Category Archives: xenophilia

Who let all those Ghanaians on the Internet? Jenna Burrell on internet exclusion

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Ethan

Jenna Burrell, assistant professor at the School of Information at UC Berkeley, is speaking today at the Berkman Center on her research on internet usage in Ghana, the subject of her (excellent) book Invisible Users: Youth in the Internet Cafes … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Berkman, Developing world, xenophilia | 8 Comments

When the world is your dance teacher

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Ethan

In 2005, Matt Harding posted a video on the internet. It’s a compilation of clips of him dancing – badly – in locations around the world. It was his video postcard of an extended walkabout, a vacation that began in … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, xenophilia | 33 Comments

CHI keynote: Desperately Seeking Serendipity

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Ethan

I’m giving the closing keynote at CHI 2011 this afternoon. I’m thrilled to have the chance to share some thoughts with some of the smartest researchers and practitioners working on questions of human/computer interaction, and perhaps to poke some to … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Media, xenophilia | 52 Comments

Algorithms, Unbirthdays and Rewiring Facebook

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Ethan

Tuesday was my birthday, and I spent the day largely offline. That meant that Wednesday morning, my email inbox featured hundreds of messages from Facebook, each alerting me to a birthday greeting on my Wall. (I’m an infrequent Facebook user, … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, Media, xenophilia | 10 Comments

Games that help us wander

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Ethan

Paul-Henry Chombart de Lauwe’s map of a young woman’s journeys through Paris, 1957 In 1957, French sociologist Paul-Henry Chombart de Lauwe made a map of Paris: “Trajects pendant un an d’une jeune fille du XVIe arrondissement”. It’s an idiosyncratic map, … Continue reading →

Posted in ideas, xenophilia | 10 Comments

Wayne Marshall on Nu Whirled Music… and my thoughts, too…

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Ethan

For Tuesday’s Berkman lunch, we’re blessed with a visit from DJ, blogger and ethnomusicologist Wayne Marshall, one of my favorite chroniclers of the future of digital culture. His talk is titled “The Unstable Platforms and Uneasy Peers of Brave New … Continue reading →

Posted in Berkman, ideas, xenophilia | 4 Comments

Counting International Connections on Facebook

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Ethan

My friend Onnik Krikorian has become a Facebook evangelist. Onnik, a Brit of Armenian descent, living in Armenia, is the Global Voices editor for the Caucuses, which means he’s responsible for rounding up blogs from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan as well … Continue reading →

Posted in Geekery, xenophilia | 19 Comments

ROFLCon: From Weird to Wide

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Ethan

An audio version of danah and my keynote is now available for download online. I recommend a background of lolcats – preferably multilingual ones – as you listen. I gave a dozen public talks last month, and it’s possible that … Continue reading →

Posted in Developing world, Geekery, ideas, Just for fun, xenophilia | 15 Comments

Makmende’s so huge, he can’t fit in Wikipedia

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Ethan

“After platinum, albums go Makmende” “They once made a makmende toilet paper, but there was a problem: It wouldn’t take shit from anybody!!!” “Makmende hangs his clothes on a safaricom line and when they dry he stores them in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Geekery, ideas, Just for fun, xenophilia | 42 Comments

Asashoryu resigns. Will sumo ever globalize?

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Ethan

Here’s a story I missed while I was out with eye surgery: Asashoryu, one of the greatest sumo wrestlers in history, has retired. And needless to say, for anyone who follows sumo: it’s not quite that simple as that. Indeed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sumo, xenophilia | 8 Comments