Locations of Practice: The Social Production of Locative Media

Locative media is a descriptive term that designates the artistic deployment of an assemblage of mobile and location aware technologies in the production of site-specific experiences or installations for public spaces. It has been described as a ‘test-category’ or ‘mobile media movement’ through which a wide gamut of individuals and collectives explore the possibilities of emerging mobile and location-based technologies. Underlying theoretical concerns have focused, for instance, on: reconfigurations of understandings and experiences of space; associations with psychogeography; potential for grass roots activist applications; and, the dependency on technological infrastructures associated with power and control. A fundamental tension exists between the tools employed in production, those being commercial technologies, and the rhetoric of locative media practice, which posits these technologies as deployable beyond command and control infrastructures. Concealed within this tension is the manner in which locative media production abuts the commercial uptake of mobile and location-based technologies, and the specific practices that support the appropriation of commercial channels for non-commercial means. This thesis engages with circumstances that enable (or not) locative media production. Locative media is framed as a consequence of social relations, and, as a field of cultural production set within contextual and contingent conditions that circumscribe practice. In focusing on the conditions of production, that is, the processes through which locative media experiences are constructed, I provide site-specific interpretations through two case studies. The analysis elucidates what is not readily apparent in a final aesthetic experience and reveals the conditions and constraints of production, including the manner in which certain practices are legitimized, disavowed and contradicted. The practices to ensue from these particular sites of production are not representative of the entire field of locative media. These engagements articulate specific locations of practice; the physical and symbolic spaces that support the production of locative media, and it is within these spaces of production that practices emerge

Locative-Media Ethics: A Call for Protocols to Guide Interactions of People, Place, and Technologies

Imagine yourself wherever you were 20 years ago, and that an entrepreneurial, fresh-faced, and friendly young newsboy comes to your doorstep. He asks you to subscribe to the local paper. There is no cost to this subscription, he says, but, in exchange for community news, the boy must be allowed to come into your house and look at all of your photos, even the most intimate ones, making duplicates for his boss as he sees fit. As a part of this transaction, he also gets to copy down all of the details from your desk calendar, your Rolodex, your letters, your diary, your to-do lists, your bookcase, your documents from work, anything he comes across that he finds interesting. He gets to follow you around and gather even more information about what you do, where you go, and when. He can do all of this for as long as he wants, in whatever depth he wants, and however he wants, and then can use this information freely for some vague commercial purpose. For just a free subscription, would you have taken this deal

The Impact of an Intervention to Improve Caregiver Contribution to Heart Failure Self-care on Caregiver Anxiety, Depression, Quality of Life, and Sleep

backgroundBetter caregiver contribution to self-care in heart failure is associated with better patient outcomes. however, caregiver contribution to self-care is also associated with high anxiety and depression, poor quality of life, and poor sleep in caregivers. It is still unclear whether interventions that encourage caregivers to contribute more to patient self-care might increase caregivers' anxiety and depression and decrease their quality of life and sleep.objectivethe aim of this study was to assess the impact of a motivational interview intervention aimed at improving caregiver contribution to self-care in heart failure on caregivers' anxiety, depression, quality of life, and sleep. methods this is a secondary outcome analysis of the MOTIVATE-HF trial. patients with heart failure and their caregivers were randomized into arm 1 (motivational interview to patients), arm 2 (motivational interview to patients and caregivers), and arm 3 (standard care). data were collected between June 2014 and october 2018. the article has been prepared following the consolidated standards of reporting Trials checklist. results a sample of 510 patient-caregiver dyads was enrolled. over the year of the study, the levels of anxiety, depression, quality of life, and sleep in caregivers did not significantly change among the 3 arms. conclusions motivational interview aimed at improving caregiver contribution to self-care does not seem to increase caregiver anxiety and depression, nor decrease their quality of life and sleep. thus, such an intervention might be safely delivered to caregivers of patients with heart failure, although further studies are needed to confirm our findings

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

From Data Ethics to Data Justice in/as Pedagogy (Dispatch)

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Out of Site & Out of Mind: Speculative Historiographies of Techno Trash

Out of Site & Out of Mind: Speculative Historiographies of Techno Trash by Mel Hogan and Andrea Zeffiro. Our contribution to the “Aesthetics of Trash” introduces an online participatory storytelling project, Speculative Historiographies of Techno Trash (technotrash.org). In its current iteration, technotrash.org is a website through which we are soliciting and featuring personal written reflections on the consumption and disposal of media technologies. Our project goal is to render the material and immaterial residues generated from of our everyday media practices more visible by accentuating the ecological and ethical dilemmas posed by the production, consumption, and disposal of media technologies