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One Laptop Per Child
by David Brake 09 Jun '06

09 Jun '06

I have come late to this discussion and since I had been meaning to blog about this anyway I took advantage of this opportunity to resurrect a collection of links I collected back in November and add some comments of my own. You can find my thoughts and a number of relevant links on the Media@LSE weblog here: http://groupblog.workasone.net/archives/2006/06/the-100-laptop-debate/ In brief, much of the criticism of the OLPC project is for reasons I agree with but some seemed a little doctrinaire. This is not an 'inferior' technology as Christian Fuchs suggests - it is an appropriate one. Even if 'conventional' laptops costing ten times as much were made available in the countries where the OLPC will be trialled, they would arguably be less useful as they would be less durable and would rely on more expensive components and software. These laptops will not tie their users in to Western commercial technology and standards as Christian fears (at least not any more than they are already) because they are based solidly on open source software. And rightly or wrongly these are not aimed at the countries whose inhabitants live on $2 a day - they are aimed at middle-ranking developing countries like China, India and Brazil which have enough money to consider this kind of investment in their children (though I would still argue that this major sum spent in 'conventional' ways on teachers or books would yield a better result). As for Jeremy's concern that no effort is going into teacher training and support, I am a little more optimistic - since pilot organizations will be investing a lot of money (relative to their budgets) on these devices I would hope some of them at least will devote some careful thought to the issues that Jeremy and others pointed out and turn deaf ears to the OLPC team's assurances that these are pure 'machines for learning' - no teacher input required. --- David Brake, Doctoral Student in Media and Communications, London School of Economics & Political Science <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/study/ mPhilPhDMediaAndCommunications.htm> Also see http://davidbrake.org/ (home page), http://blog.org/ (personal weblog) and http://get.to/lseblog (academic groupblog) Author of Dealing With E-Mail - <http://davidbrake.org/ dealingwithemail/> callto://DavidBrake (Skype.com's Instant Messenger and net phone)

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DOD going after social network sites
by Richard Forno 09 Jun '06

09 Jun '06

(perhaps of interest to AOIR-ers...) New Scientist Magazine has discovered that Pentagon's National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks. And it could harness advances in internet technology - specifically the forthcoming "semantic web" championed by the web standards organisation W3C - to combine data from social networking websites with details such as banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals. < snip > http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19025556.200?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg 19025556.200

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Company environment of Google
by Su-jin Lee 09 Jun '06

09 Jun '06

Hi all, My name is Su-Jin Lee. Even by Silicon Valley's standards, the "Googleplex" campus in Mountain View, California, is a quirky Work environment. Co-founder Larry Page says he wanted to model Google on Stanford - "only with better food" The Google the facility and the system which are comfortable for the Googler are prepared. Googlers can shoot pool while taking a break in one of several employee lounges. Google contracts with stylists to give its employees cut-rate haircuts. The work-weary can unwind with a massage form a professional. Google subsidizes the cost. The Googler will show a great idea and result. Thank you for reading. mail: gmlsenddl00(a)yahoo.co.kr __________________________________________________ 두 유 야후!? 스팸때문에 짜증나세요? 야후! 메일의 스팸 차단 기술로 메일을 보호합니다 http://mail.yahoo.co.kr

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Re: [Air-l] air-l Digest, Vol 23, Issue 8
by David Palfreyman 09 Jun '06

09 Jun '06

Hello all, I'm supervising a doctoral candidate at an early stage who has started experimenting with e-mail elicitation of data from students at our university in the United Arab Emirates. She's researching reading habits among our 95%-ESL student body, and recently experimented by sending an e-mail to all students, just saying "Do you like reading?". She's had quite a few responses, and is thinking about various aspects of this data: 1. quantitatively (e.g. how many answer "yes" and how many "no"). 2. quantitative data on how many non-responding students open the email and how many delete it without opening (this information is available at the click of a mouse to any sender for mails within the university email system). 3. reasons, examples, etc that students give about reading. 4. assumptions that students seem to make about her question (e.g. whether they interpret the question as being about reading in their first language (Arabic) or their second (English)). 5. targeting the responders (and possibly non-responders/deleters) as interviewees, either by e-mail or through personal contact, as appropriate. She's wondering about a) validity issues in e-mail "interview" data, and b) the potential of such minimal prompts/data for contributing to a study of an overall aspect of student culture. I wondered if anyone could offer ideas/ suggestions/ sources/ experiences in collecting and using this kind of data (not necessarily online - for example it's reminiscent of Milgram's "Lost-Letter Technique"). Thanks! David :-D

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Re: [Air-l] comparative cross-national diffusion of the internet
by Heidelberg, Chris 08 Jun '06

08 Jun '06

Yes this is very interesting. Does anyone know of a good website site that has this data? I had one in my favorites until my PC died and it was lost. That is why I love macs. Anyone know of a good book on this as well. I would like to know adoption rates, first isp's and where country's rank. -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Nik John Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 9:42 AM To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] comparative cross-national diffusion of the internet Plenty of histories of the Internet in the US have been written. Much has been said on the variables that it is claimed predict rates of Internet adoption in other countries around the world. However, I'm interested in when different countries first hooked up and especially when the first commercial ISPs started operating in different countries. Can anyone give me that information for the country they live in? Or direct me to historical reviews of the network in various countries? For what it's worth, I'm doing quite a micro-level, STS-style analysis of the appearance of the Internet in the context of Israel, a relatively early adopter, as far as I can tell. Any leads or information will be much appreciated! Nik ---------------------------------- Nicholas John, PhD Candidate Department of Sociology and Anthropology The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Home: 03 578 1993 Mobile: 054 7609073 _______________________________________________ The air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

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Internet Research 7.0: Internet Convergences
by Axel Bruns 08 Jun '06

08 Jun '06

(Apologies for any cross-posts...) SAVE USD40 AND REGISTER FOR IR7.0 by 30 June!! Registration includes: - printed conference program - access to all conference keynotes, papers, roundtables on 28-30 September - wireless Internet access on the conference floor during the conference - lunch, morning and afternoon tea/coffee on 28-30 September - free conference reception on the evening of 27 September - free entry to a public lecture on the Internet in Indonesia on the evening of 28 September - membership of the Association of Internet Researchers until 30 September 2007 - valued at US$45 ($30 for students; $10 for OECD) AoIR Conference === Internet Research 7.0 === "Internet Convergences" Hilton Hotel, Brisbane, Australia === 27-30 September 2006 The Association of Internet Researchers is pleased to announce that registrations are now open for its 2006 conference, to be held at the Hilton Hotel in Brisbane, Australia, on 27-30 Sep. 2006. This major international conference takes place in the southern hemisphere for the first time. Themed 'Internet Convergences', the seventh annual AoIR conference will explore how the Internet acts in both converging and fragmenting ways - physical, cultural, technological, political, social - on local, regional, and global scales. Internationally, AoIR is the leading academic association dedicated to research and analysis of the Internet and related network technologies. Established in 2000, it has grown to become a key player in supporting Internet research and disseminating findings. A key reason for holding the conference outside of North America or Europe is to emphasise the international perspective of this global, networked organisation. The conference will feature keynote lectures by Professor Guo Liang, deputy director of the Center for Social Development in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and Professor John Hartley, Research Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation at Queensland University of Technology and Australia Research Council Federation Fellow. Conference delegates are also invited to attend a public lecture by Dr Merlyna Lim - this lecture is offered by the Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies with support from the ARC Cultural Research Network and AoIR. Delegates are now able to register for the conference through the conference Website at http://conferences.aoir.org/. Conference registration also includes one year's membership of AoIR. In addition to conference registration itself, further registration options are available for the pre-conference workshops held on 27 Sep. 2006, the conference reception (free for all delegates), and the conference dinner. The IR7.0 conference hotel is the five-star Brisbane Hilton. There is heavily discounted conference accommodation available at the Hilton Hotel, starting from A$215/night (~ US$160). Please note that discounted rates are available through the Hilton Website during the conference period 27 Sep.-1 Oct. Should you wish to stay for longer, the Hilton is happy to make discounts available on request before and after this period. Please enter a booking for 27 Sep.-1 Oct. and indicate your extended stay in the booking comments - Hilton staff will endeavour to provide you with room discounts throughout your stay. Please see the Hilton's AoIR 2006 booking site at http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/private_groups/bsbhitw_air for more details. We look forward to seeing you in Brisbane in September! Axel Bruns === Conference Chair Fay Sudweeks === Programme Chair Matthew Allen === AoIR President Gold sponsors: === Cisco Systems (www.cisco.com) === Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation (www.ici.qut.edu.au) === Creative Industries Faculty (www.creativeindustries.qut.edu.au) Major sponsors: === Australasian CRC for Interaction Design - ACID (www.acid.net.au) === Peter Lang Publishing USA (www.peterlangusa.com) -- Dr Axel Bruns a.bruns(a)qut.edu.au - http://snurb.info/ Media & Communication Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove, Qld. 4059, Australia Creative Industries Faculty Z2-202, CIP - (07) 3864 5548 Queensland University of Technology CRICOS No.: 00213J

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Antw: air-l Digest, Vol 23, Issue 8 (Absence - Carl-Markus Piswanger)
by Carl-Markus Piswanger 08 Jun '06

08 Jun '06

I am out of office. I will be back on June 19. I will read my Emails betweenwhiles. Carl-Markus Piswanger

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Re: [Air-l] question about online teaching/learning
by J. J. 08 Jun '06

08 Jun '06

very good question ... someone already mentioned the magic word: "revealing." Technology only helps expose what's already there and like everything else in the society, it is a field of struggle. Jarek >From: "Ellis Godard" <ellis.godard(a)csun.edu> >Reply-To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org, ellis.godard(a)csun.edu >To: <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> >Subject: Re: [Air-l] question about online teaching/learning >Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 10:36:09 -0700 > >Speaking of video... > >How will porn impact the $100 laptop program, and vice versa, given that >children are the target recipients? > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org > > [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of J. J. > > Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 10:06 AM > > To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org > > Subject: [Air-l] question about online teaching/learning > > > > > > Could the You Tube be one of a promising applications? > > > > >From their web site: > > YouTube is a place for people to engage in new ways with > > video by sharing, > > commenting on, and viewing videos. YouTube originally started > > as a personal > > video sharing service, and has grown into an entertainment > > destination with > > people watching more than 40 million videos on the site daily. > > > > http://youtube.com/ > > > > Jarek > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > The air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list > > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers > > http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: > > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > > http://www.aoir.org/ > > > >_______________________________________________ >The air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list >is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org >Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: >http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > >Join the Association of Internet Researchers: >http://www.aoir.org/

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question about online teaching/learning
by J. J. 08 Jun '06

08 Jun '06

Could the You Tube be one of a promising applications? >From their web site: YouTube is a place for people to engage in new ways with video by sharing, commenting on, and viewing videos. YouTube originally started as a personal video sharing service, and has grown into an entertainment destination with people watching more than 40 million videos on the site daily. http://youtube.com/ Jarek

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Re: [Air-l] One Laptop Per Child
by Charlie Lowe 08 Jun '06

08 Jun '06

Elijah wrote, > I'm not certain that you can claim that they're technologically inferior > to Western technology, as they *are* Western technology. ;) I do think I > know what you meant, in the other sense of those words, too, and still > don't find the argument compelling. > > If we can build a perfectly usable 500Mhz laptop for a hundred bucks that > runs the *state of the art* in available software - that is to say, the > very same software (or its close kin, modified for the hardware of the > laptop) that is on my desktop here in Indiana - what's the use of having a > $3k "Western" desktop machine? I agree. What was interesting was the original post implied that somehow these laptops are inferior because they lack a hard drive. While the capacity of the drives is somewhat limited, flash drives are the next generation storage solution. Pretty cutting edge. At least Samsung thinks so http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1966644,00.asp?kc=ETRSS02129TX1K… We might also revise our notion of what "state of the art" software means. The developers for the $100 laptop are working to create a very user-friendly software environment specifically tailored for the classroom. When I read Tom Hoffman and Chris Blizzard's discussion of the chat application and the way in which the software will allow students to create and share content, I see a machine that may be much superior for getting students discussing and collaborating than what comes stock from Dell or any of the other computer vendors (for many thousand more): http://www.eschoolnews.com/eti/2006/05/001414.php http://www.0xdeadbeef.com/weblog/?p=200 Charlie Lowe

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