Post-digital aesthetics and the function of process.

The theorisation of post-digital aesthetics in music and sound art seems to be split in two contradictory directions. One direction emphasises the foregrounding of digital processes through the use of process-based procedures, while the other tends toward a neo-modernist, sound-in-itself tendency that would seek to obscure the role of process in the work. This paper argues for a re-evaluation of post-digital music and sound art practices from the perspective of non-subjective modes of composition and making, where aesthetic intentions are suspended

Post-digital aesthetics and the function of process.

The theorisation of post-digital aesthetics in music and sound art seems to be split in two contradictory directions. One direction emphasises the foregrounding of digital processes through the use of process-based procedures, while the other tends toward a neo-modernist, sound-in-itself tendency that would seek to obscure the role of process in the work. This paper argues for a re-evaluation of post-digital music and sound art practices from the perspective of non-subjective modes of composition and making, where aesthetic intentions are suspended

It’s a man’s game: English football and socio-cultural change

This thesis sets out to explain the limited representation of English players in Premiership football. As a nation, England appears to be producing an insufficient number of players who are believed capable of playing at the highest level of the game. Available data has suggested that less than 40% of footballers who started Premier League games in recent years are English. Why then are foreign players preferred to their English counterparts? One explanation to this question may be found in the historical development of the English game. As well as being a game, football is a form of cultural expression. From the earliest forms of ‘folk football’ played in the fourteenth century, a range of social forces have either independently or inter-dependently helped to promote a game largely based upon fitness and physicality. However, during the twentieth century, the football being played in other countries began to improve markedly; football began to shift from a traditional to a technical game. Following the formation of the Premier League in 1992, Premiership clubs began to recruit foreign players in increasing numbers, many of whom possessed the technical ability required to compete at the highest levels of the game. Much of English football, in contrast, has continued to promote a manly and physical game rather than a game based upon the development of technical skills. Unless a greater number of English players acquire a similar level of technical ability then the influx of foreign players is likely to continue

Comparing the effects of different approaches to liberalising world grains markets

The success of the current Doha Round of the WTO negotiations on agriculture will require substantial reform in each of the three areas of market access, export subsidies and domestic support. Substantial improvement in market access for agricultural products will be an essential requirement for achieving a successful outcome. However, the extent of improvement in market access resulting from the current negotiations will largely depend on the form and the approach followed to reduce tariffs and expand tariff rate quotas. In this paper different approaches to expanding market access for grains area analysed using a partial equilibrium model. Simulated scenarios include linear reductions in applied tariffs and expansions in tariff rate quotas, which are contrasted with a scenario representing market access proposals of the Cairns Group of countries in the current WTO agricultural negotiations. The effects of these two trade liberalisation scenarios on world prices and trade are analysed and discussed. Results indicate that to achieve a meaningful gain in market access for grains, WTO members must agree to either directly reduce the current applied tariffs or make large percentage reductions to the WTO bound rates, which lead to effective reductions in the current applied rates.Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

The ReSIST Resilience Knowledge Base

We describe a prototype knowledge base that uses semantic web technologies to provide a service for querying a large and expanding collection of public data about resilience, dependability and security. We report progress and identify opportunities to support resilience-explicit computing by developing metadata-based descriptions of resilience mechanisms that can be used to support design time and, potentially, run-time decision making

Ptolemy: An instrument aboard the Rosetta lander Philae, to unlock the secrets of the solar system

Ptolemy is a miniature chemical analysis suite currently on board the ESA Rosetta comet lander Philae. This poster describes the operation of the instrument, and presents data generated thus far during a comprehensive ground testing programme