DCRC - Digital Cultures Research Centre

The week auspiciously ending the 13th of July was also the 149th week of the operation of the DCRC. The week brought workshops on books & print and smart cities, as well as talks on gamification, interactive documentary and a visit from the university's board of governors. 149 years ago in 1863 the first section of the London Underground opened and the International Committee of the Red Cross was founded. In week 149, the DCRC and the Centre for Fine Print Research held a two-day workshop on the future of the book and contributed to the Open City programme for the European Capital of Culture Guimarães 2012.

Weeks 143-145 of the DCRC have been rather busy with the annual array of double-marking, meetings and paperwork necessary to finalise marks and awards for this academic year. Equally, members of the centre have been involved in planning for a new academic year, a partial change of surroundings - as Media Practice and Culture moves to the Bower Ashton campus, and planning some upcoming events. DCRC researchers have contributed to the celebrations of Watershed's 30th birthday, the Sheffield DocFest, embarked upon residencies and prepared for a summer of international travel.

The week ending 17th February saw the ongoing application of DCRC research in teaching made manifest in the Pervasive Media Studio through the Fusion labs and Masters level teaching. The week is the 128th of DCRC's activity. As many will know, 128-bit key size encryption is a common form of security across the internet, not least in IP v.6, and ASCII includes definitions for 128 characters.

The week ending the 10th February marks the 127th week of the DCRC's operation. 127 is a Mersenne and a cuban prime number. An auspicious week then for several events that ocurred: Patrick Crogan speaking about his book 'Gameplay Mode', with an accomanying talk by Tomas Rawlings concerning the recent launch of the game 'Call of Cthulu'; a preceding DIGRA meeting here at the DCRC; a showcase of recent MA Media: Practice and Culture work; and a public talk on 'Design Fiction' by Sam Kinsley.

On Friday 10th February I will be talking about 'design fiction' for the Pervasive Media Studio's lunchtime talk series. 'Design Fiction' describes ways of using storytelling techniques, especially in the form of video, to make speculative design ideas feel real. I have collected together the various resources from which I have drawn my materials for the talk into a preliminary bibliography that may be of use to others interested in the topic.

The end of January and the beginning of February has seen several projects start to wind up and some interesting new opportunities for the DCRC. This delayed double week, or 'fortnight', note rattles through what we've been doing in the last two weeks.