Academia

A Plan

My research has been driven by two things. First I am, and want to be, an academic. This makes me interested in theories, methods and attempting to explore and explain the things I see around me. The second part of my driving force is my passion for what I do. I cannot work unless I feel what I do is important and may eventually bring about positive change. With this I do not mean a passion for academia but a passion for the subject matter.

This latter thing something that many people have pointed out during my thesis defence and the presentations I give. I secretly (not any more?) have difficulty with those who see their research as just another job. I donâ??t mean that they do lesser work â?? they do not. But I donâ??t understand where they find the energy to do things without passion.

Plan of the Parthenon

This leads to the point of my announcement. I know what I want to do with the next part of my career life. I aim to continue working under the umbrella of digital rights and democracy, with a particular focus on the actions and perspectives of users.

As a part of this I have two major projects underway, both in collaboration with smart and exciting people. The first is the development of a base for Free Software research and activity at the IT-University of Göteborg. The second is the development of the Resistance Studies Network at the School of Global Studies. These two are both faculties at the University of Göteborg.

At the FSF I hope to develop my understanding of legal issues and technical limitations. While at the RSN I intend to focus on digital civil disobedience. These are both topics which I had in my thesis â?? so itâ??s more in depth work rather than breaking new ground personally.

Right now both these projects are in the planning phases and will result in lots of work. So I will keep you all informed as it progresses.

It nice to have a plan, so now you knowâ?¦

Oh, and I have a few odd morbid side-projects, not to mention this blog, which I fully intend to persue but they cannot become mainstream to my work…yet.

Posted on by mklang

Social Networks Thesis

Ericka Menchen Trevino has put her final (almost) Masters Thesis online. It is entitled  Social Bookmarks: Personal Organization and Collective Discovery on the Web

From the summary:

My findings suggest that people understand their own posts to del.icio.us as a memory aid as well as a sign of what they value. The posts of others, when aggregated, signified the interests of del.icio.us users as a group, and social trends on the web. It is possible to analyze this content much further, and while only a few do this infrequently, it is still an important development. The posts of other users often derived significance from prior knowledge of the individual. In the less common case of a browsing an individual account without any outside-del.icio.us information about that person, the posts were taken at face value, which depends on the browserâ??s prior experiences and purpose.

After a quick pre-reading it seem very good. I am looking forward to reading it more carefully later.

Posted on by mklang

You Cannot Patent Software

…and yet there are software patents.

In a long draft article entitled “You Canâ??t Patent Software: Patenting Software Is Wrong” – Peter Junger states that which most lawyers fail to see. Maybe because they are blinded by economics?

Computer programs are texts, not machines as some lawyers have confused themselves into believing, and thus they may be copyrighted and protected by the First Amendment, but they are not patentable as machines. Computer programs are indeed processes, but they are not patentable processes because what they process is information and what they produce is information, not some modification of material goods or articles of commerce. The simple fact is—though the reasons for it may be hard for most lawyers to grasp—that, as the title of this article puts it: “You can’t patent software: patenting software is wrong.”

A nice, old school, scholarly legal paper which hammers home it’s point. It’s a good way to start the week with a work like this.

Posted on by mklang

CFP Social Network Sites

The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (JCMC) has announced a call for papers for a special theme issue on Social Network Sites: People, Practice, and Culture. The guest editors are Danah Boyd and Nicole Ellison.

Potential questions that submissions might address include, but are not limited to:

  • What strategies do individuals use to craft an online presentation of self in a profile, and for what audiences?
  • What privacy or other concerns emerge from use of these sites? What kinds of policy decisions and educational practices might ameliorate these concerns?
  • Can we predict social, psychological, or other outcomes from profile and network analysis?
  • How can “friends” networks most usefully be visualized? What can we learn from network visualizations?
  • How does the network structure differ among sites, and what are the social and cultural implications of these differences? How does the structure of networks in these sites compare to the networks of other communities?
  • What are the patterns of relationship development in these spaces? Do individuals use these sites to meet new people or to maintain pre-existing, offline connections?
  • What role do race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation play in social network sites?

While all social network sites allow participants to create a profile and publicly articulate their social connections within the system, the line between social network sites and dating sites, MMOGs, media sharing sites, blogging tools, and other social community sites can be blurry. Rather than enforcing a strict definition of what constitutes a social network site, we ask authors to explain how their site of study fits into a rubric of social network sites.

Here are some dates to remember:

  • Abstracts due: November 28, 2006
  • Decisions on abstracts: December 8, 2006
  • Full papers due: February 28, 2007
  • Anticipated publication: October 2007 / January 2008
Posted on by mklang

Goals in Life

Following the defence last Monday (a week already!) I have:

â?¦ a list of stuff that I want to do

â?¦ a list of stuff that I need to do

â?¦ a list of stuff which would be good to do

â?¦ a list of stuff that others want me to do

So what is needed is some serious prioritizing. The focus of my work life has been to reach the point that I reached last Monday. So now that I have reached it â?? what nextâ?¦

Posted on by mklang

Hubris

ah, hubris, enjoy it while it lasts. The innocence of the fresh PhD made it possible for me to post copies of my thesis to each of the new Ministers announced today. First off – I am curious if an action like this will have any effect at all, whatsoever. Also if there is a reaction then what will it be?

I have always lacked the ability to take myself really seriously so this action today was done with a sense of curiosity and humour.
Anyway the new Minister of Justice is Beatrice Ask – my guess is that I will have lots to write about as soon as she gets started in her new position. This latter sentiment may be seen as looking at the bright side…

Posted on by mklang

Everything Changes & Everything is the Same

I passed my PhD on Monday. The day was amazing. The defence began at 2pm so up until then I was running around like a headless chicken fixing things and attempting to keep my nerves in place. I had decided to have U2â??s â??Sunday Bloody Sundayâ?? as a theme song so in my head the lyrics were rolling around until I stepped up on the podium:

And the battles just begun
Theres many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart

Anyway the defence began with the opponent explaining that he liked my work. This was great but I knew that there was a big BUT just waiting to come along. It did. We had some interesting and lively question and answer sessions. I think that I managed to get my points across. The good part was that I was so wrapped up in the discussion that I really enjoyed myself. I did not notice that we had gone on for more than two hours. The examination board then placed their questions which gave some more discussion.

In action at the Disputatio

Then it was over. The committee went off to discuss my fate. I was surrounded by friends and family wishing me well and, in what felt like a short while, the committee came out and notified me that their verdict was unanimous. I passed. I was a PhD.

The party continued until the early hoursâ?¦

Posted on by mklang

PhD Defence Preview

So it’s all happening tomorrow. I defend my thesis. Not only will I be the placed under scrutiny and stress – but I will also be wearing a suit! For those of you who may want to read the thesis it’s over here.

If you don’t feel like reading it you can get the main arguments & counter-arguments by attending the defence tomorrow in Göteborg (again more info here).

If you cannot attend then you can catch me presenting my thesis at Humlab in Umeå. The presentation has been streamed and is online here.

Here are some “promotional” pictures…

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Posted on by mklang