randomosity

When is a tool, not a tool? Apparently when it is a quasi-tool or a proto-tool. A tool provides functionless functionality.
These were a couple of the epigramatics Barry Allen shared during a talk on technology, culture and civilization.¹
I could not possibly do justice to philosophical reflections on the nature of a tool, so I stop there on the philosophical and refer you to my footnote, but as an economist I was particularly drawn into his discussion of the progression from first to second order machines. First order being ‘devices that extend human capacities by exploiting a mechanical advantage’ and second-order featuring ‘an assembly of first-order machines, coupled to produce a multiplying effect.’ This form of organization seemed to dovetail with a similar discussion that Allen raised about our ability to effectively fix prices, but our seeming imability to determine the true cost of a tool.
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1. Quasi-tools as I understand are objects used by beings without conscious or intelligent awareness that the object provides any particular function. Innate use of a pebble by a wasp to block the entrance to a birth chamber for example. In contrast, a proto-tool, is consciously chosen for use, but has not be fashioned to perform that function, lacking deliberate design to enable that function. A ‘tool’ per se shares two descriptive aspects: that its function is manifold and not limited by purpose, instead extended by technique to form cultural technology. Secondly, the tool is an artifact that lacks definition without having a place within an economy - that is, it has been previously linked to others in an economy of socially complimentary action (design, manufacture, sale, license, etc.) when we engage with it. [↩]

The consistently thought-provoking Chris Brogan explores how current digital tools provide for greater freedom in employment and life in general. Chris makes some prescient referrals to technologies and ponders why one should focus on being more mobile or consider being more nomadic. His post explores the equation from the perspective of the nomad. I wonder what the perspective is from the other side - from those that would consider the nomad’s services. He raises the critical question about data security and I wonder if this doesn’t extend to a larger question of trust. I have only rarely been on the nomad employing side of the equation, but even by appreciating the nomadic perspective, I am challenged to feel comfortable with the nomad. It’s not really about the results - or about my level of trust. I agree with Chris and with Mark Harrison who affirmed that the nomad should be paid for delivering results. What concerns me is the breadth of digital relationships.
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Once more I plunder from the idiosyncratic EnglishRussia blog. There’s always a daily dose of intrigue at the site. What better to feature today - especially after Putin has taken another step towards restoring tradition by suspending one of the last credible opposition parties in the Russian Federation - but some eerie/spooky shadows he cast recently. Check them out…

I have spent the last decade naturally evolving towards a work day that largely takes place in coffee shops. Having written my MA largely at the Second Cup in Guelph and turned to the Starbucks before that to do business planning, I currently spend the bulk of my time at the Second Cup in Westdale. During this time, I have evolved from relying on pen and paper to hopelessly attached to my laptop. That same appendage has gone from tethering to an electrical outlet to craving attachment through wireless connectivity. The way in which I work away from the office or home has evolved, technically and socially.

The pen and paper days also involved a good book and allowed for reading during the day. As data connectivity has progressed, direct social connectivity has decreased.
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Big kudos to Sen. Patrick Leahy, chair of the senate judiciary committee for making an impassioned demand to discover what happened to Maher Arar. The text is enlightening. He actually seems to see Canadians as strong and ‘valuable’ allies. Haven’t heard that in awhile. Do we remember the glaring omission of Canada following 9/11. Certainly Canada doesn’t seem to exist as anything other than a northern parian in the Bush mind. The footage at the CBC certainly captures the tenor of the questioning. Does the re-alignment of forces in the US legislature actually mean that a new accountability can be realized? Well, if Alberto Gonzalez actually delivers a report on the Arar case as demanded things certainly bode a positive change for the future.

Allan Bishop and I engaged in a rather interesting short discussion this morning on blogs, public discourse and what it means to share your thoughts in the internet era. He raised the story of the chap that went online and suddenly discovered extensive discussion amongst classmates over his shortcomings. Commentary was written with the assumption that the subject of their discussion would never actually see the content. I made the statement that when I throw stuff online I simply presume that it is public, even if I do not intentionally make it so. Case in point…this blog site. Although it can be accessed and shows up in Google searches, I don’t actually link to it from anywhere. Only a couple people have been pointed to it at different points. I am not deliberately keeping it secret or hidden, I just want to see if and how I actually use it before deciding how I would intentionally share it. So it remains unlinked, but still findable should someone make a deliberate attempt to search for it.
But how much of this is actually in my control. Not as much I would suspect I or most people would think. Therefore I try to exercise some discretion on what an how I write to the blog.
What about anonymous broadsheets of the 17th and 18thCs? Although published under pseudonyms, small circles were often aware of to whom each could be attributed. So, is there any degree of anonymity today. Much less I would argue unless one takes great technical pains to cover ones footsteps. However, sniffing out the breadcrumbs is also tied to how technically ept one is…so there are varying degrees of anonymity and no universal application to a single individual. Not sure what all of this means, but it raised the question of author’s intentions. I perceived that a diary was much more private than a journal and Allan held the opposite. I related a journal to a more businesslike entry of daily transactions and a diary to a more emotionally driven critique of thoughts and feeling. The journal, Allan thought was more of this…and further, a gender issue arises. I had always felt that journals were something that was in the male domain and a diary applying more to the feminine. This too is something of discussion. Thoughts?

Yes, it’s Tony Blair when asked whether he prayed with George Bush when he visited the White House. A quick quip. What did he mean by this answer? No he and George W. don’t share religious practise, or is it simply not in his brief to discuss his religious views. In the US for better or worse, religion is suddenly *very* publicly avowed. Whether this religion is one of public appearance or whether it is a deeply held belief, they certainly *do* something professing to be God in the US these days.
I was was intrigued by an article carried in the Toronto Star today claiming that `Islamophobia’ makes integration tough for the continent’s 15 million Muslims. Interesting thought. What I find most fascinating is the charge that Europe has become a vast sea of secularism and that the US is in fact a more hospitable host to muslim immigrants. Is racism more endemic in europe than in North America? Is this a phenomenon stemming from the French Revolution? Interesting points to ponder.

Another interesting list I came across during the season of listing. This one comes from a bit of a site of paranoia…but maybe we should be afraid :-0. On the upside, this is a list of 13 Easy Ways to Safeguard Your Privacy in 2007 which seem like some very prudent steps. Although I don’t advocate running screaming in the streets, these seem to be some concrete simple things one can be aware of or practise to safeguard one’s identity. Its real and after I had those 15 laptops shipped to my Quebec address a few years back, am certainly more on the watch. Things such as avoiding the use of your middle initial is something that I wouldn’t have thought of but you know…it makes some sense.

Is this an up and coming phenom? Zopa and Prosper are two two startups offering to bring together borrowers and lenders and offer . The sense of ‘Simness’ (as in simcity/sim this sim that) is an interesting note. … As the author of this survey on these two services note, they even add fun to the act of borrowing and lending…quite an accomplishment.

Ok. The constant CBC warnings that this programme contains coarse language is certainly the hint that the CBC has yet to warm to Brian Mulroney. A rather tepid presentation. The challenge to the film maker was to take the taped conversations and find a way to make them visually compelling. Although a good collection of documentary footage and occasional switched between soundtrack and voice overs, Peter Newman’s self-described role as ‘pet newsman’ causes a real lack of counter voice or even narration that does come across in the book. All in all despite the good footage, the book is a far more compelling product. Nonetheless,listening to a man seeking to constantly justify his actions, remind of his hard knocks, our former prime minister comes across as a sniveling twit, paranoid, and convinced that he was a better man than the country deserved…always convinced that he was doing the right thing…his remark referring to the ‘genuine mediocrity’ of the Canadian media seems to really capture his feelings towards the citizens of Canada in general.