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Command Lines Conference -- April 29-30, Milwaukee, WI
by jeremy hunsinger 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

>> The Center for International Education at the University of >> Wisconsin-Milwaukee is pleased to announce >> >> Command Lines: The Emergence of Governance in Global Cyberspace >> >> a colloquium at the Hefter Conference Center, University of >> Wisconsin-Milwaukee, April 29-30, 2005, organized by Sandra Braman >> (communication) and Thomas Malaby (anthropology). The colloquium is >> free and >> open to the public. >> >> The transfer of many realms of social life to the global domain of >> cyberspace presents numerous challenges to formal governance through >> law and >> law-making – while increasing the relative importance of other >> approaches >> to "the conduct of conduct." While governments struggle to develop >> and >> apply laws to cyberspace, the producers of the internet (its users and >> programmers) create their own parameters, norms, practices, and rules >> that >> control life online. Experience within cyberspace, whether building a >> virtual world, making or participating in games, or learning how to >> communicate congenially and productively in a listserv, is becoming >> the most >> important training in political life for many. Governance systems >> being >> developed within cyberspace in turn are providing models for, or >> interact >> with, the laws of governments. This colloquium will examine the >> diverse >> ways in which governance is developing within cyberspace and the >> effects of >> such approaches to governance in the off-line world. Sessions will >> cover >> the entire range of types of governance mechanisms, from the formal >> laws of >> government through the formal and informal governance mechanisms of >> both >> state and non-state actors to the cultural practices of >> governmentality that >> sustain and enable both governance and government. >> >> >> Participants and Contributions: >> >> Richard Bartle >> "Why Governments aren't Gods and Gods aren't Governments" >> >> Ian Bogost >> "Playing Politics: Videogames for Politics, ACtivism, and Advocacy" >> >> Sandra Braman >> "From Governance to Government to Governmentality: The Regulatory >> Roles of >> Cyberspace in the Post-Law Era" >> >> Edward Castronova >> "The Social Question: Games for People Left Behind" >> >> Leopoldina Fortunati >> "User Design and the Democratization of the Mobile Phone" >> >> Alexander Galloway >> "How Machines Govern" >> >> John Horrigan >> "Pew Survey Research Findings Related to Internet Governance" >> >> Rob Kitchin >> "Code, Everyday Life, and Mundane Governance" >> >> Hans Klein >> "System Architecture, Geography, and Global Internet Governance" >> >> Marwan Kraidy >> "Inter-Media Dynamics and Reality Television in the Arab Region" >> >> Greg Lastowka >> "The Jurisdiction of Play" >> >> David Levy >> "More, Faster, Better?" >> >> Thomas Malaby >> "Coding Control: Ethics and Contingency in the Production of Online >> Worlds" >> >> Helen Nissenbaum >> "Values at Play: Method and Application" >> >> Christiane Paul >> "Digital Art/Public Art: The Networked Commons" >> >> Jonathan Sterne >> "Command Tones: Acoustic Space and the Ordering of Motion" >> >> T.L. Taylor >> "Beyond Management: Participatory Governance in Emergent Player >> Culture" >> >> Edward Valauskas >> Facilitator: Dangling Thoughts Discussion >> >> Deborah Wheeler >> "Digital Politics, Responsive Governance, and Cyber Freedoms Meet >> Authoritarianism in the Arab World: Results still Emerging" >> >> Michele White >> "Guest Work: The Use of the 'Other' in Producing Rules and Identity >> Norms in >> Internet Settings" >> >> Guobin Yang >> "Networks of Power, Links of Resistance: How Online-Offline >> Connections >> Challenge Internet Control in China" >> >> Website: www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/CommandLines >> For more information, contact: Sandra Braman (braman(a)uwm.edu) or >> Thomas >> Malaby (malaby(a)uwm.edu) >> >> >> ---jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu jeremy.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

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7 new papers on opensource.mit.edu
by Karim R. Lakhani 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

Dear All, Hope everyone is doing well. I am pleased to have posted the following 7 new papers to our website. Our community now has over 200 working papers! Current count is at 207. Wow! Many thanks to all the authors for their submissions and in keeping the community growing and vibrant. Here is to an enjoyable spring/fall! Warmly, Karim Paper 1 Author Sandeep Krishnamurthy Title The Launching of Mozilla Firefox- A Case Study in Community-Led Marketing http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/sandeep2.pdf Abstract: Mozilla Firefox is a Free/Libre/Open Source (FLOSS) browser supported by the Mozilla Foundation. This browser was recently released and has met with considerable success- it has been downloaded more than 20 million times and has already taken considerable market share from its prime competitor- Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. In this paper, I chronicle how the efforts of 63000 volunteers led to a community successfully competing with a powerful corporation. I identify four factors as the key facilitators to Firefox’ success- complacent competition, product superiority, presence of marketing leader and volunteer support. Paper 2 Author Martin Michlmayr Title Managing Volunteer Activity in Free Software Projects http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/michlmayr-mia.pdf Abstract During the last few years, thousands of volunteers have created a large body of free software. Even though this accomplishment shows that the free software development model works, there are some drawbacks associated with this model. Due to the volunteer nature of most free software projects, it is impossible to fully rely on participants. Volunteers may become busy and neglect their duties. This may lead to a steady decrease of quality as work is not being carried out. The problem of inactive volunteers is intensified by the fact that most free software projects are distributed, which makes it hard to quickly identify volunteers who neglect their duties. This paper shows Debian's approach to inactive volunteers. Insights presented here can be applied to other free software projects in order to implement effective quality assurance strategies. Paper 3 Author Stefan Behringer Title The Provision of a Public Good with a direct Provision Technology and Large Number of Agents http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/behringer.pdf Abstract This paper provides a limit result for the provision of a public good in a mechanism design framework as the number of agents gets large. A canonical example for a public good that is produced with a direct provision technology is Open Source Software. Paper 4 Author Geroge Dafermos Title The critical delusion of the condition of digitisation http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/dafermos_ccc.pdf Abstract This essay analyses how digital media prosthetics, institutionalisation (in particular the manifestations of copyright and patent law which lurk behind vested interests in controlling the transition to a vastly more powerful new world), and the imperatives of corporate planning have come into a conflict so fierce that shared lived experience, increasingly, is forced to undergo a rapid process of commodification. This struggle, which can no longer be defined through the lens of geography or class alone, in turn, points to a not too distant future in which commons-based peer production/consumption is exploited within the context of intense social taylorism and digital fordism with the ultimate goal to turn culture into a paid-for experience, and hence moving the terrain of struggle away from the surplus value of labour to the legitimacy of knowledge sharing and pervasive networking, and how the latter can be monetised and controlled in accordance with anarcho-capitalist agendas. Obviously, the question which we ought to pose to ourselves is how the revolutionary demands of hacking can be guided, assembled, and reproduced, so that this process of commodification is consciously resisted by technology developers and users alike, artists, and all those whose creativity and desire for socially conscious technological innovation and emergent social co-operation have been enhanced by the digital condition we're increasingly in the centre of. Paper 5 Authors Cristina Rossi and Andrea Bonaccorsi Title Intrinsic motivations and profit-oriented firms in Open Source software. Do firms practise what they preach? http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/rossi_motivations.pdf Abstract A growing body of economic literature is exploring the incentives of the agents involved in the Open Source movement. However, most empirical analyses focus on individual developers and neglect firms that do business with Open Source software (Open Source firms). This paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the incentives of firms that engage in Open Source activities. Data on firms’ motivations were collected by a large-scale survey conducted on 146 Italian companies supplying Open Source (OS) solutions and show that intrinsic, community-based incentives do play a role. Nevertheless, these positive attitudes towards the values of the OS community, which are quite surprising by profit-oriented firms, are not in general put into practise. Discrepancy between attitudes and behaviours is a widely investigated phenomenon in social psychology literature. We explore its pattern in our sample, find that it does not concern all the respondents, and single out a group of firms adopting a more consistent behaviour. Our results are in line with the literature on individual motivations in organisations and Open Source business models. Paper 6 Author Matthias Stürmer Title: Open Source Community Building http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/sturmer.pdf Abstract Building an active and helpful community around an open source project is a complex task for its leaders. Therefore investigations in this work are intended to define the optimum starting position of an open source project and to identify recommendable promoting actions by project leaders to enlarge community size in a healthy way. For this paper eight interviews with committed representatives of successful open source projects have led to over 12 hours of conversation about community building. Analysing the statements of these experienced community members exposed helpful activities that led to the presently prospering communities of their projects. Summarizing the conclusions of this qualitative research a table with conditions for successful open source project initialisation and a subject-level promotion matrix of community building could be created. They include suggestions on how to start a new open source project and how to improve and increase the community of an already advanced open source project. Paper 7 Author Norbert Bollow Title: Webservice Protocol Design for Economic Liberty and Observability http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/bollow.pdf Abstract One big potential benefit of the webservices paradigm is in reducing the costs of inter-firm business transactions. That should allow small and medium-sized enterprises to compete successfully with big firms. This paper considers specifically the economic needs of peer-to-peer business alliances, defined as multiparty business alliances which are not under the control of any single firm or any small group of alliance members, so that each participating firm has full economic liberty. This organisational form is appropriate for example for Free Software businesses. The main conclusions are that achieving economic observability of business transactions is of great importance, and that this is difficult to achieve with the Remote Procedure Calls paradigm of JINI or XML / HTTP / SOAP based webservices. The problem can be overcome by using the SXDF / QQP / QRPC suite of webservice protocols,

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Reminder: Please fill out survey for Undergrad research
by Becky Singson 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

Hello air-l list members, This is a reminder for you to please fill out my survey for my undergraduate thesis. The survey is regarding Web development and specifically the type of research used when doing Web development. It is very quck (only 12 questions!). If you have done any type of website development, please fill it out! Thank you in advance for your time! You can find the survey at: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2246MSXMJ28 If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at singsora(a)muohio.edu. Thanks! Becky Singson

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Re. utopian / dystopian
by Philipp Budka 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

Re. Utopian / Dytopian I am not sure if Pierre Lévy (1999) and his book Collective Intelligence has been already mentioned. In this volume he outlines his vision of a new anthropological space: the knowledge space which is closely related to new media and technologies. There is also an article - in German - of Manfred Kremser dealing with Lévy's anthropological spaces in relation to cyberculture: (1999)CyberAnthropology und die neuen Raeume des Wissens. Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien (MAGW), Vol. 129, pp. 275-290. Best, Philipp -- Philipp Budka philbu(a)gmx.net Rustengasse 5/10 A-1150 Wien, Austria http://www.philbu.net http://www.lateinamerika-studien.at -- SMS bei wichtigen e-mails und Ihre Gedanken sind frei ... Alle Infos zur SMS-Benachrichtigung: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/sms

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Pohs Survey on the Mobile Communication and Daily Life (Intern)
by richard-seyler.ling＠telenor.com 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

Please excuse cross postings Pohs Survey on the Mobile Communication and Daily Life The preliminary results of a survey of cell (mobile) phone use in the US have just been released. The survey was organized by the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan. It is the first of an annual series of studies designed to explore public attitudes toward information technology in the U.S., the survey was funded by a grant from the Constance F. and Arnold C. Pohs Endowment at the University of Michigan. In addition to basic socio-demographic information the survey covered the following: * Access to cell (mobile) phones and other types of technologies * The impact of the technologies on everyday life (does it make life easier?) * Use of other media (newspapers, TV, radio) * Participation in free time activities * Use of a PC * Attitudes toward cell (mobile) telephony. For cell (mobile) phone owners information on the following issues was gathered * The characteristics of the respondent's subscription * The type of handset they own * The respondent's competence (can they send an MMS, can they set up their phone for advanced services etc.) * Use of the cell (mobile) phone for calling, SMS, and MMS The project is being organized by Michael Traugott at the University of Michigan Department of Communications Studies, Rich Ling at Telenor R & D (also a visiting professor at the Univ. of Michigan), and Tom Wheeler, former president of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association Survey data will be released for analysis by others approximately 6 months after the project has issued its report on the material. The report will probably come out in April. A preliminary analysis of the results has been announced in relation to the opening of the meeting of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association in New Orleans. A link to the press release is: <http://www.umich.edu/news/?Releases/2005/Mar05/r031405> Rich L.

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Fwd: 11th Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks
by jeremy hunsinger 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

> Dear Colleagues, > > November 17-19, 2005 -Rosen Centre Hotel -Orlando, FL > > CALL FOR PAPERS > > We invite you to submit a proposal for the 11th Sloan-C International > Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN): "The Power of > Online > Learning: Mobilizing to Expand Community." The conference strongly > encourages proposals that reflect the implications for the field of > specific e-learning experience and practices. Last year's conference > attracted over 650 participants to more than 120 presentations, as > well as > exhibits, pre-conference workshops, keynote and plenary addresses, and > variety of other special events. PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY APRIL > 15, > 2005. > > PROGRAM TRACKS: > > .The Power of Online Learning: Mobilizing to Expand Community. > > . Growth Challenges: Access and Scale > . Effective Online Instruction > . Institutional Transformation > > FOR COMPLETE DETAILS ON ONLINE SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS, VISIT OUR > WEBSITE > AT www.aln.ucf.edu > > For more information visit our website, call 1-866-232-5834 (Toll > Free), > 407-882-0260 or email aln(a)mail.ucf.edu. > > Sponsored by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in conjunction with The > University > of Central Florida, University of Massachusetts Lowell, SCOLE & > American > Distance Education Consortium (ADEC) > ======================================================================= > ====== > > To remove yourself from this list, send the message unsubscribe > waoe-views to majordomo(a)lists.pdx.edu > or for assistance e-mail owner-waoe-views(a)lists.pdx.edu > Web archives of list messages: http://www.lists.pdx.edu/waoe-views > WAOE Home: http://www.waoe.org > > jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu jeremy.tmttlt.com www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments

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Research Vacancy
by Keeble, Leigh 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

I would be most grateful if the following could be posted to the list. Many thanks Leigh Apologies for Cross Posting CIRA at the University of Teesside has a vacancy for a Research Fellow, details below. If anyone interested would like an informal chat about the position, please call Brian Loader on ++44 (0)1642 342710 or email b.d.loader(a)tees.ac.uk. Research Fellow(138) £18,777 - £28,360 (pro rata) Fixed Term, either full time for 6 months or part time for 9 months Community Informatics Research and Applications Unit (CIRA) You will undertake research in the field of community informatics and publish findings in one of the following areas: electronic service delivery, e-democracy, older people, younger people or the voluntary and community sector and ICTs. Consideration will be given to other research proposals of interest to the researcher compatible with CIRA's research strategy. With a first or higher degree in a Social Science related subject, you will have previous experience of research and publication. You will be willing to assist with funding applications and undertake self-directed study and research as part of a small team. A willingness to take responsibility for day-to-day administration of selected projects is essential, as are good interpersonal and organisation skills. The position we are filling is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and a satisfactory CRB disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau is required as part of our clearance procedures. This post is available on a full time or job share basis. Closing Date: 30 March 2005 | 12.00pm Interview Date: 18 April 2005 For more details http://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/jobs/jobdetails.cfm?jobid=1562 Research Fellow & iCS Reviews Editor CIRA School of Computing University of Teesside Middlesbrough Tees Valley TS1 3BA UK www.cira.org.uk www.infosoc.co.uk This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you receive this e-mail by mistake,please advise the sender immediately by using the reply facility in your e-mail software. Please also destroy and delete the message from your computer. Any modification of the contents of this e-mail is strictly prohibited unless expressly authorised by the sender.

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Scholars Note 'Decay' of Citations to Online References
by Ulla Bunz 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

The link below will take you to an article debating the reliability of online citations. The article mentions New Media & Society and quotes Steve Jones. I'm not sure how long the article will be available for free... I think up to five days. However, the main point (the URL's given in print journal publications are not very reliable as websites are taken offline or content changes) is a very important one and should be of interest to many of us. Any thoughts? Ulla http://chronicle.com/temp/email.php?id=sf7w3nb31u4v08963wmi6on26wwua6bq From the Chronicle This article, "Scholars Note 'Decay' of Citations to Online References," is available online at this address: http://chronicle.com/temp/email.php?id=sf7w3nb31u4v08963wmi6on26wwua6bq This article will be available to non-subscribers of The Chronicle for up to five days after it is e-mailed. The article is always available to Chronicle subscribers at this address: http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/03/2005031402n.htm

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Re: [Air-l] From online to offline
by Jonathan Marshall 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '05

In self promotion, I could say there is some basic stuff in my old thesis which can be found at http://www.geocities.com/jpmarshall.geo/T2/contents.html Chapter 12 has most of the stuff - particularly part 2, but its scattered about through out. jon ----- Original Message ----- From: michela.drusian(a)unipd.it Date: Saturday, March 12, 2005 3:27 am Subject: [Air-l] From online to offline > Hi all! > > I am working on a paper focused on what happens when chatters meet > offline,with a sociological perspective.. could anyone tell me > where I could find > some bibliography about this topic? > > Thanks! > > Michela > > > ------------------------------------------------- > This mail sent through IMP: webmail.unipd.it > _______________________________________________ > The Air-l-aoir.org(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/?qde/112 > -- UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects.

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Re: [Air-l] From online to offline
by Denise N. Rall 14 Mar '05

14 Mar '05

Ah well the classic references on this topic are Katie Hafner's stuff on the WELL community in the SF-Bay area. Some of the online members met offline - with some weird results. . . way before chat rooms became popular via WWW. The article: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.05/ff_well_pr.html The book: The Well: A Story of Love, Death & Real Life in the Seminal Online Community (2001). I guess our annual meetings have a bit of the online-offline dynamic . . . . Denise Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator & Internet Researcher Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Tuesdays or Mobile 0438 233 344 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/rsm/staff/pages/drall/index.html

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