The House Committee on Un-American Activites

There was a period in American cinema history that stands out as one of the great acts of censorship of our time. The effects of this censorship will be discussed below, but I will also investigate the effect that this has had on the industry both as it occurred and in the aftermath of its legacy, by looking in particular at a film that deals with the period in question. It is imperative for the modern reader however to be able to contextualise this essay, and as such a detailed look at this period is history is required.

“Although the year 1947, when HUAC descended on the film industry, is widely regarded as the starting point of the blacklist, the real roots of that scoundrel time-in Lillian Hellman’s apt phrase-can probably be found in two decades earlier, in the Wall Street crash of 1929, which ushered in the Depression that paralysed America”. (McGilligan)

Just what is Warhammer 40,000? The Rules

As my ongoing assignment I am looking at how Web 2.0 has helped in the creation of on-line communities for those who would not otherwise have been able to socialise with people about a shared interest without this form of communication.

I have written a post about the back-story and lore of the Wahammer 40,000(40K) universe, so now it is time to discuss the game itself.

Just what is Wahammer 40,000? The Background

As part of my research I have been looking at how on-line communities cater for the individual and the use of Web 2.0 in the creation of these forums.

My target research concerns itself with an on-line forum that deals with the subject matter of Warhammer 40,000 or 40K for short. I hope to explain the background and the reasoning behind the forum for those who are not yet versed in the weighty lore that 40K has to offer. I have also written an entry on the basic 40K rules here.

The Forum of the Recluse

As part of my Master’s Thesis, I will be looking at the use of on-line fora and how the creation of on-line communities has allowed people who do not have a physical opportunity to communicate with other people who share their interests a place to do just that.

With the rise of Web 2.0, we have seen the internet become a place where people are able to interact on a global scale about things that they may not have been able to talk about locally. The availability of on-line fora for these people to share their ideas, talk about a topic of mutual interest, and get to know others in the community has resulted in great projects such as Wikipedia. Social Media interaction and crowdsourcing have also helped in the creation of projects such as the Haiti earthquake relief to great success.

Alan Crosbie on Media Diversity

Alan Crosbie recently spoke at the “Media Diversity: Why does it matter?” conference, which took place in the Radisson Blu, Golden Lane, Dublin 8 on the 6th of Feb 2012.

This article by Hugh Linehan points out some of the major themes of the weekend.

I was struck by a number of things that both Pat Rabbitte and Crosbie had to say.

Lawrence Lessig and the Future of Ideas.

Having only just begun this book the following comments relate in the main to the first chapter of Lessig’s book, which is available here.

Lessig’s comments in his opening chapter convey the passion with which he views his argument and the real crisis that he sees modern societies legal claims having on the future of our creativity as a society. This is no small thing and thus I am relieved to have someone present the case with such fervour.

Electronic Scholarly Editions

What a fascinating read this is to be sure.

I was struck immediately by the firm inference to the important roles we as scholars have to play in the categorising and availability of scholastic works in new media. While Price spends a good deal of the article discussing the various pitfalls and difficulties that must be overcome it is clear that he is encouraging people like us to get on board. Indeed I think that one of the most important parts of the narrative is his wish that we get others involved.

Aimee Morrison

I first read this article last year as part of my seminar course. My original opinion on the article can be found here.

I have re-read the article since but I have to say that this is the first time that I “got” some of the content. It is actually quite well thought out and though I had initially thought that it was too long and complicated, it is actually quite concise and to the point.

It is still presented in a hard to read format but this web page is much easier to read than the page I first viewed it on, in fact I ended up copy and pasting it to a Word Doc so that I could read it without my eyes bleeding.

My Thoughts on Alan Liu

I have just finished my re-reading of this rather long introduction. I find that it suffers from the same problem a lot of the weightier text books sometimes have in that they assume that the reader is already as in-depth a follower of their research as they are and admittedly we seem to be somewhat in the deep end with this being a “companion to Digital Literary Studies” and not an introductory course.

Sharing is Caring

Hello all and welcome to my blog.

From here I hope to continue my research into the digital humanities as part of the course work involved in the seminar, but I also hope to develop further some of the ideas, comments and opinions being expressed in the classes and discussion groups online.

The most recent of these discussions has revolved around the nature of anonymity on the web and the positive and negative aspects that can result. It has been recommended that we all have a look at Jaron Lanier’s Manifesto “You are not a Gadget”. As part of my research I came across an online .pdf of this work here. I look forward to reading it and being able to include my responses in further posts.

Caolán.