Disruptive ProactivityThoughts on the “Data Strategy Board” and the “Public Data Group”
I posted my thoughts about the proposed Public Data Corporation as apart of my submission to the consultation.
Talk series: Social Movements in the Internet Age
I didn’t know about the first talk in the series; but in advance of the second, I was chatting to a friend over coffee, about how I had not yet seen an academically methodological, technically competent, empirically accurate paper on online/offline integrated activism.
An hour later, I had.
All 3 talks have now been published online. Parts one, two and three
The first talk was the academic theory background. It is needed for understanding the academic bits of the other talks, and some of the background reasoning. If that’s not of interest, you can skip that one.
The remaining two talks are a pair, the second on Occupy and the US, and is now (and certainly was a 3 weeks ago when it was given) a talk about works in progress. The middle talk was looking at the process of revolution in the Middle East (primarily).
They looked deeply at the social, demographic and political reasons and interactions that intertwined in different ways in the different countries. Different reasons, for similar things, in different places, at similar times. It was a very good lecture.
If you’re watching it, the thing that computer people might question, is his use of “wireless” as a tool. He clarifies the means 3G and mobile phones (ie not wired), not WiFi. The connectivity wherever you are.
We’re starting to see some of that with FixMyTransport, or, more clearly, sukey.org where protestors could get comparable situational intelligence to the police. The Guardian Reading the Riots investigation picked up some of this when it was done ad hoc via BBM.
It was a very interesting set of talks, that my dear reader may be interested in.
Funding acrobatics above sharks
It’s slightly depressing.
In a week of #COP17, #€geddon, the veto, and the dozen other things that should be in the political news agenda, but aren’t, what did 38 degrees choose to twice contact their members about?
One of those irregular verbs? Open Research Data
I’m reminded of a survey JISC funded about attitudes of PhD students to lots of things to do with PhDs. It asked them about their opinions on a load of topics, including their views on open access to research. It was about 85% in favour (and there were some who didn’t know enough to answer as they’d only just started).
What’s in a Name?
What’s in a name? Spent convictions in the Internet Age.
Paul Clarke’s recent post about naming of offenders and the issues around open data also misses one point of the 21st Century. Lou emphasises the points about names and spent convictions; but I suspect, modern culture, has a much larger but less complicated issue.
Who Cares?
When Will Perrin first heard about the plans for an Open Data Institute, this was his comment:
Sleep, Yoga and ???
After a decade, I left my old research fellow job at the start of November. Having not had enough of my November activities, sleep and yoga, quite yet, I’m not looking to start something new immediately, but am starting to, slowly, look around for something from January. I should probably start putting my CV together soon. I’ve not had to for a while.