- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

IM and Databases
by MSJANEW＠aol.com 28 Dec '03

28 Dec '03

Questions: 1. In your experience, do kids really use discussion boards? IM seems to be the tool of choice from what I can see in the middle school world. The primary audience for sportssmarts is kids--although teachers and parents would be interested in the discussion board, I am sure, as well as some kids. 2. Is a database a must for a content rich site? I am scoping the development costs and it seems this an important determination to make. Thanks.

2 1

Fwd: ISTAS conference announcement
by Steve Jones 26 Dec '03

26 Dec '03

Begin forwarded message: > Call for Papers > > 2004 International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS '04): > Globalizing Technological Education > > June 17-19, 2004 > Worcester, Massachusetts > > Abstracts are now being accepted for papers and works-in-progress. All > contributions will be peer reviewed and conference proceedings are > planned. Proposals for papers and panels that address one or more of > these themes are encouraged: > > Giving science, engineering, and technology students a global > experience: Study abroad as a capstone experience; internships, > innovative exchange programs, international co-op, and academic > project work; service learning in a global context; risk management, > health, and safety issues; resource issues and creative strategies for > affordable programs. > > Globalizing technological education: Distance learning and associated > technologies; outcomes assessment and innovations in pedagogy for > globalization; globalization connections to K-12; geographically > distributed design teams; faculty development for globalization; > accreditation and globalization; multidisciplinary and team approaches > to globalization; cooperative and active learning strategies for > globalization; research on the impact of globalization on education. > > Critical issues in globalization: Sustainable development and > technology; addressing ethical and social issues in globalization; > technology policy in a global context; corporate interest and support > for globalization; foundation and funding opportunities for > globalization; globalization, diversity, and multi-culturalism > > Papers on traditional ISTAS topics are also welcome: Environmental, > health, safety and peace-related implications of technology; social, > economic, and ethical issues involving energy, information, and > telecommunications technologies; history of technology; system > analysis in public policy decisions; research methods for > technology-policy analysis. > > Deadlines > > January 30, 2004: Paper and panel proposals due. Proposal should > include a one-page extended abstract and indicate the theme in which > it best fits. To submit your proposal, please go to the IEEE File > Conversion site and use the Conference ID "istas04". > > February 27, 2004: Notification of proposal acceptance or rejection. > > March 31, 2004: Full papers for conference proceedings due. > > For more information > http://www.wpi.edu/News/Conf/ISTAS/ > Lance Schachterle, WPI, General Chair: 508 831-5514, les(a)wpi.edu > Rick Vaz, WPI, Program Chair: 508 831-5344, vaz(a)wpi.edu > > ----- > > > Michael C. Loui > Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering > University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign > Coordinated Science Laboratory > 1308 W. Main St., Urbana, IL 61801-2307 > (217) 333-2595, http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/loui >

1 0

Re: [Air-l] Available Chat/IM Tools?
by MSJANEW＠aol.com 26 Dec '03

26 Dec '03

In a message dated 12/25/2003 3:20:26 PM Central Standard Time, elw(a)stderr.org writes: > IRC Elijah, Thanks for your informed and helpful info re Jabber. I briefly visited their website and it looks like a possibility. I am a little fuzzy on what the deal is--is this freeware that anyone can use or are there strings attached that I don't see? I would love to include chat as a component of the sports smarts website but at the moment I am putting this whole thing together on a shoestring and money is almost nonexistent. I think I can get a web server to host this, via an associate, but I am not sure what the Jabber company is getting out of it, or if that is what the best approach would be. Thanks for your advice, Matt

1 0

Fwd: Visiting Assistant Prof. position at Cornell U. Dept. of Communication
by Ulla Bunz 24 Dec '03

24 Dec '03

Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication The Department of Communication at Cornell University (www.comm.cornell.edu) seeks a one-year Visiting Assistant Professor from August 2004 to May, 2005, to teach two courses per semester in the following area(s): communication theory, research methods, persuasion, communication technology, and/or organizational communication. A Ph.D. in Communication or closely aligned field is required, although an individual in the final stages of dissertation completion may be considered. The successful applicant will work with exceptional students and a stimulating department with core strengths in science and environmental communication, mass media and social issues, and communication and technology. Cornell offers a highly competitive salary and benefits package. Applicants should send a vita, samples of scholarly writing, and evidence of teaching effectiveness to Prof. Michael Shapiro, Search Committee Chair, Dept. of Communication, Cornell University, 336 Kennedy Hall, Ithaca NY 14853 USA. Applications will be reviewed beginning February 15, 2004 until the position is filled. Minority candidates are especially encouraged to apply.

1 0

RE: [Air-l] Re: is this internet studies?
by salterl 24 Dec '03

24 Dec '03

I am glad to have had this opportunity to discuss the implications of military funding with you guys - we have heard a good number of interesting arguments and points. I think also, as a result of good old-fashioned dialectical reasoning, we have exposed some contradictions. Obviously the war/peace contradiction is an interesting one, and some promising ideas have been raised. However, the greatest contradiction exposed here relates to the form of a discussion that evokes "our" (homeland/military.security etc). The Internet is an international medium, and as far as I am aware AoIR is also international. Therefore, "our" military and "your" military may well have profoundly different understandings of whose security matters. Indeed, the wars servce "us(s)", whereas peace is really "ours" all. Perhaps then, in addressing both the hardly hidden nationalism of Internet studies and that of war, we ought to promote the role of the UN in securing peace, and governing the Internet, as war proposed at the recent WSIS. Perhaps this is a naive view of the UN, but nevertheless, it is a good starting point. >===== Original Message From air-l(a)aoir.org ===== >A further difficulty may be in determining the boundaries of such a >gesture, at least to a degree such that the preponderance of >researchers could agree upon it. For example, a rejection of funding >directly from the military would likely be a relatively easy pill to >swallow, at least for some. While I am sure that there are those on >the list who receive funding from, say, the US Navy or from DARPA, >they make up a fairly small minority. > >But this is only the most direct connection. Do we also reject funding >related to "defending our homeland," for example? For those with NIH >or NSF funding, it would have been hard not to notice the change in >funding priorities over the last two years. Do we reject industry- >sponsored research from companies that profit during war and its >aftermath? There are a number of sources remaining for funded research >beyond these two, but this list becomes increasingly attenuated when >you eliminate funding that is in any way related to military action. > >Finally, I think it is worth asking whether "the military" is really >responsible for wars. Of course, they have the greatest proximate >responsibility, but it may very well be that other sources of funding >provide the impetus for such wars. I certainly do not think all wars >are fought over profits, but most are fought over resources. In that >regard, at least, I think Bucky Fuller had the right idea: focus on >distribution and resource allocation, and you may find the leverage >needed for peace. Indeed, the most effective way of providing for >peace, rather than being more conscientious consumers of research >funding, may be making the causes of war a focus of our research. > >With hopes for a peaceful new year, > >Alex > > > >Quoting david silver <dsilver(a)u.washington.edu>: > >> just because militarization has always been a part of academia, esp >> US >> academia, doesn't mean we have to continue along this path. if we >> diverge, there will be of course certain losses (like $45 million >> grants >> from the US army) but those losses come with certain gains too. >> >> david >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Air-l mailing list >> Air-l(a)aoir.org >> http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l >> >> > >_______________________________________________ >Air-l mailing list >Air-l(a)aoir.org >http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l

1 0

Prix Ars Electronica new category "digital community"
by Philipp Budka 24 Dec '03

24 Dec '03

"Prix Ars Electronica features a New Category in 2004 Vienna (December 17, 2003) The premiere of the Digital Communities category featuring an awards ceremony and exhibition of outstanding projects in New York will highlight the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. A total of seven Golden Nica prizes as well as Awards of Distinction and Honorary Mentions will be handed out in six categories. Another innovation this year is a spin-off of the Prix Ars Electronicas u19 freestyle computing category: [the next idea] competition honors outstanding concepts for not-yet-produced projects by artists age 19-27. Entries may be submitted for Prix Ars Electronica consideration from January 12 to March 12, 2004." full story at: http://www.aec.at/en/global/press_detail.asp?iPressID=39 -- Philipp Budka e-mail: philbu(a)gmx.net tel.: +43 (0)1 95 28 244 tel. mobil: +43 (0)6991 95 28 244 Rustengasse 5/10 1150 Wien, Austria http://www.philbu.net http://www.lateinamerika-studien.at -- +++ GMX - die erste Adresse für Mail, Message, More +++ Neu: Preissenkung für MMS und FreeMMS! http://www.gmx.net

2 1

Re: is this internet studies?
by Irina Shklovski 23 Dec '03

23 Dec '03

I am wondering what David means by the term "Internet studies". The military has been one of the largest supporters of technology research in general and Lee is right, ARPAnet was a military research project. Now one of the largest military projects is "semantic web". Something that might, in the future, be as integral to our lives as Internet now is (in my opinion, semantic web, is part of the Internet studies as well). The military also happens to be one of the largest backers of research in general. I do not think as a field, we have a choice of whether our field is funded, at least in part, with military money. We have that choice only as individual researchers, when we choose which grants to apply for and accept. My other concern is David's statement that this direction is new. The USC institute - the Institute of Creative Technologies - has been in existence for at least 5 years. This direction is not new. If anything, its come full circle. Irina Shklovski Graduate Researcher Human Computer Interaction Institute Carnegie Mellon University =================================== http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~irinas http://miswritings.blogspot.com "To create means to live, forever creating newer and newer things." -Kazimir Malevich, 1915 =================================== Irina Shklovski Graduate Assistant Human Computer Interaction Institute Carnegie Mellon University ========================== http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~irinas "I can handle reality in small doses but as a lifestyle its much too confining..." --Lily Tomlin C L I M B O N ==========================

4 3

Re: [Air-l] is this internet studies? (fwd)
by david silver 23 Dec '03

23 Dec '03

thank you for your post Lee. i am aware that the net has always been .mil, beginning with its origins with ARPANET. but what i am refering to is a) the very recent history of the net and digital technologies and b) developments that have taken place within this recent history within the US. i would, however, question this line: > despite some obvious surface difficulties, war is good for the economy. and, more to the point of my original post, is war good for academia? as the field of internet studies works towards academic legitimacy, especially within the US, what does it mean when this process of legitimacy takes place within a national economy run by war, threats of terrorism, and homeland security. put another way, where will the money for US-based academic internet studies come from and should this be something we consider as the field matures? david On Mon, 22 Dec 2003, Lee Salter wrote: > Well, yes... almost. You seem to be saying that the commercial Internet > has turned into the military Internet, whereas in fact it was > vice-versa. Compare, for example, RFC 3271 with RFC 1087. We see a clear > agenda to "roll out" the Internet, which was at least influenced by the > need to cheapen such technologies by reducing the unit-cost. This only > really makes sense when one is aware that the ultimate control of the > Internet shifted from the Department of Defense to the Department of > Commerce in the 1990s - which the movement from IANA to ICANN seems to > illustrate (see also the /Image Online Design v. IANA, et al./ case). I > wouldn't, therefore, agree that the Internet has moved from .com to > .mil, but vice versa, with the proviso that .com is far from > antithetical to .mil. This shouldn't, however, surprise us. Michael > Kirdon (Permanent Arms Economy) and C Wright Mills (The Power Elite) are > two of many examples of writers who inform us that capitalism is on a > permanent war footing - despite some obvious surface difficulties, war > is good for the economy. Brian Winston (Media, Technology, and Society) > has applied this sort of dynamic to media technologies very well (we > should of course remember the role of war in the car, aeroplane, radio, > food technologies... etc.). >

2 1

OII
by T Kennedy 22 Dec '03

22 Dec '03

Hi Bill The link was a bit jumbled so I am sending this out - http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?rq=positions The PDF is available at http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/application_pack/ResearchFellows_200312.pdf As an alumni of the OII Summer Doctoral Progam - I recommend having a look at these Research Fellowships - it is a wonderful place to do your research! Tracy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracy L.M. Kennedy Graduate Department of Sociology University of Toronto www.netwomen.ca/Blog tkennedy(a)netwomen.ca ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > From: "William Dutton" <William.Dutton(a)oii.ox.ac.uk> > To: <air-l(a)aoir.org> > Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 10:57:28 -0000 > Subject: [Air-l] Research Fellowships at the OII > Reply-To: air-l(a)aoir.org > > The Oxford Internet Institute has opened a search for up to four Research Fellows. The fellowships will be for up two to three years > initially, but with the possibility of renewal. Applications must reach > the Institute by 12.00 noon (GMT) on Friday 30th January 2004. Further > particulars about these positions are on the Web at: > HYPERLINK > "http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?rq=positions"http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/pe > ople/?rq=positions > > Regards, > > Professor William Dutton, Director > Oxford Internet Institute > University of Oxford > 1, St Giles > Oxford OX1 3JS > UNITED KINGDOM > > Tel: +44 (0)1865 287 210 > Fax: +44 (0)1865 287 211 > Web: HYPERLINK "http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/"www.oii.ox.ac.uk > >

2 2

Re: [Air-l] is this internet studies? (fwd)
by ANDREW RUSSELL 22 Dec '03

22 Dec '03

Greetings all - I think David is right to point out that the Internet studies community should at least be aware of its relationships with (and perhaps dependence upon?) military funding. Luckily we have plenty of recent history - the influence of the Cold War on many areas of academic research - to consider when reflecting on these issues. I have in mind the "who's using whom?" historiography of Cold War physics, especially Paul Forman's contention that military funding diverted the path of quantum physics, and Dan Kevles's reply that Forman overstated the case, and that physicists engaged military funding with eyes wide open (I don't have the cites handy, but a search on google for Paul Forman "Beyond Quantum Electronics" will get you there). Bill Leslie's book The Cold War and American Science (where he examines the 'military-industrial-academic complex at MIT and Stanford) also reflects on these issues, as does much of Michael Dennis's historical work. There's also the rise and fall of the field of "Area Studies" (again, I don't have the cite handy but I think there is an essay on this in a book called "The Cold War and the Intellectuals"). Finally, closer to Internet studies, I argued in a recent paper that the ARPANET existed as an artifact of the Cold War science policy consensus. JCR Licklider saw that the military's need for improved command and control could be achieved through his interest in "interactive computing"; he sold this idea to the DoD and, as head of ARPA's Info. Processing Techniques Office, got much of what we think of today as "computer science" started. In this light, the ARPANET (and perhaps subsequent computer research) represents a symbiosis of national security needs with the interests of computer researchers. (the paper is available from http://arussell.org/alr-SHAFRpaper.doc - sorry for the MS file format...) I don't know of any historical work that examines systematically the origins of the field of computer science with an eye toward explaining the influence of the national security state. All of this is a rather long-winded way of saying that it is indeed important to know how national security, war, terrorism, etc. will affect Internet studies; and a good way to start thinking about this is to consider some how some other emerging disciplines dealt with this dynamic. In other words, this community might benefit from previous attempts to deal with the important questions David raises. Cheers, Andy Russell History of Science and Technology Johns Hopkins University ----- Original Message ----- From: david silver <dsilver(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Monday, December 22, 2003 1:45 pm Subject: Re: [Air-l] is this internet studies? (fwd) > thank you for your post Lee. > > i am aware that the net has always been .mil, beginning with its > originswith ARPANET. but what i am refering to is a) the very > recent history of > the net and digital technologies and b) developments that have > taken place > within this recent history within the US. > > i would, however, question this line: > > > despite some obvious surface difficulties, war is good for the > economy. > and, more to the point of my original post, is war good for academia? > > as the field of internet studies works towards academic legitimacy, > especially within the US, what does it mean when this process of > legitimacy takes place within a national economy run by war, > threats of > terrorism, and homeland security. put another way, where will the > moneyfor US-based academic internet studies come from and should > this be > something we consider as the field matures? > > david > > On Mon, 22 Dec 2003, Lee Salter wrote: > > > Well, yes... almost. You seem to be saying that the commercial > Internet> has turned into the military Internet, whereas in fact > it was > > vice-versa. Compare, for example, RFC 3271 with RFC 1087. We see > a clear > > agenda to "roll out" the Internet, which was at least influenced > by the > > need to cheapen such technologies by reducing the unit-cost. > This only > > really makes sense when one is aware that the ultimate control > of the > > Internet shifted from the Department of Defense to the > Department of > > Commerce in the 1990s - which the movement from IANA to ICANN > seems to > > illustrate (see also the /Image Online Design v. IANA, et al./ > case). I > > wouldn't, therefore, agree that the Internet has moved from .com to > > .mil, but vice versa, with the proviso that .com is far from > > antithetical to .mil. This shouldn't, however, surprise us. Michael > > Kirdon (Permanent Arms Economy) and C Wright Mills (The Power > Elite) are > > two of many examples of writers who inform us that capitalism is > on a > > permanent war footing - despite some obvious surface > difficulties, war > > is good for the economy. Brian Winston (Media, Technology, and > Society)> has applied this sort of dynamic to media technologies > very well (we > > should of course remember the role of war in the car, aeroplane, > radio,> food technologies... etc.). > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Air-l mailing list > Air-l(a)aoir.org > http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l >

1 0