[iDC] Data Literacy and Cultural Analytics

Lev Manovich manovich.lev at gmail.com
Wed Oct 12 16:25:39 UTC 2011 

my comments inline:


On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 8:02 AM, Andreas Schiffler
<aschiffler at ferzkopp.net> wrote:
> Comments inline...
>
> On 10/11/11 11:54 PM, Lev Manovich wrote:
>>
>> Andreas
>>
>>
>> my answers are below:
>>
>>> Personally, I would also find it more
>>> challenging and interesting to write the data scrapers that "harvest"
>>> image
>>> sets from the web or come up with new analysis algorithms that calculate
>>> new
>>> dimensions for existing images.
>>
>> And what are you going to do with the lots of scraped images and lots
>> of extracted features? Thats why we create ImagePlot - it takes images
>> and their features and visualize relations between images.
>>
> I don't dispute the merits and creative opportunities ImagePlot creates. A
> visualization (or more generally, transformation) tool is obviously needed
> to make such data collections accessible to the viewer/user. When I find
> some time, I may try to code up a visualization tool myself and contribute
> it to your group.
>>
>>> Let's say I write an algorithms that
>>> determines the entropy (randomness) in an image ... How would you enable
>>> someone downloading ImagePlot to apply this to their images?
>>
>> ImagePlot takes as its input a directory of images and information
>> about their organized in a simple tab delimited file. So a user can
>> use any software to extract additional features - you just need then
>> to add new columns to a data file.
>
> I've experimented with ImagePlot and know how it works. My point was merely,
> that the prescribed data files are not a good way to _share_ such
> information. Community based operations such as adding new or derived
> dimensions - i.e. a markup a-la wikipedia or augmentation via Matlab
> algorithms - are not part of the design of this tool. You may call this a
> feature request (or critique), which would - if available - make
> ImagePlot-style data explorations more accessible to people and increase the
> quality of the available image data.


I disagree. ImagePlot is a macro which runs inside popular free
open-source application ImageJ. People have contributed thousands of
macros to imageJ, and ours is just another such contribution.

http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/index.html
http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/plugins/index.html

In choosing ImageJ as our platform, we are very much hoping that
others will add new features and/or build other tools using our code.

We have documented the code, and happy to help anybody who wants to extend it.




>>
>> We developed a system which uses Matlab to extract 400 features, and
>> we use ImagePlot to visualize the results.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Conversely, how
>>> would I acquire interesting content sets that span millions of images?
>>
>> There is one single solution.
>> With Flickr and other social media sites, its pretty simple to
>> download large images sets using their API.
>> With some other sites, you can use web harvesting programs. For
>> instance, we used SiteSucker to download one million manga pages.
>>
> I understand the opportunities - I have done it commercially in the past
> (see http://ica.blogs.com/en/2006/06/pictures_and_th.html) - but can attest
> that it is not always simple to get "cool" or legal content sets. Again a
> feature request (or critique), would be to add some "cloud based" data set
> storage to the tool to enable sharing of image sets amongst ImagePlot users.


I agree completely. However, note that our group is very small - its
me, one post-doc, and from time to time one part-time graduate
students. So we can't do everything we would like... I focused our
energy on exploring how ImagePlot and the methods behind can be used
with data relevant to variety of fields - from art history to
archeology.

Two years ago we applied for a grant to build a system along the lines
of what you describes - users submitting visual data and metadata, and
sharing visualizations and analysis. But we did not get that grant.

>
> Also merely attempting to "harvest" the web may get you into trouble (i.e.
> see the precedences listed on
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping#Legal_issues). I feel that this
> should enter more the into the documentation, because these issues are a
> cornerstone of "Data Literacy" these days.
>
> Thanks,
> Andreas
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 9:23 PM, Andreas Schiffler
>> <aschiffler at ferzkopp.net>  wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Lev,
>>>
>>> aren't the data collections equally (or maybe even more) important than
>>> the
>>> processing tools?  More and more image content ends up in walled gardens
>>> (i.e. the guy who made a Firefox scraper plugin to allow peoples to
>>> download
>>> their OWN images from their Facebook accounts and got a cease-and-desist
>>> letter from FB's lawyers) or has some other funky legal "chain" attached
>>> to
>>> it which can be used to block or monetize even derived works (i.e. Time
>>> Magazine never complained?). Personally, I would also find it more
>>> challenging and interesting to write the data scrapers that "harvest"
>>> image
>>> sets from the web or come up with new analysis algorithms that calculate
>>> new
>>> dimensions for existing images. Isn't the more interesting problem to
>>> solve
>>> one of enabling the "community" to get access to content and allow them
>>> to
>>> markup the data algorithmically. Let's say I write an algorithms that
>>> determines the entropy (randomness) in an image ... How would you enable
>>> someone downloading ImagePlot to apply this to their images? Conversely,
>>> how
>>> would I acquire interesting content sets that span millions of images?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Andreas
>>>
>>> On 10/2/11 11:34 AM, Lev Manovich wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Greetings
>>>>
>>>> I am Lev Manovich and my talk at the forthcoming conference will be
>>>> called  "Data Literacy and Cultural Analytics"
>>>>
>>>> Here is what I plan to address:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The joint availability of numerous large data sets on the web and free
>>>> tools for data scraping, cleaning, analyzing and visualizing enable
>>>> potentially anybody to become a citizen data miner. But how do we
>>>> enable this in practice?
>>>>
>>>> What are the necessary elements of “data literacy”?
>>>>
>>>> How do we inspire students in traditionally non-quantiative fields
>>>> (art history, film and media studies, literary studies, etc.) to start
>>>> playing with big data?
>>>>
>>>> One the limitations of the existing popular data analysis and
>>>> visualization tools is that they are designed to work with numbers and
>>>> texts – but not images and video. To close this gap, In 2007 we have
>>>> established Software Studies Initiative (softwarestudies.com) at
>>>> University of California, San Diego. The lab’s focus in on development
>>>> of new visualization methods particularly suited for media teaching
>>>> and research.
>>>>
>>>> In my presentation I will show a sample of our projects including
>>>> visualization of art, film, animation, video games, magazines, comics,
>>>> manga, and graphic design. Our image sets range from 4535 covers of
>>>> Time magazine to 320,000 Flickr images from “Art Now” and “Graphic
>>>> Design” groups, and one million manga pages.
>>>>
>>>> In September 2011 we released ImagePlot -  free software tool that
>>>> visualizes collections of images and video of any size. I will discuss
>>>> how we use ImagePlot in classes with both undergraduate and graduate
>>>> students to create collaborative projects which reveal unexpected
>>>> cultural trends and also make us question our existing concepts for
>>>> understanding visual culture and media. You can download software
>>>> here:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://lab.softwarestudies.com/p/imageplot.html
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> best,
>>>>
>>>> Lev
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------
>>>> Dr. Lev Manovich
>>>> Director, Software Studies Initiative, Calit2<softwarestudies.com>
>>>> Professor, Visual Arts Department, UCSD<visarts.ucsd.edu>
>>>>
>>>> email: manovich.lev at gmail.com
>>>> lab: softwarestudies.com
>>>> www.manovich.net
>>>> twitter.com/manovich
>>>> www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=668367315
>>>> youtube.com/user/softwarestudies
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Mailing address:
>>>> University of California, San Diego,
>>>> Lev Manovich, Visual Arts Department,
>>>> 9500 Gilman Drive. #0084, La Jolla, CA 92093-0084, U.S.A
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 9:19 PM, Trebor Scholz<scholzt at newschool.edu>
>>>>  wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Dear Lev,
>>>>>
>>>>> All participants introduced their contribution to the summit on the iDC
>>>>> mailing list.
>>>>>
>>>>> Join the discussion by posting to idc at mailman.thing.net
>>>>>
>>>>> The discussion leading up to MobilityShifts:
>>>>>
>>>>> May 2011
>>>>> Call
>>>>> https://lists.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2011-May/004532.html
>>>>>
>>>>> June 2011
>>>>> Public Library Thread and Introductions
>>>>> https://lists.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2011-June/thread.html
>>>>>
>>>>> July 2011
>>>>> Public Library Thread continued + The Future of the Humanities  +
>>>>> Hackademia as New Structural Transformation of the Public  Sphere
>>>>> https://lists.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2011-July/thread.html
>>>>>
>>>>> August 2011
>>>>> Discussion: The Edupunks' Guide + Are We Changing?
>>>>> https://lists.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2011-August/thread.html
>>>>>
>>>>> September 2011
>>>>>  From Digital Natives to Digital Outcasts + Can DIY Education be
>>>>> Crowdsourced? + The Aims of Education
>>>>> https://lists.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2011-September/thread.html
>>>>>
>>>>> (initiated and moderated by Trebor Scholz)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> best,
>>>>> Trebor
>>>>> =
>>>>>
>>>>> R. Trebor Scholz, PhD
>>>>> Director of the conference series The Politics of Digital Culture
>>>>> Chair, MobilityShifts
>>>>> The New School
>>>>> 65 West 11th Street, New York, NY 10011
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Lev Manovich<manovich.lev at gmail.com>    09/30/11 3:08 PM>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Jennifer
>>>>>
>>>>> I am very sorry for not being in touch - classes just started at UCSD
>>>>> this week.
>>>>>
>>>>> yes of course I am participating.. I am finalizing the abstract and
>>>>> will send it to you later today
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I was not aware that you are making travel arrangements for the
>>>>> participants - so I already booked both flights and the hotel.
>>>>> I am arriving Dec 12 and departing Dec 16.
>>>>>
>>>>> However, its very possible that you have a better rate in the hotel
>>>>> you are working with - which one is it, and what is the rate?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> again, my apologies for not being in touch
>>>>>
>>>>> best
>>>>>
>>>>> lev
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 11:22 AM, Jennifer Conley Darling
>>>>> <conleydj at newschool.edu>    wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Lev Manovich,
>>>>>> I'm following up as we have not gotten a response from you regarding
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> confirmation of your date&    time, nor a title and description of
>>>>>> your
>>>>>> talk.
>>>>>> We also have not made any flight arrangements for you. I am currently
>>>>>> holding a hotel room for three nights (Oct 13-16) in your name and
>>>>>> will
>>>>>> need
>>>>>> to release these at the beginning of next week if you will not be
>>>>>> joining
>>>>>> us.
>>>>>> Please let us know per the below email if you can accommodate the
>>>>>> timing.
>>>>>> I look forward to your response.
>>>>>> Jennifer
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 10:16 AM, Jennifer Conley Darling
>>>>>> <conleydj at newschool.edu>    wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Dear Lev,
>>>>>>> I'm so glad to have you on board for MobilityShifts. The full
>>>>>>> conference
>>>>>>> runs October 10-16. We have you slated to speak in speaker series on
>>>>>>> Friday,
>>>>>>> October 14 from 10-12pm in Wollman Hall located at 65 West 11 Street.
>>>>>>> If you'd be so kind as to send a brief description and title of your
>>>>>>> talk,
>>>>>>> we would like to include this in our program, which goes to print
>>>>>>> late
>>>>>>> next
>>>>>>> week.
>>>>>>> Thank you so much and don't hesitate to reach out with questions.
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Jennifer Conley Darling
>>>>>>> Conference Producer
>>>>>>> MobilityShifts: An International Future of Learning Summit
>>>>>>> October 10-16, 2011
>>>>>>> The New School
>>>>>>> 65 West 11 Street
>>>>>>> New York, NY 10011
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Lev Manovich<manovich.lev at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Yes I confirmed already - very happy to participate
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> what dates will be the conference - 14-16 ?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> and my talk?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> best,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Lev
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 12:15 PM, Losh,
>>>>>>>> Elizabeth<elosh at mail.ucsd.edu>
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi Jennifer,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Last I heard Lev was on board, but I am cc'ing him.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Liz
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone and thus more likely to include nonstandard
>>>>>>>>> spelling or syntax.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Aug 4, 2011, at 11:23 AM, "Jennifer Conley Darling"
>>>>>>>>> <conleydj at newschool.edu
>>>>>>>>>  >    wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Hi Liz,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Trebor had asked me to follow up with you regarding Lev's
>>>>>>>>>> participation in MobilityShifts. Have you been able to get
>>>>>>>>>> confirmation from him? If so, we would like to begin a direct
>>>>>>>>>> communication with Lev regarding location, A/V needs, etc.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Please let me know where things stand as soon as possible.  Thanks
>>>>>>>>>> so much.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>> Jennifer Conley Darling
>>>>>>>>>> Conference Producer
>>>>>>>>>> MobilityShifts: An International Future of Learning Summit
>>>>>>>>>> October 10-16, 2011
>>>>>>>>>> The New School
>>>>>>>>>> 65 West 11 Street
>>>>>>>>>> New York, NY 10011
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Jennifer Conley Darling
>>>>>> Conference Producer
>>>>>> MobilityShifts: An International Future of Learning Summit
>>>>>> October 10-16, 2011
>>>>>> The New School
>>>>>> 65 West 11 Street
>>>>>> New York, NY 10011
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>
>

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