http://aalawrence.com Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:01:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Boston Globe is currently running a 7-part series, "Ted Kennedy," chronicling the history of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D, MA). The special on Ted Kennedy demonstrates the unparalleled resources of a major newspaper. The institutional history and the access it took to produce the series remain the province of the ... http://aalawrence.com/2009/02/16/boston_globe/ [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="Amberly's Room by jeFF Lipsky"][/caption] JeFF's work is fascinating from both aesthetic and academic perspectives. My introduction to jeFF's work was via Second Life, an online Virtual Community. His art collection was the subject of a critical review I wrote in my studies as a ... http://aalawrence.com/2009/01/13/aesthetic-and-academic-appreciation-jeffrey-lipsky/ 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/ "I’d say it was a setup for disaster, but, it’s so much more than that. It’s my routine." Last Friday I fell. I fell hard. I was sprinting down the stairs of the Central Square subway station when it happened. In typical Aubree Lawrence fashion I was listening to my iPod, ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/05/29/lessons-from-a-purple-alien-fetus/ (Above: (top) Ms. Chianti Carmichael hangs out at an assessment station on SL English, while (bottom) Ms. Aubree Lawrence instructs an ESOL class for BA&CE, circa 2005) Second Life is has incredible potential as a learning platform. I was excited to read on Forbes.com that an English language school in Germany ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/03/30/learning-a-second-language-in-second-life/ 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/ This week I’ve started assembling a budget for the CCTV in Second Life project. This, of course, meant one of my favorite Second Life activities – shopping! In Second Life, all of the content is user-created. One cannot help but be impressed with the creativity displayed in the objects for sale. ... http://aalawrence.com/2008/03/05/window-shopping-is-work/