As if we needed more proof that SILS own Fred Stutzman was quickly becoming an academic superstar, he drops the news that he was invited to speak at Google about his Facebook research.
The video is, of course, available online.
Great stuff from Fred, who has definitely found his academic niche, and is doing fascinating stuff in it. Between ClaimID and Facebook, he is definitely becoming an authority on online identity creation and evaluation.
Very interesting idea…if I had $50 to throw at them, I would simply for the chance to participate.
A Swarm of Angels
A Swarm of Angels reinvents the Hollywood model of filmmaking to create cult cinema for the Internet era. It’s all about making an artistic statement, making something you haven’t seen before. Why are we doing this? Because we are tired of films that are made simply to please film executives, sell popcorn, or tie-in with fastfood licensing deals.
From the FAQ:
A Swarm of Angels is about making a £1 million movie and giving it away to one million people in one year. By using the Internet to gather together 50,000 people willing to pay £25 to join an exclusive global online community–The Swarm–the project’s ambition is to make the world’s first Internet-funded, crewed and distributed feature film.
After my post from the other day regarding the petition for net neutrality, and my participation in emailing my Congressman, I received this today:
May 5, 2006
Jason Griffey
845 Lake ODonnell Road
Sewanee, Tennessee 37375Dear Jason:
Thank you for recently contacting me to share your views on the network neutrality telecommunications issue. I appreciate the time you’ve taken to contact me.
As you may know, the Congress is preparing to take up the Telecommunications Act reauthorization bill sometime this year. The Telecomm Rewrite, as it is known, has not been adjusted or updated since it’s original drafting in 1996. It is amazing to think about how much has changed since 1996 in the way of telecommunications- cell phones were “mobile phones” that were expensive to use and still took the backseat to traditional land line services, more often than not without service in rural areas, the internet was one fraction the information highway it is today, and much slower, and the concept of digital television or making telephone calls through your computer (known as VOIP or Voice over Internet Protocol) was nearly unheard of. We have made great strides in our telecommunications advancements.
We must not take these advancements for granted, however. As you say, the internet is a critical communications and educational tool. As Congress begins its work on the Telecommunications Act reauthorization, I will be looking out for the very concerns you mention. We must work to preserve fairness and equality to access. There are many provisions and loopholes that will require careful examination during the re-write of the legislation. I will be sure to thoroughly analyze the contents of the bill and weigh them against the interests of my constituency. As the Representative serving the fourth most rural district in the House of Representatives, I have a keen responsibility to protect and represent the small, rural folks and not the corporations. I guarantee you that I will not be beholden to the wishes of Corporate America as we work on this bill and I will work to preserve fair and non-discriminatory policies in the Telecommunications Act.
Again, thank you for contacting me. My door is always open.
Sincerely,
Lincoln Davis
Member of Congress
While I’m completely certain I understand the importance of network neutrality in a much more detailed way than does Congressman Davis, I appreciate the response. It at least shows that he (or his aid) is aware of the issue.
Betsy and I have ongoing jokes about how you can find anything on the Interweb. Anything that can possibly be conceived of is out there somewhere (indeed, there are even laws that state that no matter what you invent, it is retroactively available on the net).
This product proves this hypothesis.
PawSense (love the InterCap)
When cats walk or climb on your keyboard, they can enter random commands and data, damage your files, and even crash your computer. This can happen whether you are near the computer or have suddenly been called away from it.
PawSense is a software utility that helps protect your computer from cats. It quickly detects and blocks cat typing, and also helps train your cat to stay off the computer keyboard.
Yes. Software that does nothing but keep cats from typing. Truly, the Interweb is a marvelous thing.
I had heard the name before, but not until it was featured on BoingBoing did I actually see what an amazing idea Valleyschwag is. In their own words:
Out here in the Valley (Silicon Valley, that is) we’re well known for cookin’ up a mean tech company. But our real legacy is our schwag–the t-shirts, ballcaps, notepads, stickers, keychains, and other booty blaring the slogans that create new industries (and sometimes landfill, sorry to say). Until now, these world-class collectibles have only been available to the elite few who make it to conventions and insider parties. Now you can have a little piece of the valley without the $3000 rent and two hour commute.
I’m so doing this.
If for any reason you missed this on BoingBoing, below is possibly the single most “80’s” video in the history of the world.
We’re talking Nancy Reagan (in her first rock video!), Tootie, and Whitney Houston singing about the evils of drugs. So bad it’s amazing.
Inspired by an Ask Metafilter comment, I decided to track down a 2004 political map, and let people draw their own conclusions about links between votes and gas prices. What is the same about this:
And this…
See any patterns?
Betsy and I were talking about my previous post, and the thought of generational film literacy struck a cord with both of us. Can anyone out there help us fill in generational “must see” films? What films give you the core, the heart of a particular generation?
For Gen X, of which both of us are proud members, we came to a pretty solid list: Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueler’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Dead Poets Society, Heathers, Pump up the Volume, Lost Boys, Empire Records, Clerks, Pulp Fiction, and a few others Bets will have to help me fill in. What have we missed?
For Gen Y/pre-millenial, the only solid choice I could come up with was Clueless. I’m less attached to that generation…help!
Anyone want to help with pre-Gen X? Boomers? Baby Busters? Help me fill my Netflix queue, people!
Following up Jason Kottke, I’ve listed film critic Jim Emerson’s list of 102 movies that you should see before you can consider yourself movie literate. I’ve bolded all the ones I’ve seen.
2001: A Space Odyssey
The 400 Blows
8 1/2
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Alien
All About Eve
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
Bambi
The Battleship Potemkin
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Big Red One
The Bicycle Thief
The Big Sleep
Blade Runner
Blowup
Blue Velvet
Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless
Bringing Up Baby
Carrie
Casablanca
Un Chien Andalou
Children of Paradise / Les Enfants du Paradis
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
A Clockwork Orange
The Crying Game
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Days of Heaven
Dirty Harry
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Do the Right Thing
La Dolce Vita
Double Indemnity
Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
E.T. — The Extra-Terrestrial
Easy Rider
The Empire Strikes Back
The Exorcist
Fargo
Fight Club
Frankenstein
The General
The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II
Gone With the Wind
GoodFellas
The Graduate
Halloween
A Hard Day’s Night
Intolerance
It’s a Gift
It’s a Wonderful Life
Jaws
The Lady Eve
Lawrence of Arabia
M
Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior
The Maltese Falcon
The Manchurian Candidate
Metropolis
Modern Times
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
The Night of the Hunter
Night of the Living Dead
North by Northwest
Nosferatu
On the Waterfront
Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the Past
Persona
Pink Flamingos
Psycho
Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
Rear Window
Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Repulsion
The Rules of the Game
Scarface
The Scarlet Empress
Schindler’s List
The Searchers
The Seven Samurai
Singin’ in the Rain
Some Like It Hot
A Star Is Born
A Streetcar Named Desire
Sunset Boulevard
Taxi Driver
The Third Man
Tokyo Story
Touch of Evil
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Trouble in Paradise
Vertigo
West Side Story
The Wild Bunch
The Wizard of Oz
Now for the part that everyone loves about lists: what’s not on here? That is, what do I think is necessary for a degree in film literacy? Well, he did hit at least one film from my favorite directors (Fincher, Kubrick, Kurosawa) except Gilliam (and no, Holy Grail doesn’t count as a Gilliam film). This list was done in 1999, so there are no films from the last 6 years on there. Are there any truly great films from the last 6 years? Or just things he missed?
I’d be tempted to include a handful in my list: Rushmore, The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, The Ice Storm, Brazil, Memento, El Mariachi, Crouching Tiger. And then there are the specifics to generational literacy: Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Dead Poets Society, Heathers, Pump up the Volume.
So that’s 55 of them I’ve seen…over half. I’m going to add all of the ones I haven’t seen to my Netflix queue, and work my way through. For you librarians out there, how many of these are in your library?