Category — General

still waiting for the iPresident. So I wandered over to Senator Edwards' website, and was impressed to see an online donation tool. So I tried it out. It told me my card was declined. I tried another card. It too was declined. Both cards are fine, so I figured there must be a problem with the routine. And so I searched the site for an email addres–any email address at all–to tell them something is wrong with the site. Result? None. Click “Contact Us” and you're given a mailing address in North Carolina and a telephone number.

Oh well. Still waiting for the internet candidate. [Lessig Blog]

i doubt this will happen any time soon. given the usage in previous elections.

though perhaps not many bloggers teach, i was reading about some earlier and then my semi-weekly tomorrow's professor email arrived, so i thought maybe others will find it handy. there is also a fair amount on academic life too, and surprisingly it isn't as nifty as some imagine it, though i tend to enjoy it myself.

Hmmmmm – so people like the term “technology anthropologist”?Ê Okay, cool.Ê Jenny's working on getting her new cards printed up.Ê Someone will have to see if we can get a reputable University to certify a degree.Ê

to which i say, we already exist in reputable uni's, the field is either science and technology studies/science and technology in society as for reputation, well i'm finishing my ph.d. at virginia tech, but cornell, rpi, georgia tech, york, etc. all have programs, and more are on the way i suppose. there are also internet anthropologists… www.aoir.org besides technology anthropologists 4s.

Rural tradition of hunting shows signs of decline. The number of hunters in the US could fall by as much as 50 percent in the next 20 years. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

this is interesting in some respect, i went hunting once or twice as a kid, never was very good at it, didn't care to be, though i never let that stop me from embellishing stories appropriately. oh, i could and still can shoot well enough, just didn't see much sport in it.

Bruce Perens: “We believe that there should be a fair, competitive market for computer software, both proprietary and Open Source.” [Scripting News]

i hate to tell people this, but there is no such thing as a fair and competitive market in capitalism. once capital is accumulated the system becomes unfair immediately. this is not to say there is an alternative, but lets call relative equality what it is, relative.

A political theme emerges: class war. Democrats say Bush proposals favor the rich over 'regular people.' [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories]

this should be fairly clear to all concern unless you believe in trickle down economics… i know that when i was a kid, when the rich got richer, for some reason my tips didn't go up proportionately it seemed.

All I want for Christmas is my two… new breasts?. Michele's breasts are in your hands! Southern Cali college girl Michele bemoans her “itty-bitty boobies” and asks the world to decide whether she should surgically acquire a set of bodacious ta-tas by donating to her online implant fund. So far the fund has swelled to only $19.36, hardly the push-up Michele was hoping for and pretty far from the $4500 she needs to get [more inside] her Wonderbra. But perhaps Mefites have a silicone dollop of charity left after the holiday season. Then again, maybe this isn't the breast best way to spend your charity dollar. [via El Reg] [MetaFilter]

there has been more and more reporting of this type of 'charity' not necessarily of this topic, but still it is a sort of universal support for a person instead for a cause… I'm pretty much against it.

DIGITAL GAMES INDUSTRIES: DEVELOPMENTS, IMPACT AND DIRECTION

19th-20th Sept 2003
ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition
University of Manchester,
Manchester, England.

Call For Papers

One of the major distinguishing features of modern capitalism is its
restlessness. New activities emerge from within to compete with
older, more established, rivals displacing them in the process or
succumbing to competitive pressures themselves. But as these new
activities become embedded in economic systems and old ones
disappear there are profound effects on the structure of economies,
as well as on production, consumption, demand, technology and
employment. The digital gaming industry is one of the more
important recent examples of this phenomenon of creative
destruction. The study of this industry allows us to gain new
insights about innovation, the creation of new consumption and
economic activities, the growth of business opportunities and the
development of the market in terms of demand and consumption as well
as supply.

Against the backdrop of the highly competitive economic environment
of gaming platforms, software and new game-enabled consumer
technologies, the ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and
Competition (CRIC) will be hosting a two day workshop on the
socio-economics of digital gaming. The workshop aims to bring
together international delegates from academic, policy and
commercial circles for an in-depth discussion on nature and
characteristics of this emerging sector: the 'drivers', key
'players', the 'current state of play', and the impact of the
industry on the modern economy and the framework of its evolution.

No new activity is without its context. Thus further issues arise
in relation to the link between existing activities and consumption
practices and the role they play in shaping the development of the
digital gaming industries and new forms of technologically mediated
consumption. Since the development of the games industry may be
perceived as an important example of restless, emergent capitalism
it follows that it may provide important lessons for policy in
relation to economic enterprise.

Digital gaming provides an excellent empirical probe to gain a
better understanding of a range of debates current in industry,
academia and policy but raises issues that cannot be dealt with
solely through a mono-disciplinary approach. Therefore, this event
encourages a broader inter-disciplinary framework drawing up
sociology, economics, management, innovation studies and so forth.

CRIC invites papers on all aspects of the digital games industry,
its development, production and end consumption but particularly
welcome submissions in the following areas:

* Competitive processes and their regulation
* The technology of gaming
* New sectors:
Theories of business
Analogous industries
Emergent industries
* Role of venture capital and investment
* Standardisation of technologies and markets, instituted economic
processes
* Inter-firm interactions and strategic alliances
* IPR, licensing and piracy
Corporate spillovers
Licensing agreements
* Labour markets and mobility
Clustering and brain drains
International division of labour
Ethical practices & the World Trade Agreement
* Economics of demand and consumption
Development of consumer capabilities
Consumers as producers
Digital gaming and value
* Evolution through success and failure

The workshop is keen to receive papers which offer firm and national
case studies as well as international comparisons and empirical work
on consumption.

Abstracts should be between 500 and 750 words long and, in addition
to an overview of the work to be presented, should include:

* All authors' names, institutional address, email contacts and
URL
* A list of up to six keywords
* Details of data and models used
* Full references for works cited

Abstracts, proposals and expressions of intent should be submitted
electronically in Word or RTF format to Jason.Rutter@man.ac.uk.

Deadline for abstracts: 3rd February 2003
Accepted authors notified: 3rd March 2003
Deadline for camera ready copy: 28th July 2003

CRIC will provide assistance with workshop fees for all delegates
and travel expenses for those presenting work. Papers presented will
form the basis of an edited collection on the economies of digital
gaming.

Stan Metcalfe Jason Rutter Ronnie Ramlogan

ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition,
The University of Manchester,
Harold Hankins Building
Booth Street West,
Manchester,
M13 9QH
www.cric.ac.uk/cric

If I had a billion dollars I'd pay each of you $10,000 to read this page carefully, think about it, and then get started building a directory for each of three subjects you're passionate about and knowledgable of. All the technology is there. The formats is open and brain-dead simple. And the philosophy is right too, imho. It's just waiting for people to decide to make it happen. Someday it will. I'd rather not wait any longer. Thanks for listening. [Scripting News]

this could be interesting.

Open Orders. “Just do it. I don't care how.” 'In a significant transformation…U.S. Special Operations Command…and its satellite units around the world, can now plan and execute their own hunt-and-destroy missions.'

An “Open Order” is a very, very dangerous thing. A real life License to Kill, issued to thousands of men. [MetaFilter]

yes very dangerous, and extremely interesting.