Author Archives: Timothy Burke

Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 6

Good discussions following the third lightning round session: I would say the third set of presentations were the ones that stimulated the richest slate of follow-up conversations. One cool concrete idea that came out of Julian Dibbell’s presentation was something … Continue reading

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Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 5

Julian Dibbell asks, “What is the place of games in social spaces, in virtual community? What difference does a game make?” He points to something that I think is really important, what he calls an authenticity problem: it is still … Continue reading

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Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 4

Next session doesn’t begin for a while, but I’m thinking here at breakfast about how this meeting accelerates my sensation of being a misfit toy in academia. I mean, in the context of my everyday practice, I think quite a … Continue reading

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Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 3

From an afternoon session on mobile and pervasive social computing. Rich Ling suggests that mobile computing or communication creates social cohesion better than other computer-mediated communication. I don’t really buy that, for a variety of reasons. Perhaps partly because I … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Games and Gaming, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Miscellany | 1 Comment

Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 2

So now we’re proposing sessions. One interesting thing was someone suggested a discussion on the ethics of using IRC backchannels during a conferencing session. I do have to say that it’s slightly weird to be hearing reports of what’s happening … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Games and Gaming, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Miscellany | 2 Comments

Liveblogging: Social Computing Symposium

Thanks to the amazing Liz Lawley, I’m here at the 2006 Social Computing Symposium. So I’m going to try something I haven’t done before, and post up notes here on sessions. Right at the outset one thing that makes me … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Games and Gaming, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Intellectual Property | 1 Comment

Professor Kingsfield and Mr. Wilton

Swarthmore doesn’t require teaching evaluations, which usually irks the accreditation teams when they show up here for their regular inspection. Most of the time I hand out an evaluation that I’ve designed myself. (Occasionally I run out of time in … Continue reading

Posted in Academia | 9 Comments

One More Dog On the Pile

I…can’t…help…myself. Wii?

Posted in Games and Gaming | 5 Comments

Kaavya Viswanathan, Christopher Paolini, and Remixing

The first few examples that I read of Kaavya Viswanathan’s alleged plagiarism, I thought, “Well, that’s not so bad, or that a bit ambiguous.” Then I saw more and more examples and the ambiguity went away. Nor, like just about … Continue reading

Posted in Intellectual Property, Popular Culture | 11 Comments

Editor, Edit Thyself!

For whatever reason, I’ve been really focused this semester on commenting on the writing style of my students. Maybe because I’m seeing more students who have a handle on building their essay around an argument or a strong analytic perspective … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Blogging | 24 Comments