Co-creative expertise: Auran games and fury: A case study

This article discusses the ways in which the relations among professional and non-professional participants in co-creative relations are being reconfigured as part of the shift from a closed industrial paradigm of expertise toward open and distributed expertise networks. This article draws on ethnographic consultancy research undertaken throughout 2007 with Auran Games, a Brisbane, Australia based games developer, to explore the co-creative relationships between professional developers and gamers. This research followed and informed Auran’s online community management and social networking strategies for Fury (http://unleashthefury.com), a massively multiplayer online game released in October 2007. This paper argues that these co-creative forms of expertise involve co-ordinating expertises through social-network markets

Land reform on multinational corporate plantations in the Philippines : case studies of the application of the comprehensive agrarian reform programme (1988) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University

This thesis examines the implications of a recent agrarian reform programme in the Philippines for multinational corporate (MNC) plantations. Its central purpose is to assess and explain the land tenure consequences of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme as it applied to MNC plantations. This entails an examination of the economic and political factors underlying both the passing of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme in 1988 and its subsequent implementation on plantations. Though there is no coherent theory of land reform as it applies to MNC plantations two bodies of literature are very relevant: the political economy of land reform and the political economy of MNC expropriation in developing countries. These were drawn upon to provide general hypotheses that are tested in this study. These are that the relationship between the political and landowning elites of developing countries and the relationship between the political elites and the transnational economy are critical determinants of the political economy of land reform on MNC plantations. More specifically, in the context of the Philippine political economy, it is hypothesized that the close ties between the political and landowning elites, and their shared interests with, and ties to, MNCs, coupled with the economy's dependence on the corporations, has resulted in the agrarian reform programme bringing about no substantial change in MNC land tenure relations. In order to test these hypotheses, four multinational plantations in the Philippines that had been subject to land transfer under the agrarian reform programme were used as case studies. These were two pineapple plantations operated by subsidiaries of American-owned MNCs, Del Monte International and Castle and Cook International, and two oil palm plantations, one owned by an Indonesian corporation, Raja Garuda Mas, and the other by a Singaporean company, Keck Seng Private Ltd. It is found that the agrarian reform programme has not brought about any substantial change in MNC land tenure or production relations. This is in part attributed to the predominance of landed and agribusiness interests in the Philippines political economy, coupled with their shared interests with, and ties to, the MNCs. But it is also found that the MNCs, through their indirect lobby efforts, were able to influence decisively the consequences of the programme for their plantations. Finally, the MNCs' control over technology and markets, coupled with the substantial contribution of their plantations to employment and export earnings, ultimately constrained the degree of government intervention in their land tenure arrangements

A dynamic model of democratic elections in multidimensional policy spaces

We propose a general model of repeated elections. In each period, a challenger is chosen from the electorate to run against an incumbent politician in a majority-rule election, and the winner then selects a policy from a multidimensional policy space. Individual policy preferences are private information, whereas policy choices are publicly observable. We prove existence and continuity of equilibria in "simple" voting and policy strategies; we provide examples to show the variety of possible equilibrium patterns in multiple dimensions; we analyze the effects of patience and office-holding benefits on the persistence of policies over time; and we identify relationships between equilibrium policies and the core of the underlying voting game. As a byproduct of our analysis, we show how equilibrium incentives maylead elected representatives to make policy compromises, even when binding commitments are unavailable. We provide an informational story for incumbency advantage. Finally, we give an asymptotic version of the median voter theorem for the one-dimensional model as voters become-arbitrarily patient

A General Bargaining Model of Legislative Policy-making

We present a general model of legislative bargaining in which the status quo is an arbitrary point in a multidimensional policy space. In contrast to other bargaining models, the status quo is not assumed to be bad for all legislators, and delay may be Pareto efficient. We prove existence of stationary equilibria. We show that if all legislators are risk averse or if even limited transfers are possible, then delay is only possible if the status quo lies in the core. Thus, we expect immediate agreement in multidimensional models, where the core is typically empty. In one dimension, delay is possible if and only if the status quo lies in the core of the voting rule, and then it is the only possible outcome. Our comparative statics analysis yield two noteworthy insights: moderate status quos imply moderate policy outcomes, and legislative patience implies policy moderation

Beyond Power over Ethernet : the development of Digital Energy Networks for buildings

Alternating current power distribution using analogue control and safety devices has been the dominant process of power distribution within our buildings since the electricity industry began in the late 19th century. However, with advances in digital technology, the seeds of change have been growing over the last decade. Now, with the simultaneous dramatic fall in power requirements of digital devices and corresponding rise in capability of Power over Ethernet, an entire desktop environment can be powered by a single direct current (dc) Ethernet cable. Going beyond this, it will soon be possible to power entire office buildings using dc networks. This means the logic of “one-size fits all” from the existing ac system is no longer relevant and instead there is an opportunity to redesign the power topology to be appropriate for different applications, devices and end-users throughout the building. This paper proposes a 3-tier classification system for the topology of direct current microgrids in commercial buildings – called a Digital Energy Network or DEN. The first tier is power distribution at a full building level (otherwise known as the microgrid); the second tier is power distribution at a room level (the nanogrid); and the third tier is power distribution at a desktop or appliance level (the picogrid). An important aspect of this classification system is how the design focus changes for each grid. For example; a key driver of the picogrid is the usability of the network – high data rates, and low power requirements; however, in the microgrid, the main driver is high power and efficiency at low cost

A Dynamic Model of Democratic Elections in Multidimensional Policy Spaces

We propose a general model of repeated elections. In each period, a challenger is chosen from the electorate to run against an incumbent politician in a majority-rule election, and the winner then selects a policy from a multidimensional policy space. Individual policy preferences are private information, whereas policy choices are publicly observable. We prove existence and continuity of equilibria in “simple” voting and policy strategies; we provide examples to show the variety of possible equilibrium patterns in multiple dimensions; we analyze the effects of patience and office-holding benefits on the persistence of policies over time; and we identify relationships between equilibrium policies and the core of the underlying voting game. As a byproduct of our analysis, we show how equilibrium incentives may lead elected representatives to make policy compromises, even when binding commitments are unavailable. We provide an informational story for incumbency advantage. Finally, we give an asymptotic version of the median voter theorem for the one-dimensional model as voters becomes arbitrarily patient.

Co-creating Videogames

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Co-creativity has become a significant cultural and economic phenomenon. Media consumers have become media producers. This book offers a rich description and analysis of the emerging participatory, co-creative relationships within the videogames industry. Banks discusses the challenges of incorporating these co-creative relationships into the development process. Drawing on a decade of research within the industry, the book gives us valuable insight into the continually changing and growing world of video games

Divided Culture: Integrating and Conservation Biology Agriculture

Production agriculture, with its implied ecosystem simplification, pesticide and fertilizer use, and emphasis on yield, often appears to be at odds with conservation biology. From a farmer\u27s perspective, the weight conservation biology places on wildlife may seem overly idealistic and naive, detached from economic and sociopolitical reality. In fact, these endeavors are two sides of the same coin, with a shared heritage in decades of population and community ecological theory and experimentation. Better integration of the two disciplines requires acknowledging their various goals and working to produce mutually beneficial outcomes. The best examples of this type of integrated approach result from careful implementation of sustainable agriculture practices that support biological conservation efforts via habitat amelioration or restructuring. Successful integrated approaches take into account both the environmental and economic costs of different farming schemes and compensate farmers for the costs they incur by implementing environmentally friendly farming strategies. Drawing primarily from examples in insect population dynamics, this paper highlights some innovative programs that are leading the way towards a more holistic integration