Tuesday, August 31, 2010

[Yasmin_discussions] Solu-Hyperinstrument

[PT]

Olá,

Publicámos hoje em http://3kta.net/solu imagens e vídeo do
hiperinstrumento 'SoLu' desenhado para demonstrar a teoria 'Visible
and Audible Spectrums - a proposal of correspondence' na 'EVA
Conference - Electronic Visualisation and the Arts' que aconteceu no
passado mês de Julho na BCS - British Computer Society em Londres.

Saudações,

-------------------------------------------
[EN]

Hi,

We published today at http://3kta.net/solu images and video from the
hyperinstrument 'SoLu' designed to demonstrate the theory 'Visible
and Audible Spectrums - A Proposal of Correspondence' in the
'Conference EVA - Electronic Visualisation and the Arts' that
happened last July at the BCS - British Computer Society in London.

Greetings,

ANDRÉ RANGEL
Scholarship Fellow FCT, 2009
Science and Technology of Art Researcher, UCP 2008
PhD Student, UCP 2008
MFA, UCP 2002
http://andrerangel.pt
...................................................
Art Director - 3kta
Custom Software and Intermedia Concepts
http://3kta.net
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Sunday, August 29, 2010

[Yasmin_discussions] Benefits of art science collaboration to science and engineering

Yasminers

Dimitris Charitis will be starting up again the Hybrid City
discussion on September 13 in the meantime:

re the benefits of  art-science collaboration to science and engineering
you will find a number of supporting documents :

a) What are the goals of art-sci collaboration:
http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/29/642/

b) What are the different types of art-science collaboration
http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/29/what-are-the-different-types-of-art-science-collaboration/

c) How to select art-sci projects through peer review:
http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/28/how-to-select-art-sci-through-peer-review/

d) Patents filed as a result of art-sci collaborations
http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/28/patents-filed-resulting-from-art-science-collaborations/

e) Reference List supporting Science Case for Art-Science Collaboration
http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/26/reference-list-art-science-creativity-etc/

f) Quotes from eminent scientists supporting the case for Art-Science
Collaboration
http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/26/art-science-quotes-compiled-by-amy-ione-and-roger-malina-as-of-aug-26-2010/

g)Of interest Wellcome Trusts evaluation of their art-science program
http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/21/wellcomes-evauation-of-their-sciart-funding-program-1996-2006/

h) Information about the upcoming USFNSF NEA workshop on art sci
http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/23/upcoming-nsfnea-workshop-on-art-science/

All Comments, Suggestions, Criticisms , discussion on YASMIN

Roger

If your are a linkedin user there is a parallel discussion
at the "scientist artist collaboration" discussion group on linkedin

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=1636727

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Friday, August 27, 2010

[Yasmin_discussions] USA NSF NEA art science workshop: what would you recommend ?

YASMINERS

Last week we alerted you to the upcoming

USA NSF/NEA WORKSHOP ON ART SCIENCE

http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/23/upcoming-nsfnea-workshop-on-art-science/

Re/Search: Art, Science, and Information Technology

A Joint Meeting of the US National Science Foundation and the US National
Endowment for the Arts

The PI for the workshop is Fox Harrell, Associate Professor of Digital
Media at MIT

I just posted on my blog the list of attendees. feel free to pressure
people you know attending the workshop with your ideas !!!!

http://malina.diatrope.com/2010/08/23/upcoming-nsfnea-workshop-on-art-science/

It would be interesting to have YASMIN discussion around the problem
of how best to enable art-science collaboration today.

If you were in a position of authority= what kinds of programs would you
put in place to enable really interesting and first rate art-science
collaborations.

What are the impediments today ?

What are the best examples of how artists and scientists have worked together
on really hard problems ?

How does one evaluate/measure(?) successful art science collaborations ?

Why should governments support Art-Science collaboration NOW !! what
is possible now that wasnt before ? why ? ( Governments arent the only actors)

What can we learned of previous programs that have disappeared ? Wellcome,
EAT, Interval, Xerox, CAVS....even Bauhaus !! Maybe programs should disappear !!

Note= this first workshop addresses centrally computer sciences=
future workshops as I understand it concern the biological and other sciences.

Are there specific needs for art-science collaboration in the computer
sciences that are different from the biological or other science areas ?

Whats different in the USA from other countries for art-science
collaboration= pluses and minuses ?

Are universities the best places to carry out art-science collaborations ?

How about interface with private sector ? The computer game industry grew out
of the work computer artists of the 1960s with little help from
government programs !!!

Are there similar initiatives in other countries between science and
arts funding
agencies ?


Roger Malina

Here is what NSF and NEA have announced:

This workshop seeks to advance exploration at the intersection of art
and science. Areas of particular interest include evolving forms of
digital and electronic media, human‐centered computing, videogame
design and technology, digitally‐mediated performing and visual arts
and research that can lead to a better understanding of these fields.

The primary purpose of this discussion is to lay the foundation for
articulating the types of inquiry that both lie at the intersection of
concerns of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as well as represent opportunities for
advancing scientific knowledge and new forms of artistic research,
output and engagement.

To accomplish these goals, we seek to create a new dialogue among
influential thought leaders who can help guide us towards innovation
and positive change. The workshop will include highly interactive
working groups and brainstorming sessions around key topics and
questions as:


• How can we identify innovative, and/or emerging practices being
discovered at the intersection of art and science that are potentially
transformative and/or deserving of governmental recognition and
support?

• How can we explore and understand the impacts of creativity and
critical interpretation theories on research and innovation in
cognitive science, computer science, engineering, technology, art
theory, and/or the social and behavioral sciences?

• Are there metrics we can use or design that can determine the value
and impact of interdisciplinary collaborations between Computer &
Information Science & Engineering related disciplines and disciplines
that exist in the arts and humanities?

• Are there qualitative methods for critically interpreting and
measuring the impact of technology‐rich creative endeavors that are
resistant to established assessment oriented‐frameworks?

• What role can the arts play in developing strategies and finding
creative solutions in environments where the arts do not traditionally
come into play.

Goals & Objectives

• Fostering dialogue in support of interagency and inter‐institutional
collaboration and resource opportunities.

• Identifying points of intersection between human‐centered computing,
information‐technology research, digital media arts, creative
disciplines and cognitive science.

• Developing a field impact report about the needs, approach and
benefits of a sustainable platform for interdisciplinary research for
the creative information technology field. We hope that you will be
able to participate in this groundbreaking conversation and join us in
this national effort to foster innovative collaboration among creative
practitioners in the arts and sciences.

I am working with Amy Ione to prepare a list of quotes from prominent
scientists
articulating the science case for art science collaboration, a list of
key references and key exemplars= if you would like to be
involved/help develop these please contact me. rmalina@alum.mit.edu
and see:

http://malina.diatrope.com/

Roger Malina

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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

[Yasmin_discussions] hybrid city as interface

yasminers

Just to remind you that for some time leonardo journal has had an open
call for papers called ENVIRONMENT 2.0, which includes a number of topic
areas relevant to our Hybrid City as Interface discussion.

A number of papers have already appeared, others are in press and
are available on the Leonardo Transactions Open Archive:

http://www.leonardo-transactions.com/announcements/

And also Leonardo/ISAST is co organising the GLOBAL WARNING
conference in San Jose this fall:

http://www.leonardo.info/isast/2010symposium.html

Roger


Leonardo Journal Call for Papers: Environment 2.0 Guest Editor: Drew Hemment

Leonardo calls for papers documenting cross-disciplinary thinking on
participatory observation and mapping of the environment, climate and
biodiversity; environmental data systems and services; and environmental
sustainability in a networked society.

Leonardo is soliciting texts that document the works of artists, researchers
and scholars involved in the exploration of citizens as environmental data
gatherers, and new approaches to environmental data systems and
environmental sustainability.

Themes and issues may include:
Participatory mass observation of the environment, climate and biodiversity
New approaches to accessing, visualizing and using environmental data
Open data and the environment
Citizen science and issues of participation
Environmental sustainability in a networked society
Ubiquitous, pervasive, locative and mobile communication technology
and the environment.

In urban environments in particular we are separated from the consequences
of our actions as surely as the tarmac of the road cuts us off from the
earth beneath.
This physical boundary encourages a phenomenological separation. Innovative
approaches to participatory observation and mapping can overcome this
separation,
when combined with the way the Internet and digital media have enabled
individuals to
produce and share information globally and instantly. An ability for
citizens to generate
environmental data, augmented by freely available public environmental data
and
combined with new techniques of accessing, visualizing and using that data
can help
to reconnect people to the environment and contribute to the movement toward
environmental sustainability.

Linked activities exploring the Environment 2.0 theme have been led by
FutureEverything (Futuresonic) and Lancaster University (U.K.).

Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts or proposals to <
leonardomanuscripts@gmail.com>. Leonardo submission guidelines can be found
at Leonardo On-Line: <www.leonardo.info>.
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Re: [Yasmin_discussions] "hybrid city as interface", temporarily paused and continued in September

Hello Martin, everyone,

On this notion of "real' :

Time

Some time ago, some fifty years ago, something strange happened in a small
village in the Mid West of England. It is not very well documented. It
appears that eleven women found themselves pregnant at the very same time.
There was gossip, strong words, the occasional blow as the men in he village
could not understand. However as one of the pregnant women was fifteen and
one over sixty, the village descended in a kind of enforced dreamy sleep.
The women stuck together.
The children were born and did they come shining though! They looked the
essence of a boy, the essence of a girl. The people rejoiced in prayers,
silently thanked their Gods and got on with their lives.
It is documented that one of the villagers, a retired philosopher, did keep
a journal.
Every friday from when they were very young he'd play movies for them to
draw them into discussions. There was something about them, he knew not
quite what. They learned so very quickly, it was as if only one boy had to
read a book , and in a debate suddenly any of the girls would have the same
arguments. They kept to themselves, yet always seemed to know where the
others were. When they were about fourteen one of the boys was hit by a car.
It may have been quite unintentional. The driver drove straight into a brick
wall of a farmhouse a few days later, no note.
The philosopher began to play back in his mind some other incidents and
although he could forestall the thought for a long time, he had to conclude
that the children were telepathic, able to communicate in some way without
words, sounds or signs one could notice. If one girl knew fact a on Tuesday
10: 12 then the entire tribe would know it at 10:12 too.
He began to consider the implications. Looking back he realized he had know
all along that it must have been something like this. The pregnancies, so
improbable, so timed- their similar appearance, their way of communication
silently and swift. What else could they be but alien? Not unlike the
villagers as maybe city folk, or a different kind of human, but deeply and
truly alien to their parents, their families, their villages, counties and
countries.
I have been paraphrasing The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) by the author John
Wyndham - this is the document I'm referring to. In his novel the
philosopher packs his truck one day with film equipment and explosives. A
loud bang. He has taken them out and himself with it. In his goodbye letter
we read that he has come to the conclusion that the children are in the
possession of such superior tools that they cannot but either enslave or
disrupt their host civilization to breaking point. He sees no other way but
to blow them to pieces, counting as he is on the deep friendship grown over
the years between him and them that will blur their readings of his
thoughts.

We now set to scene to 2010.

aba
ca
da
bra

face
book
four
square
twitter
tweet

(say it out loud four times, then turn to your right smiling from ear to ear
latter
is important)

Always when I'm in the middle of this story, my students (whether in
Eindhoven, Yerevan or Timis) intuitively get the story immediately. They do
not understand their parents. They do not understand the way the world
works. They cannot understand the insincerity and clumsiness of the
procedures needed to check and check if everything is ok. They are
intrinsically motivated, they can not believe the state the world is in.
They see through the lies of the adult world so easily. They have grown up
in the network and when one of them knows something, the rest of the tribe
knows it too, in a second flat.
Hey, I'm not going to blow you up, is how I end my tale, but you got to
promise me something: take that attitude to the streets and better be quick
about it. You are very nice, you collaborate and share out of sheer
inevitability. You are able to hold lots of data handy for when you need it.
You have all the qualities that we need to build a more balanced world and
crack all the formats of the old hierarchical systems that put either money,
ego or enforced collectivity on top. But this is only a moment in time, a
brief hippie moment, and if it is not articulated it simply does not exist.
Not even in writing I guess for that would be like falling back into as ifs
and once upon a times.
We have lived in an age of time as chronology, time as empty space or place
on an imaginary stretch of occurrences behind us and an unknown beyond which
we believe we are walking in or up to. We can call this Renaissance time.
This notion of time has build our Western culture, our notions of progress
and has formed the basis for vindicating unethical actions in the name of
equality, peace and universal truth. Pre Renaissance time was quite
different: "For the Hebrew, to know the time was not a matter of knowing
the date, it was a matter of knowing what kind of time it might be. Was it
a time for tears or a time for laughter, a time for war or a time for
peace? To misjudge the time in which one lived might rove to be disastrous.
To continue to mourn and fast during a time of blessing would be like sowing
during a time of blessing would be like sowing during harvest time (compare
Zach 7:1-3). Time was the quality or mood of events." (Albert Nolan in Jesus
before Christianity, The Gospel of Liberation, p.141) This shift is an
ontological break, a move towards, or rather a rude awakening in another
world with other rules and rewards. It is not so much a notion of time that
has changed but the very prerequisites for a human consciousness to feel at
home, to belong, to da-sein. Our current shift towards a 'smart' world,
'ambient intelligence', an Internet of Things could be felt in the past
decades, was noted by science fiction authors and is engulfing itself
towards the more 'normal' notions of the 'real'. As more people are 'getting
it' this eschaton "a real future event which will be qualitatively different
from all previous events and which is the only event that can give ultimate
meaning to one's present situation." (p.76), is beginning to work its way
into finding interfaces to make the transition from Renaissance time to
Realtime possible as a foundation of a new kind of order, in the plain sense
of the word; ordering space, body, movement and action. In this light we can
understand the notions of endtime, end of times, or the 2012 ideas on
radical change; we are moving to, or will awake in a world with a
qualitatively different notion of time as experiencing multiple and
consecutive events become the default of ordinary experience, a kind of
experience that in Renaissance time was the stage of the visionary, the
tools of the creative painters, the psychotic trance of self salvation of
the manic mind. The exception becomes the rule in Realtime. The question is
who can live there? And what kind of solidarities will be forged in a world
where multiplicity of experience and identity is the default? This is the
space after all where everything lies painfully shining in light and
transparency is radical. It took Nietzsche a lifetime to painstakingly
conquer it, and in conquering 'it' losing himself as self.

Salut! Rob


On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 10:36 AM, Martin Rieser <martin.rieser@gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear Yasminers
>
> Many thanks for the lively discussion of hybrid cities and I look forward
> to
> the extension of debate in september that Dimitris proposes. I would like
> to
> drop one more thought into the mix:
>
> Paul Virilio termed the bifurcation of the "real" that ocurred with the
> invention of Virtual reality as "The Accident". My contention is that with
> the development of mobile hybrid environments , particularly augmented
> reality, but also through linked technologies of materialisation such as
> rapid prototyping and of tactility- through haptics and touchable
> virtuality
> and emotion sensing, that split is being transformed into a new hybridity
> which will become ever more seamless, so that we will soon no longer be
> able
> to separate "realities" in the manner Virilio postulates, in effect they
> will have rejoined into a new "real". This is both an enthralling and
> frightening prospect, and we appear to be entering this space far faster
> than anyone imagined just six years ago.In this we are returning to a
> tangible imaginary which echoes that of the medieval religious experience.
>
> Have a good summer!
>
> Martin
>
> On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 11:11 AM, XARITOS DIMITRIOS <vedesign@otenet.gr
> >wrote:
>
> >
> > Dear YASMINers,
> >
> > As scheduled, the "Hybrid City as an Interface" discussion would conclude
> > at the end of July and (depending on the interest it would raise among
> you)
> > it would continue in September. As we all have witnessed, there has been
> a
> > lot of interest so far and I would like to thank you all for your great
> > efforts and contributions which have made this discussion a successful
> one,
> > according to the comments we read in some of the last messages. I
> therefore
> > propose that we continue the discussion in September and will inform you
> > accordingly about the particular dates.
> >
> > In an attempt to identify key issues relating to the "Hybrid City" which
> > were made so far, Martin has appropriately articulated three main issues
> > which mainly refer to the creation, use and appropriation of mobile and
> > locative media as well as other web-based applications involving
> > location-based activities and content, around which this discussion has
> so
> > far evolved: • real depth of audience engagement, • the radical
> > potential of these new technologies and • the quality of existing
> examples
> > of interventions
> >
> > The discussion also expanded towards • context-aware systems which
> reveal
> > patterns of activity of any sort not perceptible to humans and the
> provision
> > of these data to all
> > • the process of creating maps, emerging cartographies, design
> > aspects and politics • the role of Situationists' theory and practice
> on
> > the creation of such interventions
> > • the use of ubiquitous computing systems in creating hybrid
> spatial
> > experiences, in the form of connections/bridges between the real and the
> > virtual
> > • the politics determining who has access to these environments and
> > how
> > • the potential for a passage from the public to the common through
> > the use of these media
> > • the potential of multi-user location-based activities for
> > generating new forms of social interaction
> > • the concept of "hybrid space", the spatial character of the
> concept
> > of "hybridity", the "hybrid city" and its definition and whether this
> > discussion should be limited to the urban realm.
> >
> > Moreover, many very relevant examples were mentioned for illustrating the
> > points that each of you made in the discussion and I am sure that listing
> > these examples has been very useful for many in understanding this
> subject
> > better.
> > I am also sure there is a lot that was said and I did not include in this
> > short attempt to temporarily conclude this phase of the discussion and
> that
> > the concepts of a "hybrid city" and of an "interface" in relation to this
> > subject need a better clarification as Marcos pointed out in his message
> and
> > I intend to start the second phase of this discussion by working towards
> > such an introduction.
> >
> > But, after thanking all the respondents (Martin, Daphne, Iouliani), Roger
> > and all of you who gave life to the discussion with your very interesting
> > and relevant contributions, I cannot think of a better way to close this
> > phase of the discussion, than with the message that Marcos send (which I
> > paste below), which did really put the subject in a more holistic context
> by
> > asking some very relevant questions: why?, how?, for whom?, as well as by
> > reminding us of the very important issue of sustainability.
> >
> > On that note I would like to thank you all, to wish you a pleasant summer
> > and to invite you to participate again in this discussion in September
> > during the dates that we will announce soon.
> >
> > Best wishes
> >
> > Dimitris
> > ********************************************************************
> >
> > From: marcos Date: July 30, 2010 4:06:57 PM PDT
> > To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] hybrid city as
> > interface
> >
> >
> > Hello all,
> > I've been following the various Yasmin discussions with fascination for
> > some time now. Congratulations to everyone for making this one of the
> most
> > informed, thoughtful, and intriguing fora for discussions of art and new
> > media. Alas, though I've been tempted to jump in several times, I've just
> > been too busy to do so. This time, though, between the topic and season,
> I
> > can't resist. Here goes:
> >
> > ...
> >
> > The topic of the "hybrid city" is timely and important. Many projects and
> > events have been taking place around the world, indicating a renewed
> > interest in the city. This time around, the terms seem to have changed --
> > these aren't the statistically-driven but morphologically bland urban
> > planning discussions of old ("old" doesn't have to be that old, these
> days
> > -- a recent Venice Biennale of Architecture took on the theme of the city
> > from a statistical vantage point and tried to let the numbers and graphs
> > speak for themselves. They didn't.) The discussions today are energized
> and
> > activated by the overlay of several issues that carry a new urgency:
> > locative media and technologies, social networking,
> > the-city-as-display-and-interface, sustainability and ecological
> awareness,
> > globalization, and also a new sense of empowerment to affect the design
> of
> > cities via algorithmic design, computer controlled fabrication, new
> > materials, and the addition of increasing "intelligence," both local and
> > remote, to what was previously inert form. Of course, one can't have new
> > cities without new citizens, so one of the major factors is the coming of
> > age of a new population that has assumed ubiquitous connectivity and
> > computation from birth. The rise of this group has meant that the inertia
> of
> > resistance that characterized much of the parent generation is rapidly
> being
> > replaced by a dizzying forward momentum by the offspring generation.
> > These and other topics have spurred various voices to try to articulate
> the
> > new conditions of the city. Indeed, acting across Los Angeles and Vienna,
> > the MAK Center, and, in particular, the MAK UFI (Urban Future
> Initiative),
> > has just published a book of new "Urban Future Manifestos."
> > For this book, Peter Noever invited numerous voices around the world to
> > each contribute a manifesto. I am one of the authors called upon to write
> > such a manifesto. It was quite a challenge to write a manifesto in the
> 21st
> > century, but, in the end, it was a clarifying and refreshing exercise. I
> > wish I could share it with this group, but, due to the publication
> > agreement, I can't make the full text available to the discussion right
> away
> > (but may be able to do so soon, if there is interest). In the meantime, I
> > can direct your attention to the book (which, in any case, contains many
> > more manifestos pertinent to this discussion!). I've included some
> > additional information about the book below.
> > ...
> >
> > Now, to the them of "hybrid" and the hope for converging upon a
> definition.
> > I would argue that perhaps a definition might only close down an argument
> > that is better left open. The specific term "hybrid" actually contains
> hints
> > to the problem I am drawing attention to. A "hybrid" is a creature that
> is
> > the offspring of two related but separate species (which is what appeals
> to
> > all of us in this discussion) but, which, critically, is unable to
> reproduce
> > further on its own. Hybrids are sterile, most often. This morning, in the
> > news, there was word of a new "zedonk" being born in captivity at the
> > Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega, Georgia. The "zedonk" is a
> hybrid
> > of a zebra and a donkey. It is also known as a "zonkey" or, more to the
> > point, a "zebra mule." Mules of various kinds cannot reproduce. For all
> > their utility to humans, we must bring together horses and donkeys to
> make
> > them. Other hybrids like "ligers" and "tions" suffer the same fate.
> > A "hybrid city" thus suggests that some combinations may be attractive
> and
> > useful and yet not sustainable (and I don't just mean this in terms of
> > energy or materials, I mean it culturally and civilizationally) -- and,
> > since we are speaking of living things -- unable to continue to evolve.
> What
> > would be preferable, I think, is not to settle on a term, but to try to
> > understand what principles might be necessary to restore and provide for
> > richness and ever-growing diversity. In my own discourse of
> "transvergence,"
> > I focus on "speciation" -- not the making of hybrids between species, but
> > the construction of ecologies within which genuine, stable, and
> > ever-evolving new species can proliferate.
> > This isn't just a semantic quibble or a fussiness about this word or
> that.
> > The difference is real and structural, and hinges on the specific and
> real
> > construction of openness. To give a single example that can ground that I
> > mean this technically, let me add this: we all know about genetic
> algorithms
> > by now. A genetic algorithm may evolve by mutating its own genes, but,
> > unless it actually has the ability to extend its own genome (that is to
> say,
> > modify and extend the set of genes whose values are able to mutate), it
> > can't produce anything but variations of the same kind -- it can never
> > produce new kinds, or new species. A closed genome is an industrial-age
> > artifact, focused on optimization. What is needed is a post-industrial
> > construct able to alter itself as it proliferates.
> > Not fixating on a closed hybridity, and instead focusing on the provision
> > of conditions and flexible, mutating structures that ensured the
> evolution
> > of new species of urbanism and urban life would be a start, but would not
> be
> > the all that we could strive for. Another problem remains.
> > ...
> >
> > The next issue, I think, has to do with how we still exist within
> > structures and value systems that can produce variety without producing
> > difference, and, especially positive difference, by multiple definitions.
> > Guy Debord pointed this out in "The Society Of The Spectacle," and, as
> far
> > as I can tell, we have yet to extricate ourselves from that maze.Whether
> we
> > have 500 channels of unwatchable television or a trillion documents
> online
> > does not matter if everything is motivated by an indifference to quality,
> > and a subjugation of every effort at qualitative assessment to a
> > simple-minded and perceptually and intellectually impoverished logic of
> mere
> > counting -- more is better, and that's that. To put it plainly -- it is
> not
> > that we cannot build better cities -- it is that we don't have the will
> to,
> > or, to strike more deeply, the value system for. Cities are mirrors, and
> we
> > already have the cities that are the perfect reflections of our
> collective
> > values. If we wish to change them, we need to address the value systems
> by
> > which we make urban decisions. Until we do, we will get technological
> > advances that look like visionary avant-garde propositions until they
> > arrive, but that will be commodified into glorified high-technology
> > marketing delivery mechanisms in lived fact -- "cool" for a few minutes
> > (generously), and then abrasive and tiresome, not really pleasant to live
> > in, and next to impossible to thrive in.
> > The question then shifts to a multi-headed problem: how to provide a
> > constructive critique of our global culture and its values, how to assert
> > positive and constructive alternatives, and how to literally structure
> our
> > poetic and technological efforts to realize those alternatives. The
> problem
> > I find the most vexing is the problem of values. In our community and on
> > this forum, we are all dedicated to imagining and designing alternatives
> --
> > but the real brick wall is not our ability to imagine and design in
> careful
> > and exquisite detail what would be good and beautiful -- it is to emplace
> > our proposals in a culture that does not even seem to know how to value
> > them, let alone desire them and support them, even if the might appear to
> > cost more (though cost is not the real issue, quality is).
> > I love Venezia and have been there every year for over a decade, and, in
> > parallel, I've lived for over a decade in Venice, California. The
> relation
> > between the two cities is instructive. Venice, California is four times
> > bigger than the original, but, though interesting, nowhere near as rich
> in
> > wonder as La Serenissima. One is a human treasure. The other is pleasant
> > beach-town with an unusual origin. Venice, California started off as an
> > effort to create a Venice-of-America, not from any organic will of its
> > citizens, but as a business proposition. Still, it was a pretty
> imaginative
> > effort. Abbot Kinney, the developer who created it, managed to keep it
> > going, in spite of curiously correlated pressure to build oil-wells and
> > arson, until his death, whereupon it was handed over to the City of Los
> > Angeles, which promptly filled in and paved the inconvenient canals,
> beauty
> > (or, at least, character) be damned.
> > Even where a tangible effort was made to build a timidly unusual city, a
> > hybrid of America and Venezia, and even with a strong and clear precedent
> in
> > mind, the value system of the society it was built within and for could
> not
> > support what was offered. Venice-of-America was not culturally
> sustainable
> > because people simply did not care enough to keep it going. The original
> > Venetians had lesser technology but stronger urban values, and they
> > consciously named their city after Venus, goddess of beauty, and then
> made
> > every effort to make it beautiful. There are places in Venezia where five
> > bridges (almost) intersect. One would have been enough, but five, in
> > counterpoint, are more beautiful, and, though more costly then as now,
> those
> > people chose beauty. All we seem to know to do now is consume beauty, as
> > tourists, not make it, at least at the level of urban will and the public
> > realm. Until we address this, we will do the same with technology, and
> the
> > hybrid city will not be what we really wish it to be.
> > ...
> >
> > Interface? To what? From what? From whom? Toward whom? Of what sort of
> > benefit? Of benefit to whom?
> > ...
> >
> > The questions multiply from here. I can't even begin to outline them in
> > this response. My manifesto offers suggestions and directions, but it is
> > best to leave the questions hanging, and, hopefully, to have many of us
> > engage them. The problem of the city is the problem of "us" -- of how we
> > construct ourselves as a community and a public and how we come to value
> and
> > build the public good. It is the "demos" in democracy. In these troubled
> > times, it may be the most important question of all.
> > Marcos
> >
> > p.s. Some more information about Urban Future Manifestos"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Urban Future Manifestos calls upon leading creative thinkers to address
> >> urgent questions about the future of the contemporary city. Contributing
> >> architects, artists, designers, and urban scholars from around the globe
> >> consider the city from a variety of positions and posit their unique and
> >> inspiring visions. Urban Future Manifestos was produced by the MAK Urban
> >> Future Initiative (UFI), which was founded to generate concepts for the
> >> urban future by stimulating international dialogue.
> >> Urban Future Manifestos includes texts by UFI fellows Marco
> Kusumawijaya,
> >> Urban Think Tank, Ismail Farouk, Xiangning Li, Alexia Leon, Pages (Babak
> >> Afrassiabi and Nasrin Tabatabai), and Alaa Khaled and Salwa Rashad are
> >> featured. Other contributors include Beatriz Colomina, Teddy Cruz, Dana
> >> Cuff, Keller Easterling, Gregor Eichinger, Nnamdi Elleh, ATOPIA: Jane
> >> Harrison and David Turnbull, Zvi Hecker, Gustaff Harriman Iskander,
> Doung
> >> Anwar Jahangeer, Bernard Khoury, Norman Klein, Herbert Lachmayer, Rick
> Lowe,
> >> Mehret Mandefro, Marcos Novak, Edgar Pieterse, Travis Price, Robert
> Ransick,
> >> Christian Reder, Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Saskia Sassen, Felicity Scott,
> >> AbdouMaliq Simone, Edward Soja, Michael Sorkin, Jonathan Tel, Tezozomoc,
> Ai
> >> Wei Wei, Eyal Weizman, Lebbeus Woods. Graphic design by Axel
> >> Prichard-Schmitzberger.
> >>
> >
> >
> >>
> >> http://makcenter.org/MAK_Bookstore.php#
> >>
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________
> >
> > Marcos Novak, Professor
> > Director, transLAB
> > http://translab.mat.ucsb.edu
> >
> > University of California, Santa Barbara
> > MAT: Media Art and Technology Program
> > CNSI: California NanoSystems Institute
> > Art: Department of Art
> >
> > _________________________________________________________
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> > Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> > http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
> >
> > Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
> >
> > HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to.
> > In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name,
> and
> > password in the fields found further down the page.
> >
> > HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter
> > your e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on
> the
> > unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
> >
> > HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set
> > Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Martin Rieser
>
> Professor of Digital Creativity
> De Montfort University
> IOCT/Art and Design
> The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH
> 44 +116 250 6146
>
>
> http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk
> http://www.mobileaudience.blogspot.com
> http://www.martinrieser.com
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to.
> In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name, and
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>
> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter
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> unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
>
> HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set
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>
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Re: [Yasmin_discussions] "hybrid city as interface", temporarily paused and continued in September

Dear Yasminers

Many thanks for the lively discussion of hybrid cities and I look forward to
the extension of debate in september that Dimitris proposes. I would like to
drop one more thought into the mix:

Paul Virilio termed the bifurcation of the "real" that ocurred with the
invention of Virtual reality as "The Accident". My contention is that with
the development of mobile hybrid environments , particularly augmented
reality, but also through linked technologies of materialisation such as
rapid prototyping and of tactility- through haptics and touchable virtuality
and emotion sensing, that split is being transformed into a new hybridity
which will become ever more seamless, so that we will soon no longer be able
to separate "realities" in the manner Virilio postulates, in effect they
will have rejoined into a new "real". This is both an enthralling and
frightening prospect, and we appear to be entering this space far faster
than anyone imagined just six years ago.In this we are returning to a
tangible imaginary which echoes that of the medieval religious experience.

Have a good summer!

Martin

On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 11:11 AM, XARITOS DIMITRIOS <vedesign@otenet.gr>wrote:

>
> Dear YASMINers,
>
> As scheduled, the "Hybrid City as an Interface" discussion would conclude
> at the end of July and (depending on the interest it would raise among you)
> it would continue in September. As we all have witnessed, there has been a
> lot of interest so far and I would like to thank you all for your great
> efforts and contributions which have made this discussion a successful one,
> according to the comments we read in some of the last messages. I therefore
> propose that we continue the discussion in September and will inform you
> accordingly about the particular dates.
>
> In an attempt to identify key issues relating to the "Hybrid City" which
> were made so far, Martin has appropriately articulated three main issues
> which mainly refer to the creation, use and appropriation of mobile and
> locative media as well as other web-based applications involving
> location-based activities and content, around which this discussion has so
> far evolved: • real depth of audience engagement, • the radical
> potential of these new technologies and • the quality of existing examples
> of interventions
>
> The discussion also expanded towards • context-aware systems which reveal
> patterns of activity of any sort not perceptible to humans and the provision
> of these data to all
> • the process of creating maps, emerging cartographies, design
> aspects and politics • the role of Situationists' theory and practice on
> the creation of such interventions
> • the use of ubiquitous computing systems in creating hybrid spatial
> experiences, in the form of connections/bridges between the real and the
> virtual
> • the politics determining who has access to these environments and
> how
> • the potential for a passage from the public to the common through
> the use of these media
> • the potential of multi-user location-based activities for
> generating new forms of social interaction
> • the concept of "hybrid space", the spatial character of the concept
> of "hybridity", the "hybrid city" and its definition and whether this
> discussion should be limited to the urban realm.
>
> Moreover, many very relevant examples were mentioned for illustrating the
> points that each of you made in the discussion and I am sure that listing
> these examples has been very useful for many in understanding this subject
> better.
> I am also sure there is a lot that was said and I did not include in this
> short attempt to temporarily conclude this phase of the discussion and that
> the concepts of a "hybrid city" and of an "interface" in relation to this
> subject need a better clarification as Marcos pointed out in his message and
> I intend to start the second phase of this discussion by working towards
> such an introduction.
>
> But, after thanking all the respondents (Martin, Daphne, Iouliani), Roger
> and all of you who gave life to the discussion with your very interesting
> and relevant contributions, I cannot think of a better way to close this
> phase of the discussion, than with the message that Marcos send (which I
> paste below), which did really put the subject in a more holistic context by
> asking some very relevant questions: why?, how?, for whom?, as well as by
> reminding us of the very important issue of sustainability.
>
> On that note I would like to thank you all, to wish you a pleasant summer
> and to invite you to participate again in this discussion in September
> during the dates that we will announce soon.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Dimitris
> ********************************************************************
>
> From: marcos Date: July 30, 2010 4:06:57 PM PDT
> To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] hybrid city as
> interface
>
>
> Hello all,
> I've been following the various Yasmin discussions with fascination for
> some time now. Congratulations to everyone for making this one of the most
> informed, thoughtful, and intriguing fora for discussions of art and new
> media. Alas, though I've been tempted to jump in several times, I've just
> been too busy to do so. This time, though, between the topic and season, I
> can't resist. Here goes:
>
> ...
>
> The topic of the "hybrid city" is timely and important. Many projects and
> events have been taking place around the world, indicating a renewed
> interest in the city. This time around, the terms seem to have changed --
> these aren't the statistically-driven but morphologically bland urban
> planning discussions of old ("old" doesn't have to be that old, these days
> -- a recent Venice Biennale of Architecture took on the theme of the city
> from a statistical vantage point and tried to let the numbers and graphs
> speak for themselves. They didn't.) The discussions today are energized and
> activated by the overlay of several issues that carry a new urgency:
> locative media and technologies, social networking,
> the-city-as-display-and-interface, sustainability and ecological awareness,
> globalization, and also a new sense of empowerment to affect the design of
> cities via algorithmic design, computer controlled fabrication, new
> materials, and the addition of increasing "intelligence," both local and
> remote, to what was previously inert form. Of course, one can't have new
> cities without new citizens, so one of the major factors is the coming of
> age of a new population that has assumed ubiquitous connectivity and
> computation from birth. The rise of this group has meant that the inertia of
> resistance that characterized much of the parent generation is rapidly being
> replaced by a dizzying forward momentum by the offspring generation.
> These and other topics have spurred various voices to try to articulate the
> new conditions of the city. Indeed, acting across Los Angeles and Vienna,
> the MAK Center, and, in particular, the MAK UFI (Urban Future Initiative),
> has just published a book of new "Urban Future Manifestos."
> For this book, Peter Noever invited numerous voices around the world to
> each contribute a manifesto. I am one of the authors called upon to write
> such a manifesto. It was quite a challenge to write a manifesto in the 21st
> century, but, in the end, it was a clarifying and refreshing exercise. I
> wish I could share it with this group, but, due to the publication
> agreement, I can't make the full text available to the discussion right away
> (but may be able to do so soon, if there is interest). In the meantime, I
> can direct your attention to the book (which, in any case, contains many
> more manifestos pertinent to this discussion!). I've included some
> additional information about the book below.
> ...
>
> Now, to the them of "hybrid" and the hope for converging upon a definition.
> I would argue that perhaps a definition might only close down an argument
> that is better left open. The specific term "hybrid" actually contains hints
> to the problem I am drawing attention to. A "hybrid" is a creature that is
> the offspring of two related but separate species (which is what appeals to
> all of us in this discussion) but, which, critically, is unable to reproduce
> further on its own. Hybrids are sterile, most often. This morning, in the
> news, there was word of a new "zedonk" being born in captivity at the
> Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega, Georgia. The "zedonk" is a hybrid
> of a zebra and a donkey. It is also known as a "zonkey" or, more to the
> point, a "zebra mule." Mules of various kinds cannot reproduce. For all
> their utility to humans, we must bring together horses and donkeys to make
> them. Other hybrids like "ligers" and "tions" suffer the same fate.
> A "hybrid city" thus suggests that some combinations may be attractive and
> useful and yet not sustainable (and I don't just mean this in terms of
> energy or materials, I mean it culturally and civilizationally) -- and,
> since we are speaking of living things -- unable to continue to evolve. What
> would be preferable, I think, is not to settle on a term, but to try to
> understand what principles might be necessary to restore and provide for
> richness and ever-growing diversity. In my own discourse of "transvergence,"
> I focus on "speciation" -- not the making of hybrids between species, but
> the construction of ecologies within which genuine, stable, and
> ever-evolving new species can proliferate.
> This isn't just a semantic quibble or a fussiness about this word or that.
> The difference is real and structural, and hinges on the specific and real
> construction of openness. To give a single example that can ground that I
> mean this technically, let me add this: we all know about genetic algorithms
> by now. A genetic algorithm may evolve by mutating its own genes, but,
> unless it actually has the ability to extend its own genome (that is to say,
> modify and extend the set of genes whose values are able to mutate), it
> can't produce anything but variations of the same kind -- it can never
> produce new kinds, or new species. A closed genome is an industrial-age
> artifact, focused on optimization. What is needed is a post-industrial
> construct able to alter itself as it proliferates.
> Not fixating on a closed hybridity, and instead focusing on the provision
> of conditions and flexible, mutating structures that ensured the evolution
> of new species of urbanism and urban life would be a start, but would not be
> the all that we could strive for. Another problem remains.
> ...
>
> The next issue, I think, has to do with how we still exist within
> structures and value systems that can produce variety without producing
> difference, and, especially positive difference, by multiple definitions.
> Guy Debord pointed this out in "The Society Of The Spectacle," and, as far
> as I can tell, we have yet to extricate ourselves from that maze.Whether we
> have 500 channels of unwatchable television or a trillion documents online
> does not matter if everything is motivated by an indifference to quality,
> and a subjugation of every effort at qualitative assessment to a
> simple-minded and perceptually and intellectually impoverished logic of mere
> counting -- more is better, and that's that. To put it plainly -- it is not
> that we cannot build better cities -- it is that we don't have the will to,
> or, to strike more deeply, the value system for. Cities are mirrors, and we
> already have the cities that are the perfect reflections of our collective
> values. If we wish to change them, we need to address the value systems by
> which we make urban decisions. Until we do, we will get technological
> advances that look like visionary avant-garde propositions until they
> arrive, but that will be commodified into glorified high-technology
> marketing delivery mechanisms in lived fact -- "cool" for a few minutes
> (generously), and then abrasive and tiresome, not really pleasant to live
> in, and next to impossible to thrive in.
> The question then shifts to a multi-headed problem: how to provide a
> constructive critique of our global culture and its values, how to assert
> positive and constructive alternatives, and how to literally structure our
> poetic and technological efforts to realize those alternatives. The problem
> I find the most vexing is the problem of values. In our community and on
> this forum, we are all dedicated to imagining and designing alternatives --
> but the real brick wall is not our ability to imagine and design in careful
> and exquisite detail what would be good and beautiful -- it is to emplace
> our proposals in a culture that does not even seem to know how to value
> them, let alone desire them and support them, even if the might appear to
> cost more (though cost is not the real issue, quality is).
> I love Venezia and have been there every year for over a decade, and, in
> parallel, I've lived for over a decade in Venice, California. The relation
> between the two cities is instructive. Venice, California is four times
> bigger than the original, but, though interesting, nowhere near as rich in
> wonder as La Serenissima. One is a human treasure. The other is pleasant
> beach-town with an unusual origin. Venice, California started off as an
> effort to create a Venice-of-America, not from any organic will of its
> citizens, but as a business proposition. Still, it was a pretty imaginative
> effort. Abbot Kinney, the developer who created it, managed to keep it
> going, in spite of curiously correlated pressure to build oil-wells and
> arson, until his death, whereupon it was handed over to the City of Los
> Angeles, which promptly filled in and paved the inconvenient canals, beauty
> (or, at least, character) be damned.
> Even where a tangible effort was made to build a timidly unusual city, a
> hybrid of America and Venezia, and even with a strong and clear precedent in
> mind, the value system of the society it was built within and for could not
> support what was offered. Venice-of-America was not culturally sustainable
> because people simply did not care enough to keep it going. The original
> Venetians had lesser technology but stronger urban values, and they
> consciously named their city after Venus, goddess of beauty, and then made
> every effort to make it beautiful. There are places in Venezia where five
> bridges (almost) intersect. One would have been enough, but five, in
> counterpoint, are more beautiful, and, though more costly then as now, those
> people chose beauty. All we seem to know to do now is consume beauty, as
> tourists, not make it, at least at the level of urban will and the public
> realm. Until we address this, we will do the same with technology, and the
> hybrid city will not be what we really wish it to be.
> ...
>
> Interface? To what? From what? From whom? Toward whom? Of what sort of
> benefit? Of benefit to whom?
> ...
>
> The questions multiply from here. I can't even begin to outline them in
> this response. My manifesto offers suggestions and directions, but it is
> best to leave the questions hanging, and, hopefully, to have many of us
> engage them. The problem of the city is the problem of "us" -- of how we
> construct ourselves as a community and a public and how we come to value and
> build the public good. It is the "demos" in democracy. In these troubled
> times, it may be the most important question of all.
> Marcos
>
> p.s. Some more information about Urban Future Manifestos"
>
>
>
>
>
> Urban Future Manifestos calls upon leading creative thinkers to address
>> urgent questions about the future of the contemporary city. Contributing
>> architects, artists, designers, and urban scholars from around the globe
>> consider the city from a variety of positions and posit their unique and
>> inspiring visions. Urban Future Manifestos was produced by the MAK Urban
>> Future Initiative (UFI), which was founded to generate concepts for the
>> urban future by stimulating international dialogue.
>> Urban Future Manifestos includes texts by UFI fellows Marco Kusumawijaya,
>> Urban Think Tank, Ismail Farouk, Xiangning Li, Alexia Leon, Pages (Babak
>> Afrassiabi and Nasrin Tabatabai), and Alaa Khaled and Salwa Rashad are
>> featured. Other contributors include Beatriz Colomina, Teddy Cruz, Dana
>> Cuff, Keller Easterling, Gregor Eichinger, Nnamdi Elleh, ATOPIA: Jane
>> Harrison and David Turnbull, Zvi Hecker, Gustaff Harriman Iskander, Doung
>> Anwar Jahangeer, Bernard Khoury, Norman Klein, Herbert Lachmayer, Rick Lowe,
>> Mehret Mandefro, Marcos Novak, Edgar Pieterse, Travis Price, Robert Ransick,
>> Christian Reder, Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Saskia Sassen, Felicity Scott,
>> AbdouMaliq Simone, Edward Soja, Michael Sorkin, Jonathan Tel, Tezozomoc, Ai
>> Wei Wei, Eyal Weizman, Lebbeus Woods. Graphic design by Axel
>> Prichard-Schmitzberger.
>>
>
>
>>
>> http://makcenter.org/MAK_Bookstore.php#
>>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________
>
> Marcos Novak, Professor
> Director, transLAB
> http://translab.mat.ucsb.edu
>
> University of California, Santa Barbara
> MAT: Media Art and Technology Program
> CNSI: California NanoSystems Institute
> Art: Department of Art
>
> _________________________________________________________
>
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to.
> In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name, and
> password in the fields found further down the page.
>
> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter
> your e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on the
> unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
>
> HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set
> Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or off.


--
Martin Rieser

Professor of Digital Creativity
De Montfort University
IOCT/Art and Design
The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH
44 +116 250 6146


http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk
http://www.mobileaudience.blogspot.com
http://www.martinrieser.com
_______________________________________________
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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

[Yasmin_discussions] hybrid city as interface

from marcos novak

Hi Roger,


...

Just the same, I can take the opportunity to reply briefly to some of
the issues you raise here:

My comments were not exclusionary. Rapid mutation, hybridity, and
sustainable change are not mutually exclusive. There is place and need
for rapid change and for the hybrid as the agent of this change, just
as there is place and need for observing larger structures. The point
I was trying to make was not so much against the hybrid per se, as for
an awareness of how small changes can be subsumed into cultural noise
if they do not recognize that we operate within much larger cultural
structures. The specific issue troubling me is that of values,
especially regarding the common good -- what I see when I travel is
not that we are incapable of change -- both rapid and deep -- but
that, for all our knowledge and power, we do not make choices that
effect positive change as effectively as they might. We do not seem to
have the collective willpower, attention span, and value system to
create a environments like Venezia, in contemporary form. I do not
mean this literally, as a matter of imitating the outer form of the
city, but more deeply, in terms of the civic will that went into
imagining it and carrying it out, as a bold undertaking that was,
nonetheless, immensely beautiful and livable. Even if we attempt to
learn from Venezia, we create Venice Beach, Las Vegas, or Disney's
Celebration, all poor and insincere replicas of what created the
original Venezia in the first place. I am not romanticizing the past,
and do not desire us to go back to it, I am committed to building the
future, but see problems in how we approach things.

In my estimation, change, whether rapid or slow, can cancel itself if
it does not recognize the structures it operates within. It's a little
like swimming -- a good swimmer knows that splashing is not effective,
and that the best stroke is the one that is crispest. Sometimes we
splash a lot but advance little. I think it is both desirable and
inevitable that cities become interfaces -- but interfaces to what? In
a recent architecture and urbanism conference, itself devoted to the
parametric city, hence, the city as interface, I found myself
commenting that it did not really matter whether one built a pyramid
with a square base or a pyramid with a round one, or any other shape,
for that matter, as long as one was still building for the Pharaoh.

Thus the new city as interface, whether hybrid or speciated, needs to
foster a new consideration of citizenship, and encourage a new and
bold imaginary of what a city is, and what a city does to help foster
the thriving of its citizens. If it is to be an interface, let it be
an interface to the best and most enlightened urbanism we can imagine.

...

I've included my manifesto for the MAK publication. Perhaps it will
shed some more light on my comments.

...

Marcos

----------------------------------------------------

04.03.10 UFM INVITED CONTRIBUTOR MANIFESTO

Author: Marcos Novak ©2010

Title: A Transvergent Manifesto

Location: Los Angeles

Website: [http://www.centrifuge.org]

[Preamble: Armed with the tip of a scalpel rather than the blade of a
broadsword, a manifesto puts forward a polemical call to clarity that
speaks to a potentially imaginary collective of like minds, a wishful
and wished-for "us" that may or may not exist in the present, but may
yet arrive in the future. A manifesto does not enumerate its sources
or reveal the careful construction of its argument. It simply presents
certain conclusions, directions, demands, and programs, and says: "if
you understand us, if you are with us, join us," leaving it to the
reader to think — and to act.]


AlloPolis: A Transvergent Manifesto

We embrace the future. We take for granted the free city, the diverse
city, the global city, the technological city, the scientific city,
the ecological city, the biological city, the smart city, the network
city, the virtual city, the discontiguous city, the swarm city, the
cyborg city, the nanotech city, the alive city, the Singularity city.
To all these, and to any yet to come, we add the prefix "allo~" to
signify "the other, of another kind," and to claim as ours the alien
city, alien and yet of our own making. And while "alien" is for us
something largely positive, we are not fooled into ignoring that its
obverse and corollary can be alienation, against which we must be ever
watchful and vigilant.

To be clear:

We accept the need for caution but denounce all pessimism as
creatively unethical, defeatist, and unhelpful, and insist that only
the assertion of positive alternatives is valid as constructive
criticism. By this token, we accept the limits to any simplistic or
telological notion of Progress, but reject as naïve and malinformed
any notion of the futility of progress, or of the end of the
avant-garde and any such valiant effort to augment and exceed the
world we are given. For this, we replace the obsolete notion of the
totalizing global goal with the active principle of the resistant but
positive gradient of local ascent in search of ever stranger and more
wonderful topologies of freedom and beauty.

We reject the unimaginative city, the ignorant city, the ugly city,
the unjust city, the dogmatic city, the unhealthy city, the unfriendly
city, the unkind city, the paranoid city, the selfish city, the greedy
city, the exploitative city, the usurious city, the cruel city, the
incarcerating city, the separating city, the spirit-crushing city,
though we know full well that this list covers most of our present day
city-making. We reject with them all the false, petty, and
mean-spirited arguments (be they political, religious, or economic)
that have pretended—in the face of all evidence to the contrary—to
justify sub-mediocrity as good, necessary, or inevitable.

We are honest: we measure the success of cities by the thriving of
their citizens, as embodied in the architecture of thriving public
realms. We see that the cities we are building pale in comparison to
the ancient cities we visit, both in terms of ambition and in terms of
the quality of urban life they support. We recognize that people in
the past, though weaker, poorer, less free and massively less informed
than we, nevertheless built better cities than we build, and left us
culture and civilization where we leave extensive urban carpets of
ugliness, fast food and permanent waste.

We admire the extraordinary vessels of our technologies but see these
vessels abducted by avarice for the few and not guided by altruism for
the many, and we reject as absurd the notion that only greed can drive
us forward. We recognize the grandeur of our infrastructure projects,
but realize that they are scaled for giant corporate bodies, not
fragile human ones. We applaud the depth and sophistication of our
sciences, but realize that they are scaled for pulseless nano~,
femto~, atto~, zepto~, yocto~scale bodies, not pulsing human ones. We
conclude that we do not suffer from a lack of knowledge or
imagination, we suffer from the blinding toxins of a value system that
perverts all motives and incentives, and from a malaise of the will
that prevents us from recalibrating what we value, respect, protect,
and nurture to serve us, at our scale, and to balance us, at the
world's scales. We have confused quantities for qualities, quanta for
qualia, counting costs and amenities for weighing balances and
benefits, and have nearly lost our minds, our bodies, and our planet,
as a result.

We refuse to be defeated.

We propose a creative principle, an ethical catalyst, a pervasive
corrective, an aesthetic and moral differential (in a mathematical
sense) that can produce massive change via a myriad minute adjustments
in the direction of sanity and the search for ever stranger, ever more
wonderful, ever bolder beauty. We call this principle "kami" (in
deference to its origin in Shinto, but with no nationalistic,
religious or metaphysical conceits), and mean by it the cultivation of
those minute but precise acts and habits of attention, as if to a
lucid and gentle secular animism toward the sparkling quantum foam of
emerging and vanishing symmetries and balances, toward those tender
alignments that are lost if not noticed and cherished, and toward all
those infinitesimal differences that produce extraordinary beauty in
all its forms, in nature or artifice, in love, in politics, in the
intellect, in art, and in the senses. We propose that our urban and
global future depends on our ability to bring this small corrective to
all—but mostly to those who need it most: our children and our
politicians—and to let it seep into us for years and centuries to
come, till we and our values are one, and sane. In time we will
blossom. This is how civilizations are made.

We seek the transvergent city, the allo~city, the cosmo-polis that
becomes the AlloPolis, the city that helps recuperate the lost whole,
the city that explores and embodies the transmodal continuum and
participates in the human production of the alien, the city that
nurtures the speciation of diversity, manifest freedom, manifest
imagination, the city of present thriving and future augmentation, the
polis worthy of spreading itself among the stars. Most of all, we seek
that from which all other virtues flow: the generous city, free,
exploratory, wise and beautiful. Why should we settle for anything
less?

We can have that, and more, provided that we realize that, above
anything else, cities are mirrors, and that we cannot build what we
seek until we become what we seek.

_______________________________________________
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Re: [Yasmin_discussions] "hybrid city as interface", temporarily paused and continued in September

Hello,

Thank you all for a great set of links.

It is quite shameless but I hope my text and especially Sean Dodson's intro
which can be downloaded at

http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publications/network-notebooks/the-internet-of-things/

is also relevant:

" Cities across the world are about to enter the next phase of their
development. A near invisible network of radio frequency identification tags
(RFID) is being deployed on almost every type of consumer item. These tiny,
traceable chips, which can be scanned wirelessly, are being produced in
their billions and are capable of being connected to the internet in an
instant. This so-called 'Ambient intelligence' promises to createa global
network of physical objects every bit as pervasive and ubiquitous as the
worldwide web itself. Some are already calling this controversial network
the 'internet of things', describing it as either the ultimate convenience
in supply-chain management, or the ultimate tool in our future surveillance.
This network has the power to reshape our cities and yet it is being built
with little public knowledge of consent.Here Rob van Kranenburg examines
what impact RFID, and other systems, will have on our cities and our
widersociety; while also ruminating on what alternative network technologies
could help safeguard our privacyand empower citizens to take power back into
their own hands. It is both a timely warning and a call to arms."

Greetings, Rob

On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 4:18 AM, molly Hankwitz <mollyhankwitz@gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear Yasmin "hybrid city" discussion list,
>
> Thank you very much for these 'recaps' of the discussion, from those
> putting
> the list together. I have appreciated the high level of contribution on
> this
> list and the attempt to
> better understand the concept of 'hybrid city.' I thank everyone for
> putting
> forth their ideas, links, work, etc. It was a good experience and I'm
> definitely interested if something were to start again in September. As for
> the posts about 'hybrid cities' as summarizing the list - I would have to
> agree, the subject is more than timely. At the 'Towards a Just Metropolis'
> conference, which I participated in as a panelist (Blogging the Virtual
> City), I felt a struggle in myself with the terminology of 'virtual'.
> Clearly, there is a long list of projects which are ____city
> something____sensible, sensable, multiple, etc. Many projects are emerging.
> Hybrid, coming from gardening, is one way to look at the cultivation of a
> new space, or new methods, processes. Curiously, I went to purchase a pair
> of walking shoes the other day, after having walked around cities all of my
> adult life without gps, and worn out my poor feet...the first shoes I
> looked
> at were called 'hybrid' and it seemed somehow humorous and yet, part of the
> new 'urban' style which has gripped San Francisco. Hybrid as a buzzword,
> but
> significantly, as a concept about some movement and development which
> Marcos
> talks about a bit in his long post. Just a few thoughts and notes...how to
> keep our own ideas out of the style condition of the spectacle itself. How
> to use concepts of 'play' without getting lost in the internet playground
> without any way out of a hall of mirrors. Someone wrote, and I apologize
> for
> not having the name right here, but perhaps it was in the Datacity 'call' -
> that we are in a time of urban explosion - more people living in urban
> conditions now than any other time in human history (Planet of Slums). I
> daresay, what is designed as urban for a minority means something very
> different than the urban of vast megacities of the impoverished, except,
> perhaps where density is concerned. From an urban planning and design
> standpoint then, for myself, notions of 'place', 'location' and 'urban' are
> as susceptible to ideological differences as any other political terms and
> conditions. It is imperative to me that the body of work which emerges as
> 'locative' reveals the many stresses and inequalities to urban space, just
> as it reveals the happy play of diversity and enlightenment.
>
> Thank you so much again. I am looking forward to a second chapter, if it
> happens. I have not been at 'locative media' long, but issues of mobile
> subjectivity, transnationalism, and networked 'reality' in a changing urban
> context is of great significance to me and my work.
> I am grateful for all I have to read on these topics and the discussion of
> 'city' 'place' and 'location'.
>
> :' )
> Molly
>
> On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 3:11 AM, XARITOS DIMITRIOS <vedesign@otenet.gr
> >wrote:
>
> >
> > Dear YASMINers,
> >
> > As scheduled, the "Hybrid City as an Interface" discussion would conclude
> > at the end of July and (depending on the interest it would raise among
> you)
> > it would continue in September. As we all have witnessed, there has been
> a
> > lot of interest so far and I would like to thank you all for your great
> > efforts and contributions which have made this discussion a successful
> one,
> > according to the comments we read in some of the last messages. I
> therefore
> > propose that we continue the discussion in September and will inform you
> > accordingly about the particular dates.
> >
> > In an attempt to identify key issues relating to the "Hybrid City" which
> > were made so far, Martin has appropriately articulated three main issues
> > which mainly refer to the creation, use and appropriation of mobile and
> > locative media as well as other web-based applications involving
> > location-based activities and content, around which this discussion has
> so
> > far evolved: • real depth of audience engagement, • the radical
> > potential of these new technologies and • the quality of existing
> examples
> > of interventions
> >
> > The discussion also expanded towards • context-aware systems which
> reveal
> > patterns of activity of any sort not perceptible to humans and the
> provision
> > of these data to all
> > • the process of creating maps, emerging cartographies, design
> > aspects and politics • the role of Situationists' theory and practice
> on
> > the creation of such interventions
> > • the use of ubiquitous computing systems in creating hybrid
> spatial
> > experiences, in the form of connections/bridges between the real and the
> > virtual
> > • the politics determining who has access to these environments and
> > how
> > • the potential for a passage from the public to the common through
> > the use of these media
> > • the potential of multi-user location-based activities for
> > generating new forms of social interaction
> > • the concept of "hybrid space", the spatial character of the
> concept
> > of "hybridity", the "hybrid city" and its definition and whether this
> > discussion should be limited to the urban realm.
> >
> > Moreover, many very relevant examples were mentioned for illustrating the
> > points that each of you made in the discussion and I am sure that listing
> > these examples has been very useful for many in understanding this
> subject
> > better.
> > I am also sure there is a lot that was said and I did not include in this
> > short attempt to temporarily conclude this phase of the discussion and
> that
> > the concepts of a "hybrid city" and of an "interface" in relation to this
> > subject need a better clarification as Marcos pointed out in his message
> and
> > I intend to start the second phase of this discussion by working towards
> > such an introduction.
> >
> > But, after thanking all the respondents (Martin, Daphne, Iouliani), Roger
> > and all of you who gave life to the discussion with your very interesting
> > and relevant contributions, I cannot think of a better way to close this
> > phase of the discussion, than with the message that Marcos send (which I
> > paste below), which did really put the subject in a more holistic context
> by
> > asking some very relevant questions: why?, how?, for whom?, as well as by
> > reminding us of the very important issue of sustainability.
> >
> > On that note I would like to thank you all, to wish you a pleasant summer
> > and to invite you to participate again in this discussion in September
> > during the dates that we will announce soon.
> >
> > Best wishes
> >
> > Dimitris
> > ********************************************************************
> >
> > From: marcos Date: July 30, 2010 4:06:57 PM PDT
> > To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] hybrid city as
> > interface
> >
> >
> > Hello all,
> > I've been following the various Yasmin discussions with fascination for
> > some time now. Congratulations to everyone for making this one of the
> most
> > informed, thoughtful, and intriguing fora for discussions of art and new
> > media. Alas, though I've been tempted to jump in several times, I've just
> > been too busy to do so. This time, though, between the topic and season,
> I
> > can't resist. Here goes:
> >
> > ...
> >
> > The topic of the "hybrid city" is timely and important. Many projects and
> > events have been taking place around the world, indicating a renewed
> > interest in the city. This time around, the terms seem to have changed --
> > these aren't the statistically-driven but morphologically bland urban
> > planning discussions of old ("old" doesn't have to be that old, these
> days
> > -- a recent Venice Biennale of Architecture took on the theme of the city
> > from a statistical vantage point and tried to let the numbers and graphs
> > speak for themselves. They didn't.) The discussions today are energized
> and
> > activated by the overlay of several issues that carry a new urgency:
> > locative media and technologies, social networking,
> > the-city-as-display-and-interface, sustainability and ecological
> awareness,
> > globalization, and also a new sense of empowerment to affect the design
> of
> > cities via algorithmic design, computer controlled fabrication, new
> > materials, and the addition of increasing "intelligence," both local and
> > remote, to what was previously inert form. Of course, one can't have new
> > cities without new citizens, so one of the major factors is the coming of
> > age of a new population that has assumed ubiquitous connectivity and
> > computation from birth. The rise of this group has meant that the inertia
> of
> > resistance that characterized much of the parent generation is rapidly
> being
> > replaced by a dizzying forward momentum by the offspring generation.
> > These and other topics have spurred various voices to try to articulate
> the
> > new conditions of the city. Indeed, acting across Los Angeles and Vienna,
> > the MAK Center, and, in particular, the MAK UFI (Urban Future
> Initiative),
> > has just published a book of new "Urban Future Manifestos."
> > For this book, Peter Noever invited numerous voices around the world to
> > each contribute a manifesto. I am one of the authors called upon to write
> > such a manifesto. It was quite a challenge to write a manifesto in the
> 21st
> > century, but, in the end, it was a clarifying and refreshing exercise. I
> > wish I could share it with this group, but, due to the publication
> > agreement, I can't make the full text available to the discussion right
> away
> > (but may be able to do so soon, if there is interest). In the meantime, I
> > can direct your attention to the book (which, in any case, contains many
> > more manifestos pertinent to this discussion!). I've included some
> > additional information about the book below.
> > ...
> >
> > Now, to the them of "hybrid" and the hope for converging upon a
> definition.
> > I would argue that perhaps a definition might only close down an argument
> > that is better left open. The specific term "hybrid" actually contains
> hints
> > to the problem I am drawing attention to. A "hybrid" is a creature that
> is
> > the offspring of two related but separate species (which is what appeals
> to
> > all of us in this discussion) but, which, critically, is unable to
> reproduce
> > further on its own. Hybrids are sterile, most often. This morning, in the
> > news, there was word of a new "zedonk" being born in captivity at the
> > Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega, Georgia. The "zedonk" is a
> hybrid
> > of a zebra and a donkey. It is also known as a "zonkey" or, more to the
> > point, a "zebra mule." Mules of various kinds cannot reproduce. For all
> > their utility to humans, we must bring together horses and donkeys to
> make
> > them. Other hybrids like "ligers" and "tions" suffer the same fate.
> > A "hybrid city" thus suggests that some combinations may be attractive
> and
> > useful and yet not sustainable (and I don't just mean this in terms of
> > energy or materials, I mean it culturally and civilizationally) -- and,
> > since we are speaking of living things -- unable to continue to evolve.
> What
> > would be preferable, I think, is not to settle on a term, but to try to
> > understand what principles might be necessary to restore and provide for
> > richness and ever-growing diversity. In my own discourse of
> "transvergence,"
> > I focus on "speciation" -- not the making of hybrids between species, but
> > the construction of ecologies within which genuine, stable, and
> > ever-evolving new species can proliferate.
> > This isn't just a semantic quibble or a fussiness about this word or
> that.
> > The difference is real and structural, and hinges on the specific and
> real
> > construction of openness. To give a single example that can ground that I
> > mean this technically, let me add this: we all know about genetic
> algorithms
> > by now. A genetic algorithm may evolve by mutating its own genes, but,
> > unless it actually has the ability to extend its own genome (that is to
> say,
> > modify and extend the set of genes whose values are able to mutate), it
> > can't produce anything but variations of the same kind -- it can never
> > produce new kinds, or new species. A closed genome is an industrial-age
> > artifact, focused on optimization. What is needed is a post-industrial
> > construct able to alter itself as it proliferates.
> > Not fixating on a closed hybridity, and instead focusing on the provision
> > of conditions and flexible, mutating structures that ensured the
> evolution
> > of new species of urbanism and urban life would be a start, but would not
> be
> > the all that we could strive for. Another problem remains.
> > ...
> >
> > The next issue, I think, has to do with how we still exist within
> > structures and value systems that can produce variety without producing
> > difference, and, especially positive difference, by multiple definitions.
> > Guy Debord pointed this out in "The Society Of The Spectacle," and, as
> far
> > as I can tell, we have yet to extricate ourselves from that maze.Whether
> we
> > have 500 channels of unwatchable television or a trillion documents
> online
> > does not matter if everything is motivated by an indifference to quality,
> > and a subjugation of every effort at qualitative assessment to a
> > simple-minded and perceptually and intellectually impoverished logic of
> mere
> > counting -- more is better, and that's that. To put it plainly -- it is
> not
> > that we cannot build better cities -- it is that we don't have the will
> to,
> > or, to strike more deeply, the value system for. Cities are mirrors, and
> we
> > already have the cities that are the perfect reflections of our
> collective
> > values. If we wish to change them, we need to address the value systems
> by
> > which we make urban decisions. Until we do, we will get technological
> > advances that look like visionary avant-garde propositions until they
> > arrive, but that will be commodified into glorified high-technology
> > marketing delivery mechanisms in lived fact -- "cool" for a few minutes
> > (generously), and then abrasive and tiresome, not really pleasant to live
> > in, and next to impossible to thrive in.
> > The question then shifts to a multi-headed problem: how to provide a
> > constructive critique of our global culture and its values, how to assert
> > positive and constructive alternatives, and how to literally structure
> our
> > poetic and technological efforts to realize those alternatives. The
> problem
> > I find the most vexing is the problem of values. In our community and on
> > this forum, we are all dedicated to imagining and designing alternatives
> --
> > but the real brick wall is not our ability to imagine and design in
> careful
> > and exquisite detail what would be good and beautiful -- it is to emplace
> > our proposals in a culture that does not even seem to know how to value
> > them, let alone desire them and support them, even if the might appear to
> > cost more (though cost is not the real issue, quality is).
> > I love Venezia and have been there every year for over a decade, and, in
> > parallel, I've lived for over a decade in Venice, California. The
> relation
> > between the two cities is instructive. Venice, California is four times
> > bigger than the original, but, though interesting, nowhere near as rich
> in
> > wonder as La Serenissima. One is a human treasure. The other is pleasant
> > beach-town with an unusual origin. Venice, California started off as an
> > effort to create a Venice-of-America, not from any organic will of its
> > citizens, but as a business proposition. Still, it was a pretty
> imaginative
> > effort. Abbot Kinney, the developer who created it, managed to keep it
> > going, in spite of curiously correlated pressure to build oil-wells and
> > arson, until his death, whereupon it was handed over to the City of Los
> > Angeles, which promptly filled in and paved the inconvenient canals,
> beauty
> > (or, at least, character) be damned.
> > Even where a tangible effort was made to build a timidly unusual city, a
> > hybrid of America and Venezia, and even with a strong and clear precedent
> in
> > mind, the value system of the society it was built within and for could
> not
> > support what was offered. Venice-of-America was not culturally
> sustainable
> > because people simply did not care enough to keep it going. The original
> > Venetians had lesser technology but stronger urban values, and they
> > consciously named their city after Venus, goddess of beauty, and then
> made
> > every effort to make it beautiful. There are places in Venezia where five
> > bridges (almost) intersect. One would have been enough, but five, in
> > counterpoint, are more beautiful, and, though more costly then as now,
> those
> > people chose beauty. All we seem to know to do now is consume beauty, as
> > tourists, not make it, at least at the level of urban will and the public
> > realm. Until we address this, we will do the same with technology, and
> the
> > hybrid city will not be what we really wish it to be.
> > ...
> >
> > Interface? To what? From what? From whom? Toward whom? Of what sort of
> > benefit? Of benefit to whom?
> > ...
> >
> > The questions multiply from here. I can't even begin to outline them in
> > this response. My manifesto offers suggestions and directions, but it is
> > best to leave the questions hanging, and, hopefully, to have many of us
> > engage them. The problem of the city is the problem of "us" -- of how we
> > construct ourselves as a community and a public and how we come to value
> and
> > build the public good. It is the "demos" in democracy. In these troubled
> > times, it may be the most important question of all.
> > Marcos
> >
> > p.s. Some more information about Urban Future Manifestos"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Urban Future Manifestos calls upon leading creative thinkers to address
> >> urgent questions about the future of the contemporary city. Contributing
> >> architects, artists, designers, and urban scholars from around the globe
> >> consider the city from a variety of positions and posit their unique and
> >> inspiring visions. Urban Future Manifestos was produced by the MAK Urban
> >> Future Initiative (UFI), which was founded to generate concepts for the
> >> urban future by stimulating international dialogue.
> >> Urban Future Manifestos includes texts by UFI fellows Marco
> Kusumawijaya,
> >> Urban Think Tank, Ismail Farouk, Xiangning Li, Alexia Leon, Pages (Babak
> >> Afrassiabi and Nasrin Tabatabai), and Alaa Khaled and Salwa Rashad are
> >> featured. Other contributors include Beatriz Colomina, Teddy Cruz, Dana
> >> Cuff, Keller Easterling, Gregor Eichinger, Nnamdi Elleh, ATOPIA: Jane
> >> Harrison and David Turnbull, Zvi Hecker, Gustaff Harriman Iskander,
> Doung
> >> Anwar Jahangeer, Bernard Khoury, Norman Klein, Herbert Lachmayer, Rick
> Lowe,
> >> Mehret Mandefro, Marcos Novak, Edgar Pieterse, Travis Price, Robert
> Ransick,
> >> Christian Reder, Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Saskia Sassen, Felicity Scott,
> >> AbdouMaliq Simone, Edward Soja, Michael Sorkin, Jonathan Tel, Tezozomoc,
> Ai
> >> Wei Wei, Eyal Weizman, Lebbeus Woods. Graphic design by Axel
> >> Prichard-Schmitzberger.
> >>
> >
> >
> >>
> >> http://makcenter.org/MAK_Bookstore.php#
> >>
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________
> >
> > Marcos Novak, Professor
> > Director, transLAB
> > http://translab.mat.ucsb.edu
> >
> > University of California, Santa Barbara
> > MAT: Media Art and Technology Program
> > CNSI: California NanoSystems Institute
> > Art: Department of Art
> >
> > _________________________________________________________
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> > Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> > http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
> >
> > Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
> >
> > HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to.
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>
>
>
> --
> Molly Hankwitz
>
> http://newmediafix.net
> http://CityCentered.org <http://citycentered.org/>
> www.justmetropolis.org
> http://mollyhankwitz.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/molly-hankwitz-cv/
>
> -------
> **mobile research - architecture**
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to.
> In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name, and
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> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter
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HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to. In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name, and password in the fields found further down the page.

HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter your e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on the unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").

HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or off.