http://aalawrence.com Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:01:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I recently made as my Facebook status, "Aubree Lawrence misses honest status updates." A former student commented on the status and asked, "Aubree, what do you mean? Just curious. Does it have to do with the 'old' vs 'new' facebook?" A quick question that prompted a lengthy response from me. (Surprised? ... http://aalawrence.com/2009/01/08/in-with-the-old/ I heart Facebook. Not ashamed to admit it, I really do. The "why" I offer to n00bs is this: I have two half-sisters by my father and one-half sister by my mother. The math on this is irrelevant, what is relevant is that despite being separated across three states and ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/12/02/the-facebook-arc-of-despair/ It's a title possibility for my thesis. Maybe I'll change my mind. If I do I'll simply come back and delete the entry altogether. How very 1984. Thankfully the title, according to the Emerson College Department Handbook for the Master of Arts in Media Arts Program, 2004-2005 (my official catalog year), ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/09/17/she-works-hard-for-the-whuffie-free-labor-in-the-age-of-peer-production/ The most powerful hybrid of communications and entertainment is "particitainment"—entertaining communications that connects us with some larger purpose or enterprise. - Futurist Paul Saffo, Consumers and Interactive New Media: A Hierarchy of Desires, 1993 I like this term "particitainment." I can already hear my peers groaning at the introduction of another ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/09/08/particitainment-not-a-typo/ This is fascinating to me. Those crazy kids, err, I mean, Researchers at Rensselaer are using Second Life as a platform to test an engineered, self-reasoning avatar. Yes, avatar. The little character on the screen that comes to life when operated by a reasoning human being, only... without the human ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/03/14/greetings-professor-falken-gulp/ The recent Slate article “The Wisdom of the Chaperones” starts with “It’s getting harder to be a Wikipedia-hater.” You might think that means that it’s moving in a very positive trend, but author Chris Wilson seems to believe we are all being charmed by an ‘illusion’ of democracy at sites ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/03/03/just-what-are-we-calling-for-here/ Sounds fascinating, though I'm very curious to see if Frontline can balance its attention-getting (fear-instilling) trailer by presenting the significant advantages today's digital natives enjoy thanks to the tubes. Has the potential to be the next "Merchants of Cool," or show the sinking of another organization (please no - you're ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/01/21/pbsfrontline-growing-up-online/