It’s not all about the music:online fan communities and collecting Hard Rock Café pins

Previous studies of music fan culture have largely centered on the diverse range of subcultures devoted to particular genres, groups, and stars. Where studies have moved beyond the actual music and examined the fashion, concerts, and collecting ephemera such as vinyl records and posters, they have tended to remain closely allied to notions of subcultural distinction, emphasizing hierarchies of taste. This paper shifts the focus in music fan studies beyond the appreciation of the music and discusses the popular fan practice of collecting souvenir pins produced and sold by the Hard Rock Café (HRC) within a framework of fan tourism. Traveling to and collecting unique pins from locations across the globe creates a fan dialogue that centers on tourism and the collecting practices associated with souvenir consumption. Collectors engage in practices such as blogging, travel writing, and administration that become important indicators of their particular expression of fandom: pin collecting. Membership requires both time and money; recording visits around the world and collecting unique pins from every café builds fans' cultural capital. This indicates an internationalization of popular fandom, with the Internet acting as a connective virtual space between local and national, personal and public physical space. The study of HRC pin collecting and its fan community suggests that HRC enthusiasts are not so because they enjoy rock music or follow any particular artist but due to the physical ephemera that they collect and the places and spaces they visit

On the Privacy Practices of Just Plain Sites

In addition to visiting high profile sites such as Facebook and Google, web users often visit more modest sites, such as those operated by bloggers, or by local organizations such as schools. Such sites, which we call "Just Plain Sites" (JPSs) are likely to inadvertently represent greater privacy risks than high profile sites by virtue of being unable to afford privacy expertise. To assess the prevalence of the privacy risks to which JPSs may inadvertently be exposing their visitors, we analyzed a number of easily observed privacy practices of such sites. We found that many JPSs collect a great deal of information from their visitors, share a great deal of information about their visitors with third parties, permit a great deal of tracking of their visitors, and use deprecated or unsafe security practices. Our goal in this work is not to scold JPS operators, but to raise awareness of these facts among both JPS operators and visitors, possibly encouraging the operators of such sites to take greater care in their implementations, and visitors to take greater care in how, when, and what they share.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables, 5 authors, and a partridge in a pear tre

Shopping For Privacy: How Technology in Brick-and-Mortar Retail Stores Poses Privacy Risks for Shoppers

As technology continues to rapidly advance, the American legal system has failed to protect individual shoppers from the technology implemented into retail stores, which poses significant privacy risks but does not violate the law. In particular, I examine the technologies implemented into many brick-and-mortar stores today, many of which the average everyday shopper has no idea exists. This Article criticizes these technologies, suggesting that many, if not all of them, are questionable in their legality taking advantage of their status in a legal gray zone. Because the American judicial system cannot adequately protect the individual shopper from these questionable privacy practices, I call upon the Federal Trade Commission, the de facto privacy regulator in the United States, to increase its policing of physical retail stores to protect the shopper from any further harm

Hearing from Those We Seek to Help: Nonprofit Practices and Perspectives in Beneficiary Feedback

For nonprofit organizations, hearing from the beneficiaries they seek to serve is an important practice for planning, implementing, and evaluating their programs and services. But does this feedback and an understanding of intended beneficiaries' needs reach foundation funders and influence their funding and strategic decision-making?To answer this question, CEP investigated what nonprofits are doing to hear from those they seek to help and whether their leaders believe their foundation funders are tuned in to the needs of their intended beneficiaries. The data reveals that most nonprofits are collecting and using feedback from their beneficiaries to improve their programs and services, but nonprofit leaders believe most of their foundation funders lack a deep understanding of their intended beneficiaries' needs. The research shows that this matters. Nonprofit leaders believe foundations' lack of understanding of their beneficiaries' needs is reflected in their funding priorities and programmatic strategies, and that nonprofits believe foundations can benefit from deeper engagement with beneficiary feedback

Alcohol, assault and licensed premises in inner-city areas

This report contains eight linked feasibility studies conducted in Cairns during 2010. These exploratory studies examine the complex challenges of compiling and sharing information about incidents of person-to-person violence in a late night entertainment precinct (LNEP). The challenges were methodological as well as logistical and ethical. The studies look at how information can be usefully shared, while preserving the confidentiality of those involved. They also examine how information can be compiled from routinely collected sources with little or no additional resources, and then shared by the agencies that are providing and using the information.Although the studies are linked, they are also stand-alone and so can be published in peer-reviewed literature. Some have already been published, or are ‘in press’ or have been submitted for review. Others require the NDLERF board’s permission to be published as they include data related more directly to policing, or they include information provided by police.The studies are incorporated into the document under section headings. In each section, they are introduced and then presented in their final draft form. The final published form of each paper, however, is likely to be different from the draft because of journal and reviewer requirements. The content, results and implications of each study are discussed in summaries included in each section.Funded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, an initiative of the National Drug StrategyAlan R Clough (PhD) School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences James Cook UniversityCharmaine S Hayes-Jonkers (BPsy, BSocSci (Hon1)) James Cook University, Cairns.Edward S Pointing (BPsych) James Cook University, Cairns

Knowing Your Population: Privacy-Sensitive Mining of Massive Data

Location and mobility patterns of individuals are important to environmental planning, societal resilience, public health, and a host of commercial applications. Mining telecommunication traffic and transactions data for such purposes is controversial, in particular raising issues of privacy. However, our hypothesis is that privacy-sensitive uses are possible and often beneficial enough to warrant considerable research and development efforts. Our work contends that peoples behavior can yield patterns of both significant commercial, and research, value. For such purposes, methods and algorithms for mining telecommunication data to extract commonly used routes and locations, articulated through time-geographical constructs, are described in a case study within the area of transportation planning and analysis. From the outset, these were designed to balance the privacy of subscribers and the added value of mobility patterns derived from their mobile communication traffic and transactions data. Our work directly contrasts the current, commonly held notion that value can only be added to services by directly monitoring the behavior of individuals, such as in current attempts at location-based services. We position our work within relevant legal frameworks for privacy and data protection, and show that our methods comply with such requirements and also follow best-practice

Academic development in technical high school courses in the north region of Brazil: overcoming obstacles and promoting engagement

Continuous development in academic learning can be hindered by rigid rules, resulting in a disconnection between students and the learning process. Promoting socialization and a sense of belonging in the academic environment contributes to student satisfaction. The ability to manage emotions is crucial when facing social challenges, preventing the emergence of emotional instabilities. This article presents a literature review that addresses the teaching and learning process. Based on this review, a structured questionnaire was developed and administered to 108 students from the integrated technical courses at the Tarauacá campus of IFAC, with the purpose of collecting relevant data on their perceptions, opinions, and experiences. Through this process, the psychological consequences of these aspects and their impact on academic performance and learning were aimed to be understood. Upon analyzing the selected studies and the questionnaire results, it is evident that there are practical, cognitive, and emotional challenges that affect students' learning process. To overcome these obstacles, it is important to address issues such as social pressure, differences in learning pace, and inappropriate practices, creating a positive learning environment and adapting pedagogical approaches to students' needs. The constructive approaches proposed in the reviewed studies positively influence students' academic performance, stimulating essential skills and promoting a holistic education. However, it is necessary to rethink the structure of education to keep students motivated, considering issues such as school dropout caused by challenges like remote campus location and financial limitations.Continuous development in academic learning can be hindered by rigid rules, resulting in a disconnection between students and the learning process. Promoting socialization and a sense of belonging in the academic environment contributes to student satisfaction. The ability to manage emotions is crucial when facing social challenges, preventing the emergence of emotional instabilities. This article presents a literature review that addresses the teaching and learning process. Based on this review, a structured questionnaire was developed and administered to 108 students from the integrated technical courses at the Tarauacá campus of IFAC, with the purpose of collecting relevant data on their perceptions, opinions, and experiences. Through this process, the psychological consequences of these aspects and their impact on academic performance and learning were aimed to be understood. Upon analyzing the selected studies and the questionnaire results, it is evident that there are practical, cognitive, and emotional challenges that affect students' learning process. To overcome these obstacles, it is important to address issues such as social pressure, differences in learning pace, and inappropriate practices, creating a positive learning environment and adapting pedagogical approaches to students' needs. The constructive approaches proposed in the reviewed studies positively influence students' academic performance, stimulating essential skills and promoting a holistic education. However, it is necessary to rethink the structure of education to keep students motivated, considering issues such as school dropout caused by challenges like remote campus location and financial limitations

Evaluation Report of a Potable Water Project in Luwero District

This evaluation study was carried out by Carl Bro International in June 2001.The objective of the project was to provide the rural population of Luwero (Uganda) with easy access to potable water within 500 meters from their homes. The purpose of the evaluation was to:1. To assess the degree of accomplishment of the stated objectives.2. To review the project implementation and especially the extent to which the activities as specified in the original agreement have been implemented.3. To identify general areas and important strategies and modalities where further action is required and if necessary recommend appropriate actions to be taken.4. To assess the mode and effect of collaboration with local authorities