tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-171503572012-02-02T18:10:10.673-08:00Culture. Technology. Discuss.Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.comBlogger2831100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-4744231431079842352012-01-25T10:16:00.000-08:002012-02-02T18:10:10.726-08:00

The SFU School of Communication Presents:"Beyond the “Great Firewall”: Negotiating Online In-Game Protests in China"A public talk by Prof. Dean Chan - University of Wollongong, AustraliaSFU Harbour Centre (515 West Hastings St., Vancouver)Thursday February 2, 20127-9pm, Room HC 1520 *previously 2270This event is free, and open to the public – all welcome !ABSTRACT:Online in-game protests are part

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-30395111195294271562012-01-09T11:05:00.001-08:002012-01-09T11:14:32.083-08:00

What better way to begin the New Year, than with a dissertation teaser? Here it is.Title: Online games as a medium of cultural communication: An ethnographic study of sociotechnical transformationIntroductionMethodology and RationaleThe Rise of Korean GamingGaming: from Subculture to Mainstream Conclusion and Moving ForwardAbstract: <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-4725016946334347362011-12-08T15:24:00.000-08:002011-12-08T15:25:58.914-08:00

An article in today's Guardian discusses women who play video games and more importantly, those who make them. What is notable are the reasons suggested for the traditionally low numbers of both, including the numbers of women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) disciplines. Culture:Mitu Khandaker, who started programming at the age of 12 and now runs her own indie development studio,

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-37942925799605902722011-12-01T17:42:00.001-08:002011-12-07T11:32:01.926-08:00

Gettin'er done.

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-40702862814038429842011-09-23T06:13:00.000-07:002011-09-23T06:28:06.918-07:00

Greetings from Oxford! The 20 day blitz 'across the pond' is winding down, and it's been super busy but such a concentration of awesome. Just one of these would have been amazing in and of itself, but in the interests of 'efficiency' I ended up doing three in order to be jet lagged once (though sleep deprivation could not be helped!). I'm still at Oxford winding down right now, and I'd better

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-1109879489083505952011-08-16T14:12:00.000-07:002011-08-16T14:15:33.038-07:00

Greetings from Vancouver! Naturally, much has transpired between the last entry about CERN to the present... although I will be in Europe again in 3 weeks. In the meantime, I have been answering these questions. What did you do? Why did you do it? What happened? What do the results mean in theory? What do the results mean in practice? What is the key benefit for the readers? What remains

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-34011980543550883352011-02-15T02:29:00.000-08:002011-02-15T02:33:49.521-08:00

Last but not least in this Geneva series of five, I had the chance to visit CERN on a side trip with a handful of the conference delegates (the ones who would meet at 8am on a Saturday morning for a 9am crash course in particle physics, that is.) CERN is often described as the Valhalla for physicists. Just to give you an idea of the place CERN occupies in the public imagination, here's a picture

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-29425701256008784992011-02-12T04:23:00.000-08:002011-02-25T02:32:38.603-08:00

I spoke after a wacky (Games:) session where Steffen Walz came on stage singing a song and spoke about gamification. The games people were naturally a less subdued bunch, as we had the affable Etienne Mineur speak about books as a computer platform, along with David Calvo's truly poetic talk on going beyond transmedia. My Open Stage talk was pretty surreal. We were requested to send the

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-89850041338610272972011-02-11T02:49:00.000-08:002011-02-24T11:30:20.078-08:00

As if being located in Geneva was not enough of a centralizing force for media coverage, Lift was able to leverage the presence of prominent speakers and media due to the World Economic Forum that had just taken place in Davos-Klosters, known in most cases as simply, "Davos." This resulted in a number of the same people who had just attended or spoken at Davos to be in the audience or on stage,

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-65528188600376109202011-02-10T03:25:00.000-08:002011-02-12T04:50:36.406-08:00

The blog headline: "Conférence LIFT : un grand moment de poésie geek" just about says it all. In general, Lift11 was my primary reason for heading to Geneva. A) I'm a Lift fan, and having been to the Lift Asia 08 in Korea, was keen to attend the Lift 11 in Geneva while living close (enough) by in Austria! B) Even more reason came about when my proposal was chosen to be a speaker on the open

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-88369169093883330652011-02-09T03:36:00.000-08:002011-02-12T04:51:55.694-08:00

For the journey from Graz, I decided to take the train during the day (which would serve as a comparison later for the journey by night train). Didn't end up sleeping very much at all and I wasn't feeling my best due to battling this crazy chest cold, before my 5:45am departure on a train bound for Frankfurt. The train wound its way through some beautiful snowy Austrian countryside before

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-41658221132971587382011-02-08T06:25:00.000-08:002011-02-12T04:54:06.268-08:00

Last week in Geneva was mind-blowing and inspirational in many ways. Spending time with such a high concentration of bright, energetic, and passionate people was very stimulating, if exhausting! Well worth it. While things get processed, pondered, and professed, I shall include a telling picture: fondue for FIVE hundred people :)There are five things about last week that I'm going to discuss in

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-24146493899883565862011-01-26T13:07:00.000-08:002011-01-27T10:56:42.900-08:00

It’s T-7 days until Lift11 begins in Geneva, and I’m delighted to have been selected to participate, and also to be selected as a speaker for the open stage, during the Games, beyond Gamification and transmedia session.Lift11 is a three-day conference about current and emerging usage of digital technologies such as online communities, social media and casual games. Participants come to better

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-44023473092285206392011-01-17T03:48:00.000-08:002011-01-17T04:08:51.237-08:00

It's been two weeks since I arrived in Austria and since then, I have been getting into the rhythm of life in Graz, which is approximately 200km south of Vienna.So far, so good I must say. It might be too early to say for sure, but I have the impression that this city has a lovely fusion of German, Italian, and Eastern European sensibilities. For example, Venice is often mentioned as a 'doable

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-59657199684656744182011-01-10T05:14:00.000-08:002011-01-10T05:57:58.454-08:00

So. It's been a journey, channeling a boomerang and winging myself from living in Delft, Netherlands, to Vancouver, Canada for Christmas, and then to living in Graz, Austria.Admittedly it was difficult to wrest myself from the comforting holiday cheer of friends and family in my hometown of Vancouver BC, but here I am, despite some pretty 'amazing' events, mostly to do with airport drama. Here

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-85969490063034209622010-12-16T05:23:00.000-08:002010-12-16T05:34:09.800-08:00

10th Annual IAS-STS Conference“Critical Issues in Science and Technology Studies”May 2-3, 2011Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society (IAS-STS) GRAZ - AUSTRIAThe IAS-STS in Graz, Austria, which is hosted by the IFZ - Interuniversity Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture (www.ifz.tugraz.at), promotes the interdisciplinary investigation of the links and

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-39271816023829045252010-12-06T13:37:00.001-08:002010-12-06T13:43:40.208-08:00

Here's a really cool call that has gone out for the Technologies of Migration conference in Champaign, Illinois April 21-22, 2011. Confirmed speakers: Rhacel Parrenas, Aneesh Aneesh, Cara Wallis, Lisa Nakamura, Josephine LeeThe 21st century has seen a mass migration of workers leaving Asia to live and work in the U.S. and elsewhere. Increasingly, digital media are functioning as essential

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-21748211625329765292010-12-02T01:50:00.000-08:002010-12-02T02:08:09.603-08:00

Here is an interesting set of thematic studies done for various services of the European Commission or other EU institutions. These give the reader an idea of the general sentiment regarding science, technology, civil justice, mental health, and a whole host of other areas.As a friend in Vienna pointed out, according to this, Austria is the most skeptical country in the EU with regard to science

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-74653131717147991422010-11-16T03:50:00.000-08:002010-11-16T04:02:59.182-08:00

Thought this would be a valuable resource for those interested in the European gaming scene: it's a report that has just come out (in PDF form in the link), titled:"Born digital, Grown digital: the European Videogames industry" (2010). G. De Prato, C. Feijóo, D. Nepelski, M. Bogdanowicz, J.P. SimonThe broader COMPLETE study is on the Information, Society, and Policy Research Unit page of the

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-10889026228128411842010-10-26T03:33:00.000-07:002010-10-27T02:59:47.517-07:00

Last week was an eventful one, when the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) descended upon Gothenburg, Sweden for their annual meeting (October 21-23rd), affectionately known as #ir11 on Twitter.My experiences of the city, unfortunately, seemed to occupy the rainy blustery times (after the conference let out each evening) whereas those who managed to explore during the day got a sunny

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-80505316324943617692010-10-13T04:22:00.000-07:002010-10-13T04:36:29.041-07:00

So far, so good. It's been an eventful three weeks and promises only to get busier with the research end of things. The month began with me (finally) checking out of my hotel, and heading to the university to do my lecture. The staff here have access to faculty bicycles that can be checked out for the day to get around the expansive campus. The lecture room happened to indeed be on the other

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-85641854552297338092010-09-29T10:02:00.000-07:002010-09-29T10:41:30.495-07:00

It's been a week and a half since my arrival in the Netherlands, and an eventful time even beyond the usual drama of changing countries/cultures.Less than a day after arriving at the university, I was whisked away to the countryside in Zeeland to participate in and support faculty during their Management of Technology (MOT) and Engineering and Policy Analysis (EPA) introduction week. During

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-62675819990743500672010-09-07T14:40:00.000-07:002010-09-10T16:45:47.154-07:00

Now that it's back to school time, "So, how was your summer?" is the question to which I find myself spluttering short and unsatisfactory answers. In actuality though, lots of things have been chugging away in the background here at Constructing Amusement.My summer included dissecting and writing up the data that I collected during my last field sojourn in Asia (Korea, Singapore, India, UAE, and

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-76294434691235553682010-07-05T10:30:00.000-07:002010-07-05T13:56:06.972-07:00

club sega: game arcade in Tokyo (Shibuya)women only: a special subway car until 930am. To avoid those pesky rush-hour gropes (by men, anyway)...precise soy: dispenses an exact amount, particularly for the top of one's nigirizushi. Avoids that pesky problem of over-saturating the piece with soy or worse yet dropping it...

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-44699375288086494822010-06-22T16:12:00.000-07:002010-06-22T16:16:07.195-07:00

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-13324302945459819682010-06-15T11:15:00.000-07:002010-06-15T11:17:36.519-07:00

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-54563025677032755412010-06-07T17:25:00.000-07:002010-06-07T17:42:24.040-07:00

Prepaid coupon parking.Coconut on the go: In the past, a piece of the shell was used for scraping the flesh out; now it's a plastic spoon.Nuff said.

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-70635601987335835602010-04-26T15:34:00.000-07:002010-04-26T15:38:03.937-07:00

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-22362412124781270002010-03-02T10:11:00.000-08:002010-03-02T10:54:26.523-08:00

The eagle has landed, amidst the afterglow of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. I was doing my own triple axles down in Mexico looking for Internet Cafes with people who spend time in virtual worlds though, spanning several cities including sprawling Guadalajara, colonial Guanajuato, coastal San Patricio/Barra de Navidad, and quaint Colima. The Internet cafes are often referred to as "cibers.

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-37720547590189816362010-02-15T07:31:00.000-08:002010-03-02T16:23:30.491-08:00

It's been a busy while preparing for this latest stint of fieldwork...I'm currently at the Universidad de Guadalajara, CUCEA, where I'll be affiliated as a researcher for the next two weeks. With my compadres from the institute here, along with the concurrent SFU field school, I'll be looking at the online gaming culture/Internet cafe scene in the Mexican context through my involvement in the

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-85295004230017394092010-01-26T15:10:00.000-08:002010-01-26T15:24:16.038-08:00

We've been on a roll this week...Here's a story from RegHardware, talking about a teen who allegedly attacked his father with regards to a video game. Now, it's not the usual link aka "violent video games cause violence in kids," but rather "parents of violent kid attempt to diffuse violence with video game, failing miserably." The perhaps aptly-named Mario – aged 16 and from Rome – allegedly

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-3749057554033660452010-01-25T13:56:00.001-08:002010-01-25T14:03:09.527-08:00

As I ventured in the last blog entry, the story on games causing rickets was just plain "lazy journalism." The quote straight from the scientist who helped to write the report is now on record saying, "We do not say that gaming causes rickets."How many times have we seen this happen? Come on, people. Be responsible--don't be moral panicking game haters. That's just "dodgy journalism."

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-24886426531688910892010-01-22T09:52:00.000-08:002010-01-22T10:15:05.828-08:00

While blaming games for all imaginable ills in society is not a new phenomenon, this one is quite the leap: According to this article, researchers in the UK are focusing on the rise of British kids afflicted with rickets, correlated with excessive gaming indoors.But Florence, correlation does not causation imply, you say?What we know, thanks to research, is that lack of sunlight (vitamin D) and

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-42816647589262291702010-01-14T17:57:00.000-08:002010-01-14T18:07:24.688-08:00

Holy Batman, here we are already wrapping up Week 2 of the new semester. Just finished up a barrage of tutorials for CMNS 353.Happy New Year, btw. Too late for that? Well in the spirit of more time (and we all need more of it) the call for abstracts to this year's CGSA Symposium has been extended to a deadline of January 22nd. Wonderful news for those of you who might have gotten news of this

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-2460417710038303992009-11-27T11:32:00.000-08:002009-11-28T07:07:31.776-08:00

When I was last there, I had the privilege of chatting with people who wanted the iPhone so badly, and one walked me through the reasons. He actually had an iPhone to use for its various features, even though he had to make calls with his other phone. Talk about deconvergence.South Korea is all abuzz about finally, really and truly getting the iPhone. As Chang at Web 2.0 Asia remarks, "No more

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-69543404943522004702009-11-12T11:54:00.000-08:002009-11-12T11:58:49.026-08:00

Feel free to distribute widely:Call for papers: Iowa Journal of CommunicationSpecial issue: Games and Culture: Asia-Pacific perspectives As a cultural genre, online gaming has been one of the most dynamic in the world. Within a relatively short period of time, online gaming has become a major entertainment tool for fun, but it has also become another channel for human relationships as part of

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-70205659397575884892009-11-05T10:10:00.000-08:002009-11-05T10:16:08.293-08:00

This is an interesting development coming out of China:China's health ministry has turned down the country's rhetoric on internet addiction, and has warned against "boot camp" style approaches for habitual web abusers. The ministry has issued guidelines for "inappropriate use of internet" saying there was no precise definition of internet addiction, state news agency Xinhua reports.There are at

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-26672358716591107582009-09-29T15:06:00.000-07:002009-09-29T15:08:56.732-07:00

From the American Anthropological Association's blog: The Brand Show recently posted three podcasts featuring anthropologists involved in the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference. Give them a listen: The Past, Present and Future of Ethnography in Business (feat. Martha Cotton)The Rise of Ethnographic Insight in Enterprise (feat. Ken Anderson)A New Perspective on Consumer Research May Give

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-40552390837830663542009-09-23T20:28:00.000-07:002009-09-29T15:20:56.060-07:00

Just got my copy of a new book from Routledge, "Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific" edited by Larissa Hjorth and Dean Chan. Dal Yong Jin and I wrote the first chapter in Part I titled, "The Politics of Online Gaming," where we explored the geo-political, economic, cultural and social dimensions of Korea's creative industries in the form of online gaming.You will also find contributions

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-46102801457695641392009-09-21T19:16:00.000-07:002009-09-21T19:22:46.874-07:00

Some often mused that while hyper-specialization leads to some very interesting discoveries, the divorcing of ethics, morality, or culture from the study of 'real science' is ultimately not for the greater good. William Leiss' work comes to mind. All the more reason it's nice to see initiatives like this come to fruition. New from Genome BC:This is a resource for social science and humanities

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-66794468716283093382009-09-17T12:47:00.000-07:002009-09-17T12:49:56.411-07:00

Via Henry Jenkins...Note application deadline of November 1, 2009: MIT's Program in Comparative Media Studies seeks applications for a tenured position beginning in September 2010. A PhD and an extensive record of publication, research activity and leadership are expected. We encourage applicants from a wide array of disciplinary backgrounds. The successful candidate will teach and guide

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-83419198079876846702009-09-15T10:48:00.000-07:002009-09-15T10:57:21.284-07:00

Here's a good opportunity to do some postdoctoral research in Canberra:The Korea Institute, Australian National University College of Asia and the Pacific, is offering a two-year research fellowship focusing on any one of three possible fields of investigation: 1) the politics of Korea, with a focus on contemporary developments; 2) the economics of Korea including Korea’s global involvement in

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-40702587118988846282009-08-25T10:03:00.000-07:002009-08-25T10:12:36.713-07:00

-=zomg=- :). A fantastic opportunity for a mid-career or senior scholar in games study or games design at Concordia in Montreal. Great to see positions like these developing in the academe, and they're very welcoming of those who have a competitive industry background as well.Just announced, details below:Canada Research Chair in Digital Game Studies and Design*Concordia University in Montreal,

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-26314852244406588942009-07-06T10:54:00.000-07:002009-07-06T11:08:44.845-07:00

Following on the success of last year's Lift Asia, the call for participation has gone out on Laurent Haug's blog for this year's installment in Jeju September 17-18. Don't worry, it won't conflict with the Chuseok period of expensive chaotic travel to and from Korea. According to the Lunar calendar, that period is set to happen October 3rd this year. (Unfortunately, conflicting with

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-4695203828982671832009-06-16T15:23:00.000-07:002009-06-16T16:34:13.218-07:00

In the last stage of my doctoral program, it seems the only books I manage to read cover to cover these days are self-help of one sort or another. *Though, they aren't the trashy paperbacks in the PopPsych section of a bookstore, but rather based on actual methodological studies checked out from my university library...*While in Korea, I started following Hugh MacLeod (@gapingvoid) on Twitter

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-86425678819219704342009-05-15T11:08:00.000-07:002009-05-15T11:27:18.891-07:00

Here's a summary on Gamasutra of the first annual Game Developers Conference Canada, which took place last week here in Vancouver, May 12-13.There was a general focus on higher-budget games for the first GDC Canada -- reflecting the output of many Vancouver-area developers like EA Canada, Relic Entertainment, Next Level Games, and Radical Entertainment, all of whom had representatives at the

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-40850367230440279862009-05-11T12:09:00.000-07:002009-05-11T12:14:46.757-07:00

The LOGIN 2009 conference takes place at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront from today May 11th to May 14th. From the website: LOGIN is the conference for leaders and innovators of the online game industry. This annual conference hosted in Seattle each May brings together industry leaders to discuss, collaborate, and share advancements about technology, design, business, community and legal areas of

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-29051764104170314112009-03-30T11:57:00.000-07:002009-03-30T12:02:02.642-07:00

I wanted to share an article Ethan Whitehill recently posted on the Ethnography Forum via LinkedIn, answering some questions many in the business world have been asking:1) How do you know if ethnography is the right approach for your research?2) How do you know whether you have the right ethnographer?I thought you might find the featured article in this months Alert! Magazine interesting and

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-89756080918218188562009-03-24T18:31:00.001-07:002009-03-24T19:19:47.652-07:00

Was what one of my friends quipped to me over lunch last week. This was regarding the level of blogging whilst doing my dissertation fieldwork in Korea. Believe you me, I was at times somewhat disconcerted that I wasn't revealing something interesting every day, or that I wasn't one of those journalistic sites for the 'latest and greatest from Korea' as it were.Then I thought to myself, well

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-25538370888467289972009-03-13T10:26:00.000-07:002009-03-13T10:44:27.403-07:00

The goal to go paperless, in this -day and age- still eludes many, including myself. It's not for lack of technology however, because the means exist at our fingertips whether it's a laptop or handheld device.Some recent encounters, and my acquisition of an iPhone have led me to believe that unless you're busy scribbling musings down on honest-to-goodness-paper... there is the perception that

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-10157804879855619392009-03-12T11:33:00.000-07:002009-03-12T11:36:49.720-07:00

Today at 3pm, at the SFU Harbour Centre campus ACT Lab, Patrick Feng from the University of Calgary will be giving his talk:Politics and Expertise: Theorizing the Role of Standards Organizations in Shaping Science and Technology PolicyABSTRACT: The development of scientific and technical standards has traditionally taken place away from the view of the general public. While the work of standards

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-80193988330155120682009-03-09T12:43:00.000-07:002009-03-09T12:52:10.180-07:00

The School of Communication's Dal Yong Jin will be giving this month's Brown Bag lunch talk this Wednesday, March 11th.Location: Mallinson Conference Room (K8652), SFU Burnaby at 12 Noon.Title: De-convergence: a shifting business trend in the U.S. digital media industries Abstract: Since the early 21st century, several media companies, including Time-Warner, Viacom, Walt Disney, and Vivendi, have

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-82465204713079198382009-02-25T16:49:00.000-08:002009-02-25T17:48:32.807-08:00

The time has come that I must bid adieu to the Land of the Morning Calm and head back to Vancouver to finish writing this dissertation. With all this yummy field data that I will digest in the months to come, it looks kind of like this Korean pancake, with the panchan (side dishes) kind of orbiting the savory chaotic mass. Researchers out there, I'm sure you feel my pain.My term as a Visiting

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-84170032988916176842009-02-08T01:15:00.000-08:002009-02-08T01:48:08.855-08:00

After my recorder crapped out, a trip to Yongsan (famous for its electronics) was in order. I was avoiding the place at first because even though I'm a pretty good bargainer (schooled by my parents in the mean streets of SE Asia lol), I don't like doing it. I went to a conventional sticker-price shop, and found that their cheapest recorder was expensive ANYWAY... sigh. So I thought ok, might

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-41829919297742228812009-02-06T07:19:00.000-08:002009-02-06T07:30:24.634-08:00

My digital voice recorder died today. A hacking, wheezing, gurgling, rather ungraceful death. I am tempted to give it a Norse send-off once I return to Vancouver at the end of the month.I'm going around Seoul continuing to talk to as many people as possible before leaving. Hard to believe my fieldwork here is almost up. Need to get another DVR asap. The last thing I want to do right now is

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-19604896607242068202009-01-20T17:00:00.000-08:002009-01-20T17:32:42.682-08:00

From apophenia (db's) blog, a great entry regarding the recently released report on Enhancing Child Safety & Online Technologies. In her entry, her statement that most resonated with me:"I strongly believe that we need to stop talking about the Internet as the cause and start talking about it as the megaphone. The Internet makes visible how many kids are not ok." [bold, my emphasis] Yes. YES

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-3053644539632293902009-01-16T18:55:00.000-08:002009-01-16T19:01:37.783-08:00

Spring is always a busy abstract season, when many proposals are due for conferences in which one wishes to participate for the Summer and/or the Fall.Saw this comic which is a cheeky look at the construction of -the abstract-... made me giggle. Enjoy.PhD Comics: Abstract Mad Libs>>

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-26728226895165248552009-01-13T18:54:00.000-08:002009-01-13T18:55:39.299-08:00

For wide circulation:Concordia Research Initiative in Technoculture, Art and GamesJob Opening: Postdoctoral Research AssociateHexagram Institute for Research/Creation in Media Arts and TechnologiesConcordia University, MontrealThe Research Initiative in Technoculture, Art and Games at Concordia University in Montreal invites applications for a postdoctoral research position in game design/game

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-90795536615354086182009-01-12T19:51:00.000-08:002009-01-12T20:33:50.807-08:00

Some interesting Korean news articles in the last few days:The battle for sunlight>>The battle for sleep>>The battle for happiness>>... and a resolution to get more of all these little big things that should not be taken for granted. They are all too easily deferred.

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-28945317523184479822009-01-07T12:08:00.000-08:002009-01-07T12:43:50.310-08:00

KOGIA, which is the Korean Games Industry Association (founded by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1999 for the purpose of developing the game industry as the key future strategic industry of the country) has announced the winners of its first Global Online Game Awards for 2008.It probably comes as no surprise that Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft was voted as the world's best

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-37242858197073351022008-12-24T08:49:00.001-08:002008-12-24T09:07:42.900-08:00

Dear All, wherever you are in the world--Here's wishing you and yours a very joyous holiday season, filled with love and laughter. It's been a challenging, utterly immersive, mind-bending year here at Constructing Amusement: Korea edition. Very productive, and a little too much so at times with little reprieve! The holidays however, provide the proper opportunity to take a step back for

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-13966974087935717342008-12-16T21:02:00.001-08:002008-12-16T21:30:14.157-08:00

According to the latest press release from SK Telecom and this AP article in the Boston Globe, Canada's Research in Motion and South Korea's SK Telecom have just announced the launch of corporate service for the Blackberry Bold smartphone, which will be available in South Korea via a local network for the first time.The interaction of technology, and policy: The Korean Communications Commission

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-86322011063293026942008-12-05T17:42:00.000-08:002008-12-05T23:24:33.374-08:00

Last week, an interviewee told me that Google Maps had -just- recently launched in Korea.I think it was September, when I was looking at Google maps trying to find Korean places to no avail. There was China, and Japan... and BLANK in the middle where Korea was supposed to be.This will be interesting, given that navigation here, as others have pointed out (nice ref to U2 btw;), is done by

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-57771595949367088282008-12-03T21:45:00.000-08:002008-12-03T21:58:42.462-08:00

Online Universities.com has posted a list of their "top 100 Anthropology Blogs," with a brief run-down of what they're about.On the whole, it's a reasonable list of blogs, many of which I myself already keep up on )like Savage Minds, This Blog Sits at the, INCITE... or guested on, as with the case of Terra Nova), and some that are new and interesting.I just don't know why #39 is on there... (

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-79639232153774916922008-12-02T02:31:00.000-08:002008-12-02T02:34:14.091-08:00

Well, some heartening news. Thanks to Aleks K. at the Guardian Games blog for posting this one:"Games not addictive says game addiction clinic founder."So the Netherlands front looks like it's turning out well. I'm still fightin' the good fight here on the Korean front.

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-76066375461799856162008-11-30T03:50:00.001-08:002008-11-30T03:50:42.762-08:00

and alive ... :)

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-49230722599308042008-11-19T20:33:00.000-08:002008-11-19T20:43:15.725-08:00

I'm currently prepping for an international conference at SNU that takes place tomorrow."Digital Convergence and Institutional/Cultural Changes of Public Broadcasting," where I will be a panel discussant. 2008 SNU-UT- CUHK- NTU- TU- Symposium서울대-동경대-홍콩중문대-대만국립대-청화대 학술심포지엄Digital Convergence and Institutional/Cultural Changes of Public Broadcasting디지털융합시대 공영방송의 제도와 문화의 변화Date / Nov. 21~22,

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-27928721412392633572008-11-10T19:48:00.000-08:002008-11-11T03:45:32.386-08:00

Today is Pepero Day, and if you didn't know it before, in Korea you'll notice the Pepero gift packs for sale in the weeks preceding today. Very different from what 11/11 means in the West (Remembrance Day).In the past, I have seen people exchanging boxes of Pepero, and bakeries selling full-length baguettes dipped in chocolate (because they look like huge Peperos, of course). Yep.It's a little

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-15631279356208411982008-11-06T14:36:00.000-08:002008-11-06T14:45:13.664-08:00

So, Cyworld has not made it in America. Story in Korean from hankyung.com here>>In one of Web 2.0 Asia's latest posts titled, "Cyworld pulling plugs from the US," Chang muses about the cause of Korea's #1 social networking site failing in the localization effort for the United States market.What can I say, except that (in the style of Stephen Colbert)...I CALLED IT.

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-79069859021940684992008-11-03T02:26:00.000-08:002008-11-03T02:33:22.168-08:00

From Mark Goldberg's blog, a deeper look into the OECD numbers on broadband penetration in which he talks about South Korea's situation on what counts towards rankings. From his entry: One would think that homes with computers would be the asymptote for broadband penetration - why would a household subscribe to broadband if you don't have access to a computer?Well, apparently in Korea it doesn't

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-83182944628813415232008-10-29T00:16:00.000-07:002008-10-29T01:30:49.379-07:00

Hey. It's almost November here, and getting a wee bit nippy.I saw this cartoon on a blog and thought it would be good to blog today.Lately my personal journal entries sound too much like the rantings of a mad man; The events and activities sound like public service announcements; The critiques, in this fragile time are too likely crude and undiplomatic, unbalanced, at best.It's been busy, to be

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-15621130215259337192008-10-01T18:16:00.000-07:002008-10-01T18:32:34.147-07:00

From Laurent Haug's Lift blog, the talk by Bruce Sterling (on mobiles and the urban poor) at Lift Asia which I talked about here is the first video available on the Lift website.As Laurent mentioned, "His talk - and especially the part where he advices South Koreans to prepare for an influx of poverty once the Northern regime collapses - has moved a large part of the audience, leaving a strange

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-81276850399685147582008-09-29T01:15:00.000-07:002008-09-29T01:26:47.422-07:00

It's certainly been a full, eventful first month here in Seoul.Every time I would think of something new to blog, something else would demand my -urgent-undivided- attention. Par for the course in being here, and settling in.To give you an idea, here's a brief...oh.. look another email saying I need to be somewhere in an hour...Ok, but first I will give a brief run-down, play-by-play,

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-9712257310241772972008-09-17T21:06:00.000-07:002008-09-17T21:18:25.469-07:00

It almost feels like a 'new year' around here... with fresh shipments of (whatever) coming to my local store post-Chuseok, and just a generally more relaxed vibe--well, as relaxed as Seoul gets?:) It's back to business as usual, more or less.Most places were closed, but what was essentially Seoul's 'skeleton' of operation was still way more happening than other cities in their everyday

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-17297673179351830602008-09-12T18:39:00.000-07:002008-09-12T19:07:50.878-07:00

It's the beginning of Chuseok weekend here in Korea...My plans to go to Pusan fell through (gotta love the unpredictability of fieldwork!), so I'm staying in Seoul after all. Because much of the population will be attempting to get out of the city to their home villages (I've experienced this before, and traffic is uuuugly...) it will be an interesting experience to see what the city is like in

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-61011612525801017172008-09-10T04:25:00.000-07:002008-09-10T05:07:36.885-07:00

After participating in the LiftAsia 08 conference in Jeju, I had a couple of days worth of spotty access to the Internetz. It was surprisingly traumatic. Usually, I love getting away for a while but -under my terms-. I suppose that's the difference, and what with being in a different time zone, different country, trying to organize things any other way kind of bites. After all, for those of

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-79199519556697045222008-09-01T05:38:00.000-07:002008-09-06T04:17:34.897-07:00

This week, I'll be going to Lift Asia 08, which is happening in Jeju, Korea September 4-6.From the website:Lift Asia will cover some of the most important changes ahead, like the emergence of urban and green technologies, robots, the future of the web, or the new ways of working and living. The program features eight sessions like "Beyond The Web We Know", "Towards a Networked City", "From Robots

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-63008708674435440892008-09-01T05:19:00.000-07:002008-09-01T05:36:37.581-07:00

Well, I've been here for a week now.Amidst so many conflicting emotions, cultural and linguistic adjustment, and being wrapped with red tape (and tied with a cute little bow) I've managed to get some semblance of a groove going.I'm still kinda 'getting over' being here, so at this point I'm not really sure what I should blog. That is, how personal, how informative, how detailed should I make my

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-33293587788804535112008-08-25T15:28:00.000-07:002008-08-25T15:35:33.391-07:00

I'm here, in Seoul.There's so much to do amidst the minutiae of everyday life. Just getting the 'embodiment' taken care of, and onto meetings.

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-66019581410601822532008-08-21T12:40:00.000-07:002008-08-21T13:33:25.602-07:00

I am very much looking forward to using my Korean on a daily basis again in its native environment next week, as there is nothing like full immersion. It is important to know both the langue and parole of the culture under one's ethnographic investigation. Human translators are great, but that is of course a layer of mediation that one would preferably strip away if possible. Time and money

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-48233826573996994022008-08-19T17:17:00.000-07:002008-08-19T17:55:12.018-07:00

At last, I am pleased to announce that I am the grantee of a Korean Government Scholarship offered by the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) through the Foreign Government Awards program, jointly administered by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), on behalf of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT). The KG Scholarship, along with a Graduate

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-90841962074773099442008-08-06T10:51:00.000-07:002008-08-14T21:20:46.723-07:00

It's been a hectic little while...In less than 3 weeks, I'll be heading to South Korea for 6 months of ethnographic fieldwork on the intergenerational use of information communication technologies (games, wireless, etc), and the changing social dynamics in the nation amidst the impacts of transnationality.The Department of Communication at Seoul National University has invited me to commence a

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-78983970148685178752008-07-16T16:53:00.000-07:002008-07-16T17:42:52.591-07:00

On page A12 of Sunday's Washington Post, is a story titled, "Japan's Killer Work Ethic: Toyota Engineer's Family Awarded Compensation."  It talks about Karoshi, which is the Japanese term for dying as a result of working too much.  Related to the story is that according to the last OECD figures, South Koreans have the longest work hours in the world: The average South Korean works 2,390 hours

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-72198443700857826692008-07-04T16:36:00.000-07:002008-07-04T16:45:02.645-07:00

Here's a story out of CBC talking about different ways people are tapping into spirituality through their various technologies available.  Also of note are the comments following the article, which are interesting for their own sake as well.  Is God just a "mouse-click" away, or...?Here's a taste of the article's contents: How far can the online world go spiritually? It appears heaven is the

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-26596664797533119492008-06-21T08:15:00.000-07:002008-06-22T08:58:36.365-07:00

Through his blog "Koreanish," writer Alexander Chee links to an essay published in Guernica titled, "Korean Enough: Alexander Chee on New Korean American Fiction." I highly recommend it, for anyone interested in the complexity of ethnic identity as it spans geography, generations, and even measures of authenticity.I was interested in the article from the start, but by the second paragraph the

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-29450134299943105882008-06-09T17:26:00.000-07:002008-06-09T18:09:53.442-07:00

Well, here we are on a -very- rainy stretch of weather in Vancouver, in June. I shall break my blogger-silence by recounting the last little while... because I know some of you don't follow my myriad posts on Facebook which lately, I've been favouring because they seem to take much less time to do.Last week, I was chairing the Contexts of Play session at the CGSA (Canadian Games Studies

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-85605753995943289002008-05-09T12:51:00.000-07:002008-05-09T16:47:02.503-07:00

(read title out loud for full effect).I got back from the Innovaton Systems Research Network annual meeting in Montreal this week, full of joi de vivre and more resolve to get my dissertation design out the door for some critique.This reflection and focus was aided by a particularly excellent ISRN graduate student session where the Research Advisory Committee (made up of luminaries such as Allen

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-54320324753593649952008-04-25T13:11:00.000-07:002008-04-30T07:20:40.465-07:00

Now that the typical Spring 'abstract season' is coming down to a simmer, we're headed into the beginnings of Summer 'conference season.'My first of what I anticipate will be several scholarly meetings this year is the annual meeting of the Innovation Systems Research Network (ISRN), of which I have been a member through my research work with the Centre for Policy Research on Science and

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-23120467360321129052008-04-15T13:55:00.000-07:002008-04-15T14:00:21.414-07:00

It appears that our favourite foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay, host of the show Hell's Kitchen, will be gracing screens in the form of a ...wait for it... video game.Montreal-based game maker Ludia announced this week that it will be making Gordon Ramsay's Hell’s Kitchen into an interactive video game. Hell's Kitchen is a reality show which pits up-and-coming chefs against one another in a

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-61949436660913368212008-04-09T14:55:00.000-07:002008-04-09T15:00:26.827-07:00

A study coming out of UC Irvine at a CHI conference in Italy talks about the participatory culture that the practice of blogging not only illustrates, but enables for those online who do not necessarily blog themselves.Here's to enabling the continuance of yer blog readin wayz.Reading a blog can become as much of a habit as checking e-mail, a new study looking at readers, rather than bloggers,

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-24958465656955160432008-03-28T15:19:00.000-07:002008-03-28T15:31:24.583-07:00

A very interesting, well articulated piece on Internet addiction in this Podcast from CBC Radio's show "Search Engine." Host Jesse Brown talks about how Internet Addiction was initially posed as a 'joke', but then became part of the vernacular that some of us are trying to shake. There's also a really interesting interview he has with Dr. Jerald Block, who's been trying to get the DSM-V to

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-80119156568429705372008-03-26T10:51:00.000-07:002008-04-01T12:41:00.076-07:00

On the radio this morning, I heard the creator of the game Miss Bimbo responding to the latest media frenzy/outrage/panic. The curiosity was such that the site actually went down due to so many people attempting to access a game that has seemed to captivate those ages 9-16.The controversy stems from some aspects of the game which people perceive as encouraging girls to get plastic surgery, use

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-74466526050220189512008-03-19T10:07:00.000-07:002008-03-19T10:10:48.760-07:00

From the JoongAng Daily:The Seoul Metropolitan Government wants to position itself as a hub of e-sports by co-hosting the 2008 Seoul International e-Stars gaming competition in July. The city of Seoul plans to launch a second fund to promote the e-sports industry, following the previous 30 billion won [$30.9 million] fund initiated for cultural events.Read the rest of the article>>

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-57966144250900648722008-03-14T16:53:00.000-07:002008-03-14T17:02:45.057-07:00

My supervisor Andrew Feenberg will be speaking at this event-- If you're in the area, I encourage you to check it out!SFU, Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings, Vancouver. Room 2270Thursday, March 27, 2008 - Friday, March 28, 2008Hosted by the Modernity and Citizenship working group of the Institute for the Humanities at SFU.Please note that while this event is free and open to the public, reserved

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-86259166655715215682008-03-10T09:42:00.000-07:002008-03-10T09:44:15.809-07:00

This year's call for papers to the Games, Learning, and Society conference in Madison, Wisconsin is out:The fourth annual Games, Learning & Society (GLS) Conference will be held July 10-11, 2008 in Madison, Wisconsin. Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education and the Academic ADL Co-Lab, the GLS Conference fosters substantive discussion and collaboration among academics

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-27853349352570025292008-03-04T10:53:00.000-08:002008-03-04T11:03:58.407-08:00

Friend Ju Hui Judy Han is giving a talk this month at UC Berkeley about her work on Korean evangelicals and the politics of secularity.You might know her from her fabulous graphic representation of key dissertation ideas in the form of humorous comics that I absolutely adore. Maybe everyone doing a dissertation should attempt to distill the ideas in the form of a comic... I'm thinking about it..

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-43353585711735048792008-02-22T08:41:00.000-08:002008-02-22T09:02:16.596-08:00

Liz Lawley at TerraNova posts a very informative entry covering the GDC 2008 Future of MMOs panel, with commentary from movers and shakers in the industry.The luminaries include: Jack Emmert from Cryptic, Matt Miller from NCSoft, Ray Muzyka from BioWare (Canadian), Min Kim from Nexon America and Rob Pardo from Blizzard.The moderator questions covered: Can an MMO be successful today without an

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-48559094564800710022008-02-13T12:46:00.000-08:002008-02-13T12:55:44.248-08:00

In the grudge-match of the century, Hello Kitty vs Thrall.Think it absurd? I don't know myself. From Kotaku, Sanrio's Hello Kitty is coming out with Hello Kitty Online (now entering closed Beta phase)."Only one MMO could possibly release World of Warcraft's death-grip on the massively multiplayer gaming market - Hello Kitty Online."For those who can't get 'nuff cute... be prepared for your teeth

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-37443058845561951832008-02-13T10:42:00.000-08:002008-02-13T10:49:06.535-08:00

Some urban Vancouver news: An explosion in the wee hours of this morning happened in my old neighbourhood near Cambie and Broadway. I basically lived right behind the Starbucks in question...and I am thankful that I wasn't there last night.Read the CBC article>>Some flickr photos of it here>>

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17150357.post-84324747509497366592008-02-07T17:41:00.000-08:002008-02-07T17:47:57.187-08:00

According to the Moon, it's a New Year.Most of 2008 will be the Year of the Rat. You can see what year (and temperment) you are according to the Eastern zodiac. Oftentimes, the Lunar New Year gives me a sort of second go at New Year's resolutions, because honestly... what are you thinking at the end of December anyway? I've now experienced more than a month's worth of 2008 and am in a much

Florence Cheehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497183511827429407noreply@blogger.com2