I am a professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. I use this blog for personal and non-work related stuff.
Chicago's Camera Network Is Everywhere - WSJ.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704538404574539910412824756.html
Sent from my mobile device. Please excuse my brevity.
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Surveilling Public Space
Our show is opening tomorrow, and almost all the art is in place. We have 20 artist and 15 "pieces." I've spent much of the day at the InterUrban Gallery (do you know that the name comes from the InterUrban rail line that runs right through the building?) and am quite excited. You are all invited to the opening, at 7pm on Wednesday. 1 East Hastings, Vancouver. If you can't come to the opening, the gallery is open 1-5pm Wednesday through Saturday. I hope to see you there.
...r
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Surveillance show next week: Gallery opening, November 18, 1 East Hastings, Vancouver.
Let me just blow my own horn for a second. Some students of mine have organized a show in the Interurban gallery, running Nov 18-21. Come out and see the responses to our call for artists, featuring 15 artists including ourselves. Here is the blurb that SFU is sending out: Wednesday Nov. 18: A free SFU-sponsored art exhibit asks the question: What are the social, political and economic implications of all these surveillance cameras that are popping up around the city? Surveilling Public Space: Perspectives on Spectacle opens at 7pm and runs through Nov. 21 at the Interurban Gallery, 1 E. Hastings St. in downtown Vancouver. RSVP via http://at.sfu.ca/sgVXsT
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Swapping iPhone Apps
The photo is fuzzy and indistinct, but I think it captures a phenomenon that we've all seen lately: two people who have an iphone recognize each other and start swapping stories about apps they have downloaded, what they use them for, what's good, what isn't, etc. I was on the plane to China a few weeks ago and a group of about 4 people - previously unknown to each other - started in with this and carried on quite a conversation over the back of the seat, comparing and recommending things.
I suspect that this is a phenomenon that won't last forever - consider the automobile clubs of the 1920s and even steam engine clubs before that - but it is an important stage in the evolution of a product. As something gets out of the early adopter/nerd category and falls into the hands of middle adopter (or perhaps in each transition stage), there is the phenomenon of passing on the wisdom. It gives you a bit of "nerd cred" to recommend something, you feel a little better about what you've done, and you might pick up a hint from the other person.
I wonder if Apple will make this a little easier by allowing "side loading" of the apps, or at least sending a recommendation from one phone to another. So far they've been very wary of doing that sort of thing - disabling the much of the bluetooth functionality, etc - but perhaps future versions will be able to do something like the "Bump" (which swaps business cards) app, and in fact swap actual apps. With the new "in app purchase" option, the app that is swapped could be a demo version, to allow for subsequent payment for the full version. And, of course, it could simply be a pointer to the app's place in the iPhone Store.
Just an idea.
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Surveillance on the bus.
My TTC ride features not one, not two, not three, but FOUR
surveillance cameras. In what, 240 square feet?
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Eat in the dark
Montreal has a restaurant where you eat in the dark. Completely in the dark. In the pitch black, no lights, no cell phones, no lighters, not even the illumination from your watch dial (put it in your pocket if you have one). The experience is supposed to heighten your senses. The waiters don't mind the darkness. They are all blind. I am not kidding about this. http://www.onoir.com/
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T9App exists #ThereIsAnAppForThat
Someone already did it.
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/t9app/id319345350?mt=8Sent from my mobile device. Please excuse my brevity.
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