January 2011 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

The University of Hong Kong : LLM in IT & IPL (Information Session)
by Marcelo Thompson 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

I am happy to inform that, starting from 2011-2012, our Master of Laws in Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law programme will be admitting *non-law graduates with relevant legal experience*. For prospective applicants who happen to be in Hong Kong next Friday, 28 January 2011, we will be hosting an information session at the Faculty of Law. Details below or on our website <http://www.lawtech.hk>. Please direct any queries to Ms. Cecilia Man <cman(a)hku.hk> Best, Marcelo Thompson Research Assistant Professor Deputy Director, LLM Programme (IP & IT) The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law http://marcelothompson.hk ---- *Information Session for Master of Laws in Information Technology and Intellectual Property (ITIP)* posted by *Faculty of Law* for *HKU and Public* Event Type: *Seminar/Workshop/Lecture/Talk/Conference* Event Nature: *Law and Politics* *Event Details* Message from Faculty of Law Information Session for Master of Laws in Information Technology and Intellectual Property (ITIP) Date: (Friday) 28 January 2011 Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Venue: Room 303, KK Leung Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong ABOUT THE PROGRAMME: The Master of Laws in Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law aims to provide students with a sound understanding of innovation and technology-related phenomena that have transformed our ways of thinking and approaching law. The HKU Faculty of Law offers the programme on both full time and part time basis. Starting from 2011, the Faculty is working closely with the Department of Computer Science, which will add new, interesting elements to our curriculum. This new format will equip students and professionals with the necessary knowledge, skills and expertise in the cutting edge of IT and IP legal development in Hong Kong, China and the global world. This unique programme is designed not only for legal professionals, but also for members of the computer science, IT, and law enforcement communities with relevant legal experience. Specialists in digital forensics and engineering fields, government officials and many others wishing to acquire or improve their legal knowledge and skills are most welcome. While having a law degree is preferable for admission to the ITIP Programme, it is not essential. ABOUT ADMISSION APPLICATIONS: Applications for admission to this LL.M. Degree programme in the 2011-2012 academic year are now welcome and should be made online at http://www.asa.hku.hk/admissions/tpg/frontpage/welcome.htm. Please also visit our website at http://www.lawtech.hk/en/home.html for more information and registration details. DEADLINE FOR ADMISSION APPLICATIONS: 28 February 2011. Registration Instruction: http://www.hku.hk/law Registration is open from 23/12/2010 17:00(HKT) to 28/01/2011 17:30 (HKT). Charge: This event is free of charge. Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact by phone at 2219-4727 or by email to Ms Cecilia Man at cman(a)hku.hk Date/Time 28/01/2011 18:30-19:30 Venue Room 303, KK Leung Building, The University of Hong Kong Language English *Registration Instruction* Registration is open from 11/01/2011 17:00(HKT) to 26/01/2011 18:00(HKT) on a first-come-first-served basis. *More registration instructions* Please register to the Information Session online http://www.hku.hk/law or email to Ms Cecilia Man at cman(a)hku.hk Deadline for registration: January 26, 2011 at 1800 Thanks! *Register* *Contact Information* Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Cecilia Man by email at cman(a)hku.hk

1 0

ICWSM 2011: Final Call for Papers
by danah boyd 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

Fifth International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (ICWSM-11) July 17-21 2011 • Barcelona, Spain Collocated with IJCAI-11 Sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ICWSM 2011, will be held on July 17-21, 2011 in Barcelona (Spain) and will be collocated with IJCAI 2011. The International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media is a unique forum that brings together researchers from the disciplines in computer science, linguistics, communication, and the social sciences. The broad goal of ICWSM is to increase understanding of social media in all its incarnations. Submissions describing research that blends social science and technology are especially encouraged. Though this conference is relatively new, it has become one of the premier venues for social scientists and technologists to gather and discuss cutting-edge research in Social Media. This is largely due to a typical acceptance rate of 20% for full-length research papers and support from Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). For ICWSM 2011, in addition to the usual program of contributed technical talks, tutorials and invited presentations, the main conference will include a selection of keynote talks and invited talks from prominent social scientists and technologists. This year, for the first time, we will be expanding our workshop program and are planning an additional workshop day in addition to the usual tutorial and main conference. We also have an exciting roster of four workshops. Please check the website for details. Also, since we will be collocating with IJCAI (for more details on IJCAI 2011 see http://ijcai-11.iiia.csic.es/) there will be opportunities to connect with people in that community both formally and informally (joint social event is in the planning!). DISCIPLINES • Computational Linguistics/NLP • Text Mining/Data Mining • Psychology • Sociology (including Social Network Analysis) • Anthropology, Communications, Media Studies • Visualization • Political Science • Computational Social Science • HCI • Economics • Graph theory, concrete analysis and simulation of graphical models MEDIA • Weblogs, including comments • Social Networking Sites • Microblogs • Wikis (wikipedia) • Forums, usenet • Community media sites: youtube, flickr TOPICS INCLUDE • Psychological, personality-based and ethnographic studies of social media • Analyzing the relationship between social media and mainstream media • Qualitative and quantitative studies of social media • Centrality/influence of social media publications and authors • Ranking/relevance of blogs; web page ranking based on blogs • Social network analysis; communities identification; expertise and authority discovery; collaborative filtering • Trust; reputation; recommendation systems • Human computer interaction; social media tools; navigation and visualization • Subjectivity in textual data; sentiment analysis; polarity/opinion identification and extraction • Text categorization; topic recognition; demographic/gender/age identification • Trend identification and tracking; time series forecasting; measuring predictability of phenomena based on social media • New social media applications; interfaces; interaction techniques KEYNOTES Sinan Aral, Stern Business School, NYU Manuel Castells University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication [Tentative] IMPORTANT DATES Abstract Submission: January 31, 2011 Full Paper Submission: February 7, 2011 Notification of Acceptance March 18, 2011 Camera Ready Due: April 4, 2011 Conference, Barcelona, July 17-20, 2011 Data Workshop Paper Submission: March 22, 2011 Workshop Paper Acceptance Notification: April 8, 2011 Tutorial Proposal Submission: February 18, 2011 Tutorial Acceptance: March 4, 2011 Workshop Paper Submission: March 22, 2011 Workshop Paper Acceptance Notification: April 8, 2011 SUBMISSION People interested in participating should submit through the ICWSM-11 website a technical paper (up to 8 pages, not including references), poster or demo description (up to 4 pages) by the deadlines given below (Midnight PST). Papers must be must be formatted in AAAI two-column, camera-ready style (see the AAAI author instructions page athttp://www.aaai.org/Publications/Author/author.php) Details for the submission procedure will appear at the conference website: http://icwsm.org in December 2010. SUBMISSIONS TO OTHER CONFERENCES OR JOURNALS ICWSM-11 will not accept any paper that, at the time of submission, is under review for or has already been published or accepted for publication in a journal or conference. This restriction does not apply to submissions for workshops and other venues with a limited audience. REGISTRATION All accepted papers and extended abstracts will be published in the conference proceedings. At least one author must register for the conference by the deadline for camera-ready copy submission. In addition, the registered author must attend the conference to present the paper in person. PUBLICATION All accepted papers and abstracts will be allocated eight (8) pages in the conference proceedings. Authors will be required to transfer copyright of their paper to AAAI. DATA CHALLENGE ICWSM-11 will once again hold a data challenge featuring a freely-available dataset and a half-day workshop at the conference. Details will be posted on the conference website. CONFERENCE WEBSITE http://www.icwsm.org/2011/index.shtml For general information regarding ICWSM-11, please write to icwsm11(a)aaai.org. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE General Chairs Nicolas Nicolov (Microsoft) James G. Shanahan (Independent Consultant) Program Committee Area Chairs Lada Adamic (University of Michigan) Ricardo Baeza-Yates (Yahoo Research) Scott Counts (Microsoft Research) Local Chairs Alex Jaimes (Yahoo! Labs) Ricard Ruiz de Querol, (Barcelona Media Innovation Centre) Data Challenge Chair Ian Soboroff Demo Chair Ido Guy (IBM Reseach) Publicity Chairs danah boyd (Microsoft Research) Tutorial Chair John Breslin (NUI Galway) Webmaster Ritesh Agrawal (AT&T Interactive) Webdesigner Disco Gerdes (Mutual Mobile) VENUE Barcelona, Spain STUDENT AWARDS We will be providing a limited number of student awards to help cover the cost of travel, subsistence, and registration to the ICWSM 2011 conference. Details will be posted on the conference website. Kind regards, Jimi and Nicolas ICWSM 2011 Co-chairs Nicolas Nicolov (Microsoft) James G. Shanahan (Independent Consultant)

1 0

New PhD thesis: "Evolutionary dynamics of new media forms: the case of the open mobile web"
by Indrek Ibrus 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

Dear All, this is another "new PhD" announcement. I defended my PhD thesis at London School of Economics already last October, but as it is now up and freely accessible on LSE website a short note is perhaps in place also here. The title of my thesis is "Evolutionary dynamics of new media forms: the case of the open mobile web" What it does is a rather interdisciplinary approach to analysing how media as an 'ensemble' changes. That is: how the composites of this ensmble - textual forms, practices of production, institutional forms, industry organisation, normative discourses, regulative frameworks, markets, etc. - co-evolve. My empirical case study is post-3G mobile web and its early evolution in mid-2000s. Here follows the abstract: "This thesis is designed to improve our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of media forms, with a special historical focus on the recent processes of Web and mobile convergence and the early development of the cross-platform Web. It aims to investigate the dynamics that have underpinned the creation, evolution and conventionalisation of new media forms in the open mobile Web following the launch of 3G mobile networks. In theoretical terms the thesis explores the possibilities for the analytical integration of evolutionary approaches that traditionally have shed light on the discrete components of the evolutionary ‘ensemble’ that comprises media’s textual forms, their technologies and organisational systems. Among the theoretical pillars the study builds on is, first, the cultural semiotic approach (Lotman) that is utilised for interpreting the textual dynamics constituting the form evolution. Second, evolutionary economics (Schumpeter, Freeman and others) is included for interpreting the market dynamics that condition the formation of the media industries. Third, systems theoretical sociology (Luhmann) is deployed in order to understand the broader dynamics of social organisation in late modernism. The integration of these approaches provides the conceptual framework that focuses on the following phenomena: dialogic interchange among industry sub-systems as enabling innovations and the emergence of new sub-systems; the self-organisation of the sub-systems in the contingent environment; the role of memory and systemic ‘path-dependencies’ in guiding the processes of self-organisation; and the nature of the power relations that shape the dialogic processes. The empirical study focuses on textual as well as organisational developments. The semiotic analysis of mobile websites reveals the intertextual relations of the new forms with other media domains, especially the desktop Web. The interviews with representatives of industry stakeholders provide insights into the dialogic practices between the parties engaged in designing the mobile Web, and how, via these practices, the new platform, its media forms and institutional structures were shaped. The findings point to the historical formation of two main industry sub-systems – ‘infrastructure enablers’ and content providers – with different preferred alternatives for the design of the cross-platform Web. The thesis demonstrates how the formation of these groups was conditioned by their systemic path-dependencies, but also by the mesh of dialogic relationships among them and by the resulting changes in the discursive constellations framing the organisation of the industry and the norms for its media forms. The study points to the first signs of the historically momentous emancipation of the mobile webmedia forms, their shaking free of path-dependency on the desktop Web." You can download the thesis here: http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/53/ Best wishes, Indrek Ibrus -- Dr Indrek Ibrus Lecturer of media innovation and creative industries Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School Sütiste tee 21, 13419 Tallinn, Estonia Mob: +372-56978885 Website: www.mediainnovation.eu

1 0

CFP New W(h)ines in New Bottles? Voicing Protest in the Digital Age, ECPR General Conference Reykjavik 2011
by Dan Mercea 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

Dear All, Please see the call for papers for the above ECPR panel. If of interest, make sure you submit your paper proposal by 1 February. Best regards, Dan ### Section ID: *65* Section Title: *Contentious politics in times of crisis* <http://www.ecprnet.eu/conferences/general_conference/Reykjavik/section_deta…> *New W(h)ines in New Bottles? Voicing Protest in the Digital Age* * Panel Abstract* This panel is jointly coordinated with the section in "Internet and Politics: Bridging Current Research and Outlining Future Directions. Civil society is cited as a prerequisite for traditional, stable and durable democratic systems. It has gained momentum and influence at local, national and global levels, holding governments accountable, advocating democratic values as well as implementing programmes and policies traditionally located within the realm of government. The increasing importance of networked protest and collective action as a facet of political contestation is a feature of the modern landscape. Such collective action engenders new forms of "networked" action and collaboration that both enhance and to some extent shape offline contestation. The notion of civil society has been challenged by the networking possibilities of ICTs (e.g. transnational neo-fascist movements). ICT's can also have a darker side. With the increasing impact of ICTs the internal and external structures and functions of civil society and its relations vis-à-vis government/state are evolving and changing. Cyberactivism, plays a growing role in influencing governments. Cyberactivism is often a subject of contestation with internet use being cajoled by government for some activities but demonised as vaguely threatening and undemocratic in others. Social Networking is increasing connectivity not just of social engagements but also of political concerns and provides springboards for political campaigns/manifestations. The plethora of social network sites with their differing formats, contents and memberships provide a major challenge to governments' hopes of controlling or spinning their activities. The governments´ responses to this re-personalisation of collective protest activities range from attempts to contain, restrain or even demonise cyberactivism, through to utilising ICTs themselves, in order to influence cyber debates. This panel examines differing forms of cyberactivism, the rise of globalised virtual netizens as essential building blocks of civil society in a digitally enabled world, the formation of a globalised virtual civil society and its meaning for national governments, the positive/negative impacts of cyberactivism on policy-making, and governmental reactions. * Panel Chair(s)* *Name:* Paul Nixon (P.G.Nixon(a)hhs.nl) - /Panel Chair/ *Institution:* Hague University of Applied Sciences *Name:* Rajash Rawal (R.Rawal(a)hhs.nl) - /Panel Co-Chair/ *Institution:* Hague University of Applied Sciences -- Dan Mercea, PhD Teachin Fellow Department of Sociology University of York E:dmm505@york.ac.uk T: +44(0)1904 433578

12 11

Fwd: SocInfo2011, Singapore, Oct 2011
by Christophe Prieur 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

> - Abstract submission: April 7, 2011 > - Full paper submission: April 15, 2011 CFP below _ Christophe Prieur, prieur(a)liafa.fr Liafa, Université Paris-Diderot http://liafa.fr/~prieur/ [user experience research, social networks, (large) graph algorithms] > ---------------------------- > Call for Papers: > > The Third International Conference on Social Informatics (SocInfo2011)6-8 October 2011, Singapore > > http://www.socinfo2011.org or > http://www.sis.smu.edu.sg/SocInfo2011 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > The International Conference on Social Informatics (SocInfo) is an interdisciplinary venue for researchers from informatics and the social & management sciences to come together to share ideas and opinions, and present original research work. The goal is to create an opportunity for the dissemination of knowledge between the two communities, as well as to enable mutual critical discussion of current research. > > The conference solicits original research and experience based case study papers, as well as proposals for demonstrations. It welcomes interdisciplinary papers on methods from the social sciences in the study of information systems, applying information technology in the study of social phenomena, or applying social concepts in the design of information systems. > > Detailed research topics of interest for this conference include, but are not limited to: > > - Computational models of social phenomena and social simulation > - Social networks: discovery, evolution, analysis and applications > - Web mining and its social interpretations > - Security, privacy, trust, reputation and incentive issues > - Design and analysis of Web2.0 applications (social or collaborative Web applications) > - Algorithms and protocols inspired by human societies > - Mechanisms for providing fairness in information systems > - Social choice mechanisms in the e-society > - Recommendation systems and social applications of the semantic Web > - Virtual communities (e.g., open-source, multiplayer gaming, etc.) > - Impact of technology on socio-economic, security, defense aspects > - Visualization of dynamic social networks > > Accepted papers (research, poster and demonstration) will appear in Springer's Lecture Note Series Proceedings. More details on the conference and submission guidelines can be found at the conference website. > > Keynotes (partial list): > ------------------------ > - Michael Macy, Cornell University > - Hsinchun Chen, University of Arizona > > Important dates: > ---------------- > Research papers: > - Abstract submission: April 7, 2011 > - Full paper submission: April 15, 2011 > - Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2011 > - Submission of final version: July 15, 2011 > > Poster/Demonstration Papers: > - Poster/Demo submission: April 15, 2011 > - Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2011 > - Submission of final version: July 15, 2011 > > Organizing Committee: > --------------------- > Honorary General Chairs: > - Rajendra K. Srivastava, Provost, Singapore Management University, Singapore > - Steven Miller, Dean, School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore > > General Co-Chairs: > - Ee-Peng Lim, Singapore Management University, Singapore > - Noshir Contractor Northwestern University, USA > - Stephen E. Fienberg, Carnegie Mellon University, USA > > Program Co-Chairs: > - Anwitaman Datta, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore > - Richard Rogers, University of Amsterdam, Netherland > > Workshop Co-Chairs: > - Lin Qiu, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore > - Angela Leung, Singapore Management University, Singapore > > Tutorial Co-Chair: > - Do Quoc Anh, Singapore Management University, Singapore > > Poster/Demo Co-Chairs: > - Baihua Zheng, Singapore Management University, Singapore > - Shoude Lin, National Taiwan University, Taiwan > > Sponsorship/Exhibition Co-Chairs: > - David Lo, Singapore Management University, Singapore > - Jin-Cheon Na, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore > > Publications Co-Chairs: > - Aixin Sun, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore > - Leonard Bolc, Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology, Poland > > Registration Chair: > - Feida Zhu, Singapore Management University, Singapore > > Local Arrangement Co-Chairs: > - Hady Wirawan Lauw, Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore > - Chei Sian Lee, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore > > Publicity Co-Chairs: > - Jie Tang, Tsinghua University, China (CHINA) > - Paolo Boldi, University of Milano, Italy (EUROPE) > - Yan Wang, Macquarie University, Australia (AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND) > - Vineet Chaoji, Yahoo! Research, India (INDIA) > - Dimitri Williams, University of South California (USA) > - Eun Ju Lee, Seoul National University (KOREA) > - Giorgos Cheliotis, National University of Singapore (SINGAPORE) > - Tsuyoshi Murata, Tokyo Institute of Technology (JAPAN) > > > > >

1 0

FW: ARSReview - 23.3 (2010) - Religion and Spirituality in Cyberspace
by Roxanne Marcotte 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

23.3 (2010) Special Issue: Religion and Spirituality in Cyberspace Contents Editorial: The New Virtual Frontiers: Religion and Spirituality in Cyberspace Roxanne D. Marcotte Japanese New Religions and the Internet: A Case Study Erica Baffelli Online in the Evolution Wars: An Analysis of Young Earth Creationism Cyber-Propaganda Tom Aechtner Khutbahs Are Not Only for Fridays, Nor Should They Be Confined to the Mosque Steven Fink Om-line Hinduism: World Wide Gods on the Web Heinz Scheifinger Online Christian Churches: Three Case Studies Tom Hutchings + TO APPEAR IN 24.1 (2011) Using Communications Theory to Explore Emergent Organisation in Pagan culture Angela coco

1 0

Call for Use Cases: Social uses and other new uses of Library Linked Data - from W3C Library Linked Data Incubator Group
by Jodi Schneider 23 Jan '11

23 Jan '11

================================================================ Call for Use Cases: Social uses and other new uses of Library Linked Data The W3C Library Linked Data Incubator Group - http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/ Requested by February 15th, 2011 ================================================================ Do you use library-related data -- like reading lists, library materials (articles, books, videos, cultural heritage or archival materials, etc), bookmarks, or annotations -- on the Web and mobile Web? Are you currently using social features in library-related information systems or sites, or plan to do so in the near future? We are particularly interested in uses that are related to or could benefit from the use of linked data [1]. The W3C Library Linked Data Incubator Group is soliciting SOCIAL and EMERGENT use cases for library-related linked data: *What new or innovative uses do you see (or envision) integrating library and cultural heritage data into applications on the Web and in social media? *How are social features used in library-related information systems? *What are the emergent uses of library-related data on the Web and mobile Web? *How could linked data technology [1] enhance the use of library-related data in a social context? *Contribute to systems for sharing, filtering, recommending, or machine reading? *Support new uses we may not have envisioned or achieved yet? Some examples have been discussed in this thread [4]. Please tell us more by filling in the questionnaire below and sending it back to us or to public-lld(a)w3.org, preferably before February 15th, 2011. The information you provide will be influential in guiding the activities the Library Linked Data Incubator Group will undertake to help increase global interoperability of library data on the Web. The information you provide will be curated and published on the group wikispace at [3]. We understand that your time is precious, so please don't feel you have to answer every question. Some sections of the templates are clearly marked as optional. However, the more information you can provide, the easier it will be for the Incubator Group to understand your case. And, of course, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any trouble answering our questions. Editorial guidance on specific points is provided at [2], and examples are available at [3]. At this time, we are particularly interested in use cases describing the social media and emergent uses for library linked data.The Incubator Group will carefully consider all submissions we receive. On behalf of the Incubator Group, thanks in advance for your time, Jodi Schneider (jodi.schneider_deri.org) and Uldis Bojārs (uldis.bojars_gmail.com) [1] http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html [2] http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/wiki/UCCuration [3] http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/wiki/UseCases [4] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-xg-lld/2011Jan/0006.html ================================================================ === Name === A short name by which we can refer to the use case in discussions. === Owner === The contact person for this use case. === Background and Current Practice === Where this use case takes place in a specific domain, and so requires some prior information to understand, this section is used to describe that domain. As far as possible, please put explanation of the domain in here, to keep the scenario as short as possible. If this scenario is best illustrated by showing how applying technology could replace current existing practice, then this section can be used to describe the current practice. Often, the key to why a use case is important also lies in what problem would occur if it was not achieved, or what problem means it is hard to achieve. === Goal === Two short statements stating (1) what is achieved in the scenario without reference to linked data, and (2) how we use linked data technology to achieve this goal. === Target Audience === The main audience of your case. For example scholars, the general public, service providers, archivists, computer programs... === Use Case Scenario === The use case scenario itself, described as a story in which actors interact with systems. This section should focus on the user needs in this scenario. Do not mention technical aspects and/or the use of linked data. === Application of linked data for the given use case === This section describes how linked data technology could be used to support the use case above. Try to focus on linked data on an abstract level, without mentioning concrete applications and/or vocabularies. Hint: Nothing library domain specific. === Existing Work (optional) === This section is used to refer to existing technologies or approaches which achieve the use case (Hint: Specific approaches in the library domain). It may especially refer to running prototypes or applications. === Related Vocabularies (optional) === Here you can list and clarify the use of vocabularies (element sets and value vocabularies) which can be helpful and applied within this context. === Problems and Limitations (optional) === This section lists reasons why this scenario is or may be difficult to achieve, including pre-requisites which may not be met, technological obstacles etc. Please explicitly list here the technical challenges made apparent by this use case. This will aid in creating a roadmap to overcome those challenges. === Related Use Cases and Unanticipated Uses (optional) === The scenario above describes a particular case of using linked data. However, by allowing this scenario to take place, the likely solution allows for other use cases. This section captures unanticipated uses of the same system apparent in the use case scenario. === References (optional) === This section is used to refer to cited literature and quoted websites.

1 0

Call for Papers - Special Issue on Agent Technology in Cyberspace, Journal of Internet Technology (SCI-E)
by Maiga Chang 23 Jan '11

23 Jan '11

[Apologies if you receive multiple times, please circulate this to your colleagues who might be interested, thank you so much.] ----- SI on Agent Technology in Cyberspace Call for Papers --------- Journal of Internet Technology (SCI-E) Special Issue on Agent Technology in Cyberspace (http://jit.ndhu.edu.tw/callforpaper/CFP_S_I_on_Agent_Technology_in_Cyberspa…) Theme and Scope Many agents now exist in our life, searching agents help us find resources which we are interesting in and/or feel useful to ourselves; backup agents help us backup important data and documents daily, weekly, or monthly; spam-filter agents help us block malicious pop-up windows when we are surfing on the Internet; anti-virus agents secure our computers and data from worms, virus, and other on-purposed attacks; and learning companion agents and virtual tutor agents help us in lifelong learning process. This special issue is going to recruit those researches regarding using software agents, intelligent agents, and multi-agent systems to assist users in cyberspace, e.g. Internet, mobile networks, and virtual worlds include chat rooms, discussion forums, web conferencing software, computer games and video games. This special issue will be attractive to both Intelligent Systems and Computational Engineering researchers, more than that, this issue can be very interesting to ordinary people to know how agent technology could affect our lives in the future. The trend of using agents is becoming more discernable and we can foresee that agents exist in multidiscipline and various application areas.. Guest Editors (in alphabet order): Maiga Chang, Athabasca University, Canada Fuhua (Oscar) Lin, Athabasca University, Canada Timothy K. Shih – National Central University, Taiwan Suggested topics: All papers related to agent technology in cyberspace are welcome. This special issue is going to provide a forum for researchers, practitioners and users of agent technology to exchange ideas, to share experiences and requirements, and to lay the foundations for agent technology in cyberspace research area. We cordially invite presenters to submit manuscript for any application domain as long as the core of the manuscript belongs to: u Practical experiences in using and applying agents u Successful cases (best practices) u Not-so-successful cases and the lessons learnt u Mature agent applications, tools and/or systems u Evaluation models for agents u Software agents in cyberspace u Intelligent agents in cyberspace u Multi-agent systems (conceptual/practical) Instructions for Manuscripts: This special issue aims to foster state-of-the-art research in the agent technology in cyberspace. Authors are invited to submit manuscripts reporting original unpublished research and recent developments. Manuscripts should be written in English and strictly follow the guideline of the Journal of Internet Technology at http://jit.ndhu.edu.tw/preparation2.php. The covering letter should indicate the names of the authors and their affiliations, addresses, faxes, and e-mails. Prospective authors should submit full manuscripts with MS Word format, .doc, electronically by e-mail to Guest Editor, Dr. Maiga Chang, at maiga.chang(a)gmail.com by Feburary 28, 2011. Important dates: Manuscript Due: February 28, 2011 Notification of Acceptance/Revision/Rejection: May 31, 2011 Revised Manuscript Due: June 30, 2011 Final Manuscript Due: July 31, 2011 Tentative Publication Date: November 31, 2011 For queries, you may contact Dr. Maiga Chang (maiga.chang(a)gmail.com)

1 0

Broadband Diversity Workshop CFP Deadline Approaching
by Richard Taylor 23 Jan '11

23 Jan '11

Colleagues, A reminder of the upcoming Jan. 31 due date. With apologies for cross postings: Call for Paper Proposals Digital Diversity: Serving the Public Interest in the Age of Broadband A by-invitation experts' workshop to be held at Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus May 3-5, 2011 As the delivery of mediated content experiences an historic transformation with the transition to delivery over broadband networks, some policy goals of media regulation remain the same. Central among them is the public interest goal of ensuring diversity. Promoting diversity in broadcasting has been a pillar of media regulation, but online there is no "spectrum scarcity," the foundation of broadcast regulation, no licensing and arguably no "mass media" at all. As a result, the customary tools for promotion of diversity must be reinvented. Broadband is a radically different environment in which the provision of unregulated content may have far more impact than traditionally-regulated television and radio. New theoretical constructs and mechanisms are needed to address issues such as "voice," economic equity, and serving un-served and underserved communities. Minorities are creatively exploring new online tools for community building, communications, and business opportunities. How can the public interest standard be applied to support them in this new context? The Institute for Information Policy at Penn State University and the Donald McGannon Communication Research Center at Fordham University are pleased to announce this call for paper proposals in which diversity enhancement in broadband networks serves as the main theme. Authors of the selected papers will be invited to present and discuss them during a three day by-invitation-only experts workshop de-signed to bring together up to a dozen American and international experts and to be held at the Lincoln Center Campus of Fordham University in New York City. This workshop is part of a series of events focused on "Making Policy Research Accessible," organized by the IIP, with the support of the Ford Foundation. Invited topics include, but are not limited to: * Changing concepts of diversity in the 21st century * Comparative notions of diversity and changing demographics * Defining and measuring the scope and desired outcomes of broadband diversity policy * Diversity, new media, social media, and opportunities on the Internet * Diversity and Internet entrepreneurship * Diversity and network neutrality * Diversity and community websites and media (e.g., community online newspapers) * Minorities embedded in major media enterprises in content creation and as performers * Cultural/linguistic/racial/gender/religious diversity - are they all being served? * The marketplace of ideas and diversity Abstracts of up to 500 words and a short bio of the author(s) should be submitted to pennstateiip(a)psu.edu by January 31, 2011. Please write IIPDMCWS: YOUR NAME in the subject line. Accepted presenters will be notified by March 1, 2011. Richard Taylor Palmer Chair of Telecommunication Studies and Law Co-Director, Institute for Information Policy The Pennsylvania State University

1 0

Personalization of Google results (incl. little pilot study)
by Anders Koed Madsen 23 Jan '11

23 Jan '11

Dear AoIR, I am currently doing a study on the kind of information that Google.com makes visible in relation to the controversy about synthetic biology. In relation to that I need to think about how I will handle the issue of personalized seraches and I therefore have a couple of questions and a little pilot-analysis that I was hoping you could help me out with: a) Can you reccomend any recent studies concerning personalization of serach in Google or about the algorithms of the Google rankings in general? b) I have read that adding “&pws=0” after the URL will de-personalize the search but I am not sure in which way. Do you know what it does and do you know whether I can do anything to keep my IP address and geographical location from influencing the results? c) In order to study to what extent personalization actually effects the rankings I am conducting a little pilot-experiment. If you have 2 minutes to help me with the data-gathering I would be grateful if you would like to follow the instructions below (and perhaps forward it to your contacts). All the best, Anders Koed Madsen --PILOT STUDY-- Dear friends and colleagues, I am currently doing pilot study on the extent to which Google personalizes your search results on the basis of your previous search, your gmail-account, your IP address, your geographical location etc. I therefore want to ask you if you can help me with a little experiment by taking 2 minutes to do the following: a) Open Google.com in your browser & go into ´search settings´ and set your preferences to 20 results pr. page (click off Google instant) b) Search for the exact phrase “synthetic biology” on Google.com - Remember the “” around the words - Do not use other versions of Google such as Google.dk or Google.co.uk c) Drag your marker across the screen and copy the results without the ads to the left and to the right of the results. When you drag your marker across the results it will automatically leave those out. d) Paste the results in a word-document together with the following information - When was the search initiated? (date and time) - In which country, region and city was the search initiated? - Where was the computer located? (e.g at home, library, university etc.) e) Mail the word-document to akm.ioa(a)cbs.dk Thank you very much for your time. All the best, Anders Koed Madsen PhD stipend, Copenhagen Business School http://uk.cbs.dk/research/departments_centres/institutter/ioa/menu/staff/me… P.S Please forward this mail to your contacts (in as many countries as possible) if you feel like it

3 2