August 2013 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

fwd: about trsst
by Geert Lovink 19 Aug '13

19 Aug '13

> From: carlo von lynX <lynX(a)time.to.get.psyced.org> > Subject: Re: <unlike-us> about trsst > Date: 19 August 2013 12:09:46 PM GMT+02:00 > To: unlike-us(a)listcultures.org > > By looking at the technical hints in http://www.trsst.com/paper/ > I deduce that Trsst provides for various possibilities for the > NSA to influence a system designed that way: > > - Automate monitoring of the majority of Internet servers > using direct memory access and scanning for encryption > keys and unencrypted materials or other systemic weak > points. Access to hoster infrastructure is obtained by > Patriot Act or similar measures. > - Similar to the attack recently operated against Freedom > Hosting, modify server memory in order to insert malicious > Javascript code into the "client software" such that a > cleartext copy of the message is delivered to the server > where it can be captured (This method works also with > crypto.cat, heml.is and mailPile and it leaves no trace > of corruption on the hard disks of the server). A > surveillance can thus be established without a regular > user being able to notice. > - Additionally, since regular HTTPS is employed, the attacker > can do man-in-the-middle attacks against the users by > creating valid false certificates. So the malicious code > can also be inserted via HTTPS and the unencrypted text > captured and stripped before it reaches the server. > - Some users can operate a complete node on their machines, > which means that their crypto transactions are as safe as > the computer they are using, but that won't be helpful if > everybody else in their social network uses a hackable web > interface. > - From the description, no forward secrecy is planned for > the system, so the NSA can in any case simply seize a user's > computer to get at her private key and decrypt all past > messages. Since there is cryptographic proof, her messages > may get used in court against her or others. > - From the description, no transport obfuscation is planned > for Trsst. That means that enormeous intelligence about the > social graph can be gathered simply by observing communication > patterns - even by those who run their own node at home. > > Also, I presume that Trsst, once implemented, will encounter > serious scalability issues since there is no mention of a > distribution strategy. Other grooups are investing years in > work to obtain a functional distribution while Trsst doesn't > even address the problem. There's a mention of OStatus which > has already proven to not be scalable. > > There are projects like Briar and secushare which are already > several years ahead in actually developing a Twitter replacement > with the necessary security. Also, Retroshare can already be > used in such a fashion, today. Starting such a project from > scratch in such a blue-eyed manner is not going to produce a > useful product - it's at best the next Diaspora. A "six person- > months of development time" as planned on the Kickstarter page > will at best produce a centralised silo/cloud experience while > the decentralized nodes do not work properly because of the > scalability issues. That's why $15K need to be reserved to run > the silo. > > And the most surprising detail: There is no mention that the > server software will actually be available in open source - > only the client is being described as open source. I have no > idea how users can run fully compliant nodes if the server > side isn't free. I hope this is just a misunderstanding on > my side and the project will fully be open or - even better - > free software according to the Affero GPL. > > I don't understand why TechCrunch and Liberationtech insist > on promoting people that promise easy solutions.. while > ignoring existing software, which is a lot closer to actual > results (Retroshare lacks onion routing, forward secrecy and > a sufficient distribution strategy - so it is similar to Trsst, > but it is already here and just needs a hand to have a better > UI. And you get a free Skype replacement with it, too). > > > -- > talk to me in private using Tor: https://symlynX.com/LAVA/ > torify telnet 7yuogiqxgrak36kk.onion > psyc://7yuogiqxgrak36kk.onion/~lynX DON'T SEND ME > irc://7yuogiqxgrak36kk.onion/lynX PRIVATE EMAIL > http://7yuogiqxgrak36kk.onion/ OR FACEBOOGLE > > _______________________________________________ > unlike-us mailing list > unlike-us(a)listcultures.org > http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/unlike-us_listcultures.org

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Program for IR 14 Now Available
by Kendall, Lori 19 Aug '13

19 Aug '13

I'm pleased to announce that the schedule for IR 14 is now available. You can find a link to the schedule on the ConfTool login page: https://www.conftool.com/aoir-ir14/index.php?page=login You are not required to log in to view the schedule. You can also find the schedule directly at this link: https://www.conftool.com/aoir-ir14/sessions.php We look forward to seeing you all in Denver! Lori Kendall Vice President and Chair, IR 14 Conference Committee loriken(a)illinois.edu

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Data Center Ethnography?
by Adam Fish 19 Aug '13

19 Aug '13

Hi List, For a joint funding bid I am looking for ethnographers or other qualitative sociological researchers investigating data centers in major markets--India, China, the UK, the United States, Brazil. Who is doing this type of empirical research into the practices and values of big data workers? Thanks, Adam

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Conference hotel rate
by Theo Plothe 18 Aug '13

18 Aug '13

Just a quick note, the Westin is sold out at the published conference rate for Wednesday night, and there are no double rooms available at the conference rate for Thursday through Saturday. I'm not sure about single occupancy, but the only double rooms would be a single bed with a roll-away. Regrettably, the reservation desk does not have the ability to add rooms at the stated $159 rate. The lack of rooms came as a surprise to me, and I thought I would share this before others called expecting a room at the conference rate. -- Theo Plothe Ph.D. Student Remix Culture and Gaming American University School of Communication

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More secure alternatives to popular social media?
by Charles Ess 18 Aug '13

18 Aug '13

Hi all, Partly in response to what some are calling "the Snowden Summer" - also including the trial and sentencing of Bradley Manning - I've been poking into these matters a bit more earnestly, including subscribing to a (terrific) email listserv - liberationtech - operated from Stanford and including a number of luminaries, including some well-known AoIR folk. I'm intrigued by the raft of suggestions for more secure alternatives to contemporary and widely popular email services, social media, etc., including, e.g.: > Welcome to Trsst: An Open and Secure Alternative to Twitter > > Post your thoughts, share links, and follow other interesting people or web > sites, using the web or your mobile or any software of your choice. > All of your private posts to individuals or friends and family are securely > encrypted so that even your hosting provider - or government - can't unlock > them. > All of your public posts are digitally signed so you can prove that no one - > and no government - modified or censored your writings. > You control your identity and your posts and can move them to another site or > hosting provider at any time. > Think of Trsst as an RSS reader (and writer) that works like Twitter but built > for the open web. The public stuff stays public and search-indexable, and the > private stuff is encrypted and secured. Only you will hold your keys, so your > hosting provider can't sell you out. > > > http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1904431672/trsst-a-distributed-secure-b… > -platform-for-the-o/description I call this to our collective attention as it raises a number of ethical, social, political - and, yea, lo, verily - research questions and possibilities. Beginning with: is anyone doing some close study on the migration(s) to and from such alternatives, possibly alternative practices that emerge as a result of the sense of having greater privacy and security, etc.? Seems like a terrific route to follow - if anyone has resources and helpful signposts, would appreciate your sharing, either onlist or offlist. Many thanks in advance - Charles Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication Director, Centre for Research on Media Innovations <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/center/media-innovations/> University of Oslo P.O. Box 1093 Blindern NO-0317 Oslo Norway email: charles.ess(a)media.uio.no

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Male Roommate for IR14
by Theo Plothe 18 Aug '13

18 Aug '13

Dear AoIR folks, I haven't yet reserved a room for IR14, and was wondering if anyone needed/would like a male roommate to split costs for Wednesday check-in and Sunday check-out. If so, please email me at your earliest convenience. Thanks! -- Theo Plothe Ph.D. Student Remix Culture and Gaming American University School of Communication

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Call for Papers: JCAL Special Issue on 'Learning Analytics in Massively Multiuser Virtual Environments and Courses'
by Lee, Mark 17 Aug '13

17 Aug '13

Dear colleagues, Contributions are being solicited for a special issue of the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (JCAL) on 'Learning Analytics in Massively Multiuser Virtual Environments and Courses'. The scope of the issue includes both massively multiplayer online games (e.g. World of Warcraft) and virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life) as well as massive open online courses (MOOCs), whether they be 'xMOOCs' delivered via one of the major MOOC platforms (Udacity, Coursera, edX) or connectivist-style 'cMOOCs' offered independently of those platforms. The Call for Papers is available at http://goo.gl/2STf3V . Proposals consisting of 500-word abstracts and 7-10 key references are due on 30 September 2013, and the deadline for submission of full manuscripts is 27 January 2014. Queries regarding the special issue should be directed to jcal.specialissues(a)gmail.com (but please note that proposals and full manuscripts are not to be sent to this address - see the Call for Papers for submission instructions). Kind regards, Paul A. Kirschner (Open University of the Netherlands), JCAL Editor-in-Chief Liesbeth Kirchner (Open University of the Netherlands), JCAL Associate Editor Mark J. W. Lee (Charles Sturt University), JCAL Editor-in-Charge of Special Issues

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Fwd: [CITASA] Call For Papers: iCS/CITASA Special Issue of Papers from 2013 ASA Meeting
by Alexander Halavais 16 Aug '13

16 Aug '13

Forwarded at Jennifer Earl's request. Please contact her (email below) with any questions. Best, Alex Dear Colleagues, For the seventh year, the journal Information, Communication & Society (iCS, published by Routledge) will publish a special issue in cooperation with the ASA section on Communication and Information Technologies (CITASA). The special issue will be comprised of papers presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in New York, New York that focus on issues of social media, technology, communication, information, or other related topics. Jennifer Earl (University of Arizona) and Katrina Kimport (University of California, San Francisco) will be the editors. We invite you to submit a paper that was presented at the ASA 2013 meetings for consideration in this special issue. Please submit manuscripts for consideration through ScholarOne, available at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rics. If you do not have an account, you will need to create one. Also, be sure to check the box for “Special Issue” and indicate “CITASA” in it, so that it will be routed appropriately. Submitted manuscripts should be a maximum of 6,000 words and should conform to the journal's submission guidelines; see http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=rics20&page=…. Deadlines: Full papers due: September 30, 2013 Refereeing completed: November 29, 2013 Final version of accepted papers due: January 10, 2014 Special issue publication (anticipated): June 2014 Please contact us with any questions. We hope to hear from you. Sincerely, Jennifer Earl jenniferearl(a)email.arizona.edu School of Sociology University of Arizona Chair, Communication and Information Technology Section, American Sociological Association and Katrina Kimport kimportk(a)obgyn.ucsf.edu Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) University of California, San Francisco Secretary/Treasurer, Communication and Information Technology Section, American Sociological Association *********************************** Jennifer Earl Professor of Sociology Social Sciences 421 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721-0027 Phone: (520) 621-3296 *********************************** _______________________________________________ CITASA mailing list CITASA(a)list.citasa.org http://list.citasa.org/mailman/listinfo/citasa_list.citasa.org -- -- // // This email is // [ ] assumed public and may be blogged / forwarded. // [x] assumed to be private, please ask before redistributing. // // Alexander C. Halavais, ciberflâneur // http://alex.halavais.net // // Please attribute any stupid errors above to autocorrect on my phone. // (But I probably was typing on a keyboard.)

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please circulate this call for applicants
by qCentral 16 Aug '13

16 Aug '13

Hey folks, apologies for cross-posts! -------- Hey all, Please forward! --------- Six Month Research Assistantship Application DUE: September 1st 2013 (Start date: September 15th 2013) Job Title: MSR PhD Intern/Research Assistant Regional Area: Bangalore/Hyderabad, India Primary Background: Anthropology Secondary Background: Journalism, Media, or Communication Studies Microsoft Research is looking for a junior researcher (students recently graduated from or currently enrolled in a Masters or PhD level program) to collaborate on an ethnographic study of crowdsourcing. Project responsibilities will primarily involve collaborating with MSR Researchers to find and interview crowdworkers living in or near the IT centers of Bangalore and Hyderabad, India. Applicants must, at minimum, speak fluent Telugu, Urdu, and/or Kannada, be able to navigate Bangalore and/or Hyderabad, and have strong written and spoken English skills. The successful candidate should have a BA and/or MA in a social science (or at least 1 year relevant experience); excellent organizational skills; and thrive working independently. The ideal candidate will also have experience doing in-person interviews, including the research skills necessary to find potential interviewees. Preference will be given to applicants with formal training in ethnography, qualitative research methods, or journalism. This Microsoft Research Assistantship will provide a stipend of approximately INR 40,000 per month for up to six months and office space at Microsoft Research India, Bangalore. The stipend varies based on qualification (PhD, Masters and Bachelors) and prior research experience. Research Assistantships also include single occupancy accommodation in Bangalore and economy class airfare as reimbursement if not based in Bangalore. Please send questions or submit the following materials to Mary L. Gray (mLg(a)microsoft.com) Senior Researcher, to apply for this position: • Current CV • Names and contact email information for 2 academic references • Cover letter outlining your interest in this assistantship, your availability, relevant prior experience and qualifications for this position ABOUT MICROSOFT RESEARCH: In 1991, Microsoft Corp. became one of the first software companies to create its own computer science research organization. Microsoft Research has developed into a unique entity among corporate research facilities, balancing an open academic model with an effective process for transferring its research to product development teams. Today, Microsoft Research has more than 1,100 world-renowned scientists and engineers, including some of the world’s finest computer scientists, sociologists, psychologists, mathematicians, physicists and engineers, working across more than 55 areas of research. Microsoft Research has expanded globally to ensure that it can attract the richest pool of talent with 13 worldwide labs, including Microsoft Research India, based in Bangalore. ______________________ Mary L. Gray Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research New England, Cambridge MA Associate Professor, Communication and Culture Adjunct Faculty, American Studies; Anthropology; Gender Studies Indiana University, Bloomington mLg at qcentral dot edu www dot maryLgray dot org @maryLgray

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CFP: Computer Culture (SWPACA Conference, February 19-22, 2014)
by Andrew Shi-hwa Chen 16 Aug '13

16 Aug '13

Computer Culture area 35th Annual Southwest Popular / American Culture Association Conference February 19-22, 2014 Hyatt Regency, Albuquerque, NM www.southwestpca.org <http://www.swtxpca.org> We are accepting papers and forming panels for the area of Computer Culture, as one of the many areas within the 35th annual conference of the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA). The conference was formerly named the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association (SW/TX PCA/ACA). Computer is broadly defined as any computational device, whether smartphone or abacus, and any form of information technology, including the origins of concepts of interactive text which may predate computational devices as traditionally conceived. Culture is rooted in the concept of cultural meaning. We ask not just operational questions such as, "How do people communicate using computers?" but questions of meaning such as, "What does it mean when people communicate using computers instead of using pre-computer approaches to communication?" "Computer Culture" can be understood in a variety of ways: - the culture of the computer, that is, as computers interact with each other, what culture do they have of their own? - the culture around the computer, that is, (sub)cultures associated with the production, maintenance, use, and destruction of computers - the culture through the computer, that is, explicit treatment of how computer mediation influences cultural phenomena that exist or has existed in forms that did not involve computer mediation, and what these influences mean - the culture by the computer, that is, the ways in which new (sub)cultures or (sub)cultural phenomena have arisen because of computers and understandings of these given awareness of the nature and/or workings of computers Example questions associated with Computer Culture would include, but not be limited to: - What implications are there because of the powerfulness of (computer/information) technology ___ and are these implications beneficial, detrimental, inevitable, or avoidable? - What are the cultural origins of computers, computer/information technologies, and practices (such as ____) associated with them? What is the descriptive and prescriptive outlook for the conditions of those cultural forces associated with those cultural origins? - How do cultural forces (such as changes from one generation to the next, trends in education or society, or other cultural phenomena) impact (and are impacted by) computer/information technologies/market-forces, and what do these impacts (in either direction or both) mean? Paper topics might include (but are not limited to) those that address: - issues of (re)presentation through computers (Web site analysis and design), - methods of discourse involving computers (blogging, Twitter, social networks, viral video, live feeds), - theories focused on the relationship between computers and culture, - uses of computers in particular contexts and the impacts thereof (computers and pedagogy, online literary journals), - the relationship between computers and cultural forces (such as news, politics, and terrorism), - security/privacy/fraud and computers (online security issues, spam, scams, and hoaxes), - and others. While we will consider any relevant paper, we have a preference for those that involve transferable methodological approaches. This is an interdisciplinary conference, and other conference attendees would benefit from being able to adapt your research methods to their future research. Scholars, teachers, professionals, artists, and others interested in computer culture are encouraged to participate. Graduate students are also particularly welcome with award opportunities for the best graduate papers. More information about awards can be found at http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/ Specifically, we would like to highlight the following award opportunities: - The "Computer Culture and Game Studies Award" - The "Heldrich-Dvorak Travel Fellowships" Given how papers may often fall into multiple categories, there may be other award opportunities listed at http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/ which would be appropriate for your paper. (However, each presenter may only apply for one – not including the Travel Fellowships, which can be in addition.) If you wish to form your own panel, we would be glad to facilitate your needs. This conference is a presentation opportunity. For a publication opportunity, we encourage you to consider submitting your paper to the Southwest PCA/ACA’s new journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at http://journaldialogue.org/call-for-papers/ Please pass along this call to friends and colleagues. For consideration, submit 100-200 word abstracts and proposals for panels before Friday, November 1, 2013 to the conference’s electronic submission system which can be found at: http://conference2014.southwestpca.org/ If you have any questions, contact the Computer Culture area co-chairs, Andrew Chen (andrewsw(a)gmail.com) and Joseph Chaney (jchaney(a)iusb.edu)

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