Yesterday, our department had an “open doors” day, and all interested were invited to hear and see what we are doing. The event was rather intimate, and took place in our “coffee room – library”, but there was whole afternoon (and late into the evening) people coming to hear the presentations, and discuss new media, technology, and their human-centred research. I think not so many other departments do this kind of presentations of their work — wonder why? (The selected video recordings of the day should come into the net at some point soon.)
Category: events
seminars, conferences, other events
bill and conan making fools of themselves at the CES
Bill Gates’ CES keynote is being reported as giving out the message that the way to success in the future for software companies like Microsoft is to make software more like video games. But actually, if you watch the actual video recording of the performance, you will get a very curious, awkward kind of Conan O’Brian show, coupled with somewhat out-of-place Bill, and some of the most bug-ridden demos for some time shown in public. Hilarious!
happy holidays
Moderately Technological, (Al)Mostly Human, and Appropriately Fantastic Christmas for Everyone!
graduation party
Once more: a great party. Tonight the University of Tampere celebrates its graduates. Evening in the great hall now has a distinctive feeling of a family event, academia opening its doors once for families and the surrounding society in general. Congratulations, Laura!
mobile games' challenges
Every games market has its challenges, but making downloadable games succeed in those thousands of versions you need to produce from every single title aimed for today’s fragmented global phone and operator market is perhaps even more challenging than some. Jami Laes from Sumea/Digital Chocolate spoke today in G&S series, emphasizing that mobile is its own medium. Design needs to understand ‘casual’ as easy approachability for any phone user, mobile as the “social computer”.
home again
Today is 6th of December, Day of Independence and public holiday in Finland. It feels really good just to be home, see the snow-covered landscape. We even have a small christmas tree already. There are also some pictures from the IPerG Commission review in Bonn, and DAC 2005 in Copenhagen that are now online.
documented life
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This is sort of characteristically ‘post’-style game, taking photo of a photo, documenting someone documenting themselves. Sitting here, listening to Jill Walker talking about digital photographs, and about portraying oneself with modern technology. Of course, a blog is a way of self-representation, too, but also a way of documenting the life, and world. It is sort of easy see this a a gratuitous and endless self-reference, but there are alternative traditions of perceiving these practices of reflection. And that is all the talk is all about, of course.
stopping for a moment in dac
Another busy travel week: trains, airports, cars. Lecture halls, computers, sudden flash of blue sky and then again, underground. Sounds of trains, receding.
Some thoughts were passing by, around mid-week. Now there is flu, ache in joints. Articulations never really fully meeting with their function.
Digital Arts and Culture 2005 conference in Copenhagen has its own wiki, it is interesting to sit here in this event, and see it being adapted (translated) into words and images, collectively, as moments pass.
Very fitting to the themes of the conference, digital aesthetics, experience, design and practice. But I found myself thinking about how this kind of developments will lead into increasing multitasking. Already, many are reading their emails in meetings rather than sharing the same thought-space (even if nominally the physical space). But I am also hopeful, paradoxically, as people not interacting with each other in face-to-face level might actually learn about something about each other in these alternative layers of (non-)presence with these familiar strangers. After all, blogging or making wiki notes during an event might create a larger collaborative space, make some links between interests, ideas, individuals and institutions more visible than would otherwise be likely. Or not?
summary for the Austin Game Conference 2005
Mirjam Eladhari has posted nice summary of the Austin Game Conference 2005 in her blog — thanks for doing service for all of us who couldn’t travel.
rpg club, 10 years
Our university’s RPG club, TYR, celebrated its tenth anniversary yesterday. See some of the happy pics in this folder. I was one of the people in the founding meeting in September 1995 (yes, time does fly…)
frans goes blog 
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