Re: [DDN] New Book: From Rural Village to Global Village
Hi Heather according to amazon, it is not yet available. Since it is an academic publisher, the volume is not discounted. It is only 176 pages, a small monograph. Where is it available for download as a pdf or other compatible document so that it can benefit the wider community, as appropriate? thank you tom abeles, editor On the Horizon http://www.emeraldinsight.com/oth.htm Heather Hudson wrote: Greetings DDN colleagues: My new book From Rural Village to Global Village: Telecommunications for Development in the Information Age was just published in both hardback and paperback. It is available at a discount from the publisher at erlbaum.com and is also on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Dr. Heather E. Hudson Professor and Director Telecommunications Management and Policy Program School of Business and Management University of San Francisco Phone: 415-422-6642; Fax: 415-422-2502; Email:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Is the Internet the New Social Welfare Delivery System?
Linda has hit the $100 computer on the head from both the philosophical and the legal perspective (PhD/JD) First, western law is based on precedent- case law- the past. It is reactive even in its pro-active mode. It establishes the game, the rules or box in which we play and spends its time plugging leaks where some party has been able to work around the rules of the game. It removes the need for trust and thus becomes problematic in a world where players from different games meet on the field. Hence the current push for a model based on democratic neo-classical economics as the gold standard Few discuss the metaphysical underpinnings and how the Internet plays here, especially where value systems are equal but not commensurable. Second, we are currently engaged in a discussion about the Digital Divide on this list. This is actually imbedded in a faith-based belief system about the ability of science and technology to be a major component in building a world of equality (however defined). Part of this faith is again imbedded in a western scientific model that all truths must be able to work together or else one is not a truth- That holds for natural science and the constructs of mathematics by definition. It does not hold for social systems which may have value systems that are incommensurable. In other words, my life-style or world view (as an individual or a country, for example) may not be able to be merged with that of another. The hope imbedded in the Digital Divide argument is that with the Internet we can find a way to bring parties together in some cosmic Noosphere of harmony because once we are all connected, we will find the common ground. Thus the issue raised in this thread, particularly by LDMF, calls the question- one that Huxley raises in Brave New World and Stephen raises in A Diamond Age, for example-- It runs counter to much of the sentiment within the socially liberal communities and definitely is counter to the true or Enlightenment Liberals-both of whom have faith that social systems, like science can find a uniform and commensurable set of values that brings the world into harmony- On earth that is and not in some etheral life in a spiritual world. thoughts? tom abeles ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] personal vis social and the academic
Joseph Beckmann wrote, in a small part: ...The computer is not the Great Instructor, but, rather, a really responsive library to which any student can contribute and from which any class can be improved. Surely the small school movement has stressed the interpersonal networking of a team of teachers with teams of students, but such teams are not exclusive to the size of the school. --- I am having difficulty with this thread. Here are issues which leave me puzzled: 1) The comparison between school size and brick space vs click space is done in a standard comparative fashion. There is an unspoken norm, for example the small classroom and then the variances in size or technology are made in an extrapolist mode of comparison. If one looks at MMRPG's (the world role playing games) the experience is not exactly mappable into or easily compared to any of the first generation academic use of e-learning or schools as most of us have experienced them, yet users of MMRPG's as learning tools find much of the intamcy and community of small schools and much of the didactic learning of the no significant difference discussants. The typical e-learning in place today, regardless of technology is a crude mapping of brick into click with the idea of not significantly changing the playing field for all players be they the teachers or the students. 2) A number of futurists whose forte and interest is in the arena of education, particularly the post secondary arena see little need for the teacher as either the lecturer or the infamous guide. This may differ in the preK-9 arena and perhaps we should separate these arbitrarily. Many of these issues is based on trust- trust on the part of the teacher of a student and turst on the part of the student that the guide is there as a safety net. Yet we know that most of us from birth to death are curious learners. 3) what is the role of education. In many instance the issue is certification- the credits and the degrees. In such an atomosphere its the bottom line that is critical and not the social games. If certification requires group play such as discussions to be certified- eg no child left behind- then students get good at playing this game. At the post secondary level, where the college degree is considered a private good, more and more, few can afford, or believe they can afford a hand crafted small college experience- that is left to those whose financial resources allow the customized educational experience. Some students go so far to admit that if they could write one check and get the diploma, they would. It seems that the exchanges here are about some ideal, the world of Newman, von Humboldt and Kant. it seems more about trying to find a way to rebuild a lost past whether using technology or good old brick space. One might want to look at technology use, not in the US, but perchance in Japan, China or in the corporate world. thoughts? tom abeles ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] after the axial age
Taran Rampersad wrote: After the Axial Age, everyone became an expert. -- No one since history began has ever believed this In fact, just the opposite- there are wonderful tales from all parts of the world where persons were asked to solve riddles or slay dragons to win riches in wealth and love. The consequences of failure were usually death or some lesser, but equally frightening fate, like being eaten by a dragon. Unfortunately, today there is some sort of sense that the common individual, the person on the street, so to speak, should have just as much voice as the expert. Even Socrates did not bellieve this rhetoric in practice and Plato definitely didn't (Axial Age individuals). And the person on the street certainly does not expect to have his/her neighbor do heart surgery. Certainly Buddha and Mohamid would not have achieved their stature if this equality Myth were accepted. Acts of wisdom have consequences, except for academic and ICT consultants. In the case of academics, they get a paper and advance whether the project succeeds or fails- For ICT consultants, a failure can be turned into another contract. The consequences of actions do not carry commensurate penalties for failure, or rewards for success. On the other hand, private sector participants in the world of ICT's face real consequences for their entrepreneurial decisions. ICT's are not the magical key or keystone which, when slipped into place, open and stabilize the Star Gate or portal to Eden or, at least to some world which is better than a disease ridden village with no water, sewage or electricity. Is there salvation for an ICT-for-Development apostate? thoughts? tom abeles ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Re: The Personal vs the Social Computer Was: Update on the Simputer
Here is where the technological articles of faith play an interesting roll In one african village there is only enough fuel to run the generator for a few hours/day. the choice of how to use those precious KW/hrs is in the hands of the person controlling the keys to the generator. The decision has been made to use those electrons to run a TV set, for entertainment purposes. In the US, when TV's were first introduced, those below the poverty line had the devices when the middle class decided to spend their fiscal resources elsewhere. In Mexico, I was in a small village where the kids would spend their pesos on electronic games and sweets. It is now verified that, in the US, college students spend more time playing computer games than studying (not sure of the details) In the US, major highways increased the access of farmers to markets for their goods. It also increased the concentration of folk into regional centers leading to the demise of rural communities and business in favor of regional big box stores. One must be careful about what one wishes for; you might, like Midas, get that wish thoughts? tom abeles Sandra Andrews wrote: Thank you, Aditie, for giving us a look at a plausible scenario in rural India. Frankly I do see Taran's work as investigating such scenarios as he travels, and I am eager to hear what he finds. Perhaps he will find some places where a simputer would be appropriate, and others where it would not be so. But if we have enough information, we might be able to find flexible enough answers. Here is another scenario to consider, this time in Mexico. The background: The group I am involved with, floaters.orghttp://floaters.org, has historically focused on those who are *least likely to have access. Living in Arizona as we do, various group members have developed a small number of volunteer- and donation-based technology integration projects in Mexico. Here is one finding: Unless we can offer solar-powered technology, or better infrastructure, home-based computing is not going to work in some areas, even in a city. The scenario: If you live in a small home, with no running water perhaps (I mention this just to give you something to visualize), and if the only electrical outlet is that attached to a bare light fixture hanging from the ceiling, then the chances of frying your keyboard (or worse) are high. You'd really have to replace your surge protector often, more often than would be practical. The answer for now might be a shared device requiring little maintenance, in a place sheltered from dust. And perhaps users could also store smart cards or flash drives there. Solar powered devices would be nice, but you'd still have the problem of dust, even more where the floor is earth - remember, there are cultural reasons as well as economic reasons for dirt floors. So a place to store your computing device would be important. And - these problems represent just one scenario and not even a complete picture at that! What about local ethnic rivalries, for example, which we have also run into, to our own astonishment? I think success is more likely when users have been given enough information to help design their own solutions that will work for them and their communities, and then have been given the support to do so. Taran, please let us know if you visit the Cunas, and what happens there with the technology. Sandy ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Update on the Simputer
There is an essay with a title, something to the effect, The Fear of God and the Need to Acquire where there is a line, paraphrased, which says that there is a problem when the only way a person can show love for his/her spouse is to go to bed with them or BUY them something. One must realize that secular humanism is just as much a religion as Christianity or other professed religions and the sacramental technology produced by science is the equivalent of a communion wafer. The electronic tent proposed by John is the equivalent of an old fashioned Revival meeting which one finds in the United States in some fundamentalist ministries- a calling for all techno-development acolytes and disciples. Now, I do believe in such get-togethers. The teach-ins and be-ins and the plethora of fests for farmers, tsunamis, aids... are all examples and all moved the world to a little better place. But to enshrine a piece of technology on some sacred platform comes straight out of some science fiction novel or TV commercial for any of the products which will make us younger, sexier, more desirable and successful. Buy a Simputer and you, too, will realize the consumptive success of the characters on the old program Dallas. I have said on this list that once the apostles of ICT gain sufficient followers then every micro-technology company from IBM, Dell, Microsoft, Motorola, etc will be on the evangelical trail seeking converts to their products and services. The Simputer is a false God and the ICT disciples are members of an aberrant branch of the faith based secular humanism. thoughts? tom abeles John Hibbs wrote: At 10:02 AM -0700 5/29/05, Dr. Steve Eskow wrote: If the Simputer is a superior product, and mass producing it will dramatically lower its price, the Simputer firm might emulate Negroponte and insist on mass orders. Insist? How? How much good would it do to set a date ceartain - as Earth Day has - and make a 24 hour, round the clock, round the world - effort to focus on this call? An event designed to engage grant writers, pundits, distance educators, distance trainers, radio stations, humanitarian relief agencies, the UN, appropriate government officials at high levels. Is there a better way that picking a date certain - say six months from now? - and then putting our collective shoulders together to make sure that a zillion people hear of the Simputer - and cause the ordering in the millions? John Hibbs http://www.bfranklin.edu/johnhibbs P.S. Sam Johnson says that nothing concentrates the mind like a hanging. I say that nothing concentrates the mind like an Big Event with a date certain. What else will turn insist into a collective action? ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] personal vis social and the academic
Hi Steve I want to take my remarks in another direction. The basic background is the growing number of conservative academics and students, particularly in the United States who are arguing that The Academy has a liberal bias making it difficult for dissenting voices to be heard from the faculty side and an even more difficult for a voice to be fairly heard from the side of the student. This plays critically in the issues surrounding the digital divide where it is an article of faith that the introduction of appropriate technology, in this case computers, as the way for social change to occur. Both the hope and the vehicles of possibilities (technoloty and process) are products of a liberal vision (not the Enlightenment liberal or libertarian, but social liberal). What makes this of concern is that this dogma is also being formalized and propagated in The Academy in a somewhat cloistered environment (mostly to protect an emerging faith amongst young turks who have to play the publish/perish game or who are trying to create sacred liturgy). And it is not subject to the critical analysis so needed if substantive change is to be promulgated. The problem, of course, is that the funds from foundations and public agencies are also members of this faith based community and dogma apostates are certain to become fiscally isolated whether they embrace the liberal social models or the more traditional neo-classical ideals. This, of course, paralyzes critical thinking at a time when such is badly needed. It doesn't sit well within The Academy because they too are fiscally dependent; but more importantly, they are tied to peer acceptance as both faculty and students, a powerful pair which checks most critical thought, especially if it is seen to immediately affect efforts to bring help to the disenfranchised. thoughts? tom abeles ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN]The Personal vs the Social Computer Was: Update on the Simputer
Dr. Steve Eskow wrote (in part) Personal or social computing: which is the right road for those without computers and their benefits to get access to them? == I am not sure that this is the question. The first question to ask is the one to ourselves which seeks to unravel just how much of our cultural values we are imposing on this and related issues. In the US, there is an interesting term, The New Elite coined by David Lebedof, to designate the enthusiastic, college graduates, usually, who want to bring the world together and thus have some images of what the introduction of ICT's will do for this socially engineered ideal. One must remember that the Marxist models, with a notable exception, have collapsed (as The End of History so eloquently argues). On the other hand the neoclassical economic model of free enterprise has also failed. The Myth of Progress is not transferable from the world of science/engineering to the socio/economic world with people added into the mix. The second issue/question has to do with the interoperability and connectivity between computers. This impacts hardware and software. But the idea is to allow information to flow seamlessly across the Net. Of course such seamlessness opens systems up to virus transmissions of all types also. This latter can be as insidious as product marketing (say of Coca Cola). The third issue is portability; and here we are still thinking computers when we know that the universal phone/computer does exist and there are educational institutions planning e-learning with these dual band devices. Thus, in many ways the simputer in its current embodiment represents past visions. It is true in developing countries where cells are often ubiquitous. Thus support of the Simputer, in its current embodiment and the comparison with laptops or desktops is moot. Rather it is :academic which seems to be a better term. thoughts? tom abeles ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] The real digital divide (fwd)
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[DDN] mobile global broadband
The following from Kurzweil's email newsletter: * Mobile broadband Internet access anywhere KurzweilAI.net March 14, 2005 * Three new Inmarsat 4 communications satellites will provide global broadband Internet access to mobile users for the first time. The first satellite, launched March 10, will cover most of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The second, planned for summer 2005 launch, will cover South America, most of North America, the Atlantic Ocean and... http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=4312m=6879 ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] The real digital divide (fwd)
Hi Andy The mobile phone and radio, as others, here, have suggested seems to have been spot on. What we must also realize is that the many emerging features of the mobile phone, including txt msgs, gps and even pda capabilities are being actively deployed in the developed world for a number of commercial uses that, in the past, would have required a pc. Some applications, of course, require reading skills. But for many it is not needed. A colleague has been in a car where four different occupants were on cells in four different languages. The claim that phone access is not available in some remote locations is less of a problem than the regulatory issues within a country As I have said elsewhere, the issues are at the institutional levels more than in the technology arena. It seems that eager hands/minds in the NGO and foundation community find it easier to embrace a village project and rationalize it when a combined macro effort, with the stroke of a pen could release more opportunity and allow those who want to work in the field to be much more effective. The other issue in the DD which relates to this is where exactly to attack the problem. For example, working in a remote village is interesting: but when compared to the number of disenfranchised who are living on the streets of major urban areas driven out of the economc dearth of the remote villages to the city, then bringing the digital world to the urban poor seems to have leverage. Why in a remote village in Bangladesh when the urban poor in the streets of Dhaka mean you could begin right after landing. thoughts? tom abeles Andy Carvin wrote: From the latest issue of The Economist -ac The real digital divide IT WAS an idea born in those far-off days of the internet bubble: the worry that as people in the rich world embraced new computing and communications technologies, people in the poor world would be left stranded on the wrong side of a digital divide. Five years after the technology bubble burst, many ideas from the timethat eyeballs matter more than profits or that internet traffic was doubling every 100 dayshave been sensibly shelved. But the idea of the digital divide persists. On March 14th, after years of debate, the United Nations will launch a Digital Solidarity Fund to finance projects that address the uneven distribution and use of new information and communication technologies and enable excluded people and countries to enter the new era of the information society. Yet the debate over the digital divide is founded on a myththat plugging poor countries into the internet will help them to become rich rapidly. snip Plenty of evidence suggests that the mobile phone is the technology with the greatest impact on development. A new paper finds that mobile phones raise long-term growth rates, that their impact is twice as big in developing nations as in developed ones, and that an extra ten phones per 100 people in a typical developing country increases GDP growth by 0.6 percentage points. And when it comes to mobile phones, there is no need for intervention or funding from the UN: even the world's poorest people are already rushing to embrace mobile phones, because their economic benefits are so apparent. Mobile phones do not rely on a permanent electricity supply and can be used by people who cannot read or write. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Yale Global Flow of Information Conference - Apr.1-3, 2005
Hi Andy Actually, this is done currently in asynchronous conferencing systems where there are a number of options. The system can notify a participant that a post has been made and you can go to to read and respond, sometimes the post is sent and the system can select how you can respond, either from your email or by going to the site. Each has trade-offs. These have been around. I have suggested a long time ago in a past far-far away that such a system is better than listservs because it keeps topics threaded and lets folks track only the threads of interest, while being alerted of new threads. Some asynchonous systems allow internal cross listings/linkings and other user driven features. These are over 20 years old- ancient by web time. One of the problems with listservs with floating communities such as DDN is that few threads have a long life- short attention spans and other pressing issues tend to lead most discussions into quick, terminal, illnesses. One of the problems is that a general list often leads to ideas that go off-list on a person-to-person exchange when specifics seem better conducted in private. This says that the lists serve a number of purposes much like breaks and receptions at a conference. The social dynamics of lists are often not a subject of discussion and I am not sure if they have been or need to be studied other than for an academic. thoughts? tom abeles Andy Carvin wrote: Hi Taran, Actually, this is something I've contemplated on and off for the last couple of years. While the current version of the DDN website doesn't allow category tagging in its blogs, we could always use Movable Type, which we have installed on the CMC website (http://cmc.edc.org). Were you envisioning that this would be done automatically, or would you expect to have a person or persons posting and categorizing each message? I imagine this would take some editorial judgment, and thus be done manually. Anyway, it's an interesting idea; I'll talk it over with my EDC colleagues. ac The new DigitalDivide website is a definite step in the right direction. It's bridging a cultural divide between email, RSS and content management systems in a good way. There's a few things I have ideas on, like creating a 'Digital Divide weblog' off of the list which handles each new topic as an entry, and anything with 'Re:' in it as a response to the entry. Why is that important? One of the main problem of listservs is that people have to know about them. Another aspect is that someone who is busy may not participate on the list, but they might post a comment to a weblog entry. Accessibility. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Yale Global Flow of Information Conference - Apr.1-3, 2005
Hi Andy I would defer to the software experts on this list- I know there are a number of open source asynchronous systems out there. Blogs or weblogs started out as personal journals or musings of individuals. Some have grown a number of similar features to the ones I have suggested and which have evolved over time. I am interested in functionality more than trying to differentiate by type. In reality many of these ideas are now merging and we are only a few baby steps away from an open source 3D conference space such as Croquet where even more flexibility will be available, including avatars. If you can define functionality and those here can agree as to what might be desired, we can see what is available with both functionality and flexibility. thoughts? Andy Carvin wrote: Hi Tom, Are any of these tools free or open source? What would you see as the pros and cons of these tools versus having a blog capture DDN list messages? thanks, ac Tom Abeles wrote: Hi Andy Actually, this is done currently in asynchronous conferencing systems where there are a number of options. The system can notify a participant that a post has been made and you can go to to read and respond, sometimes the post is sent and the system can select how you can respond, either from your email or by going to the site. Each has trade-offs. These have been around. I have suggested a long time ago in a past far-far away that such a system is better than listservs because it keeps topics threaded and lets folks track only the threads of interest, while being alerted of new threads. Some asynchonous systems allow internal cross listings/linkings and other user driven features. These are over 20 years old- ancient by web time. One of the problems with listservs with floating communities such as DDN is that few threads have a long life- short attention spans and other pressing issues tend to lead most discussions into quick, terminal, illnesses. One of the problems is that a general list often leads to ideas that go off-list on a person-to-person exchange when specifics seem better conducted in private. This says that the lists serve a number of purposes much like breaks and receptions at a conference. The social dynamics of lists are often not a subject of discussion and I am not sure if they have been or need to be studied other than for an academic. thoughts? tom abeles Andy Carvin wrote: Hi Taran, Actually, this is something I've contemplated on and off for the last couple of years. While the current version of the DDN website doesn't allow category tagging in its blogs, we could always use Movable Type, which we have installed on the CMC website (http://cmc.edc.org). Were you envisioning that this would be done automatically, or would you expect to have a person or persons posting and categorizing each message? I imagine this would take some editorial judgment, and thus be done manually. Anyway, it's an interesting idea; I'll talk it over with my EDC colleagues. ac The new DigitalDivide website is a definite step in the right direction. It's bridging a cultural divide between email, RSS and content management systems in a good way. There's a few things I have ideas on, like creating a 'Digital Divide weblog' off of the list which handles each new topic as an entry, and anything with 'Re:' in it as a response to the entry. Why is that important? One of the main problem of listservs is that people have to know about them. Another aspect is that someone who is busy may not participate on the list, but they might post a comment to a weblog entry. Accessibility. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Yale Global Flow of Information Conference - Apr. 1-3, 2005
John has hit the nail on the head. First, for a global flow conference its decidedly being seen through US eyes. Secondly, the home base for the conference organizers is the Yale Law School which further narrows the scope of the conference and finally, as John has so perceptively picked up on, its a conference where most of the materials could just as easily be put up as a web cast or even as web pages with comment software to allow exchanges between all. And, in that respect it is anachronistic. Additionally, in most of these cases, panelist have expenses covered making the movement of bodies to the conference a decidedly costly event when most could be conferenced. This conference provides a brilliant opportunity to better understand where the golobal flow of information is, today. thoughts? tom abeles John Hibbs wrote: With all due respect, Eddan, why do I have to travel to Yale to participate in the conference? Arguably, Web based conferences are better than physical ones. And a whole lot cheaper. Nope, we can't duplicate the warm and fuzzy the comes from shoulder to shoulder linkages at physical conferences. But everything else can be done exceptionally well, especially for attendees of a kind that are likely to attend the Global Flow of Information Conference. NOTE: Several times we have tried to hold combination conferences - where there are virtual and physical attendees. I am not sure these work well enough to justify the work and handicaps. However, I deeply believe in the idea that one-to-many lectures and power point presentations (in all their glory) should be put up on the web in advance of the physical convention. Attendees can do themselves a real service by viewing these presentations in advance, leaving more time for QAthe best part of all lectures, in my opinion. At 7:08 AM -0500 2/3/05, Eddan Katz wrote: The Information Society Project at Yale Law School is proud to announce that registration is now open for The Global Flow of Information Conference 2005, which will take place on April 1-3, 2005, at the Yale Law School. http://islandia.law.yale.edu/isp/GlobalFlow/registration.htm ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] RSS: The Next ICT Literacy Challenge?
This thread puzzles me from a number of perspectives. First, RSS while a powerful aggregating search tool is still mapping brick space into click space, the same as what we are currently doing with e-learning using the standard Learning Management Systems and their variances. It has, as has been carefully and repeatedly noted, the propensity for overwhelming the individual and, as some have mentioned regarding the developing world, chewing up costly bandwidth. What this list, in its pragmatic, tip-of-the-iceberg, manner shows is that self-organizing networks of human biocomputers probably is a more effective learning/sorting and aggregating vehicle. The corporate world, as Knowledge Management clearly shows, has embraced these self-organizing communities and have developed a variety of web deliverable vehicles for enhancing these. Wiki's offer a peek at the possibilities as do blogs. Second there has been a side thread about the indifference of youth to using these knowledge systems and becoming committed to more than vegging out in front of the telly after classes. Let us dismiss the idea that this is the older generation just upset with the profligate ways of today's young folk. Perhaps one needs to look at the gaming community to see that there is life and hope, particularly if one follows the MMRPG world (Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Games) where networks of participants engage each other at levels far expanded from the action on the screen. And one can not overlook the efforts now with the domain of serious games which are a much wider genre than just those used by the military or tech folk to check out systems. What one might just be seeing is a bifurcation impacted by the arrival of the web and big pipes. What this means for the digitally disenfranchised may not imply just wiring the world and putting a computer in the hands of all. That would be falling into the same trap that concerns me (see above). thoughts? tom abeles ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Tim Berners-Lee: Weaving a Semantic Web
Hi John
You are right to speculate about these issues. Remember that old cliche,
Be careful for what you wish, you may get it. There are many fables
which also echo these ideas, including Midas.
There are those who are so enthralled with the technological
possibilities that they become irritated at those who would riaise
philosophical issues whether it is around the digital divide, Open
Source, or Open Access and their variants. One can remember nuclear
energy which was going to be so cheap that we wouldn't have to meter our
electricity, the Green Revolution and the entire appropriate
technology movement.
As I have mentioned, elsewhere, Dr. Gelernter, a victim of the infamous
unibomber, wrote that at the end of WWII science/technology had
realized the largest dreams presented at the 1939 World's Fair and yet,
the problems which plague humans are still with us today.
If one understands the underlying issues surrounding the arena of
Knowledge Management, one understands, quickly, that while technology
is a facilitator, the problems of knowledge access and exchange are
primarily contextural and human, issues not resolvable by technology.
Does this mean that one capitulates? No! But what it does suggest is
that stringing physical and virtual wires and distributing hardware in
remote locations bypassed by the digital highway is a simple default
position. It is easy and safe to see and touch hardware. It borders on
cargo cult thinking. There be dragons here.
thoughts?
tom abeles
John Hibbs wrote:
Thank you Andy Carvin for a fine, fine post about an exceptionally
complex subject - the Semantic Web. Stephen Downes has helped me along
with this sort of thing, especially with his daily publication,
http://www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm
{Plug for Downes: Nobody on this list won't already have a full mail
box; but if ever there was a publication that deserved attention by
innovative people, it that which Downes manages to write almost every
day.}
But -- About the Semantic Web - Am I the only one who thinks this all
sounds Orwellian? Could all this end up being counter productive?
While I have written extensively that we live in a globalized and
Googlized world, I often wonder if the attraction of all this
knowledge sharing and inter, intra, instant, international networking
doesn't - in the end - cause us to be too cemented to the new machinery?
When is it timely to NOT turn on our desktop? laptop? PDA? cell phone?
iPod? pager? Did I miss something by not watching C-span? posting to
my favorite blog? reading the political editorials? most recent
technology magazine?
When do I get time for Sports Illustrated? Hustler Magazine? My
grandchildren?
What is the last straw that we can put on this camel? Or our own
individual camel? At what point do administrators and teachers throw
up their hands and extend to the innovators the middle finger? Does it
make for greater divides? Or smaller ones?
Is there never a time when it's okay to just go out and play?
*Nobody* knows the answer to these questions. I just raise them,
partly to thank Andy and others on this list for their observations
and commentary -- which I value and read closely. But also, partly,to
vent my own frustration - and worry - that while this stuff is both
fuel for deep thinking it's also an addictive that makes for fat
arses and, maybe, less love making?
Should we, like cigarettes, put warnings on our packages?
John Hibbs
http://www.bfranklin.edu/johnhibbs
At 2:45 PM -0400 9/29/04, Andy Carvin wrote:
Tim Berners-Lee: Weaving a Semantic Web
http://www.edwebproject.org/andy/blog/
The MIT Technology Review Emerging Technologies conference featured a
keynote by Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web. Promising
a one-hour talk in 30 minutes, Berners-Lee gave an animated,
rapid-fire presentation -- more like a 90-minute talk in 30 minutes
-- about the Semantic Web, his latest initiative.
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