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Activity theory
by adelina moura 11 Apr '06

11 Apr '06

Hi all, to my PhD thesis I liked to find some studies on mobile technologies (mLearning) that they have been based/supported in Activity Theory, to know how to apply this theory to a research with mobile devices. If somebody can help me I would be been thankful. Best regards. -- Adelina Moura "Nosce te ipsum" Research area: mLearning Tecnologias móveis www.adelinamouravitae.com.sapo.pt http://linade.podomatic.com http://www.iep.uminho.pt/encontro.webquest

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Announcement: Annenberg conference on the Hyperlinked Society, June 9, 2006
by Lokman Tsui 11 Apr '06

11 Apr '06

Hi, My name is Lokman Tsui, a doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. I am currently busy with helping Professor Joe Turow organize a conference called "The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections in the Digital Age." It will take place at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday June 9, 2006. The organizers can support the lodging and partially subsidize the travel of many of the attendees, though space is limited. You can register on the website. The website of the conference: http://www.asc.upenn.edu/hyperlinked Feel free to email me any questions about the conference. Best, Lokman -- The Annenberg Public Policy Center is proud to announce a multidisciplinary conference: The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections in the Digital Age The conference will be held on Friday, June 9, 2006 at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 8:00am-5:15 pm. We will fully subsidize the meals and lodging (June 8 and June 9, if needed), and partially subsidize the travel, of those whom we can accommodate at the conference. Space is limited, so if you want to participate, please apply now. If you would like to come to the conference, please visit the conference website (http://www.asc.upenn.edu/hyperlinked) and register. As the website states, the conference aims to "bring international experts ... to explore the political, economic and social dimensions of linking and its consequences for sharing ideas in the world of digital media." We're defining linking quite broadly to include, for example, tags, API mashups, and RSS feeds. Moreover, we have created the meeting with the awareness that media convergence has led to increased instant linking among desktop computers, cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital video recorders, and even billboards. As you can see from the conference program (http://www.asc.upenn.edu/hyperlinked/Program.htm) the panelists dealing with the issues related to such developments include renowned news, entertainment and marketing executives, information architects, bloggers, cartographers, audience analysts, and communication researchers. Our goal is to make every attendee an integral part of every discussion, and indications so far are that the entire group will be first rate. Again, space is limited. If you would like to come to the conference, please visit the conference website (http://www.asc.upenn.edu/hyperlinked) and register.

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postdocs - University of Twente - Evaluating the Cultural Quality of New Media
by Charles Ess 10 Apr '06

10 Apr '06

Hi all, On behalf of Philip Brey, director of the project, please pass on the following to interested scholars and researchers - The Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University of Twente, is looking for Three Postdocs Three full-time Postdoc positions for a period of three years for the project Evaluating the Cultural Quality of New Media. Towards a Philosophy of Human-Media Relations About the Overall Project All three Postdoc positions are part of a prestigious and exciting international research project titled Evaluating the Cultural Quality of New Media. This five-year project, which will include five researchers and will involve collaboration with leading international scholars and research centres, has as its aim to develop a framework for better normative analyses of new media and new media culture, especially in relation to their contribution to the quality of life (“the good life”) and the quality of society. Project leader is Dr. Philip Brey (PhD, UC San Diego). He will be working on the project almost full-time. The project will be part of a new international Centre of Excellence in Ethics and Technology of the departments of philosophy of Twente University, Delft University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technology. Postdoc Project 1 - The Quality of Virtual Environments and Tools This subproject aims to perform a philosophical analysis of the implications of ever increasing virtualization for the quality of life and of society. Virtualization is defined as the digital production of interactive structures, whether graphical or symbolic, that mirror things and events in the physical world. What are the implications of this process for moral and social identity, embodiment, and conceptions of reality, and how can these implications be normatively evaluated? Postdoc Project 2 – The Quality of Computer-Mediated Practice This subproject focuses on computer-mediated social practices in friendships, love relationships, and community life. Increasingly, the social world is held together by electronic networks. More and more, communication, social relationships, and community formation take place over such networks. The aim of the project is to perform a philosophical analysis of the implications of this trend for the quality of life and of society. Postdoc Project 3 – The Quality of Digital Information This subproject focuses on the changed value of information after the digital revolution. It will analyze various conceptions of the value of information, including liberal conceptions that emphasize its role in enhancing autonomy, communitarian conceptions that relate it to the well-being of communities and society, and culturalist conceptions that emphasize the aesthetic, moral or spiritual value of information. It will then analyze positive and negative appraisals of the impact of the Internet and other digital media relative to these ideals. Profile For all three projects: A PhD degree or equivalent degree in philosophy. Consideration will also be given to candidates with a multidisciplinary PhD degree on a topic relevant to the project and some background in philosophy. Demonstrable interest in philosophical issues relating to information technology and new media. Good analytical skills. Good communication skills in English, in writing as well as orally. Creativity, open-mindedness, and ability to develop new ideas. For project 1: Preferred areas of specialization: ethics, social and political philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of mind. For project 2: Preferred areas of specialization: social and political philosophy, ethics. For project 3: Preferred areas of specialization: social and political philosophy, ethics, epistemology. Offer For all three projects: A three-year full-time Postdoc position starting August 15th, 2006. The gross salary depends on experience and qualifications and will be in between € 3,024 and € 4,140.- per month (between € 39,554.- and € 54,151.- per annum including vacation pay). All three positions come with a budget of up to € 10,000,- for travel and conference attendance. Information and application A description of the overall project, the three subprojects and a FAQ can be retrieved from http://www.ceptes.nl/vici. Applicants are advised to read these texts carefully before applying. The project leader, dr. Philip Brey (e-mail: p.a.e.brey(a)utwente.nl <mailto:p.a.e.brey@utwente.nl> ), will be happy to answer questions about the project. Your application should contain the following documents: a letter of application which explains your interest in the position at some length and explains your qualifications; a curriculum vitae which includes the names and email address/telephone number of at least two academic references; an abstract and table of contents of your dissertation; at least one chapter from your dissertation; and two academic publications (if available). You application can be sent by e-mail (preferred) or by normal post to dr. ir. J.F.C. Verberne (e-mail: pz-gw(a)gw.utwente.nl) managing director of the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, the Netherlands. Vacancy number 06/043, Please mention the project number. Your application should be in by May 26. Job interviews will be held between June 1 and 14 (travel expenses will be paid). == Charles Ess Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21> Drury University 900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230 Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435 Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html Co-chair, CATaC'06: http://www.catacconference.org Co-chair, ECAP'06: http://www.eu-cap.org Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes Norwegian University of Science and Technology NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

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Old Commercials of Technology
by Fernando Garrido 09 Apr '06

09 Apr '06

Hi Folks, I'm working in some presentations, and i would like to know if you have old comercials of Technology, as TV, Telephone, Mobile Telephone, Internet conexion, etc... Please if somebody know where i cand find this stuff, let me know. (The "internet in movies" was a very useful topic, Thanks to all!!) Best Fernando Garrido

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deceased on the ether
by Barry Wellman 09 Apr '06

09 Apr '06

I may have said this before, hence will be brief. Another e-role re the deceased: I have been the Email Executor of the late great sf author, Judy Merril. Sacrilege to do an auto-respond, so I used her account (fortunately, I had the password) to respond to all messages to her personally for several months. My last act of friendship and homage to a great person. Barry _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 You're invited to visit -- and contribute to -- my new fun website "Updating Cybertimes: It's Time to Bring Our Culture into Cyberspace" http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _____________________________________________________________________

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ISCRAM program (fwd)
by Barry Wellman 09 Apr '06

09 Apr '06

Here's a conference devoted to ICTs in emergency situations. Quite germane, with the Katrina experience. Murray Turoff's note is below. Contact him at NJIT Info Sci for more info about this conference. Historical note: One of the first "computerized conferencing" systems, EIES, was developed by Murray Turoff when he worked for US Civil Defense (now FEMA) in the early 1970s. Barry _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 You're invited to visit -- and contribute to -- my new fun website "Updating Cybertimes: It's Time to Bring Our Culture into Cyberspace" http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _____________________________________________________________________ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2006 01:44:56 -0400 From: Murray Turoff <murray.turoff(a)gmail.com> Reply-To: turoff(a)njit.edu To: Barry Wellman <wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca> Subject: ISCRAM program Barry We have accepted 60 very excellent papers for ISCRAM and they cover a wide variety of multidisciplinary topics. I encourage you to brows the program list of papers at http://www.iscram.org/doc/ISCRAM2006Program.pdf We also have three top notch keynoters and a panel on the Katrina Experience. The papers and half the current 130 registrations are form outside the United States. Papers on such topics as Information Systems or Communication system requirements, early warning systems, new satellite applications, personal area networks/sensors for first responders, visualization of complex data, interagency communications, command and control, etc. I am sure you would enjoy the meeting, but even if you cannot make it I would appreciate you forwarding this to others you might know who might be interested. I suspect we will hit 250 attendees and have to stop registration around that point. We have allowed a half hour for each paper to facilitate questions and discussion. We also have exhibit tables and other sponsorship options. If you would like a one page flyer which more fully describes the speakers let me know. http://is.njit.edu/turoff

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Myspace Profiles of the Deceased
by Ross Wolinsky 08 Apr '06

08 Apr '06

Hello All- My name is Ross Wolinsky. I'm a freelance writer currently working on an article that deals with grieving in the digital age. It focuses on the ways that new technology is being used (particularly by young people), the consequences of making the grieving process public (on public web pages), and what the phenomenon says about the growing role the internet plays in our lives. I've already talked to Lee Rainie on the subject. He referred me over to Steve Jones, who then advised me to post details about the project here. I'm looking to talk to anyone who might have an interest and/or some unique insights into the meaning of this phenomenon. Below is a portion of a query letter that goes into a bit more detail. If anyone has any interest, feel free to contact me via email at ross.wolinsky (at) gmail dot com. Thanks, Ross Wolinsky ----------------------------- Last weekend in Seattle a man named Kyle Huff left a party he was attending, came back with a shotgun, and opened fire. He killed six people before turning the gun on himself. Of the six people he killed, at least four of them have MySpace profiles. Now, a few days after the murders, their profiles have become digital monuments to the people they were. More comments are being posted by friends on these profiles in death than when they were alive. It's not unique to this incident, either. Teenagers are using MySpace as a way to work through their grief, and it's being done on public web pages. The flipside is that websites are now popping up dedicated to linking to the profiles of the recently deceased. It is a strange phenomenon, and one that's never been dealt with before. It never needed to be. I'm currently conducting research looking deeper into this phenomenon in the hopes of figuring out what exactly this says about the new ways that young people are using technology. I've already been in touch with several friends of the deceased in Seattle, a PR person from Friendster (responses pending from Myspace and Facebook), and a founding Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. I've also been talking to the webmaster at www.mydeathspace.com, an increasingly popular website that collects links to these profiles. The site started as a small livejournal community. He says he's now getting 50,000 hits a day. The article will focus on how online grieving is symptomatic of larger trends in internet usage, and also on the voyeuristic aspects of conducting what was once private on public web pages.

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Myspace profiles of the deceased
by Trish Bolton 08 Apr '06

08 Apr '06

Hi Ross, you might find Kellner's 'Media Spectacle', Guy Debord's 'Society of the Spectacle' and Simon Cooper's piece 'The Democratising of Compassion' in Arena Magazine, No 75, Feb- March worthwhile. While more dealing with traditional media they should provide interesting background and context for your article. Cheers Trish Bolton

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Democracy & Independence: Sharing News & Politics in a Connected World - Conference - June 29 - July 1 2006
by Steven Clift 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

This should be a great conference for Internet researchers interested in online citizen media as well as e-politics. - Steven Clift Democracy & Independence: Sharing News & Politics in a Connected World Summit aims to unite media, political, education, technology sectors in charting the future of journalism June 29 - July 1, 2006 University of Massachusetts Amherst For the full details on the conference, see: http://www.mediagiraffe.org/invite-dowire If you register for "Tracks 1-5" I've worked out a $50 dollar discount. For "Tracks 2-5" the discount is $25. Simply put "DOWIRE" in the bottom "Optional Information" comment box. This conference is uniquely positioned to convene those engaged in politics and citizen engagement online with a larger gathering of new media and journalism leaders. Register from here: http://www.mediagiraffe.org/invite-dowire Quick Details Hundreds of traditional and citizen journalists, political strategists, educators, bloggers, developers, technology and media researchers will convene June 29-July 1, 2006 at University of Massachusetts Amherst for the first Media Giraffe Project conference. The Media Giraffe Project, a non-partisan, interdisciplinary research effort of the UMass journalism program, is hosting the roundtable summit and how-to sessions designed to: * Consider and recommend answers to changes to the financing and practice of journalism * Bridge the gap between new and traditional media * Show and consider the impact of new media technologies on journalism and the "public sphere" * Spotlight emerging business models * Create new networks of media innovators which bridge traditional carriers among journalism, education, politics and technology * Watch and share innovations in media-literacy education. Who Should Attend The conference is designed for: * traditional media strategists, editors and practitioners * elected officials, political and public-policy strategists info-tech pioneers and entrepreneurs * operators of local-news websites and blogs podcasters and vloggers dealing with news, political and public- policy issues. * academic researchers and students * citizens who want "how-to" knowledge about participatory media anyone interested in new innovations in web, print, film and audio news creation, delivery and financing. Read the full announcement here: http://www.mediagiraffe.org/invite-dowire Sincerely, Steven Clift Democracies Online http://www.dowire.org <- Visit the new blog/wiki/groups site. P.S. With my new DoWire Groups site, I am considering a new "Citizen Media" online group (e-mail list/web forum combo). Let me know if you are interested: clift(a)publicus.net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven Clift - clift(a)publicus.net Web: http://publicus.net Blog: http://dowire.org/notes NGO: http://e-democracy.org Replies to slc@ may be missed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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New I/S Journal - Journal of Law/Policy
by Richard Forno 07 Apr '06

07 Apr '06

Greetings -- The current topic is (for me, anyway) quite interesting and directly relevant to my research, so I'm passing it along to my fellow AOIR's. Happy Friday, all. -rick "Federal Secrecy After September 11 and the Future of the Information Society, " http://is-journal.org/articles.php?level=1 I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society is an interdisciplinary journal of research and commentary concentrating on the intersection of law, policy, and information technology. I/S represents a one-of-a-kind partnership between one of America's leading law schools, the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, and the nation's foremost public policy school focused on information technology, Carnegie Mellon University's H.J. Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. The official citation format for I/S is: __ ISJLP __ (20YY).

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