'Was it Good for you Darling?' – Intimacy, Sex and Critical Technical Practice

On the basis of forty-two weeks of ethnographic data collected across six pairs of co-habiting partners, we have theorized about the nature of intimacy, developed artifacts for its mediation and explored methods for its study. In this workshop we wish to take this work as our departure point, and reflect on: The importance of problematising intimacy carefully, that is, approaching intimacy critically. The complex and multiple meanings of intimacy in the context of ongoing intimate relationships. The losses and risks attendant on supporting intimacy between distributed couples

Location, Location, Location: Challenges of Outsourced Usability Evaluation

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND This position paper presents some of the challenges experienced in relation to an outsourced usability evaluation of commercial collaboration product, which we would like to raise in the Improving the Interplay between Usability Evaluation and User Interface Design workshop. The paper describes the context of the outsourced evaluation, three challenges of location, how the evaluation was carried out and reported. Finally, we outline some of the lessons learned. The product is being developed within a multi-national software product company based in the United States. Typical of this type of company, the product company has a multitude of existing and new products under development in various programs under aggressive time and resource constraints. The company has a strong commitment to being focused on the needs of customers in relation to their products and services. As such, the company has strong human computer interaction (HCI) skills supporting the development of user interfaces that are easy to use. However, the number of these resources is limited in relation to the number of projects and amount of HCI work required. As with many companies throughout the world, this product company is investigating an outsourcing model to support HCI requirements and in particular usability evaluation

VALUING CIVICS: POLITICAL COMMITMENT AND THE NEW CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA

The character of civics education is dependent on the worldview in which it is embedded. Thus, citizenship education that is not explicitly committed to a vision of democratic citizenship will be shaped by the dominant ideology of our times: neo‐ liberalism. After contrasting neo‐liberal and radical democratic perspectives on civics education, we examine Australia’s new civics initiative as an example of how citizenship education becomes embroiled in the broader didactic politics of neo‐ liberalism, thus undermining the democratic values of civics education. We conclude with a call for civics education that is politically committed to the values of radical democracy. Key words: democracy, new civics, neo‐liberalism, Discovering Democracy La nature de l’éducation à la citoyenneté dépend de la vision du monde dans laquelle elle s’insère. L’éducation à la citoyenneté non explicitement vouée à une vision de la citoyenneté démocratique sera donc façonnée par l’idéologie dominante de notre époque : le néolibéralisme. Après avoir comparé les points de vue opposés du néolibéralisme et de la démocratie radicale sur l’éducation à la citoyenneté, les auteurs présentent une nouvelle initiative australienne qui illustre comment l’éducation à la citoyenneté se trouve prise dans l’engrenage de la vaste politique didactique du néolibéralisme et porte ainsi atteinte aux valeurs démocratiques de l’éducation à la citoyenneté. Ils concluent en prônant une éducation à la citoyenneté qui adhère aux valeurs de la démocratie radicale. Mots clés: démocratie, nouvelle éducation à la citoyenneté, néolibéralisme, Discovering Democracy

Winner-takes-all games : strategic optimisation of rank

In many competitive situations (including nearly all sports) a player’s aim is not simply to maximise his score but to maximise its rank among all scores. Examples include sales contests (where the salesman with highest monthly sales gets a bonus) and patent races (where lowest time is best). We assume the score Xi of player i is obtained costlessly, so that his utility is the probability of having the best score. This gives a constant-sum game. All that matters for player i is the distribution of his score, so we assume he chooses from a given convex set of distributions Fi . We call such games Distribution Ranking Games, and characterise their solution for various classes of the distribution sets Fi , such as distributions with given mean or moment, where we extend a result of Bell and Cove

Dynamics and Topology of Flexible Chains: Knots in Steady Shear Flows

We use numerical simulations of a bead-spring model chain to investigate the evolution of the conformation of long and flexible elastic fibers in a steady shear flow. In particular, for rather open initial configurations, and by varying a dimensionless elastic parameter, we identify two distinct conformational modes with different final size, shape, and orientation. Through further analysis we identify slipknots in the chain. Finally, we provide examples of initial configurations of an "open" trefoil knot that the flow unknots and then knots again, sometimes repeating several times. These changes in topology should be reflected in changes in bulk rheological and/or transport properties.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure

Rebuilding America's Communities: A Federal Community Wealth Building Proposal

Anyone concerned about the state of America's communities today must give serious thought to how public policy can support on-the-ground practitioners. This report from The Democracy Collaborative outlines an ambitious 10-year strategy to meet that goal