Pixels, bits and urban space. Observing the intersection of the space of information with actual physical space in augmented reality smartphone applications and peripheral vision displays

Today the urban environment can be seen as a mix of technically mediated elements and actual physical locations — the city is techno–synthetically composed. The method of observing the production of space, as asserted by Lefebvre, must take into account physical and non–physical spaces, produced out of the coexistence of everyday life and activities with the space of information. This paper explores the merging of bits and bytes with the urban environment and uses augmented reality applications for the smartphone and peripheral vision displays as case studies to illustrate how the method of visually layering digital graphics on to the image of actual space produces a new kind of spatial commodification

"We can remember it for you": location, memory, and commodification in social networking sites

This article explores the spatial self through the performative aspects of location sharing and geotagging in the process of self-representation on social networking sites (SNSs). Based on the legacy of early experimentations with location-based technologies for social interaction, the article asserts that the representation of location in SNSs has more temporal than spatial attributes. The article explores the immediacy of networks and the different kinds of temporality encountered in SNSs to address the commodification of geotagged content uploaded on SNSs. Location-based data are valuable commodities bought and sold in the market. Therefore, the act of archiving memories on SNSs is commodified and performed within the predetermined functions and actions set within the SNSs’ interfaces. SNSs devise ways to keep users constantly interacting with the present moment in time and simultaneously create memories of the recent past while disclosing personal data that companies use for profit

Athens as a hybrid city. An analysis and exploration of the rhythms of everyday life and the lived experience as documented in locative-mediated projects produced in Athens.

This paper explores Lefebvre’s theory of Rhythmology using works and examples of locative mediated projects made in Athens. All these projects in different ways document the lived experience and are testaments to the ever changing rhythms of the city of Athens. They use the city of Athens as a blank canvas in which to enact social activity mediated by locative media applications and social media. These kinds of projects are based on documentation, mapping and sharing of ideas, and creating places for social interaction. They are tools for the rhythmanalysist - to formulate and trace Athens’s rhythms and cultural identity

Open data today and tomorrow: the present challenges and possibilities of open data

This paper argues that because of the present challenges of open data, existing datasets such as governmental open data are limiting the potential possibilities of open data application development. The primary challenges in using open data are the formats in which open data are made available, the digital literacy required to exploit it, and the copyright issues that arise from commercial use. Hackathons provide some creative solutions but are reserved for the 'techno-elite'. In contrast, a new trend is developing in sensor-based purpose-gathered citizen-led open data that can be used to create meaningful interactions with participants and develop open data applications and systems that can serve a particular local area and group of people. This paper draws from the experiences of the members of the London-based collective Cybersalon and the 2014-2015 HyperHabitat series of events, projects, presentations, and hackathons that investigated the changing nature of our living environments

User generated content: an exploration and analysis of the temporal qualities and elements of authenticity and immediacy in UGC

User Generated Content (UGC) is the term used to describe videos and pictures taken by the public and shown on prominent news corporations, the press and TV news. UGC as evidence and its properties of immediacy and eyewitness quality allow for this genre to become an integral part of experiencing a news event. UGC’s significance is formulated by its evidential power and not because of its photojournalistic qualities. UGC is made significant because of its eyewitness qualities, immediacy and assumed authenticity. UGC becomes an established narrative convention in TV news retaining its qualities of sharing a common experience and successfully providing information to a global audience

Kino phone: location, broadcast and autonomy.

A new kind of social space is created out of the transmission and reception of data between mobile phone users. A private communicational space arising from the city’s striated space, a social space born out of a new telecommunications technology. This virtual but real communicational space can be thought as a subversive space, a decentralised network where users generate and exchange their own data, taking pictures, making phone calls, accessing the Net. This paper is exploring the creation and appropriation of this space by its users and investigates broadcasting models where people are be able to send their text and other multi-media elements and display them onto designated local public screens

Researching YouTube

‘Researching YouTube’ introduces the special issue of Convergence which arose out of an international academic conference on YouTube that was held in London at Middlesex University in September 2016. The conference aimed to generate a robust overview of YouTube’s changing character and significance after its first ten years of development by creating a productive dialogue between speakers from different disciplines and cultures, and between YouTube-specific research and wider debates in media and social research on identity, aesthetics, politics, celebrity, production practices, business models, and research methods in digital culture. This introduction is structured around four themes that help to contextualise the papers that were selected from the many submitted for inclusion in the special issue and offers a substantial overview of the field of research: Participatory Culture and User-Generated Content; YouTube as a Hybrid Commercial Space; Vlogging and YouTube Celebrity; The ‘Mystery’ of the Algorithm and Digital Methods of Research

Data and the city – accessibility and openness. a cybersalon paper on open data

This paper showcases examples of bottom–up open data and smart city applications and identifies lessons for future such efforts. Examples include Changify, a neighbourhood-based platform for residents, businesses, and companies; Open Sensors, which provides APIs to help businesses, startups, and individuals develop applications for the Internet of Things; and Cybersalon’s Hackney Treasures. a location-based mobile app that uses Wikipedia entries geolocated in Hackney borough to map notable local residents. Other experiments with sensors and open data by Cybersalon members include Ilze Black and Nanda Khaorapapong's The Breather, a "breathing" balloon that uses high-end, sophisticated sensors to make air quality visible; and James Moulding's AirPublic, which measures pollution levels. Based on Cybersalon's experience to date, getting data to the people is difficult, circuitous, and slow, requiring an intricate process of leadership, public relations, and perseverance. Although there are myriad tools and initiatives, there is no one solution for the actual transfer of that data

Hydrogen-Bonded Networks Based on Cobalt(II), Nickel(II), and Zinc(II) Complexes of N,N'-Diethylurea

N,N'-diethylurea (DEU) was employed as a ligand to form the octahedral complexes [M(DEU)6]2+ (M=Co, Ni and Zn). Compounds [Co(DEU)6](BF4)2 (1), [Co(DEU)6](CIO4)2 (2), [Ni(DEU)6](CIO4)2 (3), and [Zn(DMU)6](CIO4)2 (4) have been prepared from the reactions of DEU and the appropriate hydrated metal(II) salts in EtOH in the presence of 2,2-dimethoxypropane. Crystal structure determinations demonstrate the existence of [M(DEU)6]2+ cations and CIO4− (in 2–4) or BF4− (in 1) counterions. The [M(DEU)6]2+ cations in the solid state are stabilized by a pseudochelate effect due to the existence of six strong intracationic N-H ⋯ O(DEU) hydrogen bonds. The [M(DEU)6]2+ cations and counterions self-assemble to form hydrogen-bonded 2D architectures in 2–4 that conform to the kgd (kagome dual) network, and a 3D hydrogen-bonded rtl (rutile) network in 1. The nature of the resulting supramolecular structures is influenced by the nature of the counter-ion. The complexes were also characterized by vibrational spectroscopy (IR)