HandBrake: open-source video transcoder
"HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. Convert from many common multimedia file formats, including unprotected DVD or BluRay sources to a handful of modern output file formats."
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
PechaKucha 20x20: a speaking and sharing short form
"PechaKucha 20x20 is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images advance automatically and you talk along to the images. ...
PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together and share their ideas, works, thoughts, holiday snaps -- just about anything, really -- in the PechaKucha 20x20 format."
(Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Swiss Universities of Design and Art
"Since its foundation in 2003, the Swiss Design Network has been active in the field of design research by networking researchers from the Swiss Universities of Design and Art, by organising internationally renowned symposiums and by publishing their proceedings, by offering direct support to research projects and by participating in the research debate on national and international level. ...
it is also clear that research is a paradoxical activity that needs to be free and framed at the same time. Designerly ways of knowing rely on rigour and creativity and most of the debates about social relevance, scientific or cultural value carried by design research are rooted into this paradox. To some extent, this is true of every research activity - and this is the very reason why a focused discussion of design projects and methods is always precious; because digging into the details of different thought processes is what will ultimately allow fresh visions of design goals and strengths.
The Swiss Design Network is therefore a platform to challenge ideas and share intellectual friendship."
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
The role of 'the work' in research
"This is sometimes another stumbling block, particularly to the Romantic notion of the practitioner whose aim is the expression of the self. We need to differentiate between activities that are to do with the personal development of the practitioner and his or her creativity, and activities that are significant for others in the field. It is only an activity that is significant for others that can be regarded as research. Personal development does not make a contribution to the 'advancement of knowledge, understanding and insight', except in the most parochial sense, i.e. my advancement. To illustrate this let us consider the discipline of arts therapies. It is the purpose of arts therapies to improve the well-being of the client through an intervention involving the client doing some kind of arts activity such as painting, music or drama, etc. Whether the client produces art, in the sense of 'a work of art' mentioned above, is irrelevant to the process. The activity is aimed at the personal development and self knowledge of the individual and not at the advancement of knowledge, understanding and insight into some issue shared by others. Of course, the client's case may contribute to the advancement of knowledge in arts therapies, but this would be an outcome for the therapist and not for the client. In addition, the client's productions may subsequently achieve the status of 'works' but this would be incidental to their original function in connection with improved well-being. Thus I would distinguish between (1) art as therapy (for the individual), (2) art as cultural practice (the production of works of art), and (3) art as research (meeting certain criteria under discussion). It is my claim that (1) and (3), that is, art as therapy and art as research, are mutually exclusive. I should emphasise that this does not mean that I deny that there is such a discipline as arts therapies research!"
(Michael A. R. Biggs, 2003, Practice as Research in Performance)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Two Cars, One Night: cars in loco parentis outside a rural NZ pub
"Youngsters Romeo, Ed, and Polly wait in two cars after dark while their parents are inside drinking. It's a situation many Kiwis would recognise: cars in loco parentis outside the bar or rugby club. Soon cross-car rivalry warms to budding friendship. Winning performances, and the tender mix of comedy and romance saw the tale of a Te Kaha pub carpark become an international hit."
(New Zealand on Screen)
Fig.1 writer/director: Taika Waititi (2003). "Two Cars, One Night".
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
