last day spent at ISNM yesterday, apparently for ever. the school is in its final stage of collapse. although I wasn't deeply involved in the establishment process, I did have some input when Hubertus, the founder, was framing the concept and curriculum back in, what 1999 when he was in Kiel? or so. it's clear why it's collapsing in that the local politic is too conservative, the original vision of the school was not enough to counteract this. the few remaining students are frustrated and angry at the situation, as they probably should be. interesting group of students for my seminar. oral exams which were counter-productive.

sotto voce (to brainstorms on the XO laptop deployment): And there is the entirely OTHER issue -- that of autonomy. The techno-social system (in this example, the entire combined system that is providing the XO) deploys a device, it is not a simple movement of material items or even socio-cultural values (although that is the lever of most of the critique IMHO). It is also the tying in of that distant Other into that larger techno-social system -- as soon as they begin using that device. The tying-in has a complex range of affects on the individual using the device. (Alluding to the attention issue, Howard) When that remote other begins to pay attention to the device (spending life-time which equals life-energy) they are removing that attention from a more local framework, and giving that attention/energy to the larger techno-social system. One consequence is that they become dependent on that system, another is that the system consumes that life energy in order to maintain itself (by the nature of a techno-social system). The distant Other is more-or-less bound into this relationship simply by using the device (independent of ideology or purpose!). The dependency expresses itself in an incremental loss in personal autonomy. If the device, now incorporated in the Other's life, does not function, the Other is in immediate and critical dependency on that larger system. This fact alone is directly counter to the idea, for example, of locally relevant use of the device and goes a long way to suppress the construction of locally relevant learning 'solutions' as this deep nature of the device is very 'corrupting' (brings in all the values of that larger techno-social system)... Prior to the introduction of such a device, there are greater possibilities (not necessarily happening, though, I will admit) of locally/individually relevant knowledge-building. I am probably way too cynical at this point in life, based on experiential observation, though, to think that anything can 'stop' this globalized spread of the techno-social system. No political agenda has much power, no national government, no special-interest groups... it seems to be a bulldozer of humanity rolling ahead. So, what to do? The only solution that I see is the reminding that all this system is built on the fundamental of granular f-2-f encounters of humans and we have to pay deep attention to the local Other first and foremost and definitely BEFORE engaging in the highly mediated techno-social dance of engaging the distant Other. I apologize, I am sitting alone in a small flat in Berlin typing to you. I do not know my neighbors. I do not, in the moment, practice what I preach. We are already far down the road, soon (I see this in my students) we will forget where we came from. I will continue to remind them and myself. I'll go meet a friend in a cafe in a couple hours...

that'll be Brandon.

out to the pool. well, one of the 50-meter pools is for competitive swimmers (remember the East German women's swim team in the 1970's?). the pool open for those sub-human non-competitive swimmers is pretty crowded at 20:30, but I manage to do 700 meters. have to wait for slow folks, there is no lane speed criteria. and I forget my earplugs. everybody wears bath sandals -- does this mean there are virulent foot fungi around? no pull-buoys or any other items for borrowing, they are all in locked baskets. however. decent water temps, it gets a bit less crowded after 2100, and I can get from the house to the water in about 10 minutes. on the way home I do another detour further east into a new-looking neighborhood which could be in suburban Helsinki, or maybe somewhere in California. big gas station with 16 pumps and high-octane fuel running at EUR 1.60 per liter -- that's about USD 9.00 per gallon. uff. shiny new mid-rise apartment blocks, chain grocery stores and hotels. not very Berlin-like as visioned in the imagination of Berlin being an exotic destination. it evens begins to construct in mind the idea how similar Germany and the US are in the throes of evolved consumer globalism. true, one can probably find more Made in Germany items in a typical German home than one would find Made in the USA items in an American's home, but certain cues point more to similarity than difference. over-consumers -- fat people being a fundamental evidence; mega-shopping centers; global-chain brands; fashion-as-lifestyle, or is it lifestyle-as-fashion? (either way having approximately the same affectation on sustainable living!); status, status, status :: consume, consume, consume...

The cheapest, cleanest energy is the energy you don't use. -- Jenny Powers of the Natural Resources Defense Council

Thank you Jenny. Now how about SHOUTING THAT direct into the cochlea, maybe somebody will get it!

this was a night of the full moon, and the eclipse which takes place here in the early morning, well before sunrise, deeply affects the character of sleep. noting the next total lunar eclipse to be seen in North America is on the winter solstice 2010. I'm there!

and, I still haven't found a vessel to pour milk from for my tea. I bought a small tea thermos a couple weeks ago in Kreutzberg, one that holds four cups or so. I take this to the desk with a small clear glass to drink from. but as I have to have my tea with milk, I need a small vessel of milk. so far, I've tried every option available in the flat. everything spills or dribbles! I may have to buy some small milk decanter. maybe a special antique if it leaps across my path. this reminds me of a previous long-term search a decade or more ago for a decent letter-opener. I had a nice hand-carved wooden one from Ghana, but it split, and I was never able to find another which fit my demands -- good design, sharp, safe, efficient, nice material.

I just want to drink my tea while writing in concentrated peace and not leave blobs of drying milk on the desk.

anyway, the writing process. uff. this morning I have yet another stupid realization about my own process (doh!). the writing can be a script, a prescription to action, a narrative about possible action. and my narrow thoughts around a substantive text as a necessity for personal viability in the social system is a phantasm. actions based in the ideas that are danced around in the text can generate that viability as well. actions are often promoters of 'better' viability. (what is viability anyway? survival, thriving, materially, spiritually?) I always imagined myself as a person of action, but there is at least some tendency to talk and to words. what is done as action is often in the passive mode (observing, recording). actions that grow from that process are of ambient character -- that is, they take the form of atmospheric presences, not active stances, positions, opinions. opinion was not accepted as a child. yes, interesting. so now, the last word is important. teaching allows for last words, although I consciously ask, in a classroom, for someone else to make the last word(s).

sotto voce (to brainstorms): A quick thought popped up as I struggle with some texts, sitting here in my sublet flat in east Berlin. As a person, I like to have the last word. What a lousy habit! In the learning situation, I consciously ask for someone, at the end of a class, to have the last word. I am thinking I will incorporate this more formally -- to the degree that I pose the question (either to a volunteer or not) "S_, How about if you make a short (one minute) statement that you consider to be the last words for our session?" When I've been doing this very informally, the reactions are quite interesting, with people vying for a last word a bit (people being anxious to leave and such), and then suddenly a consensus forms and the class ends. I think I'll have to play with that idea/dynamic. I have the feeling it could be a powerful tool to impress (literally) the learning session into the self.

so, one conclusion is that, yes, the creation of a performance/exhibition situation that illustrates the idea (the script) is just as good as writing a text about it. the only difference is the social scale of audience.

of course, the dialogue, the one-to-one, as I define and act upon it, is a powerful (socially?) transformative process. but the relation of that action to social viability is highly ... disconnected? I mean, there is the direct connection between the vital process of creating and sustaining a human community around ones-Self, or of embedding ones-Self in an extended community and ones survival, but this definition of survival seems to be somehow oblique to that of larger scale social viability. am I missing something obvious?

the creative use of digital networks needs to proceed with an understanding of the underlying principle of human relation as the situated potential for the real exchange of energy. I have stated this so many times, in so many variations that I've gotten tired of it. is it obvious? or useless?

the following from the introduction to a conference taking place in London at the London School of Economics in April. I'd like to go, but can't afford it. no scholarships available.

Taken together, these developments establish a new socio-economic environment in which information-based operations, and information goods and services acquire crucial importance. This is clearly shown in the rapid ascent to economic dominance of internet-based companies that demonstrate superior data editing and information management strategies. New commercial possibilities steadily develop around the production, ordering and distribution of information, as data become interoperable across sources and older forms of information (e.g. image, text and sound) are brought to bear upon one another. But information growth has wider social implications as well. The involvement of information in every walk of life redefines the relationship between information and reality, and reshapes the social practices through which information is stored, retrieved, understood, disseminated and remembered. Increasingly, information mediates between humans and reality. In this context, the activities of ordering, making sense, evaluating, navigating and acting upon information step onto the centre-stage of contemporary life, impinging upon skill profiles and personal choices. They often do so under conditions in which the established boundaries between individuals and institutions are rendered shifting and negotiable. -- Jannis Kallinikos and Jose-Carlos Mariategui

faugh! still on those get-to-know-the-neighborhood rambles when I get tired of thrashing letters around on the screen. today, I discover the Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europapark a mere 200 meters from the flat. with not one, but TWO 25x50 meter pools and a third 21x25 meter therapy pool, kids pools, and a whole slew of diving platforms up to 10 meters. yes! reduced rates before 0800 and after 2000. very cool. first trip will be on Thursday. it's right next to a velodrome -- the round and square structures in the picture. I have to do some squinting and ask some stumbling questions at the cashiers to get a picture of the situation. and, looking up more info online, I discover the Swimmers Guide which has a bit of other info in English. along with a site that elaborates a subject dear to my heart, lap etiquette. if only this existed in German. pools here are always a bit of a challenge, though the Europapark one appears to at least have lane markers, that's a start. speed designations on the lanes would be best, but I am not expecting them. rumor has it there are kickboards and pull-buoys available. yes! it's been four months since I've been swimming. I can't believe it! that's easily the longest time I have been out of the water during my adult life. I can already feel the shredded shoulders of the day after, and I'm sure not to be able to make a simple 1K. a 50-meter pool is the toughest workout, especially to start off with.

April 26 through May 4 is Sun Microsystems' Worldwide Volunteer Week; a mass mobilization of Sun Microsystems' employees to volunteer their time. We are seeking project options that utilize the IT knowledge and talents of these employees.

If your organization has an IT related need, please email Dan Zucker at daniel.zucker@sun.com so he can share with Sun's volunteer community. Because these projects are volunteer, there will be no charge to your organization for these services.

Key parameters of projects include:
-Need to engage 2 or more people
-Project will happen between the dates of April 26 - May 4

not sure where the link to Michael Shanks site comes up, but the syllabus for his course Ten Things is deLightful and incisive. he's got some really interesting thoughts on the life of objects, the presence of humans, and the history of both.

If we look at processes as well as discrete objects, we can be led into a myriad of connections and trajectories. In the heterogeneous networking that is the engineering of a thing, there is no end to ramification. An artifact disperses through its scenarios, networks and genealogies of origination, manufacture, distribution, use and discard.

Interpretation, as re-articulation, can track certain affiliations or lines of connection, as I sketched with the aryballos. There is always more that remains unsaid, unacknowledged, unseen, because interpretation may not go down a particular track. This is so evident in archaeological fieldwork, or indeed in any scientific research, where there is always a choice to be made of what matters to the research interest. What is left behind, ignored or discarded is the background noise of history and experience. This is far from inconsequential. First, because something important may have been overlooked. Science constantly takes a second look at things and finds something that was missed. Second, because things stand out as significant against this background; without it there could be no story, no message, no understanding. Third, because this is the noise of the ambient everyday work that makes society what it is; it is the noise of the life of things constantly reweaving our social fabric. -- Michael Shanks



I recently tracked down Andreas Voigt, a documentary film-maker that I met back in the early 1990's at a film festival in Reykjavík. He was present for the screening of his deeply moving black-and-white features made in and around Leipzig in the late 80's and early 90's during the early post-Cold Wars days (Letztes Jahr - Titanic and Leipzig im Herbst. He emails me that his most recent documentary, Mit Rentiernomaden über den Ural is on tonight. Christian and I watch while Steffi is out at choir practice. very fine work.

tippling, tripling, toppling, tanking. what to say. when texts compile, and interesting meetings line up, and projects pile up, and such like. Kiel is busy, but folks are not feeling too well, sick baby, very sick parents, and suchlike. so I work on remote things, prepare for several upcoming performances, and network. clean out and organized the garden house, at least round one. the roof needs some repair, so, will have to look after that on a future visit. the Polish guys are really messy in their working habits. next round with teh final remodel of the upstairs bathroom, hope that will change. yeah, helping out as possible.

Der letzte Soldat des Kaisers ist gestorben

Köln -- Wie erst kürzlich bekannt wurde ist am 1. Januar der letzte deutsche Veteran des Ersten Weltkriegs in Pulheim bei Köln gestorben. Erich Kästner, nicht verwandt mit dem namensgleichen Schriftsteller, wurde 107 Jahr alt. Der Sohn eines Verlagskaufmanns kam 1900 in Leipzig zur Welt. Im Juli 1918 wurde der Abiturient an die Front gerufen. Auch am Zweiten Weltkrieg nahm der promovierte Jurist als SOldat teil. 1960 ging er als niedersächischer Justizbeamter in dem Ruhestand. -- Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung

there are apparently only four Doughboys left alive. does this mean we won?

back in a classroom. talking about data - information - knowledge - intelligence - wisdom. signal-to-noise ratios. adaptability, chain-of-command, defined functions, trend analysis, long tail, lexis-nexis, The WELL, protocols and standards, Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, social infrastructures, complexity, hierarchy, networks, order and disorder, economy of attention, business models, power, money, socially-defined exchange, globalization of culture, and so on. I am a teacher, I am only human.

cycle to a Transmediale co-project, transitlounge, that Jodi is part of, hang there for awhile. the collaborators in Sydney are asleep. Jodi has invited her writers group who actually show up. meet yet another writer in Berlin. this is becoming a theme. then off to Doris' place for what I didn't realize was a regular sit-down dinner. I'm late. Barbara is there, so we have a chance to catch up after one lady left finally -- I didn't get her name, but she talked almost non-stop for three hours. amazingly no one told her to shut up. she seemed used to be the talking nexus, uff. a cold ride home on the borrowed bike in the pouring rain.

This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. This storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress. -- Walter Benjamin, "On the Concept of History"