[ELECTRON] GLASGOW STUDENTS AGAINST CUTS: Monday 29th November: New Glasgow-wide day of education/planning against cuts and for resistance
Ian Bitmap
bitmap303 at googlemail.com
Tue Nov 30 15:55:11 UTC 2010
it's the typesetting that killed me tbh - *the* *only* font missing was Comic
Sans :)
On 30 November 2010 15:46, Ben Dembroski <ben at dembroski.net> wrote:
> Howabouts lengthy and coherent?
>
> On Tue, 2010-11-30 at 15:38 +0000, Thomas Coles wrote:
> > you mean "pretentious" and "lengthy" rather than eloquent or coherent
> > (Literature degree raises its ugly head)
> > ;)
> >
> > On 30 November 2010 15:36, Ben Dembroski <ben at dembroski.net> wrote:
> > Yup.
> >
> > A much more eloquent and coherent way of saying:
> >
> > > IMHO, politics enter the equation when the tech is
> > used,
> > > consumed or referenced within the wider context of
> > human
> > > interactions
> > > and power relationships.
> >
> >
> > :)
> >
> >
> > On Tue, 2010-11-30 at 15:12 +0000, Thomas Coles wrote:
> > > In my opinion:
> > >
> > > Technologies are tools designed to manipulate our
> > environments, they
> > > change one thing into another thing.
> > >
> > > The end for which they are designed, when political, makes
> > the tool
> > > political. A microchip is a tool to process information more
> > quickly -
> > > it usurps human minds and human abilities. When we have
> > reached a
> > > stage where we can no longer write or design computer
> > (machine) code
> > > directly, when we have programming 'languages', we have
> > reached a
> > > stage where the vocabulary is more important than the tool.
> > The very
> > > idea of repetition, of loops, of unending sequences, of the
> > continual
> > > increase in complexity of knowledge and possibility, the
> > computers'
> > > cold equivalence of data types.
> > >
> > > For me all these things are political, they mediate our
> > understanding
> > > of the world and our understanding of each other. The fact
> > that we
> > > have the luxury of these technologies, and others don't
> > (that we have
> > > drones that can kill-at-distance with no risk) is political.
> > Can we
> > > have iPods and Macs without the suicides at Foxcom?
> > Computers are
> > > going to become more expensive due to Chinese embargos on
> > rare-earth
> > > metals. In the end these tools do not exist in a vacuum,
> > someone made
> > > them, someone designed them. If we use the Internet without
> > > remembering that it is a cold-war outgrowth, don't we risk
> > buying into
> > > ideas we might not be aware of?
> > >
> > > The politics is contextual of course, but not only this, the
> > types of
> > > tools available emerge from needs and ideas not necessarily
> > our own.
> > > When Microsoft releases Genuine Advantage, or refuses to
> > allow DVDs to
> > > play on their software due to copyright, these things are no
> > longer
> > > tools, but also have inbuilt promotion of certain
> > ideologies.
> > >
> > > Tom
> > >
> > > On 30 November 2010 14:57, Ben Dembroski <ben at dembroski.net>
> > wrote:
> > > The can be, but it certainly resides on a sliding
> > scale with a
> > > huge
> > > range.
> > >
> > > The use of Twitter by Iranian protesters is more
> > political
> > > than me
> > > deciding to use an Arduino over a Basic Stamp to
> > automate the
> > > watering
> > > of my house plants. There's nothing inherently
> > political
> > > about
> > > technology. IMHO, politics enter the equation when
> > the tech
> > > is used,
> > > consumed or referenced within the wider context of
> > human
> > > interactions
> > > and power relationships.
> > >
> > > I would hope that any of these topics would equally
> > welcome on
> > > this
> > > list.
> > >
> > > Equally important is the distinction that not
> > everything
> > > "political" has
> > > a significant element of "technology" to it.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Ben
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, 2010-11-30 at 11:01 +0000, M.Hersh wrote:
> > > > Hi,
> > > > I would also point out that technology itself and
> > its uses
> > > are political.
> > > > Marion
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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