Archive: The Gnovis Blog
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Google and Rupert Murdoch: a Love Story
Monday, word leaked that Microsoft approached Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (and others) about “de-indexing” their news content from Google. The move would give Microsoft’s new search engine Bing exclusive rights to news content from the Wall Street Journal and Fox News. The news media and blogosphere was abuzz with wonder and recrimination.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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Acknowledging Our Cyborgness in Education and Beyond
Two weeks ago the Danish government started a pilot program allowing college students to use Internet during exams (see the news article here ). They are planning on extending the program to all of schools in the country by 2011. At first look this seems like a simple policy change. However, when I read the news article it seemed to me more than this.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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The Weekly Round-Up: Barnes & Noble's Nook vs. Amazon's Kindle Vs. Sony's Daily Edition Reader this Holiday Season
I remember returning home for Christmas during my freshman year of college. In my semester at school, I found myself enjoying writing papers for my English classes far more than my second go-around with Calculus (which, didn’t turn out much better than the first ). On December 25, I reached into my bright-red stocking and found a hard-cover copy of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. With the rise of new e-book readers out this winter, it looks as though digital stocking stuffers may be more popular than in year
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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2012 and the Future of Future
The new sci-fi thriller 2012 portrays a series of catastrophic events predicted by the Mayans, Nostradamus, and ancient scriptures from all corners of the world. Although the apocalyptic theme this isn’t the most original idea for a movie (Independence Day, Armageddon, Deep Impact were pretty similar), I will probably throw down my $10.85 at some point this up-coming Thanksgiving weekend to digest the mayhem (besides, I rarely miss a Danny Glover flick).
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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Some Academics Have More Fun
Academic writing requires a certain level of formality across the board, but I am interested in when and why norms form around certain disciplines that allow for a little more fun. Of course, I know most everyone finds a certain level of pleasure in their disciplinary homes whatever they are, but I offer the following special cases for consideration.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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I Will Bow and Be Exceptionalist
My sixth grade English teacher always told us “Good manners are better than good grammar.” On an Asian Pacific tour this week, President Obama exhibited what it means to have “good manners” and in the process drew the fire of conservative grammar regarding the infamous bow seen round the world.
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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The Weekly Round-Up: Media Convergence
Anyone who has taken CCT 505 can tell you a little bit about media convergence, the topic of Henry Jenkins’ book, Convergence Culture. In the book, Jenkins’ notes: “…once a medium establishes itself as satisfying some core human demand, it continues to
function within the larger system of communication options…Printed words did not kill spoken words. Cinema did not kill theater. Television did not kill radio.Category: The Gnovis Blog
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The Good, the Bad, and the Cloudy: Cloud Computing as a Computerization Movement
Have you noticed there is an omni-presence of cloud computing in the popular technology media these days!? I am currently reading an excellent social informatics book on Computerization Movements and Technology Diffusion by Elliott & Kraemer that I think can help provide a way to view the various ongoing technological hype with a clear head and a fresh perspective. In brief, computerization movements refer to a kind of social and technological movement that promotes the adoption of comp
Category: The Gnovis Blog
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A Facebook Group Takes On Marriage (and God) in the Middle East
“We are witnessing a fundamental change in how individuals can interact with their democracy and experience their role as citizens. Ideal citizens need not be seen purely as trying to inform themselves about what others have found, so that they can vote intelligently. They need not be limited to reading the opinions of opinion makers and judging them in private conversations. They are no longer constrained to occupy the role of mere readers, viewers, and listeners. They can be, instead, participants in a conversation.” – Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks
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Blogging and Social Networking in the American Military: a Short History
In the waning moments of the final Veteran’s Day of the decade, I can’t help but to think of my late Grandfather—a purple heart recipient and a combat veteran of World War 2. While he lived long enough to see the Internet become an important social force, if he were still alive today, undoubtedly he would be amazed by the ongoing debate over the role of blogging and social networking in the military.
Category: The Gnovis Blog