You’re Leaving a Digital Trail. What About Privacy? - NYTimes.com

You’re Leaving a Digital Trail. What About Privacy? - NYTimes.com:

People and organizations, he said, are increasingly choosing to interact with one another through digital means that record traces of those interactions. “This allows scientists to study those interactions in ways that five years ago we never would have thought we could do,” he said.

ONCE based on networked personal computers, collective intelligence systems are increasingly being created to leverage wireless networks of digital sensors and smartphones. In one application, groups of scientists and political and environmental activists are developing “participatory sensing” networks.

This type of work with this interconnected network of cell phones, computer networks, and GPS networks creates a new discipline that Dr. Pentland calls "reality mining" -- in reality an extension of data mining tapping into public data.

Issues of privacy and control of one's personal data, and big-brother type surveillance become important, issues which Steve Steinberg articulates in his .CSV blog in April 08

This emerging area doesn’t have a catchy moniker yet, but you can think of it as an amalgamation of crowd theory, human terrain mapping, and social simulation. It is the science of groups; it is a new kind of quantitative political science.

The tools and theories needed to analyze social interactions are just now reaching the level of sophistication — in accuracy, in robustness – necessary to leave the lab and enter commercial duty. We are in a period analogous to the early 1970s, when developments like the Capital Asset Pricing Model and the Black-Scholes equation transformed finance, changing it from an art to a science, and opening enormous new markets in the process. Now, new equations describing “crowd dynamics” are about to change our lives. And not always for the better. This is one of the most significant technology trends I have seen in years; it may also be one of the most pernicious. (.CSV)

Search Engine | CBC Radio | Is Canada becoming a digital ghetto?

Search Engine | CBC Radio | Is Canada becoming a digital ghetto?:

1. Last week the CRTC sided with Bell against a group of small Internet Service Providers who want to offer their customers unthrottled connections where what they download is their own business and not subject to interference.

2. In last week’s throne speech the Conservative government renewed their intention to “modernize” Canadian copyright law. Their effort to do so last session was Bill C-61, a woefully unbalanced and retrograde piece of legislation that led to the greatest citizen backlash to any proposed bill in recent memory. Yet there has been no indication from new Industry Minister Tony Clement that a much-needed public consultation will take place. The best he has offered is the possibility of a “slightly different” version of the bill.

So much for net neutrality as far as Canada is concerned...

Beloit College Mindset List

Beloit College Mindset List:
Number 31 on the Mindset list for the class of 2012

These students,

have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola.

It has been that many years, and I still feel peeved that they would eliminate raw umber.

70 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube | Open Culture

70 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube | Open Culture
Perhaps it is because "YouTube unfortunately makes these collections difficult to find" but it is only recently that I have stumbled across some amazing content on YouTube, for example, just the other day I found some interviews with J. G. Ballard. I have also enjoyed some of the @GoogleTalks, listed on the oculture page.

William Gibson Interview « Void Manufacturing

William Gibson Interview « Void Manufacturing:

UG: In Spook Country, the net is introduced in a quite specific way; it is somehow turned inside out and projected into real space. You have invented a new art form for that purpose called locative art. For example, you describe a virtual monument on the site of River Phoenix’s death. Why did you choose to write on GPS?

WG: I wanted a way to visualise the extent to which something has changed since I started writing about information technology. When I coined the word cyberspace, cyberspace was there, and everything else was here. That has reversed itself over the course of my writing. I literally think that cyberspace is now here, and a complete lack of connectivity is now there. If we could see the wireless exchanges of digital information taking place around us, we would be living in a much busier visual landscape. Most of what we do as a society we now either primarily do digitally, in what we used to call cyberspace, or we simultaneously do digitally and in the physical world. If you are driving with a GPS system, you are simultaneously driving your car and manoeuvring your car through a digital construct. I believe that very few of us are aware of the extent to which that has already happened, and I suspect that I’m not aware of it to anywhere near the real extent to which it has happened. So in this book I was looking for a more or less imaginary emergent technology or art form that will allow me to simply bring that up. The conversation in the coffee shop on Sunset Boulevard is a little more grandstanding than I usually do. I don’t think I have had a scene in a novel before where three people sit down and basically talk about a William Gibson novel without ever really mentioning it.

I guess that is the point: "very few of us are aware of the extent to which" large sections of human activity and social life have transferred themselves to what Gibson would once have called cyberspace, and very few of us are aware of the negotiation of "digital constructs" that have merged seamlessly into our experience of the real.

Web 2.0 Summit

Web 2.0 Summit
I especially enjoyed listening to Tim O'Reilly talking to Paul Maritz (VMware, Inc.) and others about cloud computing. Maritz makes the point that we are moving away from a device centric world to an information centric world. This is something we already intuitively know actively assume in our dealings with our data and information. Maritz also points out that putting our information in the cloud (in any way, even by typing a term into a search box) is taking part in an information marketplace. We are giving away some of our privacy and some personal information about ourselves in order that we get some benefit in return (e.g. an answer to our query). On a larger scale, an organization putting its information in the cloud--into that marketplace--and allowing others to add value to it through things like mashups or user tagging can make our information more valuable--to others but also to us.

3 Ways Web-Based Computing Will Change Colleges - Chronicle.com

3 Ways Web-Based Computing Will Change Colleges - Chronicle.com:

"At first I wondered why Google needed to demonstrate its popular e-mail service. Didn’t students already know how to click send? But when I hopped on the bus at George Washington University last month, I saw that the demos highlighted all the other Web services in its Google Apps for Education e-mail package for colleges, which includes a Web-based word processor called Google Docs, a Web-based spreadsheet program, and other tools.

Those tools are the cloud computing part—the term usually refers to programs that run over the Internet rather than locally on a user’s computer. And Google officials explained that many students don’t yet know about those new Web-based services."

and then an anecdote

At a summer program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that I sat in on last year, I asked students whether they had stayed up all night at the library finishing their final group projects, as the program’s organizers had predicted. One of the students looked at me as if I were crazy. Yes, he had worked late—until about 3 a.m.—but he had been at home by himself. The students all contributed to a shared document using Google Docs, which anyone in the group could edit online from anywhere. All of the students were essentially logged in to the same computer (in this case off at Google somewhere), one adding a paragraph at the end, another changing the font, and another rewriting the title. There was no longer any need to worry about getting everyone in the same room at the same time.

It is interesting that Google spends time promoting this service, letting students see the advantage of this type of virtual collaboration. Will this be something that all students will suddenly grasp--will there be a tipping point beyond which it will be a strategy too obvious to need explaining--or will students need to learn new strategies of collaboration and communication? And, is Google not just teaching students about this, but also gathering information on how informal groups like this collaborate?

Universities review plagiarism policies to catch Facebook cheats | Education | guardian.co.uk

Universities review plagiarism policies to catch Facebook cheats | Education | guardian.co.uk:

"Universities are reviewing their plagiarism policies to clamp down on students who use Facebook to cheat.

Plagiarism experts have warned universities and colleges to be aware of students copying from each other when discussing coursework on social networking sites.

Gill Rowell, from the consultancy Plagiarism Advice, said universities needed to rework their plagiarism policies with 'internet working in mind' but insisted institutions were taking cheating seriously enough."

Although Facebook gets the headline--and obviously represents one form of what could be called collaborative dishonesty--the article goes on to talk about Wikipedia and Googled essays as other sources of plagiarized material.

Social Media Information Flow

Social Media Information Flow - The Complexity of the Web 2.0 World

This may be a bit more extreme than the average person's social media information flow, but I created a diagram (using MindManager) showing how the information I create flows through the online world.

It does show the complexity consumers are dealing with in the Web 2.0 world, and it will be interesting to see how the leading services help us deal with this. Facebook is of course the best example to date.

This is the question, how do we deal with this and how much is too much to manage. See also, Josh Catone at ReadWriteWeb -- Visualizing Social Media Fatigue

Ning and the Proliferation of DIY Social Networks - eMarketer

Ning and the Proliferation of DIY Social Networks - eMarketer

To satisfy users who seek more control over their online socializing experiences, a number of do-it-yourself (DIY) networks have emerged. The sites allow for unprecedented levels of customization for networks on nearly any topic, as well as the ability to connect to others who share the same interests and goals.

Is this the future of social networking...or just the logical conclusion that will never arrive?

Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive Dave Winer says I sound like a monkey «

Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive Dave Winer says I sound like a monkey «:

"The Social Graph is NOT my social network.

My Social Network is my friends list.

But the Social Graph shows a LOT more than that."

Who can say if this is the right term for this concept. However, it seems like the crucial element of applications like Facebook.

Face to Facebook Learning | Learn at All Levels | Fast Company

Face to Facebook Learning | Learn at All Levels | Fast Company:

"It was from this perspective I felt disoriented as a perspective client used Compete Inc.'s analysis of what people do on Facebook as proof (proof?) it's not a place where people learn. The manager was echoing nonsense I hear from educators and business people alike who argue social networking does not constitute learning and that a platform like Facebook is too immature to foster authentic education."

Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder | Technology | guardian.co.uk:

"But Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and creator of the computer operating system GNU, said that cloud computing was simply a trap aimed at forcing more people to buy into locked, proprietary systems that would cost them more and more over time.

'It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign,' he told The Guardian.

'Somebody is saying this is inevitable – and whenever you hear somebody saying that, it's very likely to be a set of businesses campaigning to make it true.'"

It is kind of ironic to post this on a blog, I guess, because it exists in this cloud, and therefore does not remain on my machine and in my control. It is useful to make the link here, and not store it on my personal machine, and not download the article on Stallman to my personal machine. I see Stallman's point, but the question is more and more, "where does the cloud end?" In other words, the world of the personal machine / archive / library extends from one's own machine to the network and to the wider web in a way that is more and more seamless. There are things one wants on one's machine, and other things which are more conveniently held elsewhere.

Facebook can ruin your life. And so can MySpace, Bebo... - News, Gadgets & Tech - The Independent

Facebook can ruin your life. And so can MySpace, Bebo... - News, Gadgets & Tech - The Independent:

"At Cambridge, at least one don has admitted 'discreetly' scanning applicants' pages – a practice now widespread in job recruitment. A survey released by Viadeo said that 62 per cent of British employers now check the Facebook, MySpace or Bebo pages of some applicants, and that a quarter had rejected candidates as a result. Reasons given by employers included concerns about 'excess alcohol abuse', ethics and job 'disrespect'"

Detailed article on the decline of privacy or death of privacy on social networks.

Creative Cities / Strip Mines

STRIP MINING FOR CREATIVE CITIES?

Creative Cities are built on top of existing communities, strip-mining them of their natural resources, displacing residents, cultural practices, community infrastructure and replacing vital social safety nets with simulacra of pre-existing forms. Middle and upper middle class consumers are celebrated for their ability to consume and territorialize hip, urban spaces. Meanwhile, the working poor are left to work in precarious, low-wage "uncreative" jobs that sustain creative lifestyles, living in increasingly expensive and inaccessible neighbourhoods.

While Creative City rhetoric touts a potential to invent economic powerhouses of major cities across the world, with trickle down benefits to existing communities, the practices of these economic initiatives often leave behind a devastation of neighbourhoods. Once culturally rich and economically viable, they become a playground for developers and investors looking for short term gain.

With this exhibition we are looking for artwork that explores processes of strip-mining, replica and simulacra as they relate to Creative Cities.

Tad and Molly: is it OK to flirt on Facebook? - Times Online

Tad and Molly: is it OK to flirt on Facebook? - Times Online:

Tad: Who said they were? Social networking sites are the modern-day answer to the 19th-century collector's display case of curiosities.
Molly: I'd say they are a stalking mechanism for sexual predators and their prey.
Tad: That too. But where you find fault, I see merit. Facebook is a cheap alternative to hiring a private investigator. Once you're “friends” with someone, you can look at their photos, see what they've been up to and who they were touching while they were doing it.You can also check who their friends are and generally vet a potential love interest.

Divergent views on Facebook--a way to find out about someone. A way of letting someone find out about you. Relevant information / too much information. Surely, one puts forward the kind of impression of oneself that one imagines will be attractive or acceptable, but it is still information. The question is, perhaps, does one have to reveal oneself in order to have access to information about the other?

globeandmail.com: Buddying up to the boss on Facebook

globeandmail.com: Buddying up to the boss on Facebook:

How do you respond to requests to connect with superiors, peers and other work-related people in a forum created mainly to share personal material about life outside of work?

This is the issue. The need to find a way to manage the intersection of a personal network and a work related network / a social identity and what Manuel Castells calls a "project identity"

Handwritten Typographers

Handwritten Typographers:

In these days where looping strokes have been replaced by keyboard clickety-clack, typographers define the style and tone of our missives. Would you like to be elegant, modern, childish or ... disturbed? Then you can choose between Garamond, Montag, Comic Sans, Zebraflesh, and a thousand more.

My hand writing gets more and more cryptic. If I had to choose a font to represent it, the font would have to be something spidery and illegible...

Time for Facebook addicts to face the music - Times Online

Time for Facebook addicts to face the music - Times Online

Facebook defines itself as ‘a social utility that connects you with the people around you’. This could not be further from the truth. Far from serving as an umbilical cord of friendship for the socially deprived, Facebook actively damages interpersonal relationships, harms job prospects, wastes time, and ultimately turns die-hard users totally reclusive.

It may or may not be now, but it will probably end up that way for most people. What was once open and inviting, offering new possibility, becomes overcrowded and difficult to manage. The openness that was attractive becomes oppressive.

CCS Methodology | Critical Code Studies

CCS Methodology | Critical Code Studies: "CCS Methodology
Ξ November 1st, 2007 | → | ∇ test |

To promote close reading of software within socio-historical contexts, CCS offers a set of reading practices to interpret specific aspects of the code. Below is an intial list of “what can be read.” (This list is hardly exclusive but meant more as a starting point for methodologies to be developed at greater length over the course of this blog and the writings related to CCS.)"

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Is Google Making Us Stupid?:

"'Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave?”"

This is readable but predictable, and it fits in with a lot of the general perceptions of what Google & the web are doing to us. But, it would be great to discover something new—some new line of argument.

EDUPUNK

The insanely irresponsible advertising for BlackBoard 8 suggests that Academic Suite release 8.0 will “enhance critical thinking skills” and “improve classroom performance.” What LMS can do this? What Web 2.0 tool can do this? This is total bullshit, how can they make such an irresponsible claim? These things are not done by technology, but rather people thinking and working together. Our technology may afford a unique possibility in this endeavor by bringing disparate individuals together in an otherwise untenable community, yet it doesn’t enhance critical thinking or improve classroom performance, we do that, together.

Interesting discussion of technology in education -- a means or an end, or something else. Read more at bavatuesdays and at Wired Campus and -- a bit over the top, but -- at http://edupunk.org/

Paper Is Out, Cellphones Are In

Paper Is Out, Cellphones Are In (NY Times 18-Mar-08)

The mobile check-in may well be the first step in direct communications between airlines and passengers as they travel. Ultimately, Henry H. Harteveldt, a vice president with Forrester Research, said he expected airlines would use mobile messaging to communicate with passengers about on-board services, rebooking options, baggage pickup and ticket purchases.

Goethe

Found at Varieties of Unreligious Experience

In Rome not a stone was looked at that wasn't shaped. Form had driven out all interest in matter. Now a crystal formation is becoming important again, and a shapeless stone is something. Thus does human nature cast about for help when there is no help left.
Goethe, The Italian Journey, 1788.

Form and formlessness. Human-made forms and natural forms. The fatigue of a world of human-made forms.
Is there a drive to escape human-made symmetry by searching for the formless or by looking for or even using natural forms to shape the human?
Is formlessness the ultimate goal to which we aspire, when we are too surrounded by form? In a structured space, do we seek to avoid yet more structure in trying to create place?

Deyan Sudjic on the city of the future | Art & Architecture | guardian.co.uk Arts

Deyan Sudjic on the city of the future | Art & Architecture | guardian.co.uk Arts:

In New York I listened to Rem Koolhaas behaving badly and blaming our inability to face up to the realities of the contemporary city on our sentimental attachment to Jane Jacobs and the rose-tinted views on street life she expounds in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Ever since the 60s, Jacobs ideas about protecting traditional neighbourhoods from planners trying to carve urban motorway through them have made her a heroine to generations of urban activists.

Is Koolhaas right? Do we have to face the reality of a new city, where community has moved elsewhere--to the computer-mediated realm? But, as an architect he must be concerned with making spaces where places can exist and flourish, even if they have the changing structure of events in the space of flows.

Rem Koolhaas - Dubai - Architecture - New York Times

Rem Koolhaas - Dubai - Architecture - New York Times:

"It has been 12 years since the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas unleashed his concept of “the generic city,” a sprawling metropolis of repetitive buildings centered on an airport and inhabited by a tribe of global nomads with few local loyalties. His argument was that in its profound sameness, the generic city was a more accurate reflection of contemporary urban reality than nostalgic visions of New York or Paris."

This seems an example of the rise of placelessness in the hybrid city. When one is connected to flows of information disconnected from place and to intimate private networks of co-workers or friends, then the place one is in might as well be anywhere.
It is interesting, however, that the architect should take this view of the space he creates, as if celebrating the placelessness that will exist in that space.

Bach and 32

Back to Bach Feb/Mar2007
Paul Griffiths

A note sounds. Then it sounds again. But everything has changed. Not
only is the note colored by a different resonance the second time
around, but featureless time has been marked with the beginnings of a
grid. The one note at the start defined only a before and an after.
The second discloses a pulse. In accordance with this pulse, a third
sound appears, but up a step, encouraging the accompaniment—which has
not drawn attention to itself so far—to move conversely down.

We have reached only the beginning of the second measure of the
Goldberg Variations and already a process is at work, a process that
will be partly completed at the end of this measure but whose every
completion will imply continuation. This first two-measure phrase will
summon another, and so on, until there is a whole thirty-two-measure
dance, which will be only the beginning of a chain of such pieces,
again thirty-two in number.

This link no longer works

The Rise and Rise of Presence Applications « Jared Madden Blog

The Rise and Rise of Presence Applications « Jared Madden Blog:

"Whether you call it micro-blogging, mini-blogging or a presence application (PA), one thing is for certain it is changing the way we connect and interact. PA’s like Twitter and Jaiku (to name a few) have extremely simple interfaces, are easy to comprehend and are highly addictive. ...
So how is this technology changing the way we connect and interact?

Like all great concepts it all comes down to bringing two very simple concepts together. PA’s ‘bridge the gap’ between platforms and allow you to ’subscribe’ to a information source (be it a person or company)."

Yes, but the questions still remains hanging: "how is this technology changing the way we connect and interact?"

Nextcity: The Art of the Possible

Nextcity: The Art of the Possible :: NewMuseum.org:

Emergent digital technologies are rapidly changing both the face of our cities and our daily experience of them, whether invoked in the production of architectural form, the representation of urban space, or our interface to the locative and other services newly available there. Dynamic maps update in real time; garments and spaces deform in response to environmental, biological and even psychological conditions. We find our very emotions made visible, public, and persistently retrievable. Somewhere along the way, we find our notions of public space, participation, and what it means to be urban undergoing the most profound sort of change.

Typewriter illustration

FFFFOUND! Alas I sold my Royal in a garage sale years ago. Ah well.