October 2002 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

September 2002 AoIR Executive Committee Report
by Steve Jones 20 Oct '02

20 Oct '02

September 15, 2002 Report of the a(o).i.r. executive committee Prepared by Steve Jones AoIR Executive Committee President: Steve Jones Vice-President: Nancy Baym Secretary: Ulla Bunz Treasurer: Benjamin Bates Open Seats: David Silver and Barry Wellman Appointed Seats: Matthew Allen and Leslie Shade Student Seat: Lisbeth Klastrup Publications Officers: Jeremy Hunsinger and Charlie Breindahl 2002 Conference Coordinator: Monica Murero 2002 Conference Program Chair: Klaus Bruhn Jensen Ethics Working Group Chair: Charles Ess 1. Introduction & General (Jones) Below is the monthly report from AoIR executive committee members. This will be the last report before the annual conference in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing many of you there. (It is likely that the next monthly report will be slightly delayed as according to schedule it ought to be published just before the conference is wrapping up.) A tremendous amount of effort has gone into the planning of the conference, and much has particularly been contributed by Monica Murero and her colleagues in Maastricht, Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Jeremy Hunsinger and a host of AoIR members who served on the program committee. As has been the case the past two years I am nearly overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of the program, and cannot wait to begin the meeting. 2. Executive Officers' Reports 2.1 President (Jones) 2.1.1 See above re: our upcoming conference. Concerning the conference after it, in 2003, a quick note of thanks is in order to Barry Wellman for his efforts at getting its planning fully under way. And please note that a "Call for Hosts" was recently issued for AoIR conferences in 2004 and beyond. If you are interested in hosting a future AoIR conference please contact me. 2.2 Vice President (Baym) 2.2.1 No report. 2.3 Secretary (Bunz) 2.3.1 Returned from leave. Scheduled exec meetings. Began preparing meeting itinerary for Maastricht. Began organizing awards for keynote speakers and best student paper. Chirped in on issues below. This month of the exec list: August 14 - September 12, 2002 . Agreement to discontinue and archive air-dbase, and to re-vitalize air-meet . Discussion of Call for Host, and quite a lot of discussion and work done on issues concerning conference hosting, selection and responsibilities of conference chairs and program chairs . Exchange of information regarding the Toronto 2003 planning, including discussion of possible grant or other funding options, possible program chairs, and possible keynote speakers 2.4 Treasurer (Bates) 2.4.1 Nothing to report. 2.5 Open Seats (Silver, Wellman) 2.5.1 Silver: Have taken an active role in brainstorming/planning upcoming and future AoIR conferences. And spent time looking forward to meeting up with everyone in Maastricht. 2.5.2 Wellman: I did a lot of work in helping to get the 2003 AOIR Toronto conference organized. I was appointed official liaison between the AOIR Executive Committee and the Toronto AOIR conference working committee, I represented the AOIR Exec to Toronto, and the Toronto organizers to AOIR Exec. This month was intense, and planning for the Toronto conference has moved forward in nice ways. 2.6 Appointed Seats (Allen, Shade) 2.6.1 Allen: Nothing to report. 2.6.2 Shade: Spent time on air-exec talking/strategizing about the AOIR Conf 2003 in Toronto. 2.7 Student Seat (Klastrup) 2.7.1 Nothing to report. Will take steps to organise informal grad student meeting during AOIR Conf in Maastricht very soon! 2.8 Publications Officers (Hunsinger, Breindahl) 2.8.1 Hunsinger: I helped a few people with their memberships I answered some questions relating to the listserves fiddled with the server a bit worked on related projects talked and tried to understand issues surrounding the next few conferences helped Klaus and Monica a bit 2.8.2 Breindahl: In my role as Information Officer, I continue to screen the subscription requests to AIR-L. The volume of spam has decreased recently, whereas the number of subscription requests has increased (no relation between those trends as far as I can see). The further development of aoir.org towards being database-driven is temporarily halted to await input from the Net Working Group. 2.9 2002 Conference (Monica Murero, Coordinator; Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Program Chair) 2.9.1 Murero: The last month has been very intense. Results looks very good. I have collaborated with Klaus on the program schedule, sent some mailing to air-list and to the conference authors, solved some issues and answered MANY questions online. Klaus and I are working now on the room assignment for the presentations. I am taking care of keynote speakers, and local arrangements. Registrations and hotels are fully delegated to an external local agency. I am also coordinating with sponsors, publishers, electronic equipment, and taking care of details of catering, transportations and local logistics issues. 2.9.2 Jensen: Most of all, I have been working with Monica Murero in updating the preliminary program for AoIR 3.0, which now includes abstracts of papers and panels. In addition, I have secured chairs for sessions at the conference, and have lined up the procedure for reviewing student papers. I take this final report before the conference as an opportunity to thank the wider AoIR community, whose input made the program possible.* 2.10 AoIR Ethics Working Group (Charles Ess, Chair) 2.10.1 Earlier this month, the ethics working committee posted its latest draft report on Internet research ethics, "Ethical decision-making and Internet research: Recommendations from the aoir ethics working committee." <http://www.aoir.org/reports/DraftFIVE.html> for review and comment by the aoir membership. This document articulates our best overview of the main range of ethical issues characteristic of the diverse venues and approaches to Internet research. It reflects nearly two years of cooperative work, expertise, and discussion of researchers and ethicists from a variety of disciplines and countries. While the committee is quite pleased with how the document has shaped up - we realize quite well that aoir folk may have further comment, criticisms, and suggestions in response to this draft that would make the document still better. This is, after all, precisely why we worked to post it to aoir within a month or so prior to the Maastricht conference. Our request is precisely that aoir folk - especially those who will be in Maastricht - review the draft document, and send any questions and/or suggestions for improvement to Charles Ess <cmess(a)drury.edu> who will take them to the ethics working committee for review and consideration. Our hope is that by going through this final review process, the document will meet any last objections and concerns, prior to being presented to the aoir business meeting in Maastricht for (we hope!) approval and endorsement by the aoir membership. On behalf of the aoir ethics working committee, let me thank the aoir membership for your support and encouragement - and we look forward to presenting and discussing the ethics document with you in Maastricht. 2.11 AoIR Elections Working Group (Nancy Baym, Liaison) 2.11.1 No report. 2.12 AoIR Net Resources Working Group (Charlie Breindahl, Liaison) 2.12.1 The AoIR Net Working Group has been dormant over the summer, but we have recently begun discussion of the future of aoir.org as content management system (audience oriented) or groupware (author oriented). ------------------------------------end of executive committee report------------------------------ The Association of Internet Researchers is a scholarly association dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of Internet studies. It is a resource and support network promoting critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and existing across academic borders. The association is international in scope. The association's web site is at http://www.aoir.org. Membership information is available at http://aoir.org/airjoin.html

2 1

Back to Addiction, the net and video games (was RE: [Air-l] Video Game Addiction)
by Matthew Allen 20 Oct '02

20 Oct '02

Hi all There is plenty of research going on into questions of game and/or internet research; according to the epistemological assumptions that underpin all psychological research into addiction, this research does indeed show that persistent computer use can be addictive (ie, attains a state where it impacts harmfully on other aspects of the person's life because computing activity overrides other necessary activities). I could cite some references but I'd have to dig through files for 'em - just use one of the many databases for scholarly literature. However, what is in question are the epistemological assumptions that underpin ALL research into addiction; and what matters are the consequences of establishing behaviours as 'addictions'. By analogy, let us remember, homosexuality was pathologised via the DSM (not quite sure what this acronym stands for but it's the American Psych. Association's diagnostic manual) for years. In the case of net addiction, check out http://www.netaddiction.com/ for an example of how psychiatrists might be held to 'produce' the condition they seek to cure, and then 'cure' it, while profiting from the entry of the condition into the DSM. we also need to break down the problem into two components: one, the question of addiction (which, frankly, can't be resolved via a rational consensus because of the epistemological / political problem noted above); and two, the question of effects - do games/net use 'cause' people to do things (usually bad things, according to the media). Ie is something bad in itself, or does it cause bad things. Matt

1 0

Re: [Air-l] Video Game Addiction
by muraco 20 Oct '02

20 Oct '02

interesting that asking for verification of "no shred of evidence exists for the brains being altered in game users" gets so much hostilty... I guess you have no study to cite, and that being said then I guess THERE IS NO SHRED OF EVIDENCE THAT GAME USERS BRAINS ARE NOT BEING MODIFIED BY THEIR GAME ADDICTION. and so I guess your original statement isn't so useful... I continue with the noting that your defintion of addiction is most flawed.... that addiction can include only psychological dimensions, and therefore it would seem appropriate to note "the addiction of game users..." which is I believe where we started... sadly I was hoping for something a bit more concrete to debate about.... otherwise why the post? Muraco ----- Original Message ----- From: "elijah wright" <elw(a)stderr.org> To: "muraco" <one(a)muraco.org> Sent: Saturday, October 19, 2002 5:08 PM Subject: Re: [Air-l] Video Game Addiction > > thus far, no one but you has indicated that there needs to be a cited > study in order to establish that "no shred of evidence exists". > > you *could* go fire up google, instead of trolling the AIR list.... > > elijah > > On Sat, 19 Oct 2002, muraco wrote: > > > Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 16:53:32 -0700 > > From: muraco <one(a)muraco.org> > > Reply-To: air-l(a)aoir.org > > To: air-l(a)aoir.org > > Subject: Re: [Air-l] Video Game Addiction > > > > coool then someone is going to cite the source??? > > this study that looked at users brains??? > > > > I am not hostile but I do think I want things cited, and not spouted off > > without much thinking... > > > > so this study??? > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "elijah wright" <elw(a)stderr.org> > > To: <air-l(a)aoir.org> > > Sent: Saturday, October 19, 2002 4:44 PM > > Subject: Re: [Air-l] Video Game Addiction > > > > > > > > > > > Hmm, and I am also unaware of any study that actually looked for altered > > > > brains in video-game addicts, so you must know of such a study as you > > > > are claiming "no shred of evidence" was found. I should like to know > > > > about the study that actually looked at these game users brains. Please > > > > > > tsk, tsk. hostile? > > > > > > "no shred of evidence" can be interpreted to mean "no evidence has been > > > presented" as easily as "there is evidence to the contrary"... two rather > > > different options. > > > > > > which was actually meant is debatable, no? semantics :) > > > > > > elijah > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Air-l mailing list > > > Air-l(a)aoir.org > > > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Air-l mailing list > > Air-l(a)aoir.org > > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l > > > >

2 2

Re: overcharging internet
by Bram Dov Abramson 19 Oct '02

19 Oct '02

adrian.miles(a)uib.no: > >So lesson is clear files from browsers and force a cold boot from > >public/commercial terminals when you are finished using. > >sorry. the lesson is to realise that the rest of the world subsidises >US access costs to the internet (due to inequities in how costs are >charged via the ITU) No, they don't. I think you're referring to a version -- in these parts they call the game "broken telephone" -- of an accusation made several years back by executives of monopoly telcos in several countries. Routed through APEC, their claim was that international Internet charging was unequitable because it did *not* follow the ITU-coordinated regime for international telephone charging, where each pair of international correspondents measures how much traffic they exchange over the course of the year, then settle up for the difference. Instead, argued said telco executives, they had to purchase capacity to the U.S. by negotiating on a case-by-case basis with suppliers -- which meant acting as customers -- even though said suppliers then had "free" access to their customers' networks through these links, including the overseas customers. Instead, went the argument, Internet traffic traversing international links should be metered, and pricing set according to actual traffic usage. In this sense, the chief complaint was not with the old ITU settlements system, but indeed the opposite -- it was with the Internet for not mimicking the monopoly-based settlements system. (More background at http://www.teledotcom.com/article/TEL20000822S0037) The argument has been wending its way through diplomatic channels for a few years now, and did make into the ITU. The problem is that, even when it was being pushed very actively, a great many folks viewed it as a spurious argument being used for attempted commercial gain. For evidence, they pointed to the fact that, were these carriers truly concerned about the situation, regional cooperation and coordination would address the problem, but that no such cooperation had been even attempted. Today, the Internet's centre is a bit more diffuse -- indeed, it's ironic that the specific example cited is Amsterdam, one of the Internet's hub cities. That means that, if one wishes to talk of "subsidisation", I think it would be more accurate to say simply that, in connecting to the global Internet, places with thin connections are at a commercial disadvantage (higher prices) to places with thick connections. cheers Bram

1 0

Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #522 - e-health
by Ronald E. Rice 19 Oct '02

19 Oct '02

If I may be so self-aggrandizing, I'd like to suggest our edited book, The Internet and Health Communication, for consideration by the e-health network. A summary and table of contents is available at: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~rrice/B6.htm Also, related to that, the links portion of my webpage, at www.scils.rutgers.edu/~rrice/ricelink.htm has a modest section on line health sites. The AoIR conference was GREAT! ============================================================ Ronald E. Rice Professor II, Chair of Department of Communication School of Communication, Information & Library Studies Rutgers University 4 Huntington St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1071 w: 732-932-7500, x8122; f: 732-932-3756 e: rrice(a)scils.rutgers.edu; http://scils.rutgers.edu/~rrice ============================================================

1 0

Fwd: ::fc-announce:: The Digital Cultures Fellowship for 2003 (fwd)
by jeremy hunsinger 19 Oct '02

19 Oct '02

Begin forwarded message: > From: Lisa Gye <lgye(a)groupwise.swin.edu.au> > Date: Mon Oct 7, 2002 2:34:12 AM Europe/Amsterdam > To: fibreculture-announce(a)lists.myspinach.org > Subject: ::fc-announce:: The Digital Cultures Fellowship for 2003 (fwd) > > Terms for 2003 Digital Cultures Project Fellowship > Stipend: $12,000 for a residence fellowship stipend to cover the > expense of > travel to and from UC Santa Barbara, room and lodgings while living in > Santa > Barbara to do research in digital cultures. It is assumed that research > fellows will have no teaching duties during the time they use this > stipend. > Term: 3 to 10 continuous weeks between January 15, 2003 and May 1, > 2003. > Eligibility: Faculty or post-doctoral student at a university in this > country or abroad. > Facilities: Research fellow will have 24 hours access to the > Transcriptions > computing studio. The computing studio, located in the English > Department, > has high-end networked Dell machines, a NT Server, a full suite of > software: > MS Office and Access; Macromedia Director, Dreamweaver, Flash, > Photoshop, > Premiere, etc. (See Transcriptions web site: > http://transcriptions.english.ucsb.edu/studio.shtml) > Discussion: We are hoping to attract an applicant who is doing > research in > any of the broad range of topics in the general area of the study of > digital > cultures. These include but are not limited to: > · Theory, history, culture, philosophy, or aesthetics of new computer > based > media > · Database design for humanities research > · Public Internet policy (e.g., copyright, free speech, privacy, > access) > · Hypertext and multimedia theory, practice, or fiction > · Advanced use of any of the following for humanities research: > HTML/SGML/XML, various scripting languages, imaging standards, > multimedia, > streaming media, etc. > The Digital Cultures Research fellow will be expected to lead a > seminar on > his or her work near the beginning of his or her fellowship term. > Deadline for application: November 15, 2002 > How to apply: Your application should include the following items: > 1. Your full contact information: name, phone number, address and email > 2. A short (1,000 word) description of your proposed research > 3. The dates when you propose to do your research at UC/ Santa Barbara > 4. Your CV > 5. One example of your work (articles, URL, etc) > 6. The names and email address of two people who would write > recommendations > for you if we contact them. > We especially encourage online application: send your materials to > warner(a)english.ucsb.edu or Professor William Warner; Department of > English; > UC Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA. 93106-3170. > > Lisa Gye > Lecturer in Media and Communications > Swinburne University of Technology > http://halflives.adc.rmit.edu.au/ > http://www.swin.edu.au/sbs/media/staff/gye/ > Tel: +613 92148345 > Fax: +613 98190574 > > > _______________________________________________ > ::fibreculture::announcements:: > To subscribe, please visit > http://lists.myspinach.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibreculture- > announce and enter your e-mail address. > > to unsubscribe from ::fc-announce::, send an email to: > fibreculture-announce-unsubscribe(a)lists.myspinach.org > > http://www.fibreculture.org > > jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu on the ibook www.cddc.vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

2 1

RE: [Air-l] geographic demographics of conference participants
by Monica.Murero＠MERIT.unimaas.nl 19 Oct '02

19 Oct '02

That's right folks! AoIR 3.0 in Maastricht was truly international! I am also thrilled to announce that there are more than 60 participants to add to the final list, based on on-site registrations, late paiments, and similar. So, we can conclude that during the first AoIR conference in Europe more than 400 people were in Maastricht from 43 countries :) How does that sound? All the best ! Monica Murero Conference Chair 2002 -----Original Message----- From: Ulla Bunz To: Air List Sent: 10/18/02 9:25 PM Subject: [Air-l] geographic demographics of conference participants I'm thrilled to announce that AoIR 3.0 in Maastricht was truly international. Based on the demographics in the conference program, we had 357 attendees from 43 countries. I'm especially happy that I would not be able to locate two of these countries on the map, because it means that our association has grown beyond even my wildest imagination! I am also very excited that we have been able to draw a stronger representation from African countries. Way to go! Here are the stats. Ulla (Secretary) Geographic Demographics of AoIR 3.0 participants in Maastricht, October 13-16, 2002 (based on conference program). Total: 357 Australia: 8 Austria: 5 Belgium: 7 Cameroon: 1 Canada: 11 Chile: 2 Congo: 2 Croatia: 1 Denmark: 13 Ecuador: 1 Finland: 2 France: 10 Germany: 17 Ghana: 5 Greece: 6 Hungary: 3 India: 3 Indonesia: 1 Ireland: 2 Israel: 8 Italy: 3 Japan: 3 Luxembourg: 1 Macau: 1 Malawi: 1 Netherlands: 74 New Zealand: 1 Nigeria: 8 Norway: 7 Pakistan: 2 Poland: 2 Russian Federation: 2 Rwanda: 1 Singapore: 2 Slovenia: 2 South Korea: 1 Spain: 3 Sweden: 10 Switzerland: 2 Taiwan: 2 United Arab Emirates: 1 United Kingdom: 33 United States of America: 87 ---------------------------------------------------- Ulla Bunz Assistant Professor Department of Communication Rutgers University 4 Huntington Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Email: bunz(a)scils.rutgers.edu <mailto:bunz@scils.rutgers.edu> ----------------------------------------------------

1 0

Re: overcharging internet
by Adrian Miles 19 Oct '02

19 Oct '02

At 12:01 -0400 18/10/02, air-l-request(a)aoir.org wrote: >So lesson is clear files from browsers and force a cold boot from >public/commercial terminals when you are finished using. sorry. the lesson is to realise that the rest of the world subsidises US access costs to the internet (due to inequities in how costs are charged via the ITU), and that when you are a guest in another country you are a guest in another country. my experience of the dutch during AoIR was of overwhelming politeness, interest, curiosity and courtesy (it is the only country i have visited so far where nearly every commercial (restaurant. hotel, taxi) conversation began with "where have you come from?" and they really wanted to know. cheers adrian miles -- + lecturer in new media and cinema studies [http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/vog/vlog] + interactive desktop video developer [http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/vog/] + hypertext rmit [http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au] + InterMedia:UiB. university of bergen [http://www.intermedia.uib.no]

1 0

ECSCW 03 call for papers (fwd)
by Barry Wellman 18 Oct '02

18 Oct '02

fyi Barry ___________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 ___________________________________________________________________ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 16:30:40 -0400 From: catherine beise <cbeise(a)COMCAST.NET> To: SIGGROUP-MEMBERS(a)ACM.ORG Subject: ECSCW 03 call for papers Call for Papers ECSCW'03 - 8th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work Helsinki, 14.- 18. September 2003 http://ecscw2003.oulu.fi CSCW is a multidisciplinary area of research devoted to the use of computers to support cooperative work and a meeting area for research coming from technology and human and social sciences. The community encompasses interests in systems development and design, the theory and practice of CSCW, the installation and use of CSCW systems, the application of novel technologies, and the relation between the social and the technical. We invite contributions on all topics related to CSCW, including technical, empirical, and theoretical aspects of collaboration and computer systems. As always, a key aim of the conference is to be multdisciplinary, combining and where possible truly integrating the social with the technical. Important Dates: 2 February 2003 Paper deadline 16 February 2003 Tutorials, Workshops, Demonstrations, Videos, Poster, Doctoral Colloquium deadline 31 March 2003 Notification of acceptance 30 April 2003 Camera Ready Copy deadline Submission requirements are available at the conference website http://ecscw2003.oulu.fi or by writing to ecscw03(a)tol.oulu.fi Even if you do not plan to submit work to the conference we hope that you will attend. Put the dates on your calendar now! We look forward to welcoming you to Helsinki in September 2003. Kari Kuutti, University of Oulu, Finland Eija Karsten, University of Turku, Finland ECSCW 2003 co-chairs

1 0

RE: [Air-l] AoiR meets Toronto 2003...
by Matthew Allen 18 Oct '02

18 Oct '02

Hi all thanks to Liss for kicking off air-meet in preparation for what will be a great conference in 2003 in Toronto. As she mentioned, I am the program chair, with responsibility for managing the submission, review and selection of papers and their organisation into a coherent, manageable program that best reflects the combined expectations of the Association and the Conference organisers. I am looking forward to working closely with Liss, David, Barry and all to make AoIRv4 meet the high standards already set. For the moment, I will be taking a back seat, since the themes, and more, for the conference are not my responsibility. However, soon, I will be asking for ideas and feedback on previous conferences that will help to shape our program next year. Take care now - and encourage as many friends and colleagues as you can to become involved. Matthew Internet Studies Curtin University, Perth, WA List-Subscribe: <http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-meet>, or <mailto:air-meet-request@aoir.org?subject=subscribe> or check out the archives to see what you are getting into: List-Archive: <http://www.aoir.org/pipermail/air-meet/>

1 0