[-empyre-] empyre Digest, Vol 131, Issue 4
Ismail Farouk
ismail.farouk at gmail.com
Sat Nov 7 06:42:38 AEDT 2015
Hello All,
Apologies for joining the discussion a bit late and thanks for inviting me.
It is hard to believe that Sowetouprisings.com is almost 10 years old! I am
glad the website still exists, at the very least as a repository of spatial
data marking the 1976 uprisings. More recently, the voices of the students
of 1976 have echoed across South Africa as students have taken to the
streets over the past month (and earlier this year), demanding free
education, a decolonization of universities and an end to university
outsourcing of workers. It has been an amazing time, with students at the
core of ushering in a new wave of sentiments and movements around radical
transformation. Follow #rhodesmustfall and #feesmustfall on facebook and
twitter for regular updates.
Since working on sowetouprisings.com I've been involved in several
multi-disciplinary art projects. I have been trying to update my tumblr
page to provide more information on some of these projects:
http://ismail-farouk.tumblr.com/
I am currently working on doctoral research through African Studies at the
University of Cape Town. My research is concerned with the intersections of
food, eating and race in the context of colonial modernity. Drawing on
radical black and feminist intellectual genealogies, I ask: how can we
think about eating as an archive or as a mode of framing a set of aesthetic
practices related to the body, to memory and to the everyday? How does
working through archives of food and eating help unsettle epistemic
inheritances?
In peace,
Ismail
On 6 November 2015 at 03:00, <empyre-request at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
wrote:
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> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: week one | mobile apps and environmental performance
> (Jeff Schmuki)
> 2. Re: week one | mobile apps and environmental performance
> (Jeff Schmuki)
> 3. Re: week one | mobile apps and environmental performance
> (Dale Hudson)
> 4. Re: week one | mobile apps and environmental performance
> (Dale Hudson)
> 5. Re: week one | mobile apps and environmental performance
> (Soenke Zehle)
> 6. Re: week one | mobile apps and environmental performance
> (Babak Fakhamzadeh)
> 7. Re: week one | mobile apps and environmental performance
> (Jeff Schmuki)
> 8. Re: week one | mobile apps and environmental performance
> (Babak Fakhamzadeh)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2015 17:05:50 -0500
> From: Jeff Schmuki <jschmuki at gmail.com>
> To: babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com, soft_skinned_space
> <empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] week one | mobile apps and environmental
> performance
> Message-ID:
> <CAN7BApk9+xR_FVMW_SmVboWwxWVDiXmpbPMgTB73nqgY54=_
> oQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Certainly Babak, Naturally arrived hybrids are crossbred within like
> species (a tomato and another tomato) and GM requires either a virus or
> other cellular invasion technology to combine DNA not found through natural
> selection (frog DNA and an Orange). Gregor Mendel, the father of genetic
> science would be amazed what we can do! When working with the public, we
> provide non-biased information so the community can make up their own minds
> if GM is something they should be concerned about. Although there is much
> fun and laughter when people encounter PlantBots roving about in the
> street, our primary goal is to create a platform for discussion that may
> lead to civic action in promoting transparency in food production.
>
> Kindly,
> Jeff + Wendy
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2015 19:06:37 -0500
> From: Jeff Schmuki <jschmuki at gmail.com>
> To: Babak Fakhamzadeh <babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com>,
> soft_skinned_space <empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] week one | mobile apps and environmental
> performance
> Message-ID:
> <
> CAN7BApki9nm9bFYesv+g8OPRh-kKaHdN9nQhE5cZ1SxeM324YA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hello Babak, We enjoyed learning about your projects. Wendy is especially
> intrigued by your most recent app that ?obfuscates location information?.
> Can the user determine the level of clarity? Is there the possibility of
> getting lost?
>
> Best,
> Wendy + Jeff
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 12:57:17 +0400
> From: Dale Hudson <dale.hudson at nyu.edu>
> To: soft_skinned_space <empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] week one | mobile apps and environmental
> performance
> Message-ID: <C43C93FE-465C-43C7-9F79-EA186EEF4F9A at nyu.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Hi Jeff and Wendy.
>
> Could you tell us more about the kinds of conversations that develop from
> interactions with the PlantBots? Having lived in the United States, I know
> that awareness of GMOs is not always high. Awareness outside the United
> States might also not be high since most governments place restrictions on
> GMOs, particularly in the EU, Latin America, Australia, and the Middle East.
>
> Have others on the list worked in this area?
>
> Best,
> Dale
>
> On Nov 5, 2015, at 2:05, Jeff Schmuki <jschmuki at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> > Certainly Babak, Naturally arrived hybrids are crossbred within like
> species (a tomato and another tomato) and GM requires either a virus or
> other cellular invasion technology to combine DNA not found through natural
> selection (frog DNA and an Orange). Gregor Mendel, the father of genetic
> science would be amazed what we can do! When working with the public, we
> provide non-biased information so the community can make up their own minds
> if GM is something they should be concerned about. Although there is much
> fun and laughter when people encounter PlantBots roving about in the
> street, our primary goal is to create a platform for discussion that may
> lead to civic action in promoting transparency in food production.
> >
> > Kindly,
> > Jeff + Wendy
> > _______________________________________________
> > empyre forum
> > empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> > http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 13:13:10 +0400
> From: Dale Hudson <dale.hudson at nyu.edu>
> To: soft_skinned_space <empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] week one | mobile apps and environmental
> performance
> Message-ID: <A00F2BD9-A717-4809-9489-7F25BB5A0ADD at nyu.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>
> Thanks, Babak, for this description of Kompi ? and thanks, Jeff and Wendy,
> for asking for it.
>
> Babak, I?m really intrigued by the visualization as a list or as a compass
> rather than as a map, which some people have described as a web 3.0
> hegemony. You seem to be moving further and further away from the
> commercially available base maps of Google in these three projects. I?m
> wondering whether you could tell us more about the ideas that drive this
> shift.
>
> Best,
> Dale
>
> On Nov 5, 2015, at 4:21, Babak Fakhamzadeh <babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> > Currently, in Kompl, the user can not set the level of obfuscation,
> > though it would only require exposing a few underlying parameters to
> > make this possible. An intriguing thought, though in practice that
> > might just result in users looking for the edges of what's available
> > (that is, all or nothing), whereas, I suspect, the 'right' level of
> > obfuscation lies somewhere in 'the middle'.
> >
> > The obfuscation currently works such that more and more information on
> > venues is made available as the user gets closer. Or, to think of it
> > differently, as the amount of information matters less and less (as
> > the venue is getting closer and closer and the user can just go and
> > look for himself), more information becomes available.
> > For venues that are 'far' away, only the distance to the venue, the
> > direction, and one or two keywords, are made available, where at least
> > one of the keywords is related to the user's initial search query. As
> > opposed to, say, Foursquare, it's not possible (purposefully!) to look
> > for, say, 'Italian restaurants', but only for 'Mediterranean
> > restaurants'. For a venue that matches that request and is too far
> > away for being made available in sufficient detail (currently, between
> > about 500 and 1000 meters), only the distance, the direction and, in
> > this case, the type of restaurant is made available to the user. But,
> > because we only return venues that have been given 'good' reviews, the
> > user can be certain that all returned venues are interesting/good
> > 'enough'.
> >
> > On getting lost, the app (again, purposefully) does not provide a map
> > (but does provide a compass, or, radar). The very idea is that the
> > user, only knowing the distance and direction to a venue, will have to
> > find their own way.
> > So, yeah, getting lost, if with a rough goal, is very much the point
> > :) And, hopefully, facilitated by the app.
> >
> > (As I mentioned, if you're interested, let me know and I will add you
> > (and anyone else who's interested) to our beta program.)
> > --
> > Babak Fakhamzadeh | babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com |
> http://BabakFakhamzadeh.com
> >
> > Ask me for my PGP public key to send me encrypted email.
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 10:06 PM, Jeff Schmuki <jschmuki at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> Hello Babak, We enjoyed learning about your projects. Wendy is
> especially
> >> intrigued by your most recent app that ?obfuscates location
> information?.
> >> Can the user determine the level of clarity? Is there the possibility of
> >> getting lost?
> >>
> >> Best,
> >> Wendy + Jeff
> > _______________________________________________
> > empyre forum
> > empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> > http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 08:36:33 +0100
> From: Soenke Zehle <s.zehle at xmlab.org>
> To: babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com, soft_skinned_space
> <empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] week one | mobile apps and environmental
> performance
> Message-ID:
> <
> CAHV5AdytFc8LU8yoa+qMy_VG_dPU0AunjAgXEDwF9_yOWqwA5g at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Hi Babak, Jeff,
>
> way back I looked at how indigenous activists position themselves in
> what was then the biodiversity / biopiracy controversity (has ebbed a
> bit), one researchers whose integrative historical accounts I have
> found particularly helpful was Kloppenburg (but then you may know his
> work already), an early proponent of "seed sovereignty", perhaps of
> interest http://dces.wisc.edu/people/emeritus-faculty/jack-kloppenburg/
>
> best,
>
> Soenke
>
> 2015-11-04 22:45 GMT+01:00 Babak Fakhamzadeh <babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com
> >:
> > ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> > Hi Jeff,
> >
> > Can you explain in what way GM crops *are* different from what humans
> > have been doing for thousands of years?
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Babak
> > --
> > Babak Fakhamzadeh | babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com |
> http://BabakFakhamzadeh.com
> >
> > Ask me for my PGP public key to send me encrypted email.
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 12:46 PM, Jeff Schmuki <jschmuki at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> >> Hello All,
> >> Back in 2009 Wendy and I formed PlantBot Genetics after posing as
> farmers at a Monsanto open house day where local farmers treated to the
> latest products. We encountered some misinformation, namely on the
> difference between a naturally arrived at hybrid (crossbreeding like
> species) and a transgenic one (genetic combination from unlike species).
> Essentially, we were told GM crops were no different from what humans has
> been doing for thousands of years which is not true. In answer to this, we
> created PlantBot Genetics a Biotech parody as a means to create
> conversation on large-scale agricultural practices and how food arrives at
> our plate in a humorous and inspiring way. www.monsantra.com
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> empyre forum
> >> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> >> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
> > _______________________________________________
> > empyre forum
> > empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> > http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 10:28:08 -0200
> From: Babak Fakhamzadeh <babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com>
> To: soft_skinned_space <empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] week one | mobile apps and environmental
> performance
> Message-ID:
> <CAFNrOOpUpOQTD4k9O86BgMBmOX=
> uGV+izW3MZrX6dK6WOAbZqA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> An excellent question, Dale!
>
> Indeed. A decade or so ago, when Google Maps was still 'fresh', I was
> very much looking into unlocking the power of Google Maps to enrich
> the user's experience (in whatever the context of the application
> was). Now, however, as you point out, location-based services all
> converge on offering almost the exact same experience; providing
> nearly identical tools with nearly identical information. As a
> consequence, user experiences become less and less unique: say you're
> visiting a city you've not been to before. You, and everyone else, end
> up using the exact same tools (Lonely Planet, Foursquare,
> TripAdvisor), and end up being directed to the exact same locations,
> traveling the exact same routes.
> This, while everyone really hopes/wants to have an experience that's
> unique to them, while all eating at the same (highest rated)
> restaurants and going to the same (highest rated) museums, looking at
> the exact same objects. And, this unification of the experience is
> amplified by fewer and fewer tools being at the users' disposal. (The
> only guidebook series that stands a chance of surviving is a
> struggling Lonely Planet, the only location-based gamification
> platform is a struggling Foursquare.)
> What I'm trying to achieve, with Kompl, but also what we were doing
> with D?rive app, is to put the joy back in the journey and make the
> experience unique to the user, an experience that can, specifically in
> the case of D?rive app, can not be copied, as it depends on the here
> and now. To do so, the user will have to step back from accessing
> 'total information awareness', which is what Kompl does by obfuscating
> information until the user is close enough. Because we don't provide a
> map, nor directions, and because the user's device really has to be
> physically closer for the app to provide more information, I hope to
> achieve the user's exploration of the urban space on his own terms.
> (Of course, it's not very difficult for the user to circumvent Kompl's
> restrictions, though currently the venue's name is only revealed
> within a few hundred meters, but circumventing requires the user to
> actively make the decision to circumvent, which will, in many cases,
> be enough to not do it in the first place. Furthermore, Kompl works
> without an internet connection, so if the user is abroad, without 3G
> access, it's already less likely he's able to circumvent anything.)
>
> There's some more background on this on our 'About' page:
> http://komplapp.com/about/
> --
> Babak Fakhamzadeh | babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com |
> http://BabakFakhamzadeh.com
>
> Ask me for my PGP public key to send me encrypted email.
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 5, 2015 at 7:13 AM, Dale Hudson <dale.hudson at nyu.edu> wrote:
> > ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> > Thanks, Babak, for this description of Kompi ? and thanks, Jeff and
> Wendy, for asking for it.
> >
> > Babak, I?m really intrigued by the visualization as a list or as a
> compass rather than as a map, which some people have described as a web 3.0
> hegemony. You seem to be moving further and further away from the
> commercially available base maps of Google in these three projects. I?m
> wondering whether you could tell us more about the ideas that drive this
> shift.
> >
> > Best,
> > Dale
> >
> > On Nov 5, 2015, at 4:21, Babak Fakhamzadeh <babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> >> Currently, in Kompl, the user can not set the level of obfuscation,
> >> though it would only require exposing a few underlying parameters to
> >> make this possible. An intriguing thought, though in practice that
> >> might just result in users looking for the edges of what's available
> >> (that is, all or nothing), whereas, I suspect, the 'right' level of
> >> obfuscation lies somewhere in 'the middle'.
> >>
> >> The obfuscation currently works such that more and more information on
> >> venues is made available as the user gets closer. Or, to think of it
> >> differently, as the amount of information matters less and less (as
> >> the venue is getting closer and closer and the user can just go and
> >> look for himself), more information becomes available.
> >> For venues that are 'far' away, only the distance to the venue, the
> >> direction, and one or two keywords, are made available, where at least
> >> one of the keywords is related to the user's initial search query. As
> >> opposed to, say, Foursquare, it's not possible (purposefully!) to look
> >> for, say, 'Italian restaurants', but only for 'Mediterranean
> >> restaurants'. For a venue that matches that request and is too far
> >> away for being made available in sufficient detail (currently, between
> >> about 500 and 1000 meters), only the distance, the direction and, in
> >> this case, the type of restaurant is made available to the user. But,
> >> because we only return venues that have been given 'good' reviews, the
> >> user can be certain that all returned venues are interesting/good
> >> 'enough'.
> >>
> >> On getting lost, the app (again, purposefully) does not provide a map
> >> (but does provide a compass, or, radar). The very idea is that the
> >> user, only knowing the distance and direction to a venue, will have to
> >> find their own way.
> >> So, yeah, getting lost, if with a rough goal, is very much the point
> >> :) And, hopefully, facilitated by the app.
> >>
> >> (As I mentioned, if you're interested, let me know and I will add you
> >> (and anyone else who's interested) to our beta program.)
> >> --
> >> Babak Fakhamzadeh | babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com |
> http://BabakFakhamzadeh.com
> >>
> >> Ask me for my PGP public key to send me encrypted email.
> >>
> >>
> >> On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 10:06 PM, Jeff Schmuki <jschmuki at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>> Hello Babak, We enjoyed learning about your projects. Wendy is
> especially
> >>> intrigued by your most recent app that ?obfuscates location
> information?.
> >>> Can the user determine the level of clarity? Is there the possibility
> of
> >>> getting lost?
> >>>
> >>> Best,
> >>> Wendy + Jeff
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> empyre forum
> >> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> >> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > empyre forum
> > empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> > http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 08:00:41 -0500
> From: Jeff Schmuki <jschmuki at gmail.com>
> To: soft_skinned_space <empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] week one | mobile apps and environmental
> performance
> Message-ID:
> <CAN7BApnAUP8g4W22Ep4brigecNTd0NUueW21Q=nu1vuw4=
> oOuw at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hello Dale and All,
>
> PlantBot Genetics began as a street-based project where we would release
> PlantBots into public spaces. These humorous PlantBot Invasions would
> easily draw attention, and once someone stops for a moment, they will ask a
> question. Humor is a vital ingredient as it creates a safe place for the
> discussion to occur. Those visiting hopefully come away empowered through
> links, published information, and guidelines for better food and
> environmental practices at home. Today we often use an 18? off-grid,
> trailer (ArtLab) converted into a mobile platform containing a library of
> information and hands-on activities. Most are surprised at the
> proliferation of GM products in the market and being unlabeled, we all are
> consuming them. Is it better to have a choice? When the project began in
> 2009, most were unaware of GMOs and wanted to learn more. Today many do
> know and while some just want to play with the PlantBots, complex
> discussions on supporting transparency in food labeling, supporting local
> farming, composting, pollinator decline and native plants, always
> transpire. Everyone seems to have a good time and PlantBot fun transcends
> language wherever we are. GM research is being done worldwide today, and is
> a complex issue yet, "what will it all become" is an interesting question.
> PlantBot Genetics believes conversations from these events is powerful and
> provides the opportunities for change, whether it be at the individual
> level or through community-wide discourse. Most recently we have been
> focusing on pollinator decline in the US and abroad.
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/attachments/20151105/119ab554/attachment-0001.html
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 15:31:33 -0200
> From: Babak Fakhamzadeh <babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com>
> To: soft_skinned_space <empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] week one | mobile apps and environmental
> performance
> Message-ID:
> <CAFNrOOptgBHmAv=43OKi=
> MvZSRMaaD4DOiJa9hV0i2XXSQHjgA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Jeff, have you got links to some photos of the PlantBots and of your
> converted trailer?
> --
> Babak Fakhamzadeh | babak.fakhamzadeh at gmail.com |
> http://BabakFakhamzadeh.com
>
> Ask me for my PGP public key to send me encrypted email.
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 5, 2015 at 11:00 AM, Jeff Schmuki <jschmuki at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> > Hello Dale and All,
> >
> > PlantBot Genetics began as a street-based project where we would release
> PlantBots into public spaces. These humorous PlantBot Invasions would
> easily draw attention, and once someone stops for a moment, they will ask a
> question. Humor is a vital ingredient as it creates a safe place for the
> discussion to occur. Those visiting hopefully come away empowered through
> links, published information, and guidelines for better food and
> environmental practices at home. Today we often use an 18? off-grid,
> trailer (ArtLab) converted into a mobile platform containing a library of
> information and hands-on activities. Most are surprised at the
> proliferation of GM products in the market and being unlabeled, we all are
> consuming them. Is it better to have a choice? When the project began in
> 2009, most were unaware of GMOs and wanted to learn more. Today many do
> know and while some just want to play with the PlantBots, complex
> discussions on supporting transparency in food labeling, suppor
> ting local farming, composting, pollinator decline and native plants,
> always transpire. Everyone seems to have a good time and PlantBot fun
> transcends language wherever we are. GM research is being done worldwide
> today, and is a complex issue yet, "what will it all become" is an
> interesting question. PlantBot Genetics believes conversations from these
> events is powerful and provides the opportunities for change, whether it be
> at the individual level or through community-wide discourse. Most recently
> we have been focusing on pollinator decline in the US and abroad.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > empyre forum
> > empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> > http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre mailing list
> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
>
> End of empyre Digest, Vol 131, Issue 4
> **************************************
>
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