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 [...]

I’m Halal Search Engine Controversy

By Shirley Niemans, November 10, 2009

The Islamic search engine I’m Halal, created by Reza Sardeha, a 20-year-old Iranian that studies business in Amsterdam, has entered the Dutch news this weekend as critical questions were asked in parliament about the use of the search engine in Dutch schools. The issue has been inspired by a recent article in the Dutch gay [...]

Program booklet Society of the Query

By margreet riphagen, November 4, 2009

The Query program is available. Download here the full program booklet. colophon: editors: Shirley Niemans and Marijn de Vries Hoogerwerff. Design: Grrr Amsterdam, http://www.grrr.nl. Print: Thieme Media Almere. Publisher: Insitute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam. Supported by: Amsterdam School of Design and Communication, Interactive Media (Hogeschool van Amsterdam, University of Applied Sciences ), Mondriaan Foundation and [...]

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 [...]

Many will remember August 2006 when US Internet service provider...

I Love Alaska: On the AOL search data scandal

By Shirley Niemans, October 9, 2009

Many will remember August 2006 when US Internet service provider AOL released sensitive user data, including 20 million Web search queries from 650,000 AOL users, on its research website. If not, this article on TechCrunch, written two days after the release, captures some of the surrounding buzz. While the actual user names had been anonimized [...]

The Fall 2009 lecture series at Harvard University recently featured...

Google, Libraries, and the Future

By Shirley Niemans, September 29, 2009

The Fall 2009 lecture series at Harvard University recently featured a lecture by historian Robert Darnton, author of the essay Google & the Future of Books and director of the Harvard Library. In Google & the Future of Books, Darnton leaves no doubt as to the goal of research libraries to work toward opening up [...]