- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

New on ICT Guides
by Craig Bellamy 21 May '08

21 May '08

Dear AOIR, ICT Guides is a service offered by the Centre for eResearch at King's College in London (CeRch). It seeks to promote the use of ICTs in research and learning through cataloging digital arts and humanities projects along with the tools and methods they employed. A number of new projects have been added to ICT Guides: Highlight: Semantic Tools for Archaeological Resources "Increasingly within archaeology, the Web is used for dissemination of datasets. This contributes to the growing amount of information on the ‘deep web’, which a recent Bright Planet study estimated to be 500 times larger than the ‘surface web’. However Google and other web search engines are ill equipped to retrieve information from the richly structured databases that are key resources for humanities scholars. Important archaeological results and reports are also appearing as grey literature, before or instead of traditional publication. Typically these are not indexed or made available for searching other than as ordinary web documents. It is difficult using conventional search engines to link these to datasets or indeed to search them using terminology other than that employed by the authors". See: http://ahds.ac.uk/ictguides/projects/project.jsp?projectId=864 ** Suggestions for new projects most welcome. -- Dr Craig Bellamy Research Associate Centre for eResearch (CeRch) King's College, London http://ahds.ac.uk/ictguides/ ----- 26 - 29 Drury Lane 3rd Floor King's College London LONDON, WC2B 5RL Phone: 020 7848 1976 ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________

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SL Journalism research
by Annabelle 20 May '08

20 May '08

Hello all, I¹ve been lurking on this list for a little while now and think the time has come to speak up. I am an undergrad Honours student from Sydney Uni and am researching SL for my thesis. This list has been very generous with honours enquiries before and I am hoping to tap into that expertise! I¹m looking at the role of journalism (using a fairly broad definition) in Second Life, and how this impacts upon governance and the idea of a public sphere¹ within SL. I am planning to research this through using a public forum in SL and a blog, complemented by individual interviews and textual analysis of some of the journalistic publications themselves. I would really like some feedback on whether anyone has done this kind of research before, how successful or otherwise it was and any tips on how to get it up and running. I would also love to hear from anyone who has done any research or study of journalism in virtual worlds. I¹m particularly interested in the idea of journalism as public conversation¹ and ideas about the public sphere and public opinion negotiation. I know there is a growing body of work on governance in virtual worlds (or the lack thereof) and would also appreciate any pointers towards any new or social science based work in this area (there appears to be lots of scholarship around legal questions of governance and not so much on the social/political side but maybe I¹m wrong!). Thank you for any help or pointers. Will keep the list posted on when the public forum is happening and hopefully see some of you there in SL. Regards, Annabelle Boyd Jones Honours Student, Department of Media and Communications The University of Sydney e: annabellebj(a)student.usyd.edu.au

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Rest in Peace: Steve Cisler
by Jeremy Hunsinger 20 May '08

20 May '08

Begin forwarded message: > Resent-From: nettime(a)kein.org > From: t byfield <tbyfield(a)panix.com> > Date: May 19, 2008 11:15:46 PM CDT > Resent-To: Nettime <nettime-l(a)kein.org> > To: Nettime-l <nettime-l(a)kein.org> > Subject: <nettime> Steve Cisler > > Steve Cisler passed away on Thursday 15 May, from a medical > condition he'd > known about for several years, which had worsened over the last > several > months. His wife, Nancy, said that he was with his entire family -- > which > had grown in the last few years -- and that he was relaxed and > accepting as > his health faded. > > Steve spent much of his life in what's become Silicon Valley, and he > sometimes talked about how he had seen it turn from almond groves > and dusty > roads into an intricate suburban sprawl. He lived there when > computing was > a small scene, and, I guess because of his curious and easygoing > style, > became sort of famous among Silicon Valley's famous -- not that he > ever > showed any interest in fame. On the contrary, he cared very deeply > about > everyday settings and people, and he had a knack for finding the > exceptions > and difference on the fringes of computers and networking. > > These interests led Steve into the delicate, nebulous field of > community > networking. At its best, it was guided by the some of the fine > ideals that > shaped the rise of computing: mainly, the hope that new technologies > could > enable organic forms of social mobility. Though he'd probably > chuckle at > the idea that he was a pioneer, he was -- of the kinds of values and > approaches that, happily, have become familiar as "appropriate" and > "sustainable." > > It seems strange to say so, but I don't think Steve was an idealist. > There > were only a few times that I ever saw a hint of tragedy in his > thinking. > For example, I remember him talking pointedly about how new forms of > media > were driving misdirected urbanization as people (especially the > young), led > by grotesquely glamorized images of urban life, conclude that rural > life is > "intolerable" and abandon it. But dystopian trends lay far beyond any > difference he could hope to make, so he mostly reserved his > skepticism for > community-oriented projects and initiatives that had gone awry. When > he > talked about them, it was with a hint of frustration -- and patience > for > the people who he felt had lost their way. He usually balanced that > out by > talking about what he loved most, idiosyncratic projects and > settings where > people had pieced together new and old techniques and technologies in > engaging and creative ways. But these weren't ideals, they were > examples. > If anything, Steve was a pragmatist. > > A few years ago, I joked to a friend that Steve was a "walking > Wikipedia": > not a heroic project to redefine knowledge but an endless reservoir of > impressions and observations. But it wasn't really a joke. Steve > had an > amazing range of experience from his work across several continents, > much > of it in developing areas (very much including the rural US). He > thought > very intently about what he'd seen and heard, and he appreciated > most of > all the idiosyncratic people and settings that triumphalism and > transformationalism have no time for. Given the context that defined > much > of his life -- the rise of networks small and large -- his ways of > working > had a quietly contrary or even polemical side; but he won't be > remembered > for that. Everything he said took a very genial form -- a friendly > chat > about some friendly chat he once had. Stories -- hearing them, telling > them, it didn't matter -- were a big part of what he did and how he > did it: > informing, guiding, encouraging. If "small is beautiful" is a > cliche, then > he was a walking cliche; but it isn't, and he wasn't. > > For all his stories, though, he never seemed to present his own life > in a > narrative form, so there are a few odd things I know about him, but > I don't > know where or how they fit in. At some point and in a surprisingly > early > context, he advocated to Native American tribal elders that they > develop a > ".ind" top-level domain -- a hilarious idea that could have had > enormous > impact. He worked as a librarian for Apple's speculative Advanced > Technology Group, which did incredible work -- various QuickTime > technologies, HyperCard, and advanced in speech recognition and > synthesis > as well as handwriting-recognition software). > > As a young man, he served in the US Coast Guard; I think it must have > whetted his appetite for travel, and showed him a world that, in an > age of > airlines and the internet, fewer and fewer see -- of disparate small > worlds > joined by the sea they share. And he enjoyed traveling around the > western > US; I think those landscapes also shaped his view of the world -- > expanses > where you see how small you are, how small everything is, and how > immense > the sum of it all is. In the last years, somewhere between few and > several, > he'd taken to bringing an inflatable kayak when he traveled to > conferences > and paddling around cities all over the world. > > Steve's involvement in nettime dates back to a time when the list > was still > a family of sorts, and one that he enjoyed very much. His > involvement in > the list tapered off around the Next 5 Minutes 4 conference as his > interest > turned to what eventually became his last major endeavor, the Offline > Project: an effort to understand why, or maybe how, many people and > organizations "that are not directly using the Internet to learn > about them > and how they cope in a world that is increasingly interconnected." I > won't > pretend to know in any detail what he learned through his research, > but two > things he told me have stayed with me. First, that many people have > positive reasons for living as they like, with no regard for the > clatter of > technical advance; and, second, when he stopped using email and the > like, > how quickly many of his connections and friendships dissipated. For > someone > who dedicated much of his life to community networking in remote > areas, > this fragility must have said a lot -- but I don't know what, > because he > never elaborated on it. > > Beyond years of emails, which now seem strangely immaterial coming > from > such a material guy, I have a surprising number of physical objects > he's > given me over the years: a few bottles of wine he made with family and > friends, some seeds for some curious local kind of squash, a vanilla > bean > (from Uganda, I think), and a few recipes -- for a West African stew > and a > ciabatta that turned out really well. These came over a period of > several > years, simple gifts of whatever was at hand, but together they say a > lot > about who he was and how he lived. > > I was lucky to be able to get together with him a few times a year. In > times past, that, and a bit of correspondence, would have made for a > normal > friendship; but in a time when communicating is so much quicker and > easier, > it seems like very little. > > I'll miss Steve very much. > > Steve's friends were very far-flung, so feel free to forward this. If > anyone sends me messages about Steve, I'll assemble them and make sure > they end up in the right place. > > Ted > > > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime(a)kein.org

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Dumbest Generation and the academics who encourage them
by subbies＠redheadedstepchild.org 20 May '08

20 May '08

Since we were just discussing the topic, here's an article Bauerlein wrote slapping the MacArthur foundation's hands in Inside Higher Ed today: http://insidehighered.com/views/2008/05/20/bauerlein -Alexis + -------- redheadedstepchild.org ------- +

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CFP: MindTrek Conference, 7-9 Oct 08, Finland
by Frans Mäyrä 20 May '08

20 May '08

Please distribute freely: ===================================================================== 11th MindTrek Conference MindTrek 2008: Entertainment and Media in the Ubiquitous Era Call for Position Papers, Workshops, Workshop Contributions October 7th to 9th 2008 in Tampere, Finland http://www.mindtrek.org www.mindtrek.org/cfp ===================================================================== We are happy to invite you into MindTrek Conference in October 7–9, 2008. MindTrek is a three day conference to explore current and emerging topics of social media, ubimedia and games. MindTrek includes a workshop day, three main tracks, plenary sessions and invited presentations. MindTrek is a leading Northern new media festival and conference series, arranged already for more than a decade, since 1997. Interdisciplinary and open for innovation, MindTrek is a meeting place where experts and thinkers present results from their latest work regarding the development of Internet, interactive media and information society. MindTrek brings together researchers and practitioners from diverse disciplines that are involved in the development of media – from sociology, economy, to technology. The organizing committee invites you to submit original high quality papers addressing the special theme and the topics, for presentation at the conference and inclusion in the proceedings. The submitted papers will be selected for the following streams of the conference: • Social media • Gaming • Ubiquitous and ambient media Feel free to suggest workshops which are co-organized with the MindTrek 2008. Workshop proposals should include organizing committee, one page description of the theme of the workshop, short CV of organizers, duration, proceedings publisher, and schedule. Important Dates: 31st May 2008: submission of position papers (abstract, 1000 words) and workshops 16th June 2008: review statements 29th August 2008: camera ready papers from authors (5 pages) 7th-9th October 2008: conference Conference Themes: 1. Social Media • business models, service models, and policies • questions related to identity, motivation and values • blogs, wikis, and collaboration designs in practice • user-created content and social networks 2. Ubiquitous and ambient media • ubiquitous and ambient services, devices, and environments • business models, service models, and policies • context aware, sensing, and interfaces for ubiquitous computation • ergonomics, human-computer interaction designs, and product prototypes • software, hardware and middleware frameworks • digital television, digital film production, and new media systems • pervasive and ubiquitous games • ambient intelligence applications and services • artistic works related to ubiquitous computation • entertainment and experiences • new human-computer interaction models 3. Games • Theoretical and analytical contributions to the study of games and play • Novel approaches to the design research of games • Discussions of gaming technologies from user- or player-centred perspectives • Studies of social play and role-play • Analyses of online, mobile, casual and cross-media gaming • Research into user-created game content • Studies of pervasive games Position paper submissions will be peer-reviewed as abstracts, and full versions of papers will be published both in conference proceedings and online by an international scholarly organization. Future edited versions of selected papers will be considered for special issues in journals, or as book chapters. Further possibilities for publication are currently under assessment. Conference venue: MindTrek takes place at Hotel Scandic Rosendahl, in Tampere, Finland. The organiser of the conference has booked quota for the conference delegates from this hotel. More information on accommodation and registration will be made available in our website. Please note that the accommodation is not included in the participation fee. There is also other accommodation available in Tampere, ranging from modern first class hotels to smaller traditional hotels and dormitories. If you select one of these options, you should make the reservations by yourself with that specific hotel. For more, see: http://www.mindtrek.org/matkustus/scandic-rosendahl_en Conference Organizing Committee: Artur Lugmayr (Scientific Chair) Frans Mayra, Katri Lietsala, and Heljä Franssila (Conference Co-chairs) Contact: Artur Lugmayr, artur.lugmayr(a)tut.fi For up to date information and further details please visit: http://www.mindtrek.org Send your contributions and any inquiry about the conference to: http://www.mindtrek.org/cfp Supported by: City of Tampere, Ubiqutious Computing Cluster, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere University, TAMK, PIRAMK, Technology Centre Hermia, Neogames, COSS, Gemilo, B105. Host: MindTrek Association (www.mindtrek.org) -- Best regards, Frans ** Frans Mäyrä * Professor, PhD * Hypermedia Laboratory ** ** University of Tampere * Games Research Lab * Finland ** * www.uta.fi/hyper * http://gamelab.uta.fi * www.digra.org * ** frans.mayra(a)uta.fi *gsm +358503367650 *tel +358335517933 ** *** www.unet.fi/fransblog **** www.uta.fi/~frans.mayra ***

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FW: <nettime> Steve Cisler
by McLaughlin, Lisa M. Dr. 20 May '08

20 May '08

I don't know if, or how many, members of this listserv knew Steve Cisler, who was a friend and steady presence in the lives of several of us who support community networking initiatives. Steve passed away a few days ago. I'm forwarding a statement of remembrance written by Ted Byfield. If any of you knew Steve and wish to write something about him, please send your remembrances to Ted, who is assembling these notes for the Cisler family. Best wishes, Lisa ------ Forwarded Message From: t byfield <tbyfield(a)panix.com> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 00:15:46 -0400 To: Nettime-l <nettime-l(a)kein.org> Conversation: <nettime> Steve Cisler Subject: <nettime> Steve Cisler Steve Cisler passed away on Thursday 15 May, from a medical condition he'd known about for several years, which had worsened over the last several months. His wife, Nancy, said that he was with his entire family -- which had grown in the last few years -- and that he was relaxed and accepting as his health faded. Steve spent much of his life in what's become Silicon Valley, and he sometimes talked about how he had seen it turn from almond groves and dusty roads into an intricate suburban sprawl. He lived there when computing was a small scene, and, I guess because of his curious and easygoing style, became sort of famous among Silicon Valley's famous -- not that he ever showed any interest in fame. On the contrary, he cared very deeply about everyday settings and people, and he had a knack for finding the exceptions and difference on the fringes of computers and networking. These interests led Steve into the delicate, nebulous field of community networking. At its best, it was guided by the some of the fine ideals that shaped the rise of computing: mainly, the hope that new technologies could enable organic forms of social mobility. Though he'd probably chuckle at the idea that he was a pioneer, he was -- of the kinds of values and approaches that, happily, have become familiar as "appropriate" and "sustainable." It seems strange to say so, but I don't think Steve was an idealist. There were only a few times that I ever saw a hint of tragedy in his thinking. For example, I remember him talking pointedly about how new forms of media were driving misdirected urbanization as people (especially the young), led by grotesquely glamorized images of urban life, conclude that rural life is "intolerable" and abandon it. But dystopian trends lay far beyond any difference he could hope to make, so he mostly reserved his skepticism for community-oriented projects and initiatives that had gone awry. When he talked about them, it was with a hint of frustration -- and patience for the people who he felt had lost their way. He usually balanced that out by talking about what he loved most, idiosyncratic projects and settings where people had pieced together new and old techniques and technologies in engaging and creative ways. But these weren't ideals, they were examples. If anything, Steve was a pragmatist. A few years ago, I joked to a friend that Steve was a "walking Wikipedia": not a heroic project to redefine knowledge but an endless reservoir of impressions and observations. But it wasn't really a joke. Steve had an amazing range of experience from his work across several continents, much of it in developing areas (very much including the rural US). He thought very intently about what he'd seen and heard, and he appreciated most of all the idiosyncratic people and settings that triumphalism and transformationalism have no time for. Given the context that defined much of his life -- the rise of networks small and large -- his ways of working had a quietly contrary or even polemical side; but he won't be remembered for that. Everything he said took a very genial form -- a friendly chat about some friendly chat he once had. Stories -- hearing them, telling them, it didn't matter -- were a big part of what he did and how he did it: informing, guiding, encouraging. If "small is beautiful" is a cliche, then he was a walking cliche; but it isn't, and he wasn't. For all his stories, though, he never seemed to present his own life in a narrative form, so there are a few odd things I know about him, but I don't know where or how they fit in. At some point and in a surprisingly early context, he advocated to Native American tribal elders that they develop a ".ind" top-level domain -- a hilarious idea that could have had enormous impact. He worked as a librarian for Apple's speculative Advanced Technology Group, which did incredible work -- various QuickTime technologies, HyperCard, and advanced in speech recognition and synthesis as well as handwriting-recognition software). As a young man, he served in the US Coast Guard; I think it must have whetted his appetite for travel, and showed him a world that, in an age of airlines and the internet, fewer and fewer see -- of disparate small worlds joined by the sea they share. And he enjoyed traveling around the western US; I think those landscapes also shaped his view of the world -- expanses where you see how small you are, how small everything is, and how immense the sum of it all is. In the last years, somewhere between few and several, he'd taken to bringing an inflatable kayak when he traveled to conferences and paddling around cities all over the world. Steve's involvement in nettime dates back to a time when the list was still a family of sorts, and one that he enjoyed very much. His involvement in the list tapered off around the Next 5 Minutes 4 conference as his interest turned to what eventually became his last major endeavor, the Offline Project: an effort to understand why, or maybe how, many people and organizations "that are not directly using the Internet to learn about them and how they cope in a world that is increasingly interconnected." I won't pretend to know in any detail what he learned through his research, but two things he told me have stayed with me. First, that many people have positive reasons for living as they like, with no regard for the clatter of technical advance; and, second, when he stopped using email and the like, how quickly many of his connections and friendships dissipated. For someone who dedicated much of his life to community networking in remote areas, this fragility must have said a lot -- but I don't know what, because he never elaborated on it. Beyond years of emails, which now seem strangely immaterial coming from such a material guy, I have a surprising number of physical objects he's given me over the years: a few bottles of wine he made with family and friends, some seeds for some curious local kind of squash, a vanilla bean (from Uganda, I think), and a few recipes -- for a West African stew and a ciabatta that turned out really well. These came over a period of several years, simple gifts of whatever was at hand, but together they say a lot about who he was and how he lived. I was lucky to be able to get together with him a few times a year. In times past, that, and a bit of correspondence, would have made for a normal friendship; but in a time when communicating is so much quicker and easier, it seems like very little. I'll miss Steve very much. Steve's friends were very far-flung, so feel free to forward this. If anyone sends me messages about Steve, I'll assemble them and make sure they end up in the right place. Ted # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime(a)kein.org ------ End of Forwarded Message

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Reminder - Cybercitizens Conference July 08
by John Fenaughty 19 May '08

19 May '08

Hi everyone, This is to update you about our NetSafe Conference 08 - Cybercitizens: Risks, Rights and Responsibilities of Participation in the Information Age: http://www.cybersafety.org.nz/conference08 We're really thrilled to be getting such broad international interest. The list of organisations and countries registered so far is here: http://www.cybersafety.org.nz/conference08/holder.php?pageID=31&sectionID=S… We wanted to use this opportunity to invite other international delegates to attend. A preliminary schedule is available on the website, but there are still some opportunities for additional proposals. There is also some space in the International Project on Cyberbullying substream. The Call for Papers closes on the 31st of May. If you've any questions or feedback feel free to contact me on johnf(a)netsafe.org.nz. Cheers! John John Fenaughty / Research Manager / NetSafe / p: 09 353 0624 / skype: johnnetsafe / www.netsafe.org.nz ===================================== NetSafe Conference 08 - Cybercitizens: Risks, Rights, Responsibilities of Participation in the Information Age. ===================================== NetSafe is pleased to invite you to the stunning winter resort of Queenstown to the first international conference on Cybercitizens: Risks, Rights, and Responsibilities of Participation in the Information Age. Citizenship is a cornerstone of participation in modern democracies. It is awarded on the basis of meeting specific civic responsibilities. It affords the citizen the rights to safe passage and protection from unlawful harm. Although Cyberspace is a virtual space, it is real. Just as citizens in physical territories experience risk, have rights to protection, and need to honour responsibilities, citizens in Cyberspace experience risk, have rights to protection, and need to honour responsibilities. ===================================== The Conference ===================================== The NetSafe Conference 08 aims to consider a range of topics relating to the concepts of cybercitizenry and cybersafety. We seek papers, presentations, and workshops on a broad range of topics related to the risks, rights to safety, and responsibilities of citizens in the information age. We welcome a broad audience, including educators, researchers, industry, web developers, government, and non-government organisations, to collaborate on considering the challenges and opportunities Cyberspace can offer for citizens in the information age. ===================================== Keynotes ===================================== Jeff Cole | World Internet Project Director of the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future - the Home of the World Internet Project. Ilene Berson | University of South Florida Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Department of Childhood Education at the University of South Florida (USF). Michael Berson | University of South Florida Professor in the Secondary Education Department at the University of South Florida (USF). Frank Rittman | Motion Picture Association Regional Vice President and Legal Counsel, Asia-Pacific for the Motion Picture Association. Youth Panel | International Youth Advisory Congress New Zealand's teenage participants from IYAC in London will talk about a global charter for young people's online safety and security. Peter Dengate Thrush | Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) The current Chair of the ICANN board of directors. Will Gardner | Childnet International Deputy CEO of Childnet International. Shaheen Shariff | McGill University Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at McGill University. Principal Investigator on the International Project on Cyberbullying. =====================================

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CFP: Emergency Management in a Mobile World
by Prof. I Kushchu 19 May '08

19 May '08

Call for Papers : Emergency Management in a Mobile World A Special Session at the MOBILE LIFE CONFERENCES and EXHIBITIONS -- mSOCIETY 2008 -- The 1st International Conference on Mobile Society -- EURO mGOV 2008 -- The 3rd European Conference on Mobile Government 15 -19 September 2008, Sheraton Voyager, Antalya, Turkey http://www.mgovernment.org/events/index.html mlife(a)mgovernment.org Chairs: ---------- Thomas Rose, and Gertraud Peinel Head of research department, and project manager at the Fraunhofer FIT The domain of emergency management is a specific part of the e- and mGovernment world. The preparation for emergency events – caused by natural as well as man-made reasons – has gained increasing attention from the research community due to the potential impact of such events. In case of major disaster, radio and television might give first hints of what to do and what to avoid but this is rarely done in coordination with the local emergency managers. Therefore, further details for the specific region of interest as well as for the specific situation characteristics (including event information like occurrence place and time, estimated duration, subjects affected, possible conditions – technical or other – for its finalisation) are not available. Goals of this special session are therefore to -establish the realms of emergency management as a specific topic of interest at this conference. - discuss socio-technical methodologies for the development and deployment of IT solutions for emergency management tasks with a particular account on mobile technologies, e.g. mobility of citizens as well as rescue teams. - elaborate the impact of mobile technologies on the emergency management life-cycle. - discuss the role and their potential contributions of business partners to emergencies: capacities for communication channels, information relay centres, ad hoc call centres, and business models. - relate country-specific organisational and legal frameworks, e.g. cross border procedures. - tie relationships among research on mGovernment and crisis management: detect common problems and solutions, identify needs of actions, and show how IT solutions and new business models can restructure also the way of emergency management. Topics for Submission include but are not limited to - Emergency Management in a Mobile World: challenges, barriers, and opportunities - Business models, public private partnerships -Characteristics of mobile emergency services (e.g., reach, costs, acceptance, complexity, side-effects) - Best practices and lessons learnt - Planning methodologies for emergency preparation Expected audience: Authorities, risk experts, and e/mGovernment scientists Submissions in the form of research papers (max 10 pages) and practice talks (max 1 page) are solicited via the conferences online submission system at the http://www.mgovernment.org/confadmin/confadmin.php Further information on submissions and all about the conference can be found at http://www.mgovernment.org/events/mgov2008/home.html For all enquiries, please write to the session chairs: thomas.rose(a)fit.fraunhofer.de, gertraud.peinel(a)fit.fraunhofer.de or the conference secreteriat mlife(a)mgovernment.org ------ IBRAHIM KUSHCHU, MBA, MSC., PHD Associate Professor and Director, Mobile Government Consortium International, UK http://www.mgovernment.org ik(a)mgovernment.org +44 1273 777853

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Conference matters
by Brian Loader 19 May '08

19 May '08

Dear friends this is just a brief mailing from your conference programme chair to say that I will be unavailable for two weeks so please direct any queries to Lisbeth (klastrup(a)itu.dk)during that period. I understand the registration site will be up shortly so please make those registrations as soon as you can to enable me to put the programme together and share it asap. Cheers, Brian Brian D. Loader Co-Director, Social Informatics Research Unit (SIRU), Department of Sociology, Wentworth College, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD Email bl506(a)york.ac.uk Tel: +44(0) 1904 432639 Fax: +44(0) 1904 433043

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ITSME, the alliance between research and design
by Nico Sica 19 May '08

19 May '08

Dear All, just few words to introduce a new Italian start up of the University of Milano - Bicocca, working in the intersection between ICT and Design: ITSME (http://www.itsme.it) lead by Prof. Giorgio De Michelis. Our goal is to develop an innovative workstation with a radically new operating system. After almost 30 years, it is time to go beyond the desktop metaphor. In these years our community has characterised the situatedness of human practices and developed ways to support it. Itsme is the new workstation for context-aware users that we are going to design and develop. It is based on a new metaphor, i.e. that of "stories and venues". Human life can be seen as the intertwining of several different stories: for each story itsme creates a venue where users can find all the things that are relevant for it. You can find more details about our initiative on the website. In particular, you can read a presentation (http://www.itsme.it/wp- content/uploads/2008/05/itsme-presentationxall_01.pdf) and a first introductory paper (http://www.itsme.it/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/ storiesandvenues.pdf). If you are interested in our project, please feel free to contact me directly. We are open to discuss collaborations with other universities, departments, research centers and laboratories. Many thanks! Best regards, Nico Giandomenico Sica Director of Communication ITSME S.r.l. Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca Campus Bicocca, Edificio U9 Via dell'Innovazione 10 20125, Milano, Italia Tel: ++39.02.66173453 Skype: nicosica E-mail: giandomenico.sica(a)itsme.it Website: http://www.itsme.it Home: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicosica

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