Tag Archives: Computing

Inspiration, News, Staff profiles and activity

Radio 4 : A Sound British Adventure

Director of Creative Computing Dr Mick Grierson has appeared on the Radio 4 documentary, “A Sound British Adventure”, talking about the ‘Secret History of British Electronic Music’. He discusses the pioneering work of Daphne Oram, and the relationship between technology and creativity in electronic music alongside key historical figures in the field including synthesiser pioneer Peter Zinnovieff (whose machines were used by Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones), and Brian Hodgson, creator of the Dr. Who Tardis sound effect.

You can listen to the program here until the 21st of August 2012

Staff profiles and activity

Dan McQuillan: could prototyping be the new policy?

Our lecturers seem to get everywhere! This week’s media star is Dan McQuillan whose article in The Guardian Online is causing a bit of a stir.

So, could prototyping be the new policy?

When it comes to social innovation projects, argues Dan, the new technologies available to us enable us to prototype solutions in less time than it would take us to fill in a funding application (sounds a lot more interesting too!).

Dan knows what he’s talking about. In 2008 he co-founded Social Innovation Camp, which brings together ideas, people and digital tools to build web-based solutions to social problems in just 48 hours. Successful projects that started at Social Innovation Camp include Enabled by Design, The Good Gym and MyPolice. Dan’s current action-research includes leading Social Innovation Camps in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

So if you haven’t read the article yet, clickity click. We’ll still be here when you get back.

 

 

Videos

Sebastian Danicic on CSS…

It’s a beautiful sunny day outside today and we hope you are all out enjoying yourselves or revising your socks off but perhaps what you really feel like doing on a fine Friday morning is watching a video about CSS by our very own Dr Danicic? Well, you never know, so here you are:

Students

CAST launch party: sushi, pecha kucha and Paul the Robot

On Thursday 26 April 2012, the Department of Computing hosted the launch of CAST (Centre for Creative and Social Media).

The event was a huge success and a highly enjoyable evening. Our compere for the evening was Mark Grist, former MA Creative and Life Writing student, and Edinburgh Fringe Slam champion 2010, Mark Grist (markgrist.com), who has just completed two national tours with his performance poetry. His double act, Dead Poets, seeks to challenge preconceptions of poetry and hip hop, and was recently featured on BBC 6 Music with Steve Merchant. Recently, a video of Mark’s rap battle with Blizzard went viral which has earned him a huge amount of media attention with the Independent on Sunday calling him a ‘Face to Watch’.

Our brilliant Pecha Kucha speakers included:

Our speakers were challenged to brevity and impact: 6 minutes and 40 seconds to explore innovation in their field. They did an absolutely fantastic job and we are really grateful to them for their involvement.

Other stars of the evening were Patrick Tresset and Paul the Robot, Annette Walker and her tap-dancing, and Bruno Zamborlin’s incredible Mogees installation which turned the railings on the venue’s staircase into musical instruments.

About CAST

This year, students in CAST have enjoyed Innovation Internships at the Wall Street Journal, Telegraph Media Group, Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), Livestation, Runnymede Trust, and Headshift.

CAST programmes offer interdisciplinary teaching across computing and professional disciplines with students learning applied computing and research methods to complement the fundamentals of journalism, sociology and cultural studies.

CAST is currently accepting applications for the 2012/13 academic year on the following programmes:

– MA/MSc Digital Journalism
– MA/MSc Digital Sociology
– MA/MSc Creating Social Media

Women in Computing

International Women’s Day – Women in Computing

On International Women’s Day, we are proud to feature two women from our department: lecturer, Dr. Kate Devlin, and MSc Computer Games and Entertainment student, Ilenia Sparacino. Find out why Kate and Ilenia have been in the Goldsmiths’ news!

We are delighted that our very own Dr. Kate Devlin has been featured on Goldsmiths’ website as part of the student-led Visible Women Campaign:

“I have a huge amount of respect for the women who have shaped modern computing – from the women patch cable operators programming the early computers to fantastic individuals like Grace Hopper, who invented the first compiler. Women have made a wealth of contributions to my field and I am always reminded of them when faced with surprise at being a female in a rather male-dominated area.”

Read more from Kate here.

GAME5HACK: University-Industry Collaboration  – 1 March 2012
Ilenia Sparacino, MSc in Computer Games & Entertainment

What’s been the most challenging thing about the GAME5HACK event?
Making the game work. You can get past the tiredness with plenty of coffee; the challenge comes in overcoming the bugs to make the game playable and fun.

Tell us a little bit about the game you’ve created
It’s called ‘Defeat the Tweet’; the object of the game is to direct a 3D bird through the letters coming out of one of your previous tweets.

What has been the value of collaborating with world-renowned advertising agency M&C Saatchi?
I’ve learnt how to work well as a team, working with professionals rather than just my fellow students. It was difficult at first but I soon adjusted to the environment.

What advice would you offer students considering taking the MSc in Computer Games & Entertainment at Goldsmiths?
If you like programming games then go for it. I’ve developed a broad skillset and had a chance to work alongside a diverse cohort.

More interviews with MSc students, plus info about the GAME5HACK event

Students

Student Profile: Alina, BSc Creative Computing

Hello! My name is Alina, i’m originally from Kazakhstan, but currently I live in London studying BSc Creative Computing at Goldsmiths University, and I really love it here!

When I came to Goldsmiths for my first year of Creative computing, I had no clue about how to use a programming language or what SQL means… And now as I am reaching towards the end of my course, I feel I have opened a whole new dimension of knowledge and skills for myself. I now feel a lot more freedom and confidence in solving any problem I might come across!

Because the areas of technology and especially computing are evolving very fast from year to year, nowadays, our skills in using computer technology have to evolve together as fast; and this is probably the greatest skill that you grasp on this course. Creative Computing is a great course that not only teaches you how to program, but also gives you freedom to explore your creativity, and it is the main reason why I was eager to chose and study this course in the first place.

When working on a group project I always take on an artistic part of it, as this is what I am best at. I love to create designs, and art scope for any of the projects. Nevertheless such languages as
C++/OpenFrameworks and Processing  are of great interest to me, simply because they allow us to create visual and graphical stuff.
Outside of university, I work part-time in ENRC company, where I take care of IT services as well as assist in some website development projects. During my free time I greatly enjoy exploring Fashion and Art exhibitions and practice my drawing and photography skills!

I hope in the future I could devote myself to many artistic projects, and use programming skills I have gathered in Goldsmiths. One of them, for example, will be a fabric pattern designs created with computer coding.