Socially connected wisdom

It is indeed hard to comprehend impact of technologies on society. It is even harder to write about them. When we have an insight, even if we are certain about it, writing requires additional efforts. Efforts such as gathering data and knowing what people has found out. Such as knowing who are the audience, and what do they know now. And how do we impress the knowledge upon them.

A droplet is a piece of information. It is very small but indispensable. The society is essentially made up of a lot of information. Information in use are knowledge. When information comes together they, more than often, develops into something new.

Because there are so much information and wisdom about them, one person cannot hold on to any critical mass required for large scale endeavors. Therefore, we are now so reliant on professions working in groups. These professionals are socially connected. None of them know everything, but each of them knew something. Together, they work as a system - a system of knowledge. They share a collective goal, with distributed efforts.

Facilitating these exchange is an infrastructure. The technical ones may be called Enterprise Infrastructure, a computer system used to manage information repositories and facilitates exchanges. The social ones may be called Community of Practice, where people grouped to exchange vital information and share/improve practices.

Beyond computer systems and social network, I think we are still missing something. One is the cultural infrastructure, of how people historically works together. Two is the relationship between them.

Cultural infrastructure is the foundation of all societies, and they are not going away in at least 10-20 years (It is as long as it needs to reeducate an entire generation). They are our languages, gender roles, work ethics, and so forth. They set the primary goals of our life - to be somebody, to be rich, or to be a good parent. They also shape the way we form alliances and climb the social ladder. In some cultures, the older you are the better you look. In others, it is eloquence that counts.

Relationships between these infrastructure are important. People use computer systems, and it is the primary way they network. They network with both colleagues in the company or expertise outside the computer. Not all computer systems can be governed internally. Some are public features, and community of practice do extend outside of the company. Culture too, permeate within and outside of the company. Companies with longer history in a country do have deeper reach into its communities. These have to be considered as part of its wisdom as well.

Ubicomp

Ubiquitous computing is everywhere... in my school at least. Around every corners, you can see palmtop on the walls, aiming to display some sort of information. At its core, Ubicomp aims to make computer 'disappear' from the 'box' that I am using to type my blog right now.

A more important question is, what is the role of ubicomp in our society? First, ubicomp technologies, such as those that help you cook breakfast, and 'scrap pieces' of touchscreens, have unforeseeable purposes. Second, you never really know if they will become cheap enough to replace what we have now. Third, you don't really know if they will ever be technologically viable.

Despite these difficulties, I appreciate ubicomp. First and foremost, they help to push technological envelope, and we do not really need a stage gate to passe every ideas. Ideas are cheaper when the team do not need to employ a 3 months study to evaluate its use. Except of course when the implementation will affect a lot of people. Furthermore, when an idea cannot be proven wrong, we might as well give it a shot.

Nonetheless, the reality is most ubicomp applications will fail. PCs are great because they have something ubicomp applications do not have -- flexibility. They are hard to use, as ubicomp would argue. Yes, but users are free to download new application and modify their 'boxes.' At some point though, there will be tasks that we repeat so many times that its time for them to fade into the background.

Such are the functions we wanted to become invisible, and to me, its where ubicomp enters the picture. For example, my friends who come to my place would like to see our wedding album. My media center in the living room fits into this purpose. However, I do not really want to see my World of Warcraft becomes an XBox application. If that happens, I would not be able to update or experiment with new mods.

Therefore, ubicomp is essentially our supplementary computers. They represent tasks that crystallized in our lives, and that becomes sufficiently understood and stable. And ubicomp applications will always work hand-in-hand with computers in a box.

Academics, industry, and our society: Looking back to three quarters of academic study

I have done three quarters of academic studies. It was not the first time, for I had done my masters, but it was a much more systematic one.

We discuss, critique, and write a lot. Almost several times weekly. Writing becomes almost second nature for any academics to function. Its a sin, an abnormality, for an academic who do not write well. Therefore, writing is fundamental and very important. Writing aside, I felt that it is secondary to be able to think. In the academic world, there are many disciplines. And its likely for anyone to find one which suit one's interests and orientations, any types of orientation including those remotely useful. Also theories abound. It is very common to be talking to a contemporary academic who would tell you, "There are many theories and you should pick those that are useful to you." If we replace 'theories' with 'truths,' "There are many truths and you should pick those that are useful to you," and you sounds like a lawyer.

Yes, I think to some extend, academics need to have a flair for intelligent debates, much like a lawyer did. And perhaps also with a touch of charm. It is inevitable thus that academics may not always be telling things that are useful, though the best ones make them sound useful. But nevertheless, academics are not god. Their ideas are not flawless. But they have a special function in our society. That of speaking for, writing for, recording events, critique events, and setup an environment for healthy (gentlemanly, logically, and rigorous) debate. While most academics treat publications as the final step for any research, its really just at the beginning of a lengthy and on going process of discovery - what is the truth?

Industries need not read scientific papers. But if they do not, and still able to function, there are two possibilities: (1) They work is repetitive and requires little innovations, (2) Their work is so fast and complicated that writings are not the best way to develop ideas. (1) is more akin traditional work such as textile and restaurant. (2) is more akin to art production such as movie making. However, most fields require to keep in touch with other people outside their immediate circle of contacts to continually develop ideas. Academic conferences, workshops, and publications, which keep up with a healthy amount of rant on relevant topics is a good place to start. One, academics are notoriously vicious and stringent when it comes to how to perform and write about research. Some circles always require numbers, some requires qualitative studies, some vast amount of data, others a lot of theories. It depends on what you need.

However, being in the industry for several years, I do not see innovation as a one-way traffic from the academics into the industry. Rather, its a two-way exchange. Industries loosing interests in a particular research circle is one clear indication of disconnectedness. Industries attending any conferences, or being part of any research is a clear sign of birth of innovativeness. It makes academics look good.

However, industries are still very different from academics. For one, industries are extremely practical and motives is clear, often to earn money out of an investment. Therefore, they are looking at good ideas that fit. If they have a strong infrastructure of programmers, they will be interested in how to best organize them, but not perhaps interested in hardware design techniques. An idea manifest in the real world infrastructure: they merge, interact, and become tangible.

In order for the symphony of academics and industries to perform well, we need both to be present and take part in the performance. A stage to be had, and pieces to perform. Looking back at my country, it is not clear how this will happen in Singapore. But in the US, industries are active in the academics circle. They attend workshops and conferences, sacrificing their weekends. Academics as well, require such fundings to further their research, such as funding their students. It takes two hands clapping, and they are.

Moving forward, it is indeed a reflection within myself, on how I should make the best of my academics years. Writing is utmost in my agenda, and I need to understand my audiences. Much like selling. Last three quarters, I have written a great deal of short passages. In the coming weeks, I will put up the ones I like onto this blog. It is a way to put forward my thinking, and for me to trace my own thoughts and development.

MMOGs and our Societies

I have recently found my thesis topic.

MMOGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Games) are becoming popular in our societies. In the process, they affect our infrastructure. From learning to providing a place for socializing, participants change their life patterns, and carry out daily activities such as work, play, and relationships in different ways. Since these infrastructure build into our social fabrics, we may see it as a form of knowledge: in words, in practice, or as artifacts.

A stable society requires one type of knowledge that is well-embedded: culture. I see culture is a set of well accepted rules and practices that are self-governed by its members. Emergence of MMOGs such as World of Warcraft (WoW) challenged some of the existing cultural rules, and China saw WoW evolving into a different form. For example, skeletons were banned in the virtual environment, monthly subscription transformed into a pay-as-you-go gaming card system, and Internet cafes become an integral part of play. Therefore, when technology was adopted by a society, a co-evolution takes place. Each transforming the other.

In my research, I intended to probe deeper than Internet cafes, banning skeletons, and change of payment methods. The influence WoW has on societies have to emerge out of social confrontations, between the existing and the emergent, the local and the foreign. We saw mods in World of Warcraft as providing such opportunity to observe them. Mods are the short form for software modifications – players developed addons that modify part of the gaming interface and increase functionalities. All players use some kind of mods depending on their current tasks. Mods lie at the intersection of virtual environment, players, players-developers, and the game development company. Mods situate our research at the intersection of their confrontations.