May 2014 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Call for chapter proposals: Conditions of Mediation
by Scott Rodgers 06 Sep '14

06 Sep '14

Apologies for cross-posting CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS Conditions of Mediation: Phenomenological Approaches to Media, Technology and Communication Editors: Tim Markham and Scott Rodgers In June 2013, the ICA preconference Conditions of Mediation (see http://conditionsofmediation.wordpress.com for further information) brought together scholars from a wide range of perspectives – including audience studies, political theory, metaphysics, media archaeology, software studies, science and technology studies, cultural geography and urban studies – to critically reflect on both the merits and limits of phenomenological approaches for understanding media, in philosophical, theoretical, political and empirical terms. Inspired by this very successful conference, we are now preparing a proposal for an edited book under the same title. The proposed format of the book is to have a substantive introduction, two ‘dialogues’ involving Graham Harman, Lisa Parks, Paddy Scannell, Shaun Moores, Nick Couldry and David Berry (based on their keynote papers), and 10-12 short paper chapters of 4000 words (excluding bibliography). We are therefore issuing an Open Call for Chapter Proposals. If you are interested in contributing a chapter to this edited book, please send a chapter title and 400 word abstract by no later than 15 September 2013 to Scott Rodgers at s.rodgers(a)bbk.ac.uk. Those that are subsequently invited to submit a full chapter will need to have this completed by 1 March 2014. Please direct any inquiries to Scott Rodgers at s.rodgers(a)bbk.ac.uk. We look forward to receiving your chapter proposals.

1 5

Social Data & Tools: Prizes for Academics
by Shulman, Stu 31 May '14

31 May '14

Social Data & Tools: Prizes for Academics (http://bit.ly/1pGuUJo) We felt inspired by the recent #DataGrants experiment sponsored by Twitter that generated more than 1,300 proposals from 60 countries and resulted in six extremely interesting awards. One thing is clear: many more grants of social data licenses are needed to fuel academic research. Texifter is sponsoring social data and tools prizes for academics as a simple contest with 12 winners a month this summer. In addition to social data access, we understand that many academic researchers also need "point & click" web-based tools to simplify the data access and management tasks involving social media APIs and jSON. The Prizes We will award twelve social data prizes with text analytics software licenses every month this summer. These premium social data prizes include access to our powerful online DiscoverText tools to search, filter, cluster, code, and machine classify the data, as well as interactive visual reporting tools include several specialized views for metadata eDiscovery, time series, deduplication, near-duplicate clustering, and other project attributes. No software programming skills required. The twelve monthly prizes are: + One grand prize per month of 10 Historical Twitter Days and credit for 1,000,000 Tweets plus one year of Enterprise access to DiscoverText. Up to one hour of free consulting on research design and social data cleaning. + Two nearly grand prizes per month of 5 Historical Twitter Days and credit for 500,000 Tweets plus six months of Enterprise access to DiscoverText. Up to one hour of free consulting on research design and social data cleaning. + Three prizes of six months of Enterprise access to DiscoverText plus 100,000 credits to capture day-forward Twitter data via the Gnip PowerTrack. + Three prizes of six months of Enterprise access to DiscoverText plus 50,000 credits to capture day-forward Tumblr data via the Gnip PowerTrack. + Three prizes of six months of Enterprise access to DiscoverText plus 25,000 credits to capture day-forward Disqus or WordPress data via the Gnip PowerTrack. Rules to Enter This prize drawing is designed to promote experimentation with the free historical Twitter estimation tool we have in beta known as Sifter. The application provides search and retrieve access to every undeleted Tweet in the history of Twitter. 1. Create a free account on Sifter: http://sifter.texifter.com/Home/Registration. 2. Indicate you are an academic and show your affiliation using a URL during or after the registration process. 3.Send us a copy of your CV via email (info(a)texifter.com) You only need to do this once even if you enter every month. 4. Use Sifter to generate at least one Gnip historical PowerTrack for Twitter estimate spanning no more than 10 historical Twitter days and returning no more than 1,000,000 tweets. Estimates are free and we encourage experimentation with sampling and PowerTrack operators. Create as many estimates as you like. 5. Every user with a valid estimate =<10 Twitter days and =<1,000,000 tweets during a calendar month this summer will be entered into the drawing for a social data research grant prize. 6. Every month, for at least the next three starting with June 2014, we will hold a new drawing. 7. A single user can only win one prize per month, but can enter the drawing every month. We will do a drawing at the end of each month limited to just the first 100 eligible entries to increase the chances of winning a prize to better than 1 in 10. Remember to visit Sifter early in the month before all 100 entries are taken. 8. After the drawing each month we will publish a list of the 12 winners and their academic affiliations on the Texifter blog. 9. Social Data and Software Terms of Service All contest-related social data will be stored in DiscoverText. Use of the data is governed both by the publisher and Texifter Terms of Service. "The Future Need for Tools and Data is Great" This small contest cannot satisfy the pent up demand students and faculty have for tools and data. We do think that these prizes can equip a researcher with sufficient data and advanced analytic tools to run a successful pilot study, or to complete a graduate thesis proposal. It is our hope to grow the social data research grant program over time. If it helps to drives new awareness of the research ecosystem, Texifter would be happy to be a part of the innovative energy pouring into academic research studies of the impact and uses of social data. http://www.discovertext.com/Home/Publications Project Outputs We will invite all of the contest winners to write about their project on the Texifter blog. This is optional, but we have had some great guest research posts lately about school bullying, elections, and reusable learning objects. We hope these software and social data research grants will lead to more reports of innovative teaching and research efforts.

1 0

Urgent Announcement Re: IR15 Conference
by Kendall, Lori 30 May '14

30 May '14

Given the extraordinarily difficult and uncertain situation in Thailand, especially in Bangkok, the Executive Committee of AoIR has decided to move the Internet Research 15 conference out of Bangkok. The conference will still take place in October of this year. We are in the process of negotiating a new location, and expect to be able to announce that soon. We are disappointed to have to take this step, and deeply regret the disruption and the inconvenience this change of plans might cause. It was an extremely difficult decision to make. Our Local Host, Soraj Hongladoram, has done a fantastic job of making local arrangements and raising sponsorship for the conference. On account of the change of venue, we will refund all current registration fees paid. We have currently closed registration and will reopen it once we have confirmed the new plans for the conference. If you have already registered for the conference, we will ask you to reregister at that time. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this transition, and will keep you informed as we know more. Lori Kendall President, Association of Internet Researchers prez(a)aoir.org

1 0

Please help: survey on collaborative research tools
by Mihály Héder 30 May '14

30 May '14

Dear All, I would like to ask you a little help with a research project. I'm working on a study on how to connect scientists/students/researchers to each other with federative technologies (like SAML, OpenId and others) properly. This involves using collaborative platforms, accessing journal articles, accessing cloud and grid resources, using ORCID as an identifier, etc. Please help me by filling the following survey (it takes 10 minutes max): http://survey.hexaa.eu *and* by forwarding this mail to everyone you can think of. The more (and not only tech-savvy) people we reach, the better. So please, do not leave out anyone who has the slightest chance to use the internet (friends, family, students, mailing lists, neighbors, classmates, co-workers, etc.) The survey itself aims to find out what the current state of research collaboration is, collaborate today, what kind of personal data are they willing to share, etc. The survey is anonymous, but if you complete it you will be able to sign up on a separate page for a copy of the white paper with the results. Thank you very much Mihály Héder Computer and Automation Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

1 0

Book Announcement
by Tony Cline 29 May '14

29 May '14

With apologies for self-promotion, Information Communication Technology and Social Transformation: A Social and Historical Perspective, Hugh F. Cline, Routledge, 2014. This book argues that information communication technologies are not creating new forms of social structure, but rather altering long-standing institutions and amplifying existing trends of social change that have their origins in ancient times. Using a comparative historical perspective, it analyzes the applications of information communication technologies in relation to changes in norms and values, education institutions, the socialization of children, new forms of deviant and criminal behaviors, enhanced participation in religious activities, patterns of knowledge creation and use, the expansion of consumerism, and changing experiences of distance and time. Hugh F (Tony) Cline Adjunct Professor of Sociology and Education Teachers College, Columbia University hc401(a)columbia.edu Telephone 609 921-6979 Fax 609 921-0169

1 0

Oxford: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Ethics of Big Data with JRF at St Cross College
by Luciano Floridi 29 May '14

29 May '14

Philosophers and Ethicists are very welcome and strongly encouraged to apply. ———————————————————--———————————————— Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Ethics of Big Data, Oxford Internet Institute associated with a non-stipendiary Junior Research Fellowship at St Cross College University of Oxford Grade 7: £29,837 - £36,661 p.a. We are a leading world centre for the multidisciplinary study of the Internet and society, looking for a full-time Researcher to work on a funded project, “The Ethics of Biomedical Big Data”, led by Professor Luciano Floridi. The analysis of large datasets (Big Data) has become a major driver of innovation and success in biomedical research. However, the use of Biomedical Big Data raises serious ethical problems, which may threaten the huge opportunities it offers. This pilot project will formulate a blueprint of the ethical aspects, requirements and desiderata underpinning a European framework for the ethical use of Big Data in biomedical research. Applicants should hold a PhD in a relevant discipline, have a strong interest in information/computer ethics and proven experience in ethical and policy analysis and writing papers based on qualitative and/or quantitative research. The successful candidate will work with Prof. Floridi and a multidisciplinary team of researchers, and will be able to take a lead in project management, conceptual analysis, and the dissemination of results. Based at our OII North office at 34 St Giles, Oxford, this position is available from 1 October 2014 for 1 year, with a possibility of extension beyond that date, depending on funding. The post is associated with a non-stipendiary Junior Research Fellowship at St Cross College for its duration. Details of the College and its facilities are available on the College website at: www.stx.ox.ac.uk. Applications for this vacancy are to be made online. To apply for this role and for further details, including a job description and selection criteria, please click on the link below: https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobs… The application deadline is 12.00 midday on Thursday 26 June 2014. Interviews for those shortlisted are currently planned to take place in the week commencing 21 July 2014. Best wishes, Luciano _______________________________________________________ www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/floridi/ | www.philosophyofinformation.net Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information Director of Research Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford PA Mrs. Julia Farquet, julia.farquet(a)oii.ox.ac.uk Twitter: @Floridi Tel: +44 (0) 1865 287202 1 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3JS, UK

1 0

Thomas Piketty, Karl Marx and the Internet
by Christian Fuchs 29 May '14

29 May '14

Fuchs, Christian. 2014. Thomas Piketty’s Book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”, Karl Marx and the Political Economy of the Internet. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique 12 (1): 413-430. http://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/575 Abstract Thomas Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century has resulted in a sustained political and academic debate about capitalism in the 21st century. This article discusses the relevance of the book in the context of Karl Marx’s works and the political economy of the Internet. It identifies 3 common reactions to Piketty’s book: 1) dignification; 2) denigration of the work’s integrity; 3) the denial of any parallel to Marx. I argue that all three reactions do not help the task of creating a New Left that is urgently needed in the situation of sustained capitalist crisis. Marxists will certainly view Piketty’s analysis of capitalism and political suggestions critically. I argue that they should however not dismiss them, but like Marx and Engels aim to radicalise reform suggestions. In relation to the Internet, this paper discusses especially how insights from Piketty’s book can inform the discussion of tax avoidance by transnational Internet companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. For establishing an alternative, non-commercial, non-capitalist Internet one can draw insights about institutional reforms and progressive capital taxation from Piketty that can be radicalised in order to ground radical-reformist Internet politics. “The daily struggle for reforms, for the amelioration of the condition of the workers within the framework of the existing social order, and for democratic institutions, offers to the social democracy the only means of engaging in the proletarian class war and working in the direction of the final goal-the conquest of political power and the suppression of wage labor. Between social reforms and revolution there exists for the social democracy an indissoluble tie. The struggle for reforms is its means; the social revolution, its aim” (Rosa Luxemburg 1899, 41).

1 0

CfP: Transdisciplinary Approaches to Urban Computing now due 22 June 2014
by Marcus Foth 29 May '14

29 May '14

Transdisciplinary Approaches to Urban Computing Special Issue of the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS) http://bit.ly/TAUC-CfP edited by Hannu Kukka, University of Oulu Marcus Foth, Queensland University of Technology Sebastian Boring, University of Copenhagen Anind K. Dey, Carnegie Mellon University tauc.editors(a)gmail.com Deadline for submissions extended until 22 June 2014 DESCRIPTION The research field of urban computing – defined as “the integration of computing, sensing, and actuation technologies into everyday urban settings and lifestyles” [1] – considers the design and use of ubiquitous computing technology in public and shared urban environments. Its impact on cities, buildings, and spaces evokes innumerable kinds of change [2]. Embedded into our everyday lived environments, urban computing technologies have the potential to alter the meaning of physical space, and affect the activities performed in those spaces. In this special issue, we invite contributions to a multi-themed discussion of various aspects that make up the, at times, messy and certainly transdisciplinary field of urban computing and urban informatics. The starting point for the proposed special issue is a call for a more transdisciplinary approach to the design and evaluation of urban computing systems that regards these systems as holistic, organic and evolving constructs comprising three interrelated components: people, place, technology. Following Nicolescu [3], we use the term transdisciplinarity to signify the positioning of urban computing research at once between different disciplines, across these disciplines, and beyond all discipline. The term differs from the related concepts of multidisciplinarity, where a topic is studied by several disciplines that are in service of a base discipline, and interdisciplinarity, where methods from one discipline are transferred to another. Looking at urban computing from a transdisciplinary perspective is useful in that a large methodological and theoretical gap exists in much of the current literature. Often, the epistemological, methodological, theoretical, and practical contributions of relevant fields of study (e.g., computer science, architecture and design, and social sciences) do not connect to form a solid basis for the advancement of cities and city life. Despite the inherent complexity and transdisciplinary nature of urban computing as a subject of study, few such efforts have been undertaken. However, moving the field forward requires explorations of the opportunities and challenges inherent in truly transdisciplinary work by researchers from several interrelated fields of study coming together to design, build, and evaluate urban computing systems. In the proposed special issue we call for contributions from both practical and theoretical points of view discussing the practice and promise of transdisciplinary work in the field of urban computing and urban informatics. Specifically, we hope to elicit contributions from researchers in the various fields closely related to urban computing such as computer science, social sciences (e.g., cultural anthropology), and architecture and urban design. We envision the following contributions: (1) experience reports on transdisciplinary projects in real-life urban settings, reporting results from urban computing studies conducted in a transdisciplinary manner; and (2) theoretical/conceptual discussions on the merits of understanding the topic not only from a technological perspective, taking into consideration the various interrelated disciplines and fields of study. The proposed topic is timely and significant, since more and more explorations are conducted “at large” or "in-the-wild,” i.e. outside traditional research laboratory settings. This move from controlled laboratories to messy real-life environments is far from trivial, and requires an integrated approach that both takes into account and respects the inherent transdisciplinarity that carrying out high quality research in such settings requires. Hence, contributions in the proposed special issue should be of interest to a large and varied audience of researchers and practitioners who either already do research “in-the-wild,” or hope to transition to such work in the future. REFERENCES [1] Kindberg, C., Chalmers, M., Paulos, E. (2007) Guest Editor’s Introduction: Urban Computing. IEEE Pervasive Computing, 6(3), 18-20. [2] Fuller, M. (2013) Foreword. In: Throughout: Art and Culture Emerging with Ubiquitous Computing. MIT Press. [3] Nicolescu, B. (2001) Manifesto of Transdisciplinarity. Translated from French by Karen-Claire Voss. State of New York Press: New York. AIMS AND SCOPE The aim of this Special Issue is to present high quality, original, manuscripts related to the issue of transdisciplinary approaches to the field of urban computing. Manuscripts must be original, but significant expansions and revisions of papers recently presented at conferences and workshops will be considered. Possible topics include but are not limited to: • Experience reports on transdisciplinary projects in real-life urban settings • Reporting results from urban computing studies conducted in a transdisciplinary manner • Theoretical/conceptual discussions on the need for / the advancement of transdisciplinary work We are looking to publish a mix (roughly 50/50) of papers with a theoretical and practical contribution, depending of course on the number and types of submissions we receive. PAPER SUBMISSION Deadline: manuscripts are now due 22 June 2014 but early submissions are encouraged. All contributions will be rigorously peer reviewed to the usual exacting standards of the IJHCS journal. Further information, including submission procedures and advice on formatting and preparing your manuscript, can be found at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-human-computer-st… Manuscripts are submitted via the Elsevier Editorial System (EES) at: http://ees.elsevier.com/ijhcs/ To discuss a possible contribution, please contact the special issue editors at: tauc.editors(a)gmail.com For more information please visit: http://bit.ly/TAUC-CfP -- Associate Professor Marcus Foth Director, Urban Informatics Research Lab Principal Research Fellow, School of Design Queensland University of Technology 130 Victoria Park Road, Brisbane QLD 4059, Australia m.foth(a)qut.edu.au – @sunday9pm – http://www.urbaninformatics.net/ CRICOS No. 00213J

1 0

Visualizing gaps in political participation? Online bridges/wedges
by Steven Clift 28 May '14

28 May '14

Last year I took a deep dive into the Pew Internet and American Life's Civic Engagement in the Digital Age report: http://bit.ly/pewcivic Long story short, the report seems to suggest that despite a closing digital divide, online participation is not helping close the democratic divide based on income, education, race, age, etc. Before I beat a louder drum that says, "hey, investments and experiments with open government and civic tech should raise new voices and not settle for just amplifying the voices of those who already show up" I need better/broader/fresher numbers. I need visualizations that show the greatest gaps in political participation both in general and online to guide efforts that seek to generate the most results. So, who has those charts, etc.? Or do you want to help generate some? Thanks, Steven Clift E-Democracy.org P.S. If you scroll down you'll see some slides of note with numbers: http://bit.ly/newvoicesvideo - I am looking for far more pleasing displays of this research like this. ᐧ

1 0

Open Call for Collaborators> Interactivos? Birmingham: Responsive and immersive future technologies
by Medialab-Prado Comunicación 28 May '14

28 May '14

*MEDIALAB-PRADO* *Plaza**de las Letras** **Calle Ala**meda, 15** **28014 Madrid T. 912 191 157** ****www.medialab-prado.es** ****Entrada gratuita * * * Interactivos? Birmingham: Responsive and immersive future technologies <http://medialab-prado.es/article/interactivosbirminghamcollaborators> Open Call for Collaborators Pleased to announce seven projects <http://medialab-prado.es/article/birminghamselectedprojects> for Interactivos Birmingham 2014 have been chosen from an international open call, with an unprecedented response. These projects will be worked on and developed intensely over a two week period in a workshop studio at *mac birmingham <http://www.macarts.co.uk/>* from June 16 - 28. For this process, we need collaborators! Coming from a range of backgrounds and disciplines, these collaborators will offer their knowledge and expertise, and work alongside a project of their choice over the two week period. These projects <http://medialab-prado.es/article/birminghamselectedprojects> aim to expand on the use of electronic and software tools for artists, designers and educators, aiming to develop interactive tools to create engaging experiences for audiences and communities Deadline for registrations: June 13, 2014. No entry fees. *More information: http://medialab-prado.es*

1 0