[nodel-discuss] nodel news mailing list july experiment proposal

Tue Oct 13 00:00:53 CEST 2009

I get the point that the db design is important but I'd say equally  
important as the visualisation. NODE.London is primarily about media  
arts which for me means it's about technology and it's aesthetic, so  
it's important that the website is a shining example of a good  
looking and functioning tool - it should be really easy to use, and  
really easy to understand.

I agree that the map element is crucial to the In Residence season,  
and this would be a good way to kick of a brief to who ever designs  
it. Which is making me wonder how is the site going to get skinned  
and by who? Was there budget for this?

Alex - couldn't see your sketch attached I think it got scrubbed, can  
you stick it on the wiki?

Julie
x

On 7 Oct 2009, at 17:44, David Upton wrote:

> the most important thing is to get the data - firstly to get the  
> database
> design right so we can hold it, and then to consider how we are  
> going to
> actually collect and enter the data. Hopefully users will do most  
> of this
> for us.
>
> visualisation repurposing and munging the data will follow. I don't  
> think we
> should try to be too definitive about how it will be sued at this  
> stage:
> ideas will occur to us (or others) later on as the site develops  
> and is
> used.
>
> I'd quite like to see much of the 'raw' data exposed as much as  
> possible
> through an API, so people can repurpose it more easily, but this is  
> maybe
> somewhere down the track. (If we have to choose a method for  
> passing data, I
> vote for JSON, but as part of a proper API please.)
>
> I agree that we shd use open street map rather than google maps  
> (with the
> proviso that it isn't always completely accurate, even in London).
>
>
> David
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "lisa haskel" <lisa at southspace.org>
> To: "alex haw" <alexhawchecksmail at yahoo.co.uk>
> Cc: <nodel-discuss at one.server1.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [nodel-discuss] nodel news mailing list july experiment
> proposal
>
>
> hi alex and all,
>
> thanks for the comments... all good points and they'll get attention.
>
> for now, i'd like to make one more general comment:
>
> yes, in visual terms the data is very un-explored.  but i'd turn your
> main point around a bit:
>
> what data sets would you (and others) like exposed in "raw" form? and
> what might that "raw" form be?
>
> we discussed this in the very first meeting: maybe enabling people to
> make lots of different visualisations of the data would be the most
> interesting way to go.  certainly we discussed how the "map", and the
> google map in particular can be very over-determining. all the data is
> there.. how shall we expose it to applications via urls?  xml? json?
> something else??
>
> you have mentioned a few sets of data already. what else? any comments
> from others?
>
>
> best to all,
>
> lisa
>
> (remember you can also now access these discussions at:
> http://nodel.southspace.org/discussion/forums/discuss)
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 4:26 PM, alex haw  
> <alexhawchecksmail at yahoo.co.uk>
> wrote:
>> hi guys,
>>
>> good to see a bunch at the nodel meeting last night.
>> great work on the website lisa.
>> i thought i'd give very brief feedback, & will try to not make the
>> suggestions too graphics-obsessed ;) :
>> please forgive my forthright opinionatedness (& neologism) ;)
>>
>> 1 could we simplify HEADINGS into just ~ LON & ME - top ands bottom -
>> lists on left have awkward middle section that seems to me to fit  
>> above
>> (eg RSS feed as tab next to events, 'discuss' belonging to  
>> node.london
>> too...)
>>
>> 2 the MAP is to me the crucial core of this all - the web of our  
>> nodes,
> our
>> collector - but lost right now.
>> i'd suggest (graphics, i know) having it as a transparent underlay  
>> to the
>> main page, and as generally our core focus rather than dreaded  
>> reams of
> text
>> (like this ;)) -
>> london's our playing field, our centre of operations, our hub, our
>> gameboard and meeting point, and it'd be great to see that visualised
>> immediately, at a glance;
>> if people spend on average 20secs max on webpages, how can we get  
>> them to
>> get sense of our extent and complexity and interest at first glance?
>> shouldn't the idea of a 'homepage' conevy the networks of our homes?
>>
>> 3 all the components of top list - nodel or LON or whatever -  
>> could then
> be
>> clicked on to appear on the map, like layers in Google Earth etc;
>> a time slider could scrub through events from past to future;
>> a 'network' graphic could actually SHOW interconectivity, linking  
>> artists
>> to venues and events and groups etc;
>> this all seems to be currently radically underrealised, given the  
>> data is
>> or will be there
>>
>> 4 would be great to visualise nodel REAL-TIME; who's online, which  
>> groups
>> are meeting NOW, which SHOWS & PROJECTS are up...
>> (NB1 a simple idea though complex code would be to have the map  
>> navigable
>> in 3D so that the 'plane' of london is a real-time slice,
>> and as you tilt you see events past beneath it and future events  
>> floating
>> above it, all extruded from the locations they'll happen at.
>> something deep undergound took place years ago; a high balloon is  
>> to come
>> but far off and a tall extrusion will continue for a while, etc.)
>> (NB2 if geo-location seems to be over-specific, passe and  
>> fetishistic, at
>> least it conveys more than minimal rectangles and this version  
>> privileges
>> temporality equally)
>>
>>
>> on the nodel season, i like the ideas being generated;  
>> graphically, i note
>> that the word IN is already IN resIdeNce, and attach a very crap  
>> sk of
> this.
>> note also - a million others doubtless have already - that the 'IO  
>> of 2010
>> is v binary and on/off -
>> nice metaphor for the co-located switch between dormancy and  
>> action, in
> and
>> out, us & them all belonging on the same plane, toggling to and  
>> fro....
>>
>> my best, alex
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> alex haw . .: atmos :. . 14 bacon st. london e1 6lf uk. +44 (0) 
>> 7815 040
> 619
>> skype: atmos-alexhaw
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: lisa haskel <lisa at southspace.org>
>> To: Saul Albert <saul at theps.net>
>> Cc: nodel-discuss at one.server1.org
>> Sent: Wednesday, 17 June, 2009 11:13:10
>> Subject: Re: [nodel-discuss] nodel news mailing list july experiment
>> proposal
>>
>> hi saul, all,
>>
>> I think if we put our heads together to work out what we really need
>> we can automate alot of this, eg. all discuss or announce posts going
>> to a drupal forum, people choosing to receive updates either by email
>> or rss, possibly also tagging and categorisation.
>>
>> We will need to think about the implications for the drupal site, eg.
>> determine what are the kinds of posts that will come and and where
>> should they go (announcements to be added to the calendar,
>> discussions, calls for proposals etc) ? we will need to make sure  
>> that
>> the web site is a suitable container for all of these. Will we need
>> to migrate all list members to the drupal site (quite possible if we
>> decide its necessary)? How shall we tag the new content coming in by
>> email?
>>
>> There will be other questions for the site that will come up. I can
>> research this and shall we discuss on july 8th?
>>
>> Its a desirable plan for sure and i completely agree that the mailing
>> list is a great strength; from my point of view, we should make sure
>> that the site can handle this new content flow nicely before  
>> embarking
>> on this. it should not be difficult but requires thought and a little
>> work.
>>
>> bests
>> lisa
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 10:37 AM, Saul Albert<saul at theps.net> wrote:
>>> Dear nodel-discuss people,
>>>
>>> There are currently 81 nodel-discuss subscribers. There are  
>>> currently
>>> over 600 subscribers to news-l, node london's announcement list.  
>>> This
>>> is actually the major asset of node.london as a cultural entity.
>>>
>>> Although it is possible to follow both lists as RSS feeds via a
>>> mail->rss service (see http://wiki.nodel.org), it seems like a  
>>> good idea
>>> to migrate all event/call/announcements to the website, and to
>>> consolidate the discussions on the site too.
>>>
>>> So - I have a proposal that will require some volunteer time from  
>>> some
>>> of you, and could be discussed here.
>>>
>>> I propose that for the month of July, we close down the news-l
>>> announcement list, and a group of volunteer moderators posts those
>>> events to the new node.london website, then sends a digest to the  
>>> list.
>>> It might look something like: http://tinyurl.com/nq77jo
>>>
>>> This will involve:
>>>
>>> - Someone (you?) signing up to be a guest moderator, and  
>>> receiving about
>>> 10 emails, then posting them to a website. It should take 1-2 hours.
>>>
>>> - Transferring the node.london test website from
>>> http://nodel.southspace.org to the main domain (nodel.org), or
>>> beta.nodel.org or something
>>>
>>> - Someone (you?) responding to all emails to the announcement list,
>>> encouraging people to post directly to the website next time.
>>>
>>> What do people think? Would anyone volunteer to be a guest moderator
>>> for the month of July?
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Saul.
>>>
>>> --
>>> The People Speak | 17-25 Cremer St. London E2 8HD | http://theps.net
>>> studio +44 (0)20 71007915 | saul: +44 (0)7941 255210 | ms at theps.net
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nodel-discuss mailing list
>>> nodel-discuss at one.server1.org
>>> http://one.server1.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nodel-discuss
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nodel-discuss mailing list
>> nodel-discuss at one.server1.org
>> http://one.server1.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nodel-discuss
>>
>> Send instant messages to your online friends http:// 
>> uk.messenger.yahoo.com
> _______________________________________________
> nodel-discuss mailing list
> nodel-discuss at one.server1.org
> http://one.server1.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nodel-discuss
>
> _______________________________________________
> nodel-discuss mailing list
> nodel-discuss at one.server1.org
> http://one.server1.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nodel-discuss