Category — General

Experts See Vulnerability as Outsiders Code Software. As American companies move their software development tasks to computer programming companies, new concerns are being raised about the security risks involved. By John Schwartz. [New York Times: Technology]
which direction is this globalizing or is it both, what about isolating… i

5{p://www.guardian.co.uk/Education/universitiesincrisis/story/0,12028,869307,00.html?=rss”>Lessons on paying for higher education. Education: This month the government will deliver its blueprint on higher education. Guardian writers visit three universities to see what their experience can offer the debate. [Guardian Unlimited]

with close to 60million gone from the vt budget, and more things popping up worldwide, i wonder what the overall future of higher education might be…

Internet fears bring new guidelines. Chat room operators should provide safety messages for child users. [Guardian Unlimited]

this always brings into question the notion of whose responsibility should it be to oversee children…

Falcon's Eye: The Making-Over of Nethack. 3 Jan 2003: On Lamp takes a look atFalcon's Eye.”Most of these interfaces perform a make-over of NetHack with flat, 2D graphics, but some also present a pseudo-3d look. Falcon's Eye aims for a much more sophisticated transformation, visually and otherwise. It overlays the ASCII characters with detailed graphics presented in an isometric 3D perspective — accompanied with animation, sound effects, and music — for the dungeons, player characters, creatures, and items.” [RootPrompt.org -- Nothing but Unix]

mmm, the game of all games, nethack, or how to think randomly with a mission

Life In the Trenches: A Sysadmin Speaks. 2 Jan 2003: The Age talks to aSysadmin.”In 1982, he went into a support/sysadmin role and has stayed in that line ever since. Says he: “I guess this job was inevitable for me since I discovered computers at the age of 11. The only job I've ever had that wasn't in the computer industry was a brief stint selling hotdogs outside a pub while I was at university, which lasted until I found a part-time programming job.” [RootPrompt.org -- Nothing but Unix]

i meant to post this before, but it slipped out of my loog

LazyWeb ideas have a home [bOing bOing]

The burdens of empire.. The Burden. In a lengthy piece in tomorrow's NYT magazine (reg. req.), historian Michael Ignatieff explores the costs and benefits of America's shift from republic to empire. [MetaFilter]

Unemployment. “This is getting ridiculous!” complained one veteran programmer on USENET a bit over two years ago… after being out of the workforce for a while, he was having trouble getting back in the door. While there's no way to put yourself in his prospective employers shoes and make a real judgement, it looks like he had the chops. Wonder how he's doing today…general conditions don't seem good, and I know several people with the same problem. The longer a period of unemployment goes, the worse your resume looks, and the harder it is to get a job. How do you break the cycle (from either a policy or a jobseeker standpoint)? [MetaFilter]

The networker: What Marx can tell us about Bill Gates. Business Over in Seattle a Very Large Company is claiming that it owns the word 'Windows'. Unfortunately, from past experience, we can be sure that Bill Gates & Co will not be deterred by ridicule, says John Naughton. [Guardian Unlimited]

SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS

Deadline is extended to 20 January 2003

International Conference

Building the Information Commonwealth:

Information Technologies and Building Prospects for the Development

of Civil Society Institutions in the CIS Countries

St. Petersburg, Russia, April 22-24, 2003

http://www.communities.org.ru/conference

The disintegration of the USSR is still resonating within the world

community.

The formation of an effective civil society sector will hopefully work to

overcome

the economical, social and cultural effects of a totalitarian government

which are

the common heritage of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

countries.

This remains one of the most immediate and significant tasks for all the

ex-USSR

states.

The decade since 1991 has shown that the path to stable democratic societies

in the

CIS region is a very difficult one. The negative factors common to all the

CIS countries,

unstable economic growth, traditions of state paternalism, low living

standards, a

hazardous investment climate, the “soviet mentality” are still even now

determining the

everyday lives of the majority of the population of our countries.

It is thus crucial to make effective use of available “global resources”

such as information

and communication technologies (ICTs) to support a radical improvement in

the quality of

life of ordinary people, of women, youth, the elderly, the disabled and

indigenous peoples.

Currently, information technologies in the countries of the CIS region it

would be generally

agreed are primarily used as tools for private gain and are accessible only

to the relatively

small numbers who can afford individual access. Developing strategies for

enabling

information technologies to serve the broader needs of society, to support

the development

of democratic institutions, and to strengthen the struggle against poverty

is a challenge that

presents itself to civil society and public authorities?

These questions are becoming more and more critical for the peoples in our

countries where

rapid technological development presents possibilities (and risks) of

radical change in economic

and social circumstances and for responding to growing social injustice.

Critical analysis of the

Information Society in the CIS region as it is evolving, the influence of

new technical (and following

these social and cultural) factors within our societies and their impacts on

the development of the

civil society institutions, the analysis of the applicability of modern

inter-disciplinary approaches

(e.g. Community Networking/Community Informatics) to support the realization

of community-based

IT projects will be the main goals of the conference. We'll focus on several

key problems of the civil

society development in CIS countries looked at through the prism of the use

of ICTs.

Participants in the Conference:

Leaders of the non-profit and civil society organizations performing

projects in the area of ICTs in

the CIS countries; deputies of national Parliaments; representatives of the

executive structures

of the countries of the region; specialists from governmental agencies and

programs; representatives

of international charitable organizations, NGO's and foundations; experts

from International

Organizations, academicians and practitioners from the different countries

who are interested in

discussing the Conference issues.

Among those who have to date indicated an interest in participating

are:

Eli Cohen, Wysza SzkoBa Przedsibiorczoci, Poland

Peter Day, University of Brighton, UK

Karin Delgadillo, Somos@Telecentres, Equador

Eugeny Drobkov, Information Society Foundation, Ukraine

Vassily Efrosinin, Development through Education Fund, Russia

Susana Finquelevich, Global Community Networking Partnership, Argentina

Bertram Gebauer , Buerger Nets Union , Germany

Michael Gurstein, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA-Canada

Grant Hearn, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Meelis Kaldalu, Tartu Science Park, Estonia

Ninelle Kobaliani, Project Harmony, Georgia

Peter Levesque, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Anna Malina, e-Society Research, UK

Michel Menou, City University of London, UK-France

Abdumavlon Rashidov, Central Asia Development Agency, Tadjikistan

Scott Robinson, Mexico DF , Mexico

Lev Ryabchikov, Academy of Alternative Technologies, Russia

Basheerhamad Shadrach, Transparency International, Germany

Oleg Shapirkov, Svetoch Assotiation, Russia

Viktoria Sukovata, Kharkov National University, Ukraine

Wal Taylor, Rockhampston University, Australia

Maiya Tsyganenko, eRiders, Kazakhstan

Peter van den Besselaar, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Organizers of the Conference:

The Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of

Independent States (IPA)

Institute of Research on Problems of Nonprofits in the Newly Independent

States (IRPN)

Centre of Community Networking and Informational Policy Studies (CCNS)

The Conference Venue:

St. Petersburg, which is Russia's Northern capital, preparing for its 300

anniversary is a

very appropriate and natural place for this event.

The Conference will take place of the main building of the IPA – Tavrichesky

Palace, one

of the most magnificent palaces in St. Petersburg (XVIII century).

More information about the Palace and the Conference facilities at

http://www.iacis.ru/kongr_en.htm

Languages of the Conference

The working languages of the Conference will be Russian and English

Themes of the Conference

The Conference will be organized with an alternation of plenary sessions and

panels

following 12 main directions:

+ civil society and information society in the CIS countries:identifying the

problem area

+ e-governance and participation of local citizens in the decision-making at

the local,

regional and national levels

+ local communities in the CIS countries: typology, myths and realities

+ new information infrastructure at local level: creation and ownership of

Community

Information

+ participation of the countries of the region in international projects and

programs directed

towards ICT usage for the development of the civil sector

+ using ICTs for not-for-profit and civil society purposes in the CIS

countries

+ connectivity and software

+ civil society/communities and digital economies

+ Social, Psychological and Cultural Barriers to access.

+ model legislation concerning information policy for the CIS countries and

national programs.

+ formation of the information society in the CIS and problems of Global

Security

+ how do ICTs influence local, national, and regional development?

Submission of papers

Proposals for papers should be submitted as abstracts of no more than 500

words,

and should include details of the proposer's name, position, affiliation,

and contact details.

The abstracts will be reviewed by the Program Committee which consist of CIS

and

international members.

?riteria for selection for Proposals:

- relevance to the Themes of the Conference

- relevance to the development of Civil Society in the CIS

- papers can address either the theoretical or the practical aspects of the

issues

Proposals should be submitted electronically:

- in English to Michael Gurstein, Conference Co-Chair

- in Russian to Organizing Committee to

in RTF, Word or PDF format.

Deadline for abstracts: 20 January 20032

Authors of accepted papers notified by: 26th February 2003

For further information and submission details, please, contact Organizing

Committee:

27, Mayakovskogo str., St. Petersburg, Russia 191123

Fax: +7 812 2726547

e-mail: irpnnis@mail.ru