Welcome to Information Technology and Society

Week 8

Here's the wiki with course material: http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/FrontPage.

In this class we'll focus on how the information technology revolution developed, especially vis-a-vis long time Berkeley Professor Manuel Castells' research on the Network Society, as well as http://webnographers.org - a wiki bibliography on virtual ethnography.

I invite your questions, and I'll post a version of the text from each class to http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/FrontPage over the weeks.

There's already a lot of information on this wiki, which will develop with this class.

And please join the Google Group for World University and School - like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware -

http://groups.google.com/group/World-University-and-School.

Today's class (30 Oct 2010) was primarily in voice.

This is a transcript from the Fall 2010 course - http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/w/page/InfoTechSoc8_2010FA

[10:59]  Connecting to in-world Voice Chat...
[10:59]  Connected
[10:59]  Roman Takacs: hey ! how did you do that ... you just materialized in place ... didn't have to fly in !
[10:59]  Aphilo Aarde: Hi All
[10:59]  Roman Takacs: Ciao !
[11:00]  Aphilo Aarde: I'm curious about the history of scripting, stylization and representation in SL
[11:00]  Aphilo Aarde: :)
[11:00]  Roman Takacs: (I'm still stuck in mud space !)
[11:00]  Aphilo Aarde: Why these forms as defaults?
[11:00]  Andromeda Mesmer: Hi - I was AFK -
[11:00]  Aphilo Aarde: sounds nice in some contexts, Roman
[11:01]  Roman Takacs: Yes, Harbin would be a good muddy spot :)
[11:01]  Aphilo Aarde: Bandwidth limitations can feel muddy :)
[11:01]  Aphilo Aarde: Yes, Harbin ... but the waters are so clean there :)
[11:01]  Roman Takacs: no ...
[11:01]  Roman Takacs: been to Stinson, Pt. Reyes, etc ...
[11:02]  Andromeda Mesmer: Aphilo - I built a nice complex waterfall with sound and spray - if you have time later, you could take a look at it.
[11:02]  Roman Takacs: A little :)
[11:02]  Aphilo Aarde: :)
[11:02]  Aphilo Aarde: Gardens of Bliss - build
[11:04]  Roman Takacs: (sigh, had a student who had built a grand canyon trail system in an MUSE, and it fell victim to hack / system / crash ...)
[11:04]  Aphilo Aarde: MacLeod, Scott Gordon K. 2009. The Making of Virtual Harbin Hot Springs as Ethnographic Field Site in Second Life and Open Simulator. http://blip.tv/file/2053061. (14 mins.) http://scottmacleod.com/papers.htm.
[11:04]  Andromeda Mesmer: Didn't he save it?
[11:04]  Roman Takacs: (nope ... )
[11:04]  Aphilo Aarde: Luna Bliss here in SL who made the Gardens of Bliss
[11:04]  Andromeda Mesmer: I've found that after something goes wrong, I can rebuild and make it even better.
[11:05]  Aphilo Aarde: where I and Lizzy made the above 14 minute machinima
[11:05]  Aphilo Aarde: called MacLeod, Scott Gordon K. 2009. The Making of Virtual Harbin Hot Springs as Ethnographic Field Site in Second Life and Open Simulator. http://blip.tv/file/2053061.
[11:05]  Roman Takacs: (That's what I suggested to him ... but it took a year for him to come to believe that ...)
[11:05]  Deanya Zenfold: hi
[11:06]  Deanya Zenfold: just posted to virtual worlds group too
[11:06]  Aphilo Aarde: (http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2010/10/moonset-world-university-and-school-and.html - October 27, 2010)
[11:06]  Aphilo Aarde: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University
[11:08]  Roman Takacs: "virtual" or "augmented" ?
[11:08]  Aphilo Aarde: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Museums
[11:11]  Roman Takacs: :( why not just surly ? )
[11:12]  Roman Takacs: My concern is the QWERTY MOUSE interactoin model ...
[11:12]  Aphilo Aarde: http://brainfingers.com
[11:12]  Aphilo Aarde: Tan Le's
[11:13]  Roman Takacs: Androids, cell phones, cameras, ...
[11:13]  Aphilo Aarde: Firefox Addon - as Open Simulator
[11:15]  Roman Takacs: Yes ... little barriers have big impact.
[11:17]  Deanya Zenfold: and we're not?
[11:18]  Deanya Zenfold: auto ethnographic methodology only lol
[11:18]  Aphilo Aarde: http://webnographers.org
[11:18]  Deanya Zenfold: that's my personal research haha
[11:18]  Deanya Zenfold: i know i'm a perv
[11:19]  Roman Takacs: either pervs (a la chatroulette) or crooks (a la spammers and phishers)
[11:22]  Aphilo Aarde: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Internet_Studies
[11:23]  Aphilo Aarde: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Subjects
[11:23]  Aphilo Aarde: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses
[11:24]  Aphilo Aarde: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses#Free_Ph.D.s
[11:24]  Deanya Zenfold: Phelen Corrimel at Rockcliffe is trying to do this too.
[11:25]  rhana1 Anton: ooi
[11:26]  rhana1 Anton: travou
[11:27]  felex Airy: é teu
[11:27]  rhana1 Anton: é pq ?
[11:27]  Aphilo Aarde: On the internet people play roles with life
[11:27]  felex Airy: posso da uma vouta
[11:27]  rhana1 Anton: olha foi mal mas minhas amigas estão me chamando pelo Mi
[11:27]  rhana1 Anton: bye
[11:28]  Aphilo Aarde: Life of the Screen
[11:28]  felex Airy: bye
[11:28]  rhana1 Anton: droga de novo
[11:29]  rhana1 Anton: vou ter de ir voando
[11:29]  rhana1 Anton: se quizer vir
[11:29]  Deanya Zenfold: oh no!
[11:29]  Aphilo Aarde: http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/
[11:30]  Aphilo Aarde: http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/w/page/InfoTechSoc7_2010FA
[11:31]  You decline TLE Newbie Park & Classrooms & B, Raziel (218, 176, 22) from A group member named aelwyn Fields.
[11:32]  Roman Takacs: Ph. D. in Deviance !
[11:33]  Aphilo Aarde: adapt to life
[11:35]  Andromeda Mesmer: BTW - any noisy car in SL can be muted - what I recommend
[11:36]  rhana1 Anton: chegamos
[11:36]  rhana1 Anton: de novo
[11:37]  felex Airy: ñ aropela niguem ñ
[11:37]  rhana1 Anton: n atropelei nimguém
[11:37]  rhana1 Anton: que eu tenha visto n
[11:38]  Roman Takacs: 19kbps !
[11:42]  Deanya Zenfold: interesting possible interpretations
[11:44]  Deanya Zenfold: nc
[11:45]  Deanya Zenfold: lol
[11:47]  Deanya Zenfold: well, now we just talk to more of the ppl we want to talk to instead of the people around us in our geographical location.
[11:49]  Andromeda Mesmer: There is more segregation of people interested in similar things.
[11:49]  Deanya Zenfold: yes -- carried text
[11:49]  Deanya Zenfold: newspapers and books could travel.
[11:49]  Roman Takacs: The contrarywise view is that "all communication is local" ... close friends/ colleagues use more bandwidth ...
[11:50]  Andromeda Mesmer: Your group(s) also expand in numbers.
[11:54]  Aphilo Aarde: Netville
[11:54]  Deanya Zenfold: Re: Barry Wellman: Many of his publications are available on his website to be read for free. http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/
[11:55]  Deanya Zenfold: at webnographers search: http://www.webnographers.org/index.php?search=wellman&fulltext=Search
[11:58]  Aphilo Aarde: Bad news
[11:58]  Deanya Zenfold: haha!
[11:58]  Aphilo Aarde: 2 studies
[11:58]  Aphilo Aarde: Nie and Erbring
[11:58]  Aphilo Aarde: at Stanford
[11:58]  rhana1 Anton: cade o felex ?
[11:58]  Aphilo Aarde: Bob Kraut at Carnegie Mellon
[11:59]  Deanya Zenfold: kk
[11:59]  Roman Takacs: ja, matta ...
[11:59]  Andromeda Mesmer: k
[11:59]  Aphilo Aarde: :)
[12:15]  Aphilo Aarde: Hello
[12:15]  Roman Takacs: Aloh A !
[12:15]  Deanya Zenfold: hello!
[12:15]  Deanya Zenfold: yes
[12:15]  Andromeda Mesmer: Not me.
[12:15]  Deanya Zenfold: barry is a friend of mine
[12:16]  Aphilo Aarde: CITASA at MIT
[12:16]  Roman Takacs: I'm in a list serve with wellman ... (AIR-L)
[12:16]  Deanya Zenfold: his work is extensive
[12:16]  Deanya Zenfold: an so much of it!
[12:16]  Deanya Zenfold: annoyingly so lol
[12:16]  Roman Takacs: and has a sense of humor ...
[12:16]  Deanya Zenfold: :)
[12:17]  Deanya Zenfold: i'm having the hardest time this week trying to limit my bib on social media.
[12:17]  Aphilo Aarde: 'Works cited'
[12:17]  Deanya Zenfold: i'm writing the bib chapter
[12:18]  Deanya Zenfold: having to connect a line of work
[12:18]  Aphilo Aarde: Nie and Ebring
[12:18]  Aphilo Aarde: *Nie and Erbring
[12:21]  Aphilo Aarde: Internet and Sociability
[12:28]  Disconnected from in-world Voice Chat



[12:32]  Deanya Zenfold: yay!!
[12:32]  Andromeda Mesmer: still problems?
[12:32]  Deanya Zenfold: wb!
[12:32]  Aphilo Aarde: :)
[12:32]  Connecting to in-world Voice Chat...
[12:32]  Connected
[12:33]  Andromeda Mesmer: Voice dot back.
[12:33]  Deanya Zenfold: ah there's the dot
[12:33]  Deanya Zenfold: :)
[12:33]  Aphilo Aarde: Nice to be back ..
[12:33]  Deanya Zenfold: the collaborative architecture built into sl deserves some respect.
[12:33]  Deanya Zenfold: lol
[12:33]  Deanya Zenfold: got your voice now
[12:33]  Andromeda Mesmer: I hear you now.
[12:34]  Deanya Zenfold: when you disappeared, i saw us all fly up out of our chairs
[12:37]  Roman Takacs: (2nd kernel crash in a row :( )
[12:40]  Deanya Zenfold: makes sense.
[12:41]  Andromeda Mesmer: That could also be due to lack of physical exercise? Exercise lifts depression.
[12:49]  Andromeda Mesmer: Back to primates - groups important.
[12:52]  Deanya Zenfold: interesting
[12:53]  Deanya Zenfold: lol
[12:55]  Andromeda Mesmer: Two such very strong groups that I am particularly familiar with, were centered around 2 TV programs - Babylon 5, and the Firefly/Serenity short-lived series. People got together online and also in RL - in the case of Firefly, they raised money for charity.
[12:56]  Andromeda Mesmer: Yes - people would plan to get together, over the internet - establish where to meet in real life.
[12:56]  Deanya Zenfold: i agree it's happening
[12:57]  Deanya Zenfold: effect of virtual worlds on marriage
[12:57]  Deanya Zenfold: this is gonna be huge
[12:57]  Andromeda Mesmer: Well, before the internet, such groups would have been harder to establish.
[12:57]  Deanya Zenfold: sexuality studies
[12:57]  Deanya Zenfold: i know lots of ppl
[12:58]  Deanya Zenfold: whohave met and are together in real
[12:58]  Roman Takacs: Mostly "virtual ventures" ...
[12:58]  Roman Takacs: strange groups of developers ...
[12:58]  Andromeda Mesmer: Lots of marriages get started through people meeting in SL - one case, a guy in Kansas is going to move to Brazil -
[12:58]  Deanya Zenfold: education and the new worlds
[12:58]  Iaan Yazimoto: i cant build here D:
[12:58]  Roman Takacs: i;m thying to wrap head around the Babylon 5 model ..
[12:59]  Deanya Zenfold: sl pregnant
[12:59]  Aphilo Aarde: :)
[12:59]  Roman Takacs: Crazy bike ride groups, crazy ski groups
[12:59]  Deanya Zenfold: you can have kids
[12:59]  Deanya Zenfold: ppl have babies
[12:59]  Deanya Zenfold: yes
[12:59]  Deanya Zenfold: there are menstuation huds
[13:00]  Deanya Zenfold: yes that make a woman fertile at times of her cycle
[13:00]  Roman Takacs: ... cross media networks ...
[13:00]  Deanya Zenfold: it's huge how much we want sl to mimic rl
[13:00]  Roman Takacs: There is a group here of folks who meet weekly to watch Dr. Who, etc ...
[13:01]  Deanya Zenfold: right
[13:01]  Deanya Zenfold: affected by cohort
[13:01]  Roman Takacs: Dr Who "Theater" ... with a pot luck ... Maybe it's just another "church" ?
[13:01]  Andromeda Mesmer: In the case of Babylon 5, there was a large web site, where the originator of the series answered questions, gave background. Then there were side groups - the Toronto and area fans of the program used to get together at apartments, or restaurants - but also discussed things in an online group.
[13:01]  Deanya Zenfold: me either!!
[13:01]  Deanya Zenfold: lol
[13:01]  Roman Takacs: DWT is purely burlington vt ...
[13:01]  Deanya Zenfold: wow!
[13:01]  Aphilo Aarde: scale of networks ...
[13:02]  Roman Takacs: Good point ...
[13:02]  Aphilo Aarde: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses#Free_Ph.D.s
[13:02]  Aphilo Aarde: 3000-8000 languages
[13:02]  Aphilo Aarde: become a vast network, with sub networks ...
[13:02]  Roman Takacs: Dr Who THeater ...
[13:03]  Aphilo Aarde: Great ... thank you for coming ...
[13:03]  Roman Takacs: (it is sponsored by Dr. Tuna, a local DJ ..)
[13:03]  Roman Takacs: (BTV)
[13:03]  Deanya Zenfold: Thanks again for this Scott
[13:03]  Deanya Zenfold: I always learn a lot.
[13:03]  Roman Takacs: President of the College of Musical Knowledge :)
[13:03]  Roman Takacs: (President and Founder :) )
[13:04]  Aphilo Aarde: Internet as a fundamental communication technology (we're finished with Internet and People)
[13:04]  Aphilo Aarde: :)
[13:04]  Deanya Zenfold: nice!
[13:04]  Deanya Zenfold: thank you!!!

http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/w/page/FrontPage