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Maggie Murphy

The United Nations Declares Internet Access a Basic Human Right - 2 views

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    Another article found in my search for information about the "global digital divide." According to the article, last week, the United Nations released a report that "argued that disconnecting individuals from the Internet is a violation of human rights and goes against international law" and that all States should seek to ensure there is "as little restriction to online content as possible." The Atlantic points out, following Wired's Threat Level blog, that the UN report came "the same day that a monitoring firm found two-thirds of Syria's Internet access has been shut down without notice." While access isn't the only factor in the digital divide on a global or a national scale (disparities in information or new media literacy is also a huge factor, for example), I agree that the availability of unfettered access as a matter of government policy is the bare minimum.
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    This confuses me a bit. Does this mean that the government should be providing everyone with unlimited Internet access? Or does this just mean that the government has no right to shut down ISPs?
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    I'm pretty sure if the focus of the report is that, as a matter of human rights, governments should not be disconnecting people from the internet and should not be censoring or blocking content as per the article, the answer is the latter.
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    Interesting. Seems intuitive if we think of Internet access as a matter of free speech. It's not so much a question of the government granting free speech as it is restricting governments' interference with it. (I.e., we're not talking about giving a population newspapers or other information sources; it's more of a "negative right" - no one shall interfere with your ability to access such information.)
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    It confuses me that it can be considered a basic human right if, for a portion of the population, it's hard to access and at times, can be unreachable. Even though I know it's more what Tom said about it being a negative right, the phrasing just doesn't sit right. Either way, this is a great thing and I'm surprised it didn;t happen sooner.
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    I had come across this article as well in our group project research, Maggie, and I think that the UN is taking steps to bring the conversation on the right to freedom of opinion and expression into the digital age, as Tom mentions. Article 19 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, in place since 1948, states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." So in the context of the recent shutdown of ISPs by Syria, more generally the use of the Internet as a means of civic and political dissidence, and even the debate around net neutrality in this country, I agree with Maggie that the UN's approach seems to clarify and reiterate unfettered access to information.
Rebecca Martin

History of the term: Social Informatics - 3 views

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    For me it's helpful to understand a discipline by looking at the types of classes someone undertaking it might enroll in/teach. I found the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics at Indiana University Bloomington in my surfing and thought it might be helpful for others as well to get a sense of what a primary course of SI study might entail. Perhaps most helpful though is that the center provides a history of the term, "social informatics" and a few foundational documents (nearly all by the center's namesake) of the discipline.
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    I love this sentence, "The term "Social Informatics" emerged from a series of lively conversations in February and March 1996 among scholars with an interest in advancing critical scholarship about the social aspects of computerization..." I always wanted to be part of a lively conversation. :o)
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    Does 1996 seem like it was a long time ago? Not sure, but I thought that getting some foundational information was very helpful!
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    While exploring the ACM journal today, I came across the article below that kind of relates to this thread. It talks about the growing popularity of "Informatics" (in general)as a college/university discipline, and how and why it has evolved as an off-shoot of Computer Science. http://cacm.acm.org.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/magazines/2010/2/69363-why-an-informatics-degree/fulltext
Cynthia Tavlin

The Shallows/What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains - 4 views

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    Has anyone read this book? I started it a few days ago. Noticed that reviews, like the one I linked to, were skeptical. Basically, Carr, who is a journalist, not a scientist, cites studies on brain plasticity and research that the brain changes in response to actions to conclude that the way we read and synthesize information online has changed the way we think (for the worse). I like how the NYT review puts new technology in a historical perspective.
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    I was browsing through some new books at the library today and stumbled on Brooke Gladstone's "The Influencing Machine." It's an illustrated (graphic novel style) approach to how media has developed and our interactions with it, but she includes some commentary on Carr's ideas when she discusses technology. It's a good book to browse through, and from what I read quickly, she gives some positives and negatives of technology's impact.
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    Mary - a graphic novel, you say? I love graphic novels -- I wonder why she chose that format, though?
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    Well, if I had to take a guess, I think she did it since one of her main points is that media isn't an external force outside of our control -- we can shape it, caring about it enough to respond and filter it. With a graphic novel, the images draw you in because they're abstract; the reader plays an active role by seeing themselves in the images and connecting all the images/words together to make it make sense. It engages so many of our senses at once. I love what Scott McCloud has to say about this, and the following talk that he gave actually relates more to how comics have been impacted by technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXYckRgsdjI
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    The idea that media has the potential to shape how we reason reminds me of Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan. As an undergrad, I was basically obsessed with Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" and the idea that some forms of media -Postman was especially thinking about TV- are inherently shallower than other forms and that the predominant medium tends to set the standard of what makes a good argument. Anyway, I wanted to find a YouTube video of Postman but instead found a really good video of Mike Wesch talking about Postman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09gR6VPVrpw&feature=related
Jeanine Finn

Tennessee Netflix Law: Password Sharing a Crime - 0 views

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    "A Netflix law just hit the books. As of July 1 in Tennessee, Netflix password sharing can net you a misdemeanor conviction punishable by a $2,500 fine and/or a year behind bars." Do we just LOL at this? One end of an interesting spectrum of DRM approaches...
Elisa Varon

Sociotechnical Systems: The Cousin of Social Informatics? - 2 views

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    This is a theory about the social relationship between people and technology in the workplace. Sociotechnical theory is about optimal performance both from people and technology at work. I don't really understand how this is any different from the idea of social informatics in the workplace, except that maybe this is a systems approach. Anyway, I just wanted to point this out because the concepts seem similar to me.
Morgan Lock

The Pennsylvania Charter Cyber School - How Does Our School Work? - 1 views

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    I've been hearing about his PA Cyberschool on NPR and it really sparked my interest, so I decided to check it out. I wonder how this use of technology is going to impact students long term educational prospects?
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    This seems like an interesting hybrid between online and homeschooling.
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    This is really interesting! I've been looking at e-learning, so it's interesting to see this example. I wonder how enrolled students would fare if they choose to attend higher education? Adjusting to the social aspect that the level of technology used might be difficult.
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    http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com/2010/11/pre-college-learning-center-nj%E2%80%99s-new-jewish-high-school-offering-customized-education-for-5000-per-year/ Just saw this today. Jewish Day Schools have been in trouble financially for a number of years; one is opening in New Brunswick this fall that will only charge $5,000 tuition because they are taking a similar approach to the PA Cyberschool (though I doubt it costs them $5K per student). I have doubts whether this model is sustainable at this cost; having experienced online classes it's more work for teachers and professors, not less.
amanda brennan

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE: How are the use of memes and tropes by those within online co... - 5 views

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    Building an online community and culture around words, phrases, and tropes -> looks at twitter hashtags, 
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    I can haz meme? I like this article, especially since it covers Rickrolling. You know, this is a good article to share with my parents--I'm a member of lots of communities, and it's hard to explain memes like LOLcats and Rickrolling to them. It's like a different culture, and sometimes I'm at a loss to explain it. I have to say that it's a bit weird to see this from an academic perspective. By the way, you've been posting a lot of articles like these. Where are you finding them?
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    Hey, sorry I didn't see this comment sooner! I'm on a few google groups about memes so I get a lot of articles through them, as well as following twitter accounts of academics studying the lulz. This one, I think I just found it on google scholar while looking for sources for my final project.
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    Jay Smooth nails the "no homo" meme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7nCB8aiXD4)....and explains that as fun as it is to "play the game," just don't do it.
Rebecca Martin

For The Love Of Culture | The New Republic - 0 views

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    Lessig starts with a story about a documentarian and the specter of litigation in that community of practice when it comes to fair use and clearing images, sounds, etc. in documentary filmmaking. He goes on to consider how to reframe copyright: "[W]e need an approach that recognizes the errors in both extremes, and that crafts the balance that any culture needs: incentives to support a diverse range of creativity, with an assurance that the creativity inspired remains for generations to access and understand."
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