Negative Luminescence

The increasingly pervasive phenomenon of light pollution spans several different fields of concern, including the loss of the night sky, energy wastage, and the effects of artificial light on circadian rhythms and nocturnal ecology. Although the scale of the problem has grown significantly in recent decades, the underlying dynamics remain only partially understood beyond the identification of specific technological pathways such as the rise of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or the capitalist transformation of the nocturnal realm. It is suggested that current approaches to the study of light, including the identification of “urban atmospheres,” the elaboration of existing approaches to urban ecology, or the extension of “smart city” type discourses, do not capture the full complexity of the politics of light under late modernity.European Research Counci

Cities in deep time: Bio-diversity, metabolic rift, and the urban question

How should we interpret the relationship between urbanization and the loss of bio-diversity? The discourse of bio-diversity serves as a critical lens through which the accelerating momentum of “metabolic rift” can be explored in relation to contemporary mass extinction. But what is the precise role of cities within what has been referred to as the “sixth extinction” facing the history of the earth? Are cities to be subsumed within a broader environmentalist critique of modernity or can they serve as the focal point for alternative cultural, political, and scientific interventions? This article suggests that the distinction between cities and broader processes of urbanization remains significant for a more critically engaged reading of the politics of the biosphere. Indeed, an over emphasis on “methodological globalism” risks obscuring the differences that matter in the articulation of alternative modernities. In particular, we consider how the relationship between cities and “deep time” can be conceptualized as a focal point for the interpretation of global environmental change

Unintentional landscapes

The presence of ‘unintentional landscapes’ invites reflection on the difficulties in defining marginal or interstitial spaces, or indeed the concept of landscape itself. In some cases, so-called wastelands or terrain vague have been appropriated as spaces of adventure, creativity or discovery. In other cases, these anomalous spaces have been the focus of anxiety or disdain, or simply erased on account of their putative ‘emptiness’ to make way for more lucrative forms of land use. In recent years, however, fragments of spontaneous nature have been incorporated into landscape design, or even mimicked through the adoption of a ‘wasteland aesthetic’. Marginal spaces appear to transcend existing Eurocentric circuits of landscape discourse by offering multiple meanings and manifestations. Indeed, the cultural and scientific interest in these spaces lies precisely in their complexity and uncertainty.Gerda Henkel FoundationThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2016.115606

Reading and Understanding: A Defense of Heideggerian Hermeneutics and Philogy

This paper addresses methodologies espoused by the hermeneutic tradition begun under Martin Heidegger. I argue for the methodologies of Philology, Destruktion and the use of poetic language in order to understand and communicate fundamental truths about Dasein. I demonstrate that these methods provide us, hermeneutically, with a closer and more precise understanding than simple communication in common speech

Les réactions du personnel à l’introduction et à l’utilisation de l’informatique dans les organismes de service social

Les habitudes de travail des différents personnels des organismes de services sociaux sont bouleversées par l'implantation de l'informatique. Même si on est favorable à cette nouvelle technologie, ses bienfaits et son utilité ne sont pas toujours évidents: les employés de soutien ont dû s'initier à de nouvelles méthodes de travail mais ils recueillent le même type d'informations qu'auparavant ; les employés responsables des services à la clientèle ne la trouvent pas pertinente pour l'amélioration des services qu'ils doivent rendre ; les gestionnaires, cependant, l'apprécient lorsqu'ils ont à prendre des décisions administratives

Public ICT Procurement - Maximising Quality Whilst Minimising Risk

The authors have liaised with the UK Government over time to highlight the risks associated with the procurement of ICT systems in the public sector and how they should best be addressed, given its unfortunate history of failed projects and the current systems security agenda. Their focus has been the integral issue of the assurance of software quality. This resulted in their being invited to submit independent “Third Party Guidance” which covers both the available procurement process options and the technical issues and opportunities (drawing on lessons from Industry). The guidance was submitted in February 2013, and after due consideration, it has now been circulated to Government teams that have an interest in this area, including the Government Procurement Service itself. There were two main components to the guidance: Technical aspects and Procurement processes. Technical aspects: There are industrial standards to ensure process quality for both hardware and software. The software component of any system is usually the most problematic, in part because there are a number of different, existing standards. These vary from the largely arbitrary and advisory (e.g. Carnegie Mellon Software Institute’s Capability Maturity Model, Level Five (CMM5)) to the prescriptive (e.g. Avionics’ DO-178b). In addition, the Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) has a range of programming standards, which are adopted worldwide. CMM5 has been used in the procurement of public sector systems, but this falls short of what is required, and so greater emphasis should be placed on the level of criticality involved in systems. There are many causes for problems. Some of these are perceived (e.g. avaricious ICT suppliers fool the naïve civil servants and Government ministers), some are root causes (e.g. changing requirements impacting on bolt-on protective and corrective actions) and some are faulty assumptions (e.g. using tried and trusted systems as the basis for new systems will lead to more reliability). There are potential solutions to the problems facing Government Acquired Software, which have different merits. They include: contractual mechanisms; requirements freeze; wrappers; and agile techniques. Lessons should be learned from industries with consistent, successful records of implementing software systems: Nuclear, Avionics and Telecommunications. Specific ways in which the risks inherent in public sector software-based systems can be reduced were then recommended. Procurement processes: Whilst public procurement processes usually place responsibility for the efficacy of software squarely with the providers, failures still occur. A basic premise in the purchase of any artefact is the balance between price and quality, with the general rule (assumed) that the higher the quality the higher the price. Yet the particular problem for information systems is that there is usually no discernable quality assessment visible to either the purchaser or even the provider. Three options were presented for improving procurement processes to minimise the risks associated with poor-quality software: Accreditation Approach; Consortia Approach; and, Contract Requirement. The latter was recommended as the most practical way forward, which can be quickly acted upon. The ongoing collection and collation of results from related audits can then strengthen Government intelligence

A Bayesian methodology for systemic risk assessment in financial networks

We develop a Bayesian methodology for systemic risk assessment in financial networks such as the interbank market. Nodes represent participants in the network and weighted directed edges represent liabilities. Often, for every participant, only the total liabilities and total assets within this network are observable. However, systemic risk assessment needs the individual liabilities. We propose a model for the individual liabilities, which, following a Bayesian approach, we then condition on the observed total liabilities and assets and, potentially, on certain observed individual liabilities. We construct a Gibbs sampler to generate samples from this conditional distribution. These samples can be used in stress testing, giving probabilities for the outcomes of interest. As one application we derive default probabilities of individual banks and discuss their sensitivity with respect to prior information included to model the network. An R-package implementing the methodology is provided

Compound poisson models for weighted networks with applications in finance

We develop a modelling framework for estimating and predicting weighted network data. The edge weights in weighted networks often arise from aggregating some individual relationships be- tween the nodes. Motivated by this, we introduce a modelling framework for weighted networks based on the compound Poisson distribution. To allow for heterogeneity between the nodes, we use a regression approach for the model parameters. We test the new modelling framework on two types of financial networks: a network of financial institutions in which the edge weights represent exposures from trading Credit Default Swaps and a network of countries in which the edge weights represent cross-border lending. The compound Poisson Gamma distributions with regression fit the data well in both situations. We illustrate how this modelling framework can be used for predicting unobserved edges and their weights in an only partially observed network. This is for example relevant for assessing systemic risk in financial networks