new reviews in cyberculture studies (june 2009)

each month, RCCS Reviews pumps out free, full-length reviews of books about contemporary media and culture. books of the month for june 2009 are:


Digital Shock: Confronting the New Reality
Author: Herve Fischer (Translated by Rhonda Mullins)
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006
Review 1: Jamie Switzer

Internet Inquiry: Conversations about Methods
Editor: Annette N. Markham, Nancy K. Baym
Publisher: Sage, 2008
Review 1: Anne Beaulieu
Review 2: Yana Breindl
Review 3: Luca Tateo

Las Metáforas de Internet
Author: Edgar Gómez Cruz
Publisher: Editorial Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 2007
Review 1: María Lourdes De Panbehchi
Review 2: Javier Gómez Murcia (en Espanol)
Author Response: Edgar Gómez Cruz

enjoy. there's a bit more where that came from.

getting started with twitter in 14 easy steps

on monday, june 1, from 10 am to noon, i'll be leading a workshop called getting started with twitter. the workshop is part of USF's center for instruction & technology and is for USF faculty, staff, and librarians.

this blog post serves as a rough outline for what we'll most likely be covering. comments and feedback encouraged.

getting started with twitter

intro: who are we?

basic twitter

1. creating a profile

2. following other people

3. tweeting

4. replying

5. RTing

advanced twitter

6. linking (with tinyurl)

7. favoriting

8. DMing

9. searching twitter

10. finding yourself (or the @yourname link)

enhanced twitter

11. tweetdeck, tweetie, and apps like that

12. integrating twitter with facebook

twitter tips

13. thinking about thin and thick tweets

14. already existing information optimally uploaded, or aeiou

wrap-up: collective brainstorming session about how each of us may use twitter in our academic (or not so academic) lives.

update: here's a photograph of today's workshop participants!

congratulations class of 2009!

to the class of 2009 - celebrate your accomplishments, find a place where you can make a difference, and make us proud.

last class of eating san francisco

for our last class, the students and i in eating san francisco prepared a final feast. the assignment was for each of us to prepare a dish that was a) delicious and b) made from local, seasonal ingredients.

after a semester of delicious meals - in north beach, the mission, the castro, chinatown, and cole valley - this meal, the one we made collectively, was by far the most delicious.


(to learn more about what was served, roll your mouse over the annotated version on flickr.)

in addition to cooking a delicious meal, my students made media documenting their culinary creations. here's what they made:

Marco Abellera, Locally Prepared Dish
Chris Begley, Locally made Fruit n Nut Couscous for the last ESF of the year
Sam Blackburn, ESF's Final Feast. Best Meal of the Year!
Jessica Elkus, Napoleons!
Teresa Garcia, ESF: Pollan and me (and ESF: Final class banquet)
Jessie Hill, Localvore
Michael Kao, Local food
Stephanie Luu, ESF-Cooking Your Own Local Food
Kelli McCloskey, Cook A Delicious Meal For The Fiesta!
Austin O'Kane, Local, Organic and Everything a Meal Should Be…
Laura Plantholt, Cooking with Seasonal, Regional Food (and flickr set a delicious seasonal, regional dish)
Joel Weston, Turkey and Papas
Ashley Williamson, Strawberry Shortcake!
Ali Winston, ESF: The Last Supper


wow, ESFers, what a class, thank you. let's keep eating san francisco.

first and last class of digital media production

back in late january, during the first day of class for digital media production, i wrote in chalk all of the tools and platforms we'd be using spring semester. under the names of the tools and platforms, i made two - and sometimes three - columns based on things like use vs don't use, know it vs don't know it, and read vs write. then i asked students to get out of their seats, approach the blackboard, and record, in chalk, their start-of-the-semester levels of knowledge and experience of each of these digital media platforms.


fifteen weeks later, on the last day of class last thursday, i re-wrote in chalk the names of the tools and platforms. i put an X through yelp and video because we ended up not covering them. for about an hour and a half, the students and i discussed each of the tools and shared our likes and dislikes. we collectively brainstormed and agreed upon appropriate questions and statements for each of the tools and platforms. for example, do you plan to keep using twitter? yes or no. each time we agreed upon a question, i asked the students to get out of their seats, approach the blackboard, and record, in chalk, their positions. when we were finished, the blackboard looked like this:


thanks, DMP, for an excellent and prolific semester.

an academic miracle

next week, classes finish. then finals. then graduation. and then an academic miracle - the seasons change - and spring becomes summer. i love summer.

5 ways my students use twitter

this semester, all of my students (12 students in digital media production; 17 in eating san francisco) are using twitter.

i require them to do two things on twitter. first, for each of them to follow everyone else in the class. second, once they have completed a class project (a video, a blog post, a flickr set), they must tweet about it and include a link to it. other than that, they are free to use twitter, or not use twitter, in any way they choose.

over the semester, my students have come up with some really creative and collaborative uses of twitter. i'm impressed.

here's 5 ways my students use twitter

1. to announce and link to a blog post about one's role and contributions to the campus newspaper.


2. to set up - and say thanks for - interviews with people for class projects.


3. to negotiate dinner reservation times for class field trip.


4. to announce and publicize events taking place on campus.


5. to share readings and resources relevant to last night's class discussion.


and


(my students also, from time to time, use twitter in completely inane ways; maybe one day i'll blahg about that.)

last project and final feast assignments

last project and final feast for eating san francisco

last night, we made our way to zazie in cole valley for dinner and to mcdonalds on haight for dessert.



1. working solo or collaboratively with others, create and share a story about our evening. your story must involve zazie, mcdonalds, and michael pollan's omnivore's dilemma. make sure you use pollan in a significant way. as always, your project must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work. when finished, and no later than class on wednesday, thick tweet your project.

2. for our last class on wednesday, make sure you have read pollan's omnivore's dilemma and be ready to discuss it.

3. also, working solo or collaboratively with others, prepare a delicious dish for wednesday's class. your delicious dish must be made from local, seasonal ingredients. if you don't know what that means, find out. also, when preparing your meal, consider shopping for local, seasonal ingredients at USF's farmer's market on sunday. document the process. as always, your project must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work. when finished, and no later than next friday (may 8 15) at 5 pm, thick tweet your project.

student made media about a field trip to chinatown

last week, eating san francisco took a rare saturday field trip and found ourselves in chinatown. students were assigned to make media about their experiences.


here's what they made:

Marco Abellera, China Town - Eating San Francisco
Chris Begley and Ali Winston, Saturday Morning in Chinatown
Sam Blackburn, ESF Does Dim Sum! (plus flickr set)
Teresa Garcia, ESF Chinatown Project
Jessie Hill, Phoenix Talons and a Little Bit of Heart
Michael Kao, Chinatown
Stephanie Luu, Eating San Francisco-Dim Sum
Kelli McCloskey, Chintatown Project
Nick Minnott, Tin How Temple/ Chinatown/ Chicken Feet
Austin O'Kane, Dim Sum Experience
Katie Olson, Adventures through Chinatown
Laura Plantholt, Dim Sum for Dim Dummies
Joel Weston, Just a Tourist
Ashley Williamson, Good Fortune in Chinatown

chinatown project

chinatown project assignment for eating san francisco

yesterday, we field tripped to chinatown. the chinatown crüe arranged for a tour of the tin how temple, dim sum brunch at new asia, and a brief visit at the golden gate fortune cookie factory.


1. working solo or collaboratively with others, create and share a story.

2. your story must involve food.

3. your story must involve chinatown.

4. your story must teach us at least one thing about food. teach us something interesting, something fascinating.

5. be creative.

6. as always, your project must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work.

7. when finished, and no later than class on wednesday, thick tweet your project.

homework for tuesday's class

homework for tuesday's class in digital media production

tuesday's class will be a wikipedia workshop day. if you have a laptop, bring it to class. if you don't have one, try to borrow one from your roommate or friend.

also, prior to class, please:

1. create an account on wikipedia. you may use your name, your full name, or a pseudonym.

2. start an account on google docs. this requires having a google account.

3. watch common craft's google docs in plain english.

4. learn how to use google docs.

5. cut and paste the section or subsection of USF's wikipedia page you are working on to google docs. save it and be ready to edit and add to it in class on tuesday.

6. in class on tuesday, using zotero, wikipedia, and google docs, we will individually and collectively work on USF's wikipedia page.

a talk about the future

tomorrow i'll be giving a talk as part of the communication and the future conference at cal state east bay. if things go as planned, i hope to cover four things.

exhibit a: twitter assignment

exhibit b: cook a delicious meal assignment

exhibit c: a community garden on campus


exhibit d: jerusalem artichokes


update: a photograph of the audience:

zotero project

zotero project assignment for digital media production

1. visit, download, and familiarize yourself with zotero.

2. take some time with some of the site's learning tools, including the quick start guide and the video demo on the front page.

3. add to zotero the library/print resources you found from last week's assignment.

4. find and add to zotero between 5-10 online resources that will help you with your section of USF's wikipedia page.

5. discover at least one interesting feature of zotero and be ready to share it with the rest of class on thursday.

hint: take some time with zotero - it's more powerful and more useful than you may first think.

rule: if you have no work to demo, do not come to class.

the earth's journey - a USF dance performance for earth day

on wednesday, april 22 and friday, april 24, a number of USF students will be performing a dance called "the earth's journey" in recognition and celebration of earth day.

the dance performances are as follows:

wednesday, april 22, 6:30 pm in the dance studio in koret center.

friday, april 24, 9:30 am in the dance studio in koret center. (please note that this performance will begin in the dance studio and then move out to other parts of campus. therefore, make sure you are in the dance studio by 9:30 am.)

for students enrolled in digital media production or eating san francisco, please try your best to attend one or both of the performances, document it, and share publicly your findings and reactions through a flickr set, blog post, and/or video.

educating minds and hearts (and bellies!) to change the world - a saturday talk for recently admitted students

this afternoon, i'm giving a talk to recently admitted students to USF. with luck, my talk will correspond roughly to some of the pictures and projects below.







update: pics of the admitted students!

cook a delicious meal project

cook a delicious meal project assignment for eating san francisco


1. cook a delicious meal.

2. you may cook your delicious meal solo or with others.

3. you must share your delicious meal with at least one other person.

4. document the process.

5. as always, your project must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work.

6. when finished, and no later than next thursday night, tweet your project.

wikipedia project assignment, part 1

wikipedia project assignment, part 1 for digital media production

although we will continue learning new topics and tools, the majority of our remaining time in digital media production will be spent working individually and collaboratively to edit, improve, and extend USF's wikipedia page.


1. select one topic or task that you wish to work on to improve USF's wikipedia page. topics can include existing sections or subsections or entirely new sections. tasks can include editing the wikipedia page, adding photographs, designing maps, etc. you can select any topic or task as long as you find it interesting.

2. find at least 2-3 interesting, relevant, and credible offline sources related to your topic. we spent much of today's class discussing what makes good and bad sources - check your notes! we will have plenty of time to find online sources but for now we are looking for relevant and credible library and archival sources.

3. consult the list of librarian liaisons at gleeson library, select at least one librarian whose expertise relates to your topic, and arrange to meet him or her within the next week or so. like college students, librarians are busy people - plan ahead.

4. begin to brainstorm ways that you can integrate some form or forms of crowdsourcing to improve your research. take some time to think about this. consider taking a walk while thinking about this. share your budding ideas with friends to get feedback. be creative.

5. in class on thursday, be ready to demo your topic or task, your 2-3 sources, and your selection of a librarian liaison. and be ready to share your crowdsourcing ideas.

hint: select a topic or task that interests you.

rule: if you have no work to demo, do not come to class.

castro project

castro project assignment for eating san francisco

1. two weeks ago, we read and discussed gayle s. rubin's "the miracle mile: south of market and gay male leather, 1962-1997." then we formed into groups to brainstorm topics for our upcoming walkabout and dinner in the castro.

2. last week, we field tripped to the castro. the castro crüe arranged for us to meet at and tour the castro theater, hear a brief lecture and tour the GLBT historical society museum, and eat and drink at the sausage factory.




3. now, working collaboratively within your group, create and share a story about the castro.

4. be sure to use original media material - your own photographs, video, words, interviews, ephemera - in your story.

5. be sure to use at least one photograph taken by one of your classmates outside your group. be sure to cite or, better yet, link to that classmate's work.

6. be sure to include original research, using two or three relevant, credible, and creative sources. if relevant to your story, consider using rubin's "the miracle mile" as one of your sources.

7. be sure to work together. the more you work together, the better your work will be. trust me.

8. as always, your story must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work.

9. sometime before class on wednesday, thick tweet your group's castro project.

mapping haight ashbury assignment

mapping haight ashbury assignment for digital media production


1. over the course of spring semester, you have learned how to share photos via flickr, how to share ideas via blogs, and how share your work via google maps. now is the time to work and create collaboratively.

2. last tuesday, we formed into groups of three. last thursday, we took a field trip to haight ashbury.

3. working in groups, annotate a single google map of haight ashbury. the map should reflect your individual efforts, your group's efforts, and, most importantly, the class-as-a-whole's efforts.

4. the map should incorporate the design and story-telling strategies we have discussed throughout the semester. how you all make this happen is up to all of you.

5. although the map will reflect the work and perspectives of all of you, it should have a single or unitary design. again, how you all make this happen is up to all of you.

6. one of the key points of this assignment is to learn how to work together creatively, effectively, and collaboratively. another key point of this assignment is to collectively create something inspiring with very little input and guidance from me. good luck.

7. once the map is finished, share your work with a thick tweet that includes a link to the map.

8. be prepared to demo your collective work in class on tuesday. (our lunch field trip, originally scheduled for tuesday, will be rescheduled.)

hint: the more you work together, the better your work will be. trust me.

rule: if you have not contributed to the map, do not come to class on tuesday.

update! here's what my students created:


View Documenting Haight Street in a larger map

how-to homestead hoe-down this saturday night

join friend and USF colleague melinda stone and the how-to homestead crew for a down-home hootenanny of movies, tastings, song, and dance!

what?!? a how-to homestead hoe-down
where?!? other cinema, 992 valencia @ 21st, san francisco
when?!? this saturday, april 4, 8:30 pm
what's the cost?!? $10
what's the cost if you bring homemade beer, whiskey, or pickles and share with others during intermission?!? $6


the evening begins with new homesteading movie shorts, including melinda stone's "wheat for the people" (with live music by didimao), maya donelson's "graze the roof," becca brenner's "whey fermented vegetables" (with tastings at intermission), mariana lopez's "how to make a milk-crate container bed," and more surprises.

then, intermission! this includes free tastings of home-made beer, booze, fermented vegetables, and other homestead goodies. intermission also includes erik knetzen, co-author of the urban homestead.

finally, clear the chairs for dancing and singing with the goat family, a nuevo-traditional jug band on the old-timey exuberance and infectious tip.