- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Proposal for a New Twitter Data Consortium
by Stuart Shulman 25 May '23

25 May '23

I have an idea for a new data consortium to restore some semblance of reliable Twitter data access going forward. It would be a new model, including some services, to get the data from Meltwater on a scheduled basis, along with DiscoverText access, and it would require up front near term payments to mitigate the risk of signing an expensive contract with all payments up front. I need representatives of what would be a founding set of research groups, departments, colleges, or non-profits with a data budget to contact me as soon as possible. Think of it as a CSA model (Community Supported Agriculture) for data. If a set of groups, departments, colleges, or universities can spend $10,000 for one year, we can lock in Twitter, Reddit, YouTube comments, blogs, and other data source access with powerful filtering capabilities. I would be your data farmer, collaborating on query requests, and working with the single access point to gather Meltwater data for everyone in the consortium and loading it to DiscoverText for collaborative analysis. This might be a good time to contact your Chair, Dean, or VP for Research asking if there is a readily available pot of money on campus to lock-in Twitter data access going into the next academic/US election year. It would not be perfect, seamless, or fully unlimited, however it is a solid foothold for keeping the academic lens focused on the data no matter what happens to the APIs that we have seen come and go. While some academics do retain access, most are locked out. This is a way to get locked in for teaching and research. As far as I can tell, Meltwater is a legitimate, legal, stable, 2,000-employee firm with a strong legacy agreement in place with Twitter. Drop me a line if you want to go over how this might work. ~Stu

1 0

New Book on Xerox PARC and IoT
by Tinnell, John 25 May '23

25 May '23

Dear AoIR members, I’m writing to share news of my new book – THE PHILOSOPHER OF PALO ALTO: Mark Weiser, Xerox PARC, and the Original Internet of Things – which was just released today! The book chronicles the rise of ubiquitous computing at Xerox PARC in the 80s and 90s, as well as related developments in wearable computing and AI at the MIT Media Lab. For a longer description + some upcoming author events in Palo Alto, see the University of Chicago Press website: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo194495767.html On June 13 at 4 PM EST, the press is hosting a virtual event, where I’ll be discussing the book with Patrick McCray (UC Santa Barbara) – here’s the registration link if you’d like to join: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/by-the-book-john-tinnell-in-conversation-with-… Best, John John Tinnell, PhD Director of Digital Studies Associate Professor of English University of Colorado Denver johntinnell.com <http://johntinnell.com/about/> -- Early Blurbs for The Philosopher of Palo Alto "This riveting, up-close account reveals how one man’s dream of benevolent computing helped set us on the road to the hyper-connected, surveillance-driven nightmare we inhabit today. A deeply unsettling and cautionary tale." — Fred Turner, author of From Counterculture to Cyberculture and The Democratic Surround "In the life of Mark Weiser, John Tinnell has found a morality tale for our times. For anyone looking to understand how technology is shaping society today, The Philosopher of Palo Alto is a compelling and necessary read." — Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows and The Glass Cage "Along with Doug Engelbart’s intelligence augmentation and Alan Kay’s Dynabook, Mark Weiser’s ubiquitous computing is one of the three big concepts that Silicon Valley has fed off of for decades. Tinnell has done a wonderful job of capturing the arc of Weiser’s ideas." — John Markoff, author of Whole Earth

1 0

Call for contributors: The Synthetic City conference, 6-7 Sep 2023, Dublin
by Scott Rodgers 25 May '23

25 May '23

The Synthetic City Potentials, Politics and Everyday Life 6-7 September 2023 Dublin City University, Ireland Abstract submission deadline: 2 June 2023 (midnight anywhere in world) Conference website: https://syntheticcity2023.wordpress.com/ Call for contributors syn·thet·ic, adjective devised, arranged, or fabricated for special situations to imitate or replace usual realities syn·the·sis, noun the composition or combination of parts or elements so as to form a whole In less than a year, the release of tools such as the large language model-based chatbot ChatGPT and image generation platforms like DALL-E or Midjourney has given rise to lively discussion and urgent questions around the potential of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) based systems. Debates around AI are a sharp reminder of the deepening interconnections of digital technologies and human life, which are particularly pervasive and tangible – if not always immediately visible – in urban spaces. Already captured through terms such as ‘algorithmic cities’, ‘data-driven urbanism’, ‘code/spaces’ and ‘sentient cities’, urban environments have for some time been understood as emergent venues for various kinds of computational agency, ranging from surveillance systems, delivery apps and neighbourhood social media to automated infrastructures, outdoor advertising and digital art. This conference puts forward the notion of ‘the synthetic city’ as a provocation for thinking through the potentials, politics, and everyday implications of these long-term and more recent developments in digitalising urban life. As the above definitions imply, we intend ‘the synthetic city’ to relate to both synthetic and synthesis: the former captures how AI and related digital technologies might imitate or replace human agency (e.g. with ‘synthetic’ data being used to generate various urban simulations, whether for critical infrastructure, leisure or gaming environments); whereas the latter captures how these same technologies always-already involve combinations of computational and human agency (e.g. unfolding alongside the dynamics of everyday routines, political interests, institutions, and so on). We therefore welcome a range of contributions, exploring both the technologies as such, as well as the broader social, cultural and political contexts of the synthetic city. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * How AI-based applications potentially reshape or restructure urban material spaces and their inhabitation * Artworks or models (e.g. performances, illustrations, mock-ups, simulations) that speculate or envision the near (and far) future of urban living * Virtual and augmented reality in urban design and art * The impacts of machine learning and predictive modelling on urban planning and design * Smart cities, the Internet of Things and platform urbanism * The changing relationships between automation processes (including robotics) with urban services and labour * The ethics and governance of synthetic urbanism * Counterculture and protest movements questioning and contesting the digitalisation of cities * Algorithmic mediations of public participation and collaboration in urban/neighbourhood life * How automated content production tools reshape how fields such as journalism, graphic design, filmmaking, music (and more) might relate to and tell stories about cities * How digital platforms help to transform how urban environments and daily life is navigated and mapped * The political potential of reappropriating and repurposing digital media and automated systems * Withdrawal and disconnection from the synthetic city We welcome work-in-progress contributions as well as finished works, encompassing research into both current and future developments, with empirical, theoretical, or methodological focus, and from a broad spectrum of disciplines (e.g. communication and media studies, sociology, human geography, urban studies, or science and technology studies). Participants can submit one of three types of submissions: 1. Individual papers: Please submit an abstract (250-300 words), biographical statement (50-75 words) and contact information for all authors. 2. Practice-based interventions (e.g. screenings, illustrations, performances, installations) exploring the conference themes more experimentally. Please submit an abstract (250-300 words) and a biographical statement (50-75 words) alongside contact information for all authors. The abstract should describe the scope of the project as well as equipment, space and time needed (as relevant). 3. Paper of panel session: Please submit an abstract (250-300 words) describing the overall theme of the session. In the case of a paper session, this will be followed by an abstract (250-300 words), biographical statement (50-75 words) and contact information for the author(s) of each paper. In the case of a panel discussion, please provide biographical statements (50-75 words) and contact information for all panellists. Abstracts must be submitted by 2 June 2023 (by midnight anywhere in world) to mediacity.twg(a)gmail.com<mailto:mediacity.twg@gmail.com>. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 23 June 2023.

1 1

WEBCAST MAY 22-23 MAY – Indigenous Connectivity Summit 2023
by Joly MacFie 24 May '23

24 May '23

This has kicked off. Only Monday and Tuesday will be streamed. See ISOC.LIVE <https://isoc.live/16569/> for real time text links. or the FB simuylcasts for captions [image: isoc.live] <https://isoc.live/16569>On *Monday-Wednesday 22-24 May 2023* the *Indigenous Connectivity Institute <https://connecthumanity.fund/indigenous-connectivity/>* will host the *Indigenous Connectivity Summit 2023 <https://connecthumanity.fund/indigenous-connectivity-summit-2023/>* (ICS 2023). The Indigenous Connectivity Summit brings together Indigenous community members, leaders, network operators, researchers and policymakers with a common goal: to connect Indigenous communities to fast, affordable and sustainable internet. The ICS has grown to be the primary convening for Indigenous leadership and allies working across the United States and Canada to build a digital future on their terms. *** Only the sessions from Mon 22 May – Tue 23 May will be livestreamed. *** *LIVESTREAM http://livestream.com/internetsociety/ics2023 <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/ics2023>* *AGENDA https://connecthumanity.fund/indigenous-connectivity-summit-2023-agenda/ <https://connecthumanity.fund/indigenous-connectivity-summit-2023-agenda/>* *REGISTER https://bit.ly/3I1cAuQ <https://bit.ly/3I1cAuQ>* *REAL TIME TEXT* (See *ISOC.LIVE <https://isoc.live/16569>*) *TWITTER #ICS2023 @Connect_Fund <https://bit.ly/3nZ5xfn> @IndigiConnects @internetsociety #DigitalEquity #Indigenous #IndigenousPeoples #Indigenization #Connectivity #GrowInternet* *SIMULCASTS* *https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive>* *https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc <https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc> *(AI Captions) *https://www.facebook.com/ISOCNewMexico <https://www.facebook.com/ISOCNewMexico> *(AI Captions) *ARCHIVE* *https://archive.org/details/ics2023 <https://archive.org/details/ics2023>* *Permalink https://isoc.live/16569/ <https://isoc.live/16569/>* - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

1 1

[self-promo] The Private is Political out 5/30
by Alice E. Marwick 24 May '23

24 May '23

Hi all, I am very pleased to announce that my new book, *The Private is Political: Networked Privacy on Social Media, *is out next week on Yale Press! Many of the ideas in this book were presented (in various forms) at AOIR and similar conferences, and I'm so so happy this is finally in press. https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-private-is-political-networked-privacy-and… Blurb: A compelling firsthand investigation of how social media and big data have amplified the close relationship between privacy and inequality Online privacy is under constant attack by social media and big data technologies. But we cannot rely on individual actions to remedy this--it is a matter of social justice. Alice E. Marwick offers a new way of understanding how privacy is jeopardized, particularly for marginalized and disadvantaged communities--including immigrants, the poor, people of color, LGBTQ+ populations, and victims of online harassment. Marwick shows that few resources or regulations prevent personal information from spreading on the internet. Through a new theory of "networked privacy," she reveals how current legal and technological frameworks are woefully inadequate in addressing issues of privacy--often by design. Drawing from interviews and focus groups encompassing a diverse group of Americans, Marwick shows that even heavy social media users care deeply about privacy and engage in extensive "privacy work" to protect it. But people are up against the violation machine of the modern internet. Safeguarding privacy must happen at the collective level. --- Thanks y'all and have a great summer. xoxo Alice Alice E. Marwick, PhD (she/her) Associate Professor, Department of Communication Principal Researcher, Center for Information, Technology and Public Life (CITAP) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill amarwick(a)gmail.com http://www.tiara.org <http://www.tiara.org> http://citap.unc.edu <http://citap.unc.edu>

1 0

Panel: Indigenous Research and Epistemology - a discussion
by Gerald Voorhees 24 May '23

24 May '23

Dear Colleagues, Please join the Games Institute <https://uwaterloo.ca/games-institute/> at the University of Waterloo for a discussion panel on Indigenous Research and Epistemology on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 10:30AM-12PM (EDT/UTC-4). This is a free online event! *Registration is required. <https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/indigenous-research-and-epistemology-a-discussi…>* How should we conduct research in cooperation and partnership with Indigenous communities? What does it mean for Indigenous scholars and students to do research within the colonial structures and settler epistemologies of Western universities? The panelists, consisting of Indigenous students and researchers as well as settlers working with and for Indigenous communities, will share their perspectives and experiences on these questions. They will begin a conversation to help us consider these and other issues related to Indigeneity in the context of Western academic cultures and practices, and invite questions and discussion to develop our capacity to Indigenize research and scholarship. About the Speakers: Jaydum Hunt is Mohawk on her father's side and mixed European on her mother’s side. She is currently the Director of Indigenous Initiatives at Laurier University. Jaydum has 8 years experience of progressive leadership and community engagement with the Indigenous community within the Waterloo Region and at the University of Waterloo. Has a passion for organizational change, wholistic evaluations, community based research, Indigenous leadership, Indigenous entrepreneurship, strategic planning, Indigenous initiatives, and Indigenous research. Kelly Laurila is an Indigenous Sámi and Irish woman with close to 30 years of Anishinaabe knowledges and experiences; songcarrier of an Indigenous women and girls’ drum circle in community and in a federal penitentiary; social worker, and educator. She is also an advocate for ideological and social policy change pertaining to systemic social and justice practices impacting Indigenous peoples. Dialogue, decolonization, and movement towards action is at the forefront of her work with reconciliation initiatives. Hector Perez is a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Health at the University of Waterloo. He works under the supervision of Lili Liu and Antonio Miguel-Cruz. Supported by the Games Institute, Hector is co-developing gamified training materials for Indigenous First Responders in collaboration with two First Nations Communities. Hector’s current research explores data from police and search and rescue organizations across Canada to determine risk factors associated with missing incidents involving persons living with dementia. His research employs Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to determine models to predict risk and inform prevention. Hector’s interests include exploring the acceptance and adoption of innovations and digital health technologies for older adults and caregivers. Marisa Benjamin is a JD student at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Class of 2024. She is a Senior Associate Editor for the Indigenous Law Journal and a Research Assistant with the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights. From the University of Waterloo, Marisa obtained her BA in Psychology and Business, and her MA in Rhetoric and Communication Design. Last year, Marisa worked in the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines at the Ministry of the Attorney General, preparing legal research about the government's obligations to consult and accommodate Indigenous land interests in Northern Ontario. Starting in May, Marisa will be working at Torys LLP in Toronto. (Optional to read: Of course, and most importantly, Marisa is the former Research Communications Officer at the Games Institute, and is happy to be back for this event!)

1 0

Day Two of (un)Stable Diffusions starts 10am EST, online tickets available
by Fenwick Mckelvey 24 May '23

24 May '23

Hi all Last email I promise. Please join us for the second day of international symposium on AI's publics, publicities, and publicizations at Milieux Institute, Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. If anyone want to add attend, please add your name to the waiting list, we should have spots today. If you're in Montreal, please come by. (un)Stable Diffusions May 23 to May 24, 9am to 5pm EST Online and in person at Milieux Institute EV Building, 1515 Saint-Catherine St W Montreal Quebec Details: https://machineagencies.milieux.ca/unstable-diffusions/ Description 21st-century AI is very much in its formative stage: It is still unsettled, and is continually being both stabilised and contested by diverse sets of actors: from technologists, startup founders and global companies to policy makers, journalists, and civil society. For some, AI is being positioned as a fix to our social problems, which in turn will change how we live, communicate, work and travel. Others raise substantive concerns that these developments might reinforce inequality, exacerbate the opacity of decision-making processes, and ultimately question human autonomy. We are thus living in a time when the infrastructures and institutions of our everyday lives are being (re)built at the hands of techniques which already elude popular and professional understanding; but while the controversies about the specific pathways to be taken are still visible, we can already perceive elements of closure and institutionalization. Our symposium invites contributions from an international audience to interrogate the shaping of AI. Building on an international collaboration between research teams from Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Canada, we invite presentations that pursue critical engagements with AI’s media representations, policy framings, and scientific debates. Crucially, we also invite epistemic reflections in how we are all Shaping AI, including practice-based research or research-creation. The event is hosted at the Milieux Institute at Concordia University by the Machine Agencies Research Group and is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Take care Fenwick

1 0

Real-Time Intelligent Systems 2023
by ijwa dline.info 24 May '23

24 May '23

CALL FOR PAPERS Fifth International Conference on Real-Time Intelligent Systems (RTIS 2023) October 09-11, 2023 University of Bedfordshire, Luton. UK www.socio.org.uk/rtis Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems by Springer https://www.springer.com/series/15179 Earlier conferences took place in Taipei, Taiwan (2018); Casablanca, Morocco (2017); Beijing, China (2016). The 5th RTIS will take place at the University of Bedfordshire, UK. Over the last few years, real-time intelligent computing has radically transformed the human lifestyle. Research on real-time intelligent systems is multi-disciplinary, exploiting concepts from diverse areas such as big data processing, computational intelligence, location-based services, recommendation systems, and multimedia processing. In today’s highly dynamic environment, analysing data in real-time is a must to understand how systems process data, reason the outputs, and anticipate trends in intelligent computing. To this end, this conference will serve as a platform to manifest the ongoing research in the field. Thus, RTIS welcomes theoretically grounded, methodologically sound papers that address aspects related to topics, such as: Artificial Intelligence Techniques Artificial Intelligence and Data mining Streaming data, streaming engines Trace-based intelligent real-time services Adaptive vision algorithms Location-based services Intelligent Robotic Systems Collaborative Intelligence Processing Intelligent Databases Data capture in real-time Data quality and cleansing Intelligent Data Analysis Intelligent Database Systems Big Data systems and applications for high-velocity data Intelligent Information Systems Privacy and Security in Intelligence Software Engineering Solutions Intelligent Soft Computing Real-time multiprocessor systems Internet of Things Architectures for Intelligence Real-time distributed coding Smart services and platforms Real-time modelling user information needs Wireless Communication Real-time intelligent communication Real-time intelligent network solutions Mobile Smart Systems Broadband Intelligence Cloud Computing and Intelligence Collaborative Intelligence Analysis in domains such as energy, sensors, Expert Systems Smart Life Systems Decision support systems in real time Multi-agent Intelligent Systems Multilingual information access Recommendation systems Real-time intelligent, alert systems Real-time remote access systems Intelligent Transportation Systems Critical Real-Time Applications Hybrid Intelligent Systems Real-time noise removal systems Event-driven analytics Intelligent Fuzzy Systems Machine translation in real time OLAP for real-time decision support Crowdsourcing and crowd intelligence Submission, proceedings Papers must be submitted online through OpenConf (https://www.socio.org.uk/rtis/paper-submission/) Author instructions and LaTex2e (preferred) and Word macro files are available on the submission page. Submitted papers should be within 14 pages (long papers) and eight pages (short ones), including figures, tables, and references. Authors of accepted papers are required to transfer their copyrights. For a paper to appear in the proceedings, at least one of the authors MUST register for the conference by the camera-ready submission deadline with full registration. The proceedings will be published in Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems by Springer. Extended versions of the conference papers will be considered for publication in the below journals. Journal of Computational Methods in Sciences and Engineering (JCMSE) Future Internet https://www.mdpi.com/journal/futureinternet Data https://www.mdpi.com/journal/data (For Data and Future Internet, the discounted APC is applicable, which is 50%) Journal of Digital Information Management Journal of Intelligent Computing Venue The venue is the University of Bedfordshire, UK. Important Dates Full Paper Submission: July 20, 2023 Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: August 15, 2023 Registration Due: September 15, 2023 Camera Ready Due: September 15, 2023 Workshops/Tutorials/Demos: October 08, 2023 Main conference: October 09-11, 2023 Post-conference proceedings: October 25, 2023 General Chairs Ricardo Rodriguez-Jorge, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University , Czech Republic Martín LÓPEZ-NORES, University of Vigo, Spain Program Chairs Yao-Liang Chung, National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan Pit Pichappan, Digital Information Research Labs, India Workshop/Special Issues Chair Ezendu Ariwa, University of Warwick, UK www.socio.org.uk/rtis Contact: stm(a)socio.org.uk

1 0

Music and the Internet Conference (UChicago and Online) June 9–10 2023: Registration closing soon!
by Dr Steven Gamble 24 May '23

24 May '23

Hi all (with apologies for cross posting), Please register for the ‘Music and the Internet’ conference, being held in a hybrid format at the University of Chicago and online (via Zoom) on June 9–10 2023. There is a two day program featuring a keynote presentation from AoIR’s very own Dr Jabari Evans, a keynote session with Dr Imani Danielle Mosley and Babatunde Akinboboye, and 12 paper sessions on topics including online music fandom, social media, memes and conspiracies, platformisation of music, music AI, Twitch, networked performance, and more. The program and full conference details are available at https://musicandtheinternet.co/ Registration is *free* both in person and for Zoom on Eventbrite at http://tiny.cc/musicinternet! The conference goal is to bring together scholars and creators across a variety of perspectives on the intersection of music, sound, and online culture, and to help cultivate the developing international network of thinkers at work on these topics. Best wishes, Stim Dr. Steven Gamble (he/him) | stevengamble.com <http://stevengamble.com/> Leverhulme Early Career Fellow | Department of Music, University of Bristol <http://www.bristol.ac.uk/music/> Recent publications: It's Where You're @: Hip Hop and the Internet <https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/ghhs/2/2>, Global Hip Hop Studies 2(2) (open access special issue, 2023) Analyzing Hip-Hop Hacktivism and Automobility in Injury Reserve's (2019) “Jailbreak the Tesla” (Feat. Aminé) <https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003089926-4> (book chapter, 2023) Hip-hop producer-hosts, beat battles, and online music production communities on Twitch <https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/12338/10658>, First Monday 27(6) (open access journal article, 2022)

1 0

4S panel: The Nightmares and Dreamscapes of Digital Touch
by Shanley, Dani (PHILOSOPHY) 24 May '23

24 May '23

Come feel out the nightmares and dreamscapes of digital touch at the 4S conference! Abstracts of 250 words are due FRIDAY, May 26th. The 4S conference is happening in Honolulu, HI, USA, this November 8-11, 2023. The conference will be a hybrid conference with the opportunity to present either in-person or online remotely. Our panel will explore the fantasies, dreams, utopias, and dystopias that are conjured in the development of emerging digital touch technologies. VR, AR, XR, and novel stimulation methods imagine and order the relationships between touch, human bodies, and technology. We are interested in exploring their utopic and dystopic registers, from fantasies of touchless haptic experiences to conspiracies about militarised virtualisation of the natural world. Our panel seeks to examine how digital touch affects human bodies and the social relationships that they inhabit. We seek to question engineers' attempts to abstract and quantify touch, asking what happens when physical sensations are emptied of their relational, practical, social, and historical meanings. We want to explore the conflicts and uncertainties brought about by new digital touch technologies - tensions between distance and proximity, violation and consent, pleasure and pain, and hype and conspiracy. We want to subject fantasies of digital touch to some reality-testing, asking: what anxieties and desires underpin them? who stands to benefit from them? who will take on the burden? whose bodies are on the line? and, importantly, what do technologies like this do for us as critical STS researchers? We welcome theoretical, empirical, or arts-based, work which explores haptics, digital touch, the metaverse, or VR/AR/XR technologies. Contributions might address the issues raised above, or: * Touchless imaginaries, fantasies, utopias or dystopias * The co-production of comfort, discomfort, pleasure, and pain in digital touch * Can touch be rational? * Is the metaverse bullshit? Any questions, please do get in touch with us! Contact: stephen.hughes(a)ucl.ac.uk<mailto:stephen.hughes@ucl.ac.uk>, danielle.shanley(a)maastrichtuniversity.nl<mailto:danielle.shanley@maastrichtuniversity.nl> Keywords: Information, Computing and Media Technology, Haptics, touchless technologies, VR, metaverse, conspiracy theories, hype, emerging technologies For submission info see the 4S website: https://4sonline.org/news_manager.php?page=31488 (panel no 143)

1 0