Tiger Woods meets the Ailsa Craig
August 26, 2009
Tiger Woods meets the Ailsa Craig
If ye can see Ailsa Craig, it’s gaun tae rain. If ye canny see it, it’s already raining.
There’s just something magical about the sight of one of the world’s greatest athletes – Tiger Woods – working his magic before the looming presence of curling’s greatest natural landmark.
(Click on the Associated Press photo by Jon Super to magnify the reverence)
Golf’s British Open – or simply The Open Championship – has returned to the Ailsa Craig course at Turnberry after an absence of 17 years.
As a result, everyone in the high-profile golf world are stumbling over each other to lay breathless praise on the Ailsa Craig itself, the monolith of volcanic rock which sits some 12 miles out in the Irish Sea and thus provides glorious background imagery for fellows like Tiger.
A preview story earlier this week by Associated Press writer Paul Newberry summed up the importance of the reverent Ailsa Craig to our sport, curling:
On a sunny day – and that’s how the weather broke around lunchtime – the hill provides the best spot to gaze on the Ailsa Craig, a massive island of rock in the Firth of Clyde that measures two miles around, rises 1,129 feet above the sea and is best known these days for its role in a decidedly different sport – curling.
“Someone was telling me that every curling stone in the world comes from that island,” Geoff Ogilvy said. “That’s got to be a myth.”
Not really. The isle’s unique granite is believed to provide the best material for carving out the stones used by the sweepers on ice. Since curling became a Winter Olympic sport in 1998, every stone got its start on the Ailsa Craig.
Well, actually… as most curling fans know, the Ailsa Craig is the legendary source, but newer quarries in Wales and Finland are providing the curling world with more options, as the Craig supply is gradually depleted.
And we would probably change that last line to read “Since curling became a Winter Olympic sport in 1998, not every stone got its start on the Ailsa Craig.” Anyone agree or disagree?
To sum up all things Ailsa Craig, we suggest the following links:
• the “official” story from Wikipedia
• a cool story from Times writer Lynn Truss
• Kays of Scotland, the official stone manufacturers
• another outfit, offering Craig jewelry and curling collectables
• the hotel in Edinburgh
• the indie rock band from Leeds
• the unknown Canadian village in southwestern Ontario
• the sociology professor in Newfoundland, Canada
And finally, USA Curling is auctioning off an authentic Ailsa Craig curling stone that will be autographed by the 2010 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic curling team members. To bid on this one-of-a-kind item, search for “Team USA Autographed Curling Stone” on eBay… or just click here.
Anything else for a Friday?
• A reminder of today’s Rockin’ The Gold curling fundraiser in Toronto, which we told you about here. Looks like blogTO has a promo writeup, too …
• Were the Canadians a wee bit too intense at the recent Tropicurl summer spiel in Pittsburgh?
• Curling in Corner Brook, Newfoundland may be wiped out this coming season …
• And finally… is this what the kids are doing these days?
“I’ve seen the game evolve,” says Morris. “The old stereotypes about curlers just aren’t true anymore. If you look at the top players, nearly all of them are very fit athletes with Olympic aspirations who devote a great deal of time to physical conditioning.”
Morris points out that high-performance curlers aren’t the only ones who can benefit from the sport-specific training offered in the book.
“The book is written so that curlers of all levels can follow a program that suits them,” says JoMo. “Even the recreational player who curls once or twice a week and competes in a couple of bonspiels will enjoy the game more by working out just a few hours a week. They’ll be able to contribute more when they compete and feel better about their overall level of fitness.”
Filled with color photography of many of the world’s top players – the pics are supplied by CurlingZone’s Dallas Bittle, SWEEP! chief Jim Henderson and, of course, Anil Mungal of this here The Curling News – the book details the physical demands of the sport and offers three levels of training programs – with calendars – to “make it easy for people to incorporate a fitness routine into their life. Even the typical curler who juggles family, career and the sport can find time for the workouts – many can be completed in less than an hour.”
Morris, who also skipped teams to world junior titles in 1998 and 1999, also suggests that “Whether you’re delivering a stone or sweeping from end to end, curling places unique demands on the body. It only makes sense to follow a training program that will help you feel fresh and perform better on the ice.”
Morris wrote the book with Dean Gemmell, who played lead for Quebec in the 1988 Brier and now produces a popular podcast called The Curling Show from his home in Short Hills, New Jersey. A side benefit of working on the book, remarks Gemmell, is that “I’m a more fit curler at 42 than I was at 20.”
Gemmell also notes that one dollar from the sale of every book in Canada will be given to the Canadian Curling Association to support junior curling programs throughout the country.
“John believes strongly in the value of curling in the life of a young person,” says Gemmell. We hope that this might help introduce a few more kids to the sport or keep them playing.”
Fit to Curl is available for purchase as of now through the official website and in curling pro shops. Shipping commences on September 8.
The website offers a 17-page preview download, which includes the table of contents and some fine pics, including one classic from 1993. Yes, John, Sav’s hair is worse than yours.
Rejecta Mathematica: Caveat Emptor
August 25, 2009
Rejecta Mathematica: Caveat Emptor
Rejecta Mathematica is a real open access online journal publishing only papers that have been rejected from peer-reviewed journals in the mathematical sciences.
- “mapping the blind alleys of science”: papers containing negative results can warn others against futile directions;
- “reinventing the wheel”: papers accidentally rederiving a known result may contain new insight or ideas;
- “squaring the circle”: papers discovered to contain a serious technical flaw may nevertheless contain information or ideas of interest;
- “applications of cold fusion”: papers based on a controversial premise may contain ideas applicable in more traditional settings;
- “misunderstood genius”: other papers may simply have no natural home among existing journals.
Rejecta Mathematica publishes two types of papers: research articles and correspondences. The screening process for publishing research articles in Rejecta Mathematica includes no technical peer review (hence the slogan Caveat Emptor); rather, papers are selected on the basis of their potential interest to researchers in the mathematical sciences.
Other Rejecta journals may follow (in disciplines outside the mathematical sciences). Please
contact us if you are interested in starting your own Rejecta franchise.
REMINDER: Alpha Five Version 10 training! Will YOU be there?
August 20, 2009
REMINDER: Alpha Five Version 10 training! Will YOU be there?
Don’t forget our Alpha Five Version 10 training seminar is taking place TOMORROW from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Burlington, Mass. You’ll be able to meet the team behind the development of Alpha Five Version 10 and pick their brains. You’ll also learn all you need to know to create powerful data-driven Web-based apps faster than ever before.
If you’re going to be there, we invite you to join in on the online discussion as the seminar is taking place by tweeting with the hashtag #ajax. Not only will you be able to tap into our brains, but you’ll be able to see what other developers are thinking as they think them.
Complete Source For Mp3 Download
Get the most complete source of mp3 music download online in the website at WestSounds.com. There are plenty of songs coming from many international musicians, singers, and bands that you can find there; get the songs in easy steps of download. Check out the list of US top 100 albums along with the latest songs added to the website. Download mp3 music also from the UK top 100 albums. You can also
Family Believed Baby Cut From Womb Was Theirs – ABC News
August 1, 2009
Family Believed Baby Cut From Womb Was Theirs – ABC News
In this image from WMUR television video, 35-year-old Julie Corey is escorted after her arrest in In this image from WMUR television video, 35-year-old Julie Corey is escorted after her arrest in Plymouth, N.H. Wednesday July 29, 2009. Corey is accused of cutting the fetus out of her pregnant
Notebook: David Ortiz says he needs more information – Memphis Commercial Appeal
Red Sox slugger David Ortiz fended off further questions Friday about his 2003 drug test, saying he needed more time to gather information. “I am trying to find out what’s going on. When I get my stuff together, I’ll let you guys know,” Ortiz said. The New York Times, citing unidentified lawyers
Jury awards $675K in Boston music downloading case – Daily Times
BOSTON — A Boston University student has been ordered to pay $675,000 to four record labels for illegally downloading and sharing music. Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., admitted he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. The only issue for the jury to decide was how much in damages to award the
A Principal Component Analysis of 39 Scientific Impact Measures
July 2, 2009
A Principal Component Analysis of 39 Scientific Impact Measures
A Principal Component Analysis of 39 Scientific Impact Measures
Methodology
Conclusions
[snip]
Nifong Trial Verdict
Breaking News: Durham DA Michael Nifong was found guilty on 27 of the 32 ethical charges brought against him by the NC Bar. An AP report indicates the following:
Mike Nifong broke numerous rules of professional conduct during his disastrous prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, committing “deceit and misrepresentations,” a disciplinary committee ruled Saturday.
Selected Videos:
David Evans Sr. State Bar Testimony
Mary Ellen Finnerty State Bar Testimony
Nifong Says He should Be Disbarred
Disciplinary Board Disbars Nifong
Duke Lacrosse Defense Attorneys News Conference
Selected articles:
Comments of Disciplinary Panel’s ChairmanThe New York Times
Bar Accepts Nifong’s Offer to Surrender Law License WRAL
N.C. panel disbars Duke prosecutor AP
Former Duke Prosecutor Nifong Disbarred June 18, ABC News
Bar strips Nifong of his law license Newsobserver
Findings KC Johnson
Duke prosecutor: He should be disbarred AP
Nifong Accepts Disbarment KC Johnson
Committee: Duke prosecutor broke rules AP
Verdict KC Johnson
Improve Your Web site Traffic
June 14, 2009
Improve Your Web site Traffic
A question I’ve been getting recently is how to improve web site traffic. There are a few techniques that I use on a regular basis to improve site traffic. These techniques have helped me to drive traffic to specific sites, promotions, or affiliate products that I’ve sold from time to time.
Tip #1: Start to build a list. Whether you build a list by offering a free download on your website or by using inexpensive PPC advertising, having your own list allows you to encourage users to visit your site again and again. Over time, this can be one of your best traffic generators.
Tip #2: Make it easy to bookmark your site. Include a bookmark button at the very top of your web page. Doing so gives individuals easy access to your site and the content that you offer. You want it to be easy to find your site whenever someone is seeking the information you provide.
Tip #3: Include an RSS feed on your site. When individuals sign up for an RSS feed, they receive updates on a regular basis. This keeps your site and your information in front of them again and again. Don’t underestimate the power of repetition.
Tip #4: Offer original content on your site. Author original content and post it on your site. Doing so results in a higher ranking on search engine results. It also attracts new users to your web site.
These tips seem pretty basic but they build upon one another. Over time you will attract a loyal following and more visitors. My main website now sees more than 100,000 visitors each month and it all started with orginal content that is easy to find, bookmark, and receive with an RSS feed.
Best
-Michael
How to: keep your money in Kansas City
June 4, 2009
How to: keep your money in Kansas City
Boulevard beer
When founder John McDonald won a trip to Europe more than 20 years ago, no one knew it would lead him to open a brewery.
When he returned to Kansas City and could not find ale that tasted as good as those he drank abroad, he started making his own.
M. Sc. Optics and Photonics-Germany
M. Sc. Optics and Photonics
KSOP Masters Education. We believe that a Ph.D.graduate school is unlikely to be successful without the background / infrastructure and the “funneling / filtering” through a corresponding associated, interdisciplinary coordinated masters program, aiming at attracting excellent students from abroad.
36 students per year can be admitted to our masters program. The best students of the masters program are supported by the KSOP Scholarship Program. Access to the KSOP masters education is granted via an application procedure.
A study plan is developed for each individual masters student (corresponding to his/her educational background) when entering the KSOP.
The M.Sc. course is divided into four stages providing the students with the necessary prerequisites (Stage I: Introduction) , to give them a solid background on the most important topics within the wide and diverse field of Optics and Photonics (Stage II: Core Subjects) and let them acquire specialized knowledge (Stage III: Specialization) to be able to competently perform a six-month research project on a current topic of research (masters thesis). In addition, an 8-weeks industrial internship is scheduled between stages 2 and 3.
Scholarship
The KSOP scholarship amounts to 800 Euro/month for international students and 400 Euro/month for German students. Part of the scholarship is a research assistantship. Within the scope of this assistantship, you will have the opportunity to work on a research project in one of the KSOP institutes.
The scholarship is first admitted for 12 months. At the end you have to proof your successful participation in the KSOP M.Sc. Program through very good study results in order to extend the scholarship for another 12 months.
Guideline for Scholarship Application
Step 1 – Fill out the KSOP scholarship application form
You can apply for a scholarship at the KSOP Office after having applied for the program M.Sc. in Optics & Photonics. Please fill out the KSOP Scholarship application form. The application deadline for the upcoming winter semester is July 15 each year.
Please note that you have to send your scholarship documents seperately from your application to the student office, the KSOP Office or the international student office respectively.
You will receive feedback from the KSOP Office on your scholarship application after July 15.
Step 2 – Submit your application
You are required to include the following documents in your application:
- KSOP scholarship application form
- a certified copy of your qualification for university entrance (e.g. Abitur, High School Diploma, Bac.)
- a certified copy of your Bachelor degree (if the Bachelor degree is not yet available at the closing date for applications but will be completed before the registration, candidates can apply with a preliminary transcript of records)
- your CV
- proof of English language profiency: TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) with a minimum of 570 pb, 260 points cb and 88 points ibt or IELTS (International English Languag Testing System) band with a minium of 6.5
- proof of extra-curricular activities
- one or better two recommendations
- Statement of purpose
Please send the complete application preferrably via e-mail or alternatively via postal mail to:
Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP),
Universität Karlsruhe (TH)
Schlossplatz 19
76131 Karlsruhe
http://www.ksop. de/fileadmin/ KSOP/download/ 03_programs/ Application_ Form_MSc_ Scholarship. pdf
Is SQL Server in your bag of tricks?
May 31, 2009
Is SQL Server in your bag of tricks?
If you’re subscribed to the Alpha Software newsletter, you already know about our upcoming Alpha Five/SQL Server Web applications webinar taking place on Wednesday, June 3 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The course will also be recorded, and will be made available for viewing or downloading to registered users.
Microsoft SQL Server is the database engine of choice for millions of businesses. And with the availability of the free edition — SQL Server Express 2005/2008 — and its increased capacity, it’s accessible by everyone. With the right SQL Server and Alpha Five skills, you can build highly scalable database applications, and greatly improve your marketability in this competitive economy.
But where do you start? Amazon lists over 1,300 books devoted to SQL Server. Not to mention all the courses available, plus Microsoft’s official certification programs. Plus, it takes years of dedication to become a true SQL Server guru.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a guru to take advantage of SQL Server right now. Using Alpha Five as the front end, you can build new SQL Server based applications, migrate existing data to SQL Server, and manage data already in SQL Server, quickly and easily.
In our two-hour training session, hosted by Jim Dusoe, founder of BMSI Software and long-time Alpha fanatic, you’ll learn
- How to choose the right version of SQL Server
- How to install SQL Server
- How to create SQL Server tables
- How and why to use stored procedures and triggers
- How to use SQL Server Views
- How to Use AlphaDAO to work with SQL Server
And because this webinar focuses on Web applications, you’ll also see step-by-step instructions on how to provision a server with both Alpha Five and SQL Server. We’ll show you
- The advantages of Web vs. Desktop Applications
- How to set up the Alpha Five (Web) Application Server for use with SQL Server
- How to run the Alpha Five Application Server as a service (using a free toolkit from Microsoft)
For those who can’t make it, you’ll receive access to the webinar recording at no charge with your paid registration. Registration for this two-hour training course is only $99, so sign up today!
My thoughts in ink on Inc.
Earlier this year, Inc. published a fascinating article about Markus Frind and his online dating company, PlentyOfFish. More specifically, how Frind conquered the online dating world and now lives comfortably working 10 hours a week while paying himself more than $5 million a year. The word entrepreneur sounds pretty good now, eh?
Inc. makes it sound easy. But in this case, it wouldn’t be for 95 percent of entrepreneurs. That’s because Frind knows how to program computers. Most people do not. As I said in my comment, it takes more than a good idea to build a thriving Web business.
Great ideas aren’t in short supply. But software tools that empower entrepreneurs to build their big ideas are lacking. As you know, we’re trying to change that at Alpha Five by giving you everything you (yes, YOU, the non-programmer) need to get your idea off the ground.
Have a look at the comment for the full scoop, and a little preview of an idea we have here at Alpha that will help entrepreneurs network, build, fund, and market their own “big-idea” Web apps. But you’ll hear more on that, coming soon.
Feeling the Marketing Squeeze?
May 21, 2009
Feeling the Marketing Squeeze?
As the economy takes time to recover, making the most of your marketing budget can prove a real challenge. Most of the marketing professionals I’ve been talking to have told me that they have less to work with this year than ever before. At the same time, they are under the microscope when it comes to justifying each dollar spent. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention ROI.
Now’s a good time to consider FREE. Here’s what I mean:
1. Giving information for free. One of the best campaigns I’ve run in the last year is a free download of samples. I realize this might not apply to everyone’s business but the concept has merit. Imagine someone visits your website and sees a download for valuable information.
The user enters their name and email address and receives and email asking them to confirm their download. When they click on the link, the ebook or other informational product is instantly emailed to them.
While this is happening, you are starting an auto-responder that will drip messages (valuable content) to your subscribers on a daily basis – moving them through the purchase process. I have seen conversion rates as high as 5% on this type of promotion and it costs 
NOTHING!
2. Getting information for free. Now is a great time to poll your customers. What are they willing to spend money on now? Where do they find value? By collecting valuable information, you can address your marketing messages in the proper fashion. Additionally, you can shape your pricing and product offering in a way that increases sales.
Another way to leverage the power of free is to ask you customers for testimonials, content, and information that can help with your sales efforts. Solicit information from your customer base. This helps in the current climate and going forward.
Free is the most powerful word in marketing – make it work to your advantage. Consider offering value-added information in exchange for an indication of interest. Be sure to capture and email and set up and auto-responder. Move consumers through the purchase decision process. Also, ask your customers for feedback and content. This can help to better position your products and build powerful testimonials. Focus on free and generate revenue for little or no cost.
Leonardo: New Criteria for New Media
May 20, 2009
Leonardo: New Criteria for New Media
University of Maine’s criteria for New Media achievement serve as a model for faculty at other institutions.
Academia’s goal may be the free exchange of ideas, but up to now many universities have been wary–if not downright dismissive–of their professors using the Internet and other digital media to supercharge that exchange, especially in the arts and humanities.
Peer review committees are supposed to assess a researcher’s standing in the field, but to date most have ignored reputations established by blogging, publishing DVDs, or contributing to email lists.
In a signal that some universities are warming to digital scholarship, however, the winter 2009 issue of MIT’s Leonardo magazine–itself a traditional peer review journal, though known for experimenting with networked media–has published a feature on the changing criteria for excellence in the Internet age.
To make its point as concretely as possible, the feature includes the recently approved promotion and tenure guidelines of the University of Maine’s New Media Department, together with an argument for expanding recognition entitled “New Criteria for New Media.”
Rather than throw time-honored benchmarks for excellence out the window, “New Criteria for New Media” tries to extend them into the 21st century. To supplement the “closed” peer review process familiar from traditional journals, …. [University Of Maine's ] criteria recognize the value of the “open peer review” employed in recognition metrics such as ThoughtMesh and The Pool.
>>>The Pool < <<
[http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2008/05/everyone-into-pool.html]
>>>ThoughMesh< <<
[http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2008/05/thoughtmesh-innovative-scholarly.html]
As the name suggests, open peer review allows contributions from any community member rather than a group of experts, and all reviews are public; when combined with an appropriate recognition metric, the result is much faster evaluations than possible via the customary approach.
“New Criteria for New Media” also urges academic reviews to reward collaboration in new media research; valuable roles include conceptual architect, designer, engineer, or even matchmaker (e.g., introducing two other researchers whose collaboration results in a publication).
Because the University of Maine hopes other institutions will adopt these criteria and adapt them to their own needs, it is releasing them under a Creative Commons (CC-by) license. [snip]
The new criteria have already been sought after by individual tenure candidates and cited in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
[http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i38/38a01001.htm]
You can find them in Leonardo’s winter 2009 issue (vol. 42 no. 1)
[http://newmedia.umaine.edu/feature.php?id=927]
Leonardo: New Criteria for New Media
Abstract
This paper argues for redefining evaluation criteria for faculty working in new media research and makes specific recommendations for promotion and tenure committees in U.S. universities.
[http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/leon.2009.42.1.71]
PDF (Subscribers)
[http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/leon.2009.42.1.71]
PDF Plus (Subscibers)
[http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1162/leon.2009.42.1.71]
See Also
[http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2009/04/university-of-maine-promotion-and_20.html]
[http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2009/04/university-of-maine-promotion-and.html]
See Also Also The ThoughMesh Version(s)
[http://thoughtmesh.net/publish/275.php]
University of Maine | Promotion and Tenure Guidelines || Promotion and Tenure Guidelines | New Criteria for New Media |
New Media Department, University of Maine
Promotion and Tenure Guidelines Addendum: Rationale for Redefined Criteria
New Criteria for New Media
Version 2.2, January 2007
Authors: Joline Blais, Jon Ippolito, and Owen Smith in collaboration with Steve Evans and Nate Stormer.
ABSTRACT: An argument for redefining promotion and tenure criteria for faculty in new media departments of today’s universities.
Introduction
Recognition and achievement in the field of new media must be measured by standards as high as but different from those in established artistic or scientific disciplines. As the reports from the American Council of Learned Societies[1], the Modern Language Association[2], and the University of Maine[3] recommend, promotion and tenure guidelines must be revised to encourage the creative and innovative use of technology if universities are to remain competitive in the 21st century.
The following points summarize some of the key areas in which new media research departs from traditional academic scholarship, with the aim of providing a rationale for specific criteria for promotion and tenure detailed elsewhere.
New form and content
The differences between traditional and new media excellence lie in both form and content. The hard-copy format of traditional review documentation, such as photocopies or slides, is insufficient for evaluating new media work; screenshots do little justice to electronic projects based on innovative interactive or participatory design. As the MLA puts it, “evaluative bodies should review faculty members’ work in the medium in which it was produced. For example, Web-based projects should be viewed online, not in printed form.”[4]
Further complicating the evaluation of new media achievements is the fact that they are often interdisciplinary, as reflected by the current University of Maine New Media faculty, whose backgrounds range from engineering to computer science to fine art to photojournalism to literature.
For example, while art professors typically divide clearly into critical (Art History) and creative (Studio Art) faculties, new media’s brief history often requires its practitioners to develop a critical context for their own creative work. This is why the majority of pre-eminent new media critics are also artists.[5] It is also why new media research spans numerous genres, from critical essays to political activism to community-building to software design.
Limitations of academic journals
These differences may require evaluators of new media artist-researchers to look beyond the usual standards applicable in other disciplines. As noted by a 2003 National Academies report:
Because the field of [Information Technology and Creative Practices] is young and dynamic, ITCP production is hard to evaluate. Traditional review panels…may be hampered by their members’ ties to single disciplines and the absence of a time-tested consensus about what constitutes good work in ITCP and why. [6]
Ironically, the National Academies study found that the highest benchmark for success in traditional academic departments, publication in peer-reviewed journals, is less relevant to success in new media–and empirically less an accurate measure of stature in the field–than more supple or timely forms of intellectual exposition:
The gold standard for academia–and the criterion most easily understood by parties outside a given subdiscipline–is the so-called archival journal (often published by scholarly or professional societies) that involves considerable editorial selection plus prepublication review and revision, which function as a screening system for quality. But the long lead time for such publications poses problems for subdisciplines in which timeliness–quickly getting an idea into the field–matters.[7]
Leonardo magazine (MIT Press) is currently the only print magazine universally recognized as a peer-reviewed journal about new media. There are currently a handful of networked peer-reviewed journals devoted to new media, such as Leonardo’s Electronic Almanac (Cambridge), Fibreculture (Sydney), and First Monday (Chicago).
Yet the field’s most prominent print publishers and research archivists[8] have acknowledged a 15-25 year lag and limited exposure that makes print publications far less relevant for new media research. Although promising new paradigms for distributed publication are on the horizon, at the time of writing these systems are only in the planning stage.[9] Finally, as the MLA warns, participation in electronic scholarship should not place extra demands on a researcher[10]; an accomplishment in new media research should substitute for a print article or monograph, not merely supplement them.
Alternative Recognition Measures
Given the accessibility and timeliness required for new media research, the following measures of recognition should be prioritized in the evaluation of new media research candidates:
1. Invited / edited publications
Invitations to publish in edited electronic journals or printed magazines and books should be recognized as the kind of peer influence that in other fields would be signaled by acceptance in peer-reviewed journals.
2. Live conferences
The 2003 National Academies study concludes that conferences on new media, both face-to-face and virtual, offer a more useful and in some cases more prestigious venue for exposition than academic journals:
[The sluggishness of journal publications] is offset somewhat by a flourishing array of conferences and other forums, in both virtual and real space, that provide a sense of community and an outlet as well as feedback[11]….The prestige associated with presentations at major conferences actually makes some of them more selective than journals.[12]
New forms of conference archiving–such as archived Webcasts–add value and exposure to the research presented at conferences.
3. Citations
Citations are a valuable and versatile measure of peer influence because they may come from or point to a variety of genres, from Web sites to databases to books in print. Examples include citations in:
a. Electronic archives and recognition networks, such as the publicly accessible databases maintained by the Daniel Langlois Foundation (Montreal), the V2 organization (Rotterdam), the Database of Virtual Art (Berlin), and the Media Art Net database (Karlsruhe).
b. Books, printed journals, and newspapers. These are easier to find now, thanks to Google Scholar, Google Print, and Amazon’s “look inside the book” feature.
c. Syllabi and other pedagogical contexts. Google searches on .edu domains and citations of the author’s work in syllabi from outside universities can measure the academic currency of an individual researcher or her ideas. In the sciences, readings or projects cited on a syllabus are likely to be popular textbooks, but in an emerging field like new media, such recognition is a more valid marker of relevance.
4. Download / visitor counts
Downloads and other traffic-related statistics represent a measure of influence that has gained importance in the online community recently. As a 2005 open access study[13] concludes:
Whereas the significance of citation impact is well established, access of research literature via the Web provides a new metric for measuring the impact of articles – Web download impact.
Download impact is useful for at least two reasons:
(1) The portion of download variance that is correlated with citation counts provides an early-days estimate of probable citation impact that can begin to be tracked from the instant an article is made Open Access and that already attains its maximum predictive power after 6 months.
(2) The portion of download variance that is uncorrelated with citation counts provides a second, partly independent estimate of the impact of an article, sensitive to another form of research usage that is not reflected in citations (Kurtz 2004).
5. Impact in online discussions
Email discussion lists are the proving grounds of new media discourse. They vary greatly in tone and substance, but even the least moderated of such lists can subject their authors to rigorous–and at times withering–scrutiny.[14] Measures such as the number of list subscribers, geographic scope, the presence or absence of moderation, and the number of replies triggered by a given contribution can give a sense of the importance of each discussion list.[15]
6. Impact in the real world
While magazine columns and newspaper editorials may have little standing in traditional academic subjects, one of the strengths of new media are their relevance to a daily life that is increasingly inflected by the relentless proliferation of technologies. Even counting Google search returns on the author’s name or statistically improbable phrases can be a measure of real-world impact[16].
By privileging new media research with direct effect on local or global communities, the university can remain relevant in an age where much research takes place outside the ivory tower.
8. Net-native recognition metrics
Peer-evaluated online communities may invent their own measures of member evaluation, in which case they may be relevant to a researcher who participates in those communities. Examples of such self-policing communities include Slashdot, The Pool, Open Theory, and the Distributed Learning Project.
The MLA pins the responsibility for learning these new metrics on reviewers rather than the reviewed.[17] Given the mutability of such metrics, however, promotion and tenure candidates may be called upon to explain and give context to these metrics for their reviewers. Again, efforts to educate a scholar’s colleagues about new media should be considered part of that scholar’s research, not supplemental to it.
9. Reference letters
Letters of recommendation from outside referees are an important compensation for the irrelevance of traditional recognition venues. Nevertheless, it is insufficient merely to solicit such letters from professors tenured in new media at other universities, since so few exist.
More valuable is to use the measures outlined in this document to identify pre-eminent figures in new media, or to require new media promotion and tenure candidates to identify such figures and supply evidence that they qualify according to the criteria above.
[1] The ACLS recommends “policies for tenure and promotion that recognize and reward digital scholarship and scholarly communication; recognition should be given not only to scholarship that uses the humanities and social science cyberinfrastructure but also to scholarship that contributes to its design, construction, and growth….
We might expect younger colleagues to use new technologies with greater fluency and ease, but with tenure at stake, they will also be more risk-averse….
Senior scholars now have both the opportunity and the responsibility to take certain risks, first among which is to condone risk taking in their junior colleagues and their graduate students, making sure that such endeavors are appropriately rewarded.”
“Our Cultural Commonwealth,” report by the ACLS Commission on Cyberinfrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 29 July 2006,
[http://www.acls.org/cyberinfrastructure/cyber.htm[, accessed January 2, 2007.
[2] “Departments and institutions should recognize the legitimacy of scholarship produced in new media, whether by individuals or in collaboration, and create procedures for evaluating these forms of scholarship.” December 2006 report of the MLA Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion,
[http://www.mla.org/tenure_promotion] accessed January 2, 2007.
[3] “The Commission encourages each department on campus, as well as the University as a whole, to examine promotion and tenure criteria to recognize and reward innovative uses of technology in teaching, research and service….the University needs to consider the criteria and standards used in the promotion and tenure process.
The Commission encourages each department and the University as a whole to consider whether faculty efforts in this area are recognized, valued, and/or encouraged.” November 2003 report of the University of Maine Commission on Information Technologies, accessed at
[http://www.umaine.edu/documents/CIT.pdf] on May 2, 2004.
[4] MLA Committee on Information Technology. “Guidelines for Evaluating Work with Digital Media in the Modern Languages.” 20 May 2000. ADE Bulletin 132 (2002): 94–95. 82, mirrored at
[http://www.mla.org/guidelines_evaluation_digital], accessed 2 January, 2007.
[5] A brief sampling of new media theorist-practitioners includes Simon Biggs (Cambridge University), Matthew Fuller (Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam), Mary Flanagan (Hunter), Alexander Galloway (NYU), Kenneth Goldberg (Berkeley), Eduardo Kac (Art Institute of Chicago), Natalie Jeremijenko (UCSD), Raphael Lozano-Hemmer (Karlstad University, Sweden), Lev Manovich (UCSD), Randall Packer (American University), Richard Rinehart (Berkeley), and Jeffrey Shaw (ZKM).
[6] National Research Council, Beyond Productivity: Information Technology, Innovation, and Creativity (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003), pp. 8-9.
[7] National Research Council, op. cit., p. 188.
[8] These estimates are from MIT’s Roger Malina (Director of Leonardo magazine) and the Daniel Langlois Foundation’s Alain Depocas (Director of the Centre for Documentation + Research), and are mirrored at
[http://cordova.asap.um.maine.edu/wiki/index.php/Standards_of_Recognition]
[9] The Interarchive project is a possible model for distributed publication; see
[http://newmedia.umaine.edu/interarchive]
[10] “Change in favor of a more capacious conception of scholarship, which we strongly endorse, should not mean ever-wider demands on faculty members, most especially those coming up for tenure and promotion.” MLA Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion, op. cit., p. 21.
[11] National Research Council, op. cit., pp. 8-9.
[12] National Research Council, op. cit., p. 188.
[13] Tim Brody and Stevan Harnad, “Earlier Web Usage Statistics as Predictors of Later Citation Impact”,
[http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/10647/], accessed 5 March 2005.
[14] This recent
[http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0504/msg00051.html]
rejoinder by Morlock Elloi on the
> If you have any past publications that might help me understand your point of view, I would gladly read them.
While I understand that in paidspeakerworld the weight of the argument is computed as (volume of publications) x (number of speeches), on nettime and elsewhere closer to reality arguments stand for themselves.
[15] Electronic and email texts also have a currency acknowledged by leading institutions in the field. As of December 21, 2005, one of the premiere bibliographic indices in new media, the Langlois Foundation’s CR+D database, included the following indexation for “Jon Ippolito”:
* Author of 10 documents
* Subject of 48 documents
* Participant to 21 events
* Organizer of 2 events
Of the 10 documents by the author indexed, 1 is from an email list and 2 are parts of Web sites. In the case of artist and critic Alexander Galloway, the relevance of his online texts is even more striking: although by 2005 he was the author of several journal articles and an important book from MIT Press, the two documents that represented his writing in the CR+D database were both from email lists.
[16] A statistically significant number of Google returns, eg > 30, may be a necessary but insufficient condition for confirming global impact.
[17] “In evaluating scholarship for tenure and promotion, committees and administrators must take responsibility for becoming fully aware both of the mechanisms of oversight and assessment that already govern the production of a great deal of digital scholarship and of the well-established role of new media in humanities research.
It is of course convenient when electronic scholarly editing and writing are clearly analogous to their print counterparts. But when new media make new forms of scholarship possible, those forms can be assessed with the same rigor used to judge scholarly quality in print media. We must have the flexibility to ensure that as new sources and instruments for knowing develop, the meaning of scholarship can expand and remain relevant to our changing times.” MLA Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion, op. cit., p. 46.
[http://newmedia.umaine.edu/interarchive/new_criteria_for_new_media.html]
