Sunday, February 03, 2008
Israel-Palestine womens' encounter project in Bologna, February 2008
Via Ca' Selvatica 2/3, Bologna, Italy, February 2nd, 2008
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas, Julen, Natale 2007
Kjære venner og familie
Cari amici e famiglie
All our best wishes to you for Christmas and the New Year, 2008!!
Alle våre beste hilsner a dere for Julen e det Nye Året, 2008!!
Tanti auguri per Natale e l'Anno Nuovo, 2008!!
Patrick & Patrizia
Thursday, October 04, 2007
4 October: Free Burma!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Pacific Coast horseback trip in Chile
Here's a video/ photo montage we made from a horseback trip we enjoyed while we were in Chile this summer, organised (excellently) by Ritoque Expediciones who are based near Concòn, just north of Valparaiso on the Pacific Coast.
Great experience, beautiful views and nice company, and thanks from us both to one and all who made it possible!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Pedalling the Po, June 10th 2007
The horizon is always long, low and very present as you cycle along the River Po. Here a view about 25 km from our starting point at Pontelagoscuro, not far north of Ferrara, heading downstream on the Right Hand Po Cycle Path
Right Bank of the Po, heading downstream. The water level of the Po is pretty high at the moment after heavy rains lately
Typical farm bulidings nestling safely behind the right bank of the Po
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Fem Camp, Bologna May 26th 2007

Live Stream from Fem Camp was by Robin Good TV
Robin Good's You Tube Archive
Photos from the event at Flickr, courtesy of dottavi
femcamp
barcamp per parlare di donne nelle tecnologie e tecnologie delle donne / barcamp to talk about women in technologies and technologies of women
Il FemCamp ha un tema: le nuove tecnologie per valorizzare "le voci, le visioni, le azioni delle donne". Analizziamo insieme, donne e uomini, come svelare i condizionamenti dei comportamenti culturali, messi in atto dalla società, ed evitare la conseguente stereotipizzazione di entrambi i sessi.
Il FemCamp si inserisce nell'ambito del convegno transnazionale "E-WIT" di TechnéDonne, progetto finanziato dall'Iniziativa Comunitaria Equal, che nei due anni di attività ha cercato di contrastare la segregazione professionale femminile nelle ICT, affrontando in maniera innovativa il gender digital divide.
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The FemCamp has a main theme: the use of technology to empower "women?s voices, visions, and actions". We want to analize together, women and men, how to unveil the social construction of cultural patterns our society enforces, and therefore find ways to avoid gender stereotypes.
The FemCamp is part of the transnational conference "E-WIT", organised within the European project TechnéDonne, financed by the EU Equal Programme. Throughout its two years of activity, the project has being fighting women's professional segregation within the ICT field, trying to find innovative strategies to cope with the gender digital divide.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
April 29th 2007: Political demonstration, Istanbul, Turkey
The other week (April 27th to May 1st), while we were in Turkey for a long weekend visit to Istanbul together with our Bologna friends Irene Ruggero and Carlo Coniglio, we had the interesting and inspiring experience of being able to mingle with the enormous crowds of turkish citizens of all age groups, with a very large component of young people, both male and female, who took part in a vast peaceful demonstration in support of a secular state.
The scene above is from a brief gathering with public appeals and speeches held around the Independence Memorial in Taksim Square, high up on the East bank of the Golden Horn.
The Taksim area itself is well worth a visit in any case in order to enjoy the excellent views of the old city center on the other bank of the Golden Horn with the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace, and then to walk down the lively pedestrian precinct which meanders all the way back down to the waterfront again.
Friday, January 19, 2007
25-27.01.2007: Reggio Emilia: Game Philosophy Conference

The Philosophy of Computer Games:
An Interdisciplinary Conference
January 25th to 27th 2007
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Department of Social, Cognitive and Quantitative Sciences
42100 Reggio Emilia
ITALY
Dear Friends, Colleages, Students
This is the second announcement for the international conference "The Philosophy of Computer Games. An Interdisciplinary Conference", to be held at the Department of Social, Cognitive and Quantitative Sciences, Ex-Caserma Zucchi, Viale A. Allegri 9, Reggio Emilia from the 25th to 27th of January 2007
The purpose of the conference is to initiate an investigation into philosophical issues that is relevant to current research on computer games.
More detailed information is available on the conference website.
http://game.unimore.it
We hope to create a lively, informal and first and foremost interdisciplinary atmosphere, and you are cordially invited to attend and take part in the discussions.
A flyer for the event is enclosed with this mail, and we ask you to kindly circulate this, and otherwise publicise the event for those you know who may be interested in attending.
The whole conference has been recorded for web broadcasting and an edited video version is now available at http://tv.unimore.it
Registration may be carried out by sending an e-mail to olav.asheim@ifikk.uio.no.
There is no conference fee.
Welcome to Reggio Emilia!
Patrick Coppock
Locally Responsible in Reggio Emilia for the Organising Committee
Conference Programme
Thursday 25th
COMPUTER GAME ENTITIES
10.00 Registration
11.00 Introduction
11.10 Fictional, Simulated, Real: Towards an Ontology of Game Objects
Professor Espen Aarseth, Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark
12.00 Lunch
13.30 The Reality of Game Objects
Ph.d. candidate John Richard Sageng, University of Oslo, Norway
14.00 Gaming as an Aide to Metaphysical Speculation
Richard Clarkson, University of Durham, UK
14.30 The Temporality of Gaming
Associate professor Hallvard Fossheim, University of Oslo, Norway
15.00 Break
16.00 Is our Actual World Interactive: Some Philosophical Reflections about Videogaming and Life
Ph.d. candidate Dario Compagno, University of Siena, Italy
16.30 The Ludic Parenthesis
Professor Olav Asheim, University of Oslo, Norway
Friday 26th
PLAYER EXPERIENCE
10.00 Videogames, Fiction, and Reality
Visiting Assistant Professor Jonathan Frome, School of Film and Digital Media, University of Central Florida, USA
10.30 On The Phenomenology of Virtual Worlds
Ph.d. candidate Tarjei Mandt Larsen, University of Tromsø, Norway
11.00 The Irreducible Self. Image Studies of First Person Perspective Computer Games
Dr. Stephan Guenzel, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany
11.30 Visual Perception, Motor Action, and the Video Game Experience
Assistant Professor Ole Ertloev Hansen, VR Media Lab, Aalborg Universitet, Denmark
12.00 Lunch
13.30 Goals, Affects, and Empathy in Games
Research Assistant Petri Lankoski, Media Lab, University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland
14.00 Feeling So Real ? a Phenomenological Exploration of the Realities of Emotions in Play
Olli Leino, Researcher, Dr. of Art candidate, Faculty of Art & Design, Dept. of Media, University of Lapland, Finland.
14.30 Ludic Reality: a construct for analysing meaning-mapping and epistemology in play
Dan Pinchbeck, Senior Lecturer, Department of Creative Technologies, University of Portsmouth, UK
15.00 Break
16.00 Virtual Consciousness and the Imaginary: A Phenomenological Sketch
Assistant Professor Nicolas De Warren, Wellesley College, UK
16.30 "Gamescapes": Spatial Orientation Without Physical Objects.
Associate Professor Anita Leirfall, University of Bergen. Norway
17.00 Virtual Realism: Player, Perception and Action in Video Game Play
Hanna K. Sommerseth, Graduate School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland
17.30 Playing Dress-Up: Costumes, roleplay and imagination
Ludica: Janine Fron, Independent Artist/Designer, Tracy Fullerton, University of Southern California, Jacquelyn Ford Morie, University of Southern California, Celia Pearce, Georgia Institute of Technology (presenter)
Saturday 27th
THE ETHICS OF COMPUTER GAMES
10.00 Gamers and the Good Life
Adam R. Briggle, The VICI Research Project: The Evaluation of the Cultural Quality of New Media, Department of Philosophy, University of Twente, Netherlands
10.30 Computer Games and Reality: Transworld Identities
Patrick Coppock, Researcher, Department of Social, Cognitive and Quantitative Science, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
11.00 Virtual Ethics: The Ethics of Virtual Worlds
Edward H. Spence, The VICI Research Project: The Evaluation of the Cultural Quality of New Media, Department of Philosophy, University of Twente, Netherlands
11.30 Targeting the Kids: Computer Games as War Propaganda
Rune Ottosen, Oslo University College, Norway
12.00 Lunch
13.30 Severe Pain or Suffering: Videogames, Morality and Torture
MSc Student Peter Rauch, Comparative Media Studies. M.I.T., USA
14.00 Ethics and Practice in Virtual Worlds
Ren Reynolds
14.30 Instrumentalism and the Ethics of Videogame Play: The Tactical Iraqi Controversy
Writing Director Elizabeth Losh, University of California, USA
15.00-16.00 Closing Session
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Christmas, Julen, Natale 2006
Sunset, Solnedgang, Tramonto Vada Italy 2006
Dear friends and colleagues, kjære venner og kolleger, cari amici/he e colleghi/e
We wish you a pleasant and peaceful Christmas & New Year holiday, and best wishes for 2007!!
Våre varmeste ønsker for en hyggelig og fredfull julefeiringa, og til lykke med 2007!!
Auguriamo una piacevole e pacifica feste di natale e capod'anno, e tanti auguri per il 2007!
Patrick & Patrizia
Friday, November 10, 2006
Bergeralm Pasture, Anterselva Valley, Italy
We passed this charming summer pasture cabin on our walk up towards the peaks of the Vedrette di Ries Range
Anterselva Valley, Italy
Looking towards the top end of the valley and Anterselva di Sopra from near Anterselva di Mezzo. We were there last weekend, and caught the first snows of the winter and some really beautiful (if chilly at times) weather.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Best wishes to one and all for a fine summer!
A forest path at the Passo del Eremo, close to Marradiand Palazzuolo sul Senio, Toscana, July 20th 2006
[When in Palazzuolo, we stayed at the Locanda Senio - to be recommended ]
The inner Apennines seen from Passo del Eremo.
A wonderful place of silence and beauty, ideal for quiet reflection in a turbulent world....
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Best wishes to one and all for 2006!
Les Drus, Chamonix, France
Here we are again, at the start of yet another year.
Time flies, but the clear, cool beauty of the mountains remains - so far at least....
Friday, May 06, 2005
Webmedia Space Online
I will also add it to the links menu on this page, and on my work page
Sunday, October 24, 2004
New site for the Italian Association of Semiotic Studies (AISS)
Sample posting from the home page:
Il XXXII Congresso dell'Associazione Italiana di Studi Semiotici, dedicato a "Il discorso della salute. Testi, pratiche, culture", avrà luogo a Spoleto (Pg), presso il Chiostro San Nicolò, dal 29 ottobre all'1 novembre 2004.
Il Congresso è organizzato in collaborazione con la Fondazione SigmaTau. Ha ottenuto il patrocinio e un contributo della Regione Umbria, della Provincia di Perugia e del Comune di Spoleto, delle Università di Palermo e Perugia, nonché un contributo della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio e della Credito e Servizi di Spoleto. Hanno altresì contributo all'organizzazione la Società italiana di Antropologia della medicina e la Fondazione Angelo Celli.
Data la forte caratterizzazione interdisciplinare dell'incontro, sono stati invitati, accanto a un folto gruppo di semiologi italiani e non, anche studiosi di altre discipline come l'antropologia, la filosofia, la sociologia, l'etnometodologia, la psichiatria e la psicanalisi, nonché esperti e rappresentanti del mondo dei mass media.
Sono disponibili: il programma, la lista della relazioni e degli abstract, l'elenco delle comunicazioni dei soci con gli abstract, il programma del workshop di sociosemiotica. Sono previste, inoltre, due tavole rotonde, sul sintomo e il discorso e sulle droghe e altre dipendenze.
[Visit the AISS home page >>]
Click here to see my short video montage (now accessible via the AISS website) from the 2003 AISS XXXI Conference "Semiofood. Comunicazione e cultura del cibo", held in Castiglioncello, 3-5 October 2003.
Monday, October 11, 2004
My participation in the national protest against the Moratti draft law
For more on the proposed draft law see the following review of the situation as of September 30th on The Scientist website: Italy's academics threaten strike.
My contribution to the protest so far has been to promote and present for subsequent adoption by our Faculty Council of a motion, signed by myself and two other researchers at the School of Communication and Economic Science at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, against the content of the draft law.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Flashtrip to Finland and Russia
This was only one of an impressive list of seminars constituting an annual event in Imatra known as The Semiotic Web: The International Summer School For Semiotic And Structural Studies organised by the well-known International Semiotics School, coordinated by Eero Tarasti, who must surely qualify for the title of "Mr Semiotics Himself" in Finland.
As the Imatra website points out, Imatra is a border town which shares a frontier with Russia. The former industrial settlement of Enso (now the Russian town of Svetogorsk) lies just on the other side of the border, which means that Imatra and Svetogorsk are in the unique position of being the only twin towns which gaze at one another over the border between the European Union and Russia, so it was quite obvious that if we were in Imatra, we could not avoid making the trip over the order to St. Petersburg, which is in fact only about five hours by train from Imatra (via and Vyborg)
It was well worth the trip!
However, to end off this note, a few well-chosen words to Russian President Vladimir Putin:
Please, please do something to make your tourist visa application process more simple!!
At the present time it is necessary first to book a hotel for the entire period you intend to visit Russia for (not always easy either). Then you have to ask the hotel or agency you book with to fax you back a letter confirming your booking. You then have to send this letter with your visa application to the Russian embassy in your homeland. When you get the visa back it is only valid for the exact period covered by your hotel bookings.
This all makes the whole travel planning and visa application process for Russia much more rigid and complicated than necessary.
I am quite sure that with a bit of goodwill and some fresh thinking on the part of the Russian immigration and tourism authorities the whole process could be quite easily made more simple and user-friendly.
If you really do want more people to visit beautiful, dynamic and culturally significant cities like St. Petersburg and to develop and maintain a positive impression of Russia as a tourist-friendly place, then paying close attention to these kinds of details will be absolutely vital!
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Back from Phnom Penh- tired but happy
Sunday, February 01, 2004
The congress is presented in the following way on the Semio2004 website:
"Signs are conceived and circulate in a world whose recent evolution implies a change in the nature of geopolitical and intercultural relations. The evolution in the means of exchange, in the representations of the world and the strategies devised by political and institutional actors lead semioticians to appraise and update their concepts and analysis tools.."
The general mandate for the section on theoretical semiotics and epistemology is as follows:
?The theoretical origins of semiotics will be subject to contemporary debate on the sign and communication. Do New Information and Communication Technologies (N.I.C.T.) require semiotics to invent special methods or procedures for analysis and interpretation? In this framework great theoretical questions about the objects and the boundaries of semiotics will also be tackled.?
Saturday, December 06, 2003
The SITO Artchive - a collaborative digital art project that's been going since 1993
They say:
"SITO.org is a non-profit website. SITO's mission is to promote art, artists and the exploration of new art forms. To that end, we offer a host of free services to artists, including space in our Artchive and experimental fun in our Synergy collaborative art projects. SITO has been operating non-stop since 1993."
EUROPA/N'DO' ... at Castello di Rossena
The miniseminar, titled suggestively "Viaggiamo o spostiamo: gli sviluppi del turismo dopo che il baco del duemila non ha cancellato il mondo" (here is the visual support for my presentation), was part of a larger event named EUROPA/N'DO' which has as its objective to inform interested young people from university and European volunteer environments about mobility policies and programmes promoted by the European Commission.
We were joined by 30-40 enthusastic participants on Saturday, November 15 at the antique Castello di Rossena, in the beautiful Reggio Emilia Appennines , in countryside clothed in stupendous autumn colours.
EUROP/AN'DO' was organised in its entirety by the Reggio Emilia based cultural association microsophia, founded recently by a group of students and other young people active in european and internatrional volunteer work.
Saturday evening there was also the opening of a small but excellent photograpy exhibition entitled "Di êter pòst", with work by four young photographers from Reggio Emilia: Alessandro Mortari, Federico Salsi, Silvia Sai and Cosimo Bizzarri, represent themes and motives which are both pungent and esthetic from places so different as São Paolo in Brazil, Lisbon in Portugal and Berlìn in Germany.
Sunday morning there was also time for us to follow a very interesting and informative guided tour thanks to our hospitable and well-informed castle custodian.
This whole weekend has been an inspiring and pleasing experience!
Friday, November 21, 2003
Comments is back!
Thanx a million, BB folks!
Sunday, May 04, 2003
Easter in Chamonix

Mont Blanc summit (4810,40 m) from Aiguille du Midi
Then a couple of days before we went back to Bologna we had the good fortune to have yet another perfect weather day, which allowed us to ski the Vallé Blanche (with a guide) for the second time.

A not uneventful trip, however, since one of our group had some rather serious technical problems right from the start, and after rather a lot of toing and froing, our guide decided to call a rescue helicopter and have him airlifted out. As it turned out this was exactly the right thing to do, since the piste over the glacier at this time of the year is very dangerous indeed, due to the generally low levels of surface snow and the concurrent risk of encountering small and large crevasses.
The photos are all grabbed from a digital video I made during the trip (with a Canon MV550i), so the image quality is only moderate, but they still give quite a good idea of what our trip was like. We were five in all who completed the trip, myself, Patrizia, Sam and Mark from London, and our guide, Nicole.
Click on the image of the Vallé Blanche above to begin the photo series.
Saturday, April 19, 2003

Auguriamo con questo segno di vita e speranza una buona e pacifica festa di pasqua a tutti nostri cari amici e parenti intorno in tutto il mondo!
Med dette tegnet av liv og håp vi ønsker våre kjære venner og slekt omkring i hele verden en riktig hyggelig og fredfult påske!
Saturday, March 22, 2003
Some pictures from the peace demonstration in Piazza Maggiore, Bologna, Thursday, March 20th 2003



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