Global Technology Issues Group

Ben's comments for week 10

2005-12-03T21:55:00.000-08:00

To Wendy:

Yup, it looks like I am going to comment on your post again as well. Wess...we don't have much to go by, but anyway I will try.

When I was reading the book I thought about how you were working with the youth in their current situation. I enjoyed reading your story about what you do witht the youth. I know it is a challenge and a joy at the same time. You are investing your time with them and Iknow you are making an impact in their lives whether you think so or not. Not to many people give these youth any time or day and that is just what they need.

You mentioned how over half of these boys did not have fathers growing up and I just have to think how if their fathers were there these boys would probably will not be in the situation they are in right now.

Well, I pray that God will continue to use you to reach out to these boys. You would not believe how much you are impacting their lives.

Wendy's Comments 12-4-05 week 10

2005-12-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

Hi Ben,

Looks like I get to comment on your post again. :-)

I like what you have written here.

You might say I do not want to go to France or God is not calling me to live overseas. Good, because right in our own backyard here in Los Angeles are broken communities that need to see the social gospel. When I say, see the social gospel I do not mean preaching the gospel in the form of evangelism. I am saying living out the gospel so that transformation can happen. When we live out the gospel, we are preaching the gospel.

I know I could go on but I won't unless I get at least ten people to comment telling me to go on. I have just given you a small taste of what our world is really like today. My question to you is what are you as a Jesus-follower going to do about it?

I've been working with incarcerated youth for 4 years now. It's been a life-changing experience for me - deepened my faith and led me to seminary.

I see the limitations of working with youth who have already been incarcerated. I know they are more receptive to the gospel while in prison. But I spent too many years in manufacturing not to know that catching defects in QA is not the way to build a quality product. Better to help create communities where prison is the rare occurance, not a common one.

I've already decided I want to live the gospel. Pray for me, please, so I'll be more clearly able to see what I need to do and then go do it.

Wendy's Synthesis 12-4-05 week 10

2005-12-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

The Weight of the World

Oh my...having read portions of this prior to the riots in Paris made that news more real for me.

But there were two sections that I concentrated on, because they resonated with me personally. I volunteer with Chaplain's Eagles and teach a weekly Bible Study class for incarcerated youth an LA County Probation Camp up in the mountains.

I read "Inside 'The Zone'" about a hustler in an American Black ghetto to help me understand their culture. About half of the boys I work with are African American, mostly gang bangers, either Bloods or Crips. In the article I found some of the details meshed with my experience. They boys greatly respect people who are authentic and "keep it real". They have a sensitive BS radar. They also place a great emphasis on being tough. Of course, they don't always feel tough on the inside and I know that. Sometimes they know I know that.

They all dreams about what they want to be on the outside and sometimes speak of it. But few know how to create a plan to make those dreams a reality. Most want it now - and plans often take years to come to fruition.

There's one section where they talk about Rickey's relationship with women:

...if need be calling to the rescue one of his many lady friends....he takes trouble to maintain "at all costs" these ambiguous relationships that tie him to several women who each believe the she is "the one and only".

That section reminded me of a conversation our class was having about sex, faithfulness and marriage. One of the young men proclaimed "I can't just stay with one girl,you know what I'm sayin'". I looked at him and smiled sweetly and said, "Please don't consider this an insult, but if that's the case you're not worth having". The room erupted in laughter.

The second section I focused on was "Homeless in El Barrio". The other half of the young men I work with are Hispanic. Snippets of this chapter were familiar to me as well.

When Ramon talked about his mother, I recall how often the young men are shamed by how much they have hurt their mother. I watch their faces while they talk to their mother's on the phone in "Intake". There is often a softness, a wistfullness on their faces and in their voices. I sense the love.

Many of the young men are unmarried fathers. It's a sign of manhood there. Their faces soften when they speak of their girlfriends and their kids. It's hard to watch children having children. It's hard to know that their actions are condemning their girlfriends and children to a life of poverty and violence. To walk that fine line of "keeping it real" and telling them what I know to be true, without adding to the shame they already feel. To hate the sin and love the sinner. I'm sorry if this is less of a critique and more of a rant.

On Saturday the 10th there will be an "open house" at the Camps for families. I will be there, to talk to the families. The work I do is frustrating, because regulations state I cannot work "in the field" with these young men as they leave the probation camp. I see the need for those regulations and I know that the work we do is valuable. But perhaps my frustration is a sign that I'm being led to another place. Perhaps it's also God reminding me that His work is not limited by my competence or lack thereof. Thank God for that!

Ben's Synthesis for week10 on The Weight of the World

2005-12-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

This week’s reading was great. The Weight of the World by Pierre Bourdieu was written and put together well. This book was much refreshing compared to the other two. I really enjoyed reading this book and might finish reading the rest of it. Ok, now on to the synthesis. I would say that each story/interview or write up by the various authors was dynamic. I felt that I was right there with the authors as they interviewed people or told their stories. There were so many issues in every interview or story that one could analyze the data through qualitative means and come up with many findings.

I liked reading the chapter titled "The Order of Things" and how the author, Pierre Bourdieu, interviewed the two young men who lived in the projects. As I was reading their conversations during this interview, I noticed many similarities of conversations that I have had with both adults and young people living in poverty or with vary little. It is amazing of how insightful they are to their problems and what goes around them, but all they do is talk about it. They are willing to talk about it to anyone who would listen, but it is just talk. They will most likely do nothing about the situation they are in. Most of what they talk about is the past and dreams of both the past and the future. For example, the two young men kept talking about getting jobs and for the interviewer, he was thinking, "Ok why don't you get jobs?" However, the two young men said all the jobs are two far, no one will hire me because I am Arab, I have no car, the bus doesn't go to such and such a place, etc. Everything these two young men said are true and not true.

I know at one point in their lives they tried at least once, but where rejected because of various factors. Therefore, they just gave up. The system in which they live in does not help them any. There is corruption all over the place. No one in the place they live can really survive to live outside that community. The system does not allow for it. The police just seem to give up on the problems and crimes that go on and if some one gets hurt, it is that persons fault whether or not it is. The system there has brought hopelessness in that community. Instead of people working together everyone keeps to themselves and they all let the problems pass they by.

It is sad, but true. Any attempt to make a better life for one's self goes up in smoke or is rejected. These young men know that there is a better life out there for them and they want it, but their community is holding them back from doing it. This is their home and in a sense of security no matter how bad, it is.

So what? That is the question that is now brought to the table. You might be saying that is a good story, but what does it have to do with me? I am glad you asked. If we as Jesus-Followers want to do any Kingdom building or create social transformation we need to hear more of these stories and then get involved in the lives of these people. You might say I do not want to go to France or God is not calling me to live overseas. Good, because right in our own backyard here in Los Angeles are broken communities that need to see the social gospel. When I say, see the social gospel I do not mean preaching the gospel in the form of evangelism. I am saying living out the gospel so that transformation can happen. When we live out the gospel, we are preaching the gospel.

I know I could go on but I won't unless I get at least ten people to comment telling me to go on. I have just given you a small taste of what our world is really like today. My question to you is what are you as a Jesus-follower going to do about it?

Heeeeeere's Blasco

2005-11-28T10:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted on the book yet... I'll try to do that and comments soon, but I'm buried right now. I have, however, gone through the Wiki and fixed a bunch of formatting problems we were having. So I suppose that's something productive.

Ben's comments for week 9

2005-11-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

To Wendy:

I guess no one else posted except for us so, I guess I will comment on yours. I liked your point of how:

We cannot expect to export our North American version of Protestant Christianity into any other culture without some kind of hybridization occurring. We must pray for the discernment to understand what concepts cannot be altered, what can, and what our culture can learn from the other.

However, I would point out that it is not really our choice what should or should not be altered. I know you were not saying that "we" as westerners are the ones to decide. I just that I would make that clear. We do have to be discerning and be careful that our attitudes, actions, from the western stand point do not influence those in their own country, society, group, etc to the ways of the West, but to take what we bring and be able to adapted it to their own culture. Like you gave the dress for the table cloth.

I am glad and please take no offense that we are all learning to be more culturally sensitive to the cultures around us. I think we as Californians have the greatest advantage because we live in a very diverse society. Well, those are my comments.

Update to Wiki & Podcast stuff

2005-11-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

I updated my portion of the wiki, adding a few hyperlinks.

Also, I am suggesting an eMo for us to use on our podcast. The one I like is on Rosa Parks (Seat on the bus, etc.) Takes about 4 minutes/

Please let me know what you think.

W.

Wendy's Comments 11-26-05

2005-11-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

Well, Ben, it seems I am commenting on your post again. Must be because your schedule allows you to be the first poster during the week and mine allows me to be the second. You write:

The second thing that I found intriguing came from chapter three, which talked about how the high culture turned some things that were popular among the mass culture and made it “unpopular” (Storey 2003:45). An example that came from this chapter was opera and Shakespeare. What was once popular with the mass culture because it was more for entertainment soon became more of an appreciation for the art rather than for entertainment. Again, it was the high culture that controls how culture is done or what it should look like. They took what was popular and cool and transformed it to something that only intellectuals could enjoy and that was culture. Storey defines this period as the “modernism” (Storey 2003:32).

I've lived long enough to see some cyclicial trends in popular culture. Everything from colors (orange was popular in the late 60's and now is popular again) to lifestyles (hipsters were cool in the late 50's and early 60's).

Why even the lava lamp came back.

It is true that the cycles for some things are longer than others. For example, harvest gold has not come back for kitchen appliances yet. But to say that the recent popularity of opera and Shakespeare are a result of the rise of postmodernism may not be the entire story.

Having said this, I just did a postmodern re-mix of visual images and Psalm 104 for my Writings class which totally blows away the original concept of the Psalm. So I may be getting the hang of this postmodern stuff after all. :-)

W.

Wendy's Synthesis 11-26-05 week 9

2005-11-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

In 1957 Freeman Tilden, an American naturalist, wrote,

"Any interpretation that does not somehow relate what is being displayed...to something within the personality or experience of the visitor will be sterile".

It is a basic concept, one of Tilden's Six Principles (similar to the 10 Commandments for Naturalists) that is taught to all Naturalist Interpreters.

How that works can be demonstrated by an example. To "interpretive" the concept of bright colors in flowers, you relate it to how teenage girls shop for prom dresses. Who are the girls trying to attract? Boys. Who are the flowers trying to attract? Insects. Why? hmmm...do I really need to spell it out for you?

How ironic to find Tilden's concept expressed in Story's book, Inventing Popular Culture. He writes:

Globalization is not simply the production of a homogenized American global village in which the particular is washed away by the universal. The process is much more contradictory and complex, involving the ebb and flow of both homogenizing and heterogenizing forces and the meeting and mingling of the "local" and "global". (page 112).

So see the similarity to Tilden concept, let's look at the same example. If you are an Indian multinational, trying to sell dresses in Los Angeles, you coule use the same colorful fabrics used in Saris. But you might modify the design - perhaps creating a peasant skirt. Or you might sell the Sari, but the customer would convert it into a tablecloth or a pillow wrap.

In both cases, the global (principles of angiosperm reproduction and Indian Saris) are adapted to the local (prom dresses and tablecloths). And the local (teenage behavior and peasant skirts) could affect the global (choice of teaching metaphor and choice of importing Sari or skirt).

So what does this have to do with Jesus followers and our Technology Wiki? Two things:

1. We cannot expect to export our North American version of Protestant Christianity into any other culture without some kind of hybridization occurring. We must pray for the discernment to understand what concepts cannot be altered, what can, and what our culture can learn from the other.

2. Technology is a tool for handling information and communications. It will be adapted to meet local needs or it will be sterile. And it works both ways.

For those of you who are visual learners, here are two flower photos for you to demonstrate how the local affects the global. Same flower species (Sacred Datura) - two subtle variations in color pattern and flower shape - two different locations. Local affects global.

Some people make it too easy...

2005-11-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

It's not that I seek out Microsoft-related news to post around here, but they just make it too easy sometimes. This article recounts how they pressured the United Nations to remove language refering to open-source software from a technology-related report. Hooray for convicted monopolists!

Ben's Synthesis for week 9 on Inventing Popular Culture

2005-11-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

Inventing Popular Culture by John Storey was an insightful book. There were a few things that I read that were intriguing to me. The first came from the first chapter, which talked about folk culture. Folk culture came about because American intellectuals too interest in the middle class person and wanted or “demanded” stories and songs from them (Storey 2003:1). Folk culture was more of the intellect and not really for the average person. This was interesting to me because the intellectual only wanted to study the average person and hear the stories and songs from them rather than from the elite or high-class societies. I was thinking what right do these people have to demand such things from the middle class. It seems to me that it is only those who have the power we do the controlling.

The second thing that I found intriguing came from chapter three, which talked about how the high culture turned some things that were popular among the mass culture and made it “unpopular” (Storey 2003:45). An example that came from this chapter was opera and Shakespeare. What was once popular with the mass culture because it was more for entertainment soon became more of an appreciation for the art rather than for entertainment. Again, it was the high culture that controls how culture is done or what it should look like. They took what was popular and cool and transformed it to something that only intellectuals could enjoy and that was culture. Storey defines this period as the “modernism” (Storey 2003:32).

The third thing that I found fascinating is the fifth chapter, which talked about the postmodern culture. It was if the masses, the common, average person was taking back their culture from the modernist and modifying culture. It was if the postmodern person was asking, “Why can’t I enjoy an opera for both art and for entertainment?” Because of this thinking, floods of material on “How to …” books were being written. It was if the information for appreciation and entertainment exploded. What was unpopular was made popular by the postmodern culture. It was giving back the freedom of the average person. It was taking the past and making it cool again.

Finally, the last thing that I found intriguing is the last chapter on the global cultural. Today our culture is all about the world as a whole. The internet, radio, TV, Film, music, magazines, newspapers, Podcasts, and blogs can connect us to the world. We are not as isolated as we where once before. We are forced to stretch our minds to think about what is happening around the world. Storey states:

There is a great temptation to think of the local as authentic and the global as an inauthentic imposition. I think we should be careful avoid romanticizing the local as the organic expression of a more “real” way of life. . . It is as if the local is an authentic folk culture and the global is a homogenizing mass culture. But it is always more complicated than this: the global is always part of the local; the local is what resists the global (Storey 2003:116-117).

Today we cannot separate the two and I can see how frustrated some are when they try too.

Timmy

2005-11-21T21:22:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all. Ok, wow, what a weekend. I'm the biggest nerd alive. I spent 15 hours a GenCon in one day over the weekend! It's big "gaming" convention. That is definitely a culture in itself. It was a lot of fun though.

Ok, more on topic. Wendy I love the outline for the podcast. We're sitting down Tuesday after Thanksgiving to crank it out yeah? It needs to be somewhat "inspirational" I would think since anyone hearing it would need to be inspired to look up more information. This is in contrast to someone who reads the wiki and is on the web already. They have it easy when it comes to looking for more information. Also Wendy, do you mind helping me out a bit more on rewording my section? Your help so far has been great. Thanks!

As far as commenting on blogs, Scott and Ben I definitely resounded with what you each had to say. Ben your breakdown of the different influences of technology described in chapter 5 was very well done. Technology it seems has been influencing us for hundreds of years. You'd think that some day we'd stand up and take notice. I think it's similar to being "one track minded." Like when you hear something but you don't process it because your brain doesn't want to. I think that is what we are doing when it comes to the life of luxury we live in here in America, and the cost it imposes on others around the world. Anyways, that was my thought. Cya in the morning all!

Scott's comments for week 8

2005-11-20T22:15:00.000-08:00

Hmm, lots of good stuff happening here lately...

Ben:
Having read how you agree with me and then your expanded comments on that, now I get to return the favor and agree with you! I was encouraged somewhat by some of the numbers in the Held book regarding developing countries and MNCs, but now having been reading Pieterse, I guess that's put in a different light. The book's talk of "uneven" globalization shed some frustrating and sometimes alarming light on the stratification of trade, FDI, etc. Right in the first chapter already we have this fine quotation: "The personal assets of 385 billionaires in the world now exceed the annual income of countries representing 45 percent of the world population." (13) This is preceded by the ratio of 78 to 1: the ratio of income in the top 20% of the population to that of the bottom 20%. Yow.

Wendy:
I always enjoy your comments, and these ones were typically thought-provoking. I also was attracted to the "boundary fetishism" language--I thought it both funny and apropos. I can't remember where it is in the book, but the author talks about levels of violence in the former Yugoslavia: where mixture (measured by intermarriage) had been highest, violence was lowest; where mixture was relatively low, violence was more common and worse.

You guessed it: I threw my comments on this book in as part of my comments to you both. Sorry if that's cheap, but time is at a premium right now :) I hope in the future I can spend more time more carefully reading this book, as I found it interesting... right now, skimming had to do.

Ben's comments for week 8

2005-11-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

To Scott:

Again for me the central question is how the powerful treat the powerless. There are good things happening for developing nations in the sphere of MNCs, bringing FDI flows into their borders and providing jobs and boosts to their economies as well as influxes of new technologies (p.257). But while MNCs have become more active in some developing countries, others either go mostly untapped or are operated in at a comparative disadvantage, essentially being used for what they can offer with little real return in terms of tangible improvements in their own economies (pps.253-255). This imbalance is troubling, especially as some countries that could most benefit from involvement in global trade (like most African countries) are the ones with the lowest levels of inward FDI.

Scott, I totally agree with you. It is the whole attitude of the rich gets richer and poor get nothing in return. I agree to a certain extent that there are things happening in the developing nations, but I do not believe that enough is being done. It is frustrating to say that no matter how many MNC that do get involved to help it will not be enough. It is our nature that their will always be one or at least one person, on MNC that will not want to cooperate to help improve those developing countries. I wish I had a solution to all of this, but at this point I don't. Steve, our TA in Culture and Transformation is working on his PHD and he is confident that by working with big corporations like EXON and training them to open their eyes to see what their doing is going to hurt their profits in the long run. By training these corporations to be more than sensitive to the developing countries cultures and building trust with the people will corporations like EXON see profits, but the developing country will start to develop, thus eliminating poverty in that developing country. That is one solution and a huge responsibility to uphold. I am not sure I fully agree with Steve, but at least he is not afraid to do something and he has the credibility to work with a big corporation like EXON

To Wendy:

I love the comic. Thanks for the comments as well.

Podcast Outline

2005-11-20T14:42:00.000-08:00

First Draft 11-20-05. Any and all suggestions welcome!

I suggest that we use an interview format and go with the theme:

Digital Communication has created a trans-national "nation" that calls out for the attention and redemptive activity of Jesus followers.

1. What do we mean by digital communication technologies?

2. Why ought Jesus followers be involved?
Dangers of incidental use
Care for the poor
Fulfilling the Great Commision

3. What do we mean by the term incidental use?
What are some of the dangers of incidental use?
What are some guidelines we can use to use technology in a healthful manner?

4. What do we mean by the term digital divide?
How does the digital divide contribute to poverty?
What are people doing right now to bridge the digital divide? What are the
pitfalls of these approaches?
What is the difference between pull and push technology?
Discuss sub$100 laptop and cell phones in light of a push/pull analysis.

5. Discuss why cyberspace is a "nation" that ought to be part of our mission as
Jesus folloers?
Give examples of the current Chruch work in Cyberspace. eg. Beliefnet,
Geranium farm, Christianity Today. Use reading of E-mo from Geranium farm
if we get permission. (I won't be doing a radio spot next Friday, so the
earliest I could get a digital recording would be Dec 2.)
What else ought we be doing?

Scott's Global Transformations Ch.5 analysis

2005-11-20T01:09:00.000-08:00

As I began reading Chapter 5 (Corporate Power and Global Production Networks), I was entertained by a quotation from an Austin Powers movie that found itself bouncing around in my head, Number 2 telling Dr. Evil that "there is no world anymore, there are only corporations." Although Held & Co. would identify that assessment as "hyperglobalist," it seems that they lean much more heavily toward that viewpoint than toward that which they call "skeptical," in which MNCs (Multi-National Corporations) are just a slightly expanded iteration of the same old model of a company working within one primary home base. I was struck by the amount of information they have compiled in this chapter pointing to the immense power over economies and global markets, concentrated in surprisingly few hands.

An early example of this kind of political influence was provided in that of the British East India Company which, while decidedly different from a contemporary MNC, wielded extraordinary power in its sphere (European trade with India... no surprise there). The most surprising part of their story is that, at their height, the BEIC minted its own currency, held its own civil and criminal courts, and maintained its own army (p.239)! Much later, at the dawn of the 20th century early forms of the modern MNC were changing entire economies, both by introducing new products and by exporting production to other countries (p.242). This type of labor export (a form of FDI - Foreign Direct Investment) has only grown in scope and impact, as we have seen recently in the wave-upon-wave of manufacturing, technical, and even service jobs leave the USA for foreign soil--while remaining under the control and in the profit of the same corporations (p.270ff). A particularly germane quotation is found on page 281: "...as the globalization of production transforms the conditions under which wealth is created and distributed, it simultaneously transforms the context in which, and instruments through which, state power and authority are exercised." Page 276 similarly states that "MNCs are transferring abroad jobs and technology, and hence the basis for national prosperity."

Again for me the central question is how the powerful treat the powerless. There are good things happening for developing nations in the sphere of MNCs, bringing FDI flows into their borders and providing jobs and boosts to their economies as well as influxes of new technologies (p.257). But while MNCs have become more active in some developing countries, others either go mostly untapped or are operated in at a comparative disadvantage, essentially being used for what they can offer with little real return in terms of tangible improvements in their own economies (pps.253-255). This imbalance is troubling, especially as some countries that could most benefit from involvement in global trade (like most African countries) are the ones with the lowest levels of inward FDI.

The centrality of international activity to the internal working and overall success of MNCs, and its tremendous influence on global markets and particular governments and economies, make this element of globalization a prime candidate for exegesis of powers, principles, and practices. I agree with Held in the conviction that this is too complex an issue to put to rest as good or bad, and I think that those wishing to emulate Jesus in the world have an important task in mapping the powers MNCs hold in the world, celebrating and encouraging just practices where they are found, and pursuing justice where they are suppressed.

Wendy's Synthesis 11-19-05 week 8

2005-11-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

From Mother Goose and Grimm

1. This cartoon's subject matter raises a question:

Are blogs a cyberspace version of storytelling or are they a means of marking my territory, a cyberspace version of tagging, or are they both?

It's obvious that blogging is storytelling. One look at our introductory blogs is enough to make that point obvious.

But what about the creation of boundaries. How does that fit in with the globalization of culture, which some refer to a hybridization?
Nederveen Pieterse writes in Globalization and Culture (page 101):

Mixing is intrinsic to the evolution of the species.

That is true. But let's take it a bit further. The creation of boundaries is also intrinsic to the evolution of the species. Boundaries provide territories for plants and animals to obtain the resources they need to live and reproduce. Plants create boundaries through alleopathy, the production of chemicals that, in the soil, inhibit the growth of other plants. Animals create boundaries through their urine.

Early humans were territorial for reasons of survival; they could successfully graze and hunt within their territories in part because they were so familiar with them.

Early humans roamed for reasons of survival as well. If a habitat could no longer support them, they left.

So it's not a stretch to say that humans can use cyberspace as a means of creating a territory, like taggers use graffiti, animals use urine and plants use chemicals. It seems to me that Jesus followers can create a location in cyberspace that is their territory yet is open and welcoming to boundary crossers whose current habitat leaves something to be desired.

BTW, I love the term Nederveen Pieterse uses, boundary fetish. I wonder if he understands how animals mark their territorial boundaries as a means of advertising their availability to the opposite sex?

2. The name of this comic strip raises an interesting question: Were folk tales an early form of blogging?

Nederveen Pieterse write in Globalization and Culture (page 100 writes):

We can think of hybridity as layered in history, including precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial layers, each with distinct sets of hybridity.

This makes sense. Some of the bedtime stories I told our daughter came from England by way of Mother Goose and from Germany by way of Grimm's fairy tales. Even sections of our Bible are hybrids; we know that some stories in Genesis are similar to stories from Mesopotamia (Epic of Gilgamesh). We know that sections of Proverbs are similar to the Wisdom literature from Egypt. As Jesus followers, it seems to me that our cyberspace territory should have room for modern stories from various cultures that show God working in our lives.

_________________________________________________________________

Now for a slight change of subject:

Student comments from our presentation last week indicated that they wanted to see more of why Jesus Followers need to be involved in communication technology.

I will address that in the Wiki. But as a rough outline of what I want to add, I have two reasons why we ought to be involved.

First, because the digital divide is a source of inequality that contributes to poverty. We ought to be about caring for the poor. I would prefer to work on providing the tools for people to provide for themselves.

Second, the great commission says go out into the world and make disciples of all the nations. Cyberspace, although not a nation itself, is a trans-national.

Wendy's comments 11-19-05

2005-11-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

In regards to a portion of Ben's commments:

The first of these components was the car industry. The car industry exploded during the post war “boom” (Held, Mcgrew, Glodblatt, and Perraton 1999:262). The car industry in the US and in Europe saw growth and gaining dominance, but it was the Japanese who “made competitive inroads into both the US and European market” (Held, Mcgrew, Glodblatt, and Perraton 1999:262). The reason for their success was a technique known as ‘lean production’, which helped reduced cost and raised the quantity of their products. It also allowed for them being able to introduce their new cars faster. What happened after this was that the US and European started to adopted the same techniques of the Japanese. What is interesting is the dominate Western powers were looking to a developing Asian country in how to develop the car industry. Today Japan is a huge leader in the automobile production market.

Actually, there are two reasons for the initial Japanese success in the automotive industry. "Lean production", also know as "just-in-time" is a combination of two ideas, the first being the successful integration of subcontractors into the production line through geographical proximity (eg. Toyota city) and real-time shared production data (from a robust IT structure).

The second idea is Continuous Process Improvement. Held and McGrew briefly touch on this when they mention continuous product improvements (page 264), but their analysis is imcomplete. Continuous product improvement is a subset of continuous process improvement. Process, in this case, refers to manufacturing processes. Through use of statistical process control (graphing and standard deviation analysis), Ishikawa diagrams (fish-bone diagrams) and Pareto analysis (the 80:20 rule), responsibility for improvement becomes egalitarian at the worker level, rather than hierarchical. It is through the improvement of manufacturing processes (including product improvements) that manufacturing costs are reduced while product features are upgraded. This gave the Japanese auto manufacturers a competitive edge that allowed them to flourish.

By the way, I have seldom read a more mind-numbing book than Global Transformation. The authors never met a TLA* they didn't like.

_____________________________________________
*Three Letter Acronym. Not to be confused with FLA.

Ben's Synthesis for Week 8 looking at Chapter 5 of Global Transformation

2005-11-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

This week’s reading in Global Transformations was bringing out a weakness of mine. When it comes to economics, finance, production, corporations, etc. I get totally lost. I felt like I was wading in a pool of thick mud trying to make sense of this chapter on “Corporate Power and Global Production Networks”. Try as I did there was one section of this chapter that I could make sense from and that was the part on Global production networks: sectoral comparisons, which had to deal with four components.

The first of these components was the car industry. The car industry exploded during the post war “boom” (Held, Mcgrew, Glodblatt, and Perraton 1999:262). The car industry in the US and in Europe saw growth and gaining dominance, but it was the Japanese who “made competitive inroads into both the US and European market” (Held, Mcgrew, Glodblatt, and Perraton 1999:262). The reason for their success was a technique known as ‘lean production’, which helped reduced cost and raised the quantity of their products. It also allowed for them being able to introduce their new cars faster. What happened after this was that the US and European started to adopted the same techniques of the Japanese. What is interesting is the dominate Western powers were looking to a developing Asian country in how to develop the car industry. Today Japan is a huge leader in the automobile production market.

The second component is the electronics industry. This industry started out to be the same where the US and Europe powers were dominate during the post war era, but soon the East Asian market began to be a contributing factor. Both the US and East Asian corporations where exporting more of their product to other regions. At first, the US looked to Europe to be the partner source for manufacturing, but regions such as East Asia and Latin America became more viable. Today many corporations are outsourcing to countries like China, India, and parts of South East Asia. The cost for these corporations to outsource is cheaper, but it also affects the US economy by taking away jobs in the US.

The third component is the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Production in this area began before the first World War, however after the Second World War there was a “intense global competition” (Held, Mcgrew, Glodblatt, and Perraton 1999:265). Multinational production is more common in this field because of markets all over the world are in heavy demand. From the most part I see that this area is where more regions are working or trying to work together.

Finally, the last component is the textile and clothing industries. This industry is all over the global, but main in developing countries. There is a lot of subcontracting to independent firms through out North Africa, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Latin America, and East Asia. Again more dominate regions are outsourcing or having their products made and manufactured in developing countries like East Asia and China who have become a “key global supplier” (Held, Mcgrew, Glodblatt, and Perraton 1999:267). The problem that I have with this is that these regions are using cheap labor to make a profit. A small percentage of the profit actually goes to the people who make and manufacture the product. The aspect of corruption is ever present in places like these.

So what can Jesus- Followers do in regards to the aspect of abuse of labor in these developing countries? What should our role be? These are questions that we must look into deeply.

Works Cited

Held, David. 1999. Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

Tim's 2 cents

2005-11-14T02:01:00.000-08:00

I totally agree with Scott and Ben's take on technologies opportunities to create a positive enviroment of global finance. To empower those who are under hardship is an important goal as Christians in general. I do wonder however what you guys think of when you think of improving these countries' financial situations. I remember when we went to Wendy's for dinner and to work on the wiki we talked about how often we don't really see what people need where they are at. We can't relate to their culture, their circumstances, and their outlook on life all the time. So we end up looking at these situations, putting ourselves in their place, and asking ourselves, "what would I want/need in that situation?" So we come at it from a very slanted capitolist view. I wonder if it possible to bring technology to countries without bringing capitolism. Or maybe to bring it without western culture.

So far I am not sure bringing technology can come without capitolism. It is an inevitable result of connecting an outlying culture with a world who is constantly on the go, competeing, and trying to step on each other to get to the top. Quite the interesting dilemna. I'm gonna sleep on this and read some more and get back with any other thoughts I have.

Scott's comments for week 7

2005-11-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

I've decided not to actually post all of my analysis here, because it's fairly long and I didn't want to take up a huge chunk of space when you can just read it right on my blog. Note that analysis of chapters 3 & 4 are separate, and that chapters 1 & 2 appear between them.

In response to your ch.3&4 analysis, Ben, I think you have some interesting things there. In particular I find it interesting the different ways we see the quickly shifting nature of international finance and technology: as in many of your posts, you acknowledge the flaws but still retain a strong measure of optimism. In contrast, I think I tend to be more cynical about the potential for change, and that works against me. Thank you for your example, it's one I need to continually try to follow (my wife would heartily agree).

I also was struck by your call to wise investment by followers of Jesus as a means of effecting change globally; "Smart investments are not just about money, but empowering others who do not have the means to invest." What a powerful statement, and one we should be taking to heart and to pocketbook. That statement disarmed the one challenge I had for you, which was your statement that "It is just one simple click of a button and you are connected to the whole world," to which I was going to reply that it is only so for those who are already blessed with machines with buttons to click. It brings to mind the Global Health Concerns group's emphasis on microfinance, and its possibility to do a lot of good for "the least" of world economies.

Scott's (late) week 6 comments

2005-11-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

Ben said: "Technology as I can see played a huge factor in the rise of some territories, mainly the western societies, and the fall of others. I am not saying that technology is bad or good. We must be careful of how we use technology."

I think that's an important idea to keep in mind. We have seen how the sub-$100 laptop idea is probably not great for many developing countries, at least not right now, but as a technology it is neutral: potentially good given the right circumstances, and potentially destructive in others. At the same time, we seem to be coming to a consensus that those same developing nations are ripe for mobile phone technology to help them grow their communications, their markets, their independence, and their power for self-governance.

This ties into what Wendy said regarding the internet in general, that it is a powerful communications portal that can be and is used for purposes good and bad. Wendy, you also said about content control: "But eventually I think there will be governmental attempts to assert control over access and content (eg. send in the Sherriff). The question in my mind is what that control will look like."

We can see what that looks like already in a number of instances. The biggest at this point is China's control over content accessible to its people; in this case, we can even see how Western corporations can enable this kind of censorship, with Yahoo! actually cooperating with the Chinese government to track down violators. As far as powers and practices go, how should we read this kind of thing? Certainly Yahoo! wants to do business everywhere possible, but should it knowingly contribute to the power of oppressive regimes in order to do so? If they had refused to work with China, there's a good possibility that they would have been blocked from being accessed in the country at all. But having done so, they have set a precedent that human rights abuse does not necessarily trump business as usual. This ties in to my own Ch.1-2 analysis relating to organized violence and our own complicity/contribution to destructive corrupted powers in various parts of the world. A critical look at our actions in the world have to take these problems into consideration: how do we emulate Christ? Probably not by selling out a political dissident to a repressive regime. Probably not by building and supporting other corrupt regimes in other countries in order to serve our own short-term interests. But these structures at work are larger than us; how do we work on them?

Scott's (late) week 6 work

2005-11-13T19:57:00.000-08:00

Hey group: sorry I'm late getting all this up. It's been a rough couple of weeks, but I'm just about caught up for this class now, and will be by the end of the night. Here's my analysis of Global Transformations chapters 1 and 2, however. Comments forthcoming. Enjoy!

***
Chapter One follows the broad strokes of civilizational evolution bringing us up to our contemporary era. Two particular points that I found interesting were the nature of imperial systems through time (and the similarities to some current systems), and the continual tension between sovereignty and international law.

I was struck at the very outset of the chapter, talking about early imperial systems (such as in China and Rome), by how the workings of these empires were actually much looser than I had believed to be the case. The centralized ruler and military were not as all-encroaching as I expected, and I was intrigued by how many times regional governments would be left in place and simply regulated. The European "society of states" (p.37) follows this idea into a looser and decentralized form where each territory or state remains simultaneously sovereign for the most part and at least somewhat accountable in a practical sense to their neighbors through diplomacy and threat of violence. The lack of centrality is of course a huge difference here, as each state looks after its own interests, but in terms of respect for order amongst the more powerful states their diplomatic relations may resemble a sort of imperial model, especially as regarding shared goals and threats. I find it interesting how much the British empire, and to a looser extent the current American "empire" (fair use of the word, I suppose, as more and more people in Washington are starting to use it themselves), resemble a throwback to early imperial systems. Our and Britain's military dominance worldwide is/was not so much established explicitly as a mechanism of control over foreign states as of security (in our case rooted in the Cold War), but I think outside of the dominant country the understanding is quite clear that the power is not yours, that you are to a greater or lesser degree a subject of the more powerful state already diplomatically within your borders.

This of course leads directly into Chapter Two, which deals explicitly with global violence as a means of control, a source of immense conflict, and recently to some degree a machine of a twisted sort unification--take, for example, the "Mutually Assured Destruction" of the Cold-War era, which by reminding us that we could all quite easily be vaporized served to prevent such an occurrence from happening in our mutual but one-sided commitment to keeping ourselves alive. This kind of globalizing violence stands in rather stark relief to older patterns, where there wasn't equality of means or even of will. Page 90 references the Spanish "Christian" wars wherein their violent means were put to use in exterminating the other, with no possibility of retribution. The Spaniards in this example had no worries about survival, whereas their targets' only hopes to do so lay in capitulating to their invaders demands. How odd that the spread of capacity for violence could serve to equalize. How sad that our history of discovery and exploration was so intimately tied to our fear of otherness, to our willingness (and sometimes eagerness) to eradicate it in some kind of mass Hegelian orgy of self-affirmation.

Interesting in all of this is how globalization of trade has made it all but impossible to remain neutral in military conflicts, and to some extent makes some states party to the wrongs of others with whom they have traded perhaps less-than-responsibly (pps 103-107, 117). With the US as the dominant exporter of arms for the majority of the last 50 years, that should give us pause as we look to see where the military capacity of violent states comes from. Many would basically fall back on "it's just business" as an excuse, but business that enables mass violations of human rights and the deaths of millions of people should be questioned. The new structure of organized violence since the end of the Cold War puts us decidedly at the top of the heap, and if we indeed believe in freedom and democracy and all the good warm-fuzzies we endorse, perhaps we should be leading a global reevaluation of violence rather than simply trying to cement our position of dominance.

Ben's comments for week 7

2005-11-13T17:58:00.000-08:00

Scott,

I totally agree with you when I was reading this chapter of how "easily the disadvantaged can be pushed aside in this kind of system." The charts and tables that chapter three had only about five major nations listed. That is not free trade. It is five nations ruling the world. They are not letting the other developing countries be able to make any contributions.

Africa is slowly developing and when it is fully developed which I do not think will be long they will be a major player in this free trade issue.

Speaking of developing, the cellphone seem to be more viable in Africa than the sub-$100 laptop. Africans from farmers to zoologist are using the cellphone to conduct business, banking, and tracking elephants. A simple device is now being able to connect so many both locally, nationally, and hopefully globally.

I think the main issue that will hinder the process of this technology and even the sub-$100 laptop is the nations corruption. The corruption needs to stop. Once that stops then the poor can rise up.

I think that is something we also need to think about when we finalize our wiki. I know we have briefly talked about it. Corruption plays a huge part in how technology will help people. Even if the technology is thought out to help a people and preserve their culture or is even culture sensitive, there is always one person or group of people that will misuse the technology. I hope that Jesus-followers can induce change by showing how a useful technology can be use for good. The more that Jesus-Followers take a active stand on good use of technology will be a part in stopping the corruption behind it.

I also agree with you that the language of this book is very dry.

Sunday, November 13, 2005 4:58:19 PM

Ben's Synthesis for Week 7 looking at Chapters 3 and 4 of Global Transformations

2005-11-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

Now I am not into financing and trading, but I am not ignorant to the fact that it exists and plays a huge factor in globalization. However reading the chapters on trading and financial globalization it interesting to see how historical this issue has developed. It started with the Pre-Industrial Revolution, moved to the Classical Gold Standard, to the Bretton Woods period, and to Contemporary period where we are now. It is interesting to see how starting with small states trading back and forth with each other the resources needed to develop to now with computer technology connecting not just households to other households, but individuals to the rest of the world globally.

I found it interesting how European banks surfaced and when they started to generate money how they would lend it out instead of converting the money to national currency. Thus, the name “Eurodollar” came about. Now instead of local investing as what was done before. National and Global investing, lending out money was capable. Those who had money could now invest or do business in other places.

I was also intrigued how just by one statement or declaration moved the Bretton Woods period into the contemporary period. When President Nixon, in August of 1971, declared that the dollar would no longer be freely convertible to Gold, it not only ended fixed exchanged rates, but also transformed the world. His decision effected how doing “business” was done.

As I look at this, I see a pattern. I do not see radical transformation happen at a Macro level, but starting at a Micro level. I see it starting with individuals, then with groups or tribes, then slowly emerging between societies, then states, then countries, and then nations. This also did not happen overnight be it was accelerated as new forms of technology, especially in communication began to connect people from all over.

Technology has changed how we do things even today. People now can bank on online. People can buy food and clothing online. People can trade online. People can do business either locally in State or country or globally with other countries and even nations. It is just one simple click of a button and you are connected to the whole world.

But can Jesus-Followers produce change or transformation today? Yes, they can, but how? One way is by making smart investments. Smart investments are not just about money, but empowering others who do not have the means to invest. We need to do our research so that as we aim for transformation we are still considerate of others and their culture. Just like Nixon though not a strong example, but an adequate one moved the world from one period to another with just a declaration, we too as Jesus-Followers can do the same. As Paul R. (Bobby) Gupta said:

…lets not be traditional…let’s not get institutionalized…let us be dynamically powerfully present in the realization that we have a powerful God who is working through political movements and in times of eras and history of the world. And we must remain continuously dynamic so that God is taking us and he is releasing us and using us in the most powerful ways contemporary and contextual to the peoples that we are working with so that the world can be reach for the gospel of Jesus Christ….[1]

[1] This quote was taken from Paul R. (Bobby) Gupta at SIS 40^th anniversary chapel during the on November 9, 2005 at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.

Links

2005-11-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hey guys. In the meeting during class I recommended some links. Here they are.

http://www.nooma.com - A site of short films done by Rob Bell. AMAZING communicator.

http://www.mhbcmi.org - Rob Bell's Church site. You can download his sermons if you wish for free.

http://www.damah.com - A very intriguing "spiritual" film festival. You'll wanna check it out.

Thanks for everything. I'll bring some NOOMA to class Thursday for you to borrow.

Ministry to Ministers

2005-11-07T01:09:00.000-08:00

Hey guys. Ok I totally forgot to mention this when we all met together for dinner and wiki work tonight. (GREAT meeting by the way. Thank you to all of you) This link, http://www.techteam.org/ is to an organization who uses their knowledge of "technology" to help other ministries out that are working with developing countries. One thing is for sure, there are a lot of ministries out there to all sorts of aspects of justice and redemption around the world. Many of these topics don't need more ministries spreading the resources, but they need to band together and work together to defeat the challenges before them. So I think that for this tech group to dedicate themselves to helping these ministries out is amazing. Very humble in that it's a very "behind the scenes" sort of job to offer. It's almost like, "Let us build up your ministry for you."

Anyways, I hadn't thought of doing that when we talked about imagination tonight. It's great to have technology available to ministries themselves, as well as to the natives of developing countries. For instance, when it comes even to the sub 100 laptop. What if they were provided, one to each volunteer worker at Bread for the World or other such programs. That could possibly help them network and work together more efficiantly and effectively. While in the field. Anyways, that's a thought that I may incorporate into my section (5: How Christians can respond NOW). Let me know if you have any other ideas. Thanks again.

Ben's comments for week 6

2005-11-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

To Wendy:

Interesting synthesis. I like the part where you talked about communication and identity thief. That is a great concern as we continue to balance out how technology is used. There will always be those who use technology to help benifit others, but unfortunately there are those who use the technology we have to for negative purposes. I just read a chapter form the book Culture Matters : How Values Shape Human Progress by Samuel Huntington and Lawrence E. Harrison where it talks about how corruption effects cultural. There were two theories why corruption exists in societies today and one was called Merton's means-end theory. This simple means some groups within a society through a variety of reasons can gain achievement mainly through economic and social means, but those who cannot gain achievement or feel a certain pressure to gain achievement break the rules in order to become successful.

So those who do try to steal others identity through illegal means by using the technology we have today is a good example of Merton's means-end theory.

I guess this is something to think about how corruption will play a part even when new technology comes our way.

Wendy's Synthesis 11-3-05

2005-11-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

Global Transformations
Chapter 1, from Empires to modern Nation-States
Reference page 59, formation of International Telegraph Union in 1865.

140 years ago, an international organization was developed to organize the technical framework for telegraph communications between countries. The goal was to streamline the process by creating a set of agreed-upon rules. As new technologies developed and the the number of users and amount of activity increased, this function has become more complex and more necessary. The old ITU has morphed into the International Telecommunications Union.

In 1865 it was possible for individual nation-states to control access to the communications portals. As the number and type of communication options grew, nations developed new controls focused less on access and more on content (eg. the FCC in the US). With the advent of the internet, this control over content has all but disappeared. The internet is now the technological equivalent of the Wild West. Identity thieves are the new bank robbers. Spam announcing new low prices on prescription Viagra are the new Snake Oil Salesmen.

This new technology provides Jesus followers with new opportunities. For example, it allows access to geopgraphical areas that were previously closed to us. It also allows communication between groups of Christians (imagine disciples in Phillipi and Corinth IM'ing each other). It also allows the creation of cyber communities that are not physically in close proximity (although I'm not convinced yet how effective these will be. And it allows new forms of abiding "in the word" (such as this blog).

But eventually I think there will be governmental attempts to assert control over access and content (eg. send in the Sherriff). The question in my mind is what that control will look like.

Ben's Synthesis for Week 6

2005-11-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

This week our class had to read chapters one and one from the book Global Transformations:Politics, Economics and Culture by David Held, Anthony G. McGrew, David Goldblatt, Jonathan Perraton. Chapter one was called “The territorial State and Global Politics”. At first I thought how boring, but this chapter opened up some cool issues in regards to how territorial states form and even how global politics came about. You know what was one of the key factors of territorial states and global politics, it was the Chinese (well ok I am a little bias here), no it was the technology that Chinese came up with. What was this technology? It was the invention of ocean fleets (Held, McGrew, Goldblatt, and Perraton 1991:33). The invention of ocean fleets allowed the Chinese to do trading with other territories. When the some countries like Spain, Portugal, and eventually the Britain picked up on this technology and helped improved it.

Before many territories (now are called countries), where either run in two ways. They were run imperialistically, mean one main ruler ruling the whole territory or the territory run by divided authority, which were under one big authority and this, was called Absolutism. So when these territories under absolutism began to use ocean fleets they could go by sea or ocean to one territory to another trading with them. Territories that were close to each other also began to trade or exchange resources over land. This became the Interstate system and “technological innovation became a dominant political force” (Held, McGrew, Goldblatt, and Perraton 1991:36).

This meant ships began to run faster and the nineteenth century a time of international order and industrial capitalism. Global politics soon followed as countries formed and exchanging resources continued. The technology of communication began to connect these countries together, which is called internationalization.

This chapter dealt with military power and how it has been a dominate factor to territorial expansion. Military power only gave strength to certain territories because of technology. There were several forms of technology that gave strength and power to one territory over another. Some of the technologies included navigational technology (ships could travel farther and faster), defensive technology (construction of fortresses), offensive technology (attacking techniques), gunpowder, steamships, railroads, breech-loading rifle, the Gatling gun, gunboats, and machine guns.

Technology as I can see played a huge factor in the rise of some territories, mainly the western societies, and the fall of others. I am not saying that technology is bad or good. We must be careful of how we use technology. Technology today is changing cultures, but it is also destroying cultures. What should our role be as Jesus-Followers in regards to technology? That is something that our techi group is trying to work out. I just mapped out how technological advancement has made our world as it is today.

Works Cited

Held, David. 1999. Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

Wendy's Comments 10-31-05

2005-10-31T06:16:00.000-08:00

Britta,

Yes, it does seem like we are have been going down a broad road that has turned int a meandering cowpath, complete with cowpies. I feel a bit embarassed. But so be it. Sometimes you have to see what isn't working before you can see what is. Even if our wiki does no more than identify what isn't working, that will still be a useful contribution.

The Simputer is slowing starting to work because it's moving away from a push to a pull demand - from what I think you need to a meeting a bonefide business need - traffic cops in Bangladore, miners transporting ore. Just like the Kenyans in the Spiegal article are selling donated clothes for a profit on e-bay, people find a way to use things in order to making a living.

I think what this means for our group is that we need to explore other options, either (1) building local community via technology, (2) content for the technology already out there or (3) a critical look at how merely pushing technology is not productive, either in a business sense or in the Kingdom of God. After all, didn't Jesus say the Kingdom is like a lost coin; you have to search for it. Someone doen't just give it to you. Sounds like pull versus push technology to me.

Comments a'la Britta, week five

2005-10-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

Well guys, this has been a little bit of a downer week. I feel like there have been quite a few blows to our "master plan" of sub-$100 laptop distribution. Wendy, thank you for your research on the customer service/repair topic. Maybe we'll find some more info somewhere, but if that info is not easily available at this point, then its most likely not very helpful to people learning how to use computers. And Ben, I think you hit on something in your analysis of Ubuntu: that it's about building community, not just building skills or creating access without focus. I think that the spread of the kingdom of G-d is far greater served by the building of community than anything else we could hope to share with another people.

Now, if anybody in this group has not read Spiegel's interview with the Kenyan libertarian economist James Shikwati,(#7 on Scott's week 5 resources), please read it. I beg you. While I'm not at all certain that free trade capitalism is the way to go, in Africa or anywhere else, I cannot ignore his perspective. I have begun to wonder: what is it that we CAN do to help anyone? Do developing countries need our help, or is our help really a destructive force?

This question, and not even a conclusion on my part, further cements the conviction I have been cultivating this quarter: that global change begins here, with the transformation of our own local communities. How on earth can we expect to know what transformation looks like unless we see it in our context? How are we to recognize the pattern of resurrection and wholeness if we have nothing of the pattern at home? I am not at all for an "it's all about us" stance. G-d forbid we turn back into the cowardice of isolationism. But I think we need to be alert to what might cross our path in the global village while working to reshape our local one.

This week has been troubling, but I believe it's made me think even deeper about the issues we face in this group.

Ben's comments for Week 5

2005-10-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

To Britta:

The use of internet and use of other blogging sites such as myspace is definitely a great way to connect people both in the micro and macro setting. I just set up an account with myspace because the youth group I work with use it and now I can connect to their lives and they can connect to me. My other youth group uses xanga.com and that is how I can connect with them. It would be a interesting study on which ethnic groups or nationalities use what because I have two different ethnic groups using two different services.

In addition to myspace, I have seen bands both religous and non-relgious use myspace to connect with their fans all around the world. I think that this class next time should use myspace because there are a lot more features and it is also easier to see the comments.

To Wendy:

Good job on doing futher research on the sub-$100 laptop. Yes their is only one company that has a close to sub $100 laptop, but the article I posted is on a laptop in the making. We shall see how that one goes.

Hopefully, I will have more to add.

Synthesis: week 5 of 10

2005-10-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

I think the religious community has greatly underestimated the possible use of the internet as a site of community formation, or even spiritual formation. By the way, I use “community formation” to mean something akin to “teambuilding,” or “getting to know each other well.” By “spiritual formation,” I mean the act of nurturing and developing the spiritual practice of a community and individuals. These are not always opposite tasks, but it’s a helpful distinction for this discussion. This week, I chose to look at community-building connections with a primarily local focus in mind. Many of my sources are in Los Angeles, but I also looked to models I found in other cities that might also prove helpful.

Now, I’m going to hearken back to Marshall McLuhan for a minute here. He describes technology, the tools we create for our use, as extensions of ourselves. I tend to think of technology as the extensions of both parts of our physical body (ex: the cell phone is a portable extension of the ear and the mouth, so that we can talk to people over longer distances than is naturally possible) and our psyche/non-physical capacities (ex: in the film Fight Club, Tyler Durdon [as played by Ed Norton] creates Brad Pitt’s character as an extension of his own psyche in order to express what he cannot express naturally). The internet, amongst other things, is an extension of our physical presence, of our physical storage space. Virtual space does not replace physical space, but it does extend it/prolong it/possibly deepen it. This creates the renewed possibility of a Jesus-following community in constant contact with one another, even if we can’t always be in the same neighborhood.

So, my sources this week were quite interesting. My first favorite is the group of Los Angeles Linux users who have created even further localized email groups. The fact that accessibility to open source software isn’t simply being approached as a global issue, or even as a “developing world” issue, but as a local issue ought to tell us a couple things: a) open source software is appealing beyond the fact that it happens to be free (i.e. adaptable, fewer copyright worries, etc); b) Los Angeles might just have a lot of people who are stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide; and c) the use of software that doesn’t depend on major corporations, or on anybody’s profit, might just be a matter of sustainable living and a step into justice for the many, and not just for those immediately present. Great that someone is thinking and acting through this worldview.

Onto local community connection: nycbloggers.com. This fabulous site lists bloggers by subway stop, contextualizing individual blogs into their immediate neighborhoods. Not only can people find other bloggers, but others can get a distinct, mosaic-like picture of various neighborhoods within larger communities. A neighborhood can become more connected, and possibly more honest (through the promise of anonymity), when it is treated as truly particular and given a means to communicate in this particularity. Myspace.com creates a readymade forum for this sort of template through its “group” functions. You can search by zipcode, at the very least, and you can also create groups around shared interest.

I also find this group of Livejournal users in Bangalore, India rather interesting. They use this page not only as a connection point for local people, but also as an easy gateway for fellow livejournal users who are new to town or who might be visiting: “We have irregular meetings every few days; larger meetings often happen when a LiveJournal user from out of town is visiting.” This is a use of the internet as a means to construct an unofficial “virtual city gate”: a place dedicated to the discussion of current events and issues; intellectual debate; and the place to welcome and acquaint oneself with the stranger.

As Jesus-followers, we could use myspace as a tool to connect, and help better connect, existing religious communities. Having full profiles up, that give pictures of our lives, talk about interests, provide each member with a built-in blog, I also think we could use our existing and future websites with more of this city gate model, as opposed to the desperate “pick me! pick me!” advertising mentality, or the pathetic “are you good enough to get to heaven?” moralizing approach, both of which are so pervasive these days. I’m also convinced that there are other uses for the net that we haven’t even realized yet, and I think Jesus-following communities need to experiment with the use of the internet as spiritual formation. Could the use of the internet become a spiritual practice?

Will probably post more on this last topic, either this week or next…

Dinner Invite

2005-10-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

We spoke earlier about meeting at my house on Sunday night at 6:30, Nov 6 for dinner and a work session. Spouses are invited too, although we will be working afterwards.

My husband Hugh offered to bar-b-que a chicken and I can bake a loaf of bread. People have already offered to bring side dishes and we welcome all offers; just let us know in advance so we make sure we have enough of everything.

Please RSVP by e-mail or when we meet next Tuesday.

Here's how to get to our place at 24000 Bridgeport Lane, Unit 61, Valencia, 91355:

From Pasadena
Take the 210 west to I-5
Take I-5 north (right) to Magic Mountain Parkway
Take Magic Mountain Parkway east (right) 1 mile to McBean Parkway
Take McBean Parkway north (left turn) 3/4 mile to Bridgeport Lane (first stoplight over bridge).
Take Bridgeport Lane east (right turn) and go 1 block to round-about.
Go through round-about and bear right.
Take first driveway entrance to right and go behind first row of townhouses (our row) to parking lot along river.
Our unit is #61, near the driveway entrance to Bridgeport Lane.

If you get lost, call 661-305-6188 for directions. Travel time from Fuller is 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on traffic.

Synthesis 10-29-05

2005-10-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

My goal this week was to take a look at the roll-out schedule of a sub$100 laptop to see how the issues of customer service and technical support would be addressed. I looked at what is currently in production or out in the field for ideas.

I looked at three types of machines, their target market and product availability:

Nivo Target market: internet cafes, school sites Roll out TBD
Simputer Target market: individuals Roll out Mar 2004
$100 laptop Target market: students(children) and teachers Roll out Q4 2006 Q1 2007

I found a disconnect between the engineering/marketing/product-development people and the manufacturing/distribution/customer-support people.

The only machine in the field right now is the Simputer.

Pilot production of the Simputer started in September 2002. From 2004 onwards it was commercially available for $240 and up. Recently, prices have been reduced (owing to higher production volumes) to between $ 130 and $260, depending on screen size and type (monochrome or colour).

By 2005, sales of Simputers have failed to live up to the ambitious goal; only 4000 Simputers have sold while the initial expectation was the sale of 50,000 units. [1] Some suspect that this may be due to the price of ordinary PC laptops dropping to the point at which the Simputer loses its price competitiveness. Another reason could be that the poor have no need of computers before their basic needs (such as electricity) are met. Another reason is because prices are higher than were expected because there was a lack of purchasing by the Indian government and NGOs, possibly due to politics as outlined in this email on the Digital Divide mailing list.

It is a common mis-conception that the Simputer was designed to bridge the financial divide. It was not meant as a computer for the poor. The main intention is to bridge the digital divide. It has been used in many rural projects in the states of Karnataka and Chhattisgarh in India.

The year 2005, however, has seen these powerful and flexible devices being used in a variety of innovative and interesting applications, ranging from automobile engine diagnostics (Mahindra & Mahindra, Mumbai), iron-ore movement tracking from mine pithead to shipping point (Dempo, Goa), etc., to Microcredit (Sanghamitra, Mysore), Electronic Money Transfer between UK and Ghana (XK8 Systems, Kenya), etc., and seem poised for large-scale deployment in many other applications as well.

I have not found any articles or discussion on how these tools will be maintained, fixed or upgraded. The one site I found on the Simputer, is rather rudimentary.

This need to be addressed now, and not as an ad hoc afterthought, in order for the product to be successful.

This also tells me that as Jesus Followers, our energies should be focused on websites and e-mail as a means of evangalism. That way, we are not dependent on the success or failure of specific hardware platforms.

To lighten our weekend with a little humor.

2005-10-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Tech Support

Homebuilders Division.

Heaven on Earth Corporation

ATTENTION: Tech Support In-Charge

RE: INSTALLING HUSBAND 1.0

Dear Customer Support,

Recently, I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance -- particularly in the flower and dating applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 3.0. as well as Office Overtime 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and House cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,

New Home User

=======REPLY FROM TECH SUPPORT =======

Dear New User :

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Please enter the command: "http:// I truly Loved You.html" and try to download Dialogue 6.2 and don't forget to install the Prayer 3. 0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Love You, Too 2.0 and Kisses 3.5.

But remember, run daily the above application otherwise Husband 1.0 can default to Grumpy Silence 2.5. Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.1 or Selfish Me 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background, that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).

Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited capabilities and memory. It needs supernatural inteligence such God's Word - Holy Spirit Final Edition as it cannot learn new applications without this add-ons. You might consider implementing the required software for improved memory and performance. We recommend Lots of Understanding 9.0, Tender Loving Care 3.0 and Trust 7.7.

Do attend the valuable support events for this new system you are using - "WEEKEND TO REMEMBER" or "I STILL DO" near you. Better yet, join the HOMEBUILDERS GROUPS for regular critical discussion with similar users for encouragement and unending opportunities for learning.

Sincerely working towards a "Heaven on Earth" Design System,

Tech Support
HomeBuilders Division

adapted for the Homebuilders Division

Heaven on Earth Corp.

Ben's Synthesis for Week 5

2005-10-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my resource blog that this will be the last week for our internet research on resources for our sub $100 laptop. I thought what should I research. What would help enhance this laptop to developing countries? I realized that software is needed to run and even operate such a piece of technology. In developing countries, even here at Fuller many of us cannot afford to purchase software and good software at that. Sure, some computers have bundled software, but it is usually the barebones. If one had to go out and buy just the necessary software to do the basic things such as word processing, spreadsheets, and even create presentation slides. It would probably cost more money than the computer I bought. If I want to buy photo-editing software that would be very expensive. I know Scott, the other techi in our group was looking into open source stuff and so I thought what free software could I find that would just give me the basics to operate and use on a laptop computer.

For me, I was not surprise on how much free software one could get, but I was surprised that there are some free software that is almost equivalent or maybe better than the main stream software that is out their. What puts the icing on the cake is that the software I found is free and you can make duplicates, you can even modify the software to meet your needs if you know how too. It was all there in cyberspace.

I will not repeat what I put in the resources for this week because you can check out which software you may or may not want to use. It is really up to you. My challenge to you and to Jesus-Follows is to at least try this free stuff and see if you like it over the regular software you buy. Do not be ignorant and refuse to use something that does not have a price tag on it. Why do you think there is a shift or has been a shift on how some Jesus-Followers see church or view church? In fact there are Jesus-followers who do not see a church in the community, but a community I would say building the Kingdom of God. In all this I am referring to the lecture, we had today in class about having a missiological approach to Kingdom building in the western context. It is not about how can we invite people to our church it is more about where are the people at.

I want to focus on one site that I visited in which I thought they have something going here in regards to technology or the technology they have created. The site is Ubuntu. On their site they posted what Ubuntu means.

“”Ubuntu” is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.”

Ok, not so “Christian”, but there are some principles that Jesus-Followers can draw out. Jesus-Followers want to see the Kingdom of God expand with more Jesus-Followers. How do we do that? We need to bring Jesus to them. That’s what Jesus did. Jesus came to us.

Another thing that I found interesting on Ubuntu is in a sense their vision or purpose why they have this free software.

“The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.

These freedoms make Ubuntu fundamentally different from traditional proprietary software: not only are the tools you need available free of charge, you have the right to modify your software until it works the way you want it to.”

Whether Ubuntu knows it or not they have a strong missiological approach that is indigenous and even contextual. They want people not to convert to English, but use their software in that person’s local language and to have the freedom use and alter the software to meet their needs or even culture.

Ubuntu also has a wiki site, which shows people how to add and edit with in that wiki and they also have links of the same wiki in different languages. Ubuntu I believe their strategy is not for people to just download their software, but to become a part of a bigger community, a community that is not just local, but global.

I am not trying to patronize or even glorifyUbuntu, but again there are things that I can see we as Jesus-Followers can learn from them, in regards to the use and creation of technology to reach out to people in the local and global setting or you can say micro and macro setting as well.

I'm late as well

2005-10-25T00:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is a bit later guys. I was asked to fly to Texas this weekend and speak at a college there. It kind of put me behind. It was cool though in some aspects because the college I went to has a strong African student population. I was even able to talk some with a guy from Nigeria and a girl from Kenya as to how they saw technology changing life back home. It was very interesting. Things are advancing fast. At this point I think Christians will have a hard time keeping up, let along leading a charge to give aid to these people with technology.

That being said, instead of posting my findings as I wrote it, I'll just give you a quick summary here. (I wasn't completely happy with my writing on my blog anyways) I think we can pretty much stop discussion on the benefits technology would have on developing countries. After my research this week I found tons of links to all sorts of organizations looking to give out special permissions to information for citizens of these kinds of countries. Psychology, economics, agriculture, medicine, and even stuff like that arts and history are all available at the click of a button if the IP address on your computer is coming from a "developing country." So the issue I'm left with for us in the overseas affects area is how to get them access to the net. I know to some degree I am behind some of your research being that I have just come to that conclusion. But it was amazing for me to see different organizations making a concious effort to help these countries. What if Christians made that same concious effort? hmmm....

Scott's days-late synthesis...

2005-10-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, sorry about being late with this. It has been a bit of a hell-week, which is not a good excuse, but here I am, settling down to get this in.

The point and structure of my resources this week was to point out some of the economic injustices that must be overcome in order for technology to be viable in developing countries. I hesitated to use the first article on my list because I feel like I pick on Microsoft too much, but it was a perfect example of Western business denying and neglecting need in order to lock in customers and make more money. This happens all the time, with software, cell phones, medicine, agriculture... corporations often do not care what is possible or truly helpful in disadvantaged communities, but rather what is profitable.

In the case at hand, Microsoft has for the past few years been busily attempting to lock developing countries' governments into contracts to use Microsoft software, and decrying every instance of one of those governments deciding to use FOSS. From a business standpoint, this makes some sense: "if they're using a competing product, they're not using ours, and we miss out." The problem is that their views of what is possible and their aims are utterly unrealistic. Clearly the average Nigerian (or South African) cannot afford to spend $100-200 on software, especially for a computer they don't have and cannot afford. Microsoft's claim here is that cost doesn't matter apart from training, a valid point: if people don't know how to use what they have, it doesn't matter if its free or cheap, it will still do nothing for them.

Resources 2 & 3, 6 & 7, and 9 & 10 all point to real, active initiatives to provide training, access, and other resources to people in developing countries. All focus on using FOSS to provide people with useful tools without costing piles of money, and all focus on training individuals. Microsoft is right: without training, Linux vs. Windows vs. Unix vs. BeOS vs. ... is a moot point. These organizations are doing something about that (albeit not what MS would like to have done!).

Another issue at hand here is "software piracy," or copyright infringement. Most copies of MS Windows used in these countries (including in their governments) are unlicensed, or "pirated," which is a valid concern for Microsoft (and other software vendors). However, instead of cracking down on the problem, Microsoft wants to contractually obligate the governments of these countries to buy software from them. There is no advantage in trying to sue anyone, they would get nowhere fast doing that; but encouraging them to buy from now on does two things: first, it starts up a revenue stream that wasn't there before, however small it may start. Second, it further entrenches their practical monopoly in the area: people are only familiar with Windows, and if you keep it that way, they won't stray to competitors, no matter how strong an advantage they might offer.

There are many problems with this strategy, both practical and ethical, but they can wait for another time. What I want to point out here is that we see this conflict in other countries, and we see all of these resources and all of this effort going to combat it, and that is a good thing. What we forget is that all of these strategies, and all of these numbers and points and ideas are equally valid here at home. We talked about the need to bring about change here in SoCal, and here are some ideas and resources that can be used to do just that: cheap computers, free software, free training modules... the only thing missing is initiative and the hands to do the work.

britta k's comments

2005-10-24T01:19:00.000-07:00

Greetings, people. Hope all is well, and that everybody somehow finds a chance to sleep. I haven't gotten there yet, but I'm almost done... I hope.

Ben, I was thrilled with your synthesis! Academia can often teach us to throw out passion in the name of accuracy, but I find that, as there is much passion in the world, the expression of it can be nothing but accurate. In balance, of course. At any rate, I am in total agreement about Fuller's need to podcast. I would check that out weekly, even though I usually can't make it to chapel. Westmont College, where I went for my undergrad, has both winamp and podcast versions of every regular chapel. Check out the page they set up for the purpose. Who can we get in touch with at Fuller to talk about this? Community formation starts where we live, and right now, that's Fuller. Even though we live other places, too. But you get my drift.

Wendy, I too am intrigued by the Smackdown section. We could use one of those of our very own right now, if only for stress relief. And the beliefnet model is very helpful. I've been a sporadic user for a few years now, and they tend to have a great variety of articles and resources. I think your idea about sending group email in a people's own language/idiomatic structure is dead-on, and it becomes possible and fruitful when it happens organically. By this, I mean A) we start with our local context; B) we come into contact with another locality (in the global village, this isn't tough), and something about it prompts us to act (this means we're ready to act in the first place, which I think is a vital starting point); C) we meet someone in this contact with another context, and we join together to interpret whatever project is going on into another language/idiomatic structure. Does that make sense?

I am so all about organic cyborgs. And I have stopped making sense. Goodnight.

Synthesis, L.A.-Style: Week 4 (britta k)

2005-10-24T01:04:00.000-07:00

This week, my group felt the need to think micro in order to think macro. We, along with all the other groups in our class, are feeling overwhelmed. Many are overwhelmed by the workload, but I think our bigger issue is that we're overwhelmed by The Issues. We have so very many issues within our issues within our issues... how on earth are we going to get a handle on anything? How are we supposed to be agents in the transformation of anything?

I look around Pasadena, around the greater Los Angeles area, and around Southern California. There are a lot of systems (dare I say, "powers") in desperate need of restoration and redemption. With this in mind, I set out to do two things in this week's research: 1) to get some kind of a feel for the existing technological landscape of Southern California (how technologies are being used, what is currently available, etc.); and 2) to find glimpses of what we, as the People of G-d, ought to be doing that is already happening in small bits. I'm looking for G-d breaking in. So here goes.

I found a lot of artistic/creative uses of technology in our area. I also found a lot of academic/educational work going on in Los Angeles dealing with the digital divide, although only a little bit of it focused locally, like this great article. I also found many other institutions who are using the internet to share information and boost public involvement. I am delighted to report that there are people thinking of the use of technology clearly in justice terms. If I could afford the time and money, I would be at the wireless summit in San Diego this weekend. And one of the most impressive organizations, and the most useful one for our purposes, happens exist specifically to assist faith-based groups: Breakaway Technologies. Read this excerpt off of their page regarding the founding of this group:

In the 1980's Joseph Loeb saw the growth of technology as the way to the future. But as he explored the then-emerging world of personal computers, he saw that the technology was not widespread in minority and lower income communities and that the cost pushed the communities further away from the technology revolution. Then came the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising. Joseph Loeb saw his neighborhood on fire. He knew that he had to do something to help his community rise like a phoenix from the ashes. He saw the answer in technology and started Breakaway Technologies. Today, BreakAway occupies a 15,000 square foot facility in South Los Angeles and has established over 200 community technology centers. Most are in the Los Angeles area with additional centers throughout southern and Northern California as well as Hawaii, Chicago, New York, the Pirot Indian Reservation, Accra - Ghana, and Lagos - Nigeria.

This story smacked me in the face. This is the model we were thinking about! While I can’t personally attest to the specific successes of this particular group yet (although you can bet that I’m going to do some further investigation on the matter), this is the model I’m extrapolating from this story:

1) Someone gets deeply involved in a local community.
2) This someone feels a local need intensely. This often happens at a crisis point, but can also happen in a “felt crisis.”
3) This someone views resurrection as a physical possibility.
4) This someone acts as an agent of this resurrection in their local community.
5) The community involved in resurrection spreads this resurrection to other communities as they hear about/interact with them.

This model, in turn, leads me to several principles:

1) Transformation must first occur in one localized community in order to be an agent of transformation for any other community.
2) Transformation is infectious. You can't transmit what you haven't caught yet.
3) Knowing the community involved is vital to the task of transformation.
4) Being grounded in a local community is important when trying to act as a globally-minded agent of transformation.
5) One person, or a small group, can begin the task of transformation by transmitting a vision to others.

I’ve got to say: I’m excited. I think we really might have something here.

Ben's comments

2005-10-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

To Wendy:

This was a pretty cool site you found. If I had more time to browse around I would have. It is almost like site that Britta talked about taking the religious quiz to see what religion you are most likely to hold. One of the articles I read brought in sources from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It was a good balance.

In response to your comment: “We all have various degrees of computer skills. We learn (or not) depending on what we want to DO with it.”

You are right that we are at all different levels of computer experience. I do not expect everyone to have or will ever have the same computer literacy as those who are professionals (I am no professional either). I do give people credit for trying. You and a lot of other people trying and personally for me that is all what counts. I guess my concern is that these sub $100 laptop will be a waste if people are not willing to learn or are afraid to try.

That is why I think it is important that Jesus-Followers who know how to use technology to help others understand and know how to use the technology. Two examples would be Dr. Ryan and C. Wess Daniels. They are definitely trying to push the envelope on using the technology that is out there like Blogging and Podcasting to inform Jesus-Followers on not just how to use the technology, but to think about how to possibly incorporate this technology in the ministries that our class will be doing during or after seminary.

Wendy's Synthesis 10-22-05

2005-10-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

This week my focus was on the kinds of religious instruction available on-line.

At the top of my list is:

1. Bible/Beliefnet.com. http://bible.beliefnet.com/

At first glance, it's almost a supermarket of Spirituality, with Judaism in the Kosher section, Earth-based spirituality in the Produce section and Christianity over by the bakery (next to the wine). They describe themselves as

We are a multi-faith e-community designed to help you meet your own religious and spiritual needs -- in an interesting, captivating and engaging way.

They host on-line community activities, such as Dialog Groups (short-term small group discussions), Discussions focused on various questions, (Does Science play a role in your spirituality?), and Prayer Circles, Memorials and Celebrations.

You can sign up for e-newsletters on various subjects.

There is a section on "Christian Tools". Personally, I'm intrigued by the "Bible Scholars Smackdown" section.

This site is US centric. However, the structure could be modified to include various communities outside the US. There is no reason, for example, why a daily e-mail could not be geared toward a particular community in their language and using their cultural idioms and customs. Or an "Ask the Teacher" question/answer section could be set up in another language.

Ben's Synthesis for Week 4 (Probably a little too passionate in this one)

2005-10-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

Week 4 Synthesis

I want to piggy back on my synthesis from last week about software or programs that can enhance the sub-$100 laptop. Our TA C. Wess Daniels stole my thunder on Podcasting since he went over it in class. This was my next research topic for this week and so I will continue on with it but with a different twist. I was doing more research on the actual Podcasts even though I have a few links to how to create your own Podcast and what Podcasting is. What I wanted to find out is if other countries other than the USA were taking advantage of Podcasting. I discovered that there were many countries involved in Podcasting. There were also main religious groups both Christian and non-Christian that were also using Podcasting such as the Tibetan Monks and the Filipino Catholic priest in Italy. There were a lot more of those Podcasts too.

Our tech group this week was discussing about how we should also focus on Southern California to get the Jesus-Followers active in the proper use of technology. The fact that even most of our classmates have a laptop and know how to use it, but they do not know how to fully use the $1000 dollar or so laptop they do have. Some do, but most do not. Does that mean the average Jesus-Follower does not know how to fully utilize this piece of technology either?

Now I am not trying to pick on our school, but it was just this past spring that the school finally got WIFI. Also, I looked to see if our school had any Podcasting. I did a quick search and guess what I found. Fuller will have Podcasting, but it in this class on Transforming Contemporary Cultures in which Podcasting will be implemented.

Why doesn’t FTS do Podcasting? Why couldn’t the chapels messages and speakers be Podcasted. I know that some might say that might discourage students from going to chapel, but chapel is not mandatory. In fact, I think Podcasting chapel would be a good thing to do.

What does all have to do with the sub $100 laptop? What concerns me is that if Jesus-Followers here in California cannot fully utilize the technology we have here, can we expect it to be the same in developing countries. Or will these developing countries surpass us in technology knowledge and use. A perfect case is cell phone technology. Asia right now has the latest cell phones out. What we have here in the States is more than a few months old, but that is another topic.

modus operandi

2005-10-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

The ever-illustrious technology group has a need to post our intentional path of exploration. This could change slightly as the weeks go on. And group, feel free to edit this if anything is "off" in here.

1) Posts: Post 10 relevant links. One line (or so) per link of purely explanatory, and not greatly interpretive, information.

2) Synthesis (Self): In a personal blog post, synthesize the information gleaned from your 10 links. Link key words on this post back to a couple of the 10 links.

3) Synthesis (Group): In a group blog post, republish your personal synthesis.

4) Comments: In a group blog post, comment on our team members' syntheses.

5) Wiki: After comments are in, choose helpful slices from around the group blog to plug into our existing wiki framework. Clarify terms, make helpful links.

Britta's (Belated) Comments

2005-10-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Group:

I am just as sheepish as it looks. I did not get it together this week like I ought to have, and you deserve a public apology. I'm very sorry for my mishandling of my blog this week. I had difficulties with my research and with the time I took out for Yom Kippur, and I'm still scrambling. None of that excuses the inconvenience I have caused you, and this week I will have all of my solo work up no later than Tuesday night.

Please forgive. I tried to atone Thursday, but it seems I kept on messing up. Will do better this coming week.

TIM:

Great set of sources! Bookmarking a ton of them for later use, even beyond class. I concur with your concerns about bringing technology before preparing cultures/peoples for all the residual effects.

I have often felt a similar concern that English can be/might turn into more of a prerequisite for technological knowledge/use. How can we get around that? I think this could be absolutely key to our project… this deserves the group’s attention ASAP.

WENDY:

Your research was particularly helpful to me this week. I especially gravitated toward the Tilden principles

I like how interpretation is about both the original source and the receiver, that the original source has something original about it, and that the various receivers are all different yet still might receive in their own particular ways. That person interpreting, though, is necessary and often forgotten.

The principle I think we need to explore further is this element of “not instruction, but provocation.” How do we provoke people to explore the healthy use of cyberspace as we help them enter into it?

I did have one problem that spawned a disturbing question. You said that ”Jesus was a MASTER Interpreter. He ‘translated’ complex ideas about God into stories that were understood by everyone and that changed the world.” Well, no, everyone did not understand. If they had, the crucifixion never would have occurred. Yet, most (if not all) of us in this class would certainly say that the crucifixion had to happen, right? So the lack of universal interpretation ended up being used as a major part of G-d’s plan. Does this mean we need to try to fill in the interpretive gap, so that the death of the innocent need not happen anymore? Or do we accept the fact that evil will come out of our work, as well as good, and that this evil might be somehow necessary? I find this all very disturbing… this is a big thought, and maybe we need to discuss it later. But let’s do, eh?

And yes, love is always the priceless ingredient. Thank G-d, it’s not in as short supply as we often believe it to be.

BEN:

Wow. Ben, that picture you painted us was truly wonderful. I’m having a “mystical technology moment…” But seriously, if that were truly possible, if we could ensure net connections with greater consistency throughout the world, this could open up a whole new learning community. It has implications for both the third world and the developed world. This could mean, if we’re careful, the democratization of classroom-style learning, and the possible innovation of truly multi-media learning. Do you have any information on how we can improve internet connection in developing countries, once we have the hardware?

SCOTT:

I want to read more on the Goa Schools page. I think that donations to these sorts of groups, that don’t overtly impose another culture’s uses of technology onto another by putting us in a constant “trainer-trainee” relationship, ought to be one of our possible major foci. Or perhaps we need to, in developing (or at least proposing) a training model, need to have room in the training – or perhaps make it into something less clear-cut than “training” – for people from another culture to dictate and innovate the uses of technology, even as they’re being trained by outsiders. In other words, the trainers become facilitators: “what are the needs of your culture? How do you communicate?”

Technology joke: Modern Version of the Bird and Bees

2005-10-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Another joke courtesy of my Aunt Garnet.

Modern version of the Birds & the Bees.....

Little boy goes to his father and asks "Daddy, how was I born?" The father answers: "Well, son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway. Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo. Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe. We sneaked into a secluded room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that, neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a blessed little Pop-Up appeared and said:

"You've Got Male!"

Ben's comments Week 3

2005-10-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

To Wendy

VOIP is capable of doing conference calls. My brother, a friend, and I had a three way conference call. It worked extremely well. We did use Skype.com. Yes, try it out. In fact, last night I was talking to my team leader in the Philippines. He was able to keep me updated with what has been going on with the rest of the team. I was able to ask him questions and we had a real good dialogue. My wife has been using Skype as well to talk to her folks in the Philippines. I believe until video conferencing improves, VOIP is the way to go. However, I just saw a demo of the new iMac, which has video conferencing capabilities and it look really good. They even had a demo of a four way video conference call in real time. Maybe, I might research that a bit too this coming week.

To answer your second question about privacy and tracking. I believe anything can be traced and hacked if people wanted too. You can take Google. Did you know that Google scans your emails so that it can post ads that you might be interested in? BTW, Ebay just bought Skype a few weeks ago. Most people think it is a good idea because now you can talk to the seller and so forth. Tim, I guess you should look into this next time.

To Britta:

My thoughts on the Belief-o-Matic is that people are searching for identity. They want to belong to something. It is really sad, but I wonder if there is another site in which there is more of a positive aspect to one's belief?

On the GodblogCon2005: This would be an interesting convention to go to if someone was willing to pay the $100 registration fee. It seems kind of expensive for a convention. Anyway, I wonder what issues will they address and what is the audience they want to reach. Would the audience be local (North America) or Global (the rest of the World)?

I was listening to a Pod cast the other day about how blogging is sometimes better than the newspaper and even sports write ups. This is because with newspaper columns and sports write up only have a certain space to write while Blogs could take up more space as they want on that certain topic and they also have more information than the newspaper articles. The Pod cast even ventured out to say that Blogging could become a paying business. Basically, if you Blog you get paid.

To Tim:

Great research stuff. I liked the article about technology and the internet and what they wrote about developing countries.

To Scott:

Great research on balancing the other side of technology in regards to the digital divides. Technology is good, but it also could be worthless in countries that can't afford it or do not have the resources. If only 5 out of 1000 E. Africans have telephone that makes gain information via internet quite difficult. Even if the children in Africa have those sub $100 notebooks, getting Internet access would be difficult. I think you can put the digital divide thing on the wiki to bring perspective on technology.

Wendy's Comments 10-15-05

2005-10-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

Team,

I've posted my synthesis for this week on our group blog. It would make it easier for me to find your comments about my synthesis if you posted there for me (and others) to read,

I will post my comments about your synthesis here, until you have a post on our group blog. Then I'll transfer my comments over to your post.

Ben

VOIP looks to be a useful tool. Can you use if for a conference call? Can you talk and use your computer for other things at the same time? Is that anything like being able to talk and chew gum at the same time?

I think this should be added to the list of applications recommended for the Sub$100 laptop. Definitely add this to the wiki. Also means we should look for other applications that are not just text based

There was an interesting article in Saturday's Daily News about how Missouri is using cell phones to map real-time highway traffic. That means an individual's location can be plotted by cell-phone. That has privacy implications. Could VOIP be traced the same way?

P.S. I want to test this out myself. It could prove useful at my work. Thanks for the link.

Scott

I liked the GOA Schools link as an example of local content using technology. They had an link to community pages with a marketplace for small business, commodities and even matrimonials!

These are examples of useful things that would encourage people to use the site. The "carrot", so to speak.

I think this should be added to the wiki.

Britta

I haven't seen your synthesis yet, but I've got a hike to lead tonight so I'll respond now to what you'v eposted. I apologize for not being able to wait. Perhaps I misunderstood how we were using our Issues Group. Anyway, here are my comments.

I checked out the mobile liturgy site and found that in the example cited, the participants were physically present and the phone was used as a tool. Be that as it may, I was not comfortable with the thought of a strictly remote worship community. I believe humans require physical closeness to be physically and psychologically healthy. In the prison where I volunteer I make it a point to shake hands with the young men, to touch their shoulder, and/or hug before and after our class. In that place, it is the only safe time for them to give and receive touch from another human being. When I look into their eyes, I see the effect it has, both on them and on me. However, as an addition to a person's physical presense in a worshipping community, I think the mobile phone is a useful tool.

Hey, but that's just my pre post-modern opinion. :-)

I think this ties in with the idea of VOIP in our sub$100 laptop project.

Tim

Didn't see a synthesis so I went with what you wrote. Perhaps I misunderstood how we were using our Issues Group. Anyway, here are my comments.

The eOTI article you reference lists an interesting point. Network require IT-trained individuals to keep it running. These folks can make much more money in the private sector. How do we compensate them?

I like your direction next week on FOSS and Orgs "that who are intent on bringing high quality information and technology to developing countries". I'll be interested in what you find.

Wendy's Synthesis 10-15-05

2005-10-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Here are the top 3 posts from this week with my comments.

1. National Association for Interpretation. www.interpnet.org

This is a professional organization for US Interpretive Naturalists that is expanding internationally in Latin America. So you ask, "What is an Interpreter?" "What language do you use?"

Interpretation is an art that "helps audiences make an emotional and intellectual connection with meanings inherent in the resource". The easiest way to explain is to give an example. When you visit a National Park, you often go on a Ranger-led nature hike. You came away with a better understanding and appreciation for what you saw. That Ranger is an Interpretive Naturalist.

Jesus was a MASTER Interpreter. He "translated" complex ideas about God into stories that were understood by everyone and that changed the world.

NAI has an extensive certification training program for field interpreters. Their model could serve as a model for Sub$100 training. Here's how it could work:

In the NAI model:
NAI develops the curriculum
Trainers teach Interpreters
Interpreters teach Visitors
Visitors come away with a better understanding, appreciation and respect for the place they have visited.

In a Sub$100 model:
A Sposoring Organization develops the curriculum
Trainers teach Teachers
Teachers teach Students
Students come away with the ability to use the laptop computer.

Of course, some of you are thinking this is a First-world professional model that may not be appropriate for some Third-world situations. There are culutural issues to be respected and learned from. This is what I want to focus on next week.

2. A book we use in interpretive training: Personal Interpretation. Brochu & Merriman.
ISBN 1-879931-06-0.

In 1957, one of the founders of modern interpretation, Freeman Tilden, introduced 6 principles in his book, Interpreting Our Heritage. I believe if these principles are used, the training of teachers will be culturally relevant.

1. Relate what is being described to the personality or experience of the visitor.

2. Information, as such, is not interpretation. You need to include the "so what" factor.

3. Interpretation is an art, which combines many art forms.

4. The chief aim of interpretation is not instruction, but provocation. You want people to investigate further on their own after your class.

5. Interpretation should present the whole, rather than the part, and must address itself to the whole person.

6. Interpretation to children is not a dilution of a presentation to adults, but should follow a different approach.

Tilden also states that it is the teacher who makes something special happen through their passion for their subject. According to Tilden, love is "the priceless ingredient".

"Interpreters let their internal lights and loves illuminate what they share" (Brochou & Merriman). Sounds a bit like "let your light so shine before men", doesn't it?

3. Sharing Nature with Children II.

Joseph Cornell ISBN 1- 883220-87-4

This book serves as a reminder that education need not be totally cerebral.
People have different learning styles. The use of direct experience to awaken enthusiasm and inspire people needs to be incorporated into training.

For example, why do you think the FEEDING of the 5000 was remembered and put into the Gospels of Matthew and Luke?

Scott's comments (at least for now)

2005-10-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

In response to Tim's blog:
I wonder if the difference in method of uptake of these technologies would make for a different cultural response or implication in developing countries. We've lived with a long, slow (relatively) advancement of technology, such that problematic issues were introduced in fairly small doses. Perhaps that gave us in the West the time to gradually justify the fallen aspects of our technological practices, and made it easier for us to simiply incorporate them into our cultural fabric, the bad next to the good.
Perhaps what you identify as a potential source of problems (that is, "bring[ing] developing nations up to our level in technology quickly") could also have a good side effect. Perhaps in the adoption of technologies such as the internet, the sudden influx of information would be more easily identified as foreign and possibly suspect. The people on the receiving end of these benefits might approach all of this information much more critically than we often do, and as such be more able to retain what they find good and reject what they find bad. I wouldn't say that this judgment is likely to be perfect, but we ourselves are far from that. In some ways, I think some of the caution that the West has shown in spreading this technology is rooted in a tendency to view the people of developing countries as intellectually simple and gullible (fallen practice?), when in fact they are intelligent people stuck in a broken system. Another very powerful deterrent to helping is the perception that these people have nothing to offer us in the West, either culturally or financially (I actually had a friend who gauged people's worth by how they contributed to global markets... needless to say, Africa was not worth much to him).

To Britta:
Those are some thoughts you have there. The crescendo into the Singularity seems to grow with each improvement and innovation, to the point that the wash of technology has, as you have noted, begun in small and increasing ways to "push" us. How long until that becomes literal? I also think obsolescence is too strong a word for historical forms of human interaction, but I very much like how you characterize it as a remix: we have indeed kept much of the subject intact, and have preserved many aspects of the "aesthetic form" of the transmission, but our transmission methods are in constant flux, and in many ways the medium is an integral part of the message. The perceived instability of human interaction may be rooted in this continual shifting of medium, which distracts us from the underlying consistencies of who we are and what we need.
I'm sorry that my resources this week did not focus so closely on IP issues, but especially in my analysis I touch on ways in which they impact our topic both for good and for ill.
Did I understand what you were trying to say in your post well?

2005-10-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

Tell me if I'm wrong, but after finishing my research this week, most of what I have found is directly related to the spread of the internet in developing countries. Would it be right to further specify our focus is the effect of the internet and its subsequent extentions both on our lives and potentially on the lives of people in developing countries? Or is that too narrow and mabye we're looking to stay open enough to include things like cell phones, vehicles, and things of that nature? I have however enjoyed a wealth of information on the internet and steps that organizations are currently moving in to advance that cause.

As I mentioned in my own post: knowledge is power, but power corrupts. It will be very interesting to explore the potential for both good and harm with things like the internet being brought into the lives of other people of other cultures. It's a chance for cultures to clash as well as work together as countries decide what is appropriate to view on the internet and what may not be appropriate to their context. Anyways, just some thoughts before bed time. Might be a good starting point for the wiki to then move into the directions that you have been researching this week. Cya in the morning! ...oh...it is almost morning already...ugh...

2005-10-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

I put a comment box on the right side under our links to our blogs. Check it out.

-Ben

2005-10-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

And boy, do we have issues.

No, really.