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In collaboration with University Utrecht the Crossmedialab developed a proposal for a NWO subsidy, the proposal is titled ‘A Digital Infrastructure for the contextualization of Cultural Events (DICE)’. The immediate aim of the DICE proposal is to connect four major data collections, part of which were NWO-funded, in the domain of theatre and cinema culture collected by museums and archives. Each of these four collections holds different data on the production, circulation, presentation and reception of film screenings and theatre performances. Since this information has not as of yet been systematically collected and connected, our current knowledge of theatre and cinema culture is particularly fragmented, compartmentalized, incoherent and full of holes, and does not allow for a more systematic and comparative approach of Dutch stage and screen entertainments.
Tagged with: contextualization, digital communication, cultural heritage
› Continue reading New NWO proposalSince Obama’s election we seem to be convinced that Twitter is an important instrument when you want to win the elections. But the question is: is this true? And is it true in all countries?
› Continue reading Does tweeting win you elections?Two weeks ago my eye fell on an article about a new website called me and EU (www.me-eu.eu). The website was launched by European Commissioner for the digital agenda Neelie Kroes. Me and EU has the following purpose, and I quote: “me & EU is a new independent network and lets you easily discover what’s up in your area and even in other countries. Through me & EU you can meet new friends, share your ideas, dreams and projects. Or post about your favourite local snack. ;-) It’s all up to you”. The intention of the website is to reduce the distance between younger and older European generations. There have been many initiatives to bridge this gap, and many failed. Although this website is in the air for only a few weeks, I already can say it will fail. I will explain why.
Tagged with: europe, social network, young people
› Continue reading Another social network website for young people: will it work?Yesterday, we experienced the graduation of Digital Communication students. I forgot how many there were but the organization had to split up the group into two. Otherwise the ceremony would have taken four hours or so. The mentors of the graduates were instructed to speak only two minutes at the most. Fortunately, most of them stuck to the rule.
I had only three graduates but due to the fact that Erik Hekman had left for Mexico the other week, my list extended to an odd ten in total (it didn’t taken me twenty minutes, though).Tagged with: graduation, crossmedialab, social media, mobile, dc
› Continue reading Graduation day, a lot of social but hardly any mobileIf every (design) company is jumping on the user-centered design bandwagon, shouldn’t someone suspect that there is something fishy going on? I mean did I miss a fundamental paradigm shift in our society in the sense that everybody has become altruistic and only wants the best for each other? Group hug anyone? It is still business, Jim, and still as we know it. Simply put: with user-centered design there is something to gain. Better products you might say, at least that is the benefit that is fiercely promoted by the user-centered design followers. Wrong! User-centered design is there to cut cost. The costs of having expensive designers explore several possible products on end and only deliver a product that nobody wants. So it seems only logical to ask users in advance to give input and kill the darlings of the designers because the users are not interested in them. In the end users reduce the risk of designing unwanted products. So user-centered design is risk-centered design. And if costs are cut shouldn’t we, as users, someone benefit from this, that is, not get better products but CHEAPER products. Not something I noticed recently as a ‘user’.
Tagged with: user centered design, psychology
› Continue reading Loser-Centered DesignThe Deepwater Horizon accident not only killed 11 people but the oil spill is (up to now) the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the second largest oil spill in the history of the United States and the third largest ever. Thus whatever way you look at it is a calamitous disaster. However, the precise amount of spilled oil is actually not very well known and lower estimates are still considerably below estimates for a rather similar incident from around 1980, the Ixtoc I spill. I had personally never even heard of that incident. Not only did it take place 25 years ago, but I fear that an even more important reason is that it took place in Mexican waters.
Tagged with: gulf spill, soclal media, media strategy, crossmedia
› Continue reading Cross medial (PR) disaster managementHigher education is quite similar to professional communication, as both try to influence what people know, feel and do. Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS’s) experience problems with teaching that might be caused by the same origins as problems that brands have when they want to influence their target groups. So, Universities and UAS’s might learn from brand communication scientists.
Tagged with: added value ; awareness model; likeability model; relation model ; paid media ; earned me
› Continue reading New communication models applied on blended learningPerhaps I am a bit occupationally deformed when it comes down to (digital) media. That’s probably because I’ve been in the media business for three decades. That must have lead to full incorporation of media as such in my life. Sometimes it is hard to understand that what I regard as important may be of utter uselessness to others who just take the media as they are. But then again, media are in every people’s lives, whether one likes it or not
Tagged with: dc, digital communication, education, crossmedia
› Continue reading Digital Communication, why won't kids choose for it?Early this week Jeroen and I graduated from the university of applied science in Utrecht, on the subject: Rich Media in Education. What we have researched in the past 6 months is the possibility to enrich the web lecture.
Tagged with: social tagging, web lecture, video, information foraging theory
› Continue reading Web lecture and tagsNext year I’m going to do my ‘masters’ study and I’m looking forward to it. My research subject will be “The New Reading”. In anticipation of this research I bought - no my wife bought me - an e-reader called Be-Book. I – I mean my wife – choose this one because it had a touchscreen and Wifi. IThese features seemed handy and the are. My first reading-experiences with are quit good. I like it. Its light, you don’t have the feeling of a ‘computerthingy’ and reading from e-Ink is definitely better than Light emitting screens. So as a consumer I’m not unhappy with it. As a developer I’m anxious to explore the limitations.
Tagged with: e-reader, be-book, ipad
› Continue reading “The new reading experience”
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Presentations at TIR 2010
Rogier Brussee will present two papers at TIR 2010 in Bilbao this week. His presentations can be downloaded.
Special issue Networked TV
Conferences list | more
MediaBattle
Start of the MediaBattle of HU and Saxion, ending friday 17 september with a pitching competition. Watch the website.
TIR 2010
7th International Workshop on Text-based Information Retrieval. Bilbao, Spain, 30 August - 3 September 2010.
