frans

indexing movies with google

I have recently updated my dear DVD movie collection pages (maintained with Collectorz.com Movie Collector software, handy for its Internet database integration search functions), and the public index is here:

http://www.uta.fi/~frans.mayra/movies/

Having some kind of search in this folder is important when I try to check some details of my collection while on the road, but it appears that search is not easy, at least, not in this case. I have attempted using some javascript search functions, and then moved to use the Google search, which almost always works, more or less. But now, for some reason, this folder remains outside Google’s index (even if their robots should reach it just fine), or then there is something else wrong in my search page…

Edit: I worked with the Movie Collector and the Aqua Frames template a bit more, and now the javascript version of search is working. There remains some issues with the template, though.

philips light emitting textiles

Now this looks fun: Lumalive, light emitting textile technology by Philips Research:

http://www.research.philips.com/newscenter/archive/2006/060901-lumalive.html

They have had some interesting ambient media projects before, but this time this really looks like something that could transform the way urban nightlife and streets look like, if this tech gets a hold. Great!

juha arrasvuori's phd defence

juha arrasvuori’s phd defence
Originally uploaded by FransBadger.

Today there is the PhD thesis defence of Juha Arrasvuori in University of Tampere. Juha has worked on digital music, mobile media and games for numerous years, long working in Nokia Research Centre. When I first learned to know Juha in the DAC study group of digital culture he was researching synthetizer music of Jean Michel Jarre, but, today his finished thesis discusses the interplay of games (and game studies) with the playful creation of digital music. The opponent, professor Paul Théberge from Canada started by giving Juha credit for developing a consistent framework for discussing music composition and game play in close contact to and informing each other. The opponent also expessed concern about the possible culturally or artistically restricting consequences if ‘music games’ would become the major means for learning to create music.

nokia games day

nokia games day
Originally uploaded by FransBadger.

Trying to send this out from a new Nokia E70; there was the Nokia Games Day 2006 on casual and pervasive (well, and mobile) games in Helsinki. I liked several of the presentations, even if is difficult to say if even the fundamental conceps were defined with any agreement in the end.

wine, games and some late night blogging

Some nice wine (L’alpha du Château Peyfaures, Bordeaux Supérieur Rouge 2002) and a dinner at home tonight. There has been also a board game evening over here, sampling some classics, ranging from the ancient African Kalaha to Blokus, a board game variant reminiscent of games in the Tetris family. Quite nice; even if I continue to have some issues with this WordPress install (it insists on making internal references of uploads into /blog directory, rather than /fransblog — an irritating configuration error that I am not able to track down right now.)

where do you go, internet?

where do you go, internet?
Originally uploaded by FransBadger.

A snapshot from today’s seminar in the University of Tampere Faculty of Information Sciences. Here Tomi Heimonen speaks about mobile search. Other presentations included Tere Vadén on social issues of Web 2.0, and my brief on topical developments in digital games and games cultures.

Update: the presentations are now available at: http://www.uta.fi/hyper/seminaarit/internet/

furby's eyes

furby’s eyes
Originally uploaded by FransBadger.

Dear Furby, this “emototronic” toy — probably the least understood piece of talking plastic on the planet (available now at €15 from a local shopping mall). – This was shot in my living room from five meters away with a Canon S3 IS, which is basically a new generation digital compact camera, and actually much smarter in many respects than my trusty EOS D350; the quality of optics and manual control are not its forte, of course. But with its 6.0 mega pixels and 12X optical zoom it is one nice small package to carry around for daily needs.

meeting with a baby snow leopard

This Saturday we did an improvised trip to the Ähtäri zoo. Generally zoos can be rather depressive places with all those animals kept in captivity, but at least in Ähtäri there is a rather vast forest area to explore (for all those tourists, at least). You can even spend a night with animals, since apparently if you go in and get your ticket before 4 pm, you can stay there as long you want to, eat your provisions, and wait and see how the daylight-shy animals gradually wake up and come out. It was a fascinating spectacle to follow. This shot is a close-up of a baby snow leopard we met (the parents Väinö and Shakira got a litter of two this spring) — a rather playful little fellow, and unquestionably one of the cutest things on earth.

jenkins on convergence culture

I usually write and read too much in work to have much energy left to blog about research lit over here, but an exception: I have been reading today the new book from Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture (New York University Press, 2006), and I wholeheartly recommend it. Approaching media convergence as human activity rather than bunch of multimedia features, this book discusses important concepts with the help of such cultural texts as Survivor, American Idol, The Matrix, Star Wars, The Sims, Harry Potter, and 2004 American presidential campaign, among many other interesting subjects. Fans, participation and collective intelligence are in Jenkins’ key focus while exploring the ongoing developments in convergence culture.

Amazon.com link.