A short article by Howard Rheingold on location aware technologies for mobile phones. Nice discussion of some privacy issues, design considerations, and a glimpse into ongoing development by some U.S. carriers. THEFEATURE
Stephen Graham”s (Newcastle University”s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape) new book The Cybercities Reader was released late last week. I have been waiting for this contribution to hit the book shelves for some time, not just because I wrote one of the 25 chapters, but because this is one of the first collections of mostly empirical work related to the study of how ICTs impact urban life and form. The list of contributors is very impressive and too long to list in entirety here, but includes: Philip Agre, Anne Beamish, Manuel Castells, Martin Dodge, Mark Gottdeiner, David Holmes, David Lyon, William Mitchell, Harvey Molotch, Saskia Sassen, and Nina Wakeford. My contribution is a short summary of the Netville findings. Stephen’s other two books are among my favorites: Telecommunications and the City: Electronic Spaces, Urban Places, Splintering Urbanism: Networked Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities and the Urban Condition
I was interviewed for this article in the L.A. Times on the wired suburb of Ladera Ranch, located in south Orange County. The article includes reports of community organizing and various types of local community interaction as a result of the neighborhood intranet. I love that they report that it is the local email list that is largely responsible for supporting local community – just like in Netville. Of course, being L.A., this is not your typical wired suburb, sounds like they have a dedicated staff of techies doing community building. In Ladera, It””s a Beautiful Day in the Intranet Neighborhood