Archive for June, 2015

Recommendation systems still have nothing to recommend them

Amazon’s recommendation system is still dismal. I put a Huawei wi-fi router in my wishlist and Amazon is instantly certain I would love a Bosch IXO Cordless Lithium-Ion Screwdriver. Erm, nope. I will probably purchase the blu-ray of Tomorrowland (gotta get those 20+ minutes of deleted scenes), therefore Amazon’s system thinks I am clamoring to […]

Birmingham in 1964

A very fine little 8mm home movie of Birmingham city centre in 1964…

Street photography under threat from the EU

A proposed new European law would effectively remove the right to take and share photos

Wolverhampton’s Great Exhibitions

“Displaying the Black Country: Wolverhampton’s great exhibitions of 1869 and 1902”. Another article has pictures, such as this of the 1902 Wolverhampton exhibition grounds…

Amateur Creativity

A two-day free symposium on Amateur Creativity is to be held at the School of Theatre, University of Warwick (on the outskirts of Coventry) on 17th – 18th September 2015. It… “aims to challenge perceptions of amateur creativity and contribute to debates about the cultural significance of the amateur”.

Neil Gaiman on “How Stories Last”

Neil Gaiman takes on a very timely topic, in the week that saw the superb Tomorrowland cruelly tossed aside at the behest of cynical and uncomprehending critics. Gaiman’s “How Stories Last” is a new and lengthy Long Now Foundation talk, followed by a one-to-one discussion with Stewart Brand. Free audio .mp3 (190Mb). Neil’s talk explores […]

Sidewalk Labs

Google’s new Sidewalk Labs… “Sidewalk Labs, an urban innovation company that will develop technology at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds, with a focus on improving city life for residents, businesses and governments.”

Director of the Institute for the Creative Economy

Nice job, Director of the Institute for the Creative Economy, Birmingham City University.

Maker Monday

Birmingham City University has a new monthly ‘Maker Monday’ in Birmingham, for young technology innovators… “Maker Monday draws on the rapid growth of cheap computing such as the Raspberry Pi, prototyping tools such as 3D printing and modern projection techniques such as telepresence.”

Just add bears…

DatumExplorer v01. Digitally scan an entire British woodland, record its complex sounds and acoustics, create a mapped computer simulation, add bears and other extinct animals…

PGP encryption for Facebook

Nice. Zuckerberg is ahead of the looming policy curve, and is now offering PGP encryption for Facebook. Just upload your public key.

The Comic Electric: A Digital Comics Symposium

Alan Moore’s Electricomics project (Digital R&D Fund for the Arts) is to conclude with an academic conference in the UK in October 2015, The Comic Electric: A Digital Comics Symposium. Ah, but can a shiny digi-slab do this…

Developing Documentary Photography courses

Developing Documentary Photography courses in Moseley, Birmingham: ‘Researching and Planning your Photographic Projects’, and ‘Editing and Exhibiting Your Photographic Project’. 21st July – 5th October 2015. “The Researching and Planning Your Photographic Projects course provides participants with the skills to research and analyse the works of others, plan and initiate ready to edit bodies of […]