Finally the moment has come, the Society of the Query...

The Conference Tag!

By marijn de vries hoogerwerff, November 13, 2009

Finally the moment has come, the Society of the Query conference will start this morning at 09:30! For all of you using twitter, flickr or other social media, please use the following tag (or #hashtag): sotq …Let our questioning this weekend flow thought the veins of the Web!

Google Personal Search put to work for you!

By marijn de vries hoogerwerff, November 12, 2009

Ever wondered how Google Personal Search affects search results? At perspectoma.com you can now examine it through the lens of search profiles such as Foucault, Nietzsche, Kant, Wiener or Latour. Extensive Search and Web Histories have been created for these illustrative persons based on indexed terms of their books. By having such artifically created profiles [...]

Open Call: Shadow Search

By marijn de vries hoogerwerff, November 3, 2009

CIS in collaboration with NEWS announces Shadow Search, an open call for proposals to explore the use of natural-language search algorithms that are able to find people and activities that embody the self-understanding of the kind of art we are seeking without specifically using the word art or a related vocabulary. In particular this search [...]

Book Launch: Deep Search. The Politics of Search Beyond Google

By marijn de vries hoogerwerff, October 27, 2009

As a follow-up to the Deep Search symposium, held in Vienna, Austria on November 8, 2008, The World Information Institute has now issued the book Deep Search: The Politics of Search Beyond Google and will be officially launched at the Society of the Query conference. The volume, edited by Konrad Becker and Felix Stalder, is [...]

Last Wednesday Desiree de Jong posted a nice piece on...

The Anti-Googlization: How Alternative Search Engines Find Their Way on the Web

By marijn de vries hoogerwerff, October 23, 2009

Last Wednesday Desiree de Jong posted a nice piece on the Masters of Media blog (the New Media M.A. student research blog of the University of Amsterdam) addressing some of the important issues central to the Society of The Query conference. I’ve taken the liberty of reposting it on this blog. Author: Desiree de Jong Source: [...]

Universal availability of information is difficult without being responsive to...

Democracy of the Algorithm

By marijn de vries hoogerwerff, October 21, 2009

Universal availability of information is difficult without being responsive to local condition, but in including national rationales, different views on what is considered harmful information are introduced. A much heard outcry of critics of Google’s censorship practices in China is that one only need to search for keywords such as “Tiananmen Square” in both Google.com [...]

In “Google’s China Problem (and China’s Google Problem),” Clive Thompson...

Googlized Censorship Research

By marijn de vries hoogerwerff, September 21, 2009

In “Google’s China Problem (and China’s Google Problem),” Clive Thompson describes the difficult task set for search engine companies operating within China, where they are required to know what to block but are not given blacklists or clearly defined guidelines by the Chinese government. Thompson explains that Google.cn has solved this problem by setting up [...]