In July of 2004, Steve Coast, a 24-year-old British computer scientist and entrepreneur, started OpenStreetMap (OSM) with the objective of creating a free editable map of the world. Tired of the problems data proprietary companies generate by the restricting geographical information (In the UK, as in other European countries, geographic information is very expensive and…
On January 12 2010, after the catastrophic earthquake (magnitude 7.0 Mw) near Port au Prince that triggered a humanitarian crisis, hundreds of volunteers distributed across the globe worked together to create an updated and complete digital map of Haiti. Using computers, photographic imagery, and the tools from the OpenStreetMap (OSM) project, they were able to…
Since the end of the 1980s, exploring the aural dimension of cinematic language has opened a new field of film scholarship. One of the leading figures in this adventure is Michel Chion, a music composer and theoretician, who studies cinematic language with a focus in the auditory realm and the audio-visual relationships. Although sometimes Chion…
“Literacy” is one of the English language words that has become more contested and opaque due to its spawning across diverse fields. Attached to different technologies and activities, the term indicates the existence of certain skills and competences. We heard about computer literacy, media literacy, information literacy, network literacy, digital literacy, critical literacy, design literacy,…
In order to understand the conventions of film music, either from the silent or the sound era (including the silent-to-sound transitional period of 1926-1936), it is useful to look at the theatrical and dramatic practices of the 18th and 19th century. Studying the music and staging conventions of Melodrama, for instance, help us to answer…
Last week I was back in Chicago for the workshop meetings of the Connected Learning Research Network. During two days members of the different research teams discussed some of the emerging themes we have been finding in our studies about youth, learning, and digital media. Besides having a great dialogue and feedback, experiencing the downtown…
For a long time I have been interested in the popular arts. Their vernacular power and their low brow sensibility have captivated my attention and triggered my curiosity. Whenever I am immerse in a culture I always try to devour the popular imagery and language, and discover the carnivalesque in everyday life. During my time…