This is the research diary of researcher Lisbeth
Klastrup, since february 2001 sharing her thoughts on life, universe, persistent online
worlds, games, interactive stories and internet oddities with you on the www.
I am currently on leave from the IT University
of Copenhagen, and from aug. 2006 - aug. 2007 working as Associate Research Professor at the Center for Design Research Copenhagen, an independant center situated at the School of Architecture. During this year, I will be working on a book about the development of aesthetics, design and interaction on the WWW, together with colleague Ida Engholm.
My blog often reflects how busy I am in general, so posting may be pretty irregular, as well as my potential response to comments. But I read them!
My list of publications.
My official homepage at ITU.
Contact:
lisbethATklastrupDOTdk
February 2001 March 2001 April 2001 May 2001 June 2001 July 2001 August 2001 September 2001 October 2001 November 2001 December 2001 January 2002 February 2002 March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007
Fellow research bloggers
-Denmark
Jesper Juul
Gonzalo Frasca
Martin Sønderlev Christensen
Jonas Heide Smith
Miguel Sicart
Mads Bødker
ITU blogs
-Norway
Jill Walker
Torill Mortensen
Hilde Corneliussen
Anders Fagerjord
-The World
Terra Nova (misc, joint)
GrandTextAuto (US, joint)
Mirjam Paalosari-Eladhari (SE)
Jane McGonigal (US)
Patrik Svensson (SE)
Elin Sjursen (NO)
Adrian Miles' Vog blog (AUSTR.)
Other Related Blogs
Mediehack
Hovedet på Bloggen
Bookish
Tempus Tommy
Flickwerk
Jacob Bøtter
Corporate Blogging
Fellow Researchers, non-blog
-Denmark
Susana Tosca
T.L. Taylor
Espen Aarseth
Soeren Pold
Ida Engholm
Troels Degn Johansson
-Norway
Ragnhild Tronstad
-Sweden
Anna Gunder
Jenny Sunden
Mikael Jacobsson
-Finland
Aki Jarvinen
Markku Eskelinen
Raine Koskimaa
©Lisbeth Klastrup 2001-2007
Before a new course, thinking about how to change my presentation habits. For inspiration (via Jon's blogpost): Edward Tufte:PowerPoint Is Evil.
Merry X-Mas!
Almost a little week of peace ahead, as I tomorrow morning head with two of my sisters and one's partner to Bornholm to celebrate christmas in the idyllic town of Svaneke. With me, I'lll bring some lovely literature: an unread novel by David Lodge and a precious gift, I just got from my Kentish friend: "Riddley Walker" by Russell Hoban - a wyrd sci-fi novel set in a future Kent and written entirely in a self-invented English dialect (English as if would be written if you wrote down the sounds!).
Have fun and see you around come new year!
Almost a little week of peace ahead, as I tomorrow morning head with two of my sisters and one's partner to Bornholm to celebrate christmas in the idyllic town of Svaneke. With me, I'lll bring some lovely literature: an unread novel by David Lodge and a precious gift, I just got from my Kentish friend: "Riddley Walker" by Russell Hoban - a wyrd sci-fi novel set in a future Kent and written entirely in a self-invented English dialect (English as if would be written if you wrote down the sounds!).
Have fun and see you around come new year!
Communication as connectivity
Content is not king, connectivity is, says researcher Andrew Odlyzko. I came by the article through another article (in Danish) in Danish mag/business publication Biteconomy. Odlyzko's article sounds interesting, since it might be used in my teaching - in order to make the point that when you produce 'content' for a website, you should think in terms of interactivity and the possibility of communicating with the sender and other users as well. I want to teach the students that webwriting is also about engaging with 'dialogic' means of communication, and not just a question of traditional and straightforward from sender-to-receiver(s) communication.
Content is not king, connectivity is, says researcher Andrew Odlyzko. I came by the article through another article (in Danish) in Danish mag/business publication Biteconomy. Odlyzko's article sounds interesting, since it might be used in my teaching - in order to make the point that when you produce 'content' for a website, you should think in terms of interactivity and the possibility of communicating with the sender and other users as well. I want to teach the students that webwriting is also about engaging with 'dialogic' means of communication, and not just a question of traditional and straightforward from sender-to-receiver(s) communication.
The thing to bind us all
He, he. I went to see The One Movie today. Even at the very far end of the cinema, it was great. Almost as great was watching the film with my 15 year-old nephew whom I've taken to the premier of all the films in the trilogy. He's always been behind with the reading of the LOTR books, and therefore is a good testbed for the dramatic effects of the story (I've read the book several times, so nothing in the story really surprises me anymore, I just watch the film with anticipation of fulfillment). He was devastated when Gandalf died. Today he was truly engaged throughout the film (even though he told me afterwards it ended as he suspected), and suddenly pretty quiet towards the end of it. Mission accomplished. I think I have managed to bring another Tolkien fan into the world (I started back in 1999, reading The Hobbit to him, btw...).
He, he. I went to see The One Movie today. Even at the very far end of the cinema, it was great. Almost as great was watching the film with my 15 year-old nephew whom I've taken to the premier of all the films in the trilogy. He's always been behind with the reading of the LOTR books, and therefore is a good testbed for the dramatic effects of the story (I've read the book several times, so nothing in the story really surprises me anymore, I just watch the film with anticipation of fulfillment). He was devastated when Gandalf died. Today he was truly engaged throughout the film (even though he told me afterwards it ended as he suspected), and suddenly pretty quiet towards the end of it. Mission accomplished. I think I have managed to bring another Tolkien fan into the world (I started back in 1999, reading The Hobbit to him, btw...).
I'm not rich, but I might be lucky...
A sucker for online competitions and draws -and Danish citizen? Try visiting SuperVind - Din konkurrenceguide på nettet
A sucker for online competitions and draws -and Danish citizen? Try visiting SuperVind - Din konkurrenceguide på nettet
Via Danish Online Mag "Søndag Aften": Five Small Videos About Interruption And Disappearing , a digital Flashified comment on the repetitive loops of early video art. I especially like "One Small Video: On Then Off", where you get to kickstart an actor who then at some point himself reaches outside the screen in which he performs and presses the on-button and then disappears. A nice comment on what "interactivity" is - why shouldn't characters be allowed to interact with themselves as well?!
Interesting look/dissection/comment to my paper "A Poetics of Virtual Worlds" (written for DAC Melbourne 2003) by Matt Barton at his site mattbarton.net.*grin* - still haven't gotten used to being this 3rd person "Klastrup", when other people refer to me.
Aki Järvinen in-house
Aki is visiting us today and giving the last talk in the game center's lecture series. He will be talking about Game Mechanics and Genres.
He has launched a new website, trailing the progress of his thesis writing: Games without Frontiers.
After Aki's talk, it's time for the annual ITU christmas party (staff only, no students, so this is where you see the lecturers misbehaving ;)). It's usually a quite lively event, so Aki is in for a real Danish treat...
Aki is visiting us today and giving the last talk in the game center's lecture series. He will be talking about Game Mechanics and Genres.
He has launched a new website, trailing the progress of his thesis writing: Games without Frontiers.
After Aki's talk, it's time for the annual ITU christmas party (staff only, no students, so this is where you see the lecturers misbehaving ;)). It's usually a quite lively event, so Aki is in for a real Danish treat...
Another Scandinavian Doctor Phil!
Warm congratulations to Anders Fagerjord who, according to Torill, in an elegant manner defended his thesis on Rhetorical Convergence today! From the thesis website, there is also an awesome linklist with links to the 60 sites, he has analysed in his work! Well done, Anders!
Warm congratulations to Anders Fagerjord who, according to Torill, in an elegant manner defended his thesis on Rhetorical Convergence today! From the thesis website, there is also an awesome linklist with links to the 60 sites, he has analysed in his work! Well done, Anders!
Revision time
Today, the revised version of The Anthology was finally returned to me and the other editor after 1½ months of almost silence from our publishing house. Looks like there is still some work to be done: they want shorter sentences, more clarification, less strange words etc....As for my own article, I have apparently made it so reader-friendly that there is no "theoretical content or connections", so I have to work at integrating more academic stuff into it, which kind of amuses me. However, no rejections or major problems with the articles as such, so looks like we are set for publication sometime in 2004 (hopefully spring!!).
However, if the anthology is ever going to go into print, we need to work fast now. So the other editor and me have agreed to try and finish our part of the work before christmas. Well, I guess it's a good gift to give myself to actually have an unspoiled holiday between christmas and new years eve, so no mercy. On with the "working gloves" as we phrase it in Danish.
Today, the revised version of The Anthology was finally returned to me and the other editor after 1½ months of almost silence from our publishing house. Looks like there is still some work to be done: they want shorter sentences, more clarification, less strange words etc....As for my own article, I have apparently made it so reader-friendly that there is no "theoretical content or connections", so I have to work at integrating more academic stuff into it, which kind of amuses me. However, no rejections or major problems with the articles as such, so looks like we are set for publication sometime in 2004 (hopefully spring!!).
However, if the anthology is ever going to go into print, we need to work fast now. So the other editor and me have agreed to try and finish our part of the work before christmas. Well, I guess it's a good gift to give myself to actually have an unspoiled holiday between christmas and new years eve, so no mercy. On with the "working gloves" as we phrase it in Danish.
Small webgames in abundance
At the Dutch site Leuke Spelletjes, you can find 398 small and fun flashgames to procrastinate with (link donated by Tommy). It's in Dutch but still fairly accessible.
At the Dutch site Leuke Spelletjes, you can find 398 small and fun flashgames to procrastinate with (link donated by Tommy). It's in Dutch but still fairly accessible.
Publications update
I just updated my list of publications. It now includes an abstract of my thesis and my recent articles and papers:
Paradigms of Interaction (nov 2003)
'You can't help shouting and yelling': fun and social interaction in Super Monkey Ball (nov 2003)
A Poetics of Virtual worlds (may 2003)
I just updated my list of publications. It now includes an abstract of my thesis and my recent articles and papers:
Paradigms of Interaction (nov 2003)
'You can't help shouting and yelling': fun and social interaction in Super Monkey Ball (nov 2003)
A Poetics of Virtual worlds (may 2003)
The Internet or the internet?
There is another ITU than my ITU. My ITU is the IT University of Copenhagen (www.itu.dk), the other ITU is the International Telecommunication Union (www.itu.int). Some of their latest findings show that in fact every 10th person on the earth (some 650 mill. people) in principle have access to the internet - however not all these people have the financial means or the knowledge required to actually go online. See the
ITU World Telecommunication Development Report 2003 - and the numbers on internet access in an earlier press release. (I came by these numbers in a Politiken article).
To me numbers like these prove, that I'm right in telling my students that they should start writing the internet and not the Internet in their essays. They have previously been told to write it with a capital "I", and when I tell them I think they should write it with a small letter "i", they normally argue, that "it is an unique and special noun" (and so should be written by capital letters according to Danish grammar rules)! I usually retort, that so is tv and radio and we spell these media with small letters, not capital letters without ever thinking about it. The internet is becoming a media form which is a part of our daily life, much in the same way everyday household media like radio and tv are, at least here in Scandinavia. "The internet" is not an unique or outstanding thing (noun) anymore. I think the way we (my students and I) talk and think about the internet should reflect this.
(Steve Jones has also written about this, but I cant remember exactly when or where)
There is another ITU than my ITU. My ITU is the IT University of Copenhagen (www.itu.dk), the other ITU is the International Telecommunication Union (www.itu.int). Some of their latest findings show that in fact every 10th person on the earth (some 650 mill. people) in principle have access to the internet - however not all these people have the financial means or the knowledge required to actually go online. See the
ITU World Telecommunication Development Report 2003 - and the numbers on internet access in an earlier press release. (I came by these numbers in a Politiken article).
To me numbers like these prove, that I'm right in telling my students that they should start writing the internet and not the Internet in their essays. They have previously been told to write it with a capital "I", and when I tell them I think they should write it with a small letter "i", they normally argue, that "it is an unique and special noun" (and so should be written by capital letters according to Danish grammar rules)! I usually retort, that so is tv and radio and we spell these media with small letters, not capital letters without ever thinking about it. The internet is becoming a media form which is a part of our daily life, much in the same way everyday household media like radio and tv are, at least here in Scandinavia. "The internet" is not an unique or outstanding thing (noun) anymore. I think the way we (my students and I) talk and think about the internet should reflect this.
(Steve Jones has also written about this, but I cant remember exactly when or where)
Am I a serious academic if I don't care about the perfect definition of what a "game" is?
The discussion of what constitutes a game also continues at gamedesigner Scott Miller's blog Game matters, see the post The end of games?. He quotes an earlier posting by me - I think I'm supposed to represent the Academic point of view. Skimming the comments to this posts and comments elsewhere, it's interesting that the discussion has this tendency to boil down to the question of whether something has a quantifiable outcome (an End) or not (inspired by Zimmerman and Salen's definition in their recent book). If something has a quantifiable outcome (End), it is a game. If not, it is (perhaps) not a game. I like Jesper's definition of games, in that it also attempts to include (the concept of) marginal games, games that do no fullfill all the criterias which we attach to "traditional games", but are nevertheless , in a contemporary commonsensical use, considered and used as games. Even if they do not, for instance, have a clearly definable End.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this discussion is not that people do not agree on what a game is (surprise!), but that people are so eager to keep this discussion going. Why is it so important for us to come up with the 'perfect' definition of what a game is and is not? Does the perfect definition give you ownership of the object defined? Does the perfect definition help legitimate the study of games? Does the discussion of the definition help define who are the members of the game design community (those who know what games are really about) in contrast (?) to those who are members of the game academy community (those who know what games are really about)?
I guess I should add, that what really interests me as a scholar, are exactly these 'marginal games' or perhaps, in other words, 'marginal stories' or 'marginal social spaces' - those hybrids of genres previously known as games, stories, virtual communities etc. These hybrids have IMHO so far defied a perfect definition of themselves because it does not really make sense to categorise them as just one thing. And that is exactly why they are so intriguing to study. Oh, by the way, some people call these hybrids virtual worlds. But they are also called persistent (state) worlds or online worlds. Or massively multiplayer roleplaying games. So they don't even have a proper name yet. This, in my eyes, makes them even more sexy.
The discussion of what constitutes a game also continues at gamedesigner Scott Miller's blog Game matters, see the post The end of games?. He quotes an earlier posting by me - I think I'm supposed to represent the Academic point of view. Skimming the comments to this posts and comments elsewhere, it's interesting that the discussion has this tendency to boil down to the question of whether something has a quantifiable outcome (an End) or not (inspired by Zimmerman and Salen's definition in their recent book). If something has a quantifiable outcome (End), it is a game. If not, it is (perhaps) not a game. I like Jesper's definition of games, in that it also attempts to include (the concept of) marginal games, games that do no fullfill all the criterias which we attach to "traditional games", but are nevertheless , in a contemporary commonsensical use, considered and used as games. Even if they do not, for instance, have a clearly definable End.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this discussion is not that people do not agree on what a game is (surprise!), but that people are so eager to keep this discussion going. Why is it so important for us to come up with the 'perfect' definition of what a game is and is not? Does the perfect definition give you ownership of the object defined? Does the perfect definition help legitimate the study of games? Does the discussion of the definition help define who are the members of the game design community (those who know what games are really about) in contrast (?) to those who are members of the game academy community (those who know what games are really about)?
I guess I should add, that what really interests me as a scholar, are exactly these 'marginal games' or perhaps, in other words, 'marginal stories' or 'marginal social spaces' - those hybrids of genres previously known as games, stories, virtual communities etc. These hybrids have IMHO so far defied a perfect definition of themselves because it does not really make sense to categorise them as just one thing. And that is exactly why they are so intriguing to study. Oh, by the way, some people call these hybrids virtual worlds. But they are also called persistent (state) worlds or online worlds. Or massively multiplayer roleplaying games. So they don't even have a proper name yet. This, in my eyes, makes them even more sexy.
Naming Stars...
I just got a spam mail from yourstardotcom offering me the opportunity to buy a name for a star at the bargain price of only $39,95. However, if you look closer at this compagny's FAQ, they mention, that only the International Astronomical Union has the right to "name" stars and the only "naming" they perform is assigning the stars numbers (co-ordinates).
Here is what IAU themselves have to say about the star selling business (in contrast to their own work) IAU on Naming Stars. I especially like their answer to the question, "But wouldn't it be fun to name a star?":
Some people might be amused while the present fashion lasts, but it would generate a system of mounting confusion for no factual reason. And this is the opposite of what taxpayers pay scientists to do.
I like being in the business of dismounting confusion ;).
I just got a spam mail from yourstardotcom offering me the opportunity to buy a name for a star at the bargain price of only $39,95. However, if you look closer at this compagny's FAQ, they mention, that only the International Astronomical Union has the right to "name" stars and the only "naming" they perform is assigning the stars numbers (co-ordinates).
Here is what IAU themselves have to say about the star selling business (in contrast to their own work) IAU on Naming Stars. I especially like their answer to the question, "But wouldn't it be fun to name a star?":
Some people might be amused while the present fashion lasts, but it would generate a system of mounting confusion for no factual reason. And this is the opposite of what taxpayers pay scientists to do.
I like being in the business of dismounting confusion ;).
Updated To-do list, December 2003
* do two reviews for Game Studies before Dec 15th (new)
* hold "how are you doing" conversations with 10 students (new)
* correct and supply research grant application before Dec 15th (newish)
* organise january exams (ongoing)
* collect literature for Communication on the Internet course compendium (turns out deadline for compendium is just after new year)
* edit and get thesis into print
* finish editing anthology
* finally correct last students' exercises
* supervise three projects and a master's dissertation so they can be delievered come end of December
* initiate overhaul of game website
* start preparing project on death in virtual worlds
* think about what to do in 2004
Done
- performance review conversation with head of department. Complained about lack of motivation. Was promised, that he would work towards getting more research time for me and given the right to turn down administrative/organisational tasks.
- said no to getting a gamelab up and running unless I'm explicitly given time (taken from other tasks or teaching) to do this.
- had what is most likely last supervision meeting with Master dissertation student. Doing well:)
* do two reviews for Game Studies before Dec 15th (new)
* hold "how are you doing" conversations with 10 students (new)
* correct and supply research grant application before Dec 15th (newish)
* organise january exams (ongoing)
* collect literature for Communication on the Internet course compendium (turns out deadline for compendium is just after new year)
* edit and get thesis into print
* finish editing anthology
* finally correct last students' exercises
* supervise three projects and a master's dissertation so they can be delievered come end of December
* initiate overhaul of game website
* start preparing project on death in virtual worlds
* think about what to do in 2004
Done
- performance review conversation with head of department. Complained about lack of motivation. Was promised, that he would work towards getting more research time for me and given the right to turn down administrative/organisational tasks.
- said no to getting a gamelab up and running unless I'm explicitly given time (taken from other tasks or teaching) to do this.
- had what is most likely last supervision meeting with Master dissertation student. Doing well:)
Short Message Services can make a difference!
The Danish Deaf People's Association complains about the lack of possibility of sending SMS's to the Danish Rescue Service (phone 112), according to the linked article in Politiken. (there is also a press release here). When in need, it is impossible for many deaf people to call for help on the phone because they cannot be sure their directions have been understood by the receiver, or because they have problems making themselves understood. With a SMS, they can be sure they convey the correct information and sure that it have been received.
Valid point. Actually it is the most useful use of SMS's I've heard about so far. However, in Denmark we are too afraid that this possibility might be abused by schoolkids to enable it. Haven't the authorities heard of the benefit of doubt?
The Danish Deaf People's Association complains about the lack of possibility of sending SMS's to the Danish Rescue Service (phone 112), according to the linked article in Politiken. (there is also a press release here). When in need, it is impossible for many deaf people to call for help on the phone because they cannot be sure their directions have been understood by the receiver, or because they have problems making themselves understood. With a SMS, they can be sure they convey the correct information and sure that it have been received.
Valid point. Actually it is the most useful use of SMS's I've heard about so far. However, in Denmark we are too afraid that this possibility might be abused by schoolkids to enable it. Haven't the authorities heard of the benefit of doubt?
To-do list, December 2003
* edit and get thesis into print
* finish editing anthology
* finally correct last students' exercises
* supervise three projects and a master's dissertation so they can be delievered come end of December
* initiate overhaul of game website
* start preparing project on death in virtual worlds
* think about what to do in 2004
He, he - with teaching over and done, it's almost like an holiday ;)...
* edit and get thesis into print
* finish editing anthology
* finally correct last students' exercises
* supervise three projects and a master's dissertation so they can be delievered come end of December
* initiate overhaul of game website
* start preparing project on death in virtual worlds
* think about what to do in 2004
He, he - with teaching over and done, it's almost like an holiday ;)...
Death Stories project
Walgblog (DK)
DK forskerblogs (DK)
klast at del.icio.us
Site feed Link (Atom)
Klastrup family?
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Buy our book
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Conferences
ACE 2007
Mobile Media 2007
MobileCHI 07
Perth DAC 2007
DIGRA 2007
AOIR 8.0/2007
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My Ph.D. thesis website:
Towards a Poetics of Virtual Worlds
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Misc
I also used to host & work in a world called StoryMOO.