scholarly journals Data & Craft: The Book Beautiful in the Digital Age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dan Scudder

<p>In 1917 Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson threw his life’s work off the Hammersmith bridge into the river Thames. Cobden-Sanderson did this for the ideal of the Book Beautiful, a book that he thought should be made for beauty, with all constituting elements considered; a book with presence and aura due to the manner in which it is crafted. In contemporary culture technology is becoming increasingly ubiquitous and as a result we read and interact more online than we ever have before. The ease of the internet seems to make the book redundant, yet despite this the book cannot be replaced as it is an emotive physical medium for our text. The ownership of a book is the closest relationship we can have to a text, belying the widespread prevalence of digital texts. This thesis investigates the relevance of the Book Beautiful in our technological society and explores the importance of the Book Beautiful today. One distinct importance is the collecting and ownership of books, in particular the Books Irreplaceable; those so saturated with memories that we cannot part with them. The Book Beautiful facilitates this relationship and nurtures the human side of us, retaining the associations and emotions that permeate it. One hundred years ago Cobden-Sanderson believed that only the exclusive use of the human hand can make a Book Beautiful, but today there exist digital manufacturing machines that can both facilitate the production of the Book Beautiful and facilitate its growth within our communities. To use such technology and yet retain the qualities of craft is called Digital Craft, which this thesis demonstrates is not a contradiction in terms.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dan Scudder

<p>In 1917 Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson threw his life’s work off the Hammersmith bridge into the river Thames. Cobden-Sanderson did this for the ideal of the Book Beautiful, a book that he thought should be made for beauty, with all constituting elements considered; a book with presence and aura due to the manner in which it is crafted. In contemporary culture technology is becoming increasingly ubiquitous and as a result we read and interact more online than we ever have before. The ease of the internet seems to make the book redundant, yet despite this the book cannot be replaced as it is an emotive physical medium for our text. The ownership of a book is the closest relationship we can have to a text, belying the widespread prevalence of digital texts. This thesis investigates the relevance of the Book Beautiful in our technological society and explores the importance of the Book Beautiful today. One distinct importance is the collecting and ownership of books, in particular the Books Irreplaceable; those so saturated with memories that we cannot part with them. The Book Beautiful facilitates this relationship and nurtures the human side of us, retaining the associations and emotions that permeate it. One hundred years ago Cobden-Sanderson believed that only the exclusive use of the human hand can make a Book Beautiful, but today there exist digital manufacturing machines that can both facilitate the production of the Book Beautiful and facilitate its growth within our communities. To use such technology and yet retain the qualities of craft is called Digital Craft, which this thesis demonstrates is not a contradiction in terms.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 94-112
Author(s):  
Angelė Pečeliūnaitė

The article analyses the possibility of how Cloud Computing can be used by libraries to organise activities online. In order to achieve a uniform understanding of the essence of technology SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS, the article discusses the Cloud Computing services, which can be used for the relocation of libraries to the Internet. The improvement of the general activity of libraries in the digital age, the analysis of the international experience in the libraries are examples. Also the article discusses the results of a survey of the Lithuanian scientific community that confirms that 90% of the scientific community is in the interest of getting full access to e-publications online. It is concluded that the decrease in funding for libraries, Cloud Computing can be an economically beneficial step, expanding the library services and improving their quality.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110186
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Polizzi

This article proposes a theoretical framework for how critical digital literacy, conceptualized as incorporating Internet users’ utopian/dystopian imaginaries of society in the digital age, facilitates civic engagement. To do so, after reviewing media literacy research, it draws on utopian studies and political theory to frame utopian thinking as relying dialectically on utopianism and dystopianism. Conceptualizing critical digital literacy as incorporating utopianism/dystopianism prescribes that constructing and deploying an understanding of the Internet’s civic potentials and limitations is crucial to pursuing civic opportunities. The framework proposed, which has implications for media literacy research and practice, allows us to (1) disentangle users’ imaginaries of civic life from their imaginaries of the Internet, (2) resist the collapse of critical digital literacy into civic engagement that is understood as inherently progressive, and (3) problematize polarizing conclusions about users’ interpretations of the Internet as either crucial or detrimental to their online engagement.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Herrera
Keyword(s):  

The world is not sliding, but galloping into a new transnational dystopia … The Internet, our greatest tool of emancipation, has been transformed into the most dangerous facilitator of totalitarianism we have ever seen. The Internet is a threat to human civilization.


2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Rose Marcus ◽  
Merrill Singer

In this article, the authors provide a layered analysis of Ebola-chan, a visual cultural artifact of the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak. Rather than considering her as a two-dimensional anime character (i.e. as a simple iconic coping mechanism and/or a fear response), this recent Internet meme is analyzed using an integrated semiotic and structural approach that involves discussion of the genesis of disaster humor in light of the changing world of the Internet, the history of anthropomorphism of disease, and the biosocial nature of an infectious disease epidemic. Our analysis is designed to advance both the anthropology of the Internet and the anthropology of infectious disease. As a multi-vocal symbol with different meanings for different audiences, Ebola-chan represents a social response to a lethal epidemic in the digital age.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Gilleo

Abstract The pundits of the money world tell us to be a “dotcom” or enable them for excitement and rewards. Traffic on the Internet Highway is certainly stepping up the pace as “slow” electrons make way for ultimate-speed photons creating major hardware opportunities. The “Copper Road” has become the “Glass Super Highway” as long-haul terrestrial and underwater communications links move up to Advanced Photonics. Nothing can be faster than light, but more important, no other medium can offer wider bandwidth when wave-multiplexing strategies are used. Photonics, employing dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) can carry the equivalent of 12,000 encyclopedias or 5-million phone calls on a single fiber. Recent advances in photonics hardware, including higher-powered lasers, more efficient amplifiers and cleaner optical fiber are enabling incredible bandwidth for the Internet and general communications services. But how do we route a light beam? The long-haul segments of the Internet, now mostly fiberoptics, have been converting modulated light to electronic signals, routing with conventional electronic hardware and then re-converting back to light. Yes, O-E-O (Opto-electro-opto) works, but with cost and time-delay penalties. The communications industry has decreed that the double conversion process must go, but what technology will be the replacement? Enter optical MEMS, or MOEMS (micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems). The MOEMS switch/router approach was endorsed by the Internet carrier and hardware industry that paid billions of dollars in 2000 to acquire MEMS companies, some that had not even shipped a product. But what are the issues and are there competing technologies that could win? Micro-mirror technology is at the top of the popularity chart right now. Can MOEMS mirror routers solve cost problems and can they even switch at the rates demanded. What is the ideal mirror switch strategy: binary “off/on” or point-to-light pipe arrays? What about other MEMS approaches such as micro-bubble fluid beam refraction that appears to offer a much simpler construction? Maybe the mechanical devices are only an interim destined to obsolescence by a future solid state optics switch. The optical switch, powered totally by photons, is already in the lab and could be the final answer. This paper will survey MOEMS inside the Internet to seek answers to the billion dollar questions. The focus will be on micro-mirrors and their packaging issues both inside and out. We will deal with selecting the ideal optical MEMS package and choosing the right atmosphere control. Certain in-package contaminants are death to mirrors, but they can be controlled even if generated after the package is sealed. So tune in to find out if MEMS can catch the WAVE!


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Judith Hildebrandt ◽  
Jack Barentsen ◽  
Jos de Kock

Abstract History shows that the use of the Bible by Christians has changed over the centuries. With the digitization and the ubiquitous accessibility of the Internet, the handling of texts and reading itself has changed. Research has also shown that young people’s faith adapts to the characteristics of the ‘age of authenticity’, which changes the role of normative institutions and texts in general. With regard to these developments this article deals with the question: How relevant is personal Bible reading for the faith formation of highly religious Protestant German teenagers? Answers to this question are provided from previous empirical surveys and from two qualitative studies among highly religious teenagers in Germany. The findings indicate, that other spiritual practices for young people today are more important as a source of faith than reading the Bible. The teenagers interviewed tend to seek an individual affective experience when reading the Bible, so that the importance of cognitive grasp of the content takes a back seat to personal experience.


Author(s):  
Alberto Mendoza ◽  
Aristóteles Uribe ◽  
Claudia Z. Gil ◽  
Emilio Mayoral

Two years ago, the Mexican Transportation Institute began to develop a computer-based management system of the information collected by various organizations about accidents occurring on the Federal Road Network. This system combines the information gathered by these organizations with the purpose of completing and validating the data so that tools can be developed for processing and analyzing the validated data and the processed data and developed tools can be made available to users. It was decided to support the development of such efforts on computer databases already being generated, on database processing and management software, on geographic information systems, and on remote data-exchange systems (e.g., the Internet). The progress made so far in the development of the computer system is reviewed. The system has been named the “Relational Accident Database Management System for Mexican Federal Roads” (SAIACF, in Spanish). The information sources beneficial to this project are identified and analyzed. The ideal scheme conceived for the integration of the various information sources is presented, and the SAIACF system is outlined. Some of the results obtained after its application to the information corresponding to 1997 are shown. Also, the element that was generated to make the information and the tools available to users is described, and conclusions are drawn.


2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bach

The battle between the recording industry and those illegal sharing music over the Internet has gripped headlines over the last few years like few others related to the digital age. At its core, it is a battle about the meaning of property and thus a battle over the heart of the emerging information economy. This article critically examines the double punch of law and technology – the simultaneous and interwoven deployment of legal and electronic measures to protect digital content – and asks whether it is merely a defense strategy against piracy, as the industry asserts, or rather an attempt to fundamentally redefine the producer-consumer relationship. Based on some initial evidence for the latter proposition, the article analyzes reasons for concern, outlines the current politics of copyright policymaking that have given producers the upper hand, and sketches elements of a strategy to fight music piracy that does not infringe on basic consumer rights.


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