Planet CU J-School: Woven Voices

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Columbia J-School PhD Blogs
Parabolic Intentions Mystical traditions depict a singularity in consciousness occurring when all of humanity is united in the same state of mind. Our choices will determine if we will arrive at this state by achieving global peace, or take a detour through the another World War. In the limit, our shared reflective awareness is a possible consequence [...]
Pick a world… any world… Last week I attended the second half of the US Social Forum – not exactly a conference, but more of a convergence or a process, where 20,000 people gathered in Detroit to build coalitions, alliances, and movements. The World Social Forum began as a response to the World Economic Forum – Why should the [...]
The Case of the Missing See-Saws [ed: They past few months I was commissioned to explore a series of rabbit/fox/worm holes, collecting inter-dimensional tales along the way. Now that I have returned home, some typing is long overdue]. A few months ago I started wonder when and why children’s playgrounds have became so darn safe. Its no secret that litigation [...]
D&D a “threat” says Court of Appeals A few days ago the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Dungeons & Dragons presented a “threat” to prison security. Kevin T. Singer, an inmate at Wisconsin’s Waupun Correctional Institution, was so devoted that it raised concern among the guards. He wrote, by hand, “a ninety six page manuscript outlining the specific details of [...]
FPS Cinema First person perspective is highly symbolic of the subjective point of view from which we, faced an infinite amount of available information and data, create meaning. What strikes me is how common this perspective has become as part of a larger visual vocabulary in recent years. I’ve written on the topic before (see The Dissertation ™), but [...]
Humane Communications over Human Networks Today I attended a barcamp-style CrisisCamp in NYC where volunteers from around the world gathered physically and virtually to brainstorm, organize, coordinate, and work to help alleviate the suffering in Haiti (CNN CrisisCamp coverage). When people talk about crowdsourcing relief to this disaster, CrisisCamps around the country helped assemble the the sources (and faces) in [...]
When Lessig was in Disneyland… I had a fun idea for a new Free Culture campaign last spring, but I haven’t gotten around to blogging about it until now. LET MY CULTURE GO! Walt Disney: Let my cartoons go! Jack Valenti: Let my music go! Rupert Murdoch: Let my news go! Steve Jobs: Let my iPhone go! Jeff Bezos: Let my Kindle go! etc, etc. I [...]
The TV Show Insert your favorite French philosopher’s musings on co-existing meta-realities here. Then stop being pretentious and enjoy the video.
Pinball Economics Because I was trying to understand virtual items and micro-transactions, I researched the trading card industry. It made sense to me to consider the fundamentals from an industry that has been around for a while as a yard stick to relatively new terrain. (Yes, yes, looking forward through the rearview mirror. Thanks McLuhan. Now go back [...]
Dissertation Revolutions Two days ago I submitted draft 2 of The Disseration ™ at 3:00 am. After my committee had punched some initial holes in it, the whole thing is in much better shape. It even has a spiffy new title: Social Gaming and Discursive Play: Games as Communicative Exchange. This dissertation shows that video games are a [...]
Beyond Broadcast to Media Ecology In 2006 I attended Beyond Broadcast. The conference was subtitled “reinventing public media in participatory culture.” I was struck by the energy of those involved from the public radio and television stations whom I’d not met prior. Most fascinatingly, the technologists among them were taking their passion for serving the public interest, that they had [...]
Selling shovels to News diggers I had a fun idea tonight (patent pending) that occurred to me after reading about the Newspaper’s accelerating collapse, the Talking Point Memo’s membership experiment, and the recent report on reconstructing journalism. I can’t recall ever reading about or debating my new journalistic business model, and I’m not sure if its crazy, brilliant, or evil. Has [...]
Reconstruction time again This week the j-school was abuzz with the conversation successfully provoked by the publication of a detailed comprehensive report, complete with recommendations, on how to save the endangered species of professional journalists. One of the report’s two primary authors is my professor Michael Schudson, a thoughtful scholar and a great teacher who is eminently approachable for [...]
Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen? In honor of Blog Action Day I’m posting a round of my favorite posts relating to climate change and sustainable development. Intensional Energy Free Energy At work, we are also working closely with the Earth Institute, including setting up the learning environment used in the new masters program in Development Practice. I have been collecting some fun links [...]
The Interdisciplinary Kissing Problem Last week I participated in the architecture school’s visualization seminar and was treated to a mind-blowing presentation by Tony Jebara, a Columbia Computer Scientist. Jebara is a young associate professor who researches machine learning, graphs, and visualizations, and is also the chief scientist at CitySense.com. His lab “develops novel algorithms that use data [...]
Dissertation Reloaded [As I'm entering the final stages of writing The Dissertation (tm), I will be posted snippets online. You know, for purposes of fair use and the hope that seeing my own handiwork in a different context may help writing better. In this first installment, you'll find a section from the Introduction chapter, where I lay [...]
NYU cont’d Seems like they have their site up, finally. Right now, I’m preparing the syllabus for the fall semester and persuading industry folk to come out and talk to my students. I’m also be meeting the NYU Game Center’s interim director Frank Lantz to discuss a few extra-curricular activities. Comments on the syllabus are appreciated, of course. Oh, [...]
Interview: Christopher Mackie on Knight’s Hyperlocal Gambit Last week I reflected on the Everyblock.com acquisition. Since then, Knight’s journalism program director has blogged about their perspective on the sale, and some great conversations have continued. I have also had a wonderful opportunity to discuss the purchase with Christopher Mackie, a program officer at the Mellon Foundation. Chris is the Associate Program Officer [...]
Average Gamer: Once Violent, Now Overweight and Depressed. In what is likely to make its rounds on the Interwebs already in full force, a recent study finds that the average male gamer is 35 years old, has a higher body mass index and “a greater number of poor mental health days.”Researching 552 people in the Seattle-Tacoma area, the focus went out to the [...]
Color Revolutions Compared As those who know me are well aware I am very engaged in thinking about the role of communications technology in society on all scales. My mind has turned most recently though to the events in Moldova, Iran, and now Urumqi all of which have reminded me of two conversations I had several years ago. [...]
I have moved to another site… … which is here: http://rasmuskleisnielsen.net/
ICA on the conference front, I’ve just returned from the International Communication Association‘s annual conference, this year held in Montreal, Canada. I presented two papers, one about the public that is still only the raw material for an argument, and one on blogs I want to submit for publication some time soon. Email me at rkn2103 [...]
Politics: Web 2.0 I’ll be in London Thurday and Friday for a conference at Royal Holloway, University of London, called Politics: Web 2.0. I am presenting work-in-progress on ‘The Labors of Internet-Assisted Activism: overcommunication, miscommunication, and communicative overload’. Based on some field research I have done on the role of new media in primary campaigns here in the [...]
Chicago round-up MPSA was pretty good. My panel was great, good fellow presenters in Jane Anna Gordon, Laura Montanaro, and Antony Lyan. Lisa Disch was a great chair and discussant. Other pearls include fascinating work on ‘Strategic Obfuscation by Members of Congress’, analyzing what information political websites choose to divulge and what to withhold, despite the low [...]
MPSA 2008 I’m going to the Midwest Political Science Association’s 2008 Annual Meeting over the weekend. Four days of political science, rather overwhelming. Hope to get a chance to meet Shanto Iyengar and John Zaller, who will be presenting. Grad students Timothy Kersey (Indiana) and Bryce Dietrich (Kansas) also look like they will be presenting interesting work. [...]