April 2007 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Ph.D. student is looking for a good home for his Thesis
by Michael Baron 08 Apr '07

08 Apr '07

Hi, all I guess my posting to the AOIR list is an anusual one! I am based in Melbourne, Australia. I have been a Ph.D student at RMIT University for 3 years...then had to leave due to some "lovely misunderstandings" with my supervisor. As a result I am left with a) Virtually complete ph.d Thesis in the Area of Internet Communications but no university to submit the Thesis at (have to shop for another uni now) b) difficult job of finding a uni I am not after living allowance etc. ( I got a uni teaching job, thx God) but i am looking for a university where i can submit my thesis ASAP (if its Aus, i guess i will have to wait for at least two years before i can submit). What i am looking for is opportunity to continue my studies free of charge ( e.g. fee-exemption scholarship such as RTS) as well as opportunity to complete the thesis in Internet Communications without moving out of Melbourne. In return, I will be more than happy to contribute to the univerisity's research activities, online teaching etc. Any helpers? Or may be some good advice I feel a bit shy to use AOIR for the purpose of finding good home for my thesis...but given all the energy i put into my thesis already, am feeling a bit desperate :). Thank you for your help. Michael -- "My Body is my Temple" "Be The Change You Want to See In The World." Gandhi

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Colloquium at Columbia University: "Love of War."
by Orion Anderson 07 Apr '07

07 Apr '07

THE PEACE EDUCATION CENTER invites you to attend a special colloquium presented by Richard A. Koenigsberg "WARFARE AND DEVOTION TO THE SACRED IDEAL" FACULTY MEMBERS:YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND. PLEASE ALSO TELL YOUR STUDENTS ABOUT THIS SPECIAL EVENT. Wednesday, April 18 - 7:00-9:00pm Teachers College, Columbia University Room 179 Grace Dodge (525 West 120th St. between Broadway and Amsterdam) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ There is no charge to attend, but space is limited. To hold your place, please send an email ASAP to: mailto:PEC-Colloquium@ScholarlyCalls.com If warfare and other forms of collective violence were viewed solely as a bad thing, achieving peace would not be difficult. But warfare often is conceived as a grand and noble enterprise. This colloquium will explore the relationship between violence and a group?s attachment to its sacred ideals. Bin Laden and other Islamic radicals often proclaim, We love death the way you Americans love life implying that the United States is decadent and corrupt--acking in spiritual values. September 11 provided the occasion for Americans to recommit to their sacred ideals. President George Bush declared after 9/11: ?I see out of this evil will come good as youngsters all of a sudden understand the value of sacrifice. He calls freedom the mightiest force in history. Waging war allows a nation to demonstrate the depth of its devotion to its sacred ideals. Space is limited. To hold your place, please send an email ASAP to: mailto:PEC-Colloquium@ScholarlyCalls.com Perhaps the following idea has sustained the Iraqi war: Do not imagine that the United States lacks sacred values. We too possess ideals for which we are willing to kill and die: As young people in the Middle-East martyr themselves for Allah, so young Americans sacrifice their lives for freedom and democracy. Through lecture and intensive discussion, this colloquium seeks to move toward the possibility of peace?by exploring the sources of the human attachment to war. Richard A. Koenigsberg holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research. He is the author of numerous books and papers including ?Dying for One?s Country: The Logic of War and Genocide. He lectures extensively on the sources of societal violence. In the fall he will embark on a college lecture tour on CIVILIZATION AND SELF-DESTRUCTION. Please see: http://www.programsthatmatter.com/program.php?program_id=3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ Forward email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1011321005019&ea=lssbookexhibits %40earthlink.net&a=1101579993169&id=preview

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Call for abstracts - On the Identity Trail student conference
by Michael Zimmer 07 Apr '07

07 Apr '07

Colleagues: Below is a Call for student abstracts for "The Student I" conference on privacy and identity at the University of Ottawa. Graduate and undergraduate students will present their work at a day-long conference investigating identity, identification, privacy and anonymity through various disciplinary lenses. Participants will be selected through a fully peer-reviewed process and presentations from students from around the world are anticipated. More information at http://www.idtrail.org/content/view/650/ Apologies for any cross-postings. -michael ----- Michael T. Zimmer Doctoral Candidate, Culture and Communication, New York University Student Fellow, Information Law Institute, NYU Law School e: michael.zimmer(a)nyu.edu w: http://michaelzimmer.org ***** CALL FOR STUDENT ABSTRACTS The Student "I": A student conference on privacy and identity University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law October 25, 2007 http://revealedi.org Graduate and undergraduate students from all disciplines are invited to submit an abstract for The Student “I”, a student conference on October 25, 2007 at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada. Preceding the Revealed “I” conference hosted by researchers from On the Identity Trail, this day long student conference brings together students from around the world, selected through a peer-review process, to present research relating to identity, privacy, anonymity, technology, surveillance, and other related topics engaged by the On the Identity Trail project (idtrail.org) Abstracts should not exceed 1,000 words (including notes and citations). Successful abstracts will seek to make an original contribution. Inter-disciplinary submissions are encouraged. Abstracts should be accompanied with a short bio, which should include the student’s program and institution of study, and an email address for correspondence. The deadline for abstracts is July 1, 2007. Send to: Julia Ladouceur University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Common Law Section 57 Louis Pasteur Street Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Email: anonplan(a)uottawa.ca Successful applicants will be notified at the email address provided no later than August 1, 2007. Successful applicants who are unable to obtain funding from their home institution may apply for a student bursary to cover expenses relating to travel and accommodation.

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CFP: The Refractory (journal) Special Games and New Media Issue
by Samita Nandy 07 Apr '07

07 Apr '07

All dates are for this year, 2007---------- Abstract Deadline: April 10th (Articles: 3,000 - 7,000 words, refereed) (Small Articles: 1,000 - 3,000 words) (Reviews: 300 - 500 words) Notification of Successes: April 30th Submission Deadline: July 1st Publication: Mid-Late August Refractory: a Journal of Entertainment Media is a refereed, peer-reviewed, e-journal that explores the diverging and intersecting aspects of current and past entertainment media. The journal is published by the Cinema Studies Program, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne. http://www.refractory.unimelb.edu.au/ ISSUE THEME: Meta-Materiality: Games, New Media, The Digital Launching as it did in 2002, The Refractory arrived on the scene just in time for its titular metaphor to get complicated, with the arrival of 'metamaterials' – artificial composites with negative refractive indices . When a wave phenomenon such as light travels between media, it changes speed and bends relative to the normal: refraction. But with just the right metamaterial, the positive refraction can be negated. The wave finds its stride – the straw in the glass looks straight – total refraction. This special issue of The Refractory aims to assess its central metaphor in relationship to games and new media with a focus on the materiality of their aesthetics, assemblages, ecologies, and networks. Some directions you may wish to consider are: - Real-world economics, class and power in games - Remediation, Adaptation, Cross-media Style and the Media's Metamateriality - Protocol, Code, Algorithms – the materiality of Digital Media - Re-representation of one medium by another: e.g. Videogame Emulations, Youtube - Arcades, public space, social mapping and locative media - Material genres: e.g. Game engines, middleware, blogs, - Mobile movements and the 'ludicity' of technology - Controller crises, free movement, and gestural remediation: e.g. Wii Sports - Who actually makes games? / A history of Tose studios - Piracy, free gaming, information control, DRM - New Media art and artistic intervention Editors: Christian McCrea // Cinema Studies Program, University of Melbourne Darshana Jayemanne // Literary Studies Program, University of Melbourne Thomas H. Apperley // Media and Communication Program, University of Melbourne All Enquires and Submissions: refractorygames(a)gmail.com Information for Submissions: --------------------------------------------- Abstracts should consist of a short paragraph outlining your intended approach. A short bio would also be appreciated, although anonymous heroes are welcome. Articles dealing generally with areas outlined in the home page may be submitted electronically as a rich text format document to our email address at: refractorygames(a)gmail.com The following disclaimer will appear on the front site: "All views expressed by the contributors to the website are those of the authors and not the Refractory (unless otherwise indicated)." NB. Although most contributions follow a standard publication format at this time, we also encourage contributors to make full and creative use of the hypertextual nature of the web. The form such contributions may take can be discussed with the editors. Images are possible (detail below), as well as off-site linking to videos, but be aware that we will have to add a further disclaimer of content at the top of your article's page. Copyright: The individual authors hold copyright. If material is re-published elsewhere it must include a statement that it was originally published by Refractory. The editors reserve the right to maintain permanent archival copies of all submissions. Images: Please include any images or other visual material with your submission. Note: In most circumstances, images cannot be included unless permission has been obtained from the copyright owner to reproduce them electronically. It is the obligation of the author to negotiate with the Refractory and obtain permission. Fair use obviously applies, but we appreciate caution in this regard. If you intend to use more than a handful of images from a source, an email to a copyright holder will usually give you usage rights. Style Guideline: Articles for Refractory should range from 3,000 to 7,000 words. These will be refereed - submission is no guarantee of acceptance. Articles for State of Play between 1,000 to 3,000 words. Reviews: should range from 300-500 words. Film and game titles are to be italicized. Films followed by the name of the director and year of the first screening in brackets after the first appearance of the title. Example: Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002). Computer games followed by the name of the production company and year of release. Example: Phantasmagoria (Sierra On-Line, Inc., 1995) Articles should be referenced with footnotes: footnote markers are superscripted numerals, following punctuation. All sources must be cited in a consistent manner according to Chicago style criteria (in text version) and included in a bibliography. Citing Electronic Sources: Include Surname, First Name, "Title", original date and place of publication (if applicable), the url (for example, http://www.utopia.com) date accessed. Essay not submitted in this style will be returned. Please be gentle with your formatting. It may be pretty in Word, but for editors and website-uploaders, it is hell. For further information on referencing electronic sources see: http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/chicago.html - the AUTHOR-DATE system

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report about the working conditions of webdesigners
by geert lovink 07 Apr '07

07 Apr '07

Network Notebooks is a series of publications on recent new media theory. INC proudly presents: ---Network Notebooks nr.1--- Technobohemians or the new Cybertariat? New media work in Amsterdam a decade after the web by Rosalind Gill About the publication Accounts of new media working draw heavily on two polarised stereotypes, veering between techno-utopianism on the one hand, and a vision of web-workers as the new ‘precariat’, victims of neoliberal economic policies and moves to flexibilisation and insecurity on the other. Heralded from both perspectives as representing the brave new world of work what is striking is the absence of research on new media workers own experiences, particularly in a European context. This report goes beyond the contemporary myths of new media work, to explore how people working in the field experience the pleasures, pressures and challenges of working on the web. Illustrated throughout with quotations from interviews, this research examines the different career biographies emerging for content-producers in web-based industries, questions the relevance of existing education and training, and highlights the different ways in which people manage and negotiate freelancing, job insecurity, and keeping up to date in a fast-moving field where software and expectations change rapidly. The research is based on 35 interviews carried out in Amsterdam in 2005, and contextually draws upon a further 60 interviews with web designers in London and Brighton. The interviews were carried out by Danielle van Diemen and Rosalind Gill. About the author Rosalind Gill is a teacher and researcher based at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is author of The Gender-Technology Relation (with Keith Grint) and her new book Gender and the Media has just been published by Polity press. She carried out research on new media working for the European Commission in 2000 and published some of the results relating to new inequalities in this field in an influential article entitled ‘Cool, creative and egalitarian?’ She is currently preparing a book about women and the web, and completing analysis of 180 interviews with web designers in London, Brighton and L.A. Colophon First publication in the series ‘Network Notebooks’, published by the Institute of Network Cultures, Hogeschool van Amsterdam. For more information please visit: www.networkcultures.org/networknotebooks. A pdf is also freely available at http://www.networkcultures.org/_uploads/17.pdf. Interviews: Rosalind Gill and Danielle van Diemen Copy editing: Ned Rossiter Design: Léon&Loes, Rotterdam http://www.leon-loes.nl Network Notebooks editors: Geert Lovink and Sabine Niederer Printing: Cito Repro, Amsterdam Publisher: Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam If you want to order printed copies please contact: Institute of Network Cultures HvA Interactieve media Weesperzijde 190 1097 DZ Amsterdam The Netherlands www.networkcultures.org info(at)networkcultures.org t: +31 (0)20 5951863 f: +31 (0)20 5951840 This publication is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Netherlands License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/. ISBN/EAN: 978-90-78146-02-5

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[AOIR 8.0] Vancouver Conference Update
by Richard Smith 06 Apr '07

06 Apr '07

Dear fellow AIR members, By now most of you will have received your acceptance (or not!) notices for your paper/presentation at AIR8.0 in Vancouver. Mia Consalvo, the program chair, and the many reviewers who worked with her deserve a huge round of applause (digital, for now) for their heroic efforts in getting the reviews done and back to you. I hope it worked out for the best for you. With a review in hand, no doubt you are toiling night and day on your final paper. While you are doing that, however, you might have some questions about the conference itself. Where will I stay? What will I wear? Will there be decent wireless available? Who are the keynote speakers? What else can I do while I am in Vancouver? Those questions (and many more, I am sure), are what I am here to answer for you. My name is Richard Smith, and I am the Conference Chair, and your host for the AoIR 8.0 "Let's Play!" conference to be held in Vancouver this October. I will write to you from time to time, and maintain a set of wiki pages, to keep you apprised of our plans, the arrangements, and anything else you want to know. I look forward to meeting all of you, and hope this is the best conference ever. I won't clutter up your email box with too many of these newsletters, but let me start with a few short bits of news: Wireless * We will have a site-wide, industrial strength wireless network available for all delegates with a laptop or other 802.11b compatible device. We also have three areas for you to access a workstation, for those of you who don't want to carry around a computer. * The hotels and cafe's in the vicinity of the conference offer wireless internet and most of them have it for free. Hotels * We are using a conference centre that is part of my university<http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/mecs/index.htm>, so we are not obliged to "encourage" you to stay in any particular hotel. Feel free to use your favorite internet room booking site to get your accommodation. * There is quite a nice hotel right across the street and many more in the immediate neighbourhood, ranging in price from $75/night to ... well, the sky is the limit when it comes to hotels, but you can find something nice for $150. (All prices in Canadian dollars, currently trading for about .87 US. * I will post - once I have the wiki up and running - a more detailed list of hotels in the immediate area, along with prices and recommendations. Personally, if I have to stay downtown for the night I stay at the "Ramada Limited" on Pender Street. See their site at http://www.ramadalimited.org/ Dress/Clothes/Weather * Vancouver is "west coast" and dress is pretty casual here. But we are also in the Pacific Northwest and evenings will be cool, so bring a sweater or light jacket. Although October isn't officially the rainy season, it certainly *does* rain here, so bring some shoes that aren't going to leave you with wet feet all day. Here are some stats on the weather here: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/stats/pages/C02096.htm?CABC0308 Tourism/Activities * I know you will be spending all your time with your head down at the conference and won't have time for any frivolities, but if you DO want to do a little dancing (crazy AIR folk that you are), we can point you to some clubs. Vancouver is one of those cities with a "downtown renaissance" driven largely through a condo building boom over the last decade. As a result, the downtown is full of people in the evenings, and there are LOTS of things to do. * We also live right next to the ocean, the mountains, the wilderness... if you want to know more about things like trips to Whistler (probably no skiing in October, I'm afraid), wait for my wiki pages with travel ideas. Keynote speakers * I am thrilled to tell you that both Henry Jenkins<http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/>and Cory Ondrejka <http://lindenlab.com/management#ondrejka> have accepted our invitations to speak. In addition, I am just in the final negotiations with a third, wonderful keynote speaker I am sure you will enjoy. This will be an AIR to remember. Pre-conference workshops * Several people have stepped forward to organize preconference workshops. I won't steal their thunder here, but you can count on a doctoral workshop as in years past and if you're a student you will be pleased to know that the entire workshop is being sponsored by Microsoft Research<http://research.microsoft.com/>(thanks Marc Smith! and thanks to Nancy Baym who organized that sponsorship!), meaning that you will not go hungry or suffer from a lack of coffee during that event. * Other preconference workshops include one focused on internet history, one focused on the use of second life in teaching and learning, and one on the impact of the internet on organizations. Details on these, as well as "fun" tours and such will come in future notes like this one. I hope this whets your appetite for information about Vancouver. This being the era of intelligent search engines, and wikipedia, I don't suppose I have to do much more than invite you. You can do the rest. But if you run into trouble, or you are debating between two hotels, or some other question that isn't readily visible online (and we WILL get that wiki going soon), give me a shout. Reply to this email: smith(a)sfu.ca (yes, I really did get the user ID of "smith"), and I will try to help you. Warmest regards, ...r -- Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication Conference Chair, Association of Internet Researchers, AoIR 8.0: Vancouver Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3 Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ <http://www.sfu.ca/%7Esmith/> New book!: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/mawc

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Blog as a collective action tool
by Homero Gil de Zuniga 06 Apr '07

06 Apr '07

That blogs are rapidly changing the landscape of information is not new. How they do it is very interesting though. Here you have the domino effect in its purest essence. Blogs conspicuously provide an outstanding setting to promote collective action and mobilization (as a paper we recently submitted to AEJMC attest). In this particular case it does not refer to politics. It just exemplifies collective action to change the course of things. Nevertheless, it is a living proof of the potential of blogs as a tool. Hazruido.com (under the auspicious of Organe cell phone company in Spain) launched a viral contest to position a "the made up word" HABITAQUO into the top ten in Technorati (http://technorati.com <http://technorati.com/> ) . The word is still number one! I bet that now it is not only the inclusion of the word in many blogs but also the "curiosity circle" produced by people who search the word once they see it is number one. Here is some info in English http://www.whatsnextblog.com/archives/2007/04/why_is_habitaquo_technoratis_m ost_searched_tag.asp http://www.brandtarot.com/blog/?p=711 Here is the info in Spanish for those of you who are able to read it. Contest page : http://www.hazruido.com/ Google news: http://google.dirson.com/post/3292-palabra-concurso-posicionamiento-2007/ Cheers, HGZ

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Re: [Air-l] Ph.D. student is looking for a good home for his Thesis
by Marj Kibby 06 Apr '07

06 Apr '07

If a student transfers their Doctoral program to my institution, in Australia, the degree cannot be awarded within two years. All Australian universities would require that a significant amount of the program be undertaken with them, before allowing the thesis to be submitted for examination. Most have supervisory teams to minimise the chance of irresolvable conflict. All I know of would bend over backwards to find solutions to a problem rather than lose a PhD student. RHD completions = money. Marj Dr Marjorie Kibby, Senior Lecturer in Communication & Culture Faculty of Education and Arts The University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia Marj.Kibby(a)newcastle.edu.au +61 2 49216604 >>> Lisa Lynch <l.lynch(a)mindspring.com> 04/06/07 11:24 AM >>> Semantics aside, doesn't this request strike anyone as a bit odd? I'm genuinely perplexed: I can't imagine a doctoral program taking on a late-stage student on these terms. Is there something I don't understand about Australian universities? _______________________________________________

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Second Life Education/Researchers Meetup at AERA 4/10 5pm - UPDATE
by Sarah Robbins 06 Apr '07

06 Apr '07

Let's meet at 5pm Tuesday at my FAVE pizza place: Giordano's Deepdish Pizza, 135 E Lake St, Chicago, IL (312) 616-1200 If you get lost, my cell: (317)985-7200 This is down Michigan Ave. about a block - south of the Hyatt Regency -- Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins http://www.intellagirl.com http://secondlife.intellagirl.com Yahoo: Intellagirl Skype: Intellagirl SecondLife: Intellagirl Tully

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Second Life Education/Researchers Meetup at AERA 4/10 5pm
by Sarah Robbins 05 Apr '07

05 Apr '07

Sorry for the cross postings What: Second Life Educators/Researchers (and other curious folks) Meetup Where: AERA, Chicago (location to be announced. Some common, easy to find location in the conference center) When: 5 pm Tuesday April 10 Why: Sharing ideas, making connections, and drinking a beer Hope to see many of you there! -- Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins http://www.intellagirl.com http://secondlife.intellagirl.com Yahoo: Intellagirl Skype: Intellagirl SecondLife: Intellagirl Tully

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