Expect Resistance & Library Autonomous Zone

Segregated Blogosphere

Administrator — Mon, 28 May 2007 19:58:22 +0000

I’ve been searching for blogs that are run by people of color particularly by women. And I came across an article titled, “The Segregated Blogosphere in ColorLines.” The article mentioned that when bloggers of color reveal their race and deal with issues of race and cultural politics they get hate email and hostile comments. This was a surprise for me but at the same time why should expect something different in cyberspace? I often hear the hollow statement that everyone can participate in cyberculture — you’ve all probably seen the New Yorker cartoon where one dog says to the other “on the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” However, I am wondering how much cyberspace is different than reality? How far can new technologies such as blog help people who have been voiceless without fundamental social changes? Or how much these tools can help to change our society? How much or how can bloggers of color make noise in vast cyberspace? I have more questions than answers.

Digital Underground Story Telling For Youth (DUSTY)

Administrator — Sat, 26 May 2007 18:40:54 +0000

International Communication Association conference is under way in San Francisco. I attended several sessions; like any other conference, some are interesting and some are dull like hell. One session that was worth noting was the presentation by “Digital Underground Story Telling For Youth (DUSTY). DUSTY is a collaborative program between the UC Berkeley’s UC Links Program, UCB Graduate School of Education, and the Joseph-Prescott Center for Community Enhancement. The program teaches multimedia production to allow youth to be empowered by self-expression.

In the presentation, members of DUSTY showed their works - films, music, video etc. The topics of their works ranged from neighborhood violence, Iraq war, etc. One audience member asked them how they picked their topics and their common answer was their everyday life.

It’s wonderful to see the youth, who are often demonized by mainstream media, express their understanding of world and educate us. At the same time, I was a little afraid that they would become the object of researchers. The room was full of scholars. I hope this is just my paranoia. At any rate, here’s my flickr set of photos of their presentation.

Whose participatory media

Administrator — Fri, 25 May 2007 05:55:24 +0000

I am tired of hearing people use the term “participatory media” without questioning who participates or who’s able to participate. Every tech group/meeting that I attend is largely white and male dominant. Maybe I have been in the wrong places, but I don’t think my experience is far from reality. One day I asked people in a meeting where are the people of color, some just laughed (uncomfortably) and some pretended they didn’t hear me.

No doubt new media have been changing the way we communicate, create culture, and knowledge but I am afraid that people who have been historically marginalized will be left behind again rather than participating in these changes and have to deal with those consequences generation after generation.

I am not just talking about learning how to use blog or wiki as technology consumer –which is no doubt important. But we need to participate in the process of technology creation. I am not sure where we can start this, but rather than keep asking to include people of color and women it is wise just to start one and create our own community. If it takes a blog to create the community then I can blog, if it takes wiki then I will use wiki. No time to wait!

Resistance in korean soap opera

Administrator — Tue, 08 May 2007 06:22:03 +0000

I shamelessly admit that I got addicted to Korean soap opera after 15 years of absence from Korean TV. Maybe this is age or something else but I have been missing home lately. Unfortunately (or fortunately) my homesickness led me to watch Korean soap operas in a perverted attempt to reconnect with my own culture. I know I am getting a warped view on Korean society but at the same time I’ve glimpsed some cultural changes in Korea that I wasn’t aware of.

I noticed that in soap operas, issues like homosexuality, AIDS, single mothers, divorce etc. that used to be taboo to discuss in Korean culture are now often part of storylines. For example, I’m currently watching a drama called “thank you” which is a typically-formulated Korean drama; however, it deals with AIDS and addresses people’s prejudices and the social stigma surrounding AIDS patients. Actually I found an AP article on this drama mentioning about how this drama is used to educate people with HIV.

Despite the limitation of construction of stories in soap opera, I think this demonstrates how cultural, social and political resistance take place in popular culture. It will be interesting to explore how resistance in popular culture connects to real social and political movements.

Why the FCC Will Get Media Ownership Wrong Again

jajacobs — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:07:21 +0000

Why the FCC Will Get Media Ownership Wrong Again, And What They Should Do to Get it Right, by Mark Lloyd, Center for American Progress, January 26, 2007.

Whatever happened to the FCC’s obligation to consider the public interest? Well, that depends on what the meaning of the public interest is. As long as the FCC defines the public interest as some sort of competition in media markets, then the FCC can assure Congress that letting Clear Channel get bigger is in the public interest….

But what if the FCC did something that was really new? What if it defined the public interest in a way that actually seemed to coincide with what most of us think that means? What if the FCC defined the public interest to mean the best interests of a democratic public? What if the FCC created an index that could really show the relationship between media ownership and what local citizens know about government?

Mark Lloyd is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Digital Fingerprints

jajacobs — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:25:36 +0000

There is a fascinating article in Science News about how scientists are investigating ways to identify individuals based on the rhythm of their keystrokes when they type and their individual patterns of using a mouse. This research goes beyond, but is complemented by, research in text analysis that can sometimes identify authorship of a piece of text when a large body of text is available for comparison.

Digital Fingerprints by Julie J. Rehmeyer, Science News, Vol. 171, No. 2, Jan. 13, 2007, p. 26.

As people type messages on their computer keyboards and browse Web sites, they leave a trail of electronic fingerprints. Scientists are investigating those keystroke and mouse-use patterns to develop methods to strengthen security and reduce online fraud.

two Korean teachers arrested posting north korean materials

Administrator — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 06:03:31 +0000

Two Korean teachers are arrested under national security law for posting North Korean materials on Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) website. According to KTU, the reason for the arrest is “they possessed and distributed materials concerned with sungun politics (North Korean politics in which military takes precedence over any other concern.”

The crazy part of this arrest is that the images are posted on the website are already available from the Ministry of Education. The Ministry run Internet Peace School and has been encouraging schools to use of images for unification education.

More stories on Korean teachers’ arrest:

Teachers’ union protests arrests for alleged pro-North stance

Korean teachers Union Attacks Police for detaining teachers

FTA can be worse than IMF for South Koreans

Administrator — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 06:55:20 +0000

I have been trying to find out what happened with the 6th Korea/US FTA negotiation which just ended. However, there is little coverage in the western media except one tiny article (With New Urgency, U.S. and South Korea seek Free Trade Deal) from the NY times (Jan 16, 2007)
I found more detailed information through a few Korean news sources and it doesn’t look good for Korea. Like any other typical FTA “negotiation,” the U.S. has been strongly demanding Korea to open various markets such as agriculture including beef, services, intellectual property rights etc.

Korean Alliance against KorUS FTA told that Korea dosen’t have any proposals to leverage the negotiation. A report written by 17 experts indicates that about 15 percent, or 169, of the 1,163 domestic laws conflict with the contents of the FTA negotiations which means that Korean domestic law will need to be amended to align with the FTA.

An example that proves this point: one study suggests that 15 percent of Korean laws would conflict with an FTA with the U.S. The Korean Constitution stipulates that even without the passage of additional legislation, any international treaty ratified by the National Assembly is as valid as domestic law. What that means is that the moment a free trade pact is signed with the U.S., 169 Korean laws would be incapacitated. Each is a law that has been enacted amid conflicting interests, after considerable discussion, agonizing, and compromise: a process surely causing political conflict.

Just think about what happened in Mexico, Argentina, etc. Based on their experiences, Koreans need to continue to mobilize citizens and fight against the FTA.

More articles on Korea/US FTA

U.S. reaffirms beef issue must be resolved before FTA conclusion

US-Korea FTA’s Public conclusion

South Korea - U.S. FTA Jan 15-19

Administrator — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 21:55:58 +0000

The 6th round of the South Korea / U.S. free trade agreement will be held in Shilla Hotel from Jan 15 to Jan 19 in Korea. In the past, there have been mass protests in Korea against unfair Kor/U.S. FTA and a massive protest is expected during this round as well.
Last year, the U.S. pressured the Korean government to open various korean markets including rice, film, auto, beef etc.
After lifting the ban on beef imports caused by a case of mad cow disease , South Korea has since sent back three shipments of U.S. beef after finding bone fragments in the meat. U.S. officials protested that South Korea employed excessively strict rules to block U.S. imports.

Various Korean activist communities have strongly advocated against the FTA saying that this unilateral method of trade agreement has been detrimental to Korean culture, economy and public health. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, 15,000 riot police will be on the street to “protect” the meeting venue.

More articles on Korea FTA issues please check:

bilaterals.org

Korean Alliance against the Korean and US. FTA

Jean-Noël Jeanneney’s Critique of Google

Administrator — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 08:21:14 +0000

David Berman, Archives & Museum Informatics, wrote an article in D Lib magazine (Decemeber 2006) recapping Jean-Noël Jeanneney’s Critique on Google. I think all librarians need to read and think about those 5 critiques that Berman addresses.