nice link to alchemy! i got a lot out of reading 'abstract hacktivism' by von busch and palmas. it brings out the artisanal pattern, with the added (vital) element of subversion / acting without permission. http://www.isk-gbg.org/abstracthacktivism/ they also have a nice angle ontologically (trying to get beyond the post-structuralist limitation of hacktivism to culture jamming, and thereby connecting to the 'maker' movement). i think the connection between hacking / open source and radical political transformation has yet to unfold, and is better followed via the term hacktivism. right now, there's a fascinating interplay between offline social movements and hacking (c.f. the arab spring, and now the financial 'crisis). the deterritorial support group make some interesting point about this in 'Twenty reasons why it’s kicking off in cyberspace' http://deterritorialsupportgroup.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/twenty-reasons-why... cheers dan On 18 June 2011 00:07, Marchese, Prof. Francis T. <fmarchese@pace.edu> wrote:

Perhaps it would be better to label the topic as "Artisanal" invention or development. It would then remove the negative connotation that the term hacker engenders. It would also play into the concept that such developments come from non-corporate or non-industrial settings, where individuals (outsiders?) or loosely structured groups exploit contemporary technologies to create new and (perhaps) useful applications. For example, the Apple iPod/iPad SDK makes it easy for non-computer scientists to create apps. And web technologies can be easily enabled to create rich Internet experiences by non-technologists. Such a label links into the history of invention - Edison, Hewlett-Packard, Wozniak-Jobs, the latter two pairs worked in garages. Perhaps we should not forget ancient alchemists, who developed "algorithms" for creating new substances by "hacking" matter. Finally, such a label links into a vast literature (e.g. Mary Shelley's Frankestein) and the SciFi genre where lone (evi  l?) scientists develop remarkable technologies. From this perspective, it might not only be easier to look at the good, bad, and ugly of "hacking" but also map out its meaning.

Dr. Francis T. Marchese Professor Dept. of Computer Science Pace University 163 William Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10038 http://csis.pace.edu/~marchese<http://csis.pace.edu/%7Emarchese> email: fmarchese@pace.edu<mailto:fmarchese@pace.edu> phone: 212 346-1803

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