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Re: Dirty E-Politics: When will virus writers get righteous?
by Allan A Friedman 22 Feb '05

22 Feb '05

>Targeted viral mail that selectively wipes out Democratic >harddrives, or that critically impairs the PCs of Republican >activists? The day before an election, or the day before the >other "side" has something *real* that will happen or be >deployed or be announced? Byond specific, highly malicious attacks that capitalize on social networks, it's interesting to note that email is highly under-utilized as a political tool: where is the political spam? I'm not talking about the DNC spamming me, but I wonder why there aren't more fringe groups filling inboxes. The political economy of non-commercial spam seems similar to commercial spam--i.e. low hit rate, bad PR images, high payoff for each successful hit--and there is also an "allies externality". If my group spams, the PR cost is not just borne by my group advertising, but probably my (potentially more mainstream) political allies. Moreover, just as you don't win customers by pissing them off, you don't gain adherents to your cause by flooding their inboxes. But most of us know political groups that clearly don't care what the mainstream thinks of them. Hate groups, prostletizing religious zealots, fringe political parties--these groups all have acknowledged that they are not going to win the PR battle. The reason LaRouchians stand on corners with large signs and Jehovah's Witnesses go door-to-door is that they want to catch the few people who might be interested, and public, annoying displays are the easiest way to catch them. I am curious as to why these groups are not filling our inboxes. There are enough web-savvy conspiracy theorists out there, and some of them must be desperate to wake us sheeplike masses from our ignorant slumber. They call in to AM talk shows. Sometimes they leaflet a neighborhood. Where is the spam? A few hypotheses: 1) They haven't discovered spam yet, or haven't thought of it yet. 2) Even extremist nuts aren't sick enough to spam people. 3) The cost of starting a spam operation is too high. 4) There is enough of it now and the above model is wrong, or there are fewer extremist groups than I think. I'm not terribly satisfied with any of these. Any ideas? /\llan

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Re: [Air-l] Let me in, please?!!! (AOIR CONFERENCE SUBMISSION)
by Andrew Herman 22 Feb '05

22 Feb '05

Thanks Jeremy-- I did just that after I sent the message to the list. Andrew Herman, Ph. D. Associate Professor Department of Communication Studies Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 CANADA 519 884-1970 x3693 >>> jhuns(a)vt.edu 02/22/05 7:03 PM >>> hi andrew, and other people with this question that will read this, please contact the program chair(Caroline Haythornthwaite) about this. she is the one that will be able to accept(or not depending on judgement and circumstances) late submissions. you will be able to get her email from her email from the website or her prior posts here. On Feb 22, 2005, at 6:56 PM, Andrew Herman wrote: > Hello All- > > I just went to submit an abstract for the conference and the submission > site has been closed down. I know I am day late but I didn;t > confirmation from all of panel participants until today. I have a nifty > roundtable on methodologies of mibility that I think we be of great > interest to many. Will you please let me in? > > Andrew > > Andrew Herman, Ph. D. > Associate Professor > Department of Communication Studies > Wilfrid Laurier University > Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 > CANADA > 519 884-1970 x3693 > _______________________________________________ > 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://aoir.org/airjoin.html > > Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments _______________________________________________ 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://aoir.org/airjoin.html

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Re: [Air-l] Re: Dirty E-Politics: When will virus writers get righteous?
by Art McGee 22 Feb '05

22 Feb '05

> I'm not talking about the DNC spamming me, but I wonder > why there aren't more fringe groups filling inboxes. > > I am curious as to why these groups are not filling our > inboxes. 4 years ago, I used to spam about 100,000 people on a regular basis with radical political messages. The trick is, to them, it wasn't spam, although by today's definitions it would be. I used to get email from people on a regular basis that would say something to the effect of: "I don't know how you got my email address, but I'm glad you did! Thank you!" Others would tell me that the emails I sent were the *only* ones they would let through automatically, and the rest, even emails from family and friends, would be processed by a spam filter. Now obviously, what I was doing wasn't fringe in the sense of being crazy, because I was trying to reach enlightened people who I already knew were desperate for this type of information. I knew who my audience was and I knew how to find them, even if they didn't know I existed. I didn't need to ask their permission, I simply had to make my presence known and they were grateful that someone had rescued them from the inanity of standard cyber discourse. Now, to address your question specifically, the answer is quite simple, those who are the most on the fringe and the most divorced from enlightenment reasoning have the least interest in saying anything to anyone other than those who are already a part of their incestuous ideological circle. Their methods of recruitment are not the tactics of mass struggle, in the way that activists throughout history have used them, but rather, they are more akin to cults, and the tried and true method for cults is to pick people off one at a time, looking for those who are drifting aimlessly in life and needing something to grab on to. More importantly, I think the idea that fringe groups don't care what people think about them is fallacious. While they may not care about public image in the sphincter-obstructing way that professional politicians do, they have no interest in making themselves targets of the wrath of a large swath of the public or the government, which is what most certainly would happen if people started to find, for example, Neo-Nazi messages in their mailboxes on a regular basis. Brutish commerce about penis enlargement pills and other products is tolerated because it is somewhat comical and farcical, but the FBI, ATF, DEA, and other acronyms would start busting down literal and virtual doors if "Kill All Jews" spam was flooding the net. Even nutjobs aren't completely stupid. Jehovah's Witnesses, who on the surface have been stereotyped as trying to recruit people "willy nilly," are not that interested in bringing a flood of random people into their church. They have stuck to old-style face-to-face contact, which is much more similar to grassroots organizing than many would want to admit. Also, being that they are Christians, I suspect that their ethical values would discourage them from spamming. They might be considered annoying to many people, but that doesn't mean that they'll do anything for attention. Then there is the issue of economics and technical know-how. Spamming of the type that you see on the net regularly does require a certain amount of continuous capital investment, which for political groups is not recouped by sales to stupid people. Every dollar they spend on lawsuits, servers, staff, etc., would be money out of their normal operating costs. In addition, the technical information and industry contacts necessary to spam and not get almost completely and permanently blocklisted from the net, including your legitimate non-spam access, is not something that is currently in reach of many of these groups. Even the Neo-Nazis have regular web sites like StormFront.org, and you can bet that their site would be affected if spam started going out that had any connection to them. So, the return on investment for spam is not even worth it for these fringe groups. To summarize, spam is basically counterproductive for political groups unless they have a known audience which can be unearthed with absolute certainty. This requires a depth of cultural understanding and communications skills which few of these groups have. I could do it because it is one of my strengths, but few of the truly fringe groups have the people or resources to play on this field. Art McGee Principal Consultant Virtual Identity Communications+Media+Technology 1-510-967-9381 artmcgee(a)cyberspace.org

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Call for Book Chapters: Human Computer Interaction Research in Web Design and Evaluation
by Panayiotis Zaphiris 22 Feb '05

22 Feb '05

[Apologies for Cross-posting] CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~zaphiri/Announcements/web-book.html Submission Deadline: March 31, 2005 Human Computer Interaction Research in Web Design and Evaluation A book edited by: Dr. Panayiotis Zaphiris, Centre for HCI Design, City University, London, UK Dr. Sri Kurniawan, School of Informatics, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK Overall Objectives of the Book ------------------------------ The objective of this book is to look at the topic of Web design in a new direction. The majority of existing books on this topic have been focusing primarily on the technical dimensions (programming languages, hardware and software needs) of Web design. Few books touch on the user aspect of Web design and interaction. In addition, this book will try to provide an academic/research direction to Web usability. Because humans are an important participant in Web interaction and a significant factor contributing to successful Web design is user involvement throughout the design and evaluation processes, there is a need for a unified view of the user-related topics that surround Web design. This book will point out that beyond the technical aspects of Web design, we need to systematically take into account human interaction and activity, and the completely renewed social and cultural environments that Web environments and interfaces are calling for and technologies are now capable of delivering. The general goal is to discuss the basis of a broad framework for the development and management of Web environments, enriched with contributions from domains as diverse as Web design, information systems, psychology, sociology, artificial intelligence, e-learning and many others. The Target Audience ------------------- University educators and educators in general; university administrators; researchers; lecturers of HCI and user-centred design; Web system managers; instructional designers; general audience with an interest in HCI and Web design. This book will be structured in such a way so that it can act as a core textbook in HCI and Web development courses. Recommended Topics ------------------ Recommended topics include but are not limited to the following: * Introduction: Introduction to HCI and User-Centred Design and their application to Web design * Humans as Web Users: human abilities and limitations (cognitive, perceptual, motor) and their effect on efficient use of the Web; cognitive psychology and its application to Web design * Analysis: Query-based techniques (interviews, focus groups, surveys) and Web design; Task Analysis, users, context and requirements and their application to Web design; Personas * Design: Conceptual and detailed Web design; Prototyping (paper/electronic) as used in Web design; Screen design; Information architecture; Design of user-friendly Web navigation schemes and features; Web Accessibility and Web design for people with special needs; Participatory design and other innovative design approaches in Web design; Dialogue design * Evaluation: Usability evaluation; Expert (heuristic) evaluation; Web accessibility evaluation * Special Topics: Interaction styles and their applicability to the Web; Information visualization on the Web; Computer mediated communication and the Web; The future of HCI and the Web SUBMISSION PROCEDURE -------------------- Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before March 31, 2005, up to 2 page proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of the proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by April 30, 2005 and be sent chapter organizational guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by July 31, 2005. All submitted chapters will be reviewed through a blind reviewing process. The book is scheduled to be published by Idea Group Inc., www.idea-group.com, publisher of the Idea Group Publishing, Information Science Publishing, IRM Press, CyberTech Publishing, and Idea Group Reference Imprints. Dr. Panayiotis Zaphiris Centre for HCI Design, City University London, EC1V 0HB UK e-mail: zaphiri(a)soi.city.ac.uk Fax: +44 (0)20 7040 8859 or Dr. Sri Kurniawan University of Manchester Manchester, UK e-mail: s.kurniawan(a)manchester.ac.uk Fax: +44 (0)161 306 3324

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CFP: Persistent Conversation minitrack (HICSS 39)
by Tom Erickson 21 Feb '05

21 Feb '05

CALL FOR PAPERS Seventh Annual Minitrack on Persistent Conversation Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS 39) Hyatt Regency, Kauai, Hawaii January 4-7, 2006 === AT A GLANCE === = Summary of Topic = Persistent conversations occur via instant messaging, chat, email, blogs, bulletin boards, MOOs, graphical VR environments, document annotation systems, text messaging on mobile phones, etc. Such forms of conversation play a crucial role in domains such as online communities, the sharing and management of knowledge, and the support of e-commerce, e-learning and other network mediated interactions. The persistence of digitally mediated conversation affords new uses (e.g. searching, replaying, restructuring) and raises new problems. This multi-disciplinary minitrack seeks contributions from researchers and designers that improve our ability to understand, analyze, and/or design persistent conversation systems. = Who = Researchers and designers from fields such as anthropology, computer-mediated communication, HCI, interaction design, linguistics, management, psychology, rhetoric, sociology, and so forth. = Chairs = Thomas Erickson, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center (snowfall(a)acm.org) Susan Herring, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University (herring(a)indiana.edu) = Important Dates* = Abstract submission:** Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Abstract feedback: Thursday, March 31, 2005 Paper submission: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 Accept/Reject notice: Monday, August 15, 2005 Final papers due: Thursday, September 15, 2005 One author must register: Thursday, September 15, 2005 * For other dates. such as end of early registration and hotel deadlines see the official HICSS conference site ** Abstracts are optional but strongly recommended; to submit a paper without an abstract, please contact the chairs = For More Information = * This call for participation: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS39pc.html * History (papers and participants in previous minitracks): http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC_History.html * About the minitrack, contact: snowfall(a)acm.org, herring(a)indiana.edu * About the HICSS conference, see: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/Hicss39/apahome39.htm === DETAILS === = About the Minitrack = This interdisciplinary minitrack and workshop brings designers and researchers together to explore persistent conversation, the transposition of ordinarily ephemeral conversation into the potentially persistent digital medium. The phenomena of interest include human-to-human interactions carried out using chat, instant messaging, text messaging, email, web logs, mailing lists, news groups, bulletin board systems, multi-authored Web documents, structured conversation systems, textual and graphical virtual worlds, etc. Computer-mediated conversations blend characteristics of oral conversation with those of written text: they may be synchronous or asynchronous; their audience may be small or vast; they may be highly structured or almost amorphous; etc. The persistence of such conversations gives them the potential to be searched, browsed, replayed, annotated, visualized, restructured, and recontextualized, thus opening the door to a variety of new uses and practices. The particular aim of the minitrack and workshop is to bring together researchers who analyze existing computer-mediated conversational practices and sites, with designers who propose, implement, or deploy new types of conversational systems. By bringing together participants from such diverse areas as anthropology, computer-mediated communication, HCI, interaction design, linguistics, management, psychology, rhetoric, sociology, and the like, we hope that the work of each may inform the others, suggesting new questions, methods, perspectives, and design approaches. = About Paper Topics = We are seeking papers that address one or both of the following two general areas: * Understanding Practice. The burgeoning popularity of the internet (and intranets) provides an opportunity to study and characterize new forms of conversational practice. Questions of interest range from how various features of conversations (e.g., turn-taking, topic organization, expression of paralinguistic information) have adapted in response to the digital medium, to new roles played by persistent conversation in domains such as education, business, and entertainment. *Design. Digital systems do not currently support conversation well: it is difficult to converse with grace, clarity, depth and coherence over networks. But this need not remain the case. Toward this end, we welcome analyses of existing systems as well as designs for new systems which better support conversation. Also of interest are inquiries into how participants design their own conversations within the digital medium -- that is, how they make use of system features to create, structure, and regulate their discourse. Examples of appropriate topics include, but are not limited to: * Turn-taking, threading and other structural features of CMC * The dynamics of large scale conversation systems (e.g. USENET) * Methods for summarizing or visualizing conversation archives * Studies of virtual communities or other sites of digital conversation * The roles of mediated conversation in knowledge management * Studies of the use of instant messaging in large organizations * Novel designs for computer-mediated conversation systems * Analyses of or designs for distance learning systems For other examples see the list of previous years' papers: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS_PC_History.html = The Workshop = For the past six meetings the minitrack has been preceded by a half-day workshop; we hope this will be continued for 2006, but will not know for sure until March or April. See the online version of this call for more details: http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/HICSS39pc.html = Instructions for Abstract Submission = Submit a 250 word abstract of your proposed paper via email to the chairs: Tom Erickson <snowfall(a)acm.org>, Susan Herring <herring(a)indiana.edu> by the deadline noted above. = Instructions for Paper Submission = * HICSS papers must contain original material not previously published, or currently submitted elsewhere. All papers will be submitted in double column publication format and limited to 10 pages including diagrams and references. Papers undergo a double-blind review. * Do not submit the manuscript to more than one Minitrack Chair. If unsure which Minitrack is appropriate, submit the abstract to the Track Chair for guidance. * Submit your full paper according to the instructions found on the HICSS web site: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/Hicss39/apahome39.htm === END, HICSS PERSISTENT CONVERSATION CFP === -- ------------------------------------------ Tom Erickson and Susan Herring (snowfall(a)acm.org, herring(a)indiana.edu) Chairs, HICSS 39 Minitrack and Workshop on Persistent Conversation Digitial Media: Content and Communication Track Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS 39) http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/hicsspc39.html

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Multimedia and creativity
by mcgreenn＠tcd.ie 21 Feb '05

21 Feb '05

Hi, I'm looking for some help on locating literature which discusses the use of multimedia in promoting creativity in education. The main aspect of my research is to explore how the use of multimedia technology (more specifically the use of the image/text/sound capabilities of a mobile phone) can help foster creativity in an educational setting, and to compare this to using text alone. I'm looking for some literature which discusses the use of images to help in the creative process e.g. using visualisation to spark off ideas etc . I'd also be keen to know if there's anything written about the use of audio as a tool for creative thinking. If I could get some recommendations for literature which touches on this area, I'd really appreciate it. Or anybody has information of any other work ongoing which would be similar it would be great to hear about it. Thanks in Advance Niamh McGreen

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RE: [Air-l] analyzing deliberation
by Ellis Godard 21 Feb '05

21 Feb '05

I first misread the subject heading here as "agonizing debilitation". I'm not really sure what that means, but, then, I'm not sure what "deliberation processes" include or exclude, either. Could you clarify? Thanks, Ellis

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Games, Learning & Society Conference--6/23-24--Madison, WI
by Alice J. Robison 20 Feb '05

20 Feb '05

Announcing a call for proposals for the Games, Learning & Society conference to be held in Madison, Wisconsin June 23-24, 2005. Information is also available at the conference website, www.glsconference.com <http://www.glsconference.com/> . We seek proposals from games researchers, K-12 teachers, and designers/developers by March 14, 2005. Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Academic ADL Co-Lab, the GLS Conference will foster substantive discussion and collaboration among academics, designers, and educators interested in how videogames - commercial games and others - can enhance learning, culture, and education. Speakers, discussion groups, interactive workshops, and exhibits will focus on game design, game culture, and games' potential for learning and society more broadly. This two-day conference will be held at Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace overlooking downtown Madison's beautiful Lake Monona. Conference highlights include a two-day exhibit hall featuring poster presentations and interactive demos of games; a special track of selected, hands-on sessions designed specifically by and for practicing teachers (continuing education credit may be available); and an outdoor dinner party at historic Quivey's Grove. Participants and speakers currently include John Seely Brown, Edward Castronova, Doug Church, James Paul Gee, Henry Jenkins, Jesper Juul, Jay Lemke, Kurt Squire, and Eric Zimmerman.

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Games, Learning & Society Conference--6/23-24--Madison, WI
by Alice J. Robison 20 Feb '05

20 Feb '05

Announcing a call for proposals for the Games, Learning & Society conference to be held in Madison, Wisconsin June 23-24, 2005. Information is also available at the conference website, www.glsconference.com <http://www.glsconference.com/> . We seek proposals from games researchers, K-12 teachers, and designers/developers by March 14, 2005. Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Academic ADL Co-Lab, the GLS Conference will foster substantive discussion and collaboration among academics, designers, and educators interested in how videogames - commercial games and others - can enhance learning, culture, and education. Speakers, discussion groups, interactive workshops, and exhibits will focus on game design, game culture, and games' potential for learning and society more broadly. This two-day conference will be held at Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace overlooking downtown Madison's beautiful Lake Monona. Conference highlights include a two-day exhibit hall featuring poster presentations and interactive demos of games; a special track of selected, hands-on sessions designed specifically by and for practicing teachers (continuing education credit may be available); and an outdoor dinner party at historic Quivey's Grove. Participants and speakers currently include John Seely Brown, Edward Castronova, Doug Church, James Paul Gee, Henry Jenkins, Jesper Juul, Jay Lemke, Kurt Squire, and Eric Zimmerman.

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Call for Book Chapters: User-Centered Evaluation of Online Communities
by Panayiotis Zaphiris 19 Feb '05

19 Feb '05

[Apologies for Cross-posting] CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~zaphiri/Announcements/communities-book.html Submission Deadline: April 30, 2005 User-Centered Evaluation of Online Communities A book edited by: Niki Lambropoulos, Intelligenesis Consultancy, London, UK Dr. Panayiotis Zaphiris, Centre for HCI Design, City University, London, UK Overall Objectives of the Book ------------------------------ The main objective of this book is to bring together, in one book, contributions on the topic of User-Centred Evaluation of Online Communities. A significant portion of the book will also focus on real life case studies where such evaluations have been applied and validated. As such, the book will be of great use to those who study, design, construct, moderate, evaluate and maintain online communities in organizations, e-learning, eBusiness, e-government and other related domains. The Target Audience ------------------- Since the ultimate goal of the suggested methodologies is the use of the results of successful interventions, the target audience is everyone who owns, develops, evaluates and moderates online communities - either individuals, universities other organizations or companies. Recommended Topics ------------------ Recommended topics include but are not limited to the following * Online Communities Evaluation Methodologies: Focus on Users * User-Centred Evaluation of Online Communities * Online Communities Evaluation Methodologies * Online Communities Evaluation Methodologies: Results into Practice * Guide to Online Communities Evaluation Methodologies: from Theory to Practice * Future Trends SUBMISSION PROCEDURE -------------------- Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before April 30, 2005, a 2 page (maximum) manuscript proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of the proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by May 31, 2005 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter organizational guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by August 31, 2005. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a blind review basis. The book is scheduled to be published by Idea Group, Inc., publisher of the Idea Group Publishing, Information Science Publishing, and IRM Press imprints in 2006. Inquiries and Submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) or by mail to: Niki Lambropoulos eLearning & Online Communities Architect Researcher Intelligenesis Consultancy London, N3 1QY UK e-mail: niki(a)lambropoulos.org or Dr. Panayiotis Zaphiris Centre for HCI Design, City University London, EC1V 0HB UK e-mail: zaphiri(a)soi.city.ac.uk Fax: +44 (0)20 7040 8859 ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.

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