Fred Evans : Cyberspace and the Concept of Democracy
"I argue that the Internet's status as a "virtual" rather than actual reality (its status as a serendipitous form of what phenomenologists call an epochéor a "placing within brackets" of our standard beliefs) reveals some of the more important aspects underlying democracy. In particular, the Internet's virtual status indicates that society is what I term a "metamorphosing multi-voiced body." This implies that democracy off-line and online must support the interplay or solidarity among the "voices" of this body (as opposed to their mere plurality) and simultaneously respect their heterogeneity. It must adopt the "interplay of equally audible voices" as its political ideal. Because this interplay among voices produces new discourses, democracy's valorization of the multi-voiced body must also affirm the metamorphosis that society's creativity brings about." see also
Derek Powazek : The C-wordThe UCLA Internet Report : Surveying the Digital Future
"We hope our findings about
the Internet will have broad implications for government policymaking, corporate planning, and
social and cultural study. To begin this project now is critical if we hope to fully understand the
Internet as it evolves. Had this type of research been conducted on the evolution of television as it
emerged in the late 1940s, the information would have provided policy makers, the media, and
ultimately historians with invaluable insights about how broadcasting has changed the world." (pdf)
Storing RDF in relational databases
"This page summarizes some current approaches to storing RDF in a relational database. ... To goal is to come up with the best way of storing RDF in a relational database, or identify a set of solutions that are suitable for particular needs."
Simson Cole : The Myth of Fingerprints
"When I first chose to write my dissertation on how fingerprint examiners achieve credibility as expert witnesses, I never thought that I would end up an expert witness myself. But there I sat in the witness box, fidgeting nervously, swearing to tell the truth. Here was a role reversal worthy of these postmodern times, one that brought new meaning to the term 'participant observation.'"
Jon Ippolito : "I would say that the graffiti artists of today are working online,
where some home-spun HTML and easily obtained plug-ins can reach a broad audience with minimal investment. Graffiti artists sprayed onto the subway infrastructure to get their work into the public eye, while online artists spray their work onto the infrastructure of the Internet." Why is it that supposedly hot-shit, cutting edge symposia on digital art and Internet can't find it in themselves to hire someone with enough sense to put anything besides directions to the conference hall on their websites? If they have such mind-blowing ideas, maybe they'd like to share them with the rest of us...