Dear AoIR colleagues, There are still a few spaces available for this but they are going fast. It would be great to fill up the vans so I am posting this to AoIR both because (1) it would be great to completely fill up the vans so that we will break even and (2) the title of this workshop was misprinted on the registration page -- the actual title may interest you if the misprinted title did not. Please feel free to forward. See you in Chicago, Christian -- http://www.niftyc.org/ ********************************************************** A Guided Tour of the Electromagnetic Spectrum in Chicago: Wireless Internet Mapping and Visualization 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 5th *** $40 materials fee to pay for vans/handouts *** A Preconference Workshop of the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). (Register: http://conferences.aoir.org/index.php?cf=3 ) Description: When Internet researchers study what people do with the Internet, they usually do so by asking questions (in a survey or interview), arranging to watch users (via observation or ethnography), or looking up aggregate statistics about use (e.g., from sales figures or representative surveys conducted by others). Recent wireless Internet technology (like 802.11a/b/g, a.k.a. "Wireless Fidelity" or "Wi-Fi") allows a very different approach. Rather than asking users questions about their use of wireless Internet, researchers can sample the electromagnetic spectrum directly, gathering data and producing visualizations of wireless Internet use. In terms of older technologies, this is like counting telephone poles instead of surveying telephone users. Visualizations are being produced by Internet diffusion researchers (such as the Public Internet Project in New York), professors who teach about the Internet (the University of Washington Wi-Fi map of Seattle), hobbyists (wifimaps.com), artists and provocateurs (Yury Gitman), and activists hoping to draw attention to both the "digital divide" (the Pioneer warwalking competition in Austria) and the commercialization of the Internet in public spaces (Newbury Open.Net’s WarCar). However, this area remains new enough that the published research about these techniques or the results from them is still scarce (e.g., Byers & Kormann, 2003; Sandvig, 2004). Data produced using these methods allow researchers to locate 802.11b/g wireless Internet connectivity and record characteristics of wireless Internet "access points" and devices connected to them. These methods can measure the number of users, amount of traffic, speed, signal strength, and security settings. Location data can then be linked to satellite imagery, street maps, Census data, land use databases, and other geographic data sources. Here is a simple example map from a common mapping program, kismet: http://pactlab.spcomm.uiuc.edu/sidney.png In the last four years, the technology required to produce complex maps of wireless Internet signals has become relatively inexpensive. This has led to widespread interest in the surveying, mapping and visualization of Internet access and data from the electromagnetic spectrum. In this workshop, we will explain how to obtain data about wireless Internet use by using handheld or portable computers to sample wireless signals. After an initial orientation, this workshop will board vans and "tour" the electromagnetic spectrum in selected neighborhoods of Chicago, actually producing maps of wireless Internet use. We then hope to initiate a thoughtful and interactive discussion of how researchers and activists can use these data in their projects. This will include discussion of the collection, analysis, visualization, ethics, limitations, costs, pedagogical value, and application of these methods. These methods may be useful for many different purposes, studying technology deployment, penetration and diffusion (Rogers, 1995) but advancing studies of diffusion by employing geographic methods (see Zhang, Fan, & Kai, 2002), and investigating the interaction of the Internet with space (Grubesic, 2002) and representing the Internet using maps (Dodge & Kitchin, 2000; 2001). It is here that these methods are likely to be the most revolutionary. Combining these methods with documentary photography (Hall & Sandvig, 2004) and/or ethnography, it is possible to add context to a research project using a more traditional method. Finally, these methods have been provocatively used to produce art and activism, where a great deal of effort has been spent developing compelling maps and visualizations. No technical knowledge is required to participate in this workshop, however, familiarity with (or a willingness to learn) Linux and advanced GIS software will be helpful. More advanced practitioners are also very welcome. We will demonstrate and discuss Netstumbler, Kismet, GeoDA, and ArcGIS. This workshop is based on a mapping project funded by the US National Science Foundation where researchers tested different mapping solutions and developed workarounds for sources of error and customizations to improve our geographic analyses and visualizations. This is a four and a half hour workshop that includes a substantial break. Schedule: 1. Orientation session and opening discussion. (60 minutes) 2. Off-site mapping expedition and spectrum tour using one or two 15-passenger university motor pool "Sprinter" vans equipped with antennas and on-board video screens to display laptop computer output. (45 minutes) 3. Vans stop for break at location convenient to mapping site. (30 minutes) 4. Off-site mapping expedition resumes. (45 minutes) 5. Closing discussion of applications, analyses, and other issues. (60 minutes) (Total time 4:00) All equipment will be provided. However, a materials fee is required to defray the cost of fuel, van rental, and color duplication of maps (for handouts). Participation is limited to ten (one van) or twenty participants (two vans), depending on interest. Presenters: Christian Sandvig (organizer) Department of Speech Communication University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dave Chan Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Elizabeth Lyon Department of Geography University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Siddhartha Raja Department of Speech Communication University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Rajiv Shah Department of Communication University of Illinois, Chicago Questions? e-mail Christian Sandvig (csandvig@uiuc.edu)