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Berkman Center Open House (9/9); Is beautiful really usable? (9/17); DPLAFest Registration Now Open

Berkman Events Newsletter Template
Upcoming Events / Digital Media
September 4, 2013
The Digital Problem Solving Initiative (DPSI) is a Harvard-wide pilot program that aims to bring together students, faculty, university officials, fellows, and staff to work in teams on practicable and concrete digital problems and opportunities. Apply here to be a Berkman DPSI Pioneer.
special event

Berkman Center Fall 2013 Open House

Monday, September 9, starting at 4pm ET, Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West Rooms, 2nd Floor.

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Come to the Berkman Center for Internet & Society’s Fall 2013 Open House to meet our faculty, fellows, and staff, and to learn about the many ways you can get involved in our dynamic, exciting environment.

Talk and Tinker Session from 4-6p.m.: Select Berkman projects will be present with information about their projects' current activities. Staff working with each of these projects are eager to share information about the big research questions they are considering, meet potential future collaborators, and solicit ideas. In addition to the project tabling, there will be space and opportunity to connect with other Berkman community members and open house participants. You may come for any portion or time of this session.

Plenary Session at 6p.m.: Berkman Center Directors and staff will present information about exciting upcoming efforts.

Reception from 7p.m. on: Keep the conversations going with the help of light snacks and drinks!

Get a peek into the research, ideas, and opportunities we will explore over on the Open House wiki.

As a University-wide research center at Harvard, our interdisciplinary efforts in the exploration of cyberspace address a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. If you're interested in the Internet’s impact on society and are looking to engage a community of world-class fellows and faculty through events, conversations, research, and more please join us to hear more about our upcoming academic year.

People from all disciplines, universities, and backgrounds are encouraged to attend the Open House. We look forward to seeing you there! Please RSVP. more information on our website>

berkman luncheon series

Is beautiful really usable? Understanding how aesthetics and usability influence user experience.

Tuesday, September 17, 12:30pm ET, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor. This event will be webcast live.

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Ever come across a product that looked beautiful but was awful to use? Or stumbled over a something that was ugly as hell but just did exactly what you wanted? Ever wondered how these factors work together, and how they influence the experiences we create? Product usability and aesthetics are coexistent, but they are not identical. In this talk I will give you an overview over existing research in this field and present the latest findings that show how usability, aesthetics and affect work together to create great - or not so great - experiences.

Javier Bargas-Avila holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and works as Senior User Experience Researcher & Manager at Google (Switzerland). Before joining Google he was the manager of the HCI lab at the University of Basel (Switzerland) from 2004 to 2011. He published over 20 peer reviewed papers in HCI journals and conferences covering topics such as user satisfaction, mental models in website perception, first visual impression of websites or webform usability. Since 2011 he is part of the YouTube UX research team, where he currently focuses on internationalization, monetization and analytics. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

special event

DPLAFest

Thursday-Friday, October 24-25, Boston Public Library.

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On October 24-25, 2013 the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) will bring together librarians, archivists, and museum professionals, developers and technologists, publishers and authors, teachers and students, and many others to Boston, MA to celebrate the DPLA’s successful April 2013 launch, its recent milestones, and its future at the first annual DPLAfest.

DPLAfest 2013 — a two-day series of events free and open to the public — will include a reception at the Boston Public Library on the evening of Thursday, October 24 (the reception had been originally planned for April 18, 2013, but was postponed in light of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings on April 15). On Friday, October 25, participants will gather at Northeastern University and the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) for a full day of workshops, discussions, and other hands-on activities. Registration is now open. more information on our website>

video/audio

RB211: Bruce Schneier on Surveillance and Security

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Revelations of the NSA’s data surveillance efforts have raised serious questions about the ethics and necessity of violating privacy that have been bubbling under the surface for some time. Efforts to monitor communication are nothing new, but electronically mediated communication has increased the amount of information being shared, and the possibilities for eavesdropping are endless. But there's a trade off. People tolerate incursions into privacy for greater security or even convenience: health care, transportation, public safety, or any number of web utilities we use on a daily basis. Bruce Schneier is an author, Berkman fellow, and security technologist. He recently sat down with David Weinberger to talk about the positives and perils of privacy violation. audio on our website>

Other Events of Note

Local, national, international, and online events that may be of interest to the Berkman community:

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See our events calendar if you're curious about future luncheons, discussions, lectures, and conferences not listed in this email. Our events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.