Computer underground Digest Sun May 17, 1998 Volume 10 : Issue 30
ISSN 1004-042X
Editor: Jim Thomas (cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu)
News Editor: Gordon Meyer (gmeyer@sun.soci.niu.edu)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Ian Dickinson
Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
CONTENTS, #10.30 (Sun, May 17, 1998)
File 1--Fwd: Pentagon Disavows Hackers' Warnings
File 2--REVIEW: "Beyond Calculation", Peter J. Denning/Robert M. Metcalf
File 3--1998 EPIC Cryptography and Privacy Conference
File 4--Upcoming Conferences & Events (EPIC fwd)
File 5--Third Annual 3D Design Conference and Exhibition May 19-22
File 6--CFP: Electronic Communication & Culture
File 7--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 25 Apr, 1998)
CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ApPEARS IN
THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Cu digest <Cudigest@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 17:03:16 EDT
Subject: File 1--Fwd: Pentagon Disavows Hackers' Warnings
Pentagon Disavows Hackers' Warnings
.c The Associated Press
By CHRIS ALLBRITTON
NEW YORK (AP) - Hackers who broke into Pentagon computers and
bragged that they had stolen the means to cripple the military's
communications network instead took publicly available software
that is almost worthless without the data to run it, security
consultants and the Defense Department say.
Security experts around the world scoffed Monday at the claims
made by a hacker group calling itself "Masters of Downloading."
<snip>
Last week, the group's 15 hackers said they broke into computers
at the Defense Information Systems Agency and stole software. The
program, they said, controls the military's Global Positioning
System of satellites that are used to target missiles and
coordinate troop movements.
<snip>
Supporting <security experts'> assertions, Bornstein provided The
Associated Press a link to the software available to anyone with a
Web browser. The Masters of Downloading "are just trying to scare
people," the consultant said.
<snip>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 24 Apr 1998 08:47:22 -0800
From: "Rob Slade, doting grandpa of Ryan and Trevor" <rslade@sprint.ca>
Subject: File 2--REVIEW: "Beyond Calculation", Peter J. Denning/Robert M. Metcalf
BKBYDCAL.RVW 980207
"Beyond Calculation", Peter J. Denning/Robert M. Metcalfe, 1997,
0-387-94932-1, U$27.00
%A Peter J. Denning
%A Robert M. Metcalfe bob_metcalfe@infoworld.com
%C 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010
%D 1997
%G 0-387-94932-1
%I Springer-Verlag
%O U$27.00 212-460-1500 800-777-4643 wborden@springer-ny.com
%P 313 p.
%T "Beyond Calculation: The Next Fifty Years of Computing"
Fortune telling is a mugs game. The more so in a rapidly changing
field like information technology, where a single technical innovation
can advance the work ten years, and a business instigated lawsuit can
retard development a like amount. As James Burke points out in the
foreword, invention changes life and society in elusive ways that are
difficult to observe and almost impossible to predict.
However, if anyone can give us a glimpse of what might be ahead, it is
the stellar who's who of computing represented by most of the pieces
gathered in these pages. It is also worth noting that Denning and
Metcalfe have done a superior job in grouping, organizing, and
introducing the essays. However, while all of the papers are
informed, and many are stimulating, too many of them signally fail to
boldly go where computing hasn't already been.
Part one of the book looks to the technical developments that we can
reasonably foresee over the next fifty years. Bell and Gray start off
in "The Revolution Yet to Happen" with a review of the growth (and
shrinkage) of computing hardware based on past trends, which indicates
a future of massive numbers of high powered computers per person and a
ubiquitous network linking everything. Cerf presents a scenario of
what computers will be like "When They're Everywhere" as well.
Frankston acknowledges the problems with endlessly projecting current
growth trends, but points out that developments outside the
information technology field will help us go "Beyond Limits." If we
miss the mark in estimating the future it will probably be because of
failing to see the forest of evolution for the trees of specific
technologies, or, as Dijkstra puts it, "The Tide, Not the Waves."
Hamming also tells us "How to Think About Trends" in considering the
progress of computing itself, outside fields, and society at large.
Weiser and Brown project a "Coming Age of Calm Technology" from an
extension of historical "periods" of computing. These papers are
thought provoking, but certain omissions, like the lack of mention of
the age of the minicomputer, point out the haste of preparation that
went into the book. Other gaps point out the volunteer nature of the
book: although all but one of the essays sees great things coming from
networking, and although a number of the authors have contributed to
networking, none is primarily involved with telecommunications. An
advance in routing technology and the assignment of a small section of
spectrum to personal computer use would have more impact on computing
than any breakthrough that would allow Moore's law to continue beyond
2010.
Part two looks at the topic of human-machine interaction, largely in
the broadest interpretation of the concept of machine intelligence,
and at the impact that may have upon who we are as human beings.
Unlike the network basis of Tapscott's "Growing Up Digital" (cf.
BKGRUPDI.RVW), Turkle explores "Growing Up in the Culture of
Simulation." Her points are interesting, but not, perhaps,
compelling, relying as much on fairy tales as on harder forms of
reality. In "Why It's Good That Computers Don't Work Like the
Brain,", Norman states that machine and human intelligence cannot be
compared because they are orthogonal and complementary. He raises a
number of interesting questions but, somewhat frustratingly, doesn't
address them. In "The Logic of Dreams," on the other hand, Gelernter
proposes that we examine and try to model even more areas of human
cognition, even those as seemingly non-mechanical as emotion. Alt
generally seems to agree with Norman, and in "End-Running Human
Intelligence" he suggests some interesting areas where expert systems
may supplant, or at least assist, human experts. Abrahams suggests
that difficulty of design as well as societal factors may hinder the
computer and robotic target of "A World Without Work." However, his
assertion that sex, preaching, art and other activities are strictly
limited to human endeavour I find less than compelling in view of
fetishists, televangelists, and "Danielle Steel" knock-offs that are
acceptable to steadfast fans. (For the purposes of this review, we
will not enter into disputes as to whether writings by Danielle Steel
constitute art.) In "The Design of Interaction," Winograd traces the
history of information technology from computing to communication,
from hardware to specific application (in stark contrast to the
attempts of any entire generation of computer literacy teachers to
explain the computer as a toolbox), and from oddity to personal tool.
(My own projection of these trends is to envisage a person surrounded
by a host of well informed tutors for any task, but I don't think this
is where Winograd goes with it.) In terms of prognostication this
section is disappointing since, with the exception of Alt, most of the
essays are generally philosophical without much attempt made to
project ideas forward.
Business and innovation is the topic of part three, but, again, more
of it looks back than forward. Evans description of IBM as "The
Stumbling Titan" may have lessons to suggest, but it doesn't say where
the next decade will lead, let alone fifty years. In "The Leaders of
the Future" Flores traces the movement from computing to
communications, and then extends it to articulation of business
vision. His extension, however, is little more than an assertion
without analysis of how advances in technology will make this
possible. Data security is under increasing attack from "ease of use"
in technology. Druffel's look at "Information Warfare" shows that the
current situation is pretty deplorable but it doesn't go much beyond
that. A staple of the cyberpunk genre is the rise of the corporation
beyond the state. Mowshowitz does visit this future in "Virtual
Feudalism" but doesn't try to test it against the virtual corporations
mentioned elsewhere. Chamberlin's vision of "Sharing Our Planet"
raises interesting and fairly convincing points about the fact of
evolution in software, but his cultural prediction seems to rest
mostly on wish fulfillment. In "There and Not There," Mitchell and
Strimpel's review of telepresence starts out by noting that presence
costs. Unfortunately, they don't follow up with the obvious
corollary: that, due to bandwidth, high fidelity telepresence is going
to have a cost as well. Tsichritzis tells us that "The Dynamics of
Innovation" have to change, but his proposal seems to be merely a
restating of the old battle between basic research and technical
development. Similarly, Dennings' exposition of "How We Will Learn"
is a market forces based view of the time-hallowed spat between
universities and technical institutes, vocational schools, or even
guild halls.
To a certain extent, I feel a lack of imagination in these writings.
There is discussion of networking, but not distributed processing, as
an extension of parallel processing, or Fred Cohen's proposed viral
computing environment, as an extension of both. While this hesitation
on the part of the authors may be disappointing, at least the material
is a great deal more thoughtful and thought provoking than too many of
the blue sky visions of the road ahead.
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998 BKBYDCAL.RVW 980207
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 08:43:18 -0400
From: "EPIC-News List" <epic-news@epic.org>
Subject: File 3--1998 EPIC Cryptography and Privacy Conference
Top Government Officials, Industry Leaders, Cryptography Experts
and Public Interest Advocates to Discuss Encryption Policy
Washington, DC
Monday, June 8, 1998
http://www.epic.org/events/crypto98/
Top government officials -- including Senator John Ashcroft (R-MO),
William Reinsch (Undersecretary of Commerce for Export Administration)
and Robert Litt (Principal Associate Attorney General) -- will discuss
current U.S. encryption policy at the largest policy conference on
cryptography ever held in Washington, D.C. Other leading experts from
government, industry, public interest community and academia will also
debate important legal, political technical issues. If you are
interested in cryptography policy, this is the one meeting you must
attend!
The 1998 EPIC Cryptography and Privacy Conference is organized by the
Electronic Privacy Information Center, in cooperation with the Harvard
University Information Infrastructure Project and the Technology
Policy Research Group of the London School of Economics.
- THE 1998 EPIC CRYPTOGRAPHY AND PRIVACY CONFERENCE -
HIGHLIGHTS
o Meet the technical experts, industry leaders, litigators, and
policy makers who are shaping the global debate over encryption
and privacy.
o Get the latest news, reports, legislative information, and
technical results.
o Receive the 1998 edition of the highly-acclaimed EPIC Cryptography
and Privacy Sourcebook.
THE PANELS
o Top US government officials will debate top industry
representatives on current U.S. policy on domestic restrictions,
export controls, and pending legislation.
o A panel of senior government officials from France, England,
Canada, Germany and the European Union will describe encryption
policies in their countries and future trends.
o Leading cryptographers and technical experts will discuss the
dangers and benefits of key escrow and key recovery systems and other
important technical issues.
o Attorneys representing the plaintiffs and the U.S. Government in
the pending legal challenges to the constitutionality of export
controls will discuss and debate the cases and their outcomes.
FEES:
Register before May 15 for reduced fee.
Standard
o $300.00 (before May 15) / $400.00 (after May 15)
Academic/Govt/501(c)(3)
o $150.00 (before May 15) / $200.00 (after May 15)
MORE INFORMATION, FULL AGENDA AND ONLINE REGISTRATION:
http://www.epic.org/events/crypto98/
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 17:34:29 -0400
From: "EPIC-News List" <epic-news@epic.org>
Subject: File 4--Upcoming Conferences & Events (EPIC fwd)
EPIC Alert, 5.06 (May 12, 1998)
=======================================================================
[8] Upcoming Conferences and Events
=======================================================================
The Threats to Democracy Conference. May 15-18. Washington D.C.
Sponsored by People For the American Way. Contact: balcomgrp@aol.com
SCRAMBLING FOR SAFETY: Privacy, security and commercial implications
of the UK and EU crypto policy announcements. 29th May 1998. London,
UK. Sponsored by Cambridge University. contact:
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/rja14/sfs98.html
Ethics and Technology. June 5-6. San Jose, CA. Sponsored by Santa Clara
University. Contact: www.scu.edu/ethics/
1998 EPIC Cryptography and Privacy Conference. June 8, 1998.
Washington, DC. Sponsored by EPIC, Harvard University and London School
of Economics. Contact: http://www.epic.org/events/crypto98/
Net Censorship In Europe. June 9, 1998. Washington, DC. Sponsored by
the Freedom Forum. Contact: apowell@freedomforum.org
INET'98, July 21-24, 1998, Geneva, Switzerland. Sponsored by Internet
Society. Contact: http://www.isoc.org/inet98/
Advances in Social Informatics and Information Systems, Baltimore, MD,
Aug. 14-16, 1998. Sponsored by the Association for Information Systems
Contact: http://info.cwru.edu/rlamb/ais98cfp.htm
CPSR Annual Conference - Internet Governance. Boston, Mass, Oct.
10-11. Sponsored by CPSR. contact: cpsr@cpsr.org
PDC 98 - the Participatory Design Conference, "Broadening
Participation" November 12-14, 1998. Seattle, Washington. Sponsored by
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility in cooperation with
ACM and CSCW 98. Contact: http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/pdc98
1999 RSA Data Security Conference. San Jose, California, January
18-21, 1999. Sponsored by RSA. Contact: http://www.rsa.com/conf99/
(Send calendar submissions to alert@epic.org)
=======================================================================
Subscription Information
=======================================================================
The EPIC Alert is a free biweekly publication of the Electronic
Privacy Information Center. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send email
to epic-news@epic.org with the subject: "subscribe" (no quotes) or
"unsubscribe". A Web-based form is available at:
http://www.epic.org/alert/subscribe.html
Back issues are available at:
http://www.epic.org/alert/
=======================================================================
About EPIC
=======================================================================
The Electronic Privacy Information Center is a public interest
research center in Washington, DC. It was established in 1994 to
focus public attention on emerging privacy issues such as the Clipper
Chip, the Digital Telephony proposal, national ID cards, medical
record privacy, and the collection and sale of personal information.
EPIC is sponsored by the Fund for Constitutional Government, a
non-profit organization established in 1974 to protect civil liberties
and constitutional rights. EPIC publishes the EPIC Alert, pursues
Freedom of Information Act litigation, and conducts policy research.
For more information, e-mail info@epic.org, http://www.epic.org or
write EPIC, 666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 301, Washington, DC
20003. +1 202 544 9240 (tel), +1 202 547 5482 (fax).
If you'd like to support the work of the Electronic Privacy
Information Center, contributions are welcome and fully
tax-deductible. Checks should be made out to "The Fund for
Constitutional Government" and sent to EPIC, 666 Pennsylvania Ave.,
SE, Suite 301, Washington DC 20003. Individuals with First Virtual
accounts can donate at http://www.epic.org/epic/support.html
Your contributions will help support Freedom of Information Act and
First Amendment litigation, strong and effective advocacy for the
right of privacy and efforts to oppose government regulation of
encryption and funding of the digital wiretap law.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 15:46:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: mds@mds.prwire.com
Subject: File 5--Third Annual 3D Design Conference and Exhibition May 19-22
Third Annual 3D Design Conference and Exhibition Kicks Off May 19-22
At the Moscone Center in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Miller Freeman, Inc.,
one of the world's largest publishers and trade show producers,
announced today the third annual 3D Design Conference and
Exhibition, May 19-22, 1998, at the Moscone Center in San
Francisco. Kelly Dove, editor-in-chief of 3D Design magazine and
member of the conference advisory board said, "This is the most
targeted technical education available for advanced graphics
professionals who want to stay on top of one of the hottest,
fastest moving areas of the computer graphics market.
Computer-generated 3D design is now an essential component in a
wide array of fields that range from architecture, mechanical
engineering and forensics, to animation, digital video, special
effects and web design."
"The industry's most talented designers and animators are the
instructors at this conference, while the exhibition features more
than 40 companies providing hardware, software and services. The
event brings together very focused resources and provides an
abundance of interactive opportunities for attendees to discuss
design and technology challenges with peers and experts in the
field," said Dove.
The 3D Design Conference and Exhibition will feature four days
of more than 60 high-level technical classes that provide
practical tips and techniques. Topics include: animation,
modeling characters, architectural modeling, lighting, integrating
sound, adding detail to objects with texture mapping, and
maximizing features in specific software programs such as
Alias|Wavefront, 3D Studio MAX, Electric Image, and LightWave.
"The conference is dedicated to providing highly relevant and
focused courses for graphics professionals committed to elevating
their understanding and skill in 3D design and related fields.
Producing effective results with artistic integrity and time
efficiency is the overriding emphasis of all course offerings,"
said Frank Agnello, systems sales engineer for The Waterford Group
and conference chair.
Speakers and instructors at the conference come from major
film and special effects studios including Industrial Light &
Magic (ILM), Digital Domain, Pacific Data Images (PDI), and Will
Vinton Studios.
The exhibition hall will be open May 20 and 21, from 11 a.m. -
7 p.m. and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. respectively, and will showcase the
latest and most innovative 3D design technologies. Sponsors
include IBM(R) IntelliStation, AccelGraphics, Symmetric, and Cosmo
Software (A Silicon Graphics division).
An added highlight this year is the Z-Zone, a hands-on digital
lab where attendees of all levels can try out a wide variety of
computer graphics equipment such as 3D digitizers, prototyping
equipment, large format inkjet printers and plotters, and actually
take away samples of their work from the lab.
The keynote speaker at the conference is Tom Turpin, president
and CEO, Will Vinton Studios, Wednesday, May 20, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
The general session speakers are Eric Darnell and Larry Guterman,
co-directors of "Antz," the first fully computer animated feature
film produced by DreamWorks/Pacific Data Images, on Thursday, May
21, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. Turpin, with his unique combination of
passion and expertise in visual arts, digital technology and
business training, has enjoyed an impressive and varied business
career, working in finance and venture capital. Prior to joining
Will Vinton Studios, he served as president and CEO of Virgin
Sound and Vision. Will Vinton studios is best known for infusing
life and personality into inanimate objects through stop-motion,
CGI, cel animation, animatronics and Claymation(R), and is the
recipient of numerous prestigious awards for its commercials,
films, TV specials and videos.
Returning this year are the prestigious 3D Design magazine Big
Kahuna Awards, which honor creativity and inventiveness in 3D
design, on Thursday, May 21, 7 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. This annual
competition showcases some of the best 3D design and animation of
the year in several distinct categories, including: Character
Design, Commercial and Non-Commercial Animation, Interactive 3D
(VRML, Web, Games), Architectural Visualization, Print Graphics,
Scientific/Medical, Industrial/Mechanical, Best Logo/Corporate ID,
3D Cartoon, Totally Twisted, and Fantasy World.
In addition, two local user groups will hold meetings during
the conference which will be open to conference and exhibition
attendees: Women in Animation and San Francisco SIGGRAPH.
To order a program guide and complete list of classes and
exhibitors call 800-789-2223, or fax 888-811-7391. From outside
the U.S. call 817-255-8050 or fax 817-255-8070. Complete
conference information and registration is available on the Web at
www.3dshow.com.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Miller Freeman, Inc. is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of United News & Media plc, one of the
world's largest publishers and trade show organizers. With
divisions in Europe and Asia, as well as the U.S., Miller Freeman
produces more than 290 publications and 380 events serving 49
markets worldwide, including 3D Design, Cadence, Digital Video,
InterActivity and Game Developer. Trade shows include the 3D
Design Conference and Exhibition, DV Expo, The New Animation
Technology Conference & Exposition, The Computer Game Developers'
Conference, The Music Technology Conference & Exposition, and many
others.
SOURCE Miller Freeman, Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 11:56:12 -0500
From: Jon Epstein <epstein@raex.com
Subject: File 6--CFP: Electronic Communication & Culture
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE AS APPROPRIATE
==========================
CALL FOR PAPERS
Electronic Communication and Culture Area
Popular Culture Association National Convention
March 31 - April 3, 1999
San Diego, CA
"Of Utopianism, Dystopianism, and Technorealism: Electronic Culture at the
Millennium"
The past decade has seen the emergence of a mind-numbing array of new
technological possibilities, with communications iterations such as the
Internet carving out the largest places for themselves in the national
consciousness.
First came the technotopians, with communitarians like John Perry Barlow
and Howard Rheingold dazzling us with visions of technologies which would
enable new forms of meaningful human interaction, drawing people closer
together and uniting them in shared stewardship of their world. Vice
President Al Gore and his henchman, Mitch Kapor, went even further,
predicting the onset of a "new Athenian age of democracy," a society where
ubiquitous and instantaneous communication could finally engender true
participatory democracy in a way even Jefferson could hardly have dreamed
of. All of the above excepting Gore have moderated their giddiness, but
others have been more than willing to take up the banner in their places.
Predictably, the dystopians weren't far behind, with naysayers like
Clifford Stoll and Mark Slouka suggesting that the online world was
probably more about smoke than fire, and a horde of others - many of them
university academics - asserting that the LAST thing these new electronic
media were likely to do was change anything. On the contrary, issuing as
they did from observable political, cultural and economic contexts, they
were far more likely to reinforce existing modes of inequity in society.
Now, just in time for the Millennium, we see the arrival of the
"technorealists," many of whom formerly held card-carrying status in one
(or more) of the above groups. To summarize, the technorealists might be
seen as believing that technology is neither inherently messianic nor
demonic, but instead is likely to produce results which emerge from its
development and management. From the group's online manifesto: "As
technorealists, we seek to expand the fertile middle ground between
techno-utopianism and neo-Luddism....We can be passionately optimistic
about some technologies, skeptical and disdainful of others. Still, our
goal is neither to champion nor dismiss technology, but rather to
understand it and apply it in a manner more consistent with basic human
values."
Technorealism is perhaps most interesting because its whole charter goes
the core of most of the discussions we hear about technoculture - the
recurring theme of "reality": what is real, what isn't real, how can we
make it real?
Papers and panels addressing all areas of electronic communication and
culture are invited to next year's meeting of the Popular Culture
Association, but it is hoped that these comments can provide a context
within which we can consider our research and presentations. For better
or worse, the early days of the next millennium will be shaped by these
technologies and their cultural and administrative dimensions, and the ECC
area is therefore interested in cultivating as much understanding as
possible about the hard realities of electronic technology in our
personal, professional, and spiritual lives.
Following is a brief list of possible topic areas the Chair would like to
see addressed by panels or individual papers. The list is by no means
comprehensive, and submissions which raise other issues are
enthusiastically encouraged.
* the political economy of technology and culture - the technologies under
discussion do not exist in a vacuum, but instead comprise significant and
often powerful socio-economic contexts. As Deep Throat said, "follow the
money." Discussions at last year's meetings made clear the degree to
which many of the topics we are researching ultimately boil down to
questions of funding and policy, and discrepancies between the policies in
the U.S. and Canada, for example, go a long way toward illuminating the
challenges faced by a society devoted to a market model of Net
development.
* the culture of technology (tech as culture, tech WITHIN established and
emerging cultures, and culture within technologically defined "spaces") -
now, perhaps more than ever in our history, technology itself has become
not merely a participant in or a conduit for culture, but has become the
raison d'etre for a vast range of (sub)cultural practice. Does this in
fact represent something new in human history, and if so, what is
signified by this cybernetic shift?
* electronic technology and race - some cultural theorists have posited
that certain emerging technologies, either inherently or as socially
constructed, favor some racial-demographic groups and discriminate against
others. To what degree are these technologies implicated in the
perpetuation of racial inequity, and to what degree do they have the
capacity to help us overcome these inequities?
* electronic technology and class - ditto tech and race. Class boundaries
are often less obvious than racial ones (especially since the two overlay
each other in significant ways), but it is argued that these subtle and
often unacknowledged boundaries are perhaps almost as powerful as those
between socially-constructed racial groups.
* technology and gender - this question has spawned as rich a body of
research as any electronic communication-related area of study, and the
work of theorists like Donna Haraway and Evelyn Fox Keller has provided
the basis for a dramatic consideration of the ways in which gender
conceptions have framed the development of technology, especially in the
U.S. These scholars provide as strong an argument as perhaps can be made
against the idea that science - basic or applied - is in any way
value-neutral. The ECC area would love to hear the latest perspectives
issuing from this body of analysis.
* technology and education - the ECC area has heard over the past couple
of years research on various applications of technology in a teaching
environment (Web research, Net-based class discussion, virtual teaching
environments, distance and service learning, electronic theses and
dissertations, etc.) Have we learned enough to begin envisioning the
schools of the future in any realistic and plausible way? And what about
the economic implications of things like distance learning - do the
benefits to students on satellite campuses outweigh the disadvantages of
the fact that they have no real personal engagement with their
instructors? And what about the fact that such programs displace teaching
jobs?
* technology, research, and the archive function - libraries, museums,
galleries and publishing houses face hard choices in the coming of
electronic archival technologies, and what happens to traditional
understandings of peer review in research institutions as scholars realize
that they can publish their papers to the Net and probably reach a larger
audience than they could through more established means? When this
happens, how can we police the correspondingly enlarged threats to
academic integrity issues? Can we develop productive mechanisms to
preserve traditional values in a new age of informational ubiquity?
Regarding the exponentially increased ease with which rogue individuals
can disseminate unedited messages and create an air of
authority/credibility, what is being done/can be done to prevent abuse of
this power?
* electronics and religion - new media have fueled the proliferation of
new religious and spiritual practices and have simultaneously created new
opportunities and burdens (depending on your perspective) for traditional
religious institutions. As fascinating as new movements are (Zippies,
techno-pagans, etc.), no less compelling are the strategies employed by
established groups as they seek to resolve their messages and assumptions
with the often alien character of new technologies.
* emerging media and the humanities - last year's conference saw the
unveiling of a framework for the consideration of the "Posthumanities," a
project that is equally devoted to the preservation of traditional
artistic aesthetics and open to the growth and evolution of new art media.
The posthumanities are depicted as a triangle, with humanity on one point,
the pursuit of the sublime on the second, and technology on the third.
The field of study between the resulting legs - the humanities,
cybernetics, and machine actualization - comprises a fertile ground for
ECC study.
* technology and the arts - digital technologies have exerted significant
pressures on traditional forms and have enabled the emergence of new forms
in the visual arts, performance arts, and music. Laurie Anderson,
Emergency Broadcast Network, Survival Research Laboratories, Haymarket
Riot, the various contributors to the Beyond the Mind's Eye series,
Switched on Bach, THX1138, Death in Vegas: these artists and projects
integrate not only new technologies, but in many cases carefully
considered philosophies of technology into their work. In what ways do
these new forms challenge traditional assumptions of art and culture, and
in what ways do they reinforce them?
Most importantly, we want to foster as much cross-disciplinary
conversation as possible - the technologies we are considering have no
conception of academic disciplinary boundaries, and it is unlikely that
rigid disciplinarianism will produce the sort of broad understanding we
need to inform our practices and policies in the next century.
Individual papers and pre-constructed panels are welcomed. Submissions
should be between 400-700 words in length, and should be sent to Sam Smith
at smithsr@colorado.edu. The deadline for submission is August 15, 1998.
I look forward to seeing everybody in San Diego.
Sam Smith
Chair, Electronic Communications & Culture, PCA
Center for Mass Media Research
University of Colorado
============================
ECC-L (Electronic Communication and Culture) is for the discussion of
the ways in which emerging electronic technologies are affecting the
social, economic, and political dimensions of Western culture. ECC-L
is affiliated with the Electronic Communication and Culture area of
the Popular Culture Association.
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Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1998 22:51:01 CST
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
Subject: File 7--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 25 Apr, 1998)
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End of Computer Underground Digest #10.30
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