[orig From: "EURO MILLION JACKPOT" <_______< at >yahoo.co.uk>]ATT:I am looking for a prospective foreign partner to establish an investmentcompany abroad, due to political, economic crisis in my country ,Egypt. Am interested in an Individual of your kind that has investmentIdeas in oil business, property management (real estate) andfinancial markets or any other profit generating business that I caninvest in.Now am besed in united kingdom. Please, kindly update me on yourinterest and your capability in my e mail address(_____robertss1-/E1597aS9LQAvxtiuMwx3w< at >public.gmane.org)Looking forward to hear from you.Regard,Mr. _____ Roberts
[orig From: "EURO MILLION JACKPOT" <_______< at >yahoo.co.uk>]ATT:I am looking for a prospective foreign partner to establish an investmentcompany abroad, due to political, economic crisis in my country ,Egypt. Am interested in an Individual of your kind that has investmentIdeas in oil business, property management (real estate) andfinancial markets or any other profit generating business that I caninvest in.Now am besed in united kingdom. Please, kindly update me on yourinterest and your capability in my e mail address(_____robertss1-/E1597aS9LQAvxtiuMwx3w< at >public.gmane.org)Looking forward to hear from you.Regard,Mr. _____ Roberts
Here is the text I posted on my blog after reading of Osama bin Laden's death on May 2. When I saw the pictures of people reveling in American cities -- probably staged, spurious, or at worst: real -- I felt heartsick about what has been done over the last decade.Why Celebrate?Nothing at all just changed. Since the deadly attack in New York on 9/11/01, the United States has become the centerpiece of a global police and military regime that is feared and hated around the world. We are involved in three wars, having transformed the hunt for a dangerous terrorist group into a pretext for the invasion and destruction of entire countries. Using the alibi of an anti-terrorist campaign, our government has set up extensive spying systems both abroad and at home, to protect, not citizens, but the elites of finance capitalism who brazenly wrecked our own economy as they have done to so many others in the past. Over the last decade the United States has created a new global norm: police states for the rich. Social relations are incomparably worse than they were ten years ago, everywhere. There is no reason to celebrate today.Never over the course of these last ten years has our government allowed any public questioning of our own role in inspiring the fanatical hatred that ultimately led to the bombing of the Twin Towers. Such an inquiry would not have justified the bombing, and that would not have been the point. Instead it would have asked about the basic injustices in the world economic and political system that lend support to terrorist acts. It would have led to a change in our own fanatical drive to impose our rules on all peoples, in disregard for their historical paths and their present well-being. The underlying truth that the hunt for Osama Bin Laden has served to bolster with bombs and guns and aggression is the tired old truth of imperialism: free trade on unequal terms, the economics of greed backed up by troops, air power, intelligence, financial experts, structural adjustment, and the entire panoply of control devices that constitutes global power. Increasingly, that’s what we have here in America too: free trade on unequal terms, the unchecked rule of corporations, whose campaign contributions are protected as freedom of speech.What does it mean, free trade on unequal terms? It means a class structure where all the advantages go to the largest organizations and the biggest billionaires, whose control over production determines not only who will get jobs and who will get debts, but also what kind of environment will greet them every day, whether a luxury high-rise or a destroyed suburb, whether a green, water-sucking golf-course or a blighted landscape devastated by robotic machines. This condition of fundamental inequality is clear wherever you go on earth, and it is clear right here in the USA, where we have turned imperialism against ourselves.We have let our own industry be destroyed by the managers of money, who saw an opportunity to exploit people in China for higher profit. We have let our education system be destroyed by the managers of money, who consider that only the rich should go to school. We have opened our own land to the resource-extraction techniques that have long been used abroad: mountain-top removal for coal, deep-sea drilling for oil, hydraulic fracking for natural gas, with all their consequences on the environment and no serious attempt to limit consumption, just an acceleration of the the deadly drive to pollute this world even faster. This has all been done under the political climate of jingoist nationalism, fostered among a defeated population, unemployed, uneducated, stranded in small towns or barren cities where the military recruiter is the brightest career prospect in sight. This has all been done for the power of the rich, the makers of bombs, the lords of oil, the finance kings.The excuse for the War on Terror was the threat of Islamist jihad across the Muslim world: but when populations take to the streets in the Middle East today, they only do so in order to throw off Western-backed dictators. Osama bin Laden was a specter that we created. The War on Terror has been a failure for all humanity.Yesterday was May Day, the traditional day of workers’ solidarity. Across the earth, people marched in the hope of a better world. That was a day of hope. There is nothing to celebrate today.
Almost half a year I have not been able to write for the Limping Messenger, being fully occupied with a new job in Hong Kong (School of Creative Media City University of Hong Kong); today was an unexpected holiday the 1 of May being on a sunday means for the City State of the Peoples Republic of China that that day should still be valued, so the 2nd of May 2011 is Labour Day here... It lead me to reflect on some of the news of today and combining it with several short notes I did write on Facebook in the last months, especially on the revolts and persistent regime of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya. NATO???s Collateral Tyrannicide: will it bring Justice and Peace?May 2, 2011 by Tjebbe van Tijen A fully illustrated and linked version can be found at the Limping Messenger blog:http://limpingmessenger.wordpress.com/?p=3673&preview=trueThe dust of the impact of a NATO bomb on the compound of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya ??? leaving some of his family members dead ??? has hardly dwindled, or the triumphant news of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan is proudly announced by the American president. Whereas the NATO spokesman denied a purposely targeting of the Libyan head of state using the commonly used argument in such cases that the targeted object had a military strategic function, the undercover operation of targeting and killing of Bin Laden ??? who is not a head of state and is considered an international outlaw ??? was proudly admitted by President Obama. Would Gaddafi have been killed in the NATO attack, it would have been classified as ???a case of collateral tyrannicide.???SECURITY COUNCIL APPROVES ???NO-FLY ZONE??? OVER LIBYA, AUTHORIZING ???ALL NECESSARY MEASURES??? TO PROTECT CIVILIANS, BY VOTE OF 10 IN FAVOUR WITH 5 ABSTENTIONSThat is what ???Resolution 1973??? of the Security Council in it???s 6498th meeting on March the 17th 2011 says. Who reads through the details sees: protection of civilians; No-fly zone??? ; enforcement of arms embargo; ban on flights; asset freeze; but nowhere is the option of disposal of the head of state, let alone targeting his life mentioned. On the contrary ??? in the same document ??? the Prosecutor of the International Court of Justice in The Hague is alerted about the possible targeting of the Libyan civilian population by its authorities, this in order to call them to justice. Our modern courts do not practice anymore justice on accused that are dead.[ tableau Tyrannicicde is on their table not justice]???Mission creep??? has become a household word in todays international politics: half a war is started on a quarter of evidence whipped up in ???the news??? and those who may have a good historical insight in any of these turmoil areas are the last to be consulted, as diplomatic options are cast aside in haste and overridden by military solutions. Politicians ??? with their own national and international agenda ??? are even competing in proposing the military approach as faster and more efficient. What started of as a temporary interventions to prevent mass killings, pre-emptive strikes against the employment of mass murder weapons, and other direct threats against humanity, prove - on a longer term ??? to be more ???problem makers??? than ???problem solvers???. The military are saddled with practical questions diplomats were not able or not allowed to solve: is there a rational basis to decide who is going to be supported, who needs to be attacked, who to be protected and what about bloody revenge after a state collapses?On the one hand there is notion of sovereign states and the principle of non-intervention under international law and ??? on the other ??? there is the idea of the protection of human rights and the prevention against mass violence. ???Protection of civilians by all necessary means??? is the mission in the case of Libya. One should read the ???all necessary??? as acts that still are within the legal bounds of laws, agreements and regulations that form the foundation of the United Nations. The United Nations does not endorse the killing of a head of state, even when she or he is labelled as someone acting against their own population, in short a tyrant. Head of states do not have (anymore) full impunity, they can be called to justice, an International Criminal Court has been set up in The H ague which is supposed to pursue such persons. The killing of a tyrant ??? tyrannicide ??? is not supported by international law, however beneficent it may seem to be in short range. But, i n law, one needs always to reverse the logic and ask the question: ???is it so that it is explicitly forbidden and if so where and in how is that prohibition formulated????Two years ago this question has been raised in a thorough article by the scholar Shannon Brincat in the ???Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy??? under the title ???Legal Philosophy of Internationally Assisted Tyrannicide.???Brincat is not a lawyer but a political scientist and rightly focusses on the underlying historical principles of the practice of international law and tyrannicide as he looks back a few centuries and cites Gentili (1522-1608), Grotius (1583-1645) and Vattel (1714-1767) on the issue of acceptability of the killing of a tyrant, who fell in the legal category of ???hostis humani generis??? (common enemies of mankind). Brincat mentions the historical acceptance of ???tyrannicide??? as a way to get rid of a despotic and cruel ruler abusing the public power; a ruler tha t had lost the bond with his subjects, a bond to work for the welfare of all. Murder of a tyrant has been often an act of a private citizen for the common good of his fellow citizens, an act of self-defence.There is also the planned assassination of a tyrant by those governing another state in support of an oppressed people, to be distinguished from all kind of conspiracies to bring down another power by treacherous acts. Brincat tries to distinguish all kind of murders arranged for political gain -assassination ??? from the act of tyrannicide. He points to the context in which a murder is committed and how it changes its status from a ???war crime??? to ???terrorism???, ???aggression??? or ???intervention???. International regulations of war are documented in some detail in the article, the many conventions of The Hague and Geneva over a period of more than a century, whereby the ???treacherous killing of citizens??? has been formally forbidden, and covert actions been limited. Military prac tice always has its own way, though, as it can not be performed without treacherous tactics and trespassing of all what is laid down in conventions. In the theatre of war the old adagio rule s: ???everything is lawful against enemies.???The United Nations ???New York Convention??? ??? as it is known ??? in full Prevention and Punishment of Crime Against Internationally Protected Persons, dating from 1973, does give protection to heads of states, ministers, diplomats and their family outside of their country, but does not speak about the attempts on the lives of these same persons within their own country. This creates a a window of opportunity for legal advisers to military commanders as to the repercussions to be feared when targeting heads of state and their governmental echelon at home. In the recent case of the alleged targeting of Gaddafi and his family by NATO, it still can be seen as a hostile act of intervention in the internal affairs of a state, but there are loopholes in ???Resolution 1973??? when an attack is classified as an operation necessary to keep the forces of Gaddafi from attacking civilians. That the great leader or his family are hurt on the side is just bad luck. Even when seated i n his berber tent in an oasis next to a swimming pool, not Gaddafi himself but his nearby entourage with all kind of communication equipment, can still be a legitimate military target and Gaddafi being a collateral victim.[image of girl kicking anti Gaddafi poster with caption "When demonstrators change the labelling of a head of state this does not mean that the legal position of the person according to international law has been changed accordingly..."]When demonstrators change the labelling of a head of state this does not mean that the legal position of the person according to international law has been changed accordingly...Heads of states ??? metamorphosed into tyrants or not ??? do not have international legal protection against attacks by other nations on their lives in their own country as it has been thought obvious that local laws would be enough to protect them. A situation that brought President Ronald Reagan and his advisers to the cowboy tactics of ???Operation El Dorado Canyon??? in 1986 bombing the headquarters of Colonel Gaddafi in retaliation of Libyan support for several urban guerrilla actions in the period 1985-86. Sixty people died in that bomb attack among which an adopted daughter of Gaddafi (some say it was a post-mortum adoption for propaganda reasons). That action was condemned by many countries and lead to a resolution in the General Assembly of the United Nations (79 in favour, 28 a gainst, 33 abstentions). The Iraq war saw a repetition of such tactics, whereby at first a plan to murder Saddam Hussein has been devised and when that did not work tons of bombs and missile s have been dropped on palaces and bunkers of the ???head of state???, while the mission was officially not aimed at a change of regime, or the killing of the ???tyrant???. Mission creep on grand scale???[photograph: The U.S. President Ronald Reagan meeting with bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress to discuss the air strike on Libya ("Operation El Dorado Canyon") in Room 208 of the Old Executive office building, 14 April 1986].At the other end are the people, the whole population, and how they are protected by international law against their own government when it turns against them. They are not protected, we all know it, as the principle of our international community in its actual form, the United Nations, is based on its Charter that defines the association of sovereign states. Any intrusion of this sovereignty can be labelled as ???intervention in internal affairs???. There are of course since the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, all kind of mechanism to protect human rights and human lives, but the enforcement of these rights remain problematic. The Genocide Convention itself is limited by its origin to prevent repetition of the racial based extermination policy of the Nazis and has proven useless when it came to mass killings with political or social class motives be it in China , Cambodia, or elsewhere. There remains the principle of the right to ? ??self defence??? against an attacker both in most national laws and international law, but ???tyrannicide??? is more as an preemptive strike than killing someone who is attacking you in battle. The classical case of tyrannicide by forty senators, of Julius Caesar, was meant as a preemptive strike against the further ambitions and absolute rule of the ???dictator perpetuo??? to save the people of Rome from future suffering.[painting by Vincenzo Camuccini Morte di Giulio Cesare ("Death of Julius Caesar", 1798]Humanitarian intervention by other states or international associations of states may be the only way to alter an unbearable state of suffering of main parts of a population, but however noble the incentive, practice may prove to be different. Imposed change of regime from the outside, invasion to establish democracy, we have seen how such undertakings can develop in yet another human disaster in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. And as for imposed change of regime, is that aimed just at one or a set of rulers, is it the system of government which is targeted, or its leader? Who is to judge on what premises?Brincat in his study relates this to proposals for possible endorsement of the act of tyrannicide in order to halt extreme suffering of a population: ???As many have warned the danger is that a unilateral assessment of tyranny could become a Trojan horse and may corrupt tyrannicide to an asymmetrical right only of powerful states.??? Is that not what we observe these days? Who makes the so called ???humanitarian hit list???, who will be on it? Who will have enough power to execute it?There is yet another aspect against the act of ???tyrannicide??? especially when arranged or perpetrated from the outside, by other nations and other interest groups, not part of the nation that suffers tyranny. It distorts the social relations of a society in turmoil with an element that is not part of it. It disables the social revolution that apparently is on its way. It distorts the process of shifting of power in a society. It puts too much emphasis on the one supreme leader whereas each tyrant is a complex social system of alliances, with many collaborators that will be all to happy that the head of the tyrant is cut while the social body of the tyrant may life on for quiet a while or never vanish??? Also, the difference between ???tyrannicide??? and ???revenge judgement??? is not a great one in this respect. The hurried execution of the Rumanian dictator Ceausescu and his wife and the speedy trial and hanging of Saddam Hussein are examples to bear in mind. When we thin k about long lived regimes like the one of Saddam Hussein, the Assad family and Gaddafi, there must be all kind of entangled social layers related in many ways to the ruling system. For a society to reassess itself is a cumbersome and long process and the concept of ???Voluntary Servitude??? as formulated by Etienne de la Bo??tie (1530-1563) already centuries ago, must be born in mind (the text is also known in French as ???Le Contr???un??? which translates in English as the AntiDictator). The usurper of power needs enough willing people to let it happen. A society must come to recognize how this process of enslavement took place in order to find the right remedies to heal its historical wounds.[photograph of commemoration of 40 years of Green revolution in Libya]As with the tyrants of the family Assad, Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi, world leaders have been supportive of their regimes for decades for all kind of reasons: the stability of the Middle East and the position of Israel, a state opposing the Iran and its ambitions after the fall of the Western oriented Shah leading to indirect support of one of the most bloody post World War II wars, the one between Iraq and Iran. Other reasons are oil and gas and nuclear power contracts some of them signed only recently by the same political leaders of the Allied Forces now involved in the military containment of Gaddafi???s state. What about their economic interests colouring their vision?The choice for military force, the attempts at collateral killing of Gaddafi, leaves no space for a later appearance in any court be it Libyan or International of Gaddafi. Imagine this: Gaddafi taking the stage to defend himself, what would he say, what would he tell about his former powerful friends? Just the idea??? better have him dead![tableau of the compound of Gaddafi in Tripoli as a target on Google Earth with an inset photo of Gaddafi and sarkozy at this compound next to a monument remembering the Ronal reagan attack on Gaddafi's home]Are we ready yet for a real functioning of an International Criminal Court that prosecutes individuals and their crimes in an impartial fashion? A process of judgement that will create the space necessary for rebuilding in a nation that what has been destroyed, a minimal common bond between the people and its government. The double-talk we see now on the international stage of politics is one of human rights protection and the necessity of some form of democracy, while that what is supposed to bring about such a change is limited to long distance military force. Under scvuh circumstances who will appear, and who will be dead before they can face their judges, here on earth?Will peace be served by state lead tyrannicide and assassination? I do not think so. The way a regime is changed determines the next one to come???----------Tjebbe van TijenImaginary Museum ProjectsDramatizing Historical Informationhttp://imaginarymuseum.orgweb-blog: The Limping Messengerhttp://limpingmessenger.wordpress.com/
Below is one of the articles written for a publication we are preparing for FutureEverything 2011.Media Art ReduxThere is a rich tradition of profound artistic enquiry engaging in new media technologies going back to the 1960s. Artists are coding, sculpting, visualising, sounding out new kinds of art object, and new possibilities for participation, new ways of seeing, new ways of being. We can reach out and play with every image and word ever created, every idea ever thought of, it is all there, right in front of us. We can endlessly recombine and reconfigure, we can travel through time, instantaneously connect with people and places at all points on the globe. Times of change and transformation often inspire profound art. Artists have charted and led the upheavals in digital culture, and the radical social change that follows in its wake. An instinct within many media artists is not to think only of what digital tools can offer, but to want to shape and influence the way digital technologies develop, and how they impact on, or are shaped by society. As the digital space moves from novelty into everyday, it is becoming the site of more sustained, original artistic engagement than ever before. The digital is today so pervasive it has little use as an organising term, it is now one among many spaces that artists can engage in or draw upon. Today the critical vision and competency embodied in the new media arts field has ever greater relevance, as its ways of working, and vocabulary resonate so much more widely. This creates an opportunity to communicate the values that are so vital and cherished, and to deepen engagement in shared interests (e.g. peer to peer, collaborative culture). The digital space has contributed to new approaches to being an artist, and to engaging with people-formerly-known-as-audiences. New audiences include active participants and also lurkers, the invisible audience whose gravitational pull is shaping online life. Arts policy often focuses on the benefits for audience development and accessibility. This is important, but our imagination should not end there. Now is a time to appreciate how the digital plays out within art, and to promote the important political and social space that is at stake. We need spaces where artists have free rein, and you can rub technology against the grain. Drew HemmentThis article will be published by FutureEverything in association with Cornerhouse in a book for FutureEverything 2011 delegates.
Our last International-themed event did draw some nettime folks, so I'llmention this one, too..You may have seen the recent Freedom House report on Internet Freedom thatcited Estonia as the most free Internet in the world, and Iran as among theleast. As we know Korea has some of the fastest, while Senegal is rapidlydeveloping. SO this should be an interesting talk about the contrasts, withplenty of room for infrastructure debate. As noted I do intend to webcastlive. Please fwd. JOn May 4 2011 the Internet Society’s New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) will presentbroadcaster, author & journalist Cyrus Farivar reading and discussing hisimminent (May 8 ) book ‘The Internet ofElsewhere<http://internetofelsewhere.com/blog/>‘(Rutgers University Press). All welcome. There will be a live webcast.In the book Farivar explores the Internet’s history and effects in fourdistinct and, to some, surprising societies — Iran, Estonia, South Korea,and Senegal. He profiles Web pioneers in these countries and, at the sametime, surveys the environments in which they each work. After all, contendsFarivar, despite California’s great success in creating the Internet andspawning companies like Apple and Google, in some areas the United States isstill years behind other nations.*What*: Cyrus Farivar – The Internet of Elsewhere*When*: Wednesday 4 May 2011 7pm-9pm EDT (1100-0100 UTC)*Where*: Warren Weaver Hall, rm 201, 251 Mercer Street, NY NY 10012*Who*: Free. All welcome. Capacity limited. No RSVP reqd.*Webcast*: http://livestream.com/internetsocietychapters*Hashtags*: #isocny <http://search.twitter.com/search?q=isocny>;#farivar<http://search.twitter.com/search?q=farivar>*Back Channel*: http://backchan.nl/meetings/view/786
http://dawn.com/As 'everybody' is flocking to 'trusted' MSM (Main Stream Media) sites toget news and background on the latest 'tyrannicide' (-Tjebbe vT) - eg, inmy case, Guardian, BBC, Le Monde, etc. (out of Amsterdam, so no WSJ, whichI read only on paper), I may recommend checking out Pakistan's premier(and very critical) English daily The Dawn (Karachi) for better insidecoverage:http://dawn.com/
Below is an article on digital innovation http://futureeverything.org/articles/digital-innovation, written for a publication we are preparing for the festival, followed by a details of FutureEverything's digital innovation labs.Digital innovation will be discussed in a CODA event at FutureEverything in a wonderful venue with views across Manchester on Saturday 14 May._____________________________________DIGITAL INNOVATION'The best way to predict the future is to invent it.' - Alan Kay, 1971Digital innovation is the introduction of a new idea, product or method exploiting the cultural, technical and commercial possibilities of digital technology. The central idea behind digital innovation is that a computerised, networked and collaborative world changes the ways people work, learn, play and create. A history of digital innovation would include the seminal work at labs such as Xerox PARC in Palo Alto, California, responsible for major developments from laser printing to the modern personal computer, graphical user interface (GUI) and ubiquitous computing. Today digital innovation goes on in the research labs of major corporations, university research institutes such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and InfoLab21 at Lancaster University, and also in the studios of small digital companies and bedrooms of individuals around the world.Innovation goes beyond the invention of new ideas to their successful implementation, and leads to change in the ways people make decisions and choose to act. It most commonly refers to the commercial development and introduction of products and services. Open Innovation (1) refers to the ways companies can benefit from distributed knowledge, external ideas and external routes to market. This informs the idea that most successful innovation happens not as a linear process but in environments which encourage the circulation of ideas and approaches.FutureEverything has a distinctive approach to digital innovation, that has evolved out of its artistic programmes, and its close and reciprocal collaboration with Lancaster University’s ImaginationLancaster. This is an approach that is very different to that found in industry and many university labs. It is informed by the field of new media art and digital culture, by design thinking, and even the idea of art as social sculpture from Joseph Beuys. It builds on the way some aspects of digital culture are transforming art and society on a deep level, such as open source and global connectivity. New media artists have made a vital contribution to the open networks of digital culture and have helped to shape tangible new forms and practices in our digital society.FutureEverything's work in digital innovation (futureeverything.org/innovation) investigates both issues within the arts and the social impacts of new technologies. It explores emerging artforms, new kinds of media object, and novel forms of dissemination and audience experience. Outside the art sphere, it undertakes work in areas of policy, technology development, social innovation and academic research. And it applies creative approaches from art and design to explore themes such as open data, social sensing, new mobilities and distant collaboration involving original research, development, practice and publication.Digital culture has today burst its banks. The era of one person, or one organisation, doing one thing at a time is over, and this presents challenges and opportunities. To build a digital innovation ecology we need the ability to translate and decode ways of working for others; this is also a creative act, opening new pathways, writing our collaborative future.Drew Hemment, April 2011http://futureeverything.org/innovationbloghttp://futureeverything.org/cultureblog_____________________________________FUTUREEVERYTHING INNOVATION LABS FutureEverything runs year-round digital innovation labs (futureeverything.org/innovation), engaging a worldwide community in generating new ideas, social connectivity and practical solutions to innovation problems. FutureEverything Data Arts (2010-ongoing) Engages artists and designers to make data tangible. See The Data Dimension. FutureEverything has been commissioned by the Cultural Olympiad in the Northwest to scope out a major data visualisation artwork for London 2012.Open Data Cities (2009-ongoing) Has driven Greater Manchester's transition to an Open Data Framework. It has informed a new European initiative, led to the Open Data Manchester community and, in partnership with Trafford Council, the Greater Manchester Datastore, DataGM.Two innovation projects in the 2011 festival programme include:OurCity, a prototype for mass participation and citizen-led innovation, developed as a part of FutureEverybody (an innovation lab theme), responding to the City Debate 2010 call to arms ("the future must be for everybody").OurTravel, a social media transport app tested at FutureEverything, part of FutureMobilities which has explored new approaches to the mobility of people, media and things.Over the years FutureEverything has run more than 20 innovation labs including:Globally Connected (2009-10) Explored the theme of distant collaboration, telepresence, networked performance, local/global connections, unlimited connectivity and group-to-group connectivity, focused around the GloNet gobally networked event in 2010.Urban Interface – Smart Cities (2009-10) Looked at the ways in which cities are being rewired, through a series of urban interventions, debates, and art and design experiments. It has informed policy debates in Greater Manchester, and was featured on the cover of two Guardian Smarter Cities supplements. Environment 2.0 (2006-9) Explored how the internet and locative technologies can transform people's relationship to the environment. Participatory mass observation prototypes were developed with the Met Office, OPAL and Natural History Museum, some since scaled up nationally, and informed a new European initiative. Social Technologies (2006-8) An early foray into social media, focused around annual Social Technologies Summits and Social Networking Unplugged (a 2008 festival event), which led to a series of interactive probes in urban social media. Mobile Connections (2003-6) An innovation lab on mobile and locative media that contributed to the emergence of the field of locative arts. It culminated in the first major exhibition and conference on the field in 2004, some of the first publications, the Loca artwork, and the Pervasive and Locative Arts Network (EPSRC). FutureEverything is a member of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) and has published its methods in the form of the Festival As Lab Toolkit (FALT / http://futureeverything.org/innovationblog/festival-as-lab-toolkit). Festival As Lab has been adopted as the inaugural theme of the ECAS festivals network and by festivals around the world including CTM (Berlin), CYNETART (Dresden), New Forms (Vancouver) and MUTEK (Brussels).Drew Hemment, April 2011futureeverything.org/innovationThis article will be published by FutureEverything in association with Cornerhouse in a book for FutureEverything 2011 delegates.(1) Chesbrough, H. W. (2003) Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology, Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press.
*I wonder why it took me so long to find this. This Japanese-Canadian personage is a self-described net artist who makes art with big fabric nets.http://iwan.com/photo_Hakone_Pavilion_Tezuka.php"Toshiko Horiuchi Macadam is one of Japan's leading fibre artists, and one of a very small number that sometimes use knitting or crochet in their work. Living in Canada, she now specialises in creating large, interactive textile environments that function both as imaginative and vibrant explorations of colour and form, at the same time as providing thrilling play environments."She was born in 1940 and attended Hibiya High School - a school known throughout Japan for it's high standards. She studied fine art at the Tama Art University, Tokyo, followed by a Masters at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan."http://www.knitjapan.co.uk/features/c_zone/horiuchi/work.htm*Cranbrook grad, is it? Boy, that explains everything.bruces
http://lockshot.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/homeland-security-request-to-take-down-mafiaafire-add-on/From time to time, we [the mozilla foundation] receive government requests for information, usually market information and occasionally subpoenas. Recently the US Department of Homeland Security contacted Mozilla and requested that we remove the MafiaaFire add-on. The ICE Homeland Security Investigations unit alleged that the add-on circumvented a seizure order DHS had obtained against a number of domain names. Mafiaafire, like several other similar add-ons already available through AMO, redirects the user from one domain name to another similar to a mail forwarding service. In this case, Mafiaafire redirects traffic from seized domains to other domains. Here the seized domain names allegedly were used to stream content protected by copyrights of professional sports franchises and other media concerns.Our approach is to comply with valid court orders, warrants, and legal mandates, but in this case there was no such court order. Thus, to evaluate Homeland Security’s request, we asked them several questions similar to those below to understand the legal justification:- Have any courts determined that the Mafiaafire add-on is unlawful or illegal in any way? If so, on what basis? (Please provide any relevant rulings)- Is Mozilla legally obligated to disable the add-on or is this request based on other reasons? If other reasons, can you please specify.- Can you please provide a copy of the relevant seizure order upon which your request to Mozilla to take down the Mafiaafire add-on is based?To date we’ve received no response from Homeland Security nor any court order.One of the fundamental issues here is under what conditions do intermediaries accede to government requests that have a censorship effect and which may threaten the open Internet. Others have commented on these practices already. In this case, the underlying justification arises from content holders legitimate desire to combat piracy. The problem stems from the use of these government powers in service of private content holders when it can have unintended and harmful consequences. Longterm, the challenge is to find better mechanisms that provide both real due process and transparency without infringing upon developer and user freedoms traditionally associated with the Internet. More to come.# distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission# <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets# more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l# archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime< at >kein.org
TinEye: when robots start to look for and at picturesMay 9, 2011 by Tjebbe van TijenA fully illustrated and linked version is available on the Limping Messenger web site:http://limpingmessenger.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/tineye-when-robots-start-to-look-at-pictures/==============There is also an expanded version of the Limping Messenger article NATO's collateral tyrannicide, republished on the web site of openDemocracy.net last saturday May 7th.http://www.opendemocracy.net/tjebbe-van-tijen/nato?s-collateral-tyrannicide==============When images could be searched with images. The idea has been there for a long time, some early big databases could do it a bit, like one designed by IBM of which QBIC (Query By Image Content) is an offspring. This used to be only for customers paying a high price and using dedicated big machines?[image = The official logo of TinEye company]Often people are not well aware of what they do while searching for images, but almost all image search engines on the net are ?text based?. Now there is TinEye ?reverse image search? and the idea of searching images with images, will start to become common practice soon. I did a few tests and given the historic moment, a most obvious one is for Bin Laden. Google image search said it has 290.000.000 pictures for me.[image = Search results from Google on the basis of the text search string "Bin Laden"]I choose one of them ? just the top left one of the first page that came up ? and ask TinEye to check its database for me, comparing my chosen image with whatever other images having the same elements.?The same elements?, therein lays the magic? as my example shows many variations just based on one picture, readily available on the internet for years. All kind of alterations are now available on-line, as so many people wanted to be rummy, funny, mean or otherwise about Bin Laden. In all 1340 variations turned up by using the TinEye web site. Many variations were only slight, others greatly deviating from the original. This result comes from an algorithm that searches for a whole set of parameters on a dataset of 1.9532 billion images.Search results on TinEye are stored only temporary and this was the URL from which I took the examples in my further deliberations below:http://www.tineye.com/search/9488fe41bea7711086575c12eb6b5b71320f3120/?page=2&sort=score&order=asc[image = 1340 search results Tineye web page screen shot]We have here such a large data set that we can observe the effectivity of the comparing algorithm. I was impressed very much at first. Even to such an extend, that I wondered whether or not also a text element had been used, as some kind of ?identifier? or ?delimiter? in the automated search operation. To find out if that is so, some double checks are necessary. Feeding back to the system its own results, applying different names to images and other information around images on web pages used, could be part of such a method of control. I have not been able to do this yet, and when I think it up, other people must already have thought to do the same or have done it already. It will need an hour or so of searching. Until then, marvel and suspicion at the same time, which made me go on, a bit more in detail of my first test.I found that the smartness of the visual robot system was ? sad enough ? contradicted by the interface it offered. It is a cumbersome table like text based result, ten at a time, whereby our possible visual associations are constantly hindered by the non-functional design of the TinEye Robot page. Even Google Images (not a master of good visual design) has understood that there is the ?agile eye?, and offers since a year or so, a tableau of images. Our eyes can swiftly purvey big sets of images, within milliseconds. Not in the straightjacket of the alphabetic sentence structures from top left to down right bottom, making a little jump from right end to left start at each line, but in a much more jumpy and associative way. To make my point I have selected 47 examples from the search result of Robot TinEye (10 web pages of the 134 on the TinEye site, with 10 images per page) and threw them together in one pane, one tableau.[image = see it at full size and test the theory of the jumpy agile eye...]While looking at the first hundred results a second time, some doubt crept in whether what is offered here is solely the result of a visual search. I decided to venture a bit deeper in the 1340 examples TinEye had come up with and in the end I looked at all of them, which left me ? because of the ?ten at a time? interface with a lame wrist of doing all the clicks. What a machine can not do without the help of a human, a human can do without a machine at ease and so I selected a few visual categories that seemed to me not congruent with what I expect automated visual comparison can do. Five main categories and let?s try to forget the level of stupidity of the metamorphoses of the portrait of Osama Bin Laden. The argument is about what an algorithm to compare images is able to do.[image = 1) montaged faces of more or less known political figures on Bin Laden's portrait, starting with Obama variations; 2) some variations with a change of make-up and color; 3) camouflaged Obama's with the last one on the row a complete exception of image patterns see most of the other examples shown here; 4) Obama impersonations for fun among friends; 5) hair dress and head gear changes.The most unlikely ones to be derived from image comparison solely are 3.3, 3.5 and something which is literally on the edge is picture 3.6, which looks like Obama and only at the right hand side the contour of Bin Laden remains visible vaguely.]When looking at the examples on row 4, one wonders why when all these clumsy impersonations do come up in a search action, why not thousands of bearded men in a white clad and a white turban are found also in such a search, that is run on 19532 billion image database?Row 5 seems to be an easy job, as the beard and the face elements remain constant, though image 5.5 hides one of the eyes almost completely with the blue hat.It all points in my observation of this moment in the direction of more than just visual search elements. This is of course absolutely fine and a very logic thing to do, it only differs from the explanation given by TinEye on its web site:TinEye is the first image search engine on the web to use image identification technology rather than keywords, metadata or watermarks. [About page of TinEye]Many more questions remain, like if the face tracking software development of the last two decades is one of the elements used in the comparison techniques of TinEye, and if so, then we step from an academic technical discussion into a social one. The potential of automated face tracking of photographs posted on the internet with all kinds of other intentions than enabling whatever security and surveillance initiatives, can become problematic. The TinEye seems to be most popular now with persons and organizations selling pictures and wanting to trace misuse of what they claim to be ?their copyright? or ?intellectual property?. Of course a certain amount of control can be useful, but we know that when it comes to copyright claims only the most powerful will be able to profit and ownership o f images also can lead to undesirable forms of censorship and blockages of what is called ?fair use?. Other application of the TinEye Robot could even have far stretching consequences.Now we all know that any serious secret service is using such face-tracking tools already for many years, on any photographic material available to them. The question is when everybody will start using such tools and combine them with messaging in social networks this might create havoc, doing the opposite of what these networks claim to be for. Many more effects can be expected like the claim to authorship and fame and image searches that show that the same visual thing existed somewhere else before or after. Endless fights over who has been copying who in the digital land of copy cats. The big music industry already runs automated sound sequence comparisons on the tracks and songs that keep raining down from millions of creators and duplicators, trying to construct court cases to catch what they think are gees that will lay them golden eggs in the form of fines. We may praise ourselves lucky that such copyright claims can not be projected back through the centuries, becaus e how many great composers would have had to appear in the courts called by the lawyers of the music industry and who will ever acknowledge the collective creativity of uncountable anonymous masses?Back to our sweet looking TinEye image robot? I fed it this picture below, that I composed within 5 minutes from three sources, as I wanted to comment on Facebook about people dancing in front of the White House in Washington after the news of the killing of Bin Laden had been announced. Result zero said TinEye. Though anybody following the news would recognize a 1991 Palestine street dancing after 9/11 attack + the 9/11 attack itself + a picture from last week of people in front of the White House celebrating.Diffused half transparencies are not yet within the competence of our lovely robot and for me that gave a feeling of relieve. As I am by now more fearing than admiring the capabilities of TinEye. Digital panopticism is not yet there, the human eye and human memory still reigns?.[image = Tableau for my Facebook friends "I do not dance in the streets when I am horrified"]----post script:Wednesday March 11 2011[image = Playing hide and seek with Tineye Robot]Could not refrain form playing a bit with the Tineye Robot and so we played ?hide and seek? with its own logo? it took three versions to have the robot effectively hiding behind the manipulated lettering of it?s own logo. Colour change and diffusing with a lense and grain filter did not alter the recognition of the word Tineye. Changing the wheel of the logo did not hide him from his own algorithm, but altering the angle of his sensor ears and his arms + his facial expression by somewhat subtracting his chin, gave the desired effect. The robot is clearly visible to us, but not anymore gto its own software.[image = The result with the only the lettering recognised and the robot not seen by itself anymore]Tjebbe van TijenImaginary Museum ProjectsDramatizing Historical Informationhttp://imaginarymuseum.orgweb-blog: The Limping Messengerhttp://limpingmessenger.wordpress.com/PS De kleine lettertjes: van staatswege wordt mij gevraagd ieder van u uit te leggen dat dit een in de loop der tijd gegroeide lijst van email adressen is van mensen die ik ken of van wie ik weet dat zij - bij wijle - mijn commentaar op prijs stellen en dat in het geval dat dit niet, of niet meer het geval is, een enkel retourbericht waarin daarvan melding gemaakt wordt voldoende is om van mijn bescheiden lijstje afgevoerd te worden, waarbij het omgekeerde natuurlijk - van staatswege - ook toegestaan is, vrienden van u op deze lijst attent te maken en hen te suggereren om mij een verzoek voor opname op deze lijst per email te sturen.Tjebbe van TijenImaginary Museum ProjectsDramatizing Historical Informationhttp://imaginarymuseum.orgweb-blog: The Limping Messengerhttp://limpingmessenger.wordpress.com/
Don’t Leak to the Wall Street Journal’s New Wikileaks Knockoffgawker.com -> http://t.co/gHkLkTSAdrian Chen — The Wall Street Journal is trying to make a play for whistleblowers with its very own Wikileaks clone, SafeHouse. But SafeHouse is the opposite of safe, thanks to basic security flaws and fine print that lets the Journal rat on leakers.SafeHouse, which launched today to much fanfare, promises to let leakers "securely share information with the Wall Street Journal," by uploading documents directly to its servers, just like Wikileaks! But unlike Wikileaks, SafeHouse includes a doozy of a caveat in its Terms of Use:So, go ahead and upload your explosive documents to SafeHouse. But if they publish a scoop based on your material and someone gets mad, they can sell you out to anyone for any reason, including the insanely broad one of safeguarding "the interests of others." (And Rupert Murdoch, who controls the paper, sure has a lot of interests!)Although you might get outed by hackers before you're sold out to the cops. Despite the WSJ's assurances that the SafeHouse submission system is secure, it is "rife with amateur security flaws." Security researcher Jacob Appelbaum has been tweeting out a stream of holes he's spotted in SafeHouse's security. He calls the Journal's claim that people submitting documents can remain anonymous if they choose a "blatant lie". Appelbaum knows a thing about security: He's one of the chief developers of the anonymizing software TOR, which SafeHouse ironically recommends leakers use to help hide their identity. (Granted, Appelbaum has a horse in the race, since he's been a prominent Wikileaks volunteer.)Bottom line, writes Appelbaum: "[The Wall Street Journal is] negligent and this is the wrong project to beta-test on an open internet."Wikileaks has attracted its high-profile leaks because of its unequivocal promise to protect the anonymity of all leakers and its super-secure submission system. SafeHouse portrays itself as a similarly, um, safe space for leakers. In fact it offers threadbare protections and could sell you out on a dime. SafeHouse's only real similarity to Wikileaks is that both benefit megalomaniacal Australians.By all means, call up Journal editors with a hot tip if you've got one. But leak to SafeHouse at your peril.Update: A WSJ spokeswoman told Forbes that SafeHouse is updating its encryption. (Forbes has a good in-depth account of the security holes.)As for the sketchy terms of service, she says:So, just don't send any extraordinary documents and you should be OK.# distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission# <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets# more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l# archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime< at >kein.org
*The revolt of a generation**Euro-mediterranean happening on Education, Welfare and New PoliticalPractices**Rome, May 12th ? 13th*In the last two years we have participated and assisted with extraordinarymovements that have fought for a quality education, for labor rights and newwelfare against the austerity politics of the European Union. The wilddemonstrations, pickets lines and strikes, the university occupations andthe turmoil of the Mediterranean signal a generational revolt and thenecessity of a new social pact that involves all those subjects that standup for their rights and refuse to be blackmailed. The huge strikes lastautumn in France showed us the possibility of creating an intergenerationalalliance, as blockades of production and circulation of goods constitutedifferent aspects of a common struggle. In Rome, as in London, the BookBlock was a collective political practice able to speak out about thedismantling of public universities and processes of deskilling. At the sametime, the revolts of Maghreb- Mashrek demonstrate how the construction of afuture is tightly bound to both the radical claim for democracy and with thenecessity of freedom from the parasitic and corrupt power that commands overour lives, universities, schools and workplaces. The recent revolts andmovements have crossed national and European borders as well as the limitsimposed on education and mobility by Bologna Process to clash with thefailure of a strategy we have always opposed. The struggles of these monthshave indicated that the possibility of radical change can only becomeconcrete through the alliance among the different actors of labor andeducation, through common and transnational practices guided by those whomput their own bodies and knowledge. We hope to give a common meaning to thisnew space redefined by the conflicts in which the crises opens newpossibilities to create an "other" future. It is for this reason that wewant to initiate an open debate about the common projects we want to buildtogether, starting in Rome on 12 and 13th May 2011.*Program[ Thursday 12th May ]*6 p.m. ? Department of Philosophy, Villa Mirafiori*Opening workshop ? with:Mouhamed Ali Oueled Itaief **Student of the ??cole des beaux-arts? in Tunis**Youad Ben Rejeb **Universit? Femministe **Trifi Bassem **Forum des jeunes pour la citoyennet? et la cr?ativit? (FJCC)**Mondher Abidi **Union Diplom?es Chomeurs **Wissem Sghaier **UGET Union General Etudiant Tunisi **Tim **Uncut UK**Maham Hashni **SOAS**Mark Bergfeld **Education Activist Network**Rita Maestre Fernandez **Juventud sin futuro**Annalisa Cannito **AgMigrationUndAntirassismus**Tatiana Kai- Browne **Plattform Geschichtspolitik*7 p.m.*Aperitive ? Global video session #1**Contributions from education revolt ? Book Bloc videos and photos **[ Friday 13th May ]*10 a.m. ? Department of Political Science, University ?La Sapienza?*Conflictual knowledge: from Europe to Mediterranean area*3 p.m. ? Department of Literature, University ?La Sapienza?*Education, Welfare and Precariousness*5 p.m. - Department of Literature, University ?La Sapienza?*Labour, income and democracy against the crisis*With Fiom? general secretary *Maurizio Landini *and members of tunisianGeneral Union* UGTT.*8 p.m. - ESC (via dei Volsci, 159)***Global video session #2****Contributions and interviews from Maghreb ? Mashrek? revolts******follow Live-Streaming on: www.unicommon.org**READ THE PROGRAM IN FRENCH ANDARAB<http://www.unicommon.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2897:qthe-revolt-of-a-generationq-program-of-the-euro-mediterranean-happening-it-fr-eng-arab&catid=132:book-bloc&Itemid=324>****www.unicommon.org<http://www.unicommon.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=132&Itemid=324>www.coordinamentouniversitario.it
http://www.im.uu.se/MLeague2011/?languageId=3&siteNodeId=36303&contentId=-1http://www.im.uu.se/digitalAssets/56/56848_MLeauge2011ver2.pdfhttp://www.im.uu.se/digitalAssets/56/56531_RegistrationForm-MLIS2011.docGlobal Media Worlds and China2011 MLeague International SymposiumOctober 6th-7th 2011, Uppsala, SwedenContribution abstract submission deadline: May 31, 2011Organized by:International League of Higher Education in Media and Communication (MLeague) Communication University of China (CUC) Uppsala University (UU)Keynote speakers:Keynote speakers- Susan Brownell, University of Missouri, USA- Daya Thussu, University of Westminster, UK- Yuezhi Zhao, Simon Fraser University, CanadaThe International League of Higher Education in Media and Communication, MLeague, Communication University of China (CUC) and Uppsala University (UU) invites you to attend the annual international academic symposium of MLeague organized by MLeague, CUC and Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, October 6-7 2011. The symposium is hosted by Department of Informatics and Media and Department of Linguistics and Philology at Uppsala University.The theme of the symposium is “Global Media Worlds and China” and it is divided in three parts:- Global Media worlds entering China: global and international media in China- Media worlds of China: the transforming media landscape of China- China entering global media worlds: Chinese media going international and globalParticipants are free to address any relevant issues inside of these broad frames (for example cultural industries, innovation, media economy, digital media, media convergence, governance, digital media cultures, social media, new media ethics, immaterial rights, privacy, etc.).--Prof. Christian FuchsChair in Media and Communication StudiesDepartment of Informatics and MediaUppsala UniversityKyrkogårdsgatan 10Box 513751 20 UppsalaSwedenchristian.fuchs< at >im.uu.seTel +46 (0) 18 471 1019http://fuchs.uti.athttp://www.im.uu.seNetPolitics Blog: http://fuchs.uti.at/blogEditor of tripleC: http://www.triple-c.atBook "Foundations of Critical Media and Information Studies" (Routledge 2011)Book "Internet and Society" (Paperback, Routledge 2010)# distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission# <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets# more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l# archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime< at >kein.org
bwo Sarai Reader List/ A.ManiUsual apps for X-postingWikileaks, Internet and Democracy | http://wiki-leaks.wikispaces.com/--------------------------------------------------------Let us consider this hypothetical scenario:You are working in a government department. You come across a secretgovernment document. The document is in digital format . The documenthas the names of Swiss bank account holders in India. The documentnames important corporate heads, bureaucrats and political leaders .The document also has information on illegal sources of these funds.But, you are under the oath of secrecy not to reveal this.However you see that important people in power are doing clearlyillegitimate things. You would want the public to know this, in theinterest of the ordinary man. Your conscience doesn't allow you togrow numb and be silent like rest of the crowd.Then, you decide to be a whistleblower, ready to face any direconsequences, which might pose threat to your career, or somethingmore important.You think of passing this information to a media house. However yousee that the media houses are working closely with some of thecorporates who have been named in the report and stories are beingplanted . You come to the realization that the media is dominated bypaid news. Their major reporters are at a phone call reach to some ofthe powerful lobbyists.Instead of being depressed and/or dejected, if you face this personalscenario with courage, you could be a person worth your salt by usinga gamut of Free Software (Free as in Freedom) like the TOR, and sendthis information safely and discreetly via the internet to a publishercalled the Wikileaks.What is Wikileaks? Is it important, or firstly is it necessary?Want to protect your own freedom and the right to voice the truth.Want to understand Free Software and the technology behind Wikileaks.Want to understand how the advent of the internet has enabled FreeSoftware and a publishing format like the Wikileaks.Once you've read this mail, please visithttp://wiki-leaks.wikispaces.com/, where we have put together somematerial about Wikileaks and Web Democracy, which we think areimportant and essential.Here is an excerpt from the Hindu Editorial which apprehends about thethreat to freedom to disseminate information." For instance, draft rule 3(2)(a) for intermediaries requires theuser not to publish or display information that belongs to anotherperson. Potentially, secret documents ferreted out by investigativejournalists or whistleblowers in the public interest may beinterpreted to belong to a third party â and blocked from the publicdomain" [http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article1515144.ece]This means a publisher like Julian Assange (Editor in Chief ofWikileaks) who uses the Internet to publish suppressed materialobtained via whistleblowers, could be in jail if he happens to do thatin India.Watch some important videos on Wikileaks and understand the smearcampaign on Wikileaks:http://wiki-leaks.wikispaces.com/Video+-+Julian+Assange+speaks+to+Steve+Kroft%2CCBSHow can you support and be part of this campaign---------------------------------------------------------------------------1) Popularize this page and presentation on the page. Ask more friendsto write and blog about it2) Distribute support Wikileaks stickers3) Organise video shows in your college, glug, ngo, institutes, home -we will be happy to meet you and share the videos4) Organise talks by Whistleblowers5) Invite us for a talk on wikileaks, internet and democracy6) Send us comments to add in the page and add content to the campaign page7) Sign up on the Support Wikileaks Signature campaign page:http://wiki-leaks.wikispaces.com/Signature+campaignVisit http://wiki-leaks.wikispaces.com/ for more details and campaignmaterial.______________________________________________________
Muammar Gaddafi 1942- ?. Looking from the past to the futureMay 12, 2011 by Tjebbe van Tijen This is most of all a tiny story told through two pictures... which can be seen at the following addresshttp://limpingmessenger.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/muammar-gaddafi-1942-looking-from-the-past-to-the-future/[tableau Gaddafi 1969/2011]Wednesday May 11th 2011 Gaddafi comes to one of the most safe places for him now-a-days the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli where most of the international journalists accredited by the Libyan Government are staying, though they are having dinner elsewhere in the hotel and know nothing about this meeting of Gaddafi and a whole parade of Libyan tribal leaders that come to him one by one and shake his hand, all the while being photographed as loyal chiefs. On a screen in the room a program of Libyan state television is projected in the background so the date and time of the meeting is documented. The video of this broadcast by Libyan State Television can be seen at YouTube under the title: ?Gaddafi Live on Libya State TV May 11 ? NATO Assassination Attempt Fails Again !? The video is not subtitled an d not translated. It leaves the non Arabic speaking with only the body language of those acting out this scene.It looks to me very much like a farewell meeting with someone who is going to die soon, knowing his day are counted.I look in some old archives with different spellings of his name: Khadaffi, Qadhafi and see a young man right after having taken power in 1969: with sparkling open eyes and a smile, looking ahead. Gaddafi has been born ? it says ? in a Berber tent in 1942, where will he die and how, nobody can look into his eyes anymore to find the answer?Tjebbe van TijenImaginary Museum ProjectsDramatizing Historical Informationhttp://imaginarymuseum.orgweb-blog: The Limping Messengerhttp://limpingmessenger.wordpress.com/
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----Hash: SHA1(Apologies if you have seen this already, but I think it's appropriatefor nettime as well.)Hello nettime,I presume that there are many nettimers who are planning on attendingISEA 2011 in Istanbul this year. If you have not looked at theregistration fees for the conference, prepare yourself for some stickershock. The fees seem to be disproportionately expensive for aconference hosted at a university. Student fees begin at EUR250, withnon-student fees beginning at EUR300---and both jump to EUR400 if youdon't register by Sunday. In comparison, fees for last year's ISEA wereEUR100 to EUR150 for non-VIP passes, and fees for ISEA 2008 ranged from100 to 450 Singapore dollars (translating to, if I remember theconversion rate correctly at the time, around US$70 to US$320), with thehighest-priced pass for presenters rounding out at around US$250.As a graduate student I am most concerned about what appears to memassive gouging of an already cash-strapped population. I do notunderstand how an event for digital arts hosted at a university can haveregistration fees that approach those of academic-corporate conferencessuch as CHI. At least for CHI the cost is understandable, ifproblematic, because of existing agreements organizations such as ACMhave with major hotel chains. In this case, I cannot see where a fee ofUS$570 (if you don't make the Sunday deadline) is appropriate forgraduate students---or anyone for that matter.This pertains to our shared concerns, namely more open access to digitaltechnologies and their use in new forms of expression. How can fees ofthis sort enable any sort of open dialogue with people who are notalready attached to well-funded institutions? And even within the US,as well as elsewhere, funding for the type of work we do has beenmassively scaled-back in the recent years, making fees like thisprohibitively expensive even for those of us in the Global North.I have my own thoughts as to why this has taken place this year, namelyISEAs choice to be associated with the global art market via theIstanbul Biennial. However that is only a supposition and I wouldencourage anyone on the list affiliated with the ISEA organization tochime in with explanations for the high fees. I'm also waiting oninformation from the tourist company that ISEA has contracted with. Ithink it's only fair that we receive a complete breakdown of where ourconference fees are going when we are personally forking over so much ofour limited amount of money.These fees make me seriously reconsider my participation in ISEA 2011.I wonder if our money is not better spent organizing acounter-conference that does not discriminate based on ability to pay.Perhaps we would then be able to have a real "international symposium on electronic art".I encourage others to chime in publicly.Best,nick knouf-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux)Comment: Topal (http://freshmeat.net/projects/topal)iEYEARECAAYFAk3MuR4ACgkQoHDFiKQ8nMlA1wCeMFgYef2TtiUhZz8QGDrtZxiA7zUAoIRPdnw4aRXFKV8qQE3rsOnjhD47=q+kn-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Dear All,A very interesting debate is going on with some facts and someclarifications needed - since most of you seem to be discussing the issue offees but also making wild assumptions that do not reflect neither thecommunity nor the organization of ISEA2011 Istanbul. (Apologies for the longemail - but things needed to be clarified and I tried to do addressing mostof the major points.)This year the economic climate is particularly difficult and it has beenlike this for the past couple of years.Someone has said that 'New Media' was the bastard child in the fine artslandscape - I couldn't agree more. Despite anaggressive fundraising nationally and internationally there have not beenpositive responses - apart from a few local organizations that are providinghelp pro-bono like the City of Istanbul and Vista.Personally I was hoping for this conference to be for free, butunfortunately it has not been possible.Therefore I will address some of the issues quickly that I believe wouldhelp to better understand the context:*Fees:* are 300 and 250 euros for students and academics respectively.As some of you have noticed we extended the early bird fees in April and itwas our plan to let the fees stay as they were all along.Why have a large 'jump then' was on the website? some of you may ask: it wasmore of an organizational issue in order to have as many people close theirregistration process as soon as possible and be able to do the program andlook at the financial knowing were we stood.Since the fees have become part of the budget this year in order to makesure where and how to allocate the fees we needed somehow to ensure thatmost people had registered by May. Now with even further commitment from theuniversity allocating fee waivers we can see what can be done to assistpeople with complex financial situations.There is one statement that I totally disagree with:"I am not sure if I am more outraged by the fees or by the completeacceptance by a number of colleagues and friends of said fees."If someone will be coming from Egypt or Canada with a few waiver to ISEA2011Istanbul, for example, it is because of the complete acceptance of thisnumber of colleagues (to which I am extremely grateful).Are the very fees paid by these colleagues that are in part assisting withthe conference but also allowing the University to allocate a number of feewaivers to people that have not had the chance to register or are fromdisadvantage international nations.The job market is depressed and we are getting a picture in the currenteconomic climate that is very saddening: with lecturers laid off, contractsnot renewed for researchers and students, cuts on salaries, organizationswith budget cuts of over 25 percent, etc.*Fee waivers:*Actually we have been waiving fees for people and organizations that havebeen strangled by budget cuts. This year you would be surprised by the shearnumber of how many people are having difficulties.We have been approached by students who have asked to have their fees waivedin exchange for their work and assisting with the conference. All requestshave been looked at and generally granted, particularly for students.*To The ISEA Community*I wish to thank all of you that have actually made it possible for thisconference to happen. Keynotes that have paid their fees - unheard of - aswell as their travel and accommodation, students that have worked with us inconvincing their institutions to support their attendance (thanks to themand their institutions) as well as all the organizations that despite thecuts are trying to support the artists and the speakers, and all of thosethat with a stretch of good will have worked with us and tried to find asolution to their financial issues.*The Debate*Although all debates are very interesting this is a particular time for meand I need to focus as much as I can on the issues of assisting people andmake sure that they can travel and have an interesting and pleasantconference. I would have preferred if those that are participating in thisdebate would have focused more on: e.g. how can we make sure that we getfunding from the American Embassy? (We have approached them repeatedly inorder to assist with people coming from the US and they have been notforthcoming. The republican approved budget in the US has had repercussionson ISEA as well and those lamenting the fees. Please make a note of thisnext time you vote.)Here is an extract of an e-mail conversation that you may all findinteresting:The fees are not paying salaries - here we are all volunteering includingmyself - working non stop in order to make the event happen.If I could have avoided having fees at all - with a sponsor offering moneyto cover costs - I would have done this ISEA without fees. Unfortunately itis not possible.I am sure that you have put lot of work in your panel and I would be mosthappy to help you - but shouting at me will not help you nor me.Perhaps we can together shout at the Goethe Institute or to Lufthansa or anyother company you wish to.Let me know and please bear in mind that I prefer a constructive practicalapproach leading to problem's solutions.If any of you has any ideas on how to get support - please let us know. Weare ready to follow any leads and any suggestions you may have. We have beentrying everything - so a further attempt will not be problematic on ourpart.*Participation and Sharing*Although we have had incredible relationships with great part of thecommunity, there have been episodes that have left me flabbergasted.I opened a speech at the CAA two years ago, I think, in Chicago with a joke:saying that I was a European socially minded person and that probably in theUS meant that I was a hard core communist.Why to mentions this?Because this conference has caused lots of soul searching within the ISEAteam. We have questioned not the conference itself - I am very grateful tothe Community that is proving that it exists and it is not a mythical animal- but some behaviors that I believe are self-deprecating, selfish and attime very unhelpful.Two examples for all:a) people that could have assisted us in finding funding from nationalinstitutions e.g. British Council or Goethe institute - have not done so.Although the arts council in some areas of the world are supporting theartists, like Australia and New Zealand - European countries in our backyardand cultural operators in those countries have not felt it necessary. (Thiswould have allowed us to help other people from other areas.)b) I have waived fees for entire panels if people were in financial need. Anexample for all: in order to facilitate the arrival of an artist from the USand to work with the European panelists that had invited him, I stated thatthey could use the waived fees to pay for that person travel andaccommodation from the US if they did not find support from the Institutionthey were approaching. Their response: they wanted the fees waived for themand ISEA to pay for the US guest's travel and accommodation.*So What Are Our Fees Paying?*Our fees are helping people who would not be able to attend otherwise. Thecommunity with the fees is assisting those that otherwise would not be ableto attend. Can we help everyone? I am not sure and I don't think so - we areflooded with work going through the issues and the people one by one.This year all of my research budget and a good chunk of my own personalmoney has been sunk in this event. Am I claiming the money back? No. And foreveryone's info I still have remnants of my Ph.D.'s debts for attendingprevious conferences around the world.*These Are Extracts From Our Discussions*For the Goethe and British Institute I have hammered in all directions tohave funding for the artists but so far all has been ineffectual.Academics are less of a problem - generally their home institutions supportthem. What is worrying and difficult are the students - I am holding upbecause with enough fees - if people don't feel that there is a rush towaive - we can help those that really need it: e.g. students andstudents/researchers from disadvantaged countries.There was a serious discussion here when we received a request formLecturers from Germany to have their fees waived. If we waive for the firstworld then we should probably waive for everyone else that comes fromdisadvantaged areas... but on the other hand that does not necessarily meanthat someone from let's say Tanzania is necessarily poorer than someone fromthe US....There has been lots of struggle and even heart wrenching on this topic thisyear - and we are going case by case, person by person... request by requestand generally speaking waving when it is a student or someone else that weknow would drop because of the financials.*What Now?**Now, over the next couple of weeks we will be going through all paperpresenters and speak with them individually - the ones that have notregistered - and see if and how we can help them. *The University has placedextra support and we have a number of fee waivers. Again this is possiblethanks to 'those bad academics and bad students who paid the fees for theconference'. To all of you goes my utmost respect and thanks for proving me,in difficult times, that there is an *incredibly supportive andunderstanding* ISEA community.*General Overview of Financial*The ISEA2011 Istanbul conference will not make any money and it will takeplace thanks to a large financial support of the University. The fees willbarely cover one sixth of the conference cost only - without taking intoaccount the exhibition.*In All of This There Are Some Good News*a) the conference proceedings will be available for free (in previouseditions they were not) although if we keep on waiving I am not sure that wewill be able to do them in print for allb) most of the program is for free - entrance to exhibitions, most workshopsand etc. (many thanks again to all of you who are working hard with thefinancials of this year to keep most of the events free of charge).c) there are no VIP events - personally never liked this division - everyoneattends everythingd) the ticket to attend the conference as non-speaker - is 20 euros (thismeans attending the conference for 8 days and its events) - we did this inorder to facilitate participation from international students and locals aswell. With a single ticket fee of 18 euros for 8 days (2 euros per day) -everyone can attend and participate in the conference. (We will announcethis on the website in the next few days).*Conclusions*Some of the comments in this forum are dictated in my opinion by an angerthat is directed to the wrong people and the wrong institution. Thequestions I would ask are the following:Where is our public money gone?How can we exercise pressure on sponsors?How can we organize ourselves to participate?Are out there funding available that with the support of ISEA we could tapin to? (We have been writing numerous letters of support and contactingnumerous agencies and we have added a new team member to help with thesponsorships, re-starting visits to possible sponsors.)And finally in my opinion the most important question of all: How can wehelp the others?Although all of this offers only a partial insight - the problems this yearhave been incredible and I am getting a very good picture of what is goingon around the world.As stated above shouting at me, or to ISEA, will not help. It will actuallytake away more of my time from trying to help people. The financials arewhat they are.Let's try to organize ourselves and shout together to organizations (privateand public) that you think can and should pay. I have no problem in addingmy voice to yours in any constructive and helpful action.With kind regards to all,Lanfranco AcetiISEA2011 IstanbulConference Chair and Artistic Director
-------- Original Message --------Subject: [NAASN] CFP: "Anarchism and Technology": A special issue ofAnarchist StudiesDate: Sun, 8 May 2011 12:49:30 -0600From: Michael Truscello <truscello-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w< at >public.gmane.org>Reply-To: naasn-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw< at >public.gmane.orgTo: naasn-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw< at >public.gmane.orgCall for Papers"Anarchism and Technology"A special issue of Anarchist StudiesEditors: Michael Truscello and Uri GordonDeadline for abstracts: 1 August 2011Deadline for papers: 1 February 2012Throughout its history, the anarchist movement has had an ambivalentrelationship with technology, with activists and writers approaching theissue on the full spectrum between celebration and abolitionism. Thistrend has continued with the revitalization of anarchist resistance andtheory in the last decades, with phenomena as diverse andseemingly-contradictory as the wholesale adoption and development ofinformation and communication technologies, the primitivist critique ofcivilization and rewilding practices, and the uptake of practical ecologyapplications and models by anarchsits around the world. Nevertheless,anarchist and anarchist-inspired writings on technological issues remainquite scant, especially in the scholarly rather than polemical register.The proposed special issue of Anarchist Studies seeks to address this gap,in bringing together a focused discussion of all aspects related to theanarchism/technology nexus. Naturally, this is not the first timeactivists and scholars have promoted the concept of technology in harmonywith nature. Philosopher John Clark, for example, checklists a host offamous theories that demand consonance between human beings and nature:"what Illich calls 'convivial tools,' Schumacher labels 'intermediatetechnology,' and Bookchin (perhaps most adequately) describes as'liberatory technology,' or 'ecotechnology'" (1985:196). Clark was writingabout technology and anarchism 25 years ago. What do contemporaryanarchists have to say about technology?Abstracts are invited for papers that would address any intersection ofanarchism and technology. Topics might include:- Anarchist theories and critiques of technology, from any tendency withinanarchist thought- Historical approaches to technology by anarchist movements or writers- Anarchist-inspired infrastructures and new forms of satisfyingnecessities, anarchist perspectives on the transition from oil-dependentcapitalism to alternative energies and practices- Social media and revolution (the Iranian "Twitter Revolution," theEgyptian "Facebook Revolution," etc.)- Anarchist critiques of civilization and practices of rewilding- Totalitarian "technological drift" (Langdon Winner) and anarchistresponses- Technological abilities/ableism- Anarchist dimensions of Free and Open Source Software- Technosocial assemblages and (the subversion of) regimes of domination- Anarchist readings of contemporary events/issues, such as Wikileaks andthe Julian Assange sagaAbstracts (up to 350 words) should be sent by 1 August 2011 to the editorsby email (truscello-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w< at >public.gmane.org <mailto:truscello-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w< at >public.gmane.org>,uri-sGOZH3hwPm2sTnJN9+BGXg< at >public.gmane.org <mailto:uri-sGOZH3hwPm2sTnJN9+BGXg< at >public.gmane.org>)Once an abstract is accepted, the full paper will be expected by 1February 2012. Papers will be subject to anonymous peer-review and theauthor may be asked to respond to comments or make additions andcorrections.Michael Truscello, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorDepartments of English and General EducationEA3118Mount Royal UniversityCalgary, AB, CanadaT3E 6K6403-440-8513truscello-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w< at >public.gmane.org <mailto:truscello-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w< at >public.gmane.org>http://capitalismisthecrisis.net