then return to the job he has been doing ably for the last couple of years. Nice One!

Where to start - Well there's the Global Climate Change issue, the Waste of Academic Funds issue, there is the possible Thrombosis issue ( from flying for so long)...there's the what's wrong with our system that it requires such a patently idiotic trip! issue.

Surely this could have been done in the UK!

I am Loving This: Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

2007-02-05T13:10:00.000+01:00

Google Alerts - Alert

2007-01-31T13:10:00.000+01:00

In my last post I discussed using Google Alerts to keep track of subjects of interest on the web. I included my name ('Gavin Stewart') in that post so I have had an opportunity to track how quickly it took the service to send me an e-mail (techno-self love...you can't beat it!) . I posted on Monday and I received the e-mail alert early this morning (Wednesday). This is clearly a lot quicker than the example I gave about flickr. Nonetheles, reaching back to my 'technorati' postings of last week, it is still not as quick as the ping service I described. However, I have also just discovered that Technorati is down for scheduled maintenance so maybe the Google Alerts will win this particular race.

This post contains my name as well....round we go again!

Google Alerts

2007-01-29T12:52:00.000+01:00

One of the many challenges facing writers using the web is how to keep track of all the changes going on out there. RSS and blogs are a very excellent way of noting new material and changes in the web. However, not every site has a feed yet and there are other ways to see relevent new stuff. For instance, you can always get the most popular search engine on the planet to send you an e-mail with a link when it notices something that you say you are interested in.

The Google alerts service comes free (for the moment) with a google account. It is very easy to set up (you simply provide it with a series of search terms like a google search). Like many others, I am rather a fan of googling myself so I gave the alerts service 'Gavin Stewart' as my search term. The initial e-mail I got back was full of an assortment of strange and irrelevant stuff. However, since then things have settle down to a few e-mails a month of highly focussed stuff. Perhaps the only short coming to this service is what one might call 'spider-lag'; i.e. it takes a while for a search engine to get around to the interesting page. Back in November
2006 I gave a research talk and placed an image of the talk on flickr. The alerts service sent me an e-mail for this change yesterday. Arguably, I did not need to know that this change had occurred ( because I made this change myself). However, it rather demonstrates how searches are not always complete ( as they might not contain the latest additions to the www). Still, I am sure that google will sharpen up this performance otherwise technorati will steal their thunder!

Is this the most unpopular blog in the world?: Marketing 101

2007-01-24T18:21:00.000+01:00

I noted yesterday that I had a seven digit technorati listing which, in laymen’s terms, means that this blog is currently as popular as [insert amusingly unpleasant thing here]. Today that number has got bigger so that it now stand at 1,637,743, which either means that some long-tailers have got a new link over night or else a brand new blog has risen from the underworld up into the charts above me. O shame of it. Now I know that pub mythology argues that the only way to raise the popularity of a site is to scrawl viagra, breast or free beer all over the page but it turns out that there is a little more to it than that in blogosphere. For example, a brief search of the blogger site turned up 'Promoting your Blog' by Biz Stone. While most of the suggestions in this article are rather blogger focussed, however, it does also provide some more generic marketing advice for folks that run their own blogs.

The first item mentioned in the article was to “turn on ping weblog.com”. Now, I can see the point of a ping as it lets key sites out there know instantly that you have fresh material on your blog. This is particularly important if you are providing topical fare that needs to be read in real-time. It is also possible to put an automated ping to technorati and others agrregation sites on your site. This means that all those good old reading folks will be able to do a technorati search on this article (among many others) from the moment that it is posted.

The blogger article next recommends that you activate your navbar (Navbar? - It comes in three delicious fruit flavours…). This is one of those features for serendipity lovers as it provides a button at the top of the blog which when clicked takes the reader to the next Navbar-enabled blog. Blogger observe that ‘it turns out this couch-potato like way of flipping through blogs is very appealing”. So greetings potato-people, you are most welcome.

Next up comes - Install Email This Post .This provides a nice e-mail icon by the side of the post which is supposed to encourage your serendipitous potato-chips to e-mail your witty musings to all their friends.

The Blogger article also provide a number of other technical suggestions, such as ‘Turn on Post Pages’, ‘Turn on Site Feed’ and ‘Add your Blog to our Listings?’ which were all done for me as defaults so I can’t blame any of these obvious things on my failure to have a Technorati ranking of 1. Would it be embarrassing if I simply asked you to 'Love me. Please love me!'

The generic marketing items in Stone's list are also well worth taking note of. For example, the author suggests that you should:

Write quality content and do it well.
Publish regular updates
Think of your audience..
Keep your posts and paragraphs short.

The article also suggests that you submit your address to the smaller blog search sites and directories such as http://www.popdex.com- However, perhaps best bit of advice given was to link to other blogs. Biz Stone notes:

"This is a great way to get traffic. Here's what happens when you link to another blogger: she sees you in her referral logs, checks out your blog, and then very likely links back to you or at the very least makes a mental note to do so."

So watch out folks the link man is coming your way. Let’s hope you are keen to link back to me!

Technorati: Knowledge is Power?

2007-01-23T13:35:00.000+01:00

I have just 'claimed' this blog on the Technorati site. This was a fairly simple procedure which I hope will give me a little better idea of who is coming and going from my site. For example, the information of Technorati have given me a 'long tail' ranking - 1,626,267 - and records that this blog has 2 links from 2 blogs tracked by Technorati (let's face it ...that definitely gives me scope for becoming the most improved blog in 2007). It is also useful to know that I had a link from Technoliteracy even though I can not make head nor tail of the context or timing. However, I am a bit unsure how the whole thing works (nothing new for me in the blogger sphere). Maybe some one or some thing will pick up on this post and direct me to a decent link!

Quote of the day

2007-01-23T13:05:00.000+01:00

I have been forced recently, by bureaucratic circumstance, to write 'occupation=artist' on a form. Moi Pretentious?

The label, artist, makes me cringe, mainly because during their Dadaist phase, John Heartfield and George Grosz once observed that "the name of 'artist' is an insult. The denomination 'art' demolishes equality between men". Still, it could be worse. I could have been forced to write academic, politician, geek, teacher...Isn't the world of work a rewarding place!

An End to E-tailing at Amazon?

2007-01-23T12:46:00.000+01:00

Just a little follow-up to my flip of the Long Tail!

You might remember that I blogged about Long Tail economics back in November. Well there is nothing like practicing what one preaches, so on the strength of my posting, I signed-up for an Amazon seller account and put a few second-hand books up for sale. It seemed appropriate to put Chris Anderson on my sales list and sure enough the book (not the man…this is not E-bay) was sold within a couple of hours (which makes me think that I sold it too cheaply).

All of this happened with the minimum amount of fuss; for as you would expect with Amazon, the system is reasonably safe and reasonably reliable. I found the interface a bit fiddly (long tail…long learning curve). I also found myself struggling to describe, in positive terms, the state of some of my more dogged-eared books, but all told I managed to get rid of ten books in the run up to Christmas. Not exactly a business, more a mental exercise that got me thinking about how this procedure might work more effectively.

My main gripe with Amazon marketplace is philosophical. It seems to be locked into a retail model which might not be the most effective way to create a market in the digital age. Another recent read, the Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki (bought second hand through Amazon marketplace) set me to thinking about this model of e-tailing. There is plenty of information about product (great!), other sellers (prices, reputation etc. also great) but it does not really give you the full market information as one can not get on the other side; that is to say, I could not find a mechanism that would allow me to propose to buy a book at a price other than the one that a seller had proposed. No haggling! The key, therefore, to improving this kind of market is providing information about who wants to buy, and at what price. To get technical for the moment, there does not appear to be a bid-offer spread in the Amazon model. Basically, as a buyer I can not convey to the market that you are willing to buy (but a price that is lower than the current lowest seller).

I can’t help wondering about all those millions of books that are currently sitting on people’s wish lists. To be simplistic for a moment, a wish list is a list of books that one wants to buy but for some reason won’t buy in current market conditions. I guess the question for the smart people at Amazon is - why do books end up on wish lists rather than being bought? For myself, I guess there are three sorts of reasons that a ‘super read’ ends up on their database rather than in an envelope in their warehouse. Reason One is Pot-lessness i.e. I have no money, whatsoever, and can not afford to buy anything at any price (other than zero) at the present time. Reason Two Time-management i.e. these are books that I would quite like to know more about at some point in the future but do not have time or inclination to deal with at the moment ( I use my wish list as a pending tray). Reason Three – Price i.e. the seller (often the publishers in this case) is, imho, asking too much for the book. In this case, I will buy the book when it comes down in price but only if I remember to go back to my list and revisit the price (which to be honest is something that I do about once every blue moon). In effect, this is a market inefficiency as I am unable to convey to the sellers (or the Amazon system for that matter) that I will buy this book but not at the advertised price.

I think that it is a shame the wish list part of the Amazon account is not developed to fulfil this role. I have any number of books on my wish list which I would like to make a bid for at about $3 lower than the retail price. More importantly, I am not alone. I am sure there are literally millions (if not billions of transactions) that do not take place because bids from potential buyers are not made available to the product sellers and the system. Why not record this information and make this data available?

I can see that would be difficulties that would have to be solved (I am, after all, describing a suggestion not coding the back-end). The system would have to ensure that potential buyers could put a time-limit on their bid. Similarly, the system would have to have credit card details, credit limits etc. sorted out to make sure that the buyers actually paid up if a seller hit their bid. E-mails would have to be exchanged. Rules would have to be devised. However, I see a change from the ‘e-tailing’ model as being a win-win-win situation. I will win because I will get to read a book I want to read. The publisher will win because they will increase sales (quite dramatically in many cases) and Amazon will benefit because they will take more money because there will be more transactions.

Problem solved? I am sure it is not that simple!

Gift-Tagged

2007-01-01T12:30:00.000+01:00

I have been tagged for a meme.

Nikki Hastie over at Out on a Dike passed on to me the following challenge:

“Write down five things about yourself that others probably don’t know, and pass it on."

Well, this could be a challenge because like many bloggers I do tend to talk a lot about myself so I have given away quite a lot whilst I have been betwixt and between. However, I am also something of a ‘private’ person (yes folks I have quite a long list of things I don’t blog about) so there are still some marketable skeletons in the old closet….Let me see now…

My first revelation is something that I have made a lot of over the years in conversations with friends but I don’t think I have ever blogged about ( I wrote a poem about it once …but who reads poems). I was a witness to a small chunk of twentieth-century history as I was present when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. It is strange to think about how important this felt at the time (both personally and also in terms of the landscape of politics). It felt like a great new world order was opening up as the Iron Curtain was raised. However, here in 2007 with Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror dominating the political landscape it seems like my vision of the future was just another never-never land. The New Year is only a few minutes old and it is already providing me with waves of nostalgia.

The second revelation is quite a new thing so I have not blogged about it because I did know myself until last week. I love the music of Tracy Bonham. I particularly love the serendipitous way in which I came across her stuff via Pandora.com, my Space and iTunes. Thinking about it, the real revelation here is the fact that I use to be scared to go into record stores (with the notable exception of the music tents at WOMAD). It is not really that surprising. They are dank, underlit and frankly unwelcoming sink holes. They are particularly alienating for me because I feel a strong sense of disconnection with the counter staff. This was not just an age thing. I also felt disconnected from them because I can not hear or be heard at the counters and I have trouble reading body language (always a good recipe for paranoia). This is bad, for me and for the shop, because I want to connect when I buy music! I want what passes for wisdom in the world of pop. I want to talk music.

I have always been a word of mouth kind of guy. I like my friends to play me records they like. I like their enthusiasm even when I hate what they are playing. But the typical record stores don’t really cater for this kind of conversation. They are also a good example of the paradox of choice. Full of intimidating options that I feel I can’t use. They just leave me feeling battered. I blogged about Pandora last year (2006). I still stand by my initial enthusiasm. However, I now see Pandora.com fitting into a much wider vista of joy which includes a lot of other sites and people. In fact one of the great pleasures of the last year has been my regular meetings with my friend Andrew at the end of which we would e-mail each other a list of URLs for stuff on YouTube , Flickr and god knows what else. I have felt re-connected.

The third revelation reaches back to my childhood and will be familiar to my family. When I was eight/nine I wrote a long fantasy piece about a purple giraffe (with very long ears) called Winpo. This was an interesting tale that covered the usual sub-Tolkeineque landscape of trolls and goblins. I had not learnt much about economy or history in those days so the battle scenes (approximately 99 percent of the text) also contained pint-sized planes, tiny purple battle tanks and flame-throwers. The anachronisms were solved by an optimism featured in many a Bruce Willis Lie-Hard movie. Things got further muddle by the addition of lots of very small giraffes as allies. I would love to write in that unrestricted way again.

The fourth revelation is that I really enjoy visiting the British Library reading rooms. It is not the building so much or the rather barn-like humanities section. It is certainly not about the long wait for the books to come through. It is just that I like the feeling of being around thinking (which is daft of course because the place is full of muttering academics). I am a bit of a research groupie I guess. I enjoy the strange, transitory and wonderfully naïve sense of having lots of books nearby but it is also that sense of almost belonging. I don’t do clubs (insert Groucho Marx cliche here) but the BL is about as close to a sense of club as I want to get. Weird huh!

The last thing is sort of seasonal. I have never really discussed the fact that I don’t send Christmas cards. Please understand this does not mean I am Scrooge or that I hate Christmas on principle (though I have been challenged to like the current festive season). It is more about the sheer waste involved in mass producing and distributing the things. I also think that it is somewhat sad that you get all your greetings at the same time of the year. So I decided that I would send every one I like an individualized e-mail in early January instead. This has proved to be a nice sentiment rather than a practical scheme because the trouble with adopting this craft based approach to long-distance love is that it takes for ages. I suspect that I might be resorting to a round-robin or perhaps a triangular tit this year (which sort of defeats the desire to get away from a mass-produced object but hey ho). Don’t be offended if you have not received one of my missives yet this year (it is only a few hours old) but I’ll get there..I’ll get there…

I am going to tag Nicki Hastie back (is that allowed and do we care) because her tag came at just the right moment to alter my own personal history. I am also going to try and tag Toby Barnes and Tim Wright …mainly because these two guys were responsible for getting me involved in Playtime back in October…which I have to say was one of the best days I had in 2006.

Happy New Year!

Christmas=Charity=Food Politics

2006-12-22T19:17:00.000+01:00

This short video about school food for Africa by Joe Blanks (presenter/producer) and Greg McKinney (editor) won the BBC Newsnight 's 'Oh My Newsnight' competition. Nice one!

What’s up Doc?

2006-12-19T21:07:00.000+01:00

I have received the official letter from the University of Bedfordshire telling me I have been awarded my PhD. I guess I ought to be in an ecstatic, celebratory mood. However, far from dancing in the aisles as Dr Feelgood I find myself somewhat closer to Dr Strangelove. If I am absolutely honest, it has all gone a bit armageddon in my head at present.

This is not to say that I did not enjoy some of the experience. There were certainly some high moments. Papers that went well, chance meetings with like-minded poets and artists, the unlooked for gifts of help and advice from friends and colleagues, and the opportunity to be involved in my small way in the great digital revolution (I think of myself as being like one of that flock of sheep who looked on as the small lambs were taken off to see the baby Jesus). However, it has taken a toll; on me and on the many people who have helped me get to this place in time.

Five years is a long time to be doing anything (I wrote my first preliminary notes for my first project a few days before 9/11). It is definitely too long to be doing a PhD. Worst still, it feels like I have been riding a merry-go-round for most of that time (a fun experience to start with and then an unwarranted blur). This was partly due to the fact that I picked a remarkably exciting time to studying computer-mediated textual art. Each week brought a new book to read; a new work to engage with; a new technology; a new subject area. However, it was also because of a number of unplanned changes in my institution, department and supervision team. These changes had the positive effect of introducing me to many new perspectives, introducing a lot of serendipity into my thinking. The final team of Dr Adrian Page (from London Met), Prof Garry Whannel and Prof Alexis Weedon proved to be a winning formula. However, these constant shiftings also required me to adjust my thinking mid-thought, to hold my creative urges dammed-up for years at a time, to find funds and employment in all sorts of strange and exciting places and to justify, justify, justify myself (to myself more than to anyone else) …and that dear reader can be very wearing. It required me to work more analytically and more methodically than I thought possible.

I guess, in the end, doing a PhD proved to be the ultimate experience of betwixt and between. I really am neither here nor there at present. I am hoping that some time in the future that I will arrive at a sense of feeling pleased (proud/bearably pompous) to hold such an esteemed qualification. However, just at the moment I am glad that it has finally stopped.

Lists on Library Thing

2006-12-14T16:45:00.000+01:00

Last week, I became aware of a need for a simple online tool for cataloging and referencing the books I am using in my research project at the University of Bedfordshire. In one post on my 'Writing(s): not for WIMPS' blog, for example, I wanted to make a couple of links to books I had been reading. It would have been nice just to have knocked up a list page on my website but to be honest I don't have the time. However instead, I found myself re-directing readers to the relevant amazon.com page. This was expedient because it provides anyone who interested with lots of information. However, I am worried about using a large commercial organization as a library and index. I am particularly worried about using Amazon as a one-stop reference and shop because this hands a huge amount of power on a plate to a commercial giant. My position might seem paradoxical considering the somewhat positive tone of my last post about the long tail and print-on-demand. However, it is the very power of print-on-demand in tandem with the potential monopoly of the amazon database (and their position in private hands) that suggests that alternatives should be found whenever one is available. I have looked at other services in the past, delicious monster , for example, allows users to catalogue resources. I have to say that I never really got on with this service. However, another option has recently come to my attention which looks like it could be bent to do the job that I require.

Library Thing, is a web application a bit like the social bookmarking site del.icio.us which allows you to record and share details of your book collection. On the site, it claims that it works by searching Amazon, the Library of Congress and 60 other world libraries to find your book which minimizes the data that you have to enter by hand. It also has the usual 'social' software features such as tagging, recommendations, importing and exporting, limited access to the API etc. It also works on a now-familiar business model. You can enter 200 books for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life) which is rather like the 'free' basic and 'paid' professional model used by flickr.

I have added the books I referenced in my post over on the 'Writing(s): not for WIMPS' blog and they can now be seen in all their glory at Digital Art by Christiane Paul and Digital Currents by Margot Lovejoy. I am also keen to make a list of the other books I have been reading this year. This will make a nice complement to the URL lists (about things such as RFIDs and surveillance) that I am building up on del.icio.us but accessing via a URL from the links on the right hand side of Writing(s): not for WIMPS' blog. Now all I have to do is understand how to get the information out of the API in the order I want it and I will be laughing...

Job Vacancy - Permanent Instructor - Interaction Design

2006-11-30T10:11:00.000+01:00

The Alberta College of Art + Design is one of only four publicly
funded Canadian post-secondary institutions devoted exclusively to
the advanced education of visual artists and designers. The college
has recently entered into a vital new phase in its development and
embraced a new mandate and vision that endorses a model of the
institution as a laboratory for experimentation and as a catalyst for
research, discourse and international impact in the arts and emergent
cultural fields.

The college welcomes applications for the following full time
permanent faculty position commencing in the fall semester 2007:

Permanent Instructor - Interaction Design
Media Arts & Digital Technologies is seeking an interdisciplinary
instructor with a focus on interaction and interaction design and a
commitment to novel syntheses of new media, fine art and design. The
successful candidate is expected to teach specific skills including
prototyping, electronics, and programming in combination with theory,
seminar and studio courses to a wide range of undergraduate students
at all levels. While initially teaching through existing courses,
this position will be expected to develop new curriculum and course
offerings with innovative curricular interactions between majors.

Qualified candidates will have a terminal degree in interaction
design or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education
and practice. Additional qualifications and experience will include
the development of tangible interfaces for objects and spaces and a
strong grounding in perceptual and cognitive human factors; visual
interface design; ethnography; and the politics of design.
Demonstrated experience in one or more of gaming; information
visualization; wearable computing; or art and science or other
collaborative environments is expected. Post-secondary teaching
experience is an asset. The successful candidate will have a dynamic
and active practice in Interaction Design and is expected to maintain
a high level of research and practice and disseminate results regularly.

Please submit applications by February 23, 2007 including; a
portfolio of your work, letter of application, the names of three (3)
referees, a current curriculum vitae, statements outlining
philosophies and models of teaching and practice, and examples of
current and past research examples of your students’ work and where
possible, evaluations of teaching performance to::

Alberta College of Art & Design
1407 – 14th Avenue, Calgary AB Canada T2N 4R3
Attention: Manager, Human Resources
Fax: 284-6236; E-mail: HR@ACAD.ca

For further information about the college, Calgary Alberta and this
position please visit our web site at www.acad.ca.

The Alberta College of Art + Design is an equal opportunity employer
and welcomes expressions of interest from all qualified applicants
for consideration for this or other suitable vacancies. While we
thank all applicants in advance for their interest please note that
only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. In
situations with several qualified candidates, preference will be
normally given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
Submitted materials will only be returned if accompanied by
appropriate self-addressed envelopes/containers with sufficient
Canadian postage or prepaid courier shipping forms.

The Long Tail and a Steep Learning Curve

2006-11-28T14:41:00.000+01:00

I am always amazed at how my working life veers between chasing work ( like a sad-eyed dog outside a butcher's shop) and having too much on. Last week was an example of the latter. I delivered three different presentations, at three different institutions over the course of five days. This week I blog!

I enjoy giving presentations and I also enjoy all the feedback from fellow participants. However, I also find that I am often rushing around ("like a witch's maracas") and so miss out on the chance to mull over what has been said; to cogitate on how it fits in with my wider understanding of what is going on in the world of the digital writing. However, I could not help in noticing a running theme last week between the plenary session at the NAWE conference (my contribution was called Good Grief not Games...) and the 'So You Want to be a New Media Writer...' session I gave to the undergrads at NTU. In both sessions, there was an exploration of the impact of digital technology on publishing. This is a subject I have been giving some thought to of late, mainly, as the result of reading 'The Long Tail' by Chris Anderson.

I would recommend that any writer get hold of this book. Not so much because it provides a bible or even a blue-print of how to tackle the issue of publishing in the digital age but more because of its many provocations and its easily absorbed case studies, drawn from companies as diverse as amazon, e-bay, rhapsody, iTunes , lulu and booksurge , which flag-up some of the economic issues driving current changes in our industry.

'The Long Tail' of the title is in reference to a graph that plots sales revenues (on the y-axis) vs sales rankings. Traditionally, this graph shows that 80 percent of retail revenue is generated by 20 percent of the products. These 'hit' products (on the left hand side of the graph) are the stars of their industry, and they are the products that you will see on shop-shelves. However, to the right of these hits is a long tail of products which are ignored in traditional retail economics ( generally these are the sort of thing that I am interested in). Basically, one does not get to see these products in shops because the 'hits' outshine them in the competition for shelf space. This is why, for example, when I walk into my local Blockbuster video rental store there are only about 200 titles available in shop. The hits are on the shelves and the long tail products are excluded.

Anderson's thesis is that the composition of sales has changed as a result of digital distribution and retailing from likes of amazon. He argues that:

"new efficiencies in distribution, manufacturing, and marketing were changing the definition of what was commercially viable across the board."

What is striking in the statistics he quotes is that a much wider variety of products sell in the digital world. He describes this as the 98 percent rule because almost every thing in the catalogue will sell at least once. Anderson argues that the range of products that it is economic to distribute is no longer defined by competition for shelf spaces and that digital distributors , therefore, are able to sell a much wider variety of goods from much further down the long tail of the sales curve.

I believe that this is important for writers because, with some honourable exceptions we are all part of the long tail. This means that for the most part we are excluded by the cost of distribution and retail. We are seen as low-volume writers and denied access to the shelves, which by self-fulfilling prophesy, guarantees that we are turned into no-volume writers. This is culturally significant because it denies us the chance to have our voice heard. However, by contrast our inclusion in the amazon database will greatly improve the chances of finding our readership (even if it is very small and geographically fragmented).

Digitization also alters the economics of book production. In the traditional model there is a high element of risk because a book must be printed before it can be sold. This risk is greatly increased for an unknown author working in a poorly understood niche market. This, in turn, impacts on cash flow and profitability because traditional publishers are routinely required to produce books that they are unable to sell. It makes them cautious! However, in contrast print-on-demand technology makes it viable to sell the book first and then print it. As Anderson notes:

"the production and inventory cost of a print-on-demand book that is never bought is zero"

Service such as Lulu and Booksurge allow individual authors to have access to this technology. Booksurge, a subsidiary of Amazon, also provides a tie-in to the amazon store so that you can market your book to the world before it is even printed. In some cases these services are cheap. Booksurge's author express service is just $99 for a black and white text with a colour cover.

For many, this vision of the future of publishing will sound like vanity publishing. It is certainly worth considering the role played by an editor in the production of a book. I have had a number of positive experiences working with editors who have worked hard to add value to the final draft ( Let's face it I am a lousy proof-reader). Similarly, it is worth thinking about the role played by agents in the success of a publication. They can add valuable to your book by placing it with a publisher with an appropriate list who will have an in-depth knowledge of your sector. However, on occasions the professionals do not have all the answers and an author has a better handle on their niche.

In the end the choice is going to be yours. However, I would argue that it is nice to have that choice...though exercising it might involve you in a long, steep learning curve.

Gavin Stewart - RIMAD research seminar

2006-11-28T14:35:00.000+01:00

Gavin Stewart - RIMAD research seminar
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

Gavin Stewart giving 'My Practice-led PhD?'.
A talk at the University of Bedfordshire 23rd November 2006.

Pod Pod Pod

2006-11-25T18:45:00.000+01:00

I was interested to read on the BBC technology website this week that the number of people listening to podcasts is still relatively small ("12% of US people online had downloaded a podcast"). This surprised me, firstly because that makes me an ‘early adopter’ of this technology, and secondly because podcasting has made positive difference to my life.

The first thing I like about my engagement with podcasting has been how cheap this revolution has been. I bought an old-style iPod shuffle (for my birthday) at a rock bottom price in June. To give you an idea of how unfashionable (and discounted) this pod was at the time the little pack of condom–like cases that protect the Apple-white wonder were the same price.

Initially, I had thought of my present as a good way to listen to music. Like many people, I set about recycling my CD collection into my hard drive. I also bought a few tracks from Apple of embarrassing 'old stuff' that I thought I had in my collection but it turned out that I didn’t. However, one fine day about a week after buying my iPod I decided to browse around the ‘podcast’ directory. I have to be honest and state that I nearly didn’t go any further because the directory took ages to load on to my computer (and I was also somewhat put off by the word 'podcast' itself). However, I did persist and what I found has opened my ears to a number of new opportunities.

Back in June the podcast directory on iTunes appeared to be dominated by US-based technology podcasts. This was not really that surprising because this community are always early adopters and so make a good audience for new platforms. However, I got lucky with my one test subscription because I listened for free to an episode of ‘Inside the Net’ by Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur that spoke directly to some of the issues raised by the social software session at NLab back in May. However, there was also a human dimension to the interview in this podcast that helped me to engage with the subject.

One of the real strength of podcasting is that you don’t have to miss out on content ( as with most broadcasting models). For example, when I discovered that I enjoyed ‘Inside the Net’ I went 'back in time' and downloaded all the previous episodes. Similarly, you don’t have to miss out on programming going forward in time either. For having subscribed to ‘Inside the Net’ one week, I was delighted to find that he next episode of this podcast plopped into my hard drive the following Tuesday without any effort on my part.

Over the next couple of weeks I noticed a marked change in my behaviour. I started to bookmark my favourite websites with del.icio.us: I listened to a cornucopia of new music on Pandora.com: and I added a baroque range of extension to my firefox browser. In short, I began to be excited by the web again. However, I also became more productive in my peripatetic working life (as I had found an number of tools that helped to turn the 'media-lab' internet browser into a desktop)

I got lucky with my second subscription as well. I had set my heart on listening to a UK-based podcast and boagworld leapt out of the technology listings.

This is a podcast aimed at website managers etc. Now I am not a website manager. I am also not a website designer. However, I do have a website which serves both as research tool and as a gateway to some of my work. Until recently, I enjoyed website design as a 'hacker' hobby. Honestly, I liked web designing. However, recently I have become aware that there are not enough hours in the day to keep abreast of all the changes in web technology. Similarly, I am not sure that this hobby it is a productive use of my time. Web design has become a specialist activity. However, I am in an economic bind because I can not afford to get some one else to maintain my site. It has become a bit of an digital albatross. Worse still, it has begun to look rather old–fashioned in places (it commits the sin of having a ‘table-based design’ with ‘spaceer gifs’). Rather than serving as ‘shop front’ for my writing it has become a bit of a liability. The challenge now is to keep it up to speed with minimum effort.

I spend far too much of life behind a computer screen. Worse still, I also spend a lot of time reading books and journal articles for work. To be honest, I find myself all 'read-out' by the end of the week so that I don’t even bother to take a printed newspaper anymore because I know that I won’t want to find time to read it. I want to spend what free I have with my child (either that or sleeping and taking vigorous exercise). This is a shame because I find that I miss the shower of serendipity that you get from newspaper or a general interest journal like the Economist. I don't take specialist magazines either. Similarly, I do not get many opportunities to listen to BBC Radio 4 anymore so that I miss the warmth of the well-read word. However, podcasting has changed all that. Now, I go out running with the BBC world service in my ears. I can negotiate the hazards of the M25 with some wise words by Paul Boag about the CSS and web accessibility. This is wonderful because I am getting interesting, focussed content when I want it and in a manner that allows me to get out and about.

Boagworld was also a lucky find because it demonstrated the power of show notes. I can listen to the podcast while out on the road and can then dip into the show notes to make links to the various books or sites that struck a chord. Web links and a life? Is this possible?

More recently, I have become more ambitious in my podcast listening. I am taking conference podcasts from d.construct (care of a boagworld link) and I am enjoying popular science news from the Guardian. I am also subscribing and unsubscribing to free podcasts as I refine my own understanding of my listening tastes. In short, I am browsing the podcast world in a manner similar to my RSS-driven engagement with the world wide web. Even better, I am enjoying having a light-weight, mobile and aural interface with a wide, wide world of content.

'Writing for Videogames' by Steve Ince

2006-11-14T22:06:00.000+01:00

One of the more interesting things that I got to do this year was to work with members of the UK Games Industry. This opportunity came about because of involvement with the Narrative Laboratory for the Creative Industries (NLab). I got to interview a number of insightful individuals such as Michael Powell of De Montfort University, Jolyon Webb (who was working for Codemasters at the time) and Toby Barnes of Pixel-Lab. I also got to take part in a one day seminar at which Ernest Adams was the keynote speaker. These contacts were made all the more interesting because there a number of writers involved in the project, such as Kate Pullinger, who had experience of developing narratives with a wide variety of technologies, including print.

One of the most interesting things to arise out of this meeting of talents was the realization that the Games Industry was crying out for the abilities demonstrated by (for want of a better term) ‘conventional’ authors. Almost all of the representatives of the Games World felt their industry and their art form could benefit from writers skilled in producing affective as well effective dialogue, characters and scenarios. However, it was clear, from the frank but generous contributions made by the contributors to the panel that there was a gap (both in terms of skills and awareness) between these kinds of writers and the industry. There was also the issue of where to get started and how a writer (or their agent) might tackle the task of getting a foot in the door. I was pleased to read, therefore, that the games producer and designer Steve Ince had produced a book called ‘Writing for Video Games’.

One of the most interesting things about this book is where it is positioned in the market. I think that it is a smart move that A & C Black have placed this book in their catalogue with practical texts aimed at ‘conventional’ writers. I believe that this will give the book an audience that might not, in the first instance, order a game book from New Riders. Similarly, it is written as an introduction and this allows it to be quite user-friendly which will be re-assuring for anyone like me who is simply dipping their toe into the industry to test the waters. There are no tech-minotaurs lurking in this labyrinth.

However, there are, of course, pitfalls associated with generalised introductions. This book tries to cover masses of territory and sometimes trips over its own ambition. The author, for example, squares up to the Sisyphean task of describing the genres of contemporary games but then gets into a bit of knot with his own cataloguing method. Ince argues that game genres are defined by “the style of play”. He then starts classifying by describing about action, adventure and fighting games. However, he rather trips over his own definition by separating out children’s games as genre and then arguing that “games aimed specifically at children are usually games that would fit other genres which have been adapted to appeal to the target audience.” Personally I would have preferred less classification and simple sidebar to a text such as ‘Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Games Design’ which tackles this thorny issue in a design context.

What I really liked about this book was it conveys a real sense of what it like to be a writer in an industry that is not particularly writer-centric. Ince, for example, observes that “a writer could be invited to join a project at virtually any point in its development.” This might make the Games Industry sound unattractive to a creative writer used to working on their own projects. But I basically believe it is better to approach these kinds of writing opportunity with the rosy-tinted glasses left in the desk drawer. I don’t think that a writer used to advertising or TV industries would, however, find this kind of working experience entirely alien. Being a word-slinger for hire can offer its own rewards.

This book, by design, has little to say about the craft of writing. It leaves the art of dialogue and narrative to other texts. This means that it will not be your only purchase if you are a less-experienced writer looking to break into Games. However, it does cover some of the nuts and bolts of applying writing skills to games designs. My favourite chapter in this book dealt with dialogue and logic. It felt to me that this was the meat of the task and I would have liked to have more on this subject.

If I had to make one quibble with this book it is with its bibliography, which seems to be singularly lacking in design texts. It is, however, quite possible to supplement this text with Rollings and Adams. It might also wise to take in Chris Crawford on Games Design, as Crawford provides a truly unique introduction to the Games Industry. However, this text more than makes up for its lack of books with its website recommendations which will provide bed-time browsing for many a year to come.

Happy reading!

The Irrepressible Campaign by Amnesty International

2006-10-29T20:42:00.000+01:00

I have just pledge support for the Amnesty International campaign to support freedom of expression on the Internet. On their website they note:-

"The web is a great tool for sharing ideas and freedom of expression. However, efforts to try and control the Internet are growing. Internet repression is reported in countries like China, Vietnam, Tunisia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria. People are persecuted and imprisoned simply for criticising their government, calling for democracy and greater press freedom, or exposing human rights abuses, online.

But Internet repression is not just about governments. IT companies have helped build the systems that enable surveillance and censorship to take place. Yahoo! have supplied email users’ private data to the Chinese authorities, helping to facilitate cases of wrongful imprisonment. Microsoft and Google have both complied with government demands to actively censor Chinese users of their services.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. It is one of the most precious of all rights. We should fight to protect it."

You can pledge support at - http://irrepressible.info

Firefox 2.0 is go!

2006-10-26T16:18:00.000+02:00

I have just downloaded Firefox2.0.

I can not say that I have got to grips with every aspect of this browser but I can see already that it is going help my workflow when I am blogging and developing. I have just added the 'performancing' add-on and as you can see it is good for posting. What I like about this free add-on is that it is blogging (with a text editor) in a drop-and-drag 'browser-based' environment. It has the ability to save notes and images so that it possible to build up the assets for a post during the course of the day in a scrapbook kind of a way. For example, I dropped and dragged the image above into this post which meant that I did not have to think about URLs or image tags. The webpage is in the upper pane and the blog editor is in the lower page. Perhaps my only worry with this way of working is that it is almost too easy to post. I am going to forget all the html I have learnt. I am also worried that I will have to remind myself that when I am repurposing other peoples text and images that I need to acknowledge their contribution.

The other features that I like about Firefox2.0 is the web development toolbar. This should make testing quicker and more effective as you can disable cookies, cache and javascript within the browser. This will, at least, quantify the many issues to be considered when testing a new site.

Seven Ends of the World by Tobias Rehberger - Venice 2003

2006-10-24T15:19:00.000+02:00

Venice in Pictures

I came across a description of this interesting internet work in 'Art Incorporated' by Julian Stallabrass. The light in the different glass balloons reproduce the current light levels in different parts of the world. Stallabrass notes: "This piece is both a technically accomplished, spectacular and appealing object, and the manifestation of an idea".

Blogged with Flock

Are you addicted to the Internet?

2006-10-19T11:47:00.000+02:00

The BBC article 'US shows signs of net addiction' reports that a recent study by medical researchers at Stanford University Research Centre in which the headlined claims are:

The results showed that nearly 14% of respondents found it difficult to stay away from the internet for periods of several days.

Almost 6% said they felt their wanderings in cyberspace adversely affected their relationships with other people.

Nearly 8% of people said they went online to escape real world problems.

So am I addicted to the internet?

It has to be said that I like to check whether I have any new e-mails on a regular basis. I experience a sweet sense of delight when I get a personal e-mail from someone I know. I also like to post my most recent images on Flickr (and check on any comments or new views by my friends and family). I see this as being part of who I am. I have a network of friends distributed across the world and I invest some of my social time in keeping in contact with them (this blog often helps in this activity). Many close to me would argue that I don't spend enough time investing in this activity and that I spend too much time with my back to my family reading work-related articles on the BBC website. Furthermore, I feel that there are a number of historical precedents for this social activity. For example, Jane Austen describes her heroines writing regular letters of their daily doings to their dearest but not nearest as a way of keeping up a close friendship or family tie. Did anyone talk about Lizzie Bennet being addicted to paper and ink?

I don't think I am compulsive about my use because I really enjoy spending holidays away from my machine. I don't experience anything like cold turkey. Far from it, I get my eyesight back and a renewed delight in the wind on my face. Of course, if I was an addict I would probably be in denial about my use. The first step to recovery is recognizing you have a problem. But I don't think I have a problem. I have a life (of sorts).

To judge by the BBC article, I am a little too old to be a typical computer addict and I certainly do not clock up enough the hours on the computer. They note:

A typical addict is a single, white college-educated male in his 30s, who spends more than 30 hours a week on "non-essential" computer use, it found.

What alarms me in that statement is the idea of "non-essential" use of the computer. Are we to characterize computer-use by a work-based hierarchy. Is it better to be a work-a-holic than a play-a-holic? Is it better to post next year's accounts at midnight rather than relax within Second Life. It seems to me that two quite different ideas are being roled/rolled up in this idea of an addict. I am not denying that it is possible to be harmed by too much computer use or indeed to use the internet in a compulsive way. But it seems to me that human beings are capable of being compulsive about almost anything or anyone. It would make sense, to my mind, to try and understand why they are harming themselves as well as noting their method of harm.

In the Stamford research abstract they note that they asked their respondents to report on their:

unsuccessful effort to reduce Internet use or a history of remaining online longer than intended, Internet use interfering with relationships, and a preoccupation with Internet use when offline.

I think that the binary opposition between offline and online is what I am objecting to in this kind of thinking about the internet. I can fully recognize that a certain sort of internet use can interfere with relationships. We also like to feel some sense of control over our actions. Furthermore, the internet modulates the kinds of self -control and relationship possible. However, it has to be said that MySpace, YouTube and all the rest are also part of the development and maintenance of relationships. It is our intentions towards our relationships that has been modulated by these kinds of technologies.

As a final thought, you might like to ask yourself why you are reading this blog. You might know me and want to keep up with the confusion that I call myself. You might be interested in what I have to say. The erudite wit or my writing style might appeal. I very much doubt that you are reading this for work. Does that mean you have an addiction? Or do you have some much more complicated and nuanced relati0nship with the medium/ia you are engaging with.

Please post comments with a bottle of wine!

New University: New Job: New Sign

2006-10-18T12:47:00.000+02:00

The New University of Bedfordshire Sign
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

I have been so busy of late that I have not had chance to blog all my news. The first bit of gossip about yours trully is that I have a new part-time job. I am now the Researcher in New Media Writing in the Research Institute for Media, Art and Design at the newly-formed University of Bedfordshire. The role is really quite an exciting one for me as it will involve me in developing some interesting new work for a research project that I am calling 'Writing(s): Not for WIMPs'. I have decided that role is sufficiently interesting and demanding that it will require a blog all of its own. It is my aim to use this new blog as an artist's book to keep track of my process. The blog has the same name as the project and details can be found at http://writings-wimps.blogspot.com.

Living History Day - Leighton Buzzard

2006-10-14T20:14:00.000+02:00

Old Motor Bikes at Living History Day Leighton Buzzard
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

There was a good range of activities and a nice festival spirit at Living History Day 2006. It was good to celebrate the history of the region's Italian, Polish and Czech Communities. I particularly enjoyed the displays about the Czechoslovakian government-in-exile during World War 2 and the Wawel Polish Dance Troupe. I also enjoyed the elementsfrom the 1950s - the collections of old cars and bikes, the Razz Classic 50s ladies trio and the Pink Cadillacs Rock and Roll band ( there are plenty of images on my flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinandrewstewart/).

Affective Imaging; Uneasy Spaces: Goldsmiths - October 20, 2006

2006-10-12T09:49:00.000+02:00

Symposium: Affective Imaging; Uneasy Spaces.

Contemporary Arts Practice and Research Exhibition: Crossing the
Atlantic; Uneasy Spaces.
Curated by Liz Wells and Ann Chwatsky

Goldsmiths Digital Studios, University of London will be hosting a
one-day symposium on contemporary arts practices and research entitled:
Affective Imaging; Uneasy Spaces. The symposium brings together artists,
theorists and historians in five one-hour sessions. Affective Imaging;
Uneasy Spaces features presentations, responses and discussion of
current artist practices and research concerned with Photography and
related media. The work of the invited artists, theorists and historians
demonstrates a wide range of interests and production dealing with the
'spaces' of engagement of the artist or viewer, the influence of global
markets and the conceptual frameworks of creative and critical practices.

Date: October 20, 2006
Location: Goldsmiths College, New Cross London SE14 6NW
Venue: Ben Pimlott Building, Ground Floor
Time: 10am- 5:30pm Symposium

Speakers include: • Jonathan Friday, History and Philosophy of Art
(University of Kent) • Carey Young, Artist (www.careyyoung.com) •
Theresa Mikuria, Artist-History and Philosophy of Art (University of
Kent) • Sarah Pierce, Artist and Researcher (Interface, Univ. of Ulster)
• Kevin McCoy, Artist (New York University) (www.mccoyspace.com)

Symposium Respondents include: • Janis Jefferies (Goldsmiths College,
Digital Studios) • Simon O'Sullivan (Goldsmiths College, Dept. of Visual
Culture) • Ann Chwatsky (New York University, Art in Media) • Susan
Kelly (Goldsmiths College, Dept. of Visual Art) • John Hutnyk
(Goldsmiths College, Centre for Cultural Studies) Symposium

Convened by: Craig Smith (London College of Communication, Photography
Practice)

This symposium is FREE and open to the public. Please email reservation
requests for student groups to Professor Janis Jefferies
(j.jefferies@gold.ac.uk).

This symposium is scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition: Crossing
the Atlantic; Uneasy Spaces hosted by Goldsmiths College and curated by
Ann Chwatsky (New York University). Uneasy Spaces is on view in the Ben
Pimlott Building, Goldsmiths College between Oct.19 and Nov.8, 2006. The
Goldsmiths exhibition is the second part of a bi-country exchange
between the United Kingdom and the United States. The USA exhibition of
Uneasy Spaces has been curated by Liz Wells and is on view at New York
University's 90 Washington Square East Galleries through November 6, 2006.

DIRECTIONS TO GOLDSMITHS: Goldsmiths can be reached by train from London
Bridge Station, by underground on the East London Line or bus including
436 and 36. The Ben Pimlott Building can be seen upon entry to the
campus and identified by its trademark "swirlie" sculpture affixed to
the roof of the building. Map:
(http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/find-us/campus-map.php)

For additional information please contact Janis Jefferies:
(j.jefferies@gold.ac.uk)

"I'm deeply suspicious of panels that announce the death of anything but people..'

2006-10-11T15:07:00.000+02:00

I have been catching up with the latest framed interview ( "interviews with new media artists and writers") over at http://www.framejournal.net. The latest offering from Simon Mills is an interesting series of insights from Scott Rettberg ( author of 'Kind of Blue' and 'Implementation').

I was very taken with SR thoughts about the state of electronic literature/new media writing. Like both the interviewer and interviewee I have been bumping into all kinds in the corridor recently gleefully declaring the 'death of hypertext'. This seems to me to be odd because it seems to motivated by the same 'geewhizz it's so new' mindset that drew so much attention to hypertext lit. in the first place. SR speaks of the "theory-driven halo" that illuminated works in the 90s. I agree with him that this halo has slipped and hypertext as a practice no longer eclipses all the other interesting practices ( such as aleatoric poetry, Interactive Fiction etc.) that have been going on in the less fashionable ends of the digital muse. I think that this change in awareness is a good thing...but I don't think that it marks the death of hypertext or the artistic exhaustion of hypertextuality as an interesting trope. In my own work I tend not to think in a link and node structure as I am happier working at smaller levels of granularity (the phrase, the word, the letter). Similarly, I relish the opportunity to use code, sound and animation but this does not mean that I don't value hypertext or indeed fiction. It occurs to me that I too might write/right an old skool link/node hypertext simply to piss off the punters. I really can not countenance the idea that we (as a culture) have mined all the exciting possibilities of linking. However, before I embark on any large scale projects I guess I thought might consider how I am going to find the time to create such a work.

SR notes that "the gift economy is an important aspect of the identity of the new media writer". I would agree that my construction as 'new media writer' (in so far as I am one) has come through a number of gifts - including the valuable work of the Electronic Literature Organisation and the trAce Online Writing Centre. I hope that I have recognized this aspect of my practice by placing most of my work on the web with a Creative Commons Licence ('free as in free') and by acknowledging the contribution made to my thinking by a number of key practitioners. However, I believe that the non-gift economies are also present in that construction. More as dark shadow or absence, which can be best quantified by all those blog postings I do not post...all those ideas that have stayed ideas etc. I would say that the no-time economy constructs me most, as I find my brain takes longer to code nowadays. Similary, I don't learn new programming languages as often as I would like for mudane reasons of time and age. A constaint that I share to some degree with everyone else on this small ball of ours.

So maybe that old skool hypertext will have to sit as an idea for awhile longer until I just can't stop myself from putting pad to keys. However, I don't expect that I will be alone in still being interested in the link and I look forward to the mellow middle age of hypertext fiction.

"The Future of the Internet II"

2006-09-25T11:32:00.000+02:00

The Pew International Report - "The Future of the Internet II" provides some fascinating scenarios for discussing the state of Network Culture. For example, their summary suggests that by 2020:-

"A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a flattening world;
Humans will remain in charge of technology, even as more activity is automated and smart agents proliferate. However, a significant 42% of survey respondents were pessimistic about humans ability to control the technology in the future. This significant majority agreed that dangers and dependencies will grow beyond our ability to stay in charge of technology. This was one of the major surprises in the survey;
Virtual reality will be compelling enough to enhance worker productivity and also spawn new addiction problems;
Tech refuseniks will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change;
People will wittingly and unwittingly disclose more about themselves, gaining some benefits in the process even as they lose some privacy;
English will be a universal language of global communications, but other languages will not be displaced. Indeed, many felt other languages such as Mandarin, would grow in prominence"

Pew Internet: Future of the Internet

I am only just beginning to read the report so I can't say that I have come up with a considered reaction to it (this is a reactive blogging post). However, I can't help feeling that in the summary and reporting I have read so far there is very little made of the impact of the American Government or the so-called War on Terror on the development of Net Culture. I think this is important because I am afraid that we might be moving into an era of techno-jingo-ism and cold war ( with elements of 'hot' war mixed in) which will bring technologists and scientists into ethical conflict with the institutions of state and international governance on an unprecedented scale.

Farewell to the PC screen - Take 2

2006-09-22T09:55:00.000+02:00

BBC NEWS | Technology | Roll-up screens 'moving closer'

Well what do you know...the Beeb are reporting another screen-killing technology today. This one is a roll-up screen that is made of a 'smart' metallic material. Funnily enough, my first impressions of this image was that it was a picture of a papyrus scroll, a technology that was suceeded by the codex book a few hundred years ago. It would something of an irony if the scroll was the technology that ended our cultural love-affair with the book. Somehow I can't see however. I like the 'virtual' projector solution I blogged yesterday. It appears to be a lot less bulky and more flexible. I guess it will come down to issues of weight, resolution and colour. Watch this space!

Blogged with Flock

Is this the end for the PC screen?

2006-09-21T21:57:00.000+02:00

BBC NEWS | Technology | Projector size of sugar cube made

The technology section of BBC News is reporting the laser-based data projector pictured above. It is certainly small and could be fitted into phones and the like so that they can be turned into projector devices. I can see a market for such a device because it would certainly make life easier for anyone, like me, who is forced to lug-around a data projector as part of their kit. In the longer term, I can also imagine in this world of hot-desks and cramped offices that this kind of device might stand in for a desk top screen, as all one would have to do it clear a bit of wall space (or put up a piece of white card) in front of your desk. It will feel really odd to have adequate space in which to work!

However, there is always some kind of caveat in a tech story. This particular projector has a limited colour set (based on blue and red lasers), as the team have yet to make a small enough green laser, so I don't expect that I will be giving up my daily dose of radiation any time in the near future.

An Image from Howard Rheingold's presentation as VP at De Montfort University, UK

2006-09-21T20:56:00.000+02:00

An Image from Howard Rheingold's presentation as VP at De Montfort University, UK
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

I was lucky enough to get invited to the first lecture by Howard Rheingold as Visiting Professor at De Montfort University. I will write alot more about this tomorrow ( I am a reflective blogger these days).

Leighton Carnival

2006-09-09T19:13:00.000+02:00

Leighton Carnival
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

I have just spent a great afternoon at the Leighton Buzzard Carnival. There was lots of the normal fair ground stuff to see and do. I particularly enjoyed the display of what I guess I shall have to call flag-waving (as I am unsure what this particular activity was really called) . I also enjoyed scaring myself silly on the Big Wheel and having a look around the local fire engine.

Nice to be in sunshine in mid-September!

Teachable Moments - Matthew Henry Hall

2006-09-08T12:00:00.000+02:00

Inside Higher Ed :: Teachable Moments

Blogged with Flock

Make sure you carry your TV licence!

2006-09-08T11:07:00.000+02:00

The BBC are reporting the introduction of the BT Movio service which provides TV to mobile phones - BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Major TV broadcasters go mobile . In contrast to the other TV services to phones this will use the DAB digital network rather than the 3G system. This move will certainly please the notional mobile moocher (described by the BBC) that wants to watch ITV's Corrie down the boozer. It will also have significant impact on the structure and profits of the industry. 3G was supposed to 'save' the Mobile Network Operators. However, in a prescient resource article written last year ( Pyramid Research argued that they might become "casualties of a dis-intermediation process that would minimize their role in the Mobile TV value chain or remove them altogether." Pyramind Research argue that they have already missed out on the riches to be gleaned from the music download gold rush.

It seems that almost everyone's head is being bashed together by the processes of convergence. In fact, rather than any kind of nirvana, the great coming-together it is proving to be a tortuous train wreck that is twisting all sorts of institutions -new and old - into some strange and contorted shapes. Who would have thought that one would need a TV licence to carry a mobile phone in the UK? Who would have thought back then during the great feeding frenzy for 3G licences that the profits of the mobile phone industry would be challenged by DAB radio?

Blogged with Flock

Google News Archive Search

2006-09-06T10:56:00.000+02:00

"I'm strongly in favour of the democratisation of access to historical documents, but also cautious about how much information Google now controls," said Professor Roy Rosenzeig, a historian from the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University in the US."

BBC NEWS | Business | Google opens up 200 years of news

It seems that barely a day goes by without Google announcing another eye-catching search application. The latest announcements are for the Google News Archive Search . This is a search resource that can provide access to news reporting from "a large collection of historical archives including major newspapers/magazines, news archives and legal archives". Access to some of these archives is free and others are on a pay-for-access basis. One of the 'coolest' features is the time line which arranges the retrieved stories into a date-structured order, which allows one to see the evolution of the story. However, it has to be said that this function is only as good as its data sources. I tapped in the 'Crimean War' into the search engine and was provided with a time line that started in the 1890s (some 40 years after the war ended) and then had a time line that ran right up to the present day. I am guessing that this is due to the search engine not having access to records of contemporary European paper coverage. I was also provided with another equally odd time line when I tapped in my own name in to the search engine, with entries ranging from 1986 to the present (but none of which referred to yours truly).

I believe that Prof Rosenzeig ( quoted in the BBC) has hit on to a legitimate concern about these services provided by Google. It is very exciting as a writer, to have a news service archive on the desktop ( as it will save on trips to the library). It is also great that this service can be reached by everyone with a browser (and not just academics). However, it is very disturbing to see access to these services being mediated by a US corporation. In the past, in Britain, for example, such services were sometimes seen as being for the common good and were provided by libraries and foundations. The BBC also argues that it has a role to play in providing access to its archives to the general public. However, one should not idealize the current situation as, for example, the British library has a readers pass system that effectively eliminates access to most of the general public.

It will be interesting to see what regulators and custodians of collections will do if Google tries to extend this service to include further news archive providers.

Blogged with Flock

What goes around comes around…

2006-09-04T15:23:00.000+02:00

I have just added a Creative Commons attribution license to all my public photos on flickr. I thought that this might be a pain but in fact it proved to be easy to batch change the settings on my current public photos and then to alter the default setting on my future public uploads.

I have been happy to put the CC license on my work because it makes explicit to other users that I am delighted for them to use and modify these images (providing they give me a little nod in their credits). This is important to me because I have often found myself in a situation where I need an image of something (to illustrate an idea such as 'search engines') and having searched on the image I find that there is no licence associated with the image to tell me whether I am free to use the image or not. I have often found this a waste of time and nervous energy.

This situation is improving, however and there are some excellent search facilities now available for CC licensed images – for example – flickr has an engine at http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/ . The Creative Commons organization also has a most-excellent search facility at http://search.creativecommons.org/ which draws on the flickr search and others such as google. The Lifehacker site has an excellent post on ‘6 ways to find reusable media’ which provides links to a lot of great sites such as WIKImedia.

BTW – The CC licensed image on this post is by Matt McGee at http://flickr.com/photos/pleeker/209616854/

I have noticed a couple of stories this week...

2006-09-01T18:34:00.000+02:00

I have noticed a couple of stories this week that point to significant changes in the way I will be working with the Net in the next few years.

Firstly, the BBC notes that the City of Norwich in the UK has begun experimenting with a city wide wi-fi project called Norfolk Open Link .The Norwich system uses antennas positioned on lamp posts (and other street furniture) to create blanket wi-fi coverage in key sectors of the city. I was interested to read in the Beebs article that in the first three weeks of this pilot they had seen the highest usage around the University of East Anglia, the college in the city and the central library which suggests to me that the 'young' (students, gamers, the young at heart) will be the early adopters of this innovation. I was also interested to note that this pilot had been funded by the Regional Development Agency, which suggests to me that ubiquitous access to the Internet might well be funded in many areas as a way of adding an economic advantage to the local economy.

Of course, Norwich is not alone in this kind of undertaking. I know that San Francisco, for example, has plans to roll out wi-fi right across the city (anyone know where this project has got to?). The Norwich scheme has a relative low connection speed (I think it is 256kpbs for the general public). This has been done so that it does not compete with smaller-scale hi-speed commercial wi-fi. However far from being a limitation, I think this kind of project and funding structure will appeal to cities in the UK. Furthermore, I predict that wi-fi in our city centres will have effect on a number of our cultural institutions, including that most important organ for developing public opinion in the UK - the Pub Bore. Can you image - PB - launches into an 'authoritative' tale beginning with 'Did you know...'. He will then drift across a moonscape of ill-informed prejudice and intellectual flat spots. Meanwhile, at the next table the swift fingers of youth will be searching on the appropriate keywords to pull-down the collective might of WIKIpedia, the BBC and my blog. Who knows, if PB is particularly long-winded they might be able to vlog the windbag's argument (and its counter-argument) as he is pontificating.

I don't want to sound to smug about this scenario, however, because the same might apply to a humble visiting lecturer forced to deliver some rehashed material slightly off subject because of personal poverty and a timetabling clash. This might be particularly hazardous if the students actually do some reading!

The other article from the BBC that grabbed my attention was not really a 'new' news story but one that marked the moment that I finally got the point. The article was headlined 'google makes novels free to print' which, as you can imagine, grabbed my attention. However, on subsequent reading it transpired that the article referred to the Google Book Search which provides access to the text of books no longer under copyright in print-ready formats (which is hardly the same as 'novels free to print'). However, following the principle of feet-first experimentation which has informed most of my engagement with the web I realize that this search engine is more powerful than I originally thought. I tapped in the word 'addressivity' (a term I used in my PhD thesis after reading Mikhail Bakhtin). It is an obscure word (in the great scheme of things) which delivered 635 individual hits for the whole of the www. Imagine my surprise that it is also used in some 600 books (some of which are nearly new/ some of which were old and obscured). The insights derived from this search engine kick in when one analyzes the context of the word. In many cases, the page, the chapter title and the book synopsis give huge clues to the significance or otherwise of the usage of the term.

I can see that this particular kind of search is going to have quite significant impact on a broad sweep of scholarship over the next couple of years. It is going to bring a lot of material into view in a timely fashion, particularly if scholars start to engage with the database/open API-revolution that is occurring at present.

I hope, however, that I don't sound like a paid-up techno-utopian in this blog post because my first reaction to my search was ...'oh my god'...followed by... 'I hope my PhD is not out there already'. There is so much written about the term 'addressivity' that it would be impossible to read every single use of the term. However, I am guessing that it might give out arguments to those inclined to argue with you. I am also guessing that this will mean that university scholars will have to be explicit about the fact that their subject knowledge is based on a mere fraction of the total word-horde out there.

Of course, my sense of insignificance, when faced with the stacks of a sizable library, for example, is nothing new. I feel sure that many others have had a similar sensation over the centuries when faced with the British Library collection. Let's face it, total coverage has never been possible. However, now it is made clear with a three second search. Debates should get a bit more lively in the near future!

Watch out the waffler and the over-blown expert!

View of Ben Bulbin from Rosses Point, Sligo

2006-08-29T11:39:00.000+02:00

View of Ben Bulbin from Rosses Point, Sligo
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

My apologies to everyone who has worked hard this summer, as all I seem to be doing at the moment is blogging my holiday snaps. This latest one was taken during a short visit to Sligo in Ireland.

I can't help looking at this picture afresh and thinking that it is a little too blue. Most of the time I was over in Sligo it was grey and overcast. Ben Bulbin (the mountain in the background - intimately associated with the poet, WB Yeats) spent most of the visit doing the dance of the seven veils with low level cloud. Still it was nice the day that this picture was taken. It was particularly pleasent to get on to the beach and swim in the rolling waves. I guess that is a legitimate memory too!

Festival Calendar 2.0?

2006-08-21T17:28:00.000+02:00

Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

I have just spent a wet weekend near Kettlewell, in the Yorkshire Dales. However, despite the weather I had a good time. There were a number of fascinating festivals going on locally in Wharfedale which made it quite a jolly location despite the drizzle. I particularly enjoyed the Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival (you can click on the image accompanying this post and see the photographs I took of the festival in my photostream on flickr). I also enjoyed the Burnsall Feast (complete with Burnsall Classic Fell Race).

If I am being completely honest, I would have to admit that prior to arriving in the region last Thursday I had no idea that any of this was going on. Yes folks, I did not google ‘Wharfedale + Good Time” prior to my visit, relying instead on two trusty old analogue friends of old, serendipity and opportunism.

However, on returning to my desk in the south of England I looked up a number of links in preparation for this post. I stumbled upon a number of calendars of events such as fell races. Similarly, I lucked upon a number of ‘static’ maps of tourist attractions in the region. However, this temporal hotspot of festivals made me wonder whether there was not a web application out there that links together the various community e-calendars with a mapping service so that one can predict where is likely to be fun to visit at a particular point in the year. To date, I have not come across this application of my dreams…however, I would like to know if anyone stumbles across this application or the necessary access to databases to put such an app together!

The Big Green Gathering Group on Flickr

2006-08-11T11:55:00.000+02:00

Ivan Inversion
Originally uploaded by edmittance.

Having posted my pictures of the Big Green Gathering on Flickr earlier this week, I have now been invited into the BGG group. The gesalt of grouping is a great feature of these kinds of web apps as they network together like-minded contributions into something more social. I particularly enjoyed the fact that one of my fellow bgg-ers captured Ivan Inversion hanging from the road sign. I have lots of pictures of him starting, finishing or being asked to stop ( being Ivan the not quite inverted) but this image by Ed Mitchell really captures the madness of the man's mission.

Tap in BGG in the http://www.flickr.com search engine if you want to see more images like this one!

Record Store Cats from b3ta

2006-08-08T18:32:00.000+02:00

There are all sorts of funny things that drop in my inbox. One of my favorite purveyors of e-mail funny stuff is b3ta. Their ideas are visually quirky and they deliver their comic punch without a mass of downloading or head-scratching.

Big Green Gathering

2006-08-07T11:44:00.000+02:00

Artwork at Big Green Gathering
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

I have just spent a family weekend at the Big Green Gathering. This was an immersive, full-on festival experience. There were lectures on energy policy, speakers, bands, workshops and healing massages. I enjoyed drifting through the festival spaces taking in the informal happenings and the stunning art works dotted across the fields. There were carnival costumes, naked bikers and a guy hanging upside down from a tree playing the guitar. I was particularly struck by the green woman sculpture featured in this image (and would love to know who the artist is).

Away from the more frenetic parts of the festival I enjoyed the calm consideration of the healing zone (along with a vigorous indian massage). I also enjoyed the wealth of activities for children. The child-friendly spirit of the festival adds an extra dimension for adults, mainly because I felt relaxed about letting my daughter run around in a car-free space. However, like any festival the toilets were a trial and the tents were packed in so tightly that it was not the 'alone with nature experience' that some people expect when they go camping.

Homecoming is up

2006-08-01T19:03:00.000+02:00

Screen grab of m/other
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

It has just been brought to my attention that I never write much about any of my own work on this blog. For the most part this is not due to modesty but because I write about it at length on my website. However this approach seems to be too old skool for my blog-orientated friends (heaven forbid that they have to use a search engine or read a website or round-robin e-mail) . I hope this mention will be enough to get them to take note of 'homecoming' as this post can provide it with an RSS feed.

'Homecoming' is up at www.gavinstewart.net/homecoming/homehome.html. This computer-mediated collection of meditations draws on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin to explore the relationship between his work on addressivity and computer-mediated text.

Swings and roundabouts

2006-08-01T17:51:00.000+02:00

WOMAD Festival Reading - July 2006
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

Three years ago I had barely heard of a blog. Now I find myself with at least four different routes to post an entry into my blog. Firstly, there is the traditional route (can one use such a term in blogging?) of logging-on to the blog providers website. This is a good route as it has spell-check and edit. However, it requires that one has already pre-loaded images or other non-text files somewhere on the web (and that one knows and remembers their URLs). Secondly, the flock browser also provides a route into the blogosphere. This is good ...but is currently not working for some reason that I can not fathom. Thirdly, the blogosphere accepts e-mails. This is good for preparing entries when one is off-line. Finally, there is the link provided by one web service to another. For example, I have taken to blogging using flickr. This might seem odd but it seems to be the route that works quickest for me...especially if I want to include an image with the post. It is a one-stop shop approach that I think will appeal to new bloggers who want to get things together with the minimum of fuss. I have been amazed at the speed with which I construct a blog entry complete with images. These blog entries are also being hosted for free at present as none of the web services that I use charge for these kind of services. There are, of course, down sides. The image from flickr are coming out with a nasty black border on my browser. Still the flickr post also come with a link to the flickr site and a link to a slide show. This allows people to go deeper and deeper (to look at other images that I have posted on flickr or to download larger format versions of the image files) while also still being able to download the post at speed.

Happy Holidays - Part Three

2006-08-01T17:33:00.000+02:00

WOMAD Festival Reading - July 2006
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

The third part of my life as a lotus-eater took me ( and my daughter) to the WOMAD festival at Reading, UK. WOMAD is a great festival which I have really enjoyed over the years. This, however, was my first time as a father. I have to say that taking a young child really changed my perception of the festival. In the past I have meticuously planned with the programme which artists I would see on which stages and moved from A to B in a happy but purposeul fashion. However, with a small child I was much more open to serendipity and moving slowly.

In fact, over the course of the time I was at the festival I didn't really take in more than a few minutes of the programmed music. I did, however, enjoy the informal drumming, the stalls, the workshops, the fair and the general sense of being in a brightly coloured place where people were having good natured fun!

Happy Holidays - Part Two

2006-08-01T17:25:00.000+02:00

Ladram Bay
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

The second part of my holiday took me to the Devon coast line, firstly to Thurlstone and then to Ladram Bay. After the heat and dust of walking Wiltshire it was nice to go swimming in the sea each day.

Happy Holidays - Part One

2006-08-01T17:19:00.000+02:00

Avebury Stone Circle
Originally uploaded by gavinandrewstewart.

I feel that I should issue the standard 'blog' apology for not posting much this month. However, this would be a rather false apology of my part because I don't feel much remorse about not blogging as I have been out and about enjoying a series of holidays away from the screen. Yes folks it is Joyous July. Time to take the soul (and the camera) into the wide, wide world!

The first part of my marathon month-long fun-a-thon was a week of walking along the Wessex Ridgeway through Wiltshire and Dorset. The weather was extremely hot for England and I have to say that I sweated like a horse all week. However, despite lumbering along like a tortoise I enjoyed some classic English scenery including the Neolithic stone circle at Avebury, Wardour Castle and the well-hung giant at Cerne Abbas.

Vehicle Licensing in the UK

2006-07-12T11:31:00.000+02:00

It might be sad but I got really excited the other day when I received a car relicensing form through the post and noticed that it had a website - www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc. I got even more excited when I read the booklet and realized that the system was on line and that the powers that be had finally got the Tax Disc, MOT and insurance databases to talk to one another. However, it looks like things have gone wrong. I logged on to the website two days back and instead of getting a website I got a bunch of source code. Today when I tried to log-in I got a message saying " the Web Service is currently unavailable due to essential maintenance". I got a similar message when I tried to ring the phone just now. It looks like I will be standing in a queue clutching paperwork with everyone else as usual this year. Is it too much to ask for the UK government to install a computer system that actually works?

Aspects DVD

2006-07-11T19:40:00.000+02:00

I have just picked up on this interesting DVD format magazine - Aspect: The Chronicle of New Media Art . It appears to deal with a wide range of New Media Art and artists. I am going to subscribe for one issue so look out for a review of its work in a later post.

Blogged with Flock

*DIGITAL RESOURCES IN THE HUMANITIES AND ARTS - DARTINGTON COLLEGE OF ARTS, DEVON, UK

2006-07-10T15:53:00.000+02:00

Another interesting conference:-

*DIGITAL RESOURCES IN THE HUMANITIES AND ARTS*

UK CONFERENCE 2006

DARTINGTON COLLEGE OF ARTS, DEVON, UK

Sunday September 3rd to Wednesday September 6th, 2006

http://www.dartington.ac.uk/drha06/index.asp

REGISTRATION:

http://www.dartington.ac.uk/drha06/registration/index.asp

DRHA2006 will feature:

a.. Keynote by Katherine Hayles, author of "Now We Are Posthuman",
"Writing Machines" and "My Mother Was A Computer", Professor of
Literature and Design/Media Arts, UCLA, USA
b.. Keynote by Roy Ascott, President of the Planetary Collegium,
Director of CAiiA-Hub, and Professor of Technoetic Art
c.. An Introductory Talk by Richard Beacham, Director of the
Visualisation Lab, King's College London
d.. A presentation by performance artist Stelarc via video-conference
from Melbourne Australia, "the most celebrated artist in the world
working within technology and the visual arts" (Amazon 2006)
e.. Performances and "in-process" inputs by 'body>data>space' (UK)
and SWAP (Portugal), an electronic concert, book and organisation
Launches and Receptions, Conference Dinner, Debates, Panels and over 100
Papers, Posters, Exhibitions and Installations across a wide range of
Humanities disciplines (Archaeology, History, Languages, Linguistics,
Literature) and the Visual and Performing Arts, outlined at
http://www.dartington.ac.uk/drha06/papers/index.asp
f.. The Conference takes place in the beautiful environment of
Dartington Hall, South Devon: the C14th Great Hall, the Courtyard Rooms,
modern studios/seminar rooms: keynotes, papers, performances, panels,
exhibitions, posters, installations, events...
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: places limited to 250

http://www.dartington.ac.uk/drha06/registration/index.asp

Further details and enquiries:

http://www.dartington.ac.uk/drha06/index.asp

Blogged with Flock

NAWE Autumn Conference "To Infinity and Beyond: New Writing and New media"

2006-07-09T15:32:00.000+02:00

The autumn conference organized by NAWE looks like being an interesting one (for anyone who enjoys debating the relationship between new media and writing). The CFP and conference details are at: - 'To Infinity and Beyond: new writing and new media' .

CFP for Technoculture

2006-07-04T17:24:00.000+02:00

Interesting conference CFP

CFP Technoculture
Computers and Writing Online 2007
February 5 through February 9, 2007

Conference Co-Chairs:
Dr. Keith Dorwick,
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Dr. Kevin Moberly,
St. Cloud State University

Conference Co-Chairs Keith Dorwick and Kevin Moberly
are seeking synchronous and asynchronous presentations
that address a wide conception of scholarship that
focuses on a range of issues that could be briefly
summed up as “technology and society,” or, perhaps, “technologies and societies.” Successful papers for this online conference should focus on the ways humanists read technology as a special case of cultural studies.

In particular, the conference co-chairs are interested
in a conception of “technology” and the “humanist
impulse” that pushes beyond contemporary American
culture and its fascination with computers; we seek
papers that deal with any technology or technologies
in any number of historical periods from any relevant theoretical perspective.

Presentations from scholars in all disciplines who are
working on the intersection of culture and technology
(see our now lapsed call for "Technoculture," a
special issue of Interdisciplinary Humanities archived
on this site for a further description of our
interests) are welcome. Papers need not focus on
writing instruction, in spite of the name of the
conference, to be considered. Papers about how to do
or work with technology that do not look beyond the
use of technology to its cultural meaning will NOT be
accepted.

NOTE ABOUT THE CONFERENCE: For years, the research of
scholars involved with the connections between
computers and writing (CW) has focused largely on,
well, “computers” and “writing.” With the continued
maturation of that sub-discipline, CW scholars have
begun to think about a wider conception of our own
work, with research and teaching that focuses on a
range of issues that could be briefly summed as
“technology and society.”

Successful presentations for Computers and Writing
Online 2007 should focus on the ways compositionists
and other scholars currently studying the use of
technology might rethink our work and move beyond
composition to a larger focus on cultural studies that
could include but not be as dependent on writing
instruction.

The keynote events will consist of panels comprising
first, second and third generation scholars (those who
founded the subdiscipline without specific training in
CW but in other areas of English studies; those
trained by those first wave scholars specifically in
CW; and those new voices trained by specialists by
training and research now graduating and entering
their careers) and other online events that focus on
where we’ve been and where we need to go.

For both asynchronous and synchronous events, eight
page papers will be due in .doc, .rtf, .pdf (or the
hypertext equivalent) and placed on the
computersandwriting.org website for pre-conference
reading by Jan. 31, 2007; discussions will follow
during the conference period. The conference will be
held February 5 through February 9, 2007. Synchronous
events will be held in AcadianaMOO at
http://acadianamoo.org; asynchronous events will be
held on the Computers and Writing website.

One page conference proposals due to
kdorwick@louisiana.edu by midnight, Friday November
17, 2006.

Dr. Keith Dorwick
Assistant Professor of English and Rhetoric
Department of English
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette
P.O. Box 44691
Lafayette, LA 70504-4691
Internet (VoIP) Number: 1 (773) 362 4707

Personal Radio

2006-07-04T10:29:00.000+02:00

I have recently started to listen to the 'Inside the Net' podcast with Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte - http://twit.tv/. One of the more interesting web services discussed in the back catalogue of this podcast is Pandora Internet Radio - Pandora Internet Radio - Find New Music, Listen to Free Web Radio. I have really enjoyed playing with Pandora. It has a neat, easy-to-use flash interface. It loads quickly on my wobbly broadband connection... and it has re-introduced me to the pleasure of play list serendipity.

Pandora works differently from many Internet audio sites (and programs like eye-toons) because it does not simply shuffle music that you have pre-specified in some way. Similarly, it is different from conventional radio because it does not play a one-size-fits-all playlist as a broadcast. Instead, the user selects a favourite tune or artist (in my case I reverted to my childhood and selected a tune by Free) and the software creates a 'station' which will play music that is similar to the tune selected. This means that you get to hear ye olde favourites (Bad Company, ZZ Top) but you also get to hear music by artists that are unfamiliar to you ('Reason to Be' by Joe Prichard). The beauty of this system being that these 'known unknowns' are playing music that you might well like, as it has been selected because it is very similar to song that you selected. There is also a thumbs-up, thumbs-down function and the opportunity to skip a certain number of tracks each hour. You can also seed your playlist with extra tracks to create a more varied listening experience.

Pandora works because of its ability to play music that you might enjoy. It is based on the rather pretentiously-named Music Genome Project.

The brains behind the project note:-

we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like.

However, despite disliking the name of the project ( I am guessing it is supposed to be a little tongue-in-cheek) I think that its output is quite brilliant when it is applied to Pandora. It is a great listening experience. Masses of serendipitous encounters with forgotten favs and acts that just got passed the radar. I have also found myself hunting down the artists I have enjoyed and buying the odd track on i-tunes. I have also set up a number of different stations to create a varied palette of listening. Perhaps most significantly, I have found myself excited about music for the first time in ages.

The site has a number of economic models. I have being using the free version (which has banner ads). You can pay a small fee and not be bother with the ads...though I have to say that I have been using Pandora in a minimised window and the ads are not visible until I decide to find out the name of the artist I have been enjoying (which is not much of a burden).

Thank you Pandora!

Blogged with Flock

I have WIKISpace

2006-06-29T08:49:00.000+02:00

I have set myself up some WIKI space - gavinandrewstewart » home . I am not entirely sure how it works or whether it is the best WIKI for what I want to do but I have decided that the best way to find out is to engage with the tools and to make the decision after a bit of experimentation. It is my hope to use it in my Creative Writing work and also my poetry-in-schools as it is a great tool for collaboration and for making short texts and links without too much effort.

More about this anon...

Blogged with Flock

Adobe launches Flex 2 with Ajax and Flash

2006-06-28T19:14:00.000+02:00

I just picked up on this piece of news from TechCrunch - TechCrunch » Blog Archive » Adobe Launches Flex 2 . I imagine this means that we are going to experience even more video and motion in our web browsing experience in the near future. I wonder what this will do to the blogosphere. At present most bloggers have kept themselves to print content with the odd image (with podcats and video casts making up the rich content). Can you imagine a news feed interface that is modelled on thought balloons or new imagines from your friends that waff across the desk top on the back of an animated truck. Could be fun or it could be awful!

Blogged with Flock

Inanimate Alice Is Up

2006-02-11T11:34:00.000+01:00

I met up with the novelist Kate Pullinger a couple of days back in Leicester. She passed me a neat little bookmark with the URL of Inanimate Alice, her latest collaboration with babel. Inanimate Alice is the story of 8 year old Alice told through sound, text, games, image and video. The piece has been developed in sections - Episode One and Episode Two are up at present - which push flash to new levels of expression. It is a real multimedia tour de force. I particularly enjoyed the frantic soundscapes that give the episode one their adrenalinated feel. There is also a blog which adds an additional frame to the narrative. I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to see what see the new kinds of narration that networked computer can deliver!

Narrative Laboratory Seminars, Spring 2006, De Montfort University

2005-12-06T11:49:00.000+01:00

Find out what's new in digital content and who's looking for it

Narrative Laboratory for the Creative Industries

Web http://www.narrativelab.org

RSS http://writing.typepad.com/nlab/rss.xml

Email: info@narrativelab.org

4 Private Seminars at De Montfort University - Membership by Application Only

High-quality digital content is a priority for the creative industries, whether it's gaming, broadcasting, publishing, tourism, or software. It's also important to authors in search of the right kind of media for their fiction, hypermedia, journalism, poetry, or many other kinds of writing.

The NLab Network connects small creative businesses with writers to generate pioneering partnerships creating digital stories and other narratives. Network members come together to find out what makes them different from each other, what connects them, and how they can forge new collaborations.

For this series, membership is free but limited by application, and members will be selected to ensure a creative balance of expertise and interest. Priority will be given to applicants from the East Midlands. See below for how to apply.

SEMINARS March-June 2006

NLAB members will be invited to four private seminars at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Each seminar will focus on digital narrative content for a specific area and include a guest speaker, panel discussion, and workshop. The final dates are yet to be confirmed, but the weeks in which seminars are planned to take place are:

* Broadcasting & Publishing w/c 27th March 2006

* Blogs, Communities, and Social Software w/c 24th April 2006

* Games w/c 22nd May 2006

* Tourism & Heritage w/c 26th June 2006

PUBLIC NATIONAL CONFERENCE July 2006

NLab members will also receive invitations to the NLab National Conference, planned for July 2006 and featuring national and international speakers in a full day of reports from the sharp edge of digital narrative content. The conference will be open to the public but free of charge to members of the NLab Network.

HOW TO APPLY

Email Jess Laccetti at info@narrativelab.org with the following information:

* how membership of NLab would contribute to your professional development

* your name, address, email, url, and artform / profession.

* confirmation that, if selected, you will attend all five events.

Please note that priority will be given to applicants from the East Midlands, but if you live outside the region do still apply because we may need your skills in the mix.

Deadline for applications: 15th January 2006

Notification of decision: 1st February 2006

Narrative Laboratory for the Creative Industries, De Montfort University

Web http://www.narrativelab.org

RSS http://writing.typepad.com/nlab/rss.xml

Please address any queries to Jess Laccetti at info@narrativelab.org

----

NLab was created with funding to De Montfort University from HEIF2, a partnership between the Department of Trade and Industry/Office of Science and Technology (DTI/OST), HEFCE, and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). Funds are awarded to support universities and colleges in their third stream engagement with business and community partners, increasing their capability to respond to the needs of business, public services and the wider community, and to transfer knowledge.

----

decade - something from trAce

2005-11-14T11:28:00.000+01:00

Here is the notice from the latest project at trAce

Dear All,

I am writing to invite you to make a contribution to ‘decade’ (); an online writing project being launched this week to celebrate ten years of innovative digital activity at trAce Online Writing Centre, NTU. The completed project will take the shape of a writing 'quilt' of what I hope will be many different responses to technology and change.

The introduction to the project notes:-

“In the last ten years there has been an explosion of new technology, especially related to computers and the internet, and for some of us it has changed forever the way we live and write. As the trAce Online Writing Centre reaches its tenth anniversary, we invite you to reflect on your own personal decade of living and writing with technology.”

You are invited to contribute a brief statement of a 100 words to the project about the technology you love, hate or anticipate; and the ways in which technology has changed your life.

At the beginning of the project the quilt will be empty, awaiting contributions. But as time passes, it will gradually expand; weaving together the differing perspectives of authors from across the globe.

I look forward to your participation in this exciting project.

Gavin Stewart

Artistic Project Manager -trAce Online Writing Centre

National Poetry Day

2005-10-09T22:43:00.000+02:00

It is a strange, but poetic, fact that National Poetry Day lasts about a week; leastways it lasts for about a week for me ( I am sure that it lasts for about six months for the organisers of this event over at the Villa de Poetry Society).

I was remarkably busy this year. I made visits to Denmead Prep and Ashfold School, and gave a 'Writing and the World Wide Web' talk at Nottingham City Library as part of Nottingham's 'Poetry in the City' Festival.

I particularly enjoyed my performance session at Ashfold School. Firstly, due the fact that I got to perform in a grand old room that was four hundred years old, and secondly because it provided a great opportunity to receive direct and positive feedback about my work. I also enjoyed the interesting questions posed by the participants in the world wide web session on saturday.

The week was not without its banana skins, of course. I managed to have a minor prang in my car on Thursday. On Saturday, the network security locked the participants out of the library's system ten minutes before the start of the session. Fortuately neither incident was very serious. I managed to break a rear indicator light in my tiny shunt and up in Nottingham the tech staffer worked a small miracle and got us all back on line in time for the start of the session.

I feel pleasently exhausted now that it is all over. I enjoy meeting new people face to face...but I was also enjoy my role behind the computer deep in the heart of trAce towers. I guess i am lucky that I get to perform both roles in my working life!

Download Day

2005-09-14T16:48:00.000+02:00

It is strange to admit but… every so often I like to play with new software.

I know that it can be a source of pennies for the swear box.

I also know that it can be a great way of kidding oneself that you are being productive and doing cutting edge stuff. However, I also find that cranking through tutorials for the new features and functions is a great way to challenge my pre-conceived notions of what I can and can not do on my desktop.

Today I have downloaded Studio 8 by Macromedia and Skype. It is interesting to note how I got on.

The Macromedia download went well…at first. I have used various versions of these pieces of software for a while now and I quickly recognized that both Dreamweaver 8 and Flash 8 offer some functions that I will actually use on a regular basis. I decided to invest a little bit of my hard earned by buying both these products bundled up as Studio 8.

It is moments like these when I actually like being a PhD student. The commercial price for Studio 8 is about £380 (don’t quote me on the exact number…as I am not a consumer magazine). However, for a mere £65 or so (80 something Euros at today’s exchange rate for those who like to be exact) this new version of the software was mine (in theory). The only restriction on its use was that it should NOT be used for commercial activities. I should be so lucky!

You would have thought buying online from a computer software company would be simple. Not so Neddy! Firstly I had great deal of difficulty finding a link to the educational version of the software (it is at the highly memorable - http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/store/index.cfm?store=OLS-EDU-EU if you are interested). Then the site would not allow me to buy the software online. Being persistent, I rang up Macromedia to find out what was going on. It turns out that, indeed, the educational version of Studio 8 was not available through the online store to someone living in the UK but I could, however, buy it over the telephone.

Buying over the phone was kind of nice as the Macromedia-oid at the other end of the line was very friendly. However, much as I enjoyed chin wagging with sales I found myself surprised as this rather old-world charm experience does not fit with the lean-mean image that e-commerce and software sales likes to portray of itself (where my database talks to your database/ low friction capitalism). Is there something amiss in Macromedia land?

The telephone was not the only piece of retro tech that I had to use. The friendly Macromedia-oid also asked me to fax over a copy of my student ID so that they could make sure that I was indeed a bone fide brain box. I was interested to know why I could not e-mail an image. The Macromedia-oid told me it was due to problems with viruses. It is an odd turn of events when one can not e-mail an image to the makers of Fireworks – a respected piece of image manipulation software).

Skype proved to be less problematic ..though rather more costly in turns of online time. I found the skype and the download without too much trouble. I also managed to download the software without too much difficulty. The set-up wizard, however, seemed to take hours as it chuntered its way through the online contacts list held by skype.

I am now ploughing my way through the online help, getting to grips with VoIP and Internet Telephoning. I am also praying that I actually have some one to ring at the end of the day. In a way, this experience reminds me of setting up my first e-mail account…when I had a headful of hopeful ideas for the new technology but a completely empty address book.

Some thing rather special happened as I started to fill up that address book with e-mails and @s. I can’t imagine that skype will change me in the same way…but you never know!

CFP: An End to the New?

2005-09-09T16:34:00.000+02:00

CONVERGENCE: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES
CALL FOR PAPERS
Vol 12. no 4.Winter 2006

An End to the New? Re-assessing the claims for New Media Writing(s)
Guest-edited by Simon Mills, Gavin Stewart & Sue Thomas

The focus of the special issue

This special edition of Convergence marks the tenth anniversary of the trAce Online Writing Centre, UK. To commemorate this landmark event, the guest editors are seeking to evaluate the state-of-the-art of new media writing(s).

This special edition will seek to re-assess the claims made for these forms over the last decade, to challenge the dominant ideologies and terminologies of this maturing field, and to provide a critical re-evaluation of new media writing(s) in all its forms.

We encourage discussion of the following:

The institutional settings of new media writing(s)
The relationship between academia and new media writing(s)
Re-assessments of the claims made for hypertext, new media or digital writing(s) over the past decade
Art policies and development strategies for new media writing(s)
The audience for new media writing(s)
The economics of new media writing(s)
Pedagogical approaches to new media writing(s)
The historical context of new media writing(s)
The relationship between new media writing(s) and other digital arts

Copy deadline for refereed research articles: 30 January 2006
All proposals, inquiries and submissions for this special issue to:

Gavin Stewart, Artistic Project Manager
Address: trAce Online Writing Centre
Nottingham Trent University
Clifton Lane
Nottingham
NG11 8NS
United Kingdom

e-mail: mailto:gavin.stewart@ntu.ac.uk
phone: ++44 (0)115 848 3569

Tax Return Day

2005-09-08T19:03:00.000+02:00

I have been beavering away over my tax return to day. Well to be brutally honest...I have been beavering away at not filling in the form!

I find myself amazed at the banality of the activities I get busy on in order to avoid filling in half-a-dozen numbers. Today, for example, I cleaned the bath...I got the broom out and swept the kitchen floor twice...I then leapt on the bike and went shopping for loo roll before I finally called time on my avoidance procedures having caught myself reading an 'all-important' tech spec ( that I would not dream of reading on any other day of the year).

I am also amazed at how very sweaty I get when I am faced by an Inland Revenue form ( It is probably a good job that I cleaned that bath). I have always seen this as evidence that I am an Honest John. More likely it is just an indication of how middle class and cringingly conformist I've become. However, I am sure that I am not the only one who gets nervous filling in forms. It must smell like the fishing fleet is in port when they open up the envelopes over at Tax Towers.

The truly amazing thing about this avoidance saga is that I am always pleasantly surprised at how little time it takes to fill in the relevant boxes when I actually do it! My partner and I have developed a system over the years...and it is all such small beer at the end of the day that it does not require a rocket scientist ( or an accountant) to get it done.

I am off to the post box now.

Currently, I am working myself up into a needless funk worrying about whether I have put enough postage on the envelope!

Feel the Fear....and Fill the Form!

Mystery Museum is up (....and running?)

2005-09-05T14:17:00.000+02:00

I have spent the last few days hacking together a trial version of Mystery Museum. This is my Big Arts Week 2005 collaboration with Heathwood Lower School (see earlier post).

It seems to have taken me ages to get the project to this stage. It needs a little tweaking...particularly the sound. However, I always find it useful at this stage of a project to recruit a few new media buddies to try and break the program.

Let me know what you think!

Be-calmed and Be-plexed

2005-08-31T14:03:00.000+02:00

Some days I make this ‘betwixt and between’ thing work. I duck and I dive and I shuttle between identities so that the different parts of my life weave together into a life-enhancing fabric. On those days I am ever-so-post-modern slash man (dad/artist/aka-de-mic/smug middle class project man). Not so today!

Today I am conflicted. I find myself in a situation that many women across the globe will recognize as their lot. I am without childcare on a work day.

This is nobody's fault (except possibly mine) but it still means that I am juggling.

I have faced this situation in the past of course. For example, I once took part in an interminable online conference call while simultaneously drawing rabbits (endless rabbits). Similarly, I often used to read Bakhtin while balancing a sleeping baby on my chest. However, things have got a lot more lively since those long off days. Now I have to be in-house entertainment system, home educator, chef and clown. I can not do these things and work at the same time.

Fortunately, I was not planning to be working for trAce today. Equally fortunately, I am self-employed for half of my life so that I will not get a bollocking from an unsympathetic boss for being one nanosecond late. Perhaps less fortunately, I don’t earn when I don’t do. I have commitments and I have deadlines…and some of them are getting quite tight. This means that I feel stressed when I don’t do!

But let’s put this all in context. The sun is shining. My little one is only going to be this age once. I refuse to put on a video. I refuse to shun her in favour of the PC. Similarly, I have stopped myself putting on my expeditors head and ringing around the neighbours. I am not looking for warehousing for my wee one. I have told myself be brave and take a chance. Spend some time with her. Spend some quality time with her. No laptop. No phone. No pager. They are just not necessary. I tell myself it will not be long before you crave for this kind of opportunity.

Water, water everywhere...!

2005-08-24T16:33:00.000+02:00

I must confess that I am not always best pleased when it rains in August. August is the picnic season. The holiday season. The laying in the park season. August is cricket... and it should only rain on the days when England are in trouble. Today, however, was something of an exception!

The day began badly with a cold and powerless shower at my B and B. Followed by no water in the tap for an earlier morning cuppa.

Grounds for ligitation?
Time for tears?

Well not exactly, as I needed to wake up anyway and it was not the fault of the good folks at the Yew Tree. The main had burst up on Clifton Lane and there was NO WATER. No water in the pipe that is..there was plenty falling from the sky as I walked work!

The day appeared to be taking a turn for the worse when I realized that there was no water at the trAce offices either. No tea or coffee, drinks of tea...no toilet! However, as I mentioned earlier, it has been raining. Infact, it has been persisting and many a drip has been plopping from the roof and gutters of P block onto the patch of path outside the offices.

Time for some lateral thinking!

With a bin, a washing up bowl and a good eye for where the drips were dropping it was possible to collect enough water to fill up the toilet cistern (and keep some basic biological amenities). It was really quite enjoyable to stand in the rain and catch free water from the sky. It was quite pleasing to salute the other enterprising souls who had had the same idea.

Later on the Uni system kicked in. The university team arranged for portable chemical toilets to be delivered. Bottled water was piled up outside the main building. It was quite impressive really.... a bit of stiff upper lip and planning. The ladies in the canteen radiated a sense of pride as they served a hot lunch ("...nothing steamed or boiled of course love...").

It is sad to say but I really felt part of something today.

Let's hear it for the good old English crisis!

I have just discovered something rather pleasent about blogs

2005-08-22T21:38:00.000+02:00

In my last posting I had complained bitterly that I had received a spam posting to my blog. This spam posting had rather narked me at the time (mainly because I had got, rather naively, excited about receiving a comment – How sweet!). However, there is a silver lining to this tale of ‘one cyber-ostrich and a spam post’ because my anguished cry brought me a swiftly despatched angel from the blogosphere (in the form of the digital sextant) who put me on to a number of good sites that address these issues. In hindsight I can see that blog spam is a rather inevitable development as it allows the spammer to manipulate a number of search engines that use the number of links to a particular page to rate sites. This kind of spam is a very crude mechanism to get them some attention!However, having said that I see it as being inevitable I don’t condone the action of these spammers. Far from it, I see their actions as being the digital equivalent of an insecure child that wrecks a creative session by constantly wanting the leader’s attention. Time to grow up chaps…and find a mature way of getting attention to your company’s site (for example – you might try producing a product and service that actually performs a useful purpose).

Spam... to a Blog?

2005-08-20T09:54:00.000+02:00

I have just happened across an unwelcome development in the blogosphere as I appear to have received a piece of spam to my blog! It has been posted as a comment to my last posting from 1st August. Not only does this message have nothing to do with my posting...but it is long! Very long!

Is this the beginning of the end for the blogger dream?

It was bad enough when unwanted spam popped up in my e-mail account. I use to receive hundreds of e-mails a day promising me ridiculous financial opportunities and a larger and more impressive member. I once worked out that if I took up all the opportunities presented by these spammers then I would have a wallet slightly larger than Mars and a penis that would reach to the sun. Fortunately, I then discovered reality and the spam-blocker, and the war for control of my inbox has swung back in my favour.

I am going to leave this spam posting up for awhile...just until I figure out what to do about it. It is a little bit like having an advertisement break in the middle of my diary...it feels intrusive.

Should I turn off all comments? Should I stop posting to my blog? I must say that this feels like a bad development!

Working for trAce - the Blogger's dilemma

2005-08-01T16:09:00.000+02:00

You might be wonder at the long gap between posts. Well I have a new job at the trAce Online Writing Centre. This job is certainly keeping me busy but it is also presenting me with a number of blogging issues - namely - What should I blog? What should I keep quiet about?

There are many things that happen in this job which are interesting but they tend to be in the public domain anyway. There are many things in this job that are utterly dull and not worth writing about. The juicy stuff comes from the personal observations (which I think are the life-blood of a good blog). However, I feel that I can't put these observations into the public domain because at the moment they will impact on the project I am currently working on.

I am torn between expression and earning a living!

These kinds of challenges are not new to the blogosphere, of course. Heather Armstrong at Dooce got sacked for making personal comments about her work place ( adding the verb to be 'Dooced' to the bloggers lexicon). It is, however, an interesting challenge for the advocates of free speech. The Electronic Freedom Foundation )( those oh-so-wacky freedom kids) have quite a bit to say on the subject. On their EFF: Fighting for Bloggers' Rights page they have all sorts of useful hints...Including the very obvious point that:-

anyone can eventually find your blog if your real identity is tied to it in some way. And there may be consequences.

They suggest that one should try and blog anonymously. I blew that option right out of the water from the start as I have my name to be attached this blog. They then recognize that certain subjects are protected. If you are a US blogger you might like to know that you can make a case for discussing - Political Opinions - Unionising - Whistleblowing - Reporting on Your Work for the Government
and - Legal Off-Duty Activities.

The EFF approach tends to suggest that it is ones employer that a blogger should worry about. I also worry about my fellow employees and contractors and sub-contractors. I care what my family and friends think of me.

The deal that I have struck with myself is that I will eventually blog things that I think are newsworthy. I will hold them back (if necessary) to ensure that they do not cause too much trouble.

I really do not have an urge to name and shame the people I work with. Similarly, I do not have an urge to out myself as a couch potato ( oops!). Somethings can stay private!

Does this make me a woose?

Am I a bad blogger?