Suppose you are carrying around several devices, most of them Wi-Fi enabled, and that you want to use 3G data for that online traffic while on the road? One solution that is out there is Joikuspot, free software that is designed to transform S60 mobile phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot. No more plugging in cables from your laptop, and a device like Apple iPhone, Nokia Internet Tablet (N810) or a Wi-Fi enabled camera (remember that Eye-Fi SD card?) can now go online everywhere on 3G coverage area, as long as your S60 battery runs. More: http://www.joikuspot.com/
Home music, Heima
Music and dance are those areas of expressive phenomena that have power to address emotions more directly than the conceptual thought, text, or speech.
Images have also wide scope of communicational potential that often escapes any conceptual definition.
Music videos are an area where many of these strengths supposedly come together. Sadly, they seldom reach their true potential.
This weekend I have been watching and listening to Heima, a film by Sigur Rós. A group of Islandic musicians, this documentary relates to the significance Iceland as spiritual, historical and geographical home has to its people. Powerful visual as well as musical experience, the movie manages to touch, move and impress. It stirs emotions and inspires thought.
This is definitely a film that any lover of photography will appreciate. The care it pays to shadow and light, textures on sand, stone, old wall and on human face is impeccable. Some parts actually look like slideshows of images, taken of still life.
The two-disk DVD is of high technical quality, but it is also possible to download a trailer clip that shows some of this material in full HD — amazing! I have been trying to see if this is available in Blue-ray, but so far, no success. You can access the HD trailer here: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/heima.html
(Thanks go to John, who mentioned how they had enjoyed watching this film.)
Spring arrives
This week there has been over 10C temperatures in Southern Finland, and the sun has been shining. Downside has been that there has been too much dust and other particles in the air. Our garden is also waking up, as the crocuses (pictured) show.
Presenting in the AoIR conference
I just got information my abstract has been accepted, and I will be presenting my paper “Play in the Mobile Internet: Towards Contextual Gaming” in the Internet Research 9.0 conference, taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from October 15th – October 18th 2008. Link to the conference web page: http://conf.aoir.org/index.php?conference=ir&schedConf=ir9
New article: Museums for the Game Literate Generations
Just a quick note: my short article has been published online. See: ‘Preserving the Virtual Cultural Heritage: Museums for the Game Literate Generations’, in: Making Cultural Heritage Truly Common conference publication (Helsinki: Finnish National Gallery, 2008, p. 9-12). Online: http://www.cultureforall.info/news.php?aid=12030&k=11097 and http://www.cultureforall.info/articles
Digiscoping
Digiscoping is the art of taking photographs using a ‘scope’ — typically a birdwatchers’ field telescope. This is something that I have also been interested, admittedly less because of birds, than for the affordable option for super-tele-objectives that are required if one aims to capture far-away or small details in landscapes. Yesterday I got my “fat pipe”, model Yukon 6-100×100 Variable Power Spotting Scope (pictured; a budget deal from the local Kodin Ykkönen warehouse). It came with a camera attachment that fits with most models, so I fitted the scope with my EOS 350D (external battery back removed, to spare in weight). The first photo trip experiences were somewhat mixed: Continue reading “Digiscoping”
Pixar exhibition
Today I had a meeting day in Helsinki, and after some episodes ended with an extra hour in my hands. Luckily the Tennispalatsi Art Museum had an open doors day, and they were having a visiting exhibition from Pixar, the makers of digital animated films. I have always wondered and admired the amount of manual labour animations require, and digital cinema is no exception. Available in Finland through an arrangement with the Barbigan centre, London, the Pixar exhibition includes hundreds of drawings, paintings and model sculptures, along with some special exhibits. The Pixar Zoetrope and the Living Landscape made the strongest impression to me. In the former you can follow the wonderful process of still life waking up, as the rotating installation is lighted with the flicker of strobos. In the latter, the long wall in a huge darkened room becomes a window through which we are provided with a trip through digital, animated paintings. An impressive experience!
New publication: An Introduction to Game Studies
[Just posted this to Gamesnetwork] Hi all (and apologies for cross-posting),
I noticed that several online bookstores already have this available, so I thought it would be good to drop a line, even if the official publication date is still ahead at the end of March. Sage Publications has kindly put out an introductory textbook of game studies that I have authored, and I hope it will be of use to some of you while designing your courses, or in your own studies. The book is designed to address the character of game studies as an emerging discipline in the academic context, and it will walk students both through the history of digital games as well as the conceptual developments that are useful while addressing the increasing complexity within game cultures. The final part of the book deals with various methodological traditions (humanities, social sciences, design research, play as a method) that are useful while engaging in further studies.
Continue reading “New publication: An Introduction to Game Studies”
Aki's PhD defence
Aki’s PhD defence
Originally uploaded by FransBadger
Aki is here pictured presenting his Lectio, at the start of his PhD defence today. As the official kustos, appointed by the Faculty of Humanities, prof. Mikko Lehtonen, and as the opponent, Jesper Juul. Fascinating path of a researcher, highlighted for a moment in the form of doctoral thesis, yet Aki is already heading towards new horizons, beyond game design and game system analysis, toward design of player experiences, rooted in empathy, nurturing and hope. Nice work — good travel!
Edit: here is also link to a video clip, recorded during Jesper Juul’s final statement (sorry for quiet audio and low quality, this was taken with my mobile phone, some rows back from the audience):
Aki's day tomorrow
Ok, it is finally here — Games without Frontiers, the PhD edition will have its premier tomorrow here in the University of Tampere. See:
Tampereen yliopisto – Väitökset – Aki Järvinen.
Edit: the direct link to the PDF publication is here: http://acta.uta.fi/english/teos.phtml?11046.
frans goes blog 
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