Last week Apple announced a free download of its “book authoring” software for iBooks, “iBook Author” – the PR is at
http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/
iBook Author appears to be an updated, more graphical and better integrated version of the free app authoring software tools for developers Apple has offered for a couple of years now, but that haven’t yet been well suited for more general users. It requires OSX 10.6.8, to which many Mac computers older than 5 or 6 years can’t be upgraded (if you have a Core Duo instead of a Core 2 Duo, for instance, you’re out of luck). Reviews are early and tentative and not worth linking to here as yet. But according to one report, the iBook Author format is proprietary instead of aimed at supporting open authoring of “digital book” formats, so the usual complaints are already flowing.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/how-apple-is-sabotaging-an-open-standard-for-digital-books/4378
Generally, if you want to take full advantage of proprietary features of a specific hardware/software platform, you’re likely to have a problem meeting “open” compatibility standards to some meaningful degree. So that complaint is hardly surprising.
But the pitch Apple is making is not to pre-empt open standards for “digital books” (yuck!) per se, and rather to prime educational multimedia publishing with better support for (of course) iPad-oriented educational multimedia (shades of Hypercard!), for educational markets. I’ll be upgrading to a new laptop soon (yes, my MacBook is that old!) and will be checking the software out soon. I’ll keep you posted.
Recently, I’ve been reading a number of articles talking about key concerns in digital humanities scholarship, especially concerning the current and potential collaborative/interdisciplinary nature of this work. There were three really terrific pieces in the recent edition of the MLA’s annual publication, Profession, including one by Steven Anderson and Tara McPherson from USC, addressing the challenges that non-traditional engagements in digital scholarship present for those working in traditional academic environments. I wanted to share one blog that includes some podcasts of this type of discussion as it’s relevant for all of us, regardless of our specific research areas.
This link is from Dan Cohen, an Associate Professor in the Department of History and Art History at George Mason University and the Director of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. It includes a recent presentation at the Scholar’s Lab at the University of Virginia. I look forward to discussing this with you all in the future!
I saw this story today about how Amazon has started a “Lending Library” for Kindle Users. As the article explains, this service is only open to kindle users with a Prime Membership, complicating notions of socio-economic classes associated with the use of lending libraries, and maybe this is something studies of digital (as compared with physical) libraries could look into. In the meantime, though, I think this development could be of interest to anyone working in library studies, since it expands the digital library-as-archive into the library-as-lending/borrowing-space.
Dr. Rita Raley, Associate Professor in the English Department of UCSB, and author of Tactical Media (Minnesota, 2009), has confirmed for an April 19 2012 talk.
We’ll post the room and time information as the event approaches.
We had to cancel the November 1 presentation by Alex Juhasz and Natalie Bookchin, but we’ve been able to re-schedule them for January 31 at 4 PM.
The event will be in HMNSS 1500 from 4:00-5:30pm, and refreshments will be served.
We’ll update site information as the event approaches.
This Sunday morning panel has two of our members and four relevant presentations ….
http://www.pamla.org/2011/sessions/comparative-media
Thanks to Eddie Eason for sharing this excellent story from The New York Times about the Occupy Wall Street protests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/sunday-review/wall-street-protest-shows-power-of-place.html?_r=3&emc=eta1
Natalie Bookchin, "Testament," 4-channel video installation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2009
This page archives our invitees for the quarter including links to their work, websites, and articles we will read in preparation for their talks.
11-1-11 . 4pm . HMNSS 1500 . refreshments served
This event has been rescheduled to January 31, 2012 from 4:00-5:30pm in HMNSS 1500
“Perpitube” with Alexandra Juhasz and Natalie Bookchin
Alex Juhasz is Professor of Media Studies at Pitzer College, Claremont, California. She will discuss her recent video-book Learning from YouTube published by MIT press and hosted by Vectors at USC.
Natalie Bookchin is a video and installation artist whose work is about “addressing conditions of mass connectivity and isolation and exploring the stories we are telling about ourselves and the world” (from her website). She is a member of the integrated media faculty at CalArts in Valencia.
Readings associated with this visit:
Juhasz, Alexandra. “Online Feminist Documentary Cyber-closet.” Media Fields Journal – Issue 3: Documentary and Space. Web. 04 Oct. 2011. <http://www.mediafieldsjournal.org/online-feminist-documentary-cy/>
“Out in Public: Natalie Bookchin in Conversation with Blake Stimson.” Rhizome. 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2011. <http://rhizome.org/editorial/2011/mar/9/out-public-natalie-bookchin-conversation-blake-sti/>
Additional Scholarship:
Tobias, James. Sync: Stylistics of Hieroglyphic Time. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP, 2010. pages 213-221.
Reading group associated with this visit:
We will meet Tuesday, October 25 at 4:30pm in HMNSS 2212 to discuss these texts relative to non-textual scholarship and other research interests. There will be a film screening of the OWLs, a project in which Alex Juhasz was a participant.
From the website:
Raised in the shadow of a “pathological lesbian” films like THE FOX, THE CHILDREN’S HOUR and THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE, the OWLs once embraced the utopian vision of Lesbian Nation. Now, approaching middle age, the revolution has eluded their dreams. Caught between a culture that still has no place for them, and a younger generation indifferent to their contributions, the OWLs face an emotionally complex set of circumstances that have yet to be compassionately and truthfully addressed.
Proceedings from this visit:
Will follow the talk…
Monica Viti is the Time Image in Antonioni's "Desserto Rosso"
1) Affect
This is our first topical reading group to discuss the concept of “affect” relative to its use in a Deleuzian context. This page will provide an archive with article links, bibliographical information, and proceedings on this project page.
Join us on Tuesday, 10/11, at 6 pm in HMNSS 2212 (English Dept. Conference Room) to discuss the circulated readings on theories of affect. April Durham will discuss the intellectual genealogy of affect from Spinoza through Deleuze and Guattari (Thanks April!!). We’ll then open it up for seminar style discussion of the readings. Contact Richard Hunt or April Durham with any questions.
For more information, visit the Reading Groups Projects Page.
