April 2005 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

RE: [Air-l] histories of mobiles? (Intern)
by richard-seyler.ling＠telenor.com 21 Apr '05

21 Apr '05

Hi, I have a short history of mobiles and radio based communication in my book "The mobile connection." Perhaps the best source is Tom Farely's "Mobile Telephone History" at: http://www.privateline.com/PCS/history.htm. He starts with Hertz and Marconi and comes all the way to the present. It is a great site. Rich Ling -----Original Message----- From: air-l-aoir.org-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-aoir.org-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Gerard Goggin Sent: 21. april 2005 01:43 To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] histories of mobiles? Dear airlisters, I'm writing an article on the history of mobiles in Australia, and am interested in what work has been done -- or is in progress -- elsewhere on histories of mobiles (apart from Agar's 'Constant Touch'). Thanks, Gerard Goggin -- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Dr Gerard Goggin ARC Australian Research Fellow Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072 Qld Australia e: g.goggin(a)uq.edu.au m: 0428 66 88 24 www.gerardgoggin.net// www.cccs.uq.edu.au research blog: http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/~blogs/gerardgoggin/ _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

1 0

Reminder: PhD course announcement at IT University of Copenhagen
by T.L. Taylor 20 Apr '05

20 Apr '05

Note deadline for applications is tomorrow, April 21 :) TL --- Hi folks. I will be hosting a PhD course at the IT University of Copenhagen on June 2-4 entitled "Mundane Technologies: The Structures and Practice of Everyday Use". The guest lecturers for it will be Lucy Suchman and Nina Wakeford. The course will explore the intersections between the structures of use embedded in technologies (be it physical configurations or software and architectures) and the actual practices that circulate through them. Rather than taking technological artifacts at face value, this course will examine 1) the embedded values, social & political configurations, and use-orientations within a technology (normative orientations) and 2) the intervening ways actual use is constructed, contested, and negotiated. The course will take up the notion of the "imagined user" and draw on work that seeks to understand the (at times messy) co-construction of technology and everyday users. Additionally, consideration will be given to methodological orientations that foster research exploring this relationship. The course will include students from a variety of fields, including those doing work on computer gaming, CSCW, Ubicomp, and internet studies to name a few. Students will focus on exploring - through the readings and reflections on their own research - the intersections between systems, values, and practices. Despite divergent objects of study (across several research departments), the goal of the course is to create a venue for some shared inquiry into the normative aspects of systems and the intervening everyday use of technological artifacts. Space is limited and applications are required. Check out http://www1.itu.dk/sw29224.asp for more details (ECTS will be 5 if a paper is submitted and 3 if not). TL -- ___________________________________ T.L. Taylor, Associate Professor Center for Computer Games Research Dept. of Digital Aesthetics and Communication IT University of Copenhagen Rued Langgaards Vej 7, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark +45 7218 5035 (tele) / +45 7218 5001 (fax) tltaylor(a)itu.dk / http://www.itu.dk/~tltaylor/

2 1

Convention - Media Ecology Association, Fordham University, NYC June 22-26, 2005
by J Sternberg 19 Apr '05

19 Apr '05

THE SIXTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE MEDIA ECOLOGY ASSOCIATION June 22-26, 2005 Fordham University New York, New York <http://www.media-ecology.org> THE BIASES OF MEDIA Media are often criticized for the biases of their content, but media ecology is also concerned with the intellectual, emotional, temporal, spatial, political, social, metaphysical, and epistemological biases associated with different forms of communication and different types of technology. Featured speakers at the Sixth Annual MEA Convention include Paul Levinson, Eric McLuhan, Frank E. X. Dance, Sara van den Berg, Robert White, and James Carey (and expect a few surprises!). Convention activities will take place at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus in midtown Manhattan, located at 113 West 60th Street, New York, NY 10023 Directions to campus <http://tinyurl.com/4huww> Map of campus area <http://tinyurl.com/3wn6j> Accommodations will be handled by participants on an individual basis. No particular hotel is recommended nor are any hotel discounts offered for the Convention. A list of convenient hotels and hostels will be available on the MEA Web site. Note that this year’s Convention starts on Wednesday afternoon, June 22 and ends on Sunday afternoon, June 26. PRE-REGISTRATION INFORMATION Convention Fees for MEA Members ___ US $30 Member Pre-Registration (before June 1) ___ US $40 Member Registration (after June 1 or on site) ___ US $20 Student Registration* Convention Fees for Non-Members ___ US $60 Convention Registration Only ___ US $25 Student Convention Registration Only* Membership Fees (January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005) ___ US $60 Membership ___ US $30 Student Membership* * full-time student ID required A printable version of the pre-registration form will be available online at <http://www.media-ecology.org>, where the Convention schedule will be posted and updated periodically. Please send completed pre-registration form and check or money order payable to Media Ecology Association to: Janet Sternberg, MEA Executive Secretary Dept. of Communication and Media Studies Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458-9993 718-817-4855 voice | 718-817-4868 fax netberg {at} compuserve.com Payment from outside the United States can be made through PayPal® at <http://www.media-ecology.org/joinmea/intlpay.html> Questions? Contact the Convention Coordinators Janet Sternberg Dept. of Communication and Media Studies Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458-9993 718-817-4855 voice | 718-817-4868 fax netberg {at} compuserve.com Lance Strate Dept. of Communication and Media Studies Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458-9993 718-817-4864 voice | 718-817-4868 fax strate {at} fordham.edu DEADLINE FOR PRE-REGISTRATION: June 1, 2005 ----------------------------------- Media Ecology Association <http://www.media-ecology.org> -----------------------------------

1 0

Info Overload, and How!
by Leslie Regan Shade 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

Hi there, in response to Jeff's post below re David Levy's work on info overload...Canadian Heather Menzies has just published a new book called No Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life (Douglas and McIntyre, 2005). Menzies is one of the most trenchant feminist critics of technology in Canada. I reviewed the book for the Globe and Mail this past Sat., the entire review is at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050416/BKT… Excerpt: 'Mom, you work too hard," my teenage daughter tells me. "You never stop . . . you carry that laptop around with you, even while you're watching TV." "Well," I say defensively, "I just told someone I would get back to them on something . . . and a student e-mailed me about her paper topic, so I should respond . . ." I fear I'm one of those multi-tasking, high-achieving and frequently frazzled adults to whom Heather Menzies refers in her compellingly honest and evocative book, No Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life. Like the Canadian academics she studied on a time-use survey, I find myself seduced and sucked up in the thrill and flotsam of e-mail to colleagues near and far away, to the rush of roaring across an ocean to another gab-fest conference, to the inevitable time-suck of managing grants and students and juggling administrivia. So, for many of us, Menzies's latest book will be an urgent wake-up call to slow down, reflect on our family and work priorities, and talk among ourselves. It's often not until the infrastructure -- whether physical or emotional -- breaks down that we engage in inner contemplation and a renewal of community connections. Cheers, and back to Grading Lockdown LESLIE > ------------------------------ > > Message: 11 > Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:22:57 -0400 > From: Jeff Young <jeff.young(a)chronicle.com> > Subject: [Air-l] article and discussion on 'information overload' > To: Air-l-aoir.org(a)listserv.aoir.org > Message-ID: <4263DEE1.8060508(a)chronicle.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed > > Hi, > > I thought folks on this list might be interested in an article in this > week's Chronicle of Higher Education about information overload and the > social impacts of technology. The article is free to anyone (even > non-subscribers): > > Knowing When to Log Off > http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i33/33a03401.htm > > Also, we're hosting an online chat about the issues this Thursday: > http://chronicle.com/colloquy/2005/04/overload/ > > -Jeff > -- Leslie Regan Shade Associate Professor Communication Studies Concordia University 7141 Sherbrooke St. W. Hingston Hall 421 Montreal Quebec H4B 1R6 514-848-2424 x2550

2 1

New book, 2 papers + thesis on opensource.mit.edu|freesoftware.mit.edu
by Karim R. Lakhani 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

<apologies in advance for any x-posting> Hello All, We have received one book, two papers and a thesis as contributions to our community site this month. Many thanks to all the authors that have made their submissions. See you all soon! Karim Book Author von Hippel, Eric Title: Democratizing Innovation (MIT Press, 2005) http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/democ.htm Overview: Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users--both individuals and firms--often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging user-centered innovation system. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all. The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products--most notably in the free and open-source software movement--but also in physical products. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive. Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and systematically seek out innovations developed by users. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license. Paper 1 Authors Boettiger, Sara & Dan L. Burk Title: Open Source Patenting http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=645182 Abstract: The open source and free software movements have used self-perpetuating copyright licenses to maintain open access to publicly distributed software. This model of licensing has now migrated to the field of biotechnology, where patents rather than copyrights dominate proprietary rights. Consequently, a model for open source patenting or free biotechnology presents a constellation of legal issues not typically found in previous open source licensing. This paper discusses several of these issues, including the nature of the rights transferred, the activities that may trigger the terms of the license, and the legal prohibitions on certain forms of licensing. Paper 2 Author: Lin, Yuwei Title Hybrid Innovation - How Does the Collaboration Between the FLOSS Community and Corporations Happen? http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/lin4_hybrid.pdf Abstract Unlike innovation based on a strong professional culture involving close collaboration between professionals in academia and/or corporations, the current Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development entails a global knowledge network, which consists of 1) a heterogeneous community of individuals and organisations who do not necessarily have professional backgrounds in computer science but competent skills to understand programming and working in a public domain; 2) corporations. This paper highlights the importance of the hybrid form of developing and implementing software, and also identifies several key factors shaping the collaboration between OSS firms and the community. Undergraduate Thesis Author Greenberg, Robert Title: Open Source Software Development http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/greenberg.pdf Abstract: This paper examines applies basic economic theory to Open Source Software Development. Through examination of rational actor behavior I show why economically motivated individuals and firms choose to develop code that to be given away freely. It also examines the various Open Source licenses, including the two most common, the Free Software Foundation’s General Public License (GPL) and Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) License. Included are case studies to illustrate the workings of Open Source Software projects and how profit seeking firms have attached themselves to them. These case studies include the Apache Web Server, Mozilla, IBM, Microsoft’s Shared Source Initiative, and Red Hat. The associated business plans are also discussed. An executive summary precedes the paper and a glossary is attached to the end. -- Karim R. Lakhani MIT Sloan | The Boston Consulting Group Mobile: +1 (617) 851-1224 http://spoudaiospaizen.net http://web.mit.edu/lakhani/www | http://opensource.mit.edu

1 0

article and discussion on 'information overload'
by Jeff Young 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

Hi, I thought folks on this list might be interested in an article in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education about information overload and the social impacts of technology. The article is free to anyone (even non-subscribers): Knowing When to Log Off http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i33/33a03401.htm Also, we're hosting an online chat about the issues this Thursday: http://chronicle.com/colloquy/2005/04/overload/ -Jeff

2 1

CFP: C&W 2005, Stanford
by Samantha Blackmon 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

Here is the CFP you've all been waiting for: Computers and Writing Online 2005! Complete details can be found at http://kairosnews.org/cwonline05/cfp When Content Is No Longer King: Social Networking, Community, and Collaboration David Reed explains that in the early stages of a network's formation and growth, that "content is king," that there are a "a small number of sources (publishers or makers) of content that every user selects from" (qtd in Rheingold Smart Mobs 61). As the network scales, "group-forming networks" occur, and the value of the network increases exponentially in relationship of the number of users, otherwise known as Reed's Law, privileging the social interaction over content. We can see this change in network valuation in today's Internet. The increased valuing of social interaction in large scale networks is reflected in the new technologies that place emphasis on social communication and community over content. These technologies, often dubbed "social software" are applications that, as Clay Shirky explains, "support group interaction." We invite proposals from scholars, graduate students and others who have an interest in computers and writing and social interactions and are working on projects in gestation, in progress, near completion, or at any stage in between, whether a thesis or dissertation, article, book project, or just want to preview and fine-tune your conference presentation for Computers and Writing Conference hosted by Stanford University. This is a unique opportunity for extended discussion of your ideas before heading to Palo Alto. Conference organizers are particularly interested in presentations that address, but are not limited to, the following concerns: --Internet "social software" technologies such as blogs, wikis, RSS, social networks (orkut and friendster), and social bookmarking (del.icio.us). --Mobile technologies such as wi-fi and smart phones. --More traditional social, community communication spaces of email, discussion forums, newsgroups, listservs, and MOO's. As an acknowledgment of the value of social networks in creating discourse of and about scholarly work, CWOnline 2005 will follow a submission process using weblogs whereby participants will submit abstract proposals for public review and feedback within the Kairosnews site. Final versions of presentations will be made available online on Kairosnews. -- Samantha Blackmon, PhD Assistant Professor Department of English Purdue University West Lafayette, IN http://www.sla.purdue.edu/blackmon http://joe.english.purdue.edu/blog - blog **Please change my email in your address books to sblackmon(a)cla.purdue.edu**

1 0

RE: [Air-l] universal ethics?
by Christopher J. Richter 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

Hello: Though mostly a lurker here, I couldn't resist airing some thoughts on this one: >PT >> If there are universal ethics we can prove these on the Internet. > > > > > RG> whose ethics will be universalised do you suppose? and what kinds of > > intolerances might that validate/legitimize? > > >Exactly the right questions - thank you, Radhika! >And I would gently reply: I think we can propose an ethics that begins in >part with the universal value implicit in the suggestion here that >"universal" claims have all too often in the past served as excuses for >colonialism, imperialism. . . . I would like to suggest that it is not only the concept of "universal" that we need to problematize in thinking about these issues, but the concept of "ethics" as well. Although the term can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, ethics in the modern sense of "the science of morals; the department of study concerned with the principles of human duty" (OED) may have grow out of the erosion of tradition as the primary guiding force of behavior beginning in the 14th or 15th century. Thus, a concern with ethics is a concern with codes of behavior, and not just with studying them (most of us in the social sciences study them, in some sense), but with prescribing them. And while the study of what we call ethical issues certainly exists and has long existed in other cultures, ethics per se, especially as separate from any sense of religion or at least the spiritual, may be a particularly Western abstraction. In modern usage, ethics often seem to be conceived of as context specific. Thus, "business ethics," "environmental ethics," even "net- or computer ethics." And certainly, as much of the on-going discussion here acknowledges, normative codes of behavior tend to be culturally and historically situated. Thus we should consider whether "universal ethics" constitutes an oxymoron. >Moreover, my more recent work (with the help, I must hasten to add, of >many, many colleagues in these domains) on Information Ethics and Internet >Research Ethics in countries such as China, Japan, Thailand, and Korea also >offer grounds for optimism. For example, two recent examples of Internet >research in Japan demonstrate more or less perfect consonance with the AoIR >guidelines recommendations regarding informed consent, protection of >confidentiality, anonymity, and personal data, etc. >Indeed, emerging conceptions of privacy and data privacy protection law in >these countries - while clearly retaining distinctive cultural "shape" in >their conception and application - are nonetheless recognizable cousins of >"Western" conceptions and laws. This suggests that even across the >considerable cultural differences, say, between the U.S. and Germany, on >the one hand, and China, Japan, Thailand, Korea, and Hong Kong, on the >other - there may be agreement on basic (universal?) values such as >privacy, Following my reasoning above, I have to ask: could it be that there are similarities because of shared context that crosses cultural boundaries? When I think about privacy, data encryption and the like, my thoughts are also never far from government surveillance and trans-national corporate capitalism--contexts indeed shared across many nations and cultures. >I would add: this tolerance is not unlimited. Rather, I think it's quite >possible to endorse tolerance as a universal value - but not thereby be >committed to tolerating, say, fascist regimes and violent repression of >women and minorities. On the contrary, by proposing that rights to >integrity, autonomy, cultural identity, and so forth are, at the very >least, strong candidates for universal rights Although I am sympathetic to being intolerant of intolerance, the ramifications of this scare me if you are talking about the net generally, as opposed to specific locales within it such as thus one. Even if it were possible to police the entire net, who should the ethical (moral) police be? i.e. who gets to decide what constitutes intolerance? Likewise, who gets to define "violence"? Contrast, e.g. Paulo Freire's definition of cultural invasion as violence with the rhetoric of the anti-abortion movement in the U.S. on violence against the unborn, if you think defining violence is unproblematic. Finally, is cultural identity ever linked to systematic intolerance (history of the U.S. suggests this is the case!)? If so, where do we draw the line, and again, more fundamentally, who gets to decide this? >Indeed, I think we make more progress towards some sort of shared, humane >value system_s_ and ethics through such dialogues, rather than giving up >the effort, however much previous failures and disasters might tempt us to >do so. The sentiment of this I can agree with (I think), but isn't dialogue, as an act of synthesis, with its potential for compromise, and even recognition of disagreement as opposed to consensus, fundamentally a different process from that of seeking to uncover some essential ethical nature that is already embedded in all of human culture, which seems to be the process implicit in much of the rest of what you say? Also, when talking about dialogue, it is important to remember, as Nancy Fraser and others point out, the difficulty/impossibility of bracketing status differentials so that those with less power come to the table "as if they were equals" with the holders of power. (Fraser, N. (1992). Rethinking the public sphere: A contribution to the critique of actually existing democracy. In C. Calhoun (Ed.), Habermas and the public sphere (pp.109-142). Cambridge MA: MIT Press.) Perhaps there is no better approach than dialogue, but that doesn't mean we should let optimism become a cover for idealistic naivety (but perhaps my one-time Midwestern optimism has dissolved into Southern U.S. style cynicism). Christopher J Richter, PhD Assoc. Prof. & Chair, Communication Studies Hollins University P.O. Box 9652 Roanoke, VA 24020 Tel. 5403626358 Fax 5403626286 e-mail crichter(a)hollins.edu www.hollins.edu

5 8

New Grant: Constructive Dialogue About Sensitive Issues on College Campuses (fwd)
by david silver 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

this (below) looks quite exciting. (unfortunately, i believe, but am not certain, this is for colleges and universities in the US.) here in the states, we need constructive and engaged dialogue on campuses more than ever. here's an idea: wouldn't it be great if the colleges and universities that receive grants try to coordinate events between campuses? for more information, visit http://www.fordfound.org/news/more/dialogues/index.cfm david *** New Ford Foundation Grants Initiative Program Seeks to Foster Constructive Dialogue About Sensitive Issues on College Campuses: National grants initiative "Difficult Dialogues" calls for proposals http://www.fordfound.org/news/view_news_detail.cfm?news_index=151 http://www.fordfound.org/news/more/dialogues/index.cfm Difficult Dialogues is a new, national competitive grants initiative in undergraduate education. The initiative will support the development of rigorous academic programs that engage students in constructive dialogue around difficult political, religious, racial and cultural issues. The goal is to help institutions create a campus environment where sensitive subjects can be discussed in a spirit of open scholarly inquiry and intellectual rigor and with respect for different viewpoints. The initiative is part of a broader, $6.7 million effort by the Foundation to understand and combat anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bigotry in the United States and Europe . Difficult Dialogues builds on the Foundation's history of supporting efforts by colleges and universities to foster more inclusive campus environments and to engage effectively with the growing racial and ethnic diversity of their student bodies. The Foundation expects to award approximately 25 grants of up to $100,000. We anticipate supporting projects with an emphasis on teaching and learning. Colleges and universities with general undergraduate programs are encouraged to submit preliminary proposals by May 16, 2005 . Please see the Request for Proposals for a detailed description of potential areas of interest and specific guidelines for submitting proposals.

2 1

CFP: New Media Technologies at the ECCR
by O''Riordan, Kate 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

Call for papers for a panel of the ECCR ?New media technologies? section @ The First European Communication Conference KIT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 24-26, 2005 We would like to invite abstracts for contributions to a panel of the ?New media technologies? section of the ECCR, the European Consortium for Communications Research (http://www.eccr.info/) at the First European Communication Conference (http://www.ecc2005.nl/) in Amsterdam in November. The ECCR aims to strengthen the European research area in media and communication research. Joining forces with the ECA (the European Communication Association ? http://www.eca.org) for this conference, the ECCR is currently expanding its scope. Its links with the IAMCR are still strong, but the emphasis is on facilitating a consolidation of European networking seen as here as additional to, not exclusive from, other networks. Within the existing CfP of the overall conference (to which we have to send the panel applications), we would like to concentrate on the second set of topics: ?State-of-the-art research and theory building? which includes Assessments of the theories and methods developed in the field during the past half century as well as analytical work on lessons learned; Critical summaries of research findings in the various (sub)fields of European communication research; Comparative intra-European communication research; Innovative methodologies, pedagogies and theories; State-of-the-art research findings; Future studies in communication and mediation: issues and methods. The ?New media technologies? section shares the aim of strengthening the European networking efforts. It aims to be a forum that brings together researchers in the field from a variety of backgrounds. The emphasis of the current leadership team is on media and communications studies, cultural studies as well as the representation and sociology of technology. The first emphasis within the section will be on technology and its particular role in relation to both everyday life and cultural theory. This applies to technological and cultural forms and their intersections and crystallisations. Recognising the importance of new media and technologies within the conduct of everyday lives around the world, but also emphasising the limitations of possible changes, this panel aims to concentrate on the axes of new media and technologies as they move across communicational and interactional fields. Possible contributions could cover fields such as the aesthetics and form of new media; digital illiteracy; the domestication of technologies; metaphors of new media; political economies; and cultural theories of technology. Abstracts of no more than 800 words should be sent by April 27th to Maren Hartmann (Maren.Hartmann(a)uni-erfurt.de) The section was only recently founded and is currently in its formation phase. Thus any contribution made now can help to define what this section?s role within the ECCR shall be. The conference will be the official inauguration of this newly formed section. A section meeting will take place in Amsterdam. Here, new members will be welcomed and asked to contribute to the content-formation of the section. Thus a draft of the ?letter of intent? of the section will be open to discussion. Maren Hartmann (Erfurt, D) Kate O?Riordan (Lancaster/Sussex, UK) Caroline Bassett (Sussex, UK)

1 0