constructions

Leave me alone?

2009-07-29T08:27:00.008+01:00

"A state of perfect privacy would be akin to a state of absolute solitude, which is not only undesirable but also the harshest modern judicial punishment short of the death penalty" (Tufecki, 2008: 22).

I have written several articles where I discuss the conundrum of disclosure vs. privacy-concerns with regard to social technologies (in my doctoral thesis, and three (!) forthcoming articles this autumn*). Zeynep Tufecki's "Can you see me now? Audience and disclosure regulation in online social network sites" has nevertheless escaped my attention till now. I still haven't read it, only the two first pages. The obvious truth of the above quote made me stop. I do believe the essence is quite same as what I have written a number of times already. Tufecki, however, refers to Irwin Altman's conception of privacy as a balance between optional withdrawal and disclosure. She emphasizes the difference between Altman and the limited conception of privacy as social withdrawal (the right to be let alone), the latter conception being flawed: We do not want to be let alone at all times. Human beings crave disclosure to some extent.

Which is what I find again and again. I'm currently working on a small privacy-focused research-project for the Concumer Council of Norway (together with my collegues Petter Brandtzæg and Jan Håvard Skjetne). We've conducted interviews with Facebook-users aged 16 - 50 as well as a a survey (her er prosjektets Facebookgruppe). A report in Norwegian will be published later this autumn, but I am sure we will also write a couple of conference/journal articles.

* Forthcoming articles where I discuss social technologies and privacy:

Lüders, M, Brandtzæg, P. and Dunkels, E. (forthcoming 2009): Risky Contacts. In S. Livingstone & L. Haddon (Eds.), Kids Online: Opportunities and Risks for Children: The Policy Press (link)

Lüders, M (forthcoming 2009). Why and how online sociability became part and parcel of teenage life. In R. Burnett, M. Consalvo & C. Ess (Eds.), The Handbook of Internet studies. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell (link)

Lüders, M. (under utgivelse). Ung, dum og deilig? In Clemet, K & Egeland, J.O. (red), Til Forsvar for Personvernet (arbeidstittel). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.

Kontaktannonse: Søker norsk partner til EU-prosjekt-søknad

2009-01-30T11:40:00.004+01:00

Interessert i å være med i et fremtidsrettet EU-finansiert forskningsprosjekt med partnere fra hele Europa? SINTEF vil gjerne komme i kontakt med norske utviklere/leverandører av sosiale medier og brukerskapte innholdstjenester, eventuelt innholdsleverandører med et sterkt fokus på brukerinvolvering.

SINTEF er en av 16 partnere i det EU-finansierte prosjektet CITIZEN MEDIA. I dette prosjektet har bruker-sentrerte metoder vært sentrale for målsetningen om å utvikle sosiale medier og brukerskapte innholdstjenester. CITIZEN MEDIA går mot slutten, og SINTEF og de andre konsortiepartnerne arbeider med en ny søknad rettet mot 7. rammeprogram call 4, objective 1.5 Networked Media and 3D Internet. 70-80 millioner euro er satt av til denne delen av utlysningen.

Det nye prosjektet bygger på CITIZEN MEDIA og handler således i stor grad om sosiale medier. Men i det nye prosjektet er buzz-ord som ubiquitous computing, future Internet og Internet of things også helt sentrale. Vi har allerede mange ideer, men ønsker å ta utgangspunkt i hva en ny norsk parner arbeider med og ønsker å utvikle i årene fremover.

Interessert? Send en e-post til marika.luders@sintef.no eller ring.

Heekya: Wikipedia for stories

2008-08-08T15:16:00.000+01:00

I'm a lousy blogger, I know. But if you happen to visit, have a few minutes to spare, an interest in social/collaborative storytelling and the potentials emerging by integrating social network sites, take a look at this project. Looks very interesting.

Heekya: Wikipedia for Stories from DavidAdewumi on Vimeo.

Life as it should be

2008-03-22T17:51:00.001+01:00

Originally uploaded by Marika

A week of snow, sun, mountains and crosscountry skiing. I understand why this is the preferred way to spend Easter for quite a few Norwegians (most stay home though). We've tested wonderful tracks around Nordseter, approximately 100 km in total. Not too much if compared to some crazy sport-fanatics, but it's more than enought for me. Now I'm totally ready to get back to work next week, I have quite a lot of it waiting for me actually.

US library of congress on flickr

2008-01-30T09:13:00.001+01:00

Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

The national library of the US has uploaded more than 3000 photos to flickr, encouraging people to tag and comment. That's a great and rather simple way to construct and facilitate national narratives and history. Additionally, some of the photos are absolutely beautiful. Thanks to Stig at Underskog for posting an entry about this project (members only).

my thesis and defense

2007-12-11T11:07:00.000+01:00

Want to read my thesis? Get a copy! Contact Kristin Sandberg at the Department of media and communication, phone: +47 22 85 04 02, k.l.sandberg at media.uio.no

/EDIT/ I don't think there are any printed copies left, but I'd be happy to send you a pdf-version of my thesis if you're interested. Let me know.

My trial lecture is next Tuesday (18th of December) from 5.15 pm - 6pm, aud. 2, Sophus Bugges hus at Blindern (at campus). Assigned title: "Changes and consistencies in subjectivity in an age of new media"

The defense will take place on the 19th of December at 9.15 am, aud. 2, Sophus Bugges hus at Blindern.

Committee: Professor Charles Ess (Drury University) and Professor Nancy Baym (University of Kansas). Third member of the committee is Associate Professor Tanja Storsul (University of Oslo).

It'll be fun, I'm sure!

crime scenes, stories and truths

2007-12-04T13:26:00.000+01:00

I've been a lay-judge at "Tingretten" in Oslo for a few years. Yesterday and today I attended my third time in the court as a lay-judge, trying to grasp what actually happened, or did not happen in a specific case. Tingretten is the first court instance in the Norwegian courts system. A full trial is conducted and the verdict is decided by a court judge assisted by two lay-judges. Naturally I can't tell you anything about the actual case or verdict, but my experiences as lay-judge have been extremely interesting. The procedures, the contrasts between the stories told by the witnesses, the rhetorics used, and the fact that these oral stories with often rather dubious connections to "the reality of what happened" constitute the background for the verdict.

Audun Kjus just defended his PhD with the thesis Sakens fakta - fortellerstrategier i straffesaker (The facts of the case - storystrategies in criminal cases, my translation of title).

ipodbatteri rules

2007-11-11T17:18:00.000+01:00

Last week I thought my ipod finally died. I tried everything to fix it, but the hard disk just didn't respond. I wondered whether I should buy another type of media player. Can't stand devices with an expected lifetime of a couple of years. It's unethical.

Now it seems my ipod works. The owner of ipodbatteri.no fixed it. While I was waiting. Charging nothing as he couldn't guarantee that he'd repaired it for good. When my ipod finally gives in, I will probably buy another one. As long as ipodbatteri is there to help me prolong it's life.

Ambivalence Towards Convergence

2007-10-31T16:14:00.000+01:00

One of my thesis-articles, "Converging forms of communication?", is one of the contributions in a newly published anthology: Ambivalence Towards Convergence. Digitalization and Media Change, edited by Tanja Storsul and Dagny Stuedahl.

Concepts of convergence and converging processes have triggered considerable attention and activities in media research during recent years. This has been an inspiring context for the discussions and analyses presented in this book.

The book elucidates a variety of understandings related to the concept of convergence, and at the same time reflects on the analytical advantage of the concept. The contributions discuss the impact of media digitalization and the degree to which the prospects of convergence have been realized. The studies range from investigations of institutional and regulatory change within media and cultural institutions, to analyses of communicative genres and social practices related to digital media.

For table of contents and ordering the book, visit Nordicom.

citizens in danger

2007-10-05T17:23:00.000+01:00

Last week BBC encouraged people inside Burma to share their stories: Accounts from inside Burma. At the very bottom of the web page, the following message has been written: "At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws." Appropriate of course, considering Burmese people risk jail and abuse for telling the world what has been going on. It's "citizen journalism" at its most interesting and perhaps cruel, mass media actors taking advantage of the upsurge of amateur quasi-reporters in conflict-areas. With the possibility of air-time on BBC and CNN, people will probably be more willing to take chances. It must represent a rather delicate dilemma for the media industry, and I don't know whether a warning such as the one above solves it.

memories

2007-09-28T09:12:00.001+01:00

Red for Burma day
Originally uploaded by Marika.

November 2000: I'm sitting on the floor in a London apartment, browsing colourful books about Burma. Next to me, a Burmese monk and his friend. I have just finished interviewing them for my master-thesis, which concerned the use of the Internet among exile-Burmese people. I did interviews with nine Burmese people during my ten days in London. I also interviewed people from the non-profit media organization Democratic Voice of Burma in Oslo.

The meetings made a huge impression on me. I know wearing a red shirt isn't much of an action. But it feels meaningful to be part of a global symbolic protest.

45 years of military repression is just surreal.

transcending souls?

2007-09-06T08:23:00.000+01:00

For the qualitative-minded researcher, the open-ended interview apparently offers the opportunity for an authentic gaze into the soul of the other... (Davd Silverman (2003) "Analyzing Talk and Text: 343).

In an otherwise interesting article, I believe Silverman reads too much into the intentions of researchers conducting qualitative interviews. This sentence really jumped out on me. I'm preparing two lectures in methodology that I agreed to do at the Department of Political Science. At first I regretted having said yes, but clearly it might just make me more prepared for critical methodological comments on my PdD-thesis. There, I immediately felt sick thinking about it. My defense, if it is approved will take place on the 19th of December. Touch wood.

f**king banner

2007-08-22T20:37:00.000+01:00

No, I'm not at all happy with the new banner on the top of my blog. After four years at start.no and home.no.net, I will have to move. Think I'll just resign and use blogspot. I am using Blogger after all. URL: marika75.blogspot.com.

summary of my phd-thesis

2007-08-10T12:45:00.000+01:00

Being in mediated spaces: An enquiry into personal media practices

The main purpose of this thesis has been to analyse mediated practices among young people: what significance do use of personal media have for the individual user? The concept of personal media is understood as denoting tools for interpersonal communication and personal content creation. Although the history of personal media did not commence with digital network technologies, the development since the mid 1990s indicates that new patterns of being in mediated spaces have materialised. The consequences are potentially considerable, and it is therefore vital to understand personal media practices from a user-perspective. Moreover, the recent development affects previous notions of communication media. A crucial ambition has consequently been to conceptualise the notion of personal media and the distinctions between personal communication and mass communication. This study is primarily based on qualitative interviews with 20 users, aged between 15 and 19 years old. Participants all have a multifaceted online presence and, accordingly, a particular knowledge on the area of study. Throughout the research project I also observed their ever-changing presence online.

The thesis opens with a synthesizing discussion, in which I present previous research on personal media; introduce eight specific research questions; consider the methodological approaches pursued; and theoretically deliberate on aspects concerning communication, subjectivity and privacy in networked cultures. The opening discussion is followed by five articles, which comprise the main part of the thesis.

In “Conceptualising personal media”, I explain the main characteristics of personal media. I introduce a two-dimensional model, locating personal media and mass media differently according to a horizontal interaction axis, and a vertical institutional/professional axis.

In “Mediated subjects: how personal media affect performances of selves”, I examine perceptions of self-performances. Mediated communication is characterised by other qualities than offline communication, and users regularly disclose private information. As a consequence boundaries between what is considered public and private are changing, yet the constructed mediated self cannot be described as unfiltered.

The main purpose of “Becoming more like friends: a qualitative study of personal media and social life”, is to examine the qualities of mediated interaction and the integration of mediated and immediate social spheres. Mediated communication differs from face-to-face communication, not by being less meaningful, but by enabling other forms of disclosing practices. I argue that the ability to integrate different social spaces has become a characteristic element of social competence in network societies.

“’I made this!’ Being through creative digital practices” was written in order to analyse the creative aspects of being in mediated spaces. Sharing fragments of everyday stories appears to be important for media practices to be personally and socially meaningful. I argue that perceptions of creative strategies are connected to originality and the ability to create aesthetically pleasing expressions. Creative practices are nonetheless ordinary and essential parts of life, and being creative in mediated spaces is a way of being social and receiving recognition from peers.

In the final article “Converging forms of communication? Interpersonal and mass mediated expressions in digital environments”, I examine the grey-areas, which cannot be described as purely interpersonally mediated or mass mediated. The concept of communication is discussed by examining aspects of interaction, participation and social integration. These aspects are applied as variables in an analysis of conversations in a personal weblog, Underskog and a reader-discussion in the online edition of the Norwegian tabloid Dagbladet.

mountains

2007-08-01T10:13:00.001+01:00

Idunn
Originally uploaded by Marika.

I'm off to Telemark together with Idunn, Janne and Mette. Four women and a simple cottage for a few days. Very low-tech, I'm looking forward to it a lot. Idunn and I had a couple of wonderful days there in August 2005. Peace and serenity, here I come!

Oh, had an interesting experience yesterday. After Simpsons (which was fun), we ended up on the rock-pub Maiden. Featuring "Karaoke from Hell". Not the average karaoke-bar and not the average karaoke-concept. Instead, old metal classics to choose from, a live band to sing with. Lights and action. Uh, I didn't sing, I have never seen such dedicated karaoke-performers.

being in mediated spaces

2007-07-31T13:15:00.000+01:00

My now submitted PhD-thesis is entitled Being in mediated spaces: An enquiry into personal media practices. Yet, curb your enthusiasm, no need to get all excited yet. After all, I now have to wait for almost six months before I know whether the thesis-committee will even approve my work. I feel kind of empty and anxious since I can no longer re-write, re-work and improve my thesis.

I loved being a PhD-student.

gossip

2007-07-16T19:27:00.001+01:00

One of my favourite fun-girls is clearly also a smart girl. Look, Cameron D reads books about globalisation on the beach: Thomas L. Friedman's The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Globalised World in the 21st Century (link to nytimes review) from 2005.

Learning to know important things such as this of course explains my daily visits to gossip site Popsugar.

a messy post starting with Lessig on Keane and ending with me

2007-07-11T14:08:00.000+01:00

Lawrence Lessig has written an inordinately clever review of Andrew Keen's The Cult of the Amateur: How today's Internet is killing our culture. I'm quite sure Keen has a few valid points, but Lessig's comments convince me more than Clay Shirky's semi-defence of Keen's main ideas.

A side-point: I find it particularly interesting to read the section entitled "The Least Important (Lessig) Fallacy", where Lessig comments on Keen's interpretations of his ideas. I do wonder how many scholars I misinterpret throughout my thesis? You know, communication and dialogues are really just continuous misinterpretations :)

Btw, I was quoted in Norwegian tabloid Dagbladet, apparently having said: "We are in the midst of a gigantic psychological experiment, which for ever will change the traditional distinction between public and private. As if I said that! Well of course, boundaries between private and public are being adjusted, partially because of individual online practices, but, "gigantic psychological experiment". Oh well, I'm learning to live with my tabloid self.

hanging out

2007-06-24T11:56:00.000+01:00

danah boyd has often argued that children and youth in the US go online to socialise because they are no longer allowed to walk the streets and meet friends in public spaces. Here is an article from the Daily Mail, claiming the same is true in UK: How children lost the right to roam in four generations.

The article addresses the situation for children. Children and youth in Norway are still allowed to get around by themselves, meeting friends and hanging out. Embarassingly, I did feel slightly uncomfortable leaving my 14-year old niese and her bestfriend alone at Friday's teen-favourite happening in Oslo, a three hour long live hit-show at Rådhusplassen. Silly me, they are 14! And, the concert-arena was heavily supervised by the police and guards.

mediate/immediate

2007-06-20T09:05:00.000+01:00

Lately, I have sometimes been using "immediate interaction" to describe face-to-face interaction, though I'm not at all sure whether it is an appropriate term. According to the Wordnet Database, immediate can be defined as "having no intervening medium", which is of course how I think of it as opposed to mediated interaction. Clearly, I am aware that communication is never immediate, but, in face-to-face situations, always mediated through the body, language, speech, non-verbal signs. I do like the online/offline distinction, but this is not always appropriate as I also discuss communication mediated through phones and even postal letters.

I can't believe I barely have six weeks left to finish my thesis. I will make it, but it feels weird. The last three years have been wonderful.

Navy Numa

2007-06-17T16:10:00.000+01:00

What can I say? Some Numa Numa versions are more fun than others. I especially love the guys who appear at about 1.23/4.11. I'm actually embarrassingly addicted to that section. Hot moves!

Superstreng

2007-05-31T11:55:00.000+01:00

I still find it utterly uncomfortable to talk on radio. But you know, I guess the practice is valuable. Or rather, I don't find it very uncomfortable to talk, but to listen to myself afterwards. A couple of weeks ago I visited Eirik Newth's "Superstreng"-show, and we were of course talking about social networking services, especially Facebook. Kind of common sense stuff. Here's the podcast. It's in Norwegian of course.

Facebook is highly profiled as vicious by the mass media these days. They apparently exploit all your personal information and intend to use your private photos in commercial campaigns. Or something. If you know Norwegian, you might want to read Ove Skåra's answers to readers of the Norwegian tabloid VG. Skåra represents the Norwegian Data Inspectorate.

I don't have the time to comment. Obviously, I have read Facebook's terms of service. My short answer is that mediated practices are experienced as so meaningful that they outweigh the perceived threats to privacy.

narrated memories

2007-05-29T13:51:00.001+01:00

It's hardly too late yet to search for books and anthologies I still need to read, or at least browse, in order to be able to finish my thesis? Don't think so. Besides, some are really short, like Annette Kuhn's Family History. Acts of Memory and Imagination.

I am of course already familiar with relevant literature. Literature, which indicates that the relatively long history of documenting experiences, interactions and thoughts through journals, photographs and letters imply that subjects appear to embrace possibilities to create traces of life and social relationships. Personal media, such as mobile phones, instant messenger and social network sites, are similarly useful machines, facilitating interaction and the active creation of narrated memories.

Some of these are essentially ephemeral, such as telephone conversations, usually not recorded for the future. Others are, at least claimed to be, for better or worse, digital traces for eternity. The increasing potentials to document all aspects of life through textual, visual and audible traces, and additionally to archive these traces in private, semi-public and public digital spaces, can clearly be seen to have consequences for our individual sense of self, both present and past. It seems so significant that I easily forget that most people in the world do not have very extensive online presences.

networks

2007-05-21T09:36:00.000+01:00

This week I aim to finish a part of my thesis concerning subjectivity in network societies, I need to have a first draft ready for a newspaper comment about ephemeral connections (working-title, who knows where I'll end up), and I need to start thinking about my presentation for a conference next week, working title "social competence in network societies". No wonder I kept waking up tonight, frantically thinking about networks.

What is a paradox?

2007-05-14T13:29:00.000+01:00

I'm sometimes puzzled by how I apply certain concepts and then realise I might be using them all wrong. For instance how I use "paradox" in a work-in-progress (which will be part of a mighty interesting Norwegian anthology to be published in the fall):

The opportunity to design personal performances through edited pieces of textual, visual and sonic elements denotes that the individual has control with her or his own presentation, but only to some degree. As such online personal practices are characterised by a control-paradox: on the one hand individuals can construct filtered yet accurate and beneficial self-presentations (both socially and professionally); and on the other hand, once published, users have little control over content and little chance of preventing abuse such as republishing without consent.

Considering actual definitions of "paradox" I am not at all sure this is the concept I should be using.

Paradox: an argument which seems to justify a self-contradictory conclusion by using valid deductions from acceptable premises.

Other definitions.

By the way, the actual article concerns digital dilemmas: briefly summarised:

Users of social network services experience that having a publicly available online presence is meaningful. However, sharing texts, photos, videos, communicative acts and visualisations of social networks with known and unknown others may contest issues of privacy. Users consequently face a dilemma with two unfavourable options: protecting one’s privacy by not using social network services, despite potentially undesirable personal and social consequences. Or, alternatively, choosing to have an online presence and hence put one’s privacy at risk.

Personlige medier. Livet mellom skjermene

2007-05-04T08:20:00.001+01:00

Our book about personal media
Originally uploaded by Marika.

Lin, Terje and I have edited an anthology about the social and societal significance of personal media. Lin and I also featuring as cover-girls, very appropriate considering the theme of the book. It is, as you can see, a Norwegian anthology. Still interested?

Table of contents:
Jo Helle-Valle: Kontekstualiserte medier, kontekstualiserte mennesker - et annet blikk på mediebruk

Beathe Due: Viktige overraskelser. Ideer om uforutsigbar teknologibruk

Kristin Ørjasæter: Det skriftlige møtet. Om privatbrevet som en potensiell offentlig samtale

Lin Prøitz: "Alle har sitt familietre - og her er mitt:" Å skrive sin egen historie, en studie av familiebildepraksis via familiealbum til mms

Knut Ove Eliassen og Yngve Sandhei Jacobsen: Hvor var media før Samuel Morse?

Susanne Nordbakke, Randi Hjorthol, Mona Hovland Jakobsen og Rich Ling: Det mobile hverdagsliv. Kommunikasjon og koordinering i moderne barnefamilier

David Brake: Personlige bloggere og dere publikum: Hvem tror bloggerne at de snakker med?

Anders Fagerjord: Å skape fra en mal: preskripter i personlige medier

Gunnar Sæbø: Fleksible medier og kontrollert kommunikasjon. Om unges bruk og forståelse av peer-to-peer (p2p)-teknologi

Rich Ling: SMS og hvordan eldre blir utestengt

Marika Lüders: Private subjekter i digitale miljøer: iscenesettelse i endring?

Terje Rasmussen: Nettverksintegrasjon og personlige medier

happily ever after

2007-04-30T12:25:00.000+01:00

150 000 Norwegians (a crude estimate) are browsing Facebook friends-lists, groups and networks, looking for people they know and people they once knew. I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to people I used to know 10 or 20 years ago but no longer do, they kind of scare me. Who are they now? Do they even recognize me? Do they care? I therefore find the popularity of Facebook in Norway these days challenging and exciting. How do I relate to people I no longer know? I accept friends requests from friends of the past, and I'm happy when people add me (oh, she remembers me). I've been searching for old friends, but I don't know whether I'll add them unless they add me first. Facebook challenges my conception of my social life as constantly evolving; loosing some friends and meeting others. Are we all supposed to be friends for ever after in the future?

Employer Branding strategies

2007-04-24T12:10:00.000+01:00

I just talked to a guy from Universum Communication, an employer branding company offering help for companies who are searching for attractive employees. I declined to give a talk on a seminar in May about new approaches for recruiting people. I'm learning to say no to extra work assignments, that's good. But we had a brief and interesting conversation: there's very little unemployment in Norway, and the competition for the brightest people is tough. Hence, try advertising in Facebook? or any social network service, even MySpace? You have LinkedIn of course, but the point is that having a comprehensive online presence does not at all imply less chances of a future career. Quite the contrary.

Given the beneficial conditions for well-qualified people in Norway, I should have pretty good chances of finding interesting work after my PhD?

digital annoyance

2007-04-10T10:36:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I dropped my camera while photographing. It, surprise, did not survive the fall. I should get it repaired of course. But you know the problem: fixing digital cameras seem to cost more than buying a new one. I really hate that about digital stuff. Argh. Maybe I should buy an approachable and user-friendly SLR-camera? And still get my other camera repaired?

edit: The service-guy at foto & video looked at me as if I were from the moon when I asked whether my camera could be repaired. At least I tried to do the right thing. I bought a Nikon D40x. Now I just have to learn how to use it.

security through obscurity

2007-03-29T08:54:00.000+01:00

In computer security engineering (of which I know nothing at all), "security through obscurity" is a principle where secrecy is used to ensure security. The idea is, as far as I can understand, not to tell anyone about how your system works. Consequently flaws in the system are not known to others than the owners and designers and attackers are unlikely to find them (for more, see AllExperts. It is a controversial principle, but my interest stems from the use of the principle to explain why users voluntarily expose private information without worrying about the hazards these performances pose to their privacy. danah boyd for example writes the following in "Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites"

Most people believe that security through obscurity will serve as a functional barrier online. For the most part, this is a reasonable assumption. Unless someone is of particular note or interest, why would anyone search for them?

Keeping the original meaning of the principle in mind, is this argument valid only for users who are determined to keep their performances a secret? I mean, it can hardly be applied to explain the practices of users who do little to hide their presence? Moreover, it is hardly the case that users themselves actually think that security through obscurity functions as a barrier securing their privacy. My impression is rather that users perceive the sheer magnitude of expressions online to be a protection towards their own privacy. Which is how David seems to apply the term in his contribution to the forthcoming anthology Personlige medier. Livet mellom skjermene (in English, Personal media. Life between screens): "For the most part those interviewed rely on ‘security through obscurity’ (the sheer number of weblogs and web pages in general) to ensure what they write is not read by anyone save the ‘innocuous’ passing stranger." (David's contribution is translated from English and concerns how bloggers relate to their readers).

computers and time

2007-03-22T09:53:00.000+01:00

So I have this silly personal hypothesis. Computers affect the experience of time. It is of course related to the fact that time appears to pass more quickly when you're having fun (such as my experience of time at the magnificent Dolly Parton concert a week ago - oh, it was wonderful). The difference is I'm not necessarily having fun when I work with computers - yet time passes so quickly.

I have no other explanation for the fact that the years 2001-2007 ("my adult working life") feels like a much shorter period than 1995-2001 (student-years, when I generally didn't spend the whole day in front of a computer). It could of course be related to the fact that I'm getting older. I've also considered whether time actually passes more quickly than before.

But I like boring-time. Maybe I need to log off.

substitute or supplement

2007-03-08T14:11:00.000+01:00

Are you tired of discussions of whether new technologies substitute or supplement old technologies? I think Eric A. Havelock's moves beyond such a discussion in his beautiful book The Muse Learns to Write. He discusses how literacy, as it emerged with the Greek writing system, created the character of modern consciousness. Yet, it was not so that writing merely replaced or supplemented oral storytelling. Neither did the introduction of the radio represent a reversion to past oral times. No, these technological developments represent marriage and remarriage between the spoken word and the written. I've only reached page 33, looking forward to the rest. Havelock was 83 when he wrote the book.

(...) the epics as we know them are the result of some interlock between the oral and the literate; or to vary the metaphor, the acoustic flow of language contrived by echo to hold the attention of the ear has been reshuffled into visual patterns created by the thoughtful attention of the eye (page 13).

Wow, the art of writing .

IM vs. face-to-face interviews

2007-02-19T14:55:00.000+01:00

Interestingly, when reading my thesis-articles, quotes from face-to-face interviews appear just as eloquent as quotes from instant messenger-interviews. Yet talking (putting experiences into narratives on the go), is rarely a very smooth process, and I have edited quotes from face-to-face interviews to make them more readable (I'm not doing a conversation analysis in any case). I consequently disguise a rather interesting and important methodological aspect of instant messenger versus face-to-face interviews.

Consider the following excerpt from a face-to-face interview with 17-year old Morten:

"I have therefore added many people to my Live Journal friends-list just so that I can read what they write by watching my friends updates without them having the possibility to. Maybe they think they are on my friends-list and get to read all of my entries, but they really don’t get access to read my closed entries, because they are not in the right group like, you know."

I was rather intrigued when I realised how much I have actually edited the above quote, but I guess (hope) the meaning is intact:

"I’ve added many people to my Live Journal friends-list to be able to keep track of their updates. Maybe they think they get to read all of my closed entries, but they can’t because they are not in the right friends-group."

My MSN-interviews (only five) last longer in time, but yield about 1/3 of the words if compared to face-to-face interviews. The answers are more concise with a lot less filling-words. Consequently they do not contain a lot less in "content".

concerts

2007-02-19T14:33:00.001+01:00

Wolfmother
Originally uploaded by dreadfuldan.

Wonderful Nina bought tickets to yesterday's Wolfmother concert at fabulous Sentrum Scene. The ambient was electric last night, and I can easily understand why they received three Arias back in October.

Last weekend, Nina, Jo and I experienced Pleasure's cool 80's disco-music at John Dee (though the new album doesn't quite match the last album from 2003).

I'm now so looking forward to the 15th of March: Dolly Parton live in Oslo!

My taste in music is so post-modernist eclectic, ha, ha :-D

phone calls

2007-02-05T10:08:00.000+01:00

A journalist from Kanal 24 just called me, hoping that I could verify her hypothesis that we spend less time on the phone because we spend more time communicating through other means (texting, IM). I couldn't give her a definitive answer. There are just too many variables at play here. My informants often claim that they would prefer to call their friends if money was no issue. But they are young, and there's no doubt young people spend more time socializing than older users. If you're a busy grown-up professional with family obligations, there's hardly too much time chatting on the phone? Clearly texting and IM are pretty flexible (and hence valuable) communicating-tools for users with little time to spare. Actually I doubt that we are spending less time on the phone (statistics are welcome, Norsk Mediebarometer does not say anything about time spent on the phone). When 92% of Norwegians (2005) have their own cell-phone, it seems unlikely that we spend less time on the phone.

I'm not particularly fond of talking on the phone myself, though I spend a lot of time talking to Lasse (who now works in Hamar during the week). We have time to talk, there's a geographical distance between us, and the telephone supports a level of intimacy consonant with the bond we share.

No wonder I wasn't able to answer her question.

mystery

2007-01-26T09:51:00.000+01:00

How is it that whenever, and I mean every single time, I have to shorten an article I've written (argh, did they mean max. 8000 words including notes and references!), the result is always an improved article? I've just cut nearly 2000 words in one of my articles, and it reads so much better now. I guess this means I should definitely work to keep number of words in my final dissertation down to a minimum, right?

1986

2007-01-16T16:13:00.000+01:00

During my three months in Australia, I became fond of the TV-show "What a Year" (I'm embarrassed to admit this, as it's also a quite lame show). It's because I'm rather nostalgic, to the point where past times can make me relatively emotional. NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) currently runs a series called "Back to the 80s" feeding my nostalgia. Yesterday I was was taken back to 1986: the Challenger-explosion, Thatcher visits Norway and is met by a huge demonstration, Sandra Kim wins the Eurovision Song Contest, the Swedish prime minister Oluf Palme is shot and killed. And I remember it all so clearly. I was 11 years old and increasingly paying attention to mass mediated stories of the world. To me 1986 or any other year I have lived almost has a thing-like quality.

And today I read the following in Walter Ong's Orality and Literacy: "Before writing was deeply interiorized by print, people did not feel themselves situated every moment of their lives in abstract computed time of any sort" (...) Persons whose world view has been formed by high literacy need to remind themselves that in functionally oral cultures the past is not felt as an itemized terrain, peppered with verifiable and disputed "facts" or bits of information."

do network technologies change mass communication?

2007-01-12T12:56:00.000+01:00

In a very interesting discussion on Underskog (a Norwegian, members-only social networking site) about reader-debates in online newspapers, Ida Torp Halvorsen links to a comment by Joel Stein in latimes.com. Basically, Joel Stein has no wish whatsoever to embrace the technological potentials to engage in a symmetrical interaction with his readers through e-mailing (or commenting). I am of course not very surprised, and I think Stein is quite right. His op-ed explicitly addresses what I believe is the case. Network technologies do not challenge the fundamentally asymmetrical character of mass communication.

home sweet home

2007-01-05T01:51:00.000+01:00

You know I had the best time in Brisbane. Home's good too though: a few things I like about being back home:

It's home!
Being back in my office, I'm one lucky PhD-student!
Family, friends, colleges
My own bicycle (which is brand new btw, my Xmas-present from Lasse)
Winter. Though the weather hardly qualifies as winter, there's no snow and yesterday we had 8 degrees. The climate worries me (please travel "climate-neutral")
The workout-facilities at the University: first-class equipment, the best instructors and the best venues.
Reasonably priced fruit and vegetables
Newspapers
TV
Real broadband connection

5 things you didn't know about me

2006-12-28T14:49:00.000+01:00

Jean tagged me, so here we go:

1. I programmed my DVD/HDD recorder to tape more than 40 programs before I went to Australia in September. Now I'll have to watch my recorded shows in fast forward in order to have time to watch it all.

2. I used to be overweight as a kid. By today's standards I was probably just chubby, but I was the only one around.

3. I bought my first CD in 1988 when I turned 13: Def Leppard's Hysteria. I still have it, but unlike other early music-memories I haven't imported it to my mp3-player.

4. I easily cry - because of fictional and factual evilness.

5. I (want to) believe in some kind of God. People tend to be surprised to learn that I do.

I tag Hege and Luca.

So long and thanks for all

2006-12-20T03:59:00.000+01:00

Darlinghurst, Sydney: Haven't been online for the last 12 days, and I won't spend a lot of time updating on our trip just yet (Lasse impatient by my side...). Tomorrow afternoon we'll be on our way home, and I'm kind of looking forward to it, Christmas and all...

I've had such a wonderful time in Australia! Thank you, and remember you're very welcome to come and visit us in Oslo!

cairns, alice springs, melbourne and sydney next

2006-12-07T03:28:00.000+01:00

Time's almost up: we're leaving tomorrow, how sad and yet exciting. Tomorrow at 6.30 pm we'll be on our way to Cairns. We're travelling with the tilt-train. Which is supposed to be really fast, yet the 1600 km take 24 hours to travel (67 km/h). We plan to go snorkling (I love) of course and horseback-riding (I hope). As we couldn't decide where not to go, we decided to go everywhere. From Cairns we fly to Alice Springs - the compulsory day-trip to Uluru. And from Alice Springs we fly to Melboure - three days of shopping (christmas-gifts mostly...), and then finally the train from Melbourne to Sydney where we'll spend our last two days in Australia.

I've kind of finished a first-draft of an article where I analyse user-perceptions of creative practices. Now I'm confused and a little bewildered. I must be excited because I can't seem to concentrate on my work.

can I take and publish your photo, please?

2006-12-04T04:49:00.000+01:00

For early in the history of photography, there was a series of judicial decisions that could well have changed the course of photography substantially. Courts were asked whether the photographer, amateur or professional, required permission before he could capture and print whatever image he wanted. Their answer was no (Lawrence Lessig: Free Culture: 33).

Pretty interesting, right? Especially considering how digital network technology changes what we do with our photographs. I might not have to ask for permission to take somebody's photograph, yet in principle I have to ask for permission before I publish it online. According to the Norwegian Data Inspectorate I don't have to ask for permission for publishing "situation photographs", that is, photographs where the actual situation or activity is the primary content of the photo (such as concerts, sports events). However, if I take a photo of somebody particular, I need to ask if it's ok before I upload it to the web.

Usually I don't. I do take care not to publish compromising photos of course.

personally mediated expressions seen from three angles

2006-11-29T01:57:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was fortunate to get a chance to present some of my work for people at QUT (thanks Axel for organizing the seminar). I'm beginning to realise that my overall project can be seen as an effort to understand individual mediated practices from three angles: as expressions of subjectivity, as a way of being social, and as creative acts. These aspects are clearly strongly interconnected, and yesterday I tried to focus on these interconnections.

Thanks to people for showing up and for asking me really interesting questions!

Lasse and I only have 9 days left in Brisbane, but we're definitely going to Jean's final seminar (12-2 on the 8th of Dec) and Jaz' confirmation seminar (2.30-4.30 on the 8th of Dec) before we leave. I'm really looking forward to both!

pleasing your readers

2006-11-22T08:46:00.000+01:00

In the article I submitted to JCMC a few months ago, I integrated the theoretical discussion in the actual analysis. One of the reviewers suggestsed to restructure and separate the theory and the analysis. In my article about mediated subjectivites, a lengthier theoretical discussion precedes the analysis. The editor at Gyldendal, she's sharp and very efficient, suggest to integrate them. It can sure be difficult to satisfy readers or what?

Work all of a sudden piled up. A lot of it at once, isn't that just typical? I'm not complaining, luckily I love what I do.

Noosa weekend

2006-11-16T07:53:00.000+01:00

Noosa was wonderful, and I now kind of know how to surf (more in theory than practice). Noosa is pretty much a tourist's paradise. Sunscreen 30+ recommended (add hat and shades of course).

fast and furious

2006-11-16T01:29:00.000+01:00

I didn't notice, working at my desk in the graduate student bunker, but there was a rather furious storm in Brisbane yesterday. A tree fell into our empty pool, we lost our power and it wasn't back until 10 pm, but worse - roofs flew of a couple of buildings in Red Hill. On my way to work I noticed my favourite church being one of those buildings. I love it's pale blue colour, and I like the weekly messages on the board outisde. This week it's "Welcome to the perfect church for those of us who aren't". And if I remember the previous ones correctly:
"Don't just stand there, prey something"
"There is no such thing as an ugly smile" (kind of cliché, right?)
"Live simply so that others may simply live" (my favourite of course)

work and play

2006-11-09T14:20:00.000+01:00

After a pretty good week of some translation, some reviewing and most importantly progressing on my own PhD-article, I'm off to Noosa this morning for an extended weekend of play! Nina arrived on Tuesday morning, and Lasse has been her wonderful Brisbane-guide for the last three days while I've been working. Now we're definitely looking forward to beach and surf-classes!

soufflés, trees and contexts

2006-10-31T07:29:00.000+01:00

"Suppose you draw a picture alone in your room, or make a soufflé or write a song. Is this still creative? Only potentially."

This quote has amused me since I first read it a couple of days ago. It's from Keith Negus and Micheal Pickering's Creativity, Communication and Cultural Value. They try to explain how creativity is only realised when it is achieved within some social encounter (page 23). Humans do not create ex nihilo/from nothing and creative practices are part of a societal context, but I think I might answer their question with a yes: you can bake a soufflé alone at home, and it will be a creative practice. Or at least you would respond to your own creative act. Alter/Ego.

The quote is of course reminiscent to "if a tree falls down in the woods and no one is around to hear it- does it make a sound?"

Update: Negus and Pickering make no reference to Luhmann, but their argument is strongly similar to his idea of communication. To Luhmann communication is only factual as far as Ego, a receiver, creates an understanding from a communicated utterance (The Reality of the Mass Media).

working with qualitative data

2006-10-30T02:54:00.001+01:00

What's the perfect time to do qualitative interviews for a research-project? Depends on how much knowledge there is about your research-theme? You need to do some reading and preferrably some writing to know what to ask for in the interviews? That's my experience. I started as a PhD-student in January 2004 (somehow that's almost three years ago, what happened with time?), and I did most of my interviews during 2004 and 2005. Should I have done follow-up interviews? I haven't. I'm still observing my informants through their online presence though. Qualitative interview-data are generally very rich, and I'm more interested in analysing the interviews I already have than go on and do more interviews.

However, I was somewhat worried about my latest article-in-progress. I wasn't totally convinced that the interviews would be useful for an article focusing specifically on creative practices. Turns out, they are.

...
An update on my computer/screen problems: changing the cable didn't help. I've connected my powerbook to a QUT-screen, covering the flickering screen of my own computer with a paper-bag.

party

2006-10-23T03:17:00.000+01:00

jinna & oksana, busting a move
Originally uploaded by jeangenie.

Jinna is the sweetest and invited me to a Bollywood farewell-party she was arranging for Bao on Saturday. Oksana is the sweetest for letting me borrow an Indian-kind of outfit. As you can see from Jean's photos, we had a wonderful time. I took photos too, but I don't have my computer at the moment (see a sad story.

a sad story

2006-10-23T02:59:00.000+01:00

"So you don't have a warranty or apple-care?"
"No, but I don't care, just fix it!"

I've been having trouble with the screen on my powerbook for at least a year and a half. It starts flickering, but I can usually fix it by pushing and pressing on the right places. On Friday however, the screen seemed to have totally given up on me. So now I've handed it in for service. I hope there's a problem with the cable, and not really the screen, and I hope to have my beloved computer back before too long. Please, please, please.

Funny thing is, after working for about 10 minutes on "my" QUT-computer, it died as well. Hardware-failure. Somebody from the IT helpdesk has already picked it up, until they figure out what's wrong I'm borrowing another computer.

edit:
This story is now truely a tragedy. According to Infinite Systems they have to change the LCD panel, making it very expensive to repair my computer: AU $1011! That's like the same price as functioning three year old powerbooks are sold for. RIP?

mymusic

2006-10-18T10:04:00.000+01:00

The Gossip
Originally uploaded by Marika.

One of the best concerts so far this year has been The Gossip at Slottsfjell Festival in July. You know, really good as in "I'd like to buy their stuff". I did some searching and came across emusic - yes you can buy Gossip-tunes at iTunes Music Store, but I'm no longer big fan of their terms of service. emusic however is a subscription-based service, I get to download 40 tunes every month for the price of US $9.99. NO DRM. Trouble is of course, they don't have the occasional hits that I so crave for at times, but that's where iTunes becomes useful.

emusic has provided me with lots of quality-music since I signed up in July. Spank Rock, TV on the Radio, Camera Obscura, Maximo Park, Sufjan Stevens - to name but a few.

Gisle Hannemyr links to several web sites where you can legally download music without DRM.

my final phd-article

2006-10-12T01:10:00.000+01:00

I'm so not interested in revising previous articles at the moment. Thinking and taking notes for a new article is much more tempting. I haven't even been sure what my final PhD-article will be about, but my plan is to kind of have a draft ready when I leave Brisbane just before Christmas. I have two alternatives: 1) My work so far slightly overemphasises the social aspects of being present online. The human will to create is hardly in focus at all. 2) Matters of privacy - important of course as users are more than willing to share private information online. And *ta da* I have made up my mind, as a visitor at QUT I shold obviously go for the first alternative. I'm reading Rob Pope's Creativity: Theory, History, Practice, which seems to be a pretty good place to start to get a theoretically solid understanding of creativity. Importantly one of Pope's aims with the book is to recognise that 'being creative' is, at least potentially, the natural and normal state of anyone healthy in a sane and stimulating community, and that realising that potential is as much a matter of collaboration and 'co-creation' as of splendid or miserable isolation (page xvi).

free wireless access in Brisbane

2006-10-07T06:58:00.000+01:00

Noi Bar-Dining, 350 Brunswick Street, has free wireless access. They play good music too. And the food seems to be ok as well.

back to usual

2006-10-06T07:59:00.000+01:00

Working in Brisbane is just like working in Oslo. This week I had planned to re-write the article deeply in need of a stronger theoretical framework and more compelling research questions, and I think I'm getting somewhere (btw there were apparently good things about the article too. According to one of the reviewers the interview data seems solid, my analysis of it is excellent, and I'm clearly familiar with the literature). And just like home, re-writing is extremely time-consuming. Well that's not very surprising is it.

Otherwise I'm doing fine. Or I'm rather frustrated with Vodafone, Queen Street Mall, Brisbane for not being able to register my 30$ credit on my pre-paid mobile-account, but I guess I had to meet some kind of trouble (f***ing salesman said I'd have to come back to the Vodafone-store for a third time although they are to blame).

It's Friday, I've been here for about 10 days, and I seriously think I need to see a beach at some point this weekend - fresh, salty air.

conference highlights Friday

2006-10-02T03:39:00.000+01:00

Vernacular Creativity
Originally uploaded by Felix42.

Daniel Skog gave a very interesting presentation on Friday morning. His PhD-project is an etnographic study of the Swedish online community LunarStorm. He emphasised that technology shapes social interaction, and referred to one specific redesign of the functionality of LunarStorm as a case to illustrate how the social outcomes of technological design cannot easily be predicted.

John Hartley's key-note was of particular interest to me as he focused a lot on young people's creative use of social technologies. Fun and lively.

I looked forward to the panel Jean Burgess was leading - 'Creativity and its discontents: critical perspectives on the cultural economy of new media'. Jean focused on vernacular literacy, emphasising the importance of creative and expressive competencies of individual users (competences that are far from 'natural'). 'You push the button, we do the rest' has become 'we provide the buttons, you do the rest' (hm, she rephrased the Kodak slogan, but I'm not quite sure I remember how she rephrased it).

I had my own presentation on Friday, in the same session as Arne Krokan and Darren Sharp. It was ok, at least I really tried not to put too much content into my allocated 22 minutes. I hope my new conference-friends did not feel obliged to come and listen though, thanks for showing up! Darren works with Touch-related research questions, he should get in touch with Timo (and vice versa).

Conference dinner: very enjoyable
Drinks after conference dinner: fun
More drinks in Valley with Denise Rall and Jean: serious fun

Technorati tag: aoir2006

conference highlights Thursday

2006-10-02T03:25:00.000+01:00

I had done my pre-conference homework, browsing through the presentation-abstracts and marking the sessions I wanted to attend. I'm not going to write a summary of all the presentations I enjoyed - it would hardly be very interesting for anybody else (though it would be a good opportunity for me to recapture the conference).

A few highlights though: I met Jaz Hee-jeong Choi on Wednesday, and I was happy to see that she was presenting in the first session I'd marked of as interesting. Jaz talked about the multimedia blog system Cyworld which has a very dominant position in South Korea. Very cool, and Jaz has a pleasant way of presenting. She's funny too.

I also liked the 'social uses and consequences' panel (12.45-14.15) about citizen journalism and user-generated content. I have somewhat reluctantly used Toeffler's concept of prosumer (producer + consumer) in my own work, but I might consider using Axel Brun's concept of 'produsage' (production + usage) instead. He later told me he wanted to avoid the consumer-aspect all-together. Otherwise the panel sort of confirmed that my own thinking is very much in line with how others think about active and producing audience.

Congrats to Anja Bechmann Petersen for receiving the award for the best graduate paper! I know from her previous work that it was probably well deserved. Anja presented her paper 'Internet and cross media productions' in one of the final sessions on Thursday together with Oscar Westlund. They both gave very well structured presentations. Anja's PhD-project has similarities to my collegue Ivar-John Erdahl's PhD-project, as they both study how media organisations work to produce content for different media platforms (both of them indicate a general lack of using the potentials of the Internet).

Technorati tag: aoir2006

sunday in West End

2006-10-01T02:40:00.000+01:00

Conference is over and I've moved from fancy hotel to cheap, yet quiet and clean, hostel where I'm going to stay for the next couple of weeks, until I'll move into a nice Queenslander on the 14th. I have finally found a place with a close-to-free (2 AUD) wireless access, at Leif's Art Gallery and Café in the West End. The lack of free hotspots in Brisbane is surprising I think. In all other ways, these days have been very pleasant, and I've met lots of wonderful people. I might do a quick summary of how I found the conference tomorrow. For now, I'll just enjoy my coffee and the calmness of Leif's Café.

ready for conference

2006-09-26T19:50:00.000+01:00

I'm in Brisbane. Super-tired, very jet-lagged, yet ready for the pre-conference doctoral colloquium tomorrow and for the intensive conference-program on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Too many hours travelling surely marks body and mind. I'm dizzy, time for bed (although it's only 8.50 pm). Early morning tomorrow.

revision-time

2006-09-21T10:17:00.000+01:00

I'm re-writing my thesis-article #2. I submitted it to Journal of computer-mediated communication, and received the reviews a couple of months ago. One of the reviewers writes that I need a stronger theoretical framework and more compelling research questions. I thought I had a theoretical framework and rather interesting research questions! Actually I do see that the reviewer has a point, and I am after all happy to be invited to resubmit. I think I know what do to with the article, and I have tried to clarify the theoretical framework and rephrased the research question.

can you be too reflexive?

2006-09-15T07:59:00.000+01:00

Last week we had an interesting seminar for those who are writing contributions to the anthology with the Turkleish working-title Livet i og utenfor skjermene (Life on and off screens). My contribution will be the chapter "Digitale arenaer og subjektivitet: selvets retorikk i endring" ("Digital arenas and subjectivity: changing rhetorics of the self", I've written about it earlier). Interestingly the anthology will present a few differing perspectives about the self, which I think is a good thing.

The comment that I most appreciated to my contribution was a question by Knut Ove Eliassen who questioned whether reflexivity is only a good thing, or rather, can you be too reflexive? I might have misunderstood his question and comments, but indeed he made me think. I introduced my brief presentation with a few typical photos published online, and I included some which clearly illustrate that young people put a lot of effort into their self-presentations and also that they have internalised genre-conventions from other media forms (e.g. advertising and pornography). The basic question however, concerns more than just these extreme cases and naturally also more than just online representations of self. Are we becoming too obsessed with our represented self, with how we appear, and couldn't this be connected to the reflexive self? It is interesting that the reflexive self is generally interpreted as a good thing, almost as a virtue.

Brisbane

2006-09-04T16:39:00.000+01:00

Three weeks left and I will be on my way to Brisbane. First, the aoIR-conference that I'm very much looking forward to. And then I'm staying for three more months visiting the Creative Industries Faculty at QUT. Lasse will be joining me for the last couple of months, and Nina comes to visit me for a couple of weeks as well. I'm somewhat anxiously searching for a place to stay, though several places have a minimum lease for six months. I guess it will all work out fine, it's just that I'm a worrying kind of person.

the importance of ideal-types

2006-08-25T12:42:00.000+01:00

I'm intrigued by the rhetorical function of ideal-types in creating convincing theoretical arguments. Ideal-types are some kind of game of pretending: let's pretend things are black and white, let's pretend the extreme case. Just came to think of it as I'm struggling to make my own personal/mass media argument convincing. I can inform my old readers that I'm still, or rather again, working on thesis-article #1 in order to resubmit it taking my reviewers points into consideration.

Oh, googling ideal-type gives you quite a few interesting results.

digital arenas and subjectivity: changing rhetorics of the self

2006-08-24T08:15:00.000+01:00

I have almost finished a draft of my fourth thesis-article. I stress draft as there are quite a few things which could be improved. Significantly one of those things is, surprise, a narrower focus. I'm rather satisfied with how I manage to discuss the subject as reflexive and social as well as the individual in relation to the discourses of society. All within a few pages (and definitely to be discussed in more depth elsewhere). I've ended up with three interrelated research questions: 1) How does digital network technology change our possibilities to express our own subjectivity? 2) How do individuals create convincing representations of their selves online? 3) Where are the borders between the private and public digital subject, and what is conceived as normal online practice?

Initially I had this idea of the late-modern subject as attention-seeking and happy to show off online. My informants have a substantial presence online. However, they cannot really be described as assertive attention-seekers, and they are very aware of the public character of their online presence. Their practices are consequently very reflexive, yet always reflecting real characteristics and values. "I am myself" is a mantra of late-modern societies isn't it?

The article will be part of a Norwegian anthology about personal media that I'm editing together with Terje and Lin. Exciting! And it felt good to write in my own language. I will have it translated to English though as my thesis will be all-English.

publicly private

2006-08-17T12:20:00.001+01:00

One of my informants at one point said: "The Internet isn't more public that the world outside. Or I don't mind that a stranger who sits next to my table at a China-restaurant can listen to me talking to my friends."

Of course, the Internet is public in ways that the physical world isn't but my informant has a point and he reminded me of how annoying I find it that people criticise private telephone conversations on the bus, at a restaurant or wherever public. I have mentioned this before, but I now remembered it to be Kenneth Gergen's complaint. I ended up googling for my own name and "he says this thing" to find the post. It's kind of weird to remember part of a previously written sentence, yet mixing Gergen with Rule, isn't it.

ultimate communication breakdown

2006-08-09T13:03:00.000+01:00

Every morning I listen to experts explaining the immense complexity of the Israel-Hezbollah war. There are additionally too many opinions published in the newspapers. I don't even intend to look at the reader-discussions following articles in Aftenposten and Dagbladet. Or keep track of the multitude of weblogs and youtube-users from Lebanon. A week ago Aftenposten's youth-opinions page Si-D published a well written and interesting comment from 16-year old Rafia who argued that the Israel-Hezbollah war must be seen within a broader context and cannot be explained merely with reference to the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers. The next morning a researcher from the University of Oslo (didn't get her name) basically said the same things on NRK's news-morning. Their opinions were in fact strikingly similar. I don't pretend to know the right answers, but I notice how I find some opinions and arguments more convincing. I guess war is communication in a way, but it is simultaneously the ultimate sign of communication breakdown.

I just know that my favourite veggie meat-substitute products from Nutana do not taste as good as they used to. Nutana's products are produced in Israel. I didn't even know until this summer.

punctums

2006-07-28T10:45:00.000+01:00

24
Originally uploaded by marikas mom.

My mom uploaded old family-photos to her flickr-account. I'm so happy she did. I love looking at them, thinking about how they are moments from lost time and lost life. Special to me of course, because these are photos of my family.

This photo is probably from early 1950s. My mom and my aunt, somebody I don't know and a dog.

What actually changes with emergent practices of digital amateur photography?

temporarily mentally paralysed

2006-07-28T09:49:00.000+01:00

I have received reviews on the articles I have submitted to Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication and New Media and Society. The reviews are really useful, and I am so satisfied with actually being invited to re-submit (though of course, no guarantees of publication). Drawback: too many things happening simultaneously. Ok, the article that I need to send in to the aoIR-conference in September is almost presentable. Yet the article about changing rhetorics of the self that I'm writing for an anthology is not even close to what it should be considering I need to have a draft ready for the first deadline 25th of August. And then: re-writing two articles to be re-submitted.

I don't mean to complain. I'm finally beginning to feel that I'm qualified for working with what I do. I have frequently doubted my own academic skills, though seeing that I'm actually getting somewhere is rather motivating. I just need to get over this moment of being mentally paralysed and overwhelmed by the feeling of not quite knowing how to proceed from here.

Of course. I wasn't qualified for a PhD degree when I started. I'm not yet qualified. But in a years time I hope to be. That's the whole point, right?

random playlist happiness

2006-07-13T08:22:00.000+01:00

Bicycling to work I was given the following tunes from my beloved player:
1. Fugazi: Repeater (oh, those were the days)
2. Tom Waitz: All the world is green (from the wonderful 2002-album Blood Money
3. Spain: Spiritual (makes me want to cry)
4. Röyksopp: Sparks (modern classic)
5. Dinosaur JR: Going home (though I was walking to my office now - what a wonderful song).

Happy morning despite a couple of sad songs. Sometimes I want my life to be as random as my player. Then again, maybe it is.

writing puzzle

2006-07-10T09:58:00.000+01:00

How on earth am I going to write about conceptions of (social) identity, self and subjectivity from perspectives of pragmatism (Cooley, Mead), discourse-theory (Foucault), symbolic/social interactionism (Blumer, Goffman), postmodernism (Lury, Turkle) and perhaps a dash of feminism (Butler) - all within a few pages? I need to write about self and subjectivity in a comprehesive and relevant way for my new article about how mediated digital expressions convey (re)presentations of self. This is not really a cry for help, I already have too many books that try to discuss the self from various theoretical perspectives. I especially like Giddens's Modernity and self-identity (of course) as well as Richard Jenkins's Social identity and Nick Mansfield's Subjectivity.

Bicycling to Sommarøy

2006-06-30T21:57:00.000+01:00

Last weekend was wonderful. I was in Tromsø visiting Lasse, and we spent a lovely if somewhat cold Midsummer bicycling and camping. I borrowed a bicycle from one of Lasse's relatives. Old but rock solid. A comfortable 55 km ride to Sandvik/Sommarøy with a rather strong wind against us. Camping on the beach, veggie-sausages, primus and warm clothes. It was rather cloudy so we didn't really see much of the midnight sun. We took an alternative route back home, 70 km but now with the wind helping us. Sun! A very well spent weekend.

Here's a video from Sandvik beach where we camped. Windy and deserted except for two dorky campers.

pleasant surprise

2006-06-27T11:38:00.001+01:00

I need to have a presentable version of my fourth thesis-article, "Digital arenas and the subjectivity of the individual: changing rhetorics of the self", before 25th of August. To my surprise I have already worked quite a bit on it. Far from presentable, and a lot of writing, reading and rewriting remains. Yet I was pleased when I opened a somewhat chaotic and early version of it. I had kind of forgotten that I've already presented the core idea and elements of it on a PhD-course in April, and that I have been taking notes and done some writing already.

Seems I haven't totally wasted my time this spring.

Ph.D. course in Bergen: Technology and the Public Sphere

2006-06-27T08:27:00.000+01:00

This Ph.D-course looks very interesting, but I can't come, as eh, I will most probably stay in Australia for three months after the aoIR-conference... (more later).

But oh, I would love to be there. Andrew Feenberg and Brian Winston are coming. The course is free of charge, includes lunch every day, and non-Norwegian students will be given a travel refund of 300 euro

Bergen, November 14-17, 2006

The relationship between media technologies and the public sphere is increasingly important. We will explore it theoretically and empirically during four days of intense academic activity.

Before the Bergen event we will close-read three seminal theorists. John Dewey was an American pragmatist who wrote about technology and the public sphere in the 1880s to 1930s. Marshall McLuhan was the hyper-sensitive medium theorist with oracle-status, writing in the 1950s to 1980s. Jürgen Habermas is the acclaimed wise man of the European public sphere, and has theorized its role in civil society since the 1960s. A range of articles from contemporary writers will also be discussed, among them James Carey, Chantal Mouffe and Graham Murdock.

In Bergen we will discuss the main topics during plenary sessions and debates, in parallel panel sessions and study groups, and in the evenings. Professor Andrew Feenberg (Canada) and professor Brian Winston (UK) have confirmed their presence during the course. They will give plenary lectures and take part in discussions.

For a detailed presentation of the Ph.D. course, see Kulturteknikker.

Practical information:

Doctoral students from all European countries are invited. The course is free of charge. Non-Norwegian students will be given a travel refund of 300 euro upon completion of the course. Lunch and coffee are served every day complementary of the organizers.

All students must write papers related to our topics. A first draft must be written before November 1st, and after reviews and critique during the seminar, the final version should be handed in by January 1st 2007. The course gives 10 ECTS points for the participants, and a diploma will be issued for those who complete.

If you are interested, please contact chief organizer Lars.Nyre@infomedia.uib.no before September 1st, 2006, and include a paper abstract of 500 words. The abstract should contain a description of your area of interest, method and theory. The criteria for selection of participants will be strictly academic, and the list of participants will be published on September 2nd, 2006.

The doctoral course is organized by Cultural Techniques (a research project in the Norwegian Council of Research), with financial support from the Department of Information Science and Media Studies and the Social Science Faculty at the University of Bergen, Norway. The course is promoted under the umbrella of the European Communication Research and Education Association.

writing is so much easier than talking

2006-06-19T16:30:00.000+01:00

I was interviewed by Kai Sibbern in NRK's Verdibørsen after the Ethos-conference in May. The program was broadcasted this weekend. I listened to the podcasted version yesterday evening. Although what I say is quite alright, how I say it is definitely not!

Here's the most important thing I learnt from this specific interview: Do not try to say everything at once: I ramble on thinking of all the things I need to say, and I'm not at all able to prioritize. Words just keep pouring out in a rather un-organized way for about 10 minutes (gosh, that's long).

I'm not embarrassed. I just think talking is quite difficult, especially on radio.

information overload and nostalgia

2006-06-15T13:36:00.000+01:00

I'm caught in a neverending whirlwind taking me from one debate to another, from private weblogs via metafilter discussions to reader-debates on db.no. I'm very anxious to see what my aoIR-paper will end up like.

This work has lead me to several weblog-posts about the Roskilde music-festival by users aged 18, 19, 20. Reading about their plans makes me so nostalgic! I had the best time there in 1993, 1994, 1995 (and a pretty good time in 1996). My friends and I being young, bold and beautiful, surrounded by quality music everywhere, sun (well 1993 was partly rainy, but still great), and the best atmosphere. 1994 was especially good, truely magnificent. It didn't matter that I had to hump around on crutches for most of the festival after an accident on the Rage Against the Machine concert where I found myself underneath a mass of people. Had to spend a few hours at the first aid camp and then at the hospital, but I was 19 and fit so some plaster and crutches were not going to be an issue.

I have to scan some old photos and post them on Flickr so you can see how good it was!

Now however, back to the whirlwind, see where it takes me.

iTunes rebellion

2006-06-14T14:35:00.000+01:00

Financial Times reports about the Norwegian Consumer Council's (NCC) attempt to get Apple's iTunes in tune with Norwegian consumer rights.

MSN Music is not at all a better option (and impossible for mac-users). With the help of Jo and his friends over at NCC I've found bleep to be a very good alternative: DRM-free music from really good labels (such as WARP). But I want the ease and comfort of iTunes! I want to go to an online music store identical with iTunes but with fair treatment of customers.

Jo keeps track of the well deserved international attention they get.

self-portraits

2006-06-05T16:43:00.000+01:00

"Besides, sometimes I take self-portraits and have to lean the camera to rocks and stuff". Blush. I meant to say "use the self-timer". I was at the Foto og Video-store explaining the (ultra-) tiny scratch-marks on my camera. I've had problems with my Canon Powershot S70 for a long time, and last weekend it totally died. Hopefully the lab won't make any problems and just repair the camera free of charge (I bought it 11 months ago). I have in fact been treating it carefully (despite the insinuations from the seller at the store). So why did I find it embarrassing to say that I occassionally take self-portraits? As if my flickr-photos do not already show a good share of self-portraits.

Ethos

2006-06-04T13:09:00.000+01:00

It's been a busy week: I attended the Ethos-conference on Tuesday, arranged by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and then a conference for scholars financed by The Norwegian Council of Norway's, research program "Communication, ICT and Media" on Wednesday and Thursday. The Ethos-conference aimed to discuss different aspect of privacy in a modern, technologised society and whether the right to privacy should in fact be constitutionally grounded. I was a little nervous for the Ethos-conference, basically because I was going to talk to a mixed (non-academic) audience (as well as a rather large audience), and because my given assignment was to give the middle-aged people an in-your-face presentation of how young people present themselves online. Yet clearly I didn't want to let young people down by one-sidedly criticise their online practices. My presentation went just fine, my voice didn't tremble, and I think I succeeded in giving a balanced point of view. My research is clearly very relevant in discussions of privacy, though the conference of course concerned much more (e.g. surveillance, commercial use and archiving of personal information).

Oh, digi.no refers to my presentation and research. It's ok, though the focus of the article is somewhat more worried than I am.

hm, time to clean the computer screen, is it?

2006-05-25T11:46:00.000+01:00

I was sitting comfortably, powerbook in my lap, legs on the table, my back to the livingroom window. Problem was, I could hardly see through the dirty screen. Weird how I've negelcted cleaning it as it doesn't take much:

To clean your PowerBook screen, do the following:
Shut down your PowerBook and remove the battery.
Dampen a clean, soft, lint-free cloth or paper with water only and wipe the screen. Do not spray liquid directly on the screen. (from powerbook - care and handling).

Sort of embarrassing thing to share, everybody else probably clean their displays like once every week.

iPod celebration

2006-05-23T14:56:00.000+01:00

My iPod arrived exactly one year ago. With Apple's limited one year only guarantee that probably means battery will be dead, pod will start behaving strangely, and it will never again function properly. Or maybe I'm the lucky owner of a quality-player?

special issue on the dynamics of personal networks

2006-05-23T11:37:00.000+01:00

Social Networks has a theme-issue on the dynamics of personal networks: Volume 27, issue 4. I especially find Christian Licoppe and Zbigniew Smoreda's artcle "Are social networks technologically embedded? How networks are changing today with changes in communication technology" interesting and well-written.

On the downside: Two months ago I finally submitted an article where I raise similar questions. I doubt it will be accepted for publication though. I'm not trying to be girlishy insecure, I just don't think it's a very original contribution. Then again, although I enjoyed reading Licoppe and Smoreda's article, I wasn't very surprised by their analysis or conclusion (connected presence, reaffirming and reshaping the strength of social ties, choice of medium and production/reproduction of social structures).

living next floor to alice?

2006-05-09T07:01:00.000+01:00

I've been in Tromsø for the last 17 days. 1600 km north of Oslo, and wow, it is beautiful here. Lasse's room is now turned into my office. I've been studying quite well, and my article for the aoir-conference is slowly progressing. The only drawback is the neighbour downstairs, who plays Smokies greatest hits every morning (one morning he began at 5.30 am!). Seriously provocating. Room 310 in Jonas Lies gate 50, Tromsø: I seriously dislike your taste in music.

interaction/integration

2006-04-28T13:18:00.000+01:00

I am a technological determinist who adheres to transmission models of communication. Surprised? I am, but this is indeed my impression after reading David Holmes’ Communication Theory. Media, Technology and Society. Of course I feel seriously mis-placed. Very briefly Holmes aims to discuss the implications of new communication technologies for media studies and the sociology of communication. I do not intend to write a full review of his book, but I just have to share a few points that I find strange. In all Communication Theory is a valuable textbook, and I recognize many of his points such as the importance of examining on how technologically constituted mediums bring about new qualities and context for communication and social integration. Evidently, this is partly what I see my own research project to be about.

Holmes sees media and communication theories as two-folded: either focusing on the interaction-aspect of communication or focusing on the integration-aspect of communication. To me it is pretty difficult to discuss the social integration functions of communication (whether mass, personally or interpersonally mediated) without also talking about how media facilitate possibilities for interaction. Initially this seems to be Holmes’ view as well, arguing that interaction is still important, yet emphasising that interaction always has a ritual function of social integration (he argues that integration does not necessarily involve direct interaction at all, but I’ll have to leave that for now). However it still this distinction that I find problematic. I strongly object to his claim that on the Internet interaction without reciprocity is a systematic reality. “Most Internet identities are avatars for whom reciprocity is not possible” (p. 150). I need to be fair, Holmes does in fact differentiate between communication between friends and communication between people who are anonymous to each other. But I think his discussion of online interactions is too crude and general when he argues that in most cases, obligations to reciprocity do not exist in network communication due to low visibility, no commitment to the online avatar, and lack of offline context of recognition (these reasons just seem so mid-90s). With no reciprocity there is no form of social integration, as he argues that social integration is made possible by reciprocity, via interdependence, long-term continuity of association and strong identification with another (p. 152). He seems to be arguing that network communication does not in a very large extent facilitate social integration.

Finally (well for now at least), Holmes repeatedly argues that mediated communication supplants face-to-face interaction without explaining the complex relationships between mediated and face-to-face interaction: “The more reliant individuals are on CMC to meet communication needs, the less they engage with embodied interaction. No empirical studies are necessary to demonstrate this relationship” (203). That is kind of too simplistic isn’t it?

That being said, the book was a very interesting read. Besides, reading books is a lot more fun when you don’t take all arguments at face value.

myclimate

2006-04-19T18:04:00.000+01:00

I don't like flying. It doesn't go very well with green values, and I really try to make an effort when it comes to living a green life (e.g. being a vegetarian, intending never to own a car, loving bicycles). I just don't seem to be able to avoid airplanes. This is where myclimate comes in (mittklima.no, myclimate.co.uk, myclimate.com) by providing a chance to balance the damage done: buy a climate ticket according to the distance travelled and support climate protection projects that aims to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. Information about the supported projects can be found on the myclimate websites.

There were a few critical voices when myclimate was discussed on Underskog (members only), but I really dislike when people criticise others for trying to make a tiny difference. No, this won't save the world. Yes, I will feel sligthly better when I fly to Tromsø on Saturday.

ir-conference in September

2006-03-30T12:38:00.000+01:00

I'm attending the Internet Research 7.0 conference in Brisbane in September. Exciting! I'm considering whether I should stay in Australia for an extra month or two, but I'm so fond of home...

Short abstract of the paper I'm presenting:

Converging forms of communication
The implementation of digital network technologies has destabilized the traditional differentiation between mass communication and interpersonal communication, as individuals have become potential mass communicators. This article critically addresses the question of whether previously different forms of communication are converging. Examples of conversations from personal weblogs, Flickr, Underskog, Metafilter and audience-discussions related to online mass media articles are analysed to pinpoint central differences such as symmetrical/asymmetrical relations between participants, and the character of conversations and networks. While initially useful, the concept and meaning of convergence easily disguises significant differences.

You'll get a better sense of the paper by reading the long abstract.

common sense

2006-03-21T09:45:00.000+01:00

A follow-up on yesterday's post: Teenagers themselves of course have very different opinions about sites such as deiligst.no. Aftenposten's Si ;D daily publishes e-mails and text-messages from youth between 13 and 18. In the beginning of February Lisa wrote an answer to another girl who had been criticising deiligst-users (translation follows):

Bruk fornuften
Deiligst.no er ikke livet til folk, det er et sted man møter nye mennesker, får seg venner eller noe sånt!! Jeg ligger selv på den siden, og ja, innimellom kan det jo komme en som er 23-30 år og si: "Oi oi oi!! Du var driitfin da;D. Kan gi deg kontantkort hvis du viser på cæm!!" Men det er jo bare å si: "nei tror ikke det gamlefar;)"
Nuss Lisa;*

Which translates into:

Use common sense
Deiligst.no isn' your life, it's just a place where you meet new people, get new friends and stuff!! I use it myself, and yes sometimes some 23-30 year old guy comes and says things like "wow, you're really hot ;D. I could give you a prepaid SIM-card if you show off on cam!!" But it's just to say "don't think so old-boy;)"
Kiss Lisa;*

media panics

2006-03-20T12:29:00.000+01:00

As a researcher of youth and social technologies I find it difficult to cope with cases where young people reveal too much (both in terms of semi-pornographic photos and personal information). Danah Boyd had an interesting post about how the disappearance of two girls was allegedly connected to their use of MySpace. Which, it turned out, was not the case after all. I wholeheartedly agree with Danah - MySpace is safer than going to the mall. I'm very enthusiastic about the real social value of online interaction, and I don't believe mediated interaction supplants face-to-face interaction. I furthermore agree that it's problematic that there seems to be an exaggerated panic about the danger of online interaction. The panic is visible in a series of articles in Aftenposten lately, though the reported case is serious and concerns a 15-year old girl who was raped by a 19-year old boy she met online. They met on deiligst.no, later had a private IM-conversation (including the use of webcam), exchanged phone-numbers, and agreed to meet face-to-face. I understand that these rare cases are reported and discussed as a problem, even if they are the exceptions rather than the rule. The whole panic-situation proves that research is important. Mediated interaction is a natural and intergrated part in the everyday life of young people. Sharing photos online does not have to be dangerous. Chatting with strangers is usually quite undramatic. Teenagers don't regularly have private explicit web-cam shows. Yet, cases of abuse need to be taken seriously.

I guess the only sound advice we can give to worried parents is the same as ever. Be interested in what your kids are doing and don't ban use of IM, MySpace, blogs and photo-sharing services (bans will certainly not help, though I'm not a big fan of hotornot-sites - the Norwegian deiligst.no is a particularly ugly example). Oh, and respect their privacy: youth usually like to have a parent-free zone.

What happened to common sense.

Edit: re-reading my post confused me. Like, what am I trying to say? These troubling aspects of personal media use are not directly part of my research, though I am interested in how changing representations of subjectivitiy are visible through personally mediated expressions (e.g. text, photos). That is, 15-year olds do not post semi-nude and semi-pornographic photos of themselves only because they have the technological affordances to do so, but because what appears as legitimate representations of self seem to have changed in Western societies (or at least in Norway).

Nancy Berg counts sheep

2006-03-13T13:57:00.000+01:00

"She emerges in a lavishly decorated bedroom clad in a peignoir, or negligee, minces around the room stretches, yawns, jumps into bed, and the wriggles out again for a final romp with her French poodle [Phaedeaux, pronounced Fido]. Then she crawls under the covers, cuddles up for the night, and composes herself for sleep."

Another webcam-girl sharing her bedtime routines for everyone to see? Not quite. The quote is taken from Donald Horton and Richard Wohl's eminent article from 1956 "Mass communication and para-social interaction: observation on intimacy at a distance (re-printed in Inter/Media. Interpersonal communication in a media world). Horton and Wohl here describe the plot of a five-minute television spot called Count Sheep, which was aired at 1. a.m. each weekday in 1955. Wonderful concept for a late night show, isn't it? The concept 'para-social interaction' (what John B. Thompson calls mediated quasi-interaction) describes the relations between media personas and their audiences. It's a classic read.

I'd love to see just one episode of Count Sheep.

the man in black

2006-03-09T10:03:00.000+01:00

I saw (and heard) Walk the Line yesterday, and I loved it. I'm so happy they didn't make it into an epic "the whole life of Johnny Cash and June Carter"-movie. I rarely find scenes where thirty-somethings are transformed into old people very convincing. This is partly what bugs me with Brokeback Mountain (though it's a decent movie), and I'm especialy referring to Jake Gyllenhaal.

I came home just in time for an edited version of Oscar on NRK. I don't mind Reese Witherspoon winning the best actress-prize, she was pretty good. Joaquin Phoenix was great though.

By the way: Johnny Cash, June Carter, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis is a pretty good line-up for a concert. I didn't know they used to tour together.

who am I - tests

2006-03-08T09:58:00.000+01:00

What is it about personality-tests? Why are they intriguing? Do we not already know whether we are introvert, extrovert, intellectual, practical, creative, artistic, healthy or whatever? Of course, I remember personality-tests from my teen-age magazines, but the Internet has clearly made a difference: tests are more elaborate, take ages to answer and you don't have to count your own score. According to the PersonalDNA-test ("you're true self revealed"), I'm an animated director, though I think the test presents me as much more extrovert than I actually am. Of course I have also taken tests at Tickle ("#1 Destination for Self-Discovery"), and every now and then I quite enjoy reading about the I as presented in these tests. Their popularity can evidently be understood in the context of the individualized society: people are expected to shape and construct their own lives (and personalities?).

protection of privacy and research

2006-03-01T16:21:00.000+01:00

"Huh, I need to report my research project to the ombudsperson for the protection of privacy at the Norwegian Social Science Data Services?" Or rather, already should have two years ago? I've spent the last couple of hours filling out this form and writing letters of consent that I'll have to send out to my informants. No problem, my wonderful informants deserve to know that I'm not fooling around with the material from the interviews. Actually they already do: I did inform them rather well on these matters, but only via e-mail. I just don't particularly love filling out forms.

losing gold

2006-02-27T10:08:00.000+01:00

I'm happy I'm usually more interested in practicing sports than watching it on the telly. Ice-hockey is kind of my one exception. Watching Finland loose the olympic gold medal to Sweden yesterday was heart-breaking. I nearly started crying.

vietnam bicycle tour update: back home

2006-02-22T13:50:00.000+01:00

The actual bicycle-tour ended the 12th of February when we took the train from... Da nang to Hanoi. Meaning, we changed our plans again. Basically because I very soon got tired of the highway 1 traffic. Instead of 1000 km, we ended up with a mere 800. Cycling day 6 from Hoi An to Quang Ngai was a disappointment and made me look for alternatives. I felt suffocated from the exhaust, and fortunately Lasse didn't protest when I wanted to go back to Hoi An. On the next day we continued south to Sa Huynh, enjoyed the beach, had lunch and waited for a bus to pick us up. The bus system in Vietnam is very efficient. No need for time-tables, just sit by the road and wait for the next bus to pick you up. I think we waited for about 15 minutes. Three hours on the bus and we were back in Hoi An. We never got to Qui Nhon and Tuy Hoa - instead we took a side-trip back and forth to My Son (90 km), a wonderful day, not too much traffic, a perfect distance for a day, and an interesting site to visit.

Bicycle tour tip #3: be flexible and open for alternative routes.

So would I recommend bicycling in Vietnam? Yes I would, but not the whole of national highway 1. Bao Loc - Da Lat -Phan Rang is wonderful as is Hue - Lang Co - Hoi An, and the trip to My Son from Hoi An. I'd recommend cycling different parts of Vietnam though. Taking the bicycle with you on trains and buses is very un-problematic, and you get to see more than highway 1.

What have we done since last Monday? We've seen a lot of Hanoi visiting Edle and Mathias, enjoying the mysterious scenery of Halong Bay, and experienced Singapore - a very different part of Asia, and rather comfortable I must say.

I will of course upload some photos to flickr.

vietnam bicycle tour update: Hoi An (cycling day 5)

2006-02-08T11:40:00.000+01:00

We checked the weather forecast when we were in Nha Trang. The wind from north was not going to stop the next few days (if ever?). The natural decision was to take the train to Hue and bicycle the opposite direction. Monday from 7 am to 8.30 pm was thus spent on the train. Not quite the same as bicycling, but at least we were not stranded in Nha Trang. Nha Trang may be beachy but not really all that.

Plan of remaining trip changed to:
Hue - Lang Co: 60,6 km (yesterday)
Lang Co - Hoi An: 75 km (today)
Hoi An - Quang Ngai: 121,5 km
Quang Ngai - Sa Huynh: 64,5 km
Sa Huynh - Qui Nhon: 116,5 km
Qui Nhon - Tuy Hoa: 113 km

Yesterday and today have been wonderful. We reached Lang Co at noon yesterday, the weather was wonderful, the sea amazing with waves to play in. We felt totally ready to move on this morning. Han Van pass (10 km uphill) felt easy. Luckily our Lonely Planet bicycle guide is too old - there's no longer any reason to worry about heavy traffic as a tunnel has been opened. Only light traffic up, and a nice 10 km winding descent down.

Hoi An definitely seems very nice. We've been walking around, had the best strawberry Lassi's at Bo Bo's Cafe (you must try one if you ever come here), and we are already quite tired of silk/tailor-shops (we can hardly buy anything).

I might like to stay here another day, but I guess we will be on our way to Quang Ngai tomorrow. Long ride ahead.

Bicycle tour tip #2: do research on weather and wind conditions before travelling and planning your trip.

Vietnam update from beachy Nha Trang (cycling day 3)

2006-02-05T18:11:00.000+01:00

Seriously, I can't type because my left hand is numb from bicycling. A million hours on the saddle does that to you. It's been fun so far, in a rather strange way. We were lucky enough to get on a bus to Bao Loc only three hours after arriving Ho Chi Minh City, and were thus on our way to Da Lat early Friday day morning. 110 km of fun and pain. Grand finale: eight km of steep climbing up to Da Lat. Why on earth are we hurting our bodies purposely? Anyway, we managed yesterday's 110 km quite well. Da Lat to Phan Rang is in fact a very nice and varied trip, including for instance 16 km of winding descent with truely amazing scenery.

Today however, turned out less successfully. We would never have managed the 109 km to Nha Trang on our own. The wind set us back approximately 10 km an hour: I didn't manage more than 12 km an hour no matter how hard I tried. After about 30 km, boyfriend turned down one bus on it's way to Nha Trang. I couldn't believe him. Especially considering I had less trouble than him and was moving faster. We jumped on the next bus though and had a nice and crowded bus-ride the last 80 km: the bus filled with Vietnamese people, five or six goats and two other cycling tourist defeated by the wind.

Am I still enjoying myself? Certainly!

Bicycle-tour tip: don't try to get a nice tan cycling, you will only get hurt (yes, I did use lots of high factor sun lotion.

bicycle tour Vietnam

2006-01-30T21:37:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow afternoon boyfriend and I are off to Ho Chi Minh City (by way of Amsterdam and Singapore). We're not there until 2nd of February and hopefully directly on our way to Bao Loc, which is where we'll start bicycling. This is our plan:

Bao Loc - Dalat: 110 km
Dalat - Phan Rang: 110 km
Phan Rang - Nha Trang: 107,5 km
Nha Trang - Tuy Hoa: 126 km
Tuy Hoa - Qui Nhon: 113 km
Qui Nhon - Sa Huynh: 116,5 km
Sa Huynh - Quang Ngai: 64,5 km
Quang Ngai - Hoi An: 121,5 km
Hoi An - Lang Co: 75 km
Lang Co - Hue: 60,6 km

I'll let you know how I'm doing.

visiting scholars and web-presence

2006-01-25T12:09:00.000+01:00

I wish I'd had a work-in-progress in a presentable stage for the PhD-workshops at our department yesterday and Monday. I didn't. Which meant I didn't have the opportunity to take advantage of our excellent visiting scholars this week: professor John Durham Peters (University of Iowa), professor Paddy Scannel (Westminster University), and professor Eric M. Rotenbuhler (Texas A&M University). Considering how interesting I found Peters book Speaking into the air I would of course have loved to have something to present.

No need to have a blog read by thousands. My visiting statistics show rather humble numbers, but people googling and searhing for stuff still reach my site. That's partly why I quite like having a blog. John D.P. had in fact read my post about his book and recognized me when we met at the workshop. I liked that.

open/free wlans in Tromsø/ trådløst nettverk i Tromsø

2006-01-15T16:42:00.000+01:00

Looking for free and open hotspots/wlan connections in Tromsø? Visit Cafe Flyt or Peppes Pizza. Or you can go to the library. There's no wireless there, but a couple of group-rooms where you can connect to their network via your laptop (using a network cable, if you don't have one with you, you can borrow one from the library).

I'm in Tromsø visiting my boyfriend who works here for the time being. Tromsø is extremely far north. It's January. There's no snow here. Unbelievably sad.

collaborative web tagging workshop

2006-01-11T17:58:00.000+01:00

Tagging and folksonomies - rather interesting topics, right? Check out the workshop 'Collarborative Web Tagging Workshop', which will be held in Edinburgh in May this year. Extended abstract is to be submitted before the 29th of January. The workshop is part of The World Wide Web Conference.