Posts from — September 2004

gpgNet discussion of OA. The Global Public Goods Network (gpgNet) will host an online discussion of open access from September 20 until October 4, 2004. Everyone interested in the topic is welcome to join. Participants are encouraged to read the gpgNet introduction, the Budapest Open Access Initiative, and my Open Access Overview. gpgNet is a program of the United Nations Development Programme. [Open Access News]

—-

i'll have to participate in this, Vikas is a good colleague.

Jason Nolan, Knowledge Media Design Institute, University of Toronto

Jeremy Hunsinger, Center for Digital Discourse and Culture, Virginia Tech

Submissions due January 15, 2005

''Less of You, More of Us: The Political Economy of Power in Virtual Communities''

The goal is to bring into the dialogue a number of researchers on virtual community who are looking at the borders and peripheral locations that are ignored, unknown or explicitly overlooked. Within the notion that community, often the walls we build around ourselves formÊ mechanism of power and preference, this issue will examine online communities that are excluded or self-excluding from the dominant forms, norms and discourses. For example, there are a large number of researchers inquiring into the recent blogging phenomenon, but I have heard many explicitly exclude technologies/communities such as LiveJournal.com with his 3.8 million users (1.7 active), and discount the value ofÊ teenage bloggers, who are mostly female (67% of Livejournal users). Because researchers tend to cover familiar territories, we encourage authors to explore alternatives. Our issue will provide researchers with the opportunity to expose the readership to a wider sense of virtual community and what is going on at the edges of the event horizon.

Some of the anticipated themes are: hacking virtual community; the overlooked, broken down, subverted or reconceptualized virtual communities; borders and breaches, the ordering of virtual community; hacktivism; sexually focused virtual communities; questioning the value of online community; collective intelligence is just the fordism of the mind; the Slash Fiction communities; MOOs the early forgotten virtual communities; and the code beneath the community – exploring programmer and system administrative communities.

Submissions should be sent to both: jason.nolan@utoronto.ca and jhuns@vt.edu
Web site: http://www.acm.org/sigs/siggroup

Ten tips for good governance (whether for profit or not). The UK-based Foundation for Good Governance has produced a 10-point plan for running an effective organisation. Although intended for nonprofits, a glance at corporate misdeeds featured daily on business pages suggests the tips may have some relevance to companies too…. [Designing for Civil Society]

—-

good stuff like:

Dig out the constitution, memorandum and articles, trust deed or other such governing document and read it.ÊIt probably needs to be read more than once – and it must be understood by the Board and staff, not just those who wrote it.

can be found here, it is worth a look

Do you, uh, FOO?. Has it really been a year already? Wow. Friday afternoon, Radwin and I are headed up to Foo Camp 2.0 (or 2004, I guess, but 2.0 just seems more appropriate). Last year was a blast. I only hope that this year's is even half as enjoyable. If you're FOOing, I'll see you there. Hopefully I'll have the energy to write up the experience again. I wonder if John Battelle will write about it again? … [Jeremy Zawodny's blog]

—-

someday i'd like to go to foo camp……

My email diet. In which my IMAP account goes lo-carb by cutting out almost all of the folders. Empty calories, I tell you. [43 Folders]

—-

this wouldn't work for me…. i use email to consume information and archive information, which is then read at my leisure. i do something like he does for certain mailboxes…. my inbox though… is the great unfiltered wasteland…..

From Campus to Web: The Changing Roles of Faculty from Classroom to Online Teaching РGila Kurtz, Michael Beaudoin, Journal of Educators Online. Abstract: The first objective of this research is to study the transition and self-perception of a sample group of Israeli faculty currently integrating online teaching within campus-based teaching. The authors studied the faculty䴜s perceptions of thei [Online Learning Update]

—-

worth a read…..

Bounty for asking “How many times have you been arrested, Mr. President?”

World's Shortest Blog is offering a bounty to the first person to publicly pose the following question to the erstwhile President: “How many times have you been arrested, Mr. President?” They're accepting PayPal donations to drive up the size of the bounty, which currently stands at $854.29. In the event of no award being given, the funds will be turned over to the DNC. Link (via Electrolite)

(merci, Cory!)

[A blog doesn't need a clever name]

—-

i don't think anyone will get the chance to have this answered…

Bearing witness.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is one of my favourite graphic novels:

I love her account of the introduction of the veil in school (Ooh! I'm the monster of darkness!) and the tales of reading Marx and playing revolution with childhood friends fill me with glee every time. But mostly, I adore it because it's the story of a brilliant and wondrous girl learning about the absurdity of life, love and war.

And for those who read French, you can also pick up Persepolis 2, 3 & 4 – aussi incroyable! [Purse Lip Square Jaw]

—-

wow, sounds good…. i of course am currently on a tank girl kick….

diarying bad for your health?.

“Keeping a diary is bad for your health, say UK psychologists. They found that regular diarists were more likely than non-diarists to suffer from headaches, sleeplessness, digestive problems and social awkwardness.
…
“Although she does not have proof, Duncan speculates that diarists buck the usual trend because instead of a single, cathartic outpouring to offload trauma, diarists continually churn over their misfortunes and so never get over them. 'It‰¥ús probably better not to get caught in a ruminative, repetitive cycle,' she says.” — Dear diary, you make me sick in NewScientist

I wonder if blogging/online journaling differs from diarying in this fashion, given that writers have an audience. Do they still get caught in the cycle?

[apophenia]

—-

i believe it…

e-admit.

For those of you who were addicted to Group Hug, you've gotta check out e-admit. Users submit some sort of admission, often with a poll following it. Readers can then vote on their admissions.

[Sorry Scott for a new addiction.]

[apophenia]

—-

sounds like callahan's but more public, less puns, and less fun.