New Media M.A. Research Blog | Media Studies, University of Amsterdam | 2011

Thank You, Louis!

Instead of writing about my Wikipedia entry, which was quickly accepted, as it was about such a marginal and unimportant topic that it could not be ‘biased,’ i.e. nobody cared, I would rather ventilate my frustrations caused by a...

By Daniel de Zeeuw on 09/30/11 2

For the Love of Material!

Posthumanism, Protocol and Techno-Craft at Mediamatic’s Ignite Amsterdam 10 If androids dream of electric sheep, we posthumous dream of the Jetson family’s flying car. “Posthuman” because, as foreseen by early prostheses now as natural as eyeglass, human identity consciousness...

By Kendall Grady on 09/29/11 Comments Off

Know your meme, Wikipedia

Questioning whether one can sabotage Wikipedia is out of the question; there have been many cases throughout the last years. Some were humourous, others were insulting, many were vulgar. These cases were all to be found by Wikipedia editors...

By Yeun Au on 09/29/11 6

We fought the fight – and we’re still fighting- Wikipedia and Tek9.

So you’re thinking, ‘fight’… ‘battle’? What kind of nonsense is this guy stirring up? How can you fight Wikipedia? Good question. The only answer to that is yes, it’s possible, and most importantly, probable if you’re intending on making...

By Christopher Mead on 09/29/11 Comments Off

“What are your religious beliefs?” – a question of if religion becomes public again in social networking

Events of April 2011 sparked much controversy as the French government declared the public wearing of niqabs and burqas illegal for the first time. The response to this was defiance by many in France who define themselves as Muslim...

By Jamie Franklin on 09/29/11 4

Save my Wiki!

I never thought one Wikipedia entry could go as wrong as mine has. Although it was quite easy and interesting to write such an article, keeping it turned into a true challenge. Yet, I am sad to say, it...

By Luana Pascu on 09/28/11 Comments Off

Adding to Wikipedia: Not too much of a hassle

Contrary to many stories I heard before attempting to make my first contributions to Wikipedia, the actual process was not that much of a hassle at all. I made three (albeit minor) contributions, namely editing two existing entries and...

By Jorrit Schaap on 09/28/11 Comments Off

“Programming is fun” Art++ book review

“Programming is fun” is what the artist and professor Douglas Edric Stanley declares in the book Art ++. This motto is not only an invitation to play but also the definition of the art-oriented programming. Art++ is a recent...

By Aurelie Ghalim on 09/28/11 1

How Gamification Triggers Facebook in Being on Addictive Game of Sociality

I wrote a thesis about the new trend of gamification and specifically the gamification of the social networking site. With the gamification of the social network I am not speaking about the invasion of social games like FarmVille, but...

By Philip Man on 09/28/11 3

The Affective Turn of Mobile Phones

For anyone interested in affect, mobile phones or both, my masters thesis (completed this year) is available for download.

By Natalie Dixon on 09/26/11 2

Book review: Programmed Visions by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun

Wendy Chun’s Programmed Visions book is the third published in a software studies book series initiated by Matthew Fuller. Software studies is a relatively young discipine in digital humanities. Yet, it’s an emerging field, gaining momentum from the overall intrusion...

By Eelke Hermens on 09/26/11 3

Book review: Adrian Mackenzie – Wirelessness

A development towards the wireless is in full effect. Take for instance video game consoles like the Nintendo Wii or PlayStation 3, which make use of wireless controllers. Add the Wi-Fi for internet connectivity and the gamer is set...

By Bree Tahapary on 09/26/11 Comments Off

Book Review: opaque presence: manual of latent invisibilities ed. Andreas Broeckmann and knowbotic research

opaque presence instructs toward a mythology of suspended origin. Such a creation myth is necessarily one of destruction. Fully actualized, opaque presence could deposit the naked and the clothed in the Garden of Eden as a garden, an unbroken...

By Kendall Grady on 09/25/11 Comments Off

Possible Consequences of Critical Wikipedia users

This week I made a new (dutch) Wikipedia page about ‘Source Festival’, this is a music festival which has two editions a year, one in July and one in February . Wikipedia Source Festival Because this festival has had...

By Anne Laurine Stadermann on 09/25/11 Comments Off

Book review: Moving Circles: Mobile media and playful identities

When I visited Jakarta a couple of years ago I was astound by the number of mobile phones that everybody used. My aunt actually owns five different phones that all are used on a daily basis. My family has...

By Wouter Timmermans on 09/22/11 1

Book Review: The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry) by Siva Vaidhyanathan

I’m a so-called Google poweruser. Not only do I use the world’s biggest search engine for my daily queries like millions of ‘normal’ mortals do, I also use Google for my pictures (Picasa), my agenda (Google Agenda), video’s (YouTube),...

By Floris Spronk on 09/22/11 Comments Off

Book Review: Managing Media Work by Mark Deuze

Mark Deuze starts, in the introduction of his book, to argue that most students that follow studies like; journalism, advertising, games, film and television have lack of knowledge on managing their media work and industry. They know, for instance,...

By Daan Fliervoet on 09/22/11 1

Book review: Television as Digital Media, edited by James Benett and Niki Strange

Have you ever wondered how remote controls have influences television viewers’ patterns across the years, or how the original Star Trek series has forever changed production patterns within the industry? If you have, then the 2011 Television as Digital Media...

By Laura Burlacu on 09/22/11 1

Book Review: The Net Delusion by Evgeny Morozov

In his book ‘The Net Delusion: How Not to Liberate the World’ Belarusian-born writer Evgeny Morozov finely describes and critiques a delusion he calls cyber-utopianism: the believe that online communication technologies have the power to liberate, democratize. Many people...

By Sebastiaan Smink on 09/22/11 2

Book Review: Alternative and Activist New Media by Leah Lievrouw

Drawing on the works of David Bolter and Richard Grusin and their seminal work – “Remediation: Understanding New Media”, Leah Lievrouw analyses in ‘Alternative and Activist New Media’ (Polity Press, 2011) a series of new media activism practices. Offering...

By Andrei Florian on 09/22/11 Comments Off

Book review: ‘Wikileaks, Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy’

Wikileaks has become, in the last years, the symbol of transparency in the 21st Century. The efforts of the organization founded by Julian Assange to offer public access to relevant information about politicians, bankers and rulers of the world...

By Jacobo Corujeira on 09/22/11 1

What cultural policy in the era of globalization and electronic media?

Cultural revolution has already taken place. What has changed is not only participation in culture, but cultural environment itself, characterized by such slogans as “culture 2.0” or “culture of participation”. Changes in forms of participation in culture (following the...

By Natalia Miszczak on 09/21/11 1

Book review: Enfoldment and Infinity by Laura U. Marks

What are the parallels and relations between Islamic art and New Media art? That is the main question Laura U. Marks poses in her book ‘Enfoldment and Infinity. An Islamic Genealogy of New Media Art’. The title of her...

By Stijnie Thuijs on 09/21/11 1

Book Review: ‘Cyber War’ by Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake

Richard A. Clarke has worked for the U.S. government for 30 years. In the White House he served Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W.H. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Under Clinton and W. Bush, he worked as National...

By Maarten Jansen on 09/21/11 Comments Off