Tag Archives: technology

keylogger hoax

Posted on by October 1, 2012
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Tricksterish hoaxing definitely is an integral part of online-culture. At c0x2.de an unidentified individual posing as an electrical engineer and US-citizen ↑reports that he found a keylogging-device similar to the ↑KeyGhost brand inside his Dell-laptop—inserted right between keyboard and ethernet board. The individual wants to have contacted the police, which in turn forwarded him/her to the Department of Homeland Security. He/she wrote to the latter and got the reply: “We have reviewed your Freedom of Information Act request, and have found that the requested records are exempt from being disclosed under FOIA. […]“ Meanwhile I am socialized enough in here … Continue reading →

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ölrechner

Posted on by October 1, 2012
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 Word has it that Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) once coined the phrase ‘liquid television’. MTV grabbed the vocable and named a TV-show broadcasting animated cartoons likewise. The show even was to be seen in India via StarTV, and featured goodies like ‘Æon Flux’ (The latter becoming a feature-movie starring Charlize Theron *sigh* soon—via ↑gamersgame). But the fact remains that to date nobody knows what Dalí meant by ‘liquid television’. But I now know what could be meant by ‘liquid computer’. The casemodder-scene’s original innovation, the liquid-cooled computer, already is history. Now them g33kz pushed it quite a bit farther: A computer … Continue reading →

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threedimensional teleporter-malfunction

Posted on by October 9, 2011
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by ↑KerLeone—translated by zeph  The suitcase did not pass through the teleporter. I am speaking of ↑Half-Life 2. I just wanted to take along the suitcase from the railway station. But then I am standing in the room with the teleporter and take the suitcase with me, into the teleporter. Now—first things first—the teleporter malfunctions ingame insofar as it teleports me to oh so strange places (because a headcrab had tampered with the electronics). That’s the first dimension. Inside the game I only reach a place right in front of the window to the teleporter-room. It malfunctions on another level … Continue reading →

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military training geeks

Posted on by October 3, 2012
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Two new publications from the extreme ends of the spectrum, but both touching my topic. Now guess which one of the two is closer to my mind and heart. KELTY, CHRISTOPHER M. 2005. Geeks, Social Imaginaries, and Recursive Publics. Cultural Anthropology 20(2):185-214. official abstract: This article investigates the social, technical, and legal affiliations among “geeks” (hackers, lawyers, activists, and IT entrepreneurs) on the Internet. The mode of association specific to this group is that of a “recursive public sphere” constituted by a shared imaginary of the technical and legal conditions of possibility for their own association. On the basis of … Continue reading →

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dark side of casemodding

Posted on by October 1, 2012
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By squishing a ↑computer into a vintage-model of Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon casemodder ↑Russ Caslis made the Star-Wars-nerd’s heart jump high and right out of the galaxy. ↑Alienware just seems to have achieved the opposite, ↑according to boingboing: “Alienware has licensed the right to create an official Star Wars PC from Lucas, and then squandered the opportunity by shipping a pair of stock PCs distinguished only by cheesy van-art airbrush murals on their sides.” A perfect example of casemodding becoming “‘ethnokitsch,’ commercially designed and profitably mass produced.” (↵Mitchell 1992: 174) Kitty, one of Michael Kitchenman’s informants has voiced that, too. … Continue reading →

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notebook’s roots

Posted on by October 1, 2012
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↑Mobile Magazine has a nice article on ↑The Birth of the Notebook by Christopher Null. The article starts with Alan Kay’s 1968 idea ‘Dynabook’, which saw the light of day only as a mockup made of cardboard (picture from ↵Lees 1980:5), as the necessary technology to make it a real thing just was not yet in existance. The Dynabook was thought for kids [play!] and the field of learning and education—the software was thought to grow with the children. The contents of Alan Kays’s original draft notes at Xerox Parc, which are dated August 1972, are remarkable: “The size should … Continue reading →

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videogamestudies

Posted on by February 14, 2012
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cultural difference on intercultural persistent state worlds Alan Meades, a Masters-degree (Electronic Arts) student at Middlesex University (UK) does post-graduate research in cyberanthropology: “This study aims to verify if players originating from geographically and culturally different backgrounds exhibit different game preferences, and therefore behaviour within Massively Multiplayer Online games. This study focuses specifically on Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy XI because of the design of the server infrastructure, and the resultant feature that each server is shared with people from many cultures and nations. […]“ On his website Alan hosts an according online-survey, both in English and Japanese language! When I hit … Continue reading →

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the social net

Posted on by October 1, 2011
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understanding human behavior in cyberspace A new book has been published, which promises to compare the online and the offline worlds, to examine how social behaviour differs in cyberspace, to bring together research never before brought together, and to provide a comprehensive and unique volume on Internet psychology. Only the publisher’s final claim: “Invaluable information for anyone doing businesss on the Internet”, makes me wonder if it is valuable for those doing research online, too. AMICHAI-HAMBURGER, YAIR (ed.). 2005. The social net: Understanding human behavior in cyberspace. Oxford: Oxford University Press. official description: “In cyberspace we see examples of the … Continue reading →

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anthropologists on instant messaging

Posted on by October 1, 2011
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Susan D. Blum of the University of Notre Dame has taught a class in anthropology on Instant Messaging: “Teaching an upper-division undergraduate class on linguistic anthropology, “Doing Things with Words,” at the University of Notre Dame, nothing got my students so excited—not gossip, not gender, maybe accent—as the topic of Instant Messaging. This I learned when my students and I decided to study Instant Messaging as a form of student communication.” Read Susan’s paper on the class: Buzzing and Writing the Day Away Instant Messaging, and the paper which resulted from the class: Instant Messaging: Functions of a New Communicative … Continue reading →

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46 best-ever freeware utilities

Posted on by October 1, 2011
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Ian “Gizmo” Richard’s Tech Support Alert is a comprehensive, commented, and regularly updated compilation of free resources. Gizmo says: “As a computer professional, I’m always searching the Web for new sources of technical information. New support sites, great resources and the best applications and tech utilities. In 1998, it occurred to me that if a lot of other people would be interested in the information I find. So Tech Support Alert was conceived and duly delivered.” Especially his 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities [which in fact are 56] are very worthwhile — not only for the power-user or cyberanthropologist. You’ll discover … Continue reading →

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