Society and Information Technology in Second Life
Wednesdays, January 9 - July 30, 2008, 4-6, SLT/PT, 7-9 pm ET
on Berkman island in Second Life - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Berkman/114/70/25
Course homepage - http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com
Instructor: Scott MacLeod (not on Harvard's faculty) = Aphilo Aarde (in Second Life)
http://scottmacleod.com/papers.htm
[15:59] Boston Hutchinson is Online
[16:01] You: Hi Boston!
[16:01] You: How are you?
[16:01] Boston Hutchinson: Hi Aphilo!
[16:01] Boston Hutchinson: Fine thanks, and you?
[16:01] You: Fine, thanks.
[16:01] Boston Hutchinson: Everyone's late tonight.
[16:01] You: How's the electricity transformation going?
[16:02] Claryssa Schmidt is Online
[16:02] You: People will be here soon, I suspect.
[16:02] You: I just saw Claryssa log on.
[16:02] Boston Hutchinson: Done with everything except NSTAR (the electric company) switch-over
[16:02] Boston Hutchinson: Last week was a very busy class
[16:02] You: Sounds like it has gone smoothly, then.
[16:02] Boston Hutchinson: Yes
[16:03] You: In what ways?
[16:03] You: Hi Seeker!
[16:03] Boston Hutchinson: Hi Seeker.
[16:03] You: Welcome to Society and Information Technology.
[16:03] Seeker Schussel: Hey Aphio
[16:03] You: Hi Claryssa.
[16:03] Boston Hutchinson: Hi Claryssa
[16:03] Seeker Schussel: thanks
[16:03] Claryssa Schmidt: hi
[16:03] Imper Fegte is Online
[16:04] You: I don't know whether you've seen this
[16:04] You: http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com -
[16:04] SamBivalent Spork is Offline
[16:04] You: it's the course wiki, and also where I post transcripts.
[16:04] You: It is a useful resource
[16:05] You: We've been talking about the Digital Divide recently
[16:05] You: and we'll continue to do that this evening, and also perhaps touch on
[16:05] You: more about the future of the Internet.
[16:06] You: Hi Andromeda.
[16:06] Covey Homewood is Online
[16:06] Boston Hutchinson: Hi Andromeda
[16:06] You: Before we begin I'm curious about all of your thoughts about how to use SL effecively in terms of interaciton and the possibility for conversation.
[16:07] Movies1963 Beck is Online
[16:07] Seeker Schussel: like voice vs type?
[16:07] You: While we do carry forward lectures here,
[16:08] You: It's also an interesting info tech for sharing exchanging ideas.
[16:08] Eon Berkman is Online
[16:08] You: Yes, Seeker, but also I"m curious about the multiple other possibilities that people haven't thought of.
[16:09] Eon Berkman is Offline
[16:09] You: For example, conversations can be saved in chat, and referred back to, thus adding to a discussion
[16:09] Andromeda Mesmer: Sorry - was frozen in TP bug - double TP's continuing.
[16:09] You: and not everyone has voice - e.g. I don't see Claryssa or Andromeda having white dots above their heads.
[16:09] You: Hi Evus
[16:09] Evus Alter: Hi
[16:10] Seeker Schussel: What do you see in you r crystal ball?
[16:10] You: So if ideas come to mind during this class, about how to facilitate more interaction or other possible convergences, please let us know.
[16:10] Evus Alter: I would like tosee more voice when there is lecture.
[16:10] 01 Hifeng is Online
[16:10] You: I would too, Evus, but two of the 6 people here don't have voice now, I think.
[16:11] Evus Alter: Then again it seemd to work to present questions or commentsby typing
[16:11] Seeker Schussel: more orderly too
[16:11] Seeker Schussel: and easier to reread
[16:11] You: I'll try, but tonight I'm not in a place where there is silence in the background.
[16:11] Seeker Schussel: for clarity
[16:11] You: Thansk . . .
[16:11] Michele Mrigesh is Offline
[16:12] Evus Alter: That is a good point. I am nt always in a quiet place
[16:12] You: So, to continue from last week about the Digital Divide,
[16:12] You: the debate on DEVELOPMENT
[16:12] Boston Hutchinson: I'm not always in a quiet place either!
[16:12] You: has been transformed in the last 10-15 years
[16:12] You: Hi Korobas
[16:13] You: The open trade model is a 19th century model.
[16:13] Korobas Korobase: ooops , wrong window. hello.
[16:13] You: And doesn't incorporate technology effectively to explain new developments.
[16:14] You: The new debate is about diffusing information technology and human capacity to the developing world.
[16:14] You: And this has been called the GLOBAL COMPACT
[16:15] You: where the goal is to bring information technology to create critical mass to start an analysis of development.
[16:16] You: So in these past few lectures, we've looked at inequality, poverty and technology to examine the Digital Divide.
[16:16] Sonja Strom is Online
[16:16] You: And over the past few weeks, we've also examined the difference between revolution adn restructuring
[16:17] You: where the system's goals are distinguished from their means.
[16:17] You: When you change the goals, you have revolution
[16:17] You: and restructuring is when you change the means but not the goals.
[16:18] You: In the information technology revolution - the technological paradigm suggest
[16:18] You: suggest maximaize technology to enhance information processing.
[16:19] Jeande Laville is Offline
[16:19] You: To recap what has happened in terms of inequality and poverty
[16:19] You: from 1975 to 1996, and from 1996 to the turn of the millenium and beyond
[16:19] You: . . . Before 1975, there was a deep economic crisis, that started a new cycle.
[16:19] You: especially in the US
[16:19] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat...
[16:19] Connected
[16:20] Spider Mycron is Offline
[16:20] You: (There was gas rationing and stagflation, and a massive infusion of capital into the US system to create a kind of perestroika in the US
[16:20] You: - perestroika meaning restructuring in Russian)
[16:21] You: And in 1976, the crisis was overcome, which lead to a full-fledged restructuring under Reagan.
[16:21] You: In 1996, 20 years later,
[16:22] You: there was a full fledged development of the information economy through massive investment
[16:22] Juria Yoshikawa is Online
[16:22] You: and in the 1980s and 1990s, we saw the emergence of networking, and the Network Society, vis a vis IT
[16:22] You: Overall, during this period ,the American economy increased substantially
[16:23] You: and employment increased dramatically
[16:23] You: transforming the ability of the US to create jobs.
[16:23] You: There was massive incorporation of women into the labor force
[16:23] You: There were downturns
[16:23] You: ...downturns in 1991, and 1992
[16:24] You: with the end of the Cold War and a reduction in Defense spending
[16:24] You: And also joblessness
[16:24] You: was particualrly concentrated in sourthern California
[16:24] Mad Thunder Combat HUD 2.3 shouts: Milena Brandenburg has entered Tombstone!
[16:24] You: 25% of jobs were lost in LA
[16:25] You: But overall, there was properity and job creation with low inflation
[16:25] You: At the same time, what happened in household income in real terms
[16:25] You: (meaning adjusted for inflation)
[16:25] You: is that real household income stayed the same in the 1970s and 80s, and from 1990 to 95, it went down.
[16:26] You: And average weekly earning for productive workers declined in real terms.
[16:26] You: For all workers, except high level managers
[16:26] You: men's wages declined in real terms.
[16:26] You: And women closed the income gap, moving
[16:27] Draxtor Despres is Online
[16:27] You: from 62% of what men earned for the same work to 75%
[16:27] You: party because men's wages went down.
[16:27] You: Flat wages persisted for a long time.
[16:27] You: And men's went down, while women's rose
[16:28] You: And household income remained static
[16:28] You: meaning that women had to work more
[16:28] You: From 1990-98, in the SF Bay Area
[16:28] You: the average wage declined by 2%
[16:29] You: But staggering wealth had been created
[16:29] Cindy Ecksol is Offline
[16:29] You: and not just through high stock options, but also through salaries.
[16:29] You: But an average is an average
[16:29] You: and although I don't have precise calculations,
[16:30] You: a strong likely hypothesis
[16:30] Draxtor Despres is Offline
[16:30] Juria Yoshikawa is Offline
[16:30] You: is that clearly 1/3 of the population had increased 30% in income, and 2/3rds had experienced a substantial decline.
[16:30] You: ... leading to increasing inequality
[16:31] You: There was an extraordinary increase, then, in the income inequality
[16:31] Daisyblue Hefferman is Online
[16:31] You: The richer you are, the faster your income grew, and the poorest 10% in these years, had negative assets
[16:32] You: And poverty increased over time also
[16:32] You: 14% of the US population was living below the poverty line
[16:32] You: --25% lived in poverty in 1996
[16:33] You: and increasing inequality
[16:33] You: increasing polarization
[16:33] You: and increasing poverty all occurred
[16:33] You: at the same time that the economy was doing well!
[16:33] You: From 1996 - 2000 things improved
[16:34] You: in terms of polarization
[16:34] Sonja Strom is Offline
[16:34] Arawn Spitteler is Offline
[16:34] You: This segment grew in terms of the % of what htey had grew faster than the other groups
[16:34] Diego Ibanez is Online
[16:35] You: And improved income at a faster rate than the rich's income improved
[16:35] You: The poor and the not poor became poorer
[16:35] You: The middle remained stagnant
[16:35] You: and the rich got richer
[16:36] You: But poverty also went slightly down to 12%
[16:36] You: And 18% of the children at this time were in poverty
[16:36] You: But extreme poverty declined in relative share of the population
[16:36] Aidan Aquacade is Offline
[16:36] You: As inequality kept growing.
[16:37] You: And while the exctreme poor got better,
[16:37] You: most f the populations vis a vis the top decreased their share
[16:39] You: How does this work?
[16:39] You: the average age for this was significantly below what it was in the late 1996
[16:39] You: In 1996, there was a moderate reversal of trends in extreme poverty
[16:39] You: for 2 reasons
[16:39] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat...
[16:41] Disconnected from in-world Voice Chat
[16:46] Imper Fegte is Online
[16:46] 01 Hifeng is Online
[16:46] Gentle Heron is Online
[16:46] Andromeda Mesmer is Online
[16:46] Dnate Mars is Online
[16:46] DJWeyayman Howlett is Online
[16:46] Jon Seattle is Online
[16:46] Daisyblue Hefferman is Online
[16:46] Abigail Tinkel is Online
[16:46] Gwyneth Llewelyn is Online
[16:46] Bjorlyn Loon is Online
[16:46] Boston Hutchinson is Online
[16:46] Barbie Starr is Online
[16:46] Movies1963 Beck is Online
[16:46] Geo Meek is Online
[16:46] Joseph Tisch is Online
[16:46] JenzZa Misfit is Online
[16:46] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat...
[16:46] Connected
[16:46] Covey Homewood is Online
[16:46] Diego Ibanez is Online
[16:46] matrix05 Infinity is Online
[16:46] You: Hello Again!
[16:46] You: Sorry!
[16:46] Evus Alter: welcome back
[16:46] You: ...for the interruption
[16:47] You: In 1996, there was a moderate reversal of trends in extreme poverty
[15:58] Gentle Heron is Online
[15:58] Arawn Spitteler is Online
[15:58] Jeande Laville is Online
[15:58] Dnate Mars is Online
[15:58] Cindy Ecksol is Online
[15:58] SamBivalent Spork is Online
[15:58] DJWeyayman Howlett is Online
[15:58] Jon Seattle is Online
[15:58] Gwyneth Llewelyn is Online
[15:58] Abigail Tinkel is Online
[15:58] Bjorlyn Loon is Online
[15:58] Barbie Starr is Online
[15:58] Geo Meek is Online
[15:58] Andromeda Mesmer is Online
[15:58] Michele Mrigesh is Online
[15:58] Joseph Tisch is Online
[15:58] JenzZa Misfit is Online
[15:58] Spider Mycron is Online
[15:58] matrix05 Infinity is Online
[15:58] Aidan Aquacade is Online
[15:58] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat...
[15:58] Connected
[15:58] You decline Cecilia's at Muse Isle (59, 162, 28) from A group member named JenzZa Misfit.
[15:58] You decline ::CONTACT:: 3.1 on ::SATURN:: from A group member named Sonja Strom.
[15:58] You decline ::CONTACT:: 3.1 on ::SATURN:: from A group member named Sonja Strom.
[15:58] You decline ::CONTACT:: 3.1 on ::SATURN:: from A group member named Sonja Strom.
[15:59] Boston Hutchinson is Online
[16:00] You: Hello Boston!
[16:01] You: Hi Boston!
[16:01] You: How are you?
[16:01] Boston Hutchinson: Hi Aphilo!
[16:01] Boston Hutchinson: Fine thanks, and you?
[16:01] You: Fine, thanks.
[16:01] Boston Hutchinson: Everyone's late tonight.
[16:01] You: How's the electricity transformation going?
[16:02] Claryssa Schmidt is Online
[16:02] You: People will be here soon, I suspect.
[16:02] You: I just saw Claryssa log on.
[16:02] Boston Hutchinson: Done with everything except NSTAR (the electric company) switch-over
[16:02] Boston Hutchinson: Last week was a very busy class
[16:02] You: Sounds like it has gone smoothly, then.
[16:02] Boston Hutchinson: Yes
[16:03] You: In what ways?
[16:03] You: Hi Seeker!
[16:03] Boston Hutchinson: Hi Seeker.
[16:03] You: Welcome to Society and Information Technology.
[16:03] Seeker Schussel: Hey Aphio
[16:03] You: Hi Claryssa.
[16:03] Boston Hutchinson: Hi Claryssa
[16:03] Seeker Schussel: thanks
[16:03] Claryssa Schmidt: hi
[16:03] Imper Fegte is Online
[16:04] You: I don't know whether you've seen this
[16:04] You: http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com -
[16:04] SamBivalent Spork is Offline
[16:04] You: it's the course wiki, and also where I post transcripts.
[16:04] You: It is a useful resource
[16:05] You: We've been talking about the Digital Divide recently
[16:05] You: and we'll continue to do that this evening, and also perhaps touch on
[16:05] You: more about the future of the Internet.
[16:06] You: Hi Andromeda.
[16:06] Covey Homewood is Online
[16:06] Boston Hutchinson: Hi Andromeda
[16:06] You: Before we begin I'm curious about all of your thoughts about how to use SL effecively in terms of interaciton and the possibility for conversation.
[16:07] Movies1963 Beck is Online
[16:07] Seeker Schussel: like voice vs type?
[16:07] You: While we do carry forward lectures here,
[16:08] You: It's also an interesting info tech for sharing exchanging ideas.
[16:08] Eon Berkman is Online
[16:08] You: Yes, Seeker, but also I"m curious about the multiple other possibilities that people haven't thought of.
[16:09] Eon Berkman is Offline
[16:09] You: For example, conversations can be saved in chat, and referred back to, thus adding to a discussion
[16:09] Andromeda Mesmer: Sorry - was frozen in TP bug - double TP's continuing.
[16:09] You: and not everyone has voice - e.g. I don't see Claryssa or Andromeda having white dots above their heads.
[16:09] You: Hi Evus
[16:09] Evus Alter: Hi
[16:10] Seeker Schussel: What do you see in you r crystal ball?
[16:10] You: So if ideas come to mind during this class, about how to facilitate more interaction or other possible convergences, please let us know.
[16:10] Evus Alter: I would like tosee more voice when there is lecture.
[16:10] 01 Hifeng is Online
[16:10] You: I would too, Evus, but two of the 6 people here don't have voice now, I think.
[16:11] Evus Alter: Then again it seemd to work to present questions or commentsby typing
[16:11] Seeker Schussel: more orderly too
[16:11] Seeker Schussel: and easier to reread
[16:11] You: I'll try, but tonight I'm not in a place where there is silence in the background.
[16:11] Seeker Schussel: for clarity
[16:11] You: Thansk . . .
[16:11] Michele Mrigesh is Offline
[16:12] Evus Alter: That is a good point. I am nt always in a quiet place
[16:12] You: So, to continue from last week about the Digital Divide,
[16:12] You: the debate on DEVELOPMENT
[16:12] Boston Hutchinson: I'm not always in a quiet place either!
[16:12] You: has been transformed in the last 10-15 years
[16:12] You: Hi Korobas
[16:13] You: The open trade model is a 19th century model.
[16:13] Korobas Korobase: ooops , wrong window. hello.
[16:13] You: And doesn't incorporate technology effectively to explain new developments.
[16:14] You: The new debate is about diffusing information technology and human capacity to the developing world.
[16:14] You: And this has been called the GLOBAL COMPACT
[16:15] You: where the goal is to bring information technology to create critical mass to start an analysis of development.
[16:16] You: So in these past few lectures, we've looked at inequality, poverty and technology to examine the Digital Divide.
[16:16] Sonja Strom is Online
[16:16] You: And over the past few weeks, we've also examined the difference between revolution adn restructuring
[16:17] You: where the system's goals are distinguished from their means.
[16:17] You: When you change the goals, you have revolution
[16:17] You: and restructuring is when you change the means but not the goals.
[16:18] You: In the information technology revolution - the technological paradigm suggest
[16:18] You: suggest maximaize technology to enhance information processing.
[16:19] Jeande Laville is Offline
[16:19] You: To recap what has happened in terms of inequality and poverty
[16:19] You: from 1975 to 1996, and from 1996 to the turn of the millenium and beyond
[16:19] You: . . . Before 1975, there was a deep economic crisis, that started a new cycle.
[16:19] You: especially in the US
[16:19] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat...
[16:19] Connected
[16:20] Spider Mycron is Offline
[16:20] You: (There was gas rationing and stagflation, and a massive infusion of capital into the US system to create a kind of perestroika in the US
[16:20] You: - perestroika meaning restructuring in Russian)
[16:21] You: And in 1976, the crisis was overcome, which lead to a full-fledged restructuring under Reagan.
[16:21] You: In 1996, 20 years later,
[16:22] You: there was a full fledged development of the information economy through massive investment
[16:22] Juria Yoshikawa is Online
[16:22] You: and in the 1980s and 1990s, we saw the emergence of networking, and the Network Society, vis a vis IT
[16:22] You: Overall, during this period ,the American economy increased substantially
[16:23] You: and employment increased dramatically
[16:23] You: transforming the ability of the US to create jobs.
[16:23] You: There was massive incorporation of women into the labor force
[16:23] You: There were downturns
[16:23] You: ...downturns in 1991, and 1992
[16:24] You: with the end of the Cold War and a reduction in Defense spending
[16:24] You: And also joblessness
[16:24] You: was particualrly concentrated in sourthern California
[16:24] Mad Thunder Combat HUD 2.3 shouts: Milena Brandenburg has entered Tombstone!
[16:24] You: 25% of jobs were lost in LA
[16:25] You: But overall, there was properity and job creation with low inflation
[16:25] You: At the same time, what happened in household income in real terms
[16:25] You: (meaning adjusted for inflation)
[16:25] You: is that real household income stayed the same in the 1970s and 80s, and from 1990 to 95, it went down.
[16:26] You: And average weekly earning for productive workers declined in real terms.
[16:26] You: For all workers, except high level managers
[16:26] You: men's wages declined in real terms.
[16:26] You: And women closed the income gap, moving
[16:27] Draxtor Despres is Online
[16:27] You: from 62% of what men earned for the same work to 75%
[16:27] You: party because men's wages went down.
[16:27] You: Flat wages persisted for a long time.
[16:27] You: And men's went down, while women's rose
[16:28] You: And household income remained static
[16:28] You: meaning that women had to work more
[16:28] You: From 1990-98, in the SF Bay Area
[16:28] You: the average wage declined by 2%
[16:29] You: But staggering wealth had been created
[16:29] Cindy Ecksol is Offline
[16:29] You: and not just through high stock options, but also through salaries.
[16:29] You: But an average is an average
[16:29] You: and although I don't have precise calculations,
[16:30] You: a strong likely hypothesis
[16:30] Draxtor Despres is Offline
[16:30] Juria Yoshikawa is Offline
[16:30] You: is that clearly 1/3 of the population had increased 30% in income, and 2/3rds had experienced a substantial decline.
[16:30] You: ... leading to increasing inequality
[16:31] You: There was an extraordinary increase, then, in the income inequality
[16:31] Daisyblue Hefferman is Online
[16:31] You: The richer you are, the faster your income grew, and the poorest 10% in these years, had negative assets
[16:32] You: And poverty increased over time also
[16:32] You: 14% of the US population was living below the poverty line
[16:32] You: --25% lived in poverty in 1996
[16:33] You: and increasing inequality
[16:33] You: increasing polarization
[16:33] You: and increasing poverty all occurred
[16:33] You: at the same time that the economy was doing well!
[16:33] You: From 1996 - 2000 things improved
[16:34] You: in terms of polarization
[16:34] Sonja Strom is Offline
[16:34] Arawn Spitteler is Offline
[16:34] You: This segment grew in terms of the % of what htey had grew faster than the other groups
[16:34] Diego Ibanez is Online
[16:35] You: And improved income at a faster rate than the rich's income improved
[16:35] You: The poor and the not poor became poorer
[16:35] You: The middle remained stagnant
[16:35] You: and the rich got richer
[16:36] You: But poverty also went slightly down to 12%
[16:36] You: And 18% of the children at this time were in poverty
[16:36] You: But extreme poverty declined in relative share of the population
[16:36] Aidan Aquacade is Offline
[16:36] You: As inequality kept growing.
[16:37] You: And while the exctreme poor got better,
[16:37] You: most f the populations vis a vis the top decreased their share
[16:39] You: How does this work?
[16:39] You: the average age for this was significantly below what it was in the late 1996
[16:39] You: In 1996, there was a moderate reversal of trends in extreme poverty
[16:39] You: for 2 reasons
[16:46] Imper Fegte is Online
[16:46] 01 Hifeng is Online
[16:46] Gentle Heron is Online
[16:46] Andromeda Mesmer is Online
[16:46] Dnate Mars is Online
[16:46] DJWeyayman Howlett is Online
[16:46] Jon Seattle is Online
[16:46] Daisyblue Hefferman is Online
[16:46] Abigail Tinkel is Online
[16:46] Gwyneth Llewelyn is Online
[16:46] Bjorlyn Loon is Online
[16:46] Boston Hutchinson is Online
[16:46] Barbie Starr is Online
[16:46] Movies1963 Beck is Online
[16:46] Geo Meek is Online
[16:46] Joseph Tisch is Online
[16:46] JenzZa Misfit is Online
[16:46] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat...
[16:46] Connected
[16:46] Covey Homewood is Online
[16:46] Diego Ibanez is Online
[16:46] matrix05 Infinity is Online
[16:46] You: Hello Again!
[16:46] You: Sorry!
[16:46] Evus Alter: welcome back
[16:46] You: ...for the interruption
[16:47] You: In 1996, there was a moderate reversal of trends in extreme poverty
[16:47] Claryssa Schmidt is Online
[16:47] PuTzI Fredriksson: h#
[16:47] PuTzI Fredriksson: Halllooooo
[16:47] You: hi
[16:47] You: for 2 reasons
[16:48] You: 1. the 1996 change of the minimum wage
[16:48] You: This is the most important measure to alleviate extreme poverty
[16:48] You: and it went from $5.50 / hr to $6.00 / hr
[16:48] You: a .50 / hr increase
[16:49] You: The other significant change occurred because
[16:49] Michele Mrigesh is Online
[16:49] You: 2 economic growth became so intense that there was full employment
[16:49] You: The best antidote for poverty is employment
[16:50] You: Because the hot new economy created full employment > but there were still pockets
[16:50] You: of structural unemployment, for example, involuntary retirment >
[16:50] You: and this led to discouraged workers
[16:51] You: And overall, because of the minimum wage incrase, and full structural poverty - and with
[16:51] You: the increase in inequlity >
[16:51] Alexicon Kurka is Online
[16:51] You: this inequality and poverty are unequally distributed in terms of income
[16:52] You: What is the connection betwen the new economy and patterns of inequality?
[16:52] You: The long term trend >
[16:52] You: focusing on productivity and a dynamic economy
[16:52] You: was at the same time a transformation of the economy
[16:53] You: and moved from manufacturing > to services for large scale corporations
[16:53] You: and a NETWORKING MODEL
[16:53] You: How does this work?
[16:54] You: It used to be that workers were able to extract higher wages through the ability to bargain collectively > to negotiate
[16:54] You: - And this dramatically changed over time
[16:54] You: - and corresponds to the decline of organized labor
[16:54] You: - and the emergence of individualized bargaining
[16:55] You: that depends on the bargaining power of the indiviudal
[16:55] You: which, in turn, depends on the educaiton of the individual, and a college degree
[16:55] You: Fundamentally, it's related to self-programmable labor
[16:56] You: and this depends on access to education and self-development
[16:56] You: and it's a highly unequal system
[16:56] You: So let's stop here for a ten minute pause
[16:56] You: Questions? Observations?
[16:56] You: Let's return around 7 minutes past the hour
[16:57] You: Andromeda?
[16:57] Andromeda Mesmer: Just that I read somewhere, that labour unions declined during Reagan's time in office.
[16:57] Andromeda Mesmer: Some laws passed -- not sure of the details.
[16:57] You: dramatically, and for a variety of reasons . . . we'll explore more of them in the second half of class
[16:58] You: So, let's meet again at 7 minutes past the hour . . .
[16:58] You: See you shortly . . . :)
[17:00] Diego Ibanez is Offline
[17:02] Alexicon Kurka is Offline
[17:02] Alexicon Kurka is Online
[17:04] Maggiedoll Alter: hi
[17:05] Alexicon Kurka is Offline
[17:07] Andromeda Mesmer: Hi, Maggie
[17:07] Dnate Mars is Offline
[17:07] You: Hi Pella
[17:07] Pella Nightfire: hello
[17:07] You: Hello All
[17:08] Andromeda Mesmer: Hi Aphilo
[17:08] You: Welcome to "Society and Information Technology" vis a vis long time Berkeley and USC Professor Manuel Castells' research on the Network Society
[17:08] Imper Fegte is Offline
[17:09] You: We've been looking at both questions relating to the digital divide, as well
[17:09] You: as income inequality
[17:10] You: And before we start to examine a little more about the future of the Internet at around 30 minutes past the hour,
[17:10] You: let's examine further income inequality
[17:11] You: Unequal access to jobs depends a lot on education and re-education in the netwrok society
[17:11] You: and this in turn depends a lot on where you live, and
[17:11] You: where you live depends a lot on money.
[17:11] You: So in the Network Society
[17:12] You: education amplifies structurally the general trend of the individual
[17:12] You: becoming more significant in the Network Society
[17:13] You: It's statiscially rare that a barrio dweller would rise - only a
[17:13] You: small proportion do so
[17:13] You: To get to university, you first need to graduate from high school, and for this you need some acadeic level
[17:14] You: Overall, the more you individualize, the bigger the role the market plays
[17:14] matrix05 Infinity is Offline
[17:14] You: In the 1970s and 1980s, social benefits were curtaield
[17:14] Dnate Mars is Online
[17:14] You: and the social sector was largely diminished
[17:15] You: Also, siginificantly, the incorporation of women into the market place created inequality
[17:15] You: because they earn less
[17:15] You: and also, SIGNIFICANTLY, the
[17:15] You: crisis of the traditional family (the patriarchal family)
[17:16] You: had a consequence, leading to a dwindling number of people living together
[17:16] You: If you take today the typical picture
[17:16] You: Dad, Mom, and kids - only about 23% of families live in this way
[17:16] Covey Homewood is Offline
[17:17] You: Many women who for anumber of reasons couldn't live in the patriarchal family found themselves with children
[17:17] You: And the growth of immigration
[17:18] You: had 2 impacts that were major sources of contributions
[17:18] You: For one, most of this labor are people procuded by other societies
[17:19] You: If we receive people from other countries, that's a great deal - the cost of producing labor is low
[17:19] Abigail Tinkel is Offline
[17:19] You: , if it's procuded in, for example, India or Mexico
[17:19] You: And secondly, much
[17:20] You: of the growth of immigration led to a proportion of people coming to the US at a younger age to work
[17:20] You: So, on the one hand, immigration continues to gorw and on the other hand, they can be paid less
[17:21] You: Undocumented workers have to accept wage conditions
[17:22] You: if one then adds them to the calculation, they contribute significantly to increasing inequality
[17:22] You: These are structural relationships between growth, the economy, and something else
[17:22] You: - social exclusion by racism
[17:23] You: For example, William Wilson, in "The Underclass" in 1957, and again "When Work Disappears" in 1997
[17:23] You: showed overall that there is a huge difference developing between 3 groups of African Americans
[17:24] You: about 1/3 of whom are the Middle Class
[17:24] You: through affirmative action in the new economy.
[17:24] You: And serious econometrics show that African Americans are discriminated against.
[17:25] You: And this discrimination does not end with the degree of structure in a scoiety
[17:25] You: The 2nd group - African Americans in the public sector - allow African Americans to get certain kinds of jobs - low level jobs
[17:25] You: and William Wilson showed that another 1/3
[17:26] You: live in poverty
[17:26] You: and disproportionally in poor, ghetto areas
[17:26] You: What Wilson shows is that there are a number of mechanisms
[17:27] You: which occur to create the difficult worker
[17:27] You: - young males to employer relationship doesn't work well for authority reasons
[17:27] You: - bad public schools
[17:27] You: - a crisis of family life
[17:28] You: - and impoversihment of social networks
[17:28] You: where braoder and denser social networks are critical to find jobs.
[17:29] You: So, as formal work disappeared for the middle group of African Americans, who had access to poor paying jobs, in the city
[17:29] You: they don't have the possibility to find new work, because of the above.
[17:29] You: As soon as that happens, any individual becomes part of social exclusion ?
[17:29] You: and studies show something similar in Hispanic populations
[17:30] You: In California, poverty among hispanics is much greater
[17:30] You: and a substantial portion of the Hispanic population is channelled into limiting opportunity
[17:31] You: There are 2 key mechanisms of social exclusion, that make it difficult to provide for livelihood
[17:31] You: 1) Homelessness
[17:31] You: and 2) the criminal economy
[17:31] You: So let's pause here,
[17:31] You: before turning to questions of the future of the Internet
[17:32] You: Are there questions thus far about social exclusion and racism?
[17:32] You: and the mechanisms by which they work?
[17:32] You: Thoughts? observations?
[17:32] You: I'd like to return to Jonathan Zittrain's
[17:33] You: "Future of the Internet" to examine where he sees possibilities for hope against a possible lockdown.
[17:33] You: He's talking tomorrow morning at the Berkman Center's 10th Anniversary Celebration in Cambridge
[17:33] You: which I'm attending . . .
[17:34] You: Many of the tlaks will be broadcast
[17:34] You: Here's the agenda - http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/berkmanat10/agenda
[17:34] Andromeda Mesmer: Is that RL Berkman or SL Berkman?
[17:34] Andromeda Mesmer: Or both?
[17:34] You: And here's Jonathan's blog - http://futureoftheinternet.org/
[17:35] You: I'm attending RL Berkman, and
[17:35] You: I think videos will be posted after the fact.
[17:35] You: I don't know what will be streamed into SL tomorrow and Friday.
[17:35] You: But Jonathan Zittrain sees
[17:36] You: more and more appliances coming to define functions and not provide platforms for innovation
[17:36] You: and he thinks these are sterile technologies
[17:36] You: Examples include the TiVo, and the iPhone
[17:37] You: It's very dificult for 3rd parties to code these, and corporations can broadly
[17:37] You: program them, or reset them remotely
[17:37] Andromeda Mesmer: TiVo isn't sterile - it allows people a lot of freedom to set their own schedules, surely?
[17:37] You: Jonathan thinks that Windows is a generative platform, by contrast
[17:38] You: because anybody can do most anything to it . . . to Microsoft's chagrin
[17:38] Boston Hutchinson: Appliances versus tools.
[17:38] You: Yes. So what Jonathan fears is a kind of lock down
[17:38] Boston Hutchinson: But the purpose of tools is to build appliances
[17:39] You: And explores possibilities for how the web may remain open
[17:39] You: And appliances will continue to be built, but the IT revolution is exciting
[17:39] You: because of the potential for dramatic innovation ahead that is a consequence of generative technologies
[17:40] Boston Hutchinson: Apple can't lock down the Internet with iPhone. Comcast and AT&T could if they shutdown P2P
[17:40] You: and these are harder to plan for in terms of business plans.
[17:40] You: True, Boston, and
[17:40] You: network neutrality is a cornerstone of generative technologies
[17:41] You: and worth fighting for
[17:41] Boston Hutchinson: P2P is currently not very easy to program, because the Internet architecture exposed by the service providers does not allow easy acces to it
[17:41] You: So Jonathan thinks that it's in a whole range of individuals
[17:42] Boston Hutchinson: Making P2P access easy is the key to opening up the next wave of innovation
[17:42] You: creating interesting innovations such as Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia (He's speaking tomorrow at Berkman)
[17:42] You: and Craig of craigslist.org that innovations will occur
[17:42] You: Yes. What I'd like to explore in the remaining time is another example
[17:43] You: for updating the web and thus p2p (How would this work? - http://www.linux.com/feature/133558)
[17:43] Covey Homewood is Online
[17:44] You: Brad Neuberg now works for Google, but was hesitant to join, because of a fear of loss of autonomy
[17:45] You: And, as he observes, he makes browsers do things they aren't supposed to...
[17:45] You: And Neugerg
[17:46] You: Neuberg now develops Google Gears
[17:46] You: as a universal update mechanism for
[17:46] You: browsers that could helpt keep the web free
[17:47] You: So, now, while working with Google, he continues to urege the use of particular open standards
[17:47] You: and suggests that smaller copanies get involved with Gears
[17:47] You: Neuberg, like Zittrain, thinks that innovation comes from smaller companies and from grass roots
[17:48] You: He would like more commucation with Mozilla, because their goal is similar -
[17:48] You: to make the Web newer and more powerful, and to put more stuff onto it
[17:48] You: hence the need for a web updated
[17:48] Jayne Urqhart is Online
[17:49] Covey Homewood is Offline
[17:49] You: How to expand and extend the web is intriguting as a probelm
[17:49] You: The question is how to help the Web evolve and to keep it free
[17:50] You: Since the web as a potetnial applications platform has returned,
[17:50] Jon Seattle is Offline
[17:50] You: and HTML has been rebranded as Ajax, he thinks expectiations for the Web have incrased
[17:50] You: but so are the problems
[17:51] You: and a multiplicity of options exist - Adobe AIR and Silverlight, for example
[17:51] Daisyblue Hefferman is Offline
[17:51] You: so what's signficant to the conversation about the Intenret is how the OPen Web fits these technologies.
[17:52] You: And also, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE . . .
[17:52] You: Hence the need for an update tool
[17:52] Dnate Mars is Offline
[17:52] Dnate Mars is Online
[17:53] You: Neuberg also suggests that only a short time exists for creating these tools, when the web is still in great flux, just as radio and tv had similar breif windows when things crystalizzed . . .
[17:54] You: For him it's much easier to have one update mechanism, rather than a million different improvements . .
[17:54] You: but, to my mind, this also risks centralization . . .and risks the loss of some distributed aspects of the Internet
[17:54] Daisyblue Hefferman is Online
[17:54] Boston Hutchinson: Exactly
[17:55] Boston Hutchinson: Sounds like tools to prevent us from accessing the real tools at a lower level
[17:55] Annette Paster is Online
[17:56] Boston Hutchinson: What's wrong with TCP/IP, and why are the forces that control the Internet making it so hard to access it?
[17:56] You: yes, so what to do to preserve the openness, a creative set of opportunities not only shaped by the distributed nature of the Internet, but also by the tension between individuals and groups, as well as commerical interests?
[17:56] You: What do you mean, Boston?
[17:57] You: To some degree, it's still the 'backbone' and 'lingua franca'
[17:57] Boston Hutchinson: Well, you can't have an IP address, for example.
[17:57] You: but it's also outdated . . .
[17:57] Abigail Tinkel is Online
[17:57] Boston Hutchinson: Ports are restricted on some ISPs (less so now I think)
[17:57] You: and very insecure, as it was designed as an open system
[17:57] Boston Hutchinson: It's actually completely intact underneath the new stuff. It's hidden
[17:57] You: an open set of protocos . . .
[17:58] Andromeda Mesmer: Excuse me, folks -- I've got to leave a bit early today.
[17:58] Andromeda Mesmer: Bye
[17:58] You: I, too, have to go
[17:58] Boston Hutchinson: Bye Andromeda
[17:58] You: as where I am is closing . .
[17:58] You: Bye Andromeda
[17:59] You: So let's meet next week, assuming I can get an internet connection from a remote place . . . I'll post something to
[17:59] You: the SL group list if I can . .
[17:59] You: Is everyone here a member of Soc & INfo Tech ~ Aphilo on Berkman?
[17:59] Annette Paster is Offline
[17:59] You: Sara? Hifeng?, Evus?
[18:00] sara Gartenberg: i'm not sure
[18:00] Evus Alter: not sure
[18:00] You: Moment
[18:00] 01 Hifeng: yes, i'm in group :)
[18:00] Evus Alter: I checked. Yes
[18:00] sara Gartenberg: i'm not in
[18:00] Annette Paster is Online
[18:01] You: You are too, Sara . . .
[18:01] sara Gartenberg: oh okay
[18:01] You: So let's plan to meet next week at 7 ET, 4 SLT, if I can get a connection
[18:01] You: and I'll let you know, if I can . . .
[18:01] Evus Alter: Have a good conference
[18:01] You: as I'll be ina remoted place
[18:01] sara Gartenberg: thank you aphilo - looking forward to the next meeting :)
[18:01] You: thanks :)
[18:01] You: LIkewise
[18:02] You: Yw
[18:02] 01 Hifeng: thanks
[18:02] You: See you soon - I'll post the transcript to http://socinfotech.pbwiki.com
[18:02] Claryssa Schmidt: thanks Aphilo
[18:02] Boston Hutchinson: Thanks, Aphilo
[18:02] Evus Alter: Thanks
Brookline, Massachusetts
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