The Real Deal - ETHOS Newsletter October 2016

Omnipresent October

It is time for the second newsletter of the semester. While starting up after the summer holidays can sometimes be a bit of a rigid process, we are proud to have executed some fine events already. The lab is now buzzing with activity as new and old faces frequent the locals of ETHOS Lab.

During the last month we have seen the first publicETHOS event kicked with an introduction to Alteryx, the python study group has been launched, and we held a datasprint together with Metropol University College.

In this month's newsletter you can read about our friends in DigIT, an organisation rooted in ETHOS Lab, and what projects they have for the semester. We also present the work of our former Junior Researcher Nicolai Tarp, who wrote an article on the Instagram algorithm. Furthermore, we welcome the new Junior Researchers to the lab. We are excited to see how their projects progress!

On another community related note, we have decided to put an end to the "volunteer" role. Instead, everyone who wants to be affiliated with the ETHOS community can now sign up as community members. More info on that here.

Oh, and we launched a small returning communal lunch on Mondays for the Junior Researchers and community members.

Best wishes,

ETHOS Lab

Teaching: DigIT - Digital privacy study group

Our friends and collaborators in the DigIT study group have started running a series of events on ITU. The themes are commercial use of data, digital privacy, social media, government surveillance, digital conduct and more along these lines. More about this here.

The initial talk on September 27th was about digital privacy on social media platforms.
Next up - which is later today on the 4th of October - the DigIT group have invited three speakers to address the subject of information stream on the internet. Also, there will be a presentation on concrete tools to help you protect your privacy online.

The talks and events will continue throughout the semester.

You can find a link to the Facebook page of the study group here.

And the event here.

For more info on past events etc. visit: http://www.cryptobackers.dk/

Research: Instagram algorithms on Twitter

How do people react to the impact of algorithm controlled information and news feeds?

Former junior researcher Nicolai Traasdahl Tarp and fellow DDC student Josefine Grunnet have written a compressed version of their paper "#RIPINSTAGRAM: Emerging Counter-Narratives in the Conception of Algorithms".

The article explores four counter-narratives in and around the implementation of algorithms in Instagram. The narratives are built through an extensive and digitally driven data analysis of twitter posts.

Services: Datasprint part 1

On Saturday members of ETHOS Lab hosted a datasprint together with the Danish Royal Library and the digital humanities lab, HUMlab. Around 30 students and researchers gathered in the Cultural Heritage Hall in the scenic Black Diamond. The theme was Denmark’s colonial past in the shape of archival material from the former Danish West Indies, which is being digitalised to mark the centennial of the sale of the islands next year.

In groups the participants explored the thousands of images and maps, and started working on different digital representations of the data. There are two more sprints planned around the same theme, one in November and one in December. The end products of the groups will be presented to a panel of judges and incorporated into the Royal Library’s exhibition on the islands next year, if relevant. Click the link to see pictures from the day.

Copenhagen Culture Night

ETHOS Lab will be represented at this years Culture Night on Friday October 14.

There will be a talk by Sofus and Mikkel from DigIT, who will talk about data footprints and how our online activity data is logged and used. The talks are at 20:00 and 21:00.

We will also have an interactive workstation where visitors can find publicly available data from social media platforms and try to visualise it. And of course, there will be other events happening at the ITU as well, which you can read more about here.

To save the best news for last:

The Junior Researchers for the fall semester have been found. Each of them have exciting ideas and projects going on. You can find them in and around the lab, especially at our weekly monday meeting. The list of Junior Researchers is on our webpage with a short description of their projects. Read more here.

In Other News

• Lab manager Michael has written a blog post where he looks back at the ETHOS Lab summer lab. Read it here.

• We have added a calender to the webpage. You can now view upcoming events hosted by ETHOS Lab.

• ETHOS Lab is open to students and researchers as always. Opening hour details can be found on the lab's website: https://ethos.itu.dk/opening-hours/. Feel free to stop by to have a chat about digital methods, and how they might be useful in your projects.