Wolfram|Alpha: computational knowledge web engine to be launched in May

Here I was, flipping over the sections of the Wolfram Research website (software company, developers of Mathematica software), documenting the launch of a web query engine supposed to revolutionize our way of accessing information on the web (thanks Mauricio for signalling this). Extensively hypertexting, I have come over the book A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram, founder and CEO of Wolfram Research. The book is entirely available online or can be bought in high-quality illustrated paperback version. The first feeling I had of this book, confirmed after flipping over some pages online, is that it does for the field of software engineering what Stephen Hawking’s book, A Brief History of Time (or the newer version A Briefer History of Time) does for the field of physics and astronomy: an incursion into an exciting though ivory-tower-confined field, accessible also for layman minds whose little scientific background is compensated by lots of curiosity for the new. For who is interested in an inquisitive perspective on potential future advances in software engineering, this might be an interesting resource.

The newest research outcome of Wolfram is WolframAlpha, a computational knowledge engine. What can a computational knowledge engine do? In short, it should be a revolutionary Google that not only produces the most relevant query results, but intelligently computes answers to queries. It is, in Stephen Wolfram’s view, the next step forward to semantic web. Wolfram adds, this engine is built on the knowledge advances brought by two landmarks in the history of Wolfram Research: A New Kind of Science (the book), and Mathematica (the software). More about WolframAlpha in the blog post published this month by Stephen Wolfram

Launch scheduled for May. See website
(You can also ask to test the engine before it is launched)

Paola’s defense: re-evaluation of a local cultural heritage site, the Baradello Castle

The Baradello Castle is a fortress in the North of Italy - Lombardy region, nearby the city of Como. Though a cultural heritage site rich in architectural value as well as historical significance (one of the early historical evidences dates back to 7th century AD), little communication efforts have been done to promote it or include it in the touristic circuits in the Lombardy region. As Paola's research points, the number of visitors to the castle has significantly dropped in the past decade. A re-evaluation of this cultural heritage site is currently considered as part of a global project of revival of the Regional Park Spina Verde, of which the Baradello Castle is part.
Paola has tried her hand at a communication strategy proposal for the Baradello Castle, and by extension, a strategy that can equally be applied to promoting local cultural heritage sites through both traditional and new media-based communication artefacts.
Her proposal includes a high-level communication strategy, aiming at giving enhanced visibility to the castle at local and regional level, allowing local people to re-discover and re-connect with this cultural heritage symbol, and including it in the touristic circuits of Lombardy and Como city. In specifics, Paola proposed a sum of communication artefacts to be developed for on-site (for the castle premises, and in local areas of high touristic affluence) and online use. The core of her proposal is an interactive storytelling application in two versions, one for educational usage and a second, informative version, for a general public.

Image: snapshot of one page in the storytelling application, from the mock-up produced by Paola

Federica’s defense, Opera as intercultural communication device

Federica has conducted an internship at the Fondazione Arena di Verona (Verona, Italy http://www.arena.it/), and participated in the organization of various Opera shows. Her thesis was inspired by this experience and her passion for Opera. The research hypothesis was that Opera can act as an intercultural communication device, as it manages to transmit meaning irrespective of language barriers, through elements that go from scenography, to costumes, characters mimicry, and nonverbal communication. The core of the research is a case-study on La Traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi. The choice of this particular opera show is motivated first by the special place La Traviata holds in the Grand Opera history “Verdi created a new construction-deconstruction of the traditional scenes: not only in the story told, but also in the musical solutions, chosen in order to present a truthful passage without rhetorical artifice and in theatrical real-time. Traviata revolutionized the history of opera and quickly became one of the masterpieces of Verdi’s popular trilogy (Trovatore, Rigoletto, Traviata), certainly the most modern and relevant.” (quote from Federica's thesis). La Traviata has caused bewilderement and even fury or rejection in its audiences, along its historical representations from 1800 onwards. This has resulted also in a richness of visionary representations of the play from various directors who have put forward their own interpretation in its staging.
Federica's analysis took into consideration various representations of the play, from the ones adapted to modern and contemporary times, to those faithful to the original version by Verdi; the focus was on the production of La Traviata staged at Arena di Verona in 2004 and directed by Graham Vick.
Click here for a selection of pictures from Fede’s defense

Repost: Shortness - Call for Submissions

The submissions deadline may be a little tight, but regardless it seems to be a very interesting conference. Hosted by the Tate Modern, the conference focuses on one topic: shortness, in all senses of the word.

shortness - a very short conference and a very long dinner

Deadline Friday 20 March 2009

This event will bring together practitioners and theoreticians of the humanities, arts and sciences to extol or berate, to discuss, explore and explain shortness in all its spatial and temporal manifestations.

Topics that Shortness aims to cover include: aphorisms, txt msgs, short attention spans, nanophilology, music samples, ephemeral relationships, short narratives, punch lines, orgasms and other short-lived entities and phenomena (insects and fashion).

The conference itself will only last a few hours and will be followed by a very long dinner. Guests will be entertained by short dinner speeches and the whole event will be supplemented by short films and various interventions.

This call invites submissions for presentations or performances of up to 7 minutes to take place during the long dinner. Please note that we cannot cover any expenses incurred nor can we accommodate installations.

Speakers include DJ Spooky, Sadie Plant, Tom Shakespeare, Clare Wigfall and Steven Connor amongst others. The Compère for the dinner will be Nicholas Parsons.

Please send an abstract of no more than 200 words to the organisers and include a short bio of no more than 100 words.

Contact:short.at.tate@googlemail.com

Shortness is organised by Irini Marinaki, Konstantinos Stefanis, Ricarda Vidal and Tate Modern Public Programmes in collaboration with The London Consortium and the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, School of Advanced Study (University of London).

Blippr

Following the hype of Twitter, there is now another social networking applications that allows users to post reviews in 160 characters or less. By adding your own comments to a simple rating mechanism on the scale from "I love it" to "I hate it", you can publish your reviews (called a 'blip') to a live stream of blips created by fellow blipprs. One can also publish their blips to other micro-blogging sites such as Twitter and identi.ca.