August 04, 2005

Journalists as Heads of State

BBC NEWS | Americas | Canada gets new Governor General

A Haitian-born journalist from Quebec is expected to be Canada's new Governor General - the representative of the head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Michaelle Jean, 48, is due to be named by the office of Prime Minister Paul Martin.
The announcement will make Ms Jean Canada's first black Governor General, and the third woman to hold the post.

And she's the second CBC journalist in a row.

Posted by jason at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

Mike Parsons

On Friday August 5th and Saturday August 6th 2005 - Toronto based artist Mike Parsons will be creating a live comic book and large-scale drawings. He will be performing in the Art Exhibition area of the Artisan Market at Yonge & Dundas Square. Smaller works will also be available. Come down and check out some of his new work, and enjoy the festival. Mike's work is also on display in the Queen/Bathurst area. If you wish to view these pieces please call to make an appointment. (416) 504-7604

We have 6 pieces of Mike's work.

Posted by jason at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2005

Even in Paradise...

Long John Baldry passed away today from a chest infection. Aside from his queer anthem "A thrills a thrill" he helped start the careers of his piano player, Elton John, and I think harmonica player Rod Stewart.

Posted by jason at 11:22 PM | Comments (1)

July 07, 2005

Not so happy birthday...

CNN.com - London rocked by explosions - Jul 7, 2005

Posted by jason at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)

Happy Birthday

Happy July 7th birthday to Howard, Muddy, and Me:


Posted by jason at 07:10 AM | Comments (1)

July 05, 2005

Steve Mann's Nessie

More pictures of Nessie the musical monster.

Posted by jason at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2005

And the Drum Continues to Beat

[Christina is one of my old students from the Division of the Environment at UofT.]

Pass the Parcel Productions presents
And the Drum Continues to Beat (a Musical)
Written & Directed by Christina Wong
Music & Lyrics by Enio Chiola, Jason DeNicolais, & Christina Wong
Additional Music by Noel DiTosto, Nimy Leshinski, & Marc Teghrarian
Starring Enio Chiola, Jason DeNicolais, Michelle Gram, Lucas Lopez, Antonella
Scali, & Diana Tso*.
*Appearing by special permission from the Canadian Actors' Equity Association

Open your eyes and use your imagination as Turtle takes you on a journey of how the Earth came to be through storytelling and music. Weaving the traditional story of the Earth on Turtle's Back with a modern Canadian context, we see hope in the struggle between humankind and nature.

Presented at the KidsVenue of the 2005 Toronto Fringe Festival The Palmerston Library Theatre, 560 Palmerston Avenue (at Bloor)

Fri, July 8, 1:30PM
Sat July 9, 5:30PM
Sun, July 10, 4:30PM
Tue, July 12, 7:00PM
Wed, July 13, 12:30PM
Thu, July 14, 7:15PM
Fri, July 15, 11:00AM
Sun, July 17, Noon

The theatre is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible.

Tickets: $8 adults ($10 advance), $5 children / ABSOLUTELY NO LATECOMERS!
Passes: $6.50 - $7.50
For advanced tickets call 416-967-1528

For more info call the Fringe Hotline at 416-966-1062 or visit www.fringetoronto.com

Posted by jason at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2005

A passing of the torch...

As of today my positions at The McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology and KMDI are both at an end. I'm still a research associate with Steve's ePi lab, but otherwise it is all Ry all the time.

Posted by jason at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2005

Learning Inquiry

Jeremy Hunsinger and I have been contracted to be editors-in-chief of the new journal Learning Inquiry. It is being published by Springer Science Business Media starting in 2006.

Here's what it is about: Learning Inquiry is a refereed scholarly journal which is devoted to establishing the area of "learning" as a focus for transdisciplinary study. The journal's goal is to be a forum centered on learning that remains open to varied objects of enquiry, including machine, human, plant and animal learning as well as the processes of learning in business, government, and the professions, both in informal and formal environments. The audience for this journal will be anyone interested in learning, understanding its contexts, and anticipating its future. Learning Inquiry will strive to strike a balance between presenting innovative research and documenting current knowledge to foster a scholarly dialogue on learning independent of domain and methodological restrictions. Manuscripts should be written for an audience that is general in scope, and submissions can include essays, research articles, forums, review articles, and book reviews that document the state of knowledge and developments in the field. The journal will also present special issues that identify the central areas of learning enquiry to provide focus for future research.

And there was much rejoicing.


Posted by jason at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2005

CFP: Storm and Dissonance: L.M. Montgomery and Conflict

The L.M. Montgomery Institute is calling for one-page proposals for papers to be given at the Seventh International L.M. Montgomery conference (June 21-25, 2006) entitled "Storm and Dissonance: L.M. Montgomery and Conflict".

I just got my proposal in for a paper that Yuka and I are proposing entitled: Projecting Dissonance: The Real and Virtual Landscapes in _Anne of Green Gables_ and _Dracula_. Should be fun. Thanks to Jeremy for the title.

Posted by jason at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2005

Meet the new neighbors

Well, we bought a small two bedroom condo at 456 college st. No pictures yet, but it is an interesting building as it is built over College St United Church

"College Street United Church was adesignated historical building protected from demolition by the local architectural conservancy committee. The building was preserved in part by the incorporation of the bell tower within a new condominium structure. The redevelopment of the site was plannedto include a church facility that would take up a large part of two lower floors. Revenues from the condos were to help fund the church." [quoted from Sleeping Giants]

And next door to is it a small store called Playdead Cult.

Posted by jason at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2005

Children, Play and Locative Media

A one-day seminar on children's use of mobile and locative media in their outdoor environment

Monday 18th July 2005

At Hewlett Packard Research Labs, Bristol

Organised by Mobile Bristol & Community Information Systems Centre UWE

Cost £20 includes lunch and refreshments. Places are limited to 40 people

Purpose of the day: To bring together those working or interested in projects working with children and locative media, to share experiences and discuss future directions & issues. This seminar will include presentations on existing projects (A New Sense of Place? & Mudlarking) as well as opportunities for discussion and networking.

Participants are asked to submit a 200 word introduction to themselves and their interest in this area when booking. Suggestions for other themes for discussion are also welcome.

Programme

10.00 Welcome
Constance Fleuriot, Mobile Bristol & Morris Williams, CISC

10.15 Geographies of Childhood and the Impacts of Technology
Owain Jones, University of Exeter

10.30 Presentations (20 minutes each)
A New Sense of Place - locating soundscapes in a school grounds: Constance Fleuriot
Self mapping - children authoring place: Lucy Wood (OS)

11.10 Coffee

11.30 Mudlarking - an exploration of Deptford Creek: Dan Sutch (NESTAfuturelab)
Reactive/Active Playground Project at the MIT Media Lab: Susanne Seitinger (MIT)

12.20 Group Discussion on questions/issues raised by presentations (new themes may be added to the afternoon interest groups) chaired by Morris Williams

13.00 Lunch

13.30 Interest Groups - suggestions for smaller discussion groups
* Impact of technologies on children's spatial practice
* Social Geographies & Mapping - interface issues
* Space for Play - playgrounds and the wider environment
* Demo of hands-on build with Mobile Bristol software

3.00 Coffee
3.30 Wrap up interest groups
4.00 Give feedback from groups
4.45 Closing Remarks

5.00 Depart

For further information please email: nsop@mobilebristol.com

Booking form
Please enclose a cheque for £20 (payable to Hewlett Packard Limited) with your booking. Receipts will be available on the day

Name
Affiliation
Address
Contact email
Contact phone number
200 words on self & area of interest

Posted by jason at 07:48 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2005

Elizabeth's up to her old tricks again...

poster1.gif

Bat Conservation International

Posted by jason at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2005

If I Ran the Zoo

Joel didn't see me at the zoo last night so he didn't believe I was there. Here's proof, at least that Yuka was there:

PICT0456yukakami.jpg

PICT0463yukabunny.jpg

Posted by jason at 01:04 PM | Comments (3)

May 17, 2005

Canada's first Apple Store to open May 21May 16 - 3:00 pm EST

AppleInsider | Canada's first Apple Store to open May 21

Canada's first Apple retail store will finally open its doors this Saturday, May 21st at 9:30 am in the Yorkdale Shopping Center. The first 1500 people to visit the store will receive a free Apple Commemorative T-shirt.

Posted by jason at 08:40 AM | Comments (2)

Drum Cafe

I'm heading to the Toronto Zoo >Toronto Zoo this afternoon with KAT!, Elizabeth and Yuka for the launch of the Drum Cafe. All I can say is that there better be animals, or I'll be travelling with three women out for fur.

Posted by jason at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2005

When it all began...

Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656), English theologian and scholar, author of a biblical chronology printed in margins of Authorized Version; archbishop of Armagh 1625; placed date of world's creation at 4004 BC. And I used to think it was Bishop George Berkeley. I turns out that though Ussher's dataset was not too good (the bible), he did a great job of research and analysis, or so I've heard.

Posted by jason at 09:42 AM | Comments (1)

May 10, 2005

The McLuhan Lectures 2005

The McLuhan Lectures 2005


The McLuhan Program in Culture & Technology at the Faculty of Information Studies, U of T presents a series of distinguished local researchers who will look at information literacy in light of McLuhan's insights for communication, culture, and technology today. FIS friends and Fellows will respond.

Posted by jason at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2005

Assistant Professor Jason

The contract has been signed. As of August 1, 2005 I will be an Assistant Professor in the School of Early Childhood Education at Ryerson University.

And there was much rejoicing.

The Ryerson School of Early Childhood Education is the oldest school of its kind in Canada with a proud history and an excellent reputation nationally and internationally. The School is linked globally with other institutions that specialize in early childhood education and related fields. From its origins in 1959 as the Preschool Education Option (a two year diploma program) of the Home Economics Department, the program evolved to a three-year diploma in the mid-sixties. In 1972, a four-year bachelor of applied arts (BAA) degree program was initiated. In 1982, the School again broke new ground by offering the direct entry program to graduates of two-year community college diploma programs in early childhood education. The program continues to expand as more college graduates choose to build on their ECE diplomas and achieve the baccalaureate degree. The direct entry program is available on a part-time as well as full-time basis and is attracting students from across Canada. In 2002, the School was authorized to grant the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and Ryerson was officially recognized as Ryerson University. Over many years, the School of Early Childhood Education has consistently demonstrated its relevance to the learning needs of the communities it has served and its innovativeness in meeting emerging professional interests.

Posted by jason at 06:31 PM | Comments (6)

May 08, 2005

Old shots from the Japan Foundation

I took these shots at the Japan Foundation a couple years back. Kate McDonald Butler (LM Montgomery's granddaughter) is in some of them, as is our friend Claire Fawcett (behind the podium). Yuka's there, as are all her Anne of Green Gables related books on display. And no, that's not me with the camera at the end.

Posted by jason at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2005

MASSIVE

Yuka and I went to see the Massive Change exhibit at the AGO last sunday, as guests of our local city councillor Olivia Chow. The gallery is in our neighbourhood, which is largely asian, and doesn't really represent the diversity of the area, let alone Toronto which is the most culturally diverse city on the planet, according to the UN.

Yuka and I walked out after about 15 minutes. Massive: fraud, con, waste of time, joke... or as a good friend of mine put it "Yeah, massive mess. Load of sophomoric crap with a pot-pouri of "gee-whiz" attention getters... Love the spelling mistake on the splash wall at the entrance; set the whole tone."

The notion that design is a substitute for content, thought, art or anything more than fashion is an interesting one to contemplate... for a pico-second. I lament the death of a liberal arts education.

Posted by jason at 07:25 PM | Comments (2)

April 22, 2005

The Triangle Program: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

[I used to run a yearly VR workshop with the Triangle Program (with Kat, Muddy, Rochelle and others). They do amazing stuff... spread the word.]

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

The Triangle Program, Canada’s only high school classroom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, and questioning youth is currently accepting submissions from queer youth for Triangle Writes! 
 
This special anniversary issue will celebrate our queer past, present, and future with prose, poetry and art.
 
Please share with us your original stories, poetry, essays, articles and artwork.  Express your life experiences, heart, mind and soul—whatever and wherever the creative process takes you!
 
Be sure to include complete contact information, along with a brief autobiographical outline with your submission.  (Please note that we will not be responsible for returning submissions.)
 
Submissions are due by May 1, 2005 and can be sent by mail, email or fax to:
The Triangle Program c/o MCCT
115 Simpson Avenue
Toronto, ON
M4K 1A1
 
Email: triangleschool@gmail.com
Fax: (416) 466-5207

For additional information leave a message at: 

(416) 406-6228 ext. 169

Posted by jason at 08:29 AM | Comments (1)

April 15, 2005

Finalists for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry include Maux!

[Maureen's a long time friend and inspiration. She and I taught together for a number of years. She will be reading at the ARt Bar in the Victory Cafe, Tuesday April 19th at 8pm]

OMDC - Finalists - 18th Annual Trillium Book Award

Maureen Scott Harris: Drowning Lessons (Pedlar Press)


“Everything comes to this - a pause where the material world thins and questions.” Everything in Drowning Lessons? No book so rich will reduce to a single line, but this line will conduct you to the rest, to the shadows, the edges, the depths, the biting sense of betweenness in a life that has not thrived. Such a bleak life concentrated in these pages - why is the book so wonderfully satisfying to read? Because Maureen Scott Harris has gone deep, down and in, and returned with news as strange as it is familiar…Between everything and nothing this compelling book shimmers like a liquid mirror.” – Stan Dragland

Born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Maureen Scott Harris grew up in Winnipeg, before moving to Toronto in 1964. She has been Cataloguer of Rare Books and Special Collections at both the University of Toronto Library and at Trinity College Library, and from 1983-1993, was co-ordinator of the Cataloguing-in-Publication Program of the University of Toronto Library. Currently she works as production manager for Brick Books. Her earlier publications are A Possible Landscape and the chapbook, The World Speaks.

Posted by jason at 03:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 01, 2005

Ken Emig @ Pukka Gallery

As I mentioned, ken's got a show at the Pukka Gallery. Here's a web gallery of the show:
"Bits of Technology" by Kenneth Emig at Pukka Gallery, Ottawa, Canada, March - April 2005

Posted by jason at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2005

The First International Wikimedia Conference

Call for papers - Wikimania

Wikimania 2005 - The First International Wikimedia Conference will be held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from 4 August 2005 to 8 August 2005. Wikimedia is the non-profit organization operating Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikisource, Wikibooks, Wikinews, Wikiquote, Wikispecies, and the Wikimedia Commons. We are now accepting papers and other submissions (from everyone within and outside the Wikimedia and Wikipedia communities) for presentations, workshops, and discussion groups. We are also accepting nominations for speaker panels and keynote speakers, and suggestions for other activities. Mail all submissions to cfp@wikimedia.org.

Posted by jason at 11:47 PM | Comments (1)

Beachcombing on Technology's Shore

[Ken is one of my oldest friends, and we've collaborated on odds and ends over the years. If you're in Ottawa, check it out!]

Artist Kenneth Emig will give a talk on his new exhibition "Bits of Technology" at Pukka Gallery this Saturday April 2, starting at 2pm.
**************************************

Beachcombing on Technology's Shore

Kenneth Emig – Bits of Technology
Pukka Gallery
1178 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa
1 –-4 pm, Saturdays and Sundays
March 19th and 20th,
April 2nd and 3rd, 2005

Opening: Friday, March 18th, 5 – 8 pm
Artist's Talk: Saturday April 2, 2 pm

Ottawa (March 15, 2005)—Artist Kenneth Emig is enthralled by the beauty of the technological flotsam and jetsam that regularly drift his way. He hopes that viewers of his upcoming show, Bits of Technology, will come away sharing his curiosity and fascination with the pretty little things that make up the technology we use in our day-to-day lives. The work explores the beauty and elegance of discarded technology and offers a new way to look at the machines we take for granted. To create his compositions, Emig uses a variety of found and surplus materials from hard disks to copper gaskets to lenses and rotors.

"We often use technology, but don't look at what makes it work," says Emig. "I hope that viewers will look at the components of technology, which they might use and not normally pay attention to, and take pause to consider them—the design work and skill that went into them—and maybe come away with a different appreciation of the world around them."

Over the past year, Emig has completed several commissions including a public artwork for the City of Ottawa for the Eva James Memorial Community Centre in Kanata. From his studio at Enriched Bread Artists in Ottawa, Emig has worked since 1995 to present his ideas and explorations across southern Ontario and the Northeastern US. He is currently a guest worker at the National Research Council Institute for Information Technology exploring the artistic uses of collaborative spaces over broadband Internet.

-30-

For more information contact:
Julia von Hahn
tel: (613) 798-9870

Posted by jason at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2005

...of national historic significance to Canada

from Canada NewsWire Group

OTTAWA, March 24 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of the Environment, today announced five new designations commemorating four places and one event of national historic significance to Canada.

[This includes L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish (Cavendish, Prince Edward Island) which I thought was already an historic site.]

Posted by jason at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2005

Book Launch: The Books of King Henry VIII and His Wives

My friend James is having a book launch last for his latest work "The Books of King Henry VIII and His Wives". Yuka and I got a copy, and it is quite wonderful. I always wonder at how lucky some people are, getting to work with such great material.

PICT9978Carley.jpg

The The Good Book Guide says:

Take a peek inside the covers of many of the books belonging to Henry VIII and it is immediately obvious that he not only read them, but had the bad habit of scrawling annotations inside them too. In spite of fire, war, theft, political turmoil and the passage of time, a surprisingly large number of Henry’s books have survived until today. Although perhaps better known for his marital exploits, Henry was in fact one of the most widely read Renaissance monarchs and spent considerable time and money acquiring his vast library. The books he chose reflected not only his own interests but also highlighted the major issues of the day. Alongside these volumes exist the books of Henry’s wives, themselves great readers and thinkers. Through his detailed descriptions of these collections, James Carley gives a valuable insight into the personalities and philosophies of their owners and sheds light on the marriages of the king.

Posted by jason at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)

Anyone near Baltimore?

inviteBradyStarr.jpg

Brady's an online friend of mine who has this show opening May 20. If you can make it, let me know how it goes. He does some great work.

Posted by jason at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2005

A Review of Internet Privacy Statements and On-Line Practices

[My friend Rajen is organizing this, and asked if I'd spread the word.]

PIPEDA Conference, March 18, 2005 - Privacy Project

A Review of Internet Privacy Statements and On-Line Practices

Friday, March 18th, 9:30 - 4:00 pm.

SPEAKERS

Daniel Solove -
Associate Professor,George Washington University Law School

Mathew Englander -
Lawyer and complainant in Englander v TELUS case

Stephanie Perrin -
President of Digital Discretion, and Research Coordinator,
Anonymity Project (www.anonequity.org)

Drew McArthur -
Vice President and PrivacyOfficer for TELUS

A conference to discuss current on-line privacy policies and practices in the Canadian private sector, the effectiveness of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and related emerging information privacy issues.

Posted by jason at 04:57 PM | Comments (1)

Beachcombing on Technology’s Shore

Kenneth Emig – Bits of Technology
Pukka Gallery
1178 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa
1 – 4 pm, Saturdays and Sundays
March 19 th and 20th, April 2 nd and 3rd, 2005
Artists’ Talk: Saturday, April 2 nd, 2005
Opening: Friday, March 18 th, 5 – 8 pm

Ottawa (March 14, 2005)—Artist Kenneth Emig is enthralled by the beauty of the technological flotsam and jetsam that regularly drift his way. He hopes that viewers of his upcoming show, Bits of Technology, will come away sharing his curiosity and fascination with the pretty little things that make up the technology we use in our dayto-day lives. The work explores the beauty and elegance of discarded technology and offers a new way to look at the machines we take for granted. To create his compositions, Emig uses a variety of found and surplus materials from hard disks to copper gaskets to lenses and rotors. “We often use technology, but don’t look at what makes it work,” says Emig. “I hope that viewers will look at the components of technology, which they might use and not normally pay attention to, and take pause to consider them—the design work and skill that went into them—and maybe come away with a different appreciation of the world around them.” Over the past year, Emig has completed several commissions including a public artwork for the City of Ottawa for the Eva James Memorial Community Centre in Kanata. From his studio at Enriched Bread Artists in Ottawa, Emig has worked since 1995 to present his ideas and explorations across southern Ontario and the Northeastern US. He is currently a guest worker at the National Research Council Institute for Information Technology exploring the artistic uses of collaborative spaces over broadband Internet.

For more information contact: Julia von Hahn tel: (613) 798-9870

Posted by jason at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2005

2005 International Symposium on Wikis

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

2005 International Symposium on Wikis
Oct 17-18, 2005, San Diego, California, U.S.A.
Co-located with ACM OOPSLA 2005
http://www.wikisym.org

OVERVIEW

The 2005 International Symposium on Wikis brings together wiki researchers, implementers, and users for the first time. The goal of the symposium is to find a voice for the community. The symposium has a rigorously reviewed research paper track as well as plenty of space for practitioner reports, demonstrations, and discussions. We are honored to announce that Ward Cunningham, the inventor and host of the original WikiWikiWeb, will present the opening keynote talk at WikiSym 2005. Anyone who is involved in using, researching, or developing wikis is invited to WikiSym 2005!

We are seeking submissions for

* research papers
* practitioner reports
* demonstrations
* workshops
* panels

Research paper and practitioner report submissions are due

April 29, 2005

Workshop, and panel submissions are due

April 8, 2005

Demonstration submissions are due

July 1, 2005

Topics of interest to the symposium include, but are not limited to:

* wikis as social software
* wiki user behavior, user dynamics
* wiki user experiences, usability
* wiki implementation experiences and technology
* wiki administration, processes, dealing with abuse
* wiki scalability, social and technical
* domain-specific/special-purpose wikis

SUBMISSION DETAILS

Research papers will be reviewed by the committee to meet rigorous academic standards of publication. Research papers are expected to advance the state of the art by describing substantiated new research or novel technical results or by reporting on significant experience or experimentation. They are reviewed both with respect to conceptual quality and clarity of presentation.

Accepted research papers will be provided as part of the conference proceedings. They will be put into the ACM Digital Library and can be referenced as papers that appeared in the Proceedings of the 2005 International Symposium on Wikis. At the symposium, the presenter will be given a 25min + 5min Q&A presentation slot. Research papers should not be longer than 10000 words and should meet the ACM SIG Proceedings Format, see http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html.

Practitioner reports will be reviewed for suitability of presentation to the community. The primary evaluation criterion is the interest to the community. Practitioner reports will be provided as part of the companion to the conference proceedings handed out at the symposium and can be referenced as papers that appeared in the Companion to the Proceedings of the 2005 International Symposium on Wikis. Practitioner reports should not be longer than 6000 words and should meet the ACM SIG Proceedings Format.

Demonstration, workshop, and panel submissions will be reviewed for their interest to the community. Submit two pages of description of what you intend to do and how you meet this criterion. Please include a 100-word abstract and one-paragraph bios of all people relevant to the submission. Demonstrations will get 45min slots in a booth of their own, workshops will get a half-day and a room of their own, and panels will get a 90min slot at the symposium.

Please submit your papers or proposals in PDF format (or postscript, if you must) by the respective deadline to submissions@wikisym.org.

SYMPOSIUM LOGISTICS

The 2005 International Symposium on Wikis will be held at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California, on Oct 17 and 18, 2005. WikiSym 2005 will be co-located with the ACM OOPSLA 2005 conference, and participants may register for the symposium alone, or may jointly register for OOPSLA 2005.

If you have any questions, please contact Dirk Riehle through chair@wikisym.org.

SYMPOSIUM COMMITTEE

Dirk Riehle, Independent (chair)

Ward Cunningham, Microsoft
Mark Guzdial, Georgia Institute of Technology
Matthias Jugel, Fraunhofer FIRST
Helmut Leitner, HLS Software
James Noble, Victoria University of Wellington
David Ornstein, Microsoft
Sebastien Paquet, National Research Council of Canada
Stephan Schmidt, Fraunhofer FIRST
Sunir Shah, University of Toronto

Posted by jason at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2005

Fixed...

Been having problems upgrading my blog, but I have it all fixed now. Perhaps I'll find some content... but in brief:

- I'd booked my flight to the IAFA on Jetsgo. So I'm not going.

- spent the afternoon with steve mann hooking up his funtain for some engineers to play with

- watched "the last remake of beau geste"

Posted by jason at 10:02 PM | Comments (1)

March 08, 2005

An Expert Panel on News Gathering and Image Making: From Iraq to the trial of Jacko

[Megan Boler sent this to me... thought I'd share.]

Presented by The Association for Media Literacy
Tuesday March 8, 5.30-7.30 PM

Place: National Film Board Auditorium, John and Richmond Sts.

Anna Marie Tremonti- Host of CBC- Radio's "The Current"
Tony Burman - Head of News CBC -TV
Robert Hurst - Head of News CTV -News
Giles Gherson - Editor in Chief, The Toronto Star
Megan Boler- Associate Professor, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Admission: AML Members free; Non-members: $10.00;
Students: $5.00

For more information, Call Barry Duncan ~(416) 233-8282

Posted by jason at 04:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2005

Dracula and Anne in Florida

ICFA 26 Schedule: Fantastic in Film and Media conference schedule is up. I'm presenting a paper that Yuka and I have been working on "From the Virtual to the Real: The Construction of Landscape in Anne of Green Gables and Dracula".

Posted by jason at 07:45 AM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2005

last night in orange

hi all;

spent the last few days in Lyon and Orange. We visited all the cool wine regions in Orange including Tavel, chateau neuf du pape, giondas and the like, as well as pointe du garde and various insanely wonderful villages in the area... off to Arles tomorrow. I cannot get instant messaging to work, which is a pain in the ass, but everything else is going wonderfully. I wish I could just ignore the internet, but there are important messages I am waiting for. The good news is that I got offered an interview at Ryerson University!!!

I hope you're all having fun.

Posted by jason at 02:48 PM | Comments (1)

February 07, 2005

A.W.O.L.

Yuka and I are on a walk about for a bit. Masako's taking care of the homestead. See you all intermittently online... the less the better.

Posted by jason at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2005

If you can read this...

Then you're at the new jasonnolan.net on the new ISP. Yay!

Posted by jason at 06:05 PM | Comments (1)

December 14, 2004

Opinion piece: Megan Boler lecture

From campaignaudit.org, something on what Megan's up to:

Associate Professor Dr. Megan Boler, of the University of Toronto, spoke on "Democracy or 'A New Form of Desperation'? Satire in Political Multimedia," on Dec. 3 at the University of Washington. She explored such questions as to what degree or ways the Internet and multimedia productions constitute a new public sphere of discourse and public engagement, and the ability of the Internet and these multimedia productions to challenge mainstream media through the use of irony and satire. Bolers arguments were incredibly thought provoking and excellent material for reflection on the role of the Internet in public engagement, although tended to be biased in the use of examples of multimedia productions to support her arguments.


Bolers argument rested on the premise that prior to Sept. 11, 2001, Americans could have been categorized as oversaturated, disaffected and dis-attached, and that as a result of the attacks, a wave of horror, grief, international violence and eventually an immense worldwide peace movement swept over citizens. Boler contended that the American public felt deceived by the United States government and had an enormous desire for the truth. In the argument of Boler, one must infer that this regarded secrets kept from the public by the government about the war in Iraq, terrorism, and Sept. 11. Subsequently the public and independent media sources such as JibJab.com, blogs or even The Daily Show with Jon Stewart use satire and irony to communicate the unsaid and question the mainstream media, particularly the Internet. Boler argued that these types of media use satire and irony to communicate and reveal the truth about the government to citizens without explicitly articulating meaning with words.

Posted by jason at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2004

TSD Creative Writing Contest

TSD Short Story Contest

To celebrate the 10th year of its inauguration, the Canadian Chapter of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula is sponsoring a Creative Writing Contest with two categories: short fiction and poetry.

Entries must be postmarked no later than 15 December 2004

Posted by jason at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2004

Derrick introducing David Weinberger

Check out the video: C-SPAN: DIGITAL FUTURE, which has Derrick de Kerckhove, visiting prof at library of congress and our d00d at McLuhan.

derrickLibCongress.jpg

2004
Monday, November 15
David Weinberger, one of North America's best known experts on "blogging" and coauthor of the bestselling book, "The Cluetrain Manifesto" (2000). Weinberger is also author of "Small pieces, loosely joined: a unified theory of the web" (2002), a frequent commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and "Here and Now," and has been published in many magazines including Wired and the Harvard Business Review.

[thanks Stefanos for telling me this.]

Posted by jason at 08:03 AM | Comments (0)

Watch out for Dean Brian on C-PAN

C-SPAN: DIGITAL FUTURE

Monday, January 31 at 6:30pm ET
Brian Cantwell Smith, dean of the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto Smith, the author of "On the Origin of Objects," combines degrees in computer science and philosophy and is an expert on the interdisciplinary convergence brought about by digitization. His talk is titled, "And Is All This Stuff Really Digital After All?"

Posted by jason at 07:59 AM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2004

The 26th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

[I'm going. It is a great conference...]

GENERAL CALL FOR PAPERS

The 26th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts

Blurring the Boundaries: The Trans-Real and Other Movements

Wyndham March 16 - 20, 2005, Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel

Guest of Honor: Rudy Rucker
Guest Scholar: Damien Broderick
Special Guests: John Kessel and Albert Goldbarth
Permanent Special Guest: Brian Aldiss

Autobiography made fantastic. Reality redefined. According to trans-realist Rudy Rucker, it's "writing about immediate reality - or your idiosyncratic perceptions of it - in a fantastic way." At ICFA-26, we look forward to a broad range of discussions examining the trans-real and other movements that blur the boundaries between genres and between worlds, including the New Wave, Cyberpunk, the Interstitial Arts, Slipstream, the New Weird, and more.

And, as always, we also welcome proposals for individual papers and for academic sessions and panels on the work of any of our guests OR ON ANY ASPECT OF THE FANTASTIC IN THE ARTS IN ANY MEDIA. The deadline for submission of individual proposals is 1 December, 2004. Keep checking www.iafa.org for updated information on guests, registration, and submission information.

Posted by jason at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

Buzy

Nothing to say. Been working on some projects that I was hoping would be a big whizbang success, but it fell through. But that's minor.

Marking ECE912 assignments... that's major. I'll get around to recounting events soon, but until then... I'm sure that there's something else out there interesting to read.

Posted by jason at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2004

Hacking Humans: Social Engineering and Data Mining

RCAT : What's On : Lunchtime Seminar Series

Hacking Humans: Social Engineering and Data Mining

Join Jason Nolan and Michelle Levesque to discuss the anatomy of hacking, and explore the research inquiry and planning that goes into a successful social hack.

Date & Time: Tuesday, November 23, 2004
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Presenters:

Jason Nolan, Knowledge Media Design Institute/McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology

Michelle Levesque, Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies

Posted by jason at 06:28 PM | Comments (1)

November 01, 2004

Ross Mayfield's Picts from SSAW

Ross Mayfield (of socialtext.net) has put up some pictures of the event at Annenberg last week: Flickr: Photos tagged with ssaw. I want Danah's Blogger T. How come some of us look so serious?
ssaw01.jpg

Posted by jason at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)

CCL's web site has moved...


Canadian Children's Literature / Littrature canadienne pour la jeunesse
is a quarterly interdisciplinary journal dedicated to children's literature scholarship, to research in Canadian subjects, and to criticism that examines the increasingly permeable boundaries of "national" literatures in general and of children's literature in particular. In addition to our scholarly articles, each issue contains an extensive review section covering recent Canadian books, drama, and other media for children and young adults.

[The web site has moved from Guelph to University of Winnipeg. FYI, I'm a contributing editor.]

Posted by jason at 07:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2004

Bush's One-fingered Victory Salute

Videos: Bush's One-fingered Victory Salute during the last months of Bush as governor.

Posted by jason at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2004

Canadian Children's Literature CFP

[Disclosure: I'm on the editorial board.]

CCL: Canadian Children's Literature/ Littrature canadienne pour la jeunesse is moving to the University of Winnipeg as of January, 2005, with Perry Nodelman of the Department of English as Editor and Mavis Reimer of the Department of English and Anne Rusnak of the Department of French Studies and German Studies as Associate Editors. The new editors are now accepting submissions.

La revue CCL : Littrature canadienne pour la jeunesse sera situe l'universit de Winnipeg partir de janvier 2005, avec Perry Nodelman, du dpartement d'anglais, comme rdacteur en chef, ainsi que Mavis Reimer du dpartement d'anglais et Anne Rusnak du dpartement dtudes franaises et dtudes allemandes comme rdactrices associes. Les nouveaux rdacteurs acceptent ds maintenant la soumission d'articles.

CCL: Canadian Children's Literature/ Littrature canadienne pour la jeunesse is a bilingual refereed academic journal that advances knowledge and understanding of texts of Canadian children's literature in a range of media in both English and French. CCL publishes sound theoretically informed scholarship about all aspects of texts for Canadian children in both of Canada's official languages. The journal focuses on texts for and about Canadian children of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds both in terms of how the texts function culturally and ideologically in the lives of Canadian children and adults and of how they represent a specific kind of literature requiring consideration in terms of their artistry and of literary and cultural history and theory. CCL seeks articles from specialists in English and /or French literature, theatre and drama, media studies, literary theory, education, information science, childhood and cultural studies, and related disciplines on any and all texts for Canadian children in a range of contexts: the economic and cultural aspects of their production and consumption, the history and nature of children's literature and culture nationally and internationally (including discussions of Canadian texts in relation to those published elsewhere), and literature and literary and cultural history and theory generally. CCL also seeks articles that explore the practical implications of the research it publishes for librarians, teachers, and other practitioners who work with child readers.

Articles may be submitted as attachments in Word or RTF format to:

ccl@uwinnipeg.ca

Alternately, submit three copies on paper, along with a stamped, self-addressed return envelope, to: CCL Department of English University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue Winnipeg MB R3L 1V

All submissions should conform to MLA style. Since papers are vetted blind, the name and contact information of the author should be removed from the submission and appear on a separate page with your contact information (including phone number and e-mail address). Decisions about submitted papers should be made within three months.
________________________

La revue CCL : Littrature canadienne pour la jeunesse sera situe l'universit de Winnipeg partir de janvier 2005, avec Perry Nodelman, du dpartement d'anglais, comme rdacteur en chef, ainsi que Mavis Reimer du dpartement d'anglais et Anne Rusnak du dpartement dtudes franaises et dtudes allemandes comme rdactrices associes. Les nouveaux rdacteurs acceptent ds maintenant la soumission d'articles.

La revue CCL : Littrature canadienne pour la jeunesse est une revue bilingue dote dun comit de lecture, qui fait avancer la connaissance et la comprhension des textes en littrature canadienne pour la jeunesse par une vaste diffusion en anglais et en franais. Elle publie des travaux thoriquement solides concernant tous les aspects des textes destins aux enfants et aux adolescents canadiens dans les deux langues officielles du pays. La revue se concentre sur des textes pour et sur les jeunes Canadiens de tout groupe ethnique et de tout milieu socioculturel. Son but est de cerner le fonctionnement culturel et idologique de ces textes dans la vie des enfants et des adultes du Canada, aussi bien que leur valeur reprsentative au sein dun genre littraire spcifique dont les caractristiques artistiques, littraires, culturelles et thoriques mritent lattention. La revue invite la soumission darticles de spcialistes en littrature franaise ou anglaise, en tudes thtrales, en sciences de la communication et des mdias, en thorie littraire, en pdagogie, en tudes culturelles et sur lenfance, et de toute discipline se rattachant des textes traitant dune varit de contextes : aspects conomiques et culturels de leur conception et de leur production, histoire et nature de la littrature pour la jeunesse et de la culture de la jeunesse sur le plan national ou international (y compris des analyses de textes canadiens en relation avec ceux publis ailleurs), ainsi que littrature, histoire culturelle ou littraire et thorie. La revue recherche galement des articles explorant les implications pratiques de la recherche pour les bibliothcaires, les enseignants et autres praticiens travaillant avec de jeunes lecteurs.

Les articles peuvent tre soumis en documents joints de format Word ou RTF ladresse lectronique suivante :

ccl@uwinnipeg.ca

Il est aussi possible de soumettre trois exemplaires sur papier, accompagns d'une enveloppe timbre l'adresse ci-aprs:

CCL Dpartement d'anglais Universit de Winnipeg 515, avenue Portage Winnipeg MB R3B 2E

Les soumissions doivent suivre les usages tablis par la MLA et doivent runir une lettre de prsentation avec les coordonnes de lauteur. Afin dassurer lvaluation objective du travail par les pairs, les copies de larticle demeureront anonymes. La dcision propos des articles soumis sera rendue dans un dlai de trois mois.
__________
Perry Nodelman
perry_nodelman@shaw.ca
http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~nodelman

Posted by jason at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2004

More annenberg pictures

1014134_82afa545a0_m.jpg
Me, sitting next to Justin Hall, taking a picture of richard. More madness at Flickr: Photos from richardhod.

Posted by jason at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)

SSAW @ Annenberg

Here are my first set of pictures of the SSAW at Annenberg. Note that the big cute kid is Rochelle's nephew.

Posted by jason at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2004

always inventive ken

From
Ottawa Citizen
:

"Of course, the always inventive Kenneth Emig, with his ability to combine dance and sculpture into memorable kinetic art performances"

Posted by jason at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2004

Spinger has sprung...

Had a great meeting with folks from Springer... a big german publisher. Lots of other folks there I should mention, but I've not got the list here. It was great and it looks like there are interesting opportunities in the offing. But now, sleep.

And the list (now that I'm home and have slept) is: Roy Pea (Stanford), David Berliner (Arizona State), Heinz Mandl (Munich), Maxine Greene (Columbia), Kattie Embree (Columbia), Erik De Corte (Leuven), Joel Weiss (Toronto), Jason Nolan (Toronto), and Jeremy Hunsinger (Virginia Tech)... plus the folks from Springer...

The meeting went better than expected, and we're negotiating two projects now, not one. And now is the time for a flurry of faxes and emails.

Posted by jason at 10:39 PM | Comments (1)

October 07, 2004

McLuhan Fest

University of Toronto -- News@UofT -- University joins McLuhan celebration (October 07, 2004)

U of T is joining celebrations of one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century in the McLuhan International Festival of the Future, which runs Oct. 9 to 17. The 10-day festival features events, seminars and exhibitions across the GTA dedicated to Marshall McLuhans interpretations of culture, technology and media.

Posted by jason at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2004

What did you do today?

Well... I got up early. Made coffee. Checked email. Freaked out all morning about a fellowship app. Went for lunch with my MA supervisor (from way back when) at Massey College. Massey's the only college on campus where you must check in with the porter. I was late. And I was told by my ex-supervisor that if I did that again, I would not be invited for lunch any more. Had lunch. Discussed the virii on his computer. Told him how to get rid of them but that they couldn't hurt him because he has a mac. Walked home. Freaked about an arts grant app that was due today. Aniko came over to talk about or "project orange" and she told me I was missing one sentence in my arts grant... the first sentence that tells them what I was doing. Then walked over to the post office and sent the packages off. More talk about "project orange". She left for a date. Yuka came home. We had dinner. Took pictures of Cali the cat. And now I'm typing...

And you?

Posted by jason at 08:36 PM | Comments (2)