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Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 15:48:28 +0100
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Subject: [Doors-Report] DOORS OF PERCEPTION REPORT December 2004
DOORS OF PERCEPTION REPORT
Quick scan of design and innovation
By John Thackara
December 2004
INFRA - NOW OPEN
Registration is now open for Doors of Perception 8. It's on the theme "Infr=
a"
and runs from 21-26 March in New Delhi. What infrastructures are needed to=
enable bottom-up, edge-in social innovation - and how do we design them? Th=
e
weeklong event features a conference; project clinics; exhibits of Indian m=
edia
artefacts; a bazaar of social innovation; visits in and around the city; Bh=
ang
Brunch and Holi Party in Asola. The latest list of participants, a registra=
tion
form, and the conference blog, are at:
http://doors8delhi.doorsofperception.com/
PLEASE POST OUR POSTER
We are not printing posters or conference brochures for Doors 8. Please hel=
p us
get the word out in a lighter way. Print our A5 announcement, post copies o=
f it
on notice boards where you work, or send this URL to people who might be
interested:
http://doors8delhi.doorsofperception.com/download.html
NEEDED: SKUNK SPACE AND TIME
The results of our Project Leaders' Round Table, which was about success
factors in design research projects, are now online. Presentations include=
"touching the state", milk distribution chains in Latvia, bar code triggere=
d
videos in hospitals, high speed train scenarios, and service design in heal=
th
systems. A text called Conclusions contains more questions than answers, bu=
t
includes a call for "skunk space and time". We will apply the lessons of th=
is
event to the Project Clinics, which will be a focus of Doors 8 in New Delhi.
http://static.doorsofperception.com/2004roundtable/
HOW MUCH DOES A PROJECT COST?
One reason the IT boom has flattened out is that the Total Cost of Ownershi=
p
(TCO) for information systems has been found to be far higher than customer=
s at
first realized. Rishab Gosh, in a paper for First Monday, quotes these TCO=
numbers:
- License fees 5-10%
- Hardware and software costs 15-40%:
- Maintenance, integration, support and training 60-85 %
If we had a better grasp of the TCO for design projects, would we take them=
all
on? One of the lessons to emerge from our Round Table was that co-ordinatio=
n,
which has many facets, is a critical success factor: if it's not done prope=
rly,
or is treated as an extra, projects (and the people involved) usually suffe=
r.
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_12/ghosh/
NOMADIC BANQUET BENCHMARKS
You move round a city from street vendor to street vendor: dumplings, noodl=
es,
and vodka martinis. One of the pre-Doors 8 field projects we're supporting =
is
Debra Solomon's ongoing quest to enable "nomadic banquets". We are keen to =
hear
about locative media projects that involve food, ratings, mobile phones, GI=
S
and so on, that we can learn from and maybe connect with. Check out Debra=
Solomon's Culiblog - and then tell us about lo-food projects we need to kno=
w
about. Thanks.
http://www.culiblog.org/
MUSEUM MANIA IN CHINA
The Chinese government intends to build 1,000 new museums across the countr=
y by
2015. A scary piece by Elizabeth Casale in The Platform, an e-zine on cultu=
ral
policy, says that China's "place-based cultural strategy" is leading to a g=
lut
of buildings meant to symbolize cultural sophistication. Meanwhile stories =
are
circulating about the Shanghai Grand Theatre often half-empty for lack of=
interesting programming, or of state-of-the-art equipment that few employee=
s
know how to use.
http://www.aeaconsulting.com/site/platformv4i1a.html
THE NOES HAVE IT
Do you believe in the power of radically distributed algorithms? The Europe=
an
Commission's Future and Emerging Technologies group is promoting "a radical=
paradigm shift towards a self-organising, self-managing and context-aware=
autonomous network". This, they say, is the only adequate response to the=
increasing complexity of demands now being placed on the Internet. A budget=
of
20 Million euros is available for collaborative projects to do with autonom=
ic
communications. Be warned, though that Networks of Excellence (NOEs) need t=
o
contain hordes of PhDs to be eligible. A launch meeting takes place in Brus=
sels
on 8 December.
http://www.autonomic-communication-forum.org/registration/index.html
ON THE MAKE
Next year's Nordic Design Research Conference (the first) is about "In the=
Making". It's for anyone who shares an interest in how people shape and mak=
e
sense of things in an increasingly man-made world. The team includes Thomas=
Binder, Center for Design Research; Peter Gall Krogh, Aarhus School of
Architecture; and Johan Redstrom, Interactive Institute, Goteborg. 29 -=
31 May
2005, Copenhagen, Denmark
http://www.nordes.org
CRITICAL COMPUTING
This event only happens every ten years. "Critical computing: between sense=
and
sensibility" is a multi-disciplinary conference in participatory design,
interaction design, computer supported collaborative work, social computing=
,
digital art and entertainment. 21-25 August 2005, Aarhus, Denmark.
http://www.aarhus2005.org
UP YOURS?
A condition called "endocolonization" features in the new edition of Acoust=
ic
Space, a publication from the Riga Center for New Media Culture (RIXC). The=
magazine is not about endoscopes running amok, but about "locative media a=
nd
tactical cartography". It includes texts by Richard Barbrook, Brank Curcic,=
Beatriz Da Costa, Cory Doctorow, Josh On, Bruce Sterling, and Valdis Krebs=
. To
obtain your copy, email: [email protected]
http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/mesg/endoscope/
http://rixc.lv
BLIGHTED BY BEAN COUNTERS
Bean counters from Berenschot, a consulting firm, have advised the Dutch
government to stop funding (after 2005) 150 "support organizations" (includ=
ing
Doors of Perception) and focus all its cultural funding on "production". Th=
e
result will be to squeeze out space for critical reflection, dumb down the=
cultural domain, and drive the most interesting connector organizations out=
of
the country. Our bags are packed: any offers?
TRANS-SIBERIA
A conference on the Trans-Siberian train from Moscow via Novosibirsk to Bei=
jing
is 'cosmological': researchers, philosophers, artists and others will "try =
to
cross fixed boundariesS and be open to the contaminating influences of th=
e
continents we will be passing through during our journey". 10-20 September=
2005. http://www.ephemeraweb.org/conference
ASPHALT GAMES
If you can't make the train trip, go by asphalt instead. The site features=
mobile gaming beyond gadgets, city as gameboard, street action as gameplay,=
and
collectively mapping a new portrait of New York.
http://www.asphalt-games.net/play/
ABSTRACTION NOW
Some wonderful artists and some amazing work feature on this immaculate
website. (It accompanies an event in 2003 that we only just found out about=
).
http://www.abstraction-now.at/?artists
WINDY CITY CONFERENCE
How might businesses use design to explore emerging opportunities, solve
complex problems, and achieve lasting strategic advantage? Speakers include=
Josephine Green, Philips Design; Jim Hackett, CEO, Steelcase; Sam Lucente,=
Director of Brand, Design and Experience for Hewlett-Packard; David Nagel, =
CEO,
PalmSource; and Don Norman, Principal, Nielsen-Norman Group. Here's a chall=
enge
for them: Eighty thousand bikes are stolen every year in Amsterdam - that's=
219
pieces of scumbaggery a day. How to stop it? May 18-19, 2005, Chicago, Illi=
nois
http://www.id.iit.edu/events/strategyconference/
TIME IN DESIGN
Eternally Yours - which, paradoxically, is winding itself up - is publishin=
g a
new book. The launch party is in Artis, the oldest zoo in the Netherlands. =
12
December, Amsterdam. Places are limited, so please contact the organizers i=
n
advance: <[email protected]>.
ASIA OPEN SOURCE CAMP
This week-long tech camp is for NGO technology support professionals in Sou=
th
and South East Asia to learn new skills, exchange tips, and share experien=
ces,
in the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Asia Source will be hel=
d in
a small artists' community on the outskirts of Bangalore. It is organized b=
y
Mahiti.org (Bangalore) and the Tactical Technology Collective (Amsterdam).=
January 2 to February 4, Bangalore, India.
http://www.tacticaltech.org/asiasource
http://www.mahiti.org/asiasource
CHANGE THEIR LIFE WITH THIS, THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Give your friends and clients a ticket to Doors of Perception 8. The knowle=
dge,
insight and new contacts they make will change their lives - and ours - for=
the
better.
http://doors8delhi.doorsofperception.com/register.html
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[Doors-Report] DOORS OF PERCEPTION REPORT December 2004 (fwd)
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