All those topics that i wish i had time to pursue more earnestly.

Call for Papers:
Association of Internet Researchers

Abstract Deadline: February 1, 2007
This conference, which uses Open Conference Systems developed by the Public Knowledge Project, enables participants to submit abstracts online at http://conferences.aoir.org/submit.php?cf=6.

Presentations can include:
• Single papers (abstract max of 750 words)• Creative or Aesthetic Presentation (abstract max of 750 words)• Panels (abstract max of 2500 words)• Roundtable (abstract max of 750 words)• Pre-conference workshop (abstract max of 1000 words)

Call for Papers Announcement

LET’S PLAY!

We call for papers, panel proposals, and resentations from any discipline, methodology, and community, and from conjunctions of multiple disciplines, methodologies and communities, that address the (playful) blurring of boundaries online. The following TOPICS are suggestions simply intended to spark initial reflection and creativity:

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here we go!

sleepless nights with steve woolf:
No accountability = no community.

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accountability has no necessary relation to community, it may be present, it may not. two things are necessary for community, a shared space (this may be imaginary, virtual, etc.) and the capacity to exclude others. once you establish the capacity to identify that ‘this is us’ and ‘they are them’ then you have the locus communus that establishes community in people’s minds… holding something in common, this ‘us’-ness in relation to that ‘them’-ness.

Introducing: FISH:
FISH: Free (as in kittens) Integrated Search Handler. But never, ever tell your patrons that (unless they want to know). Backranym it to “FISH Isn’t So Hard” or “Finding Instead of Searching Helps.” But let’s break down the orignial meaning:
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this looks like a nifty tool for drupal using libraries.

sleepless nights with steve woolf:
No accountability = no community.

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accountability has no necessary relation to community, it may be present, it may not. two things are necessary for community, a shared space (this may be imaginary, virtual, etc.) and the capacity to exclude others. once you establish the capacity to identify that ‘this is us’ and ‘they are them’ then you have the locus communus that establishes community in people’s minds… holding something in common, this ‘us’-ness in relation to that ‘them’-ness.

CUSEC 2007: Canadian University Software Engineering Conference:
Bits of Change
How can software be political? Which components of software make a political statement: is it this function call over here, or is it that while loop over there?

In certain parts of the world today, governments read private e-mail and arrest people based on these random sweeps. New software allows them to do so with amazing efficiency. That software was written by someone like you.

Politics, law and ethics are becoming increasingly intertwined with software engineering. These changes are having drastic consequences in the field of software design; the future of our industry will depend on the the next generation of software engineers and the choices that you make.

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someone is up to no good again!

I am reading more and more about that OLPC thingy. I’m asking myself, who needs this? Who has thought out this crap? In my opinion and experience as father, the last thing that a child needs is a laptop (with my definition of a child beeing <= 10 years old).Sorry folks, I don’t get this. Here’s my opinion on what our children really need:

*Parents. This does not mean that they have to be the physical parents. ‘Nuff said.
*Time to learn.

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His third one is even better.

New Years Pratt Steam Show!:
For those of you that weren’t around for the whistle show that Conrad (Pratt’s Cheif Engineer) put on.. some fine folks posted video on youTube. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GThb-Gf70pM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnZlyZVoboc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jKx3mPslO4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSErBvy3F9A

The first link was filmed in day time so you can get a better look at the set up on the lawn. Pretty Sweet no? I don’t take any credit for filming any of these I just looked them up. Enjoy. P.s. They’re very loud so if you have headphones on be warned.. Happy New Year!!

2006 artists most played

2006 tracks most played

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there is a bit of bias in those… but eh.

On Two Conservative Student Writers | TPMCafe:
ut this simply shows his lack of understanding of the role of college professors. We aren’t there as guides but as teachers. We don’t want to tell our students what to believe, but how to learn about the world. If we guide at all, it’s to an understanding of methodology and an ability to negotiate the complexities of thought and the world. This is the difference between a college of liberal arts and one devoted to religious training. There, the intent clearly is to guide. There, panic would reign if it were discovered that graduating students were less religious (for example) than incoming.

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A professor responds to two essayists promoting ideological equality ala Horowitz.

Faith in Free Markets:
I agree, then, that economists have faith in free markets. We can’t prove that free markets will generate a better result. But we’ve observed them long enough to have faith in them. We believe, with faith and evidence, that free markets provide the most prosperity for the most people.
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I’d love to know where they found a free market to have faith in. I’ve never seen one that wasn’t structured, biased or otherwise guaranteed by governmental or corporate structures.