tumblr de juan freire

"The bottom line is that no handbook relieves a professional counterinsurgent from the personal..."

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:52:49 +0100

“The bottom line is that no handbook relieves a professional counterinsurgent from the personal obligation to study, internalize and interpret the physical, human, informational and ideological setting in which the conflict takes place. Conflict ethnography is key; to borrow a literary term, there is no substitute for a “close reading” of the environment. But it is a reading that resides in no book, but around you; in the terrain, the people, their social and cultural institutions, the way they act and think. You have to be a participant observer. And the key is to see beyond the surface differences between our societies and these environments (of which religious orientation is one key element) to the deeper social and cultural drivers of conflict, drivers that locals would understand on their own terms.”

- David Kicullen: SWJ Blog: Religion and Insurgency - Small Wars Journal

Elinor Ostrom (2009). A polycentric approach for coping with climate change. Policy Research Working Paper WPS 5095 (2009). World Bank

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:24:23 +0100

Elinor Ostrom (2009). A polycentric approach for coping with climate change. Policy Research Working Paper WPS 5095 (2009). World Bank:

This paper proposes an alternative approach to addressing the complex problems of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The author, who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, argues that single policies adopted only at a global scale are unlikely to generate sufficient trust among citizens and firms so that collective action can take place in a comprehensive and transparent manner that will effectively reduce global warming. Furthermore, simply recommending a single governmental unit to solve global collective action problems is inherently weak because of free-rider problems. For example, the Carbon Development Mechanism (CDM) can be gamed in ways that hike up prices of natural resources and in some cases can lead to further natural resource exploitation. Some flaws are also noticeable in the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) program. Both the CDM and REDD are vulnerable to the free-rider problem. As an alternative, the paper proposes a polycentric approach at various levels with active oversight of local, regional, and national stakeholders. Efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions are a classic collective action problem that is best addressed at multiple scales and levels. Given the slowness and conflict involved in achieving a global solution to climate change, recognizing the potential for building a more effective way of reducing green house gas emissions at multiple levels is an important step forward. A polycentric approach has the main advantage of encouraging experimental efforts at multiple levels, leading to the development of methods for assessing the benefits and costs of particular strategies adopted in one type of ecosystem and compared to results obtained in other ecosystems. Building a strong commitment to find ways of reducing individual emissions is an important element for coping with this problem, and having others also take responsibility can be more effectively undertaken in small- to medium-scale governance units that are linked together through information networks and monitoring at all levels. This paper was prepared as a background paper for the 2010 World Development Report on Climate Change.

Especialistas, de Manolo Gago

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:01:00 +0100

Especialistas, de Manolo Gago

"We’re living in a stylistic tropics. There’s a whole generation of people able to access almost..."

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:47:59 +0100

“

We’re living in a stylistic tropics. There’s a whole generation of people able to access almost anything from almost anywhere, and they don’t have the same localised stylistic sense that my generation grew up with. It’s all alive, all “now,” in an ever-expanding present, be it Hildegard of Bingen or a Bollywood soundtrack. The idea that something is uncool because it’s old or foreign has left the collective consciousness.

I think this is good news. As people become increasingly comfortable with drawing their culture from a rich range of sources—cherry-picking whatever makes sense to them—it becomes more natural to do the same thing with their social, political and other cultural ideas. The sharing of art is a precursor to the sharing of other human experiences, for what is pleasurable in art becomes thinkable in life.

”

- The death of uncool - Brian Eno « Prospect Magazine

"… the most inspirational statement I have read in questioning my role as an architect, the..."

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:15:05 +0100

“… the most inspirational statement I have read in questioning my role as an architect, the skills we are trained to enact as professional designers. This inspirational quote came from the least expected place: the first report to the US congress by General Petraeus, the chief US general in charge, in those days, of the war strategy in Irak. In this report Petraeus suggested to congress that after the experience in Irak, the contemporary US soldier should transform. Not anymore a high tech robot like figure armed with the latest gadgets that can dominate the Warfield from a distance. The contemporary soldier should instead engage the critical proximity of neighborhoods, transforming into an anthropologist, a social worker and versed in many languages! Now, even though this can sound scary, I thought, if the contemporary soldier is transforming why can’t we as architects… we need to appropriate the procedures of the other… not becoming necessarily anthropologists or social workers… but borrowing their procedures so as to operate differently in constructing critical observational research and alternative spatial strategies… In my mind, this is the most fundamental meaning of inter-disciplinarity: not only to share our points of view from the sanctity of our specializations, across the round table of discussion, as we usually do, but to actually contaminate each other with the alternative procedures of each other. In my case, at the border, is has been important to re-observe the actual hidden dynamics of socio-economic and political vectors embedded invisibly in the territory, learning from the actual conditions that have shaped the oddity of these sites of conflict. We need to challenge our reductive and limited ways of working, by which we continue seeing the world as a tabula rasa, on which to install the autonomy of architecture… we need to reorient our gaze towards the drama of such reality. This new realities, as Roemer Van Toorn told me, demand a new theory, a new practice.”

- With Teddy Cruz on “Power” and “Powerlessness” - Archinect

Social Computing goes mainstream: 41% of EU Internet users connected to Web 2.0 - The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:10:44 +0100

Social Computing goes mainstream: 41% of EU Internet users connected to Web 2.0 - The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies:

… The report “The impact of Social Computing on the EU Information Society and Economy”, published today by the JRC Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), finds that in 2008, 41% of EU Internet users were engaged in social computing activities through Social Networking Sites (SNS), blogs, photo and video sharing, online multi-player games and collaborative platforms for content creation and sharing. This percentage rises to 64% if users aged under 24 only are considered.

…

P2P Foundation » Free Software and Free Culture in...

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:26:00 +0100

P2P Foundation » Free Software and Free Culture in Brazil

The 20 minute video bellow is a passionate speech given by Brazilian President Lula da Silva about the importance of Free Software and the Internet at the 10th Free Softaware Internacional Forum, in Porto Alegre, Brazil - June 26th, 2009.

“The free software somehow is this, I say, it is giving people the opportunity to do new things, create new things, as there is no thing that guarantees freedom most than to ensure individual expression, allowing people to enhance their creativity, their intelligence, especially in a new country like Brazil”

"Today, people with power and influence derive their power from their centrality within..."

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:19:28 +0100

“

Today, people with power and influence derive their power from their centrality within self-organizing networks that might or might not correspond to any plan on the part of designated leaders. Organization structure in vanguard companies involves multi-directional responsibilities, with an increasing emphasis on horizontal relationships rather than vertical reporting as the center of action that shapes daily tasks and one’s portfolio of projects, in order to focus on serving customers and society. Circles of influence replace chains of command, as in the councils and boards at Cisco which draw from many levels to drive new strategies. Distributed leadership — consisting of many ears to the ground in many places — is more effective than centralized or concentrated leadership. Fewer people act as power-holders monopolizing information or decision-making, and more people serve as integrators using relationships and persuasion to get things done.

This changes the nature of career success. It is not enough to be technically adept or even to be interpersonally pleasant. Power goes to the “connectors”: those people who actively seek relationships and then serve as bridges between and among groups. Their personal contacts are often as important as their formal assignment. In essence, “She who has the best network wins.”

”

- On Twitter and in the Workplace, It’s Power to the Connectors - Rosabeth Moss Kanter - HarvardBusiness.org

Vía metacool.

How to Conserve Art That Lives in a Lake? - The New York...

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:15:31 +0100

How to Conserve Art That Lives in a Lake? - The New York Times

In 1972, a year before his death in a plane crash at 35, the artist Robert Smithson wrote, “I am for an art that takes into account the direct effect of the elements as they exist from day to day.” And with the creation of his greatest work — “Spiral Jetty,” the huge counterclockwise curlicue of black basalt rock that juts into the Great Salt Lake in rural Utah — he certainly put that conviction to the test.

…

Preservation concerns about “Spiral Jetty” have arisen lately not only because of the work’s re-emergence from the water but also because of plans announced in the last two and a half years by companies to initiate industrial projects near the site. One is a large expansion of a field of solar evaporation ponds used to extract potassium sulfate from the water for fertilizer. Another is a plan for exploratory oil drilling …

Eco.acequia. 3er Premio. Concurso para la ladera del Vinalopó en...

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:19:37 +0100

Eco.acequia. 3er Premio. Concurso para la ladera del Vinalopó en Elche.

Nuestro proyecto, Eco.acequia, ha recibido el tercer premio del concurso para la remodelación de la ladera del Vinalopó en Elche.

La idea principal del proyecto consiste en recuperar la relación que siempre había tenido Elche con el agua del río y las acequías que riegan los palmerales.

…

La eco.acequia crea un bulbo de humedad en el terreno arcilloso que riega los árboles de ribera que situamos en toda su longitud. El resto de vegetación que planteamos no necesita riego: esto lo logramos estructurando la vegetación de la misma manera que la vegetación que ya existe en la ladera, tal y como se explica en la imagen de arriba…

The use and abuse of scenarios - McKinsey Quarterly - Strategy - Strategy in Practice

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:11:52 +0100

The use and abuse of scenarios - McKinsey Quarterly - Strategy - Strategy in Practice :

Scenarios are a powerful tool in the strategist’s armory. They are particularly useful in developing strategies to navigate the kinds of extreme events we have recently seen in the world economy. Scenarios enable the strategist to steer a course between the false certainty of a single forecast and the confused paralysis that often strike in troubled times. When well executed, scenarios boast a range of advantages—but they can also set traps for the unwary.

…

Scenarios protect against ‘groupthink’

Often, the power structure within companies inhibits the free flow of debate. People in meetings typically agree with whatever the most senior person in the room says. In particularly hierarchical companies, employees will wait for the most senior executive to state an opinion before venturing their own—which then magically mirrors that of the senior person. Scenarios allow companies to break out of this trap by providing a political “safe haven” for contrarian thinking.

Scenarios allow people to challenge conventional wisdom

In large corporations, there is typically a very strong status quo bias. After all, large sums of money, and many senior executives’ careers, have been invested in the core assumptions underpinning the current strategy—which means that challenging these assumptions can be difficult. Scenarios provide a less threatening way to lay out alternative futures in which the these assumptions underpinning today’s strategy may no longer be true.

…

polis: Auto-Cartography

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:55:37 +0100

polis: Auto-Cartography

Joi Ito - Creative Commons: Enabling the next level of innovation

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:54:22 +0100

Joi Ito - Creative Commons: Enabling the next level of innovation:

Here’s a thought experiment: try to imagine what it would have been like to create Google before the era of the Internet and open standards. You would probably have had to pay millions of dollars to create the necessary software on a proprietary operating system. The effort would have required a huge team of people taking many years. Since Google is a search engine, it most likely would have been given to the phone company to design and run. If you were using X.25, the international networking standard (the Internet equivalent of its time), you would have been charged for each packet of information that you sent or received, in a network in which each network operator had a bilateral agreement with every other network operator. This total project probably would have taken a decade, cost a billion dollars, and not have worked very well.

In fact, the actual cost of building and launching the first Google server was probably only thousands of dollars using standard PC components, mostly open-source software as the base, and connecting to the Stanford University network, which immediately made the service available, at no additional cost, to everyone else on the Internet.

…

A Speculative Post on the Idea of Algorithmic Authority « Clay Shirky

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:52:20 +0100

A Speculative Post on the Idea of Algorithmic Authority « Clay Shirky

"Roger Martin: “The business world is full of two kinds of people—builders and traders. Over the past..."

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:07:56 +0100

“

Roger Martin: “The business world is full of two kinds of people—builders and traders. Over the past 20-30 years, traders have increasingly ruled. They receive the highest compensation. We need to tame the traders.”

Tim Brown: Paraphrase here—“We can use analytics to generate new questions, not just answers. Data visualization is very powerful.”

”

- Best Quotes From Roger Martin and Tim Brown at Thomson Reuters Talk - NussbaumOnDesign

Revisão da Lei brasileira de Direito de Autor deverá legalizar cópia privada e mashups | Remixtures

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:04:49 +0100

Revisão da Lei brasileira de Direito de Autor deverá legalizar cópia privada e mashups | Remixtures:

(vía open …)

Mais uma vez o Ministério da Cultura do Brasl (MinC) parece ter dado ouvidos à sociedade civil. No final do ano passado um grupo de activistas e académicos brasileiros redigiu um documento intitulado Carta de São Paulo Pelo Acesso a Bens Culturais que continha uma lista de dez propostas para a revisão da Lei De Direitos Autorais do Brasil 9.610 de 1998.

No topo das prioridades dos assinantes da Carta encontrava-se a legalização da cópia privada dos CDs adquiridos legalmente pelos consumidores nas lojas de discos e outras superfícies comerciais. Isto porque de acordo com a lei em vigor, os brasileiros continuam a não poder copiar as músicas de um álbum para o seu computador e daí convertê-las para o formato MP3, AAC ou OGG de modo a que possam ser escutadas a partir do seu leitor de música digital.

Pois bem, essa é precisamente uma das medidas propostas pelo Minc no documento ontem apresentado no III Congresso de Direito de Autor e Interesse Público, um evento organizado pelo Fórum Nacional de Direito Autoral do Minc que se realizou entre ontem e hoje em São Paulo. Para além de CDs, os utilizadores vão também passar a poder converter os filmes que compraram em DVD para formatos vídeo digitais como AVI e MPEG.

É claro que esta brinde tem uma contrapartida que neste caso poderá significar um aumento do preço de venda de CDs e DVDs virgens. Isto porque o Ministério está também a planear estabelecer uma remuneração compensatória destinada aos detentores de direitos de autores.

De acordo com o IDG Now, o anteprojecto destinado a rever a Lei de 1998 autoriza ainda a realização de mashups na medida em que prevê “a utilização (…) de pequenos excertos de obras preexistentes, sempre que a utilização em si não seja o objectivo principal da obra nova e que não prejudique a exploração normal da obra reproduzida.” Se esta proposta for mesmo em frente, eu aconselhava o senhor Gregg Gillis (mais conhecido por Girl Talk) a instalar-se no Brasil. De qualquer modo, o país tropical já conta com um menino-prodígio dos mashups chamado André Paste.

Outra boa novidade é que o texto actualmente em discussão irá também permitir “a reprodução sem finalidade comercial, de obra literária, fonograma ou obra audiovisual, cuja última publicação não conste mais em catálogo do responsável por sua exploração económica.” Na prática, isto vai de encontro a outra proposta sugerida na Carta de São Paulo relativa à “permissão de utilização livre e gratuita de obras orfãs, ou seja, de autoria desconhecida.”

A avaliar pelo que até agora foi dado a conhecer, parece que a revisão não inclui contudo aquela que na minha opinião era a sugestão mais importante mas ao mesmo tempo mais arrojada: a livre utilização de obras protegidas por direito de autor desde que para fins exclusivamente não comerciais.

Mesmo assim, parece-me que se trata de um texto progressista e bastante razoável que praticamente nenhum dos agentes interessados irá certamente rejeitar. Depois de finalizado, o Projecto de Lei será sujeito a uma consulta pública, seguindo-se depois a sua análise pelo Congresso.

Burbuja tecnológica. José Pérez de Lama Vivimos sumergidos en...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:19:34 +0100

Burbuja tecnológica. José Pérez de Lama

Vivimos sumergidos en una burbuja de metal dentro del mundo del movimiento, que es nuestro mar. Nos está absorviendo una ola de nuevas tecnologías mientras nadamos con nuestras máquinas de trabajo y nos ilumina la luz de nuestro pasado.

¡Estamos como pez en el agua!

O xenérico e máis aló/xornadas de traballo e debate sobre o urbanismo de As Atochas - Monte Alto

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:29:00 +0100

O xenérico e máis aló/xornadas de traballo e debate sobre o urbanismo de As Atochas - Monte Alto:

1. “A Cidade dos Barrios” é un proxecto de análise de A Coruña promovido polo Colexio Oficial de Arquitectos de Galicia, no que o noso papel é intentar recaba-las opinións d@s veciñ@s sobre os seus barrios e realizar algunha actividade complementaria relacionada co urbanismo.

2. Ademáis da instalación dunha serie de paneis nalgún lugar central do barrio –nos que @s veciñ@s poidan expresa-las súas dúbidas, críticas, desexos, etc. sobre o seu entorno cotián–, como parte do traballo nas Atochas e Monte Alto (terceiro experimento deste proxecto) gustaríanos visibiliza-las relacións entre o urbanismo, a cidade real e os múltiples discursos políticos e culturais que se producen arredor dos catro centros sociais das Atochas.

3. Para comezar, tíñamos pensado tratar este tema desde dous puntos de vista:

> Dunha banda, xa que as administracións públicas e o mercado pretenden transforma-lo barrio baseándose en argumentos exclusivamente técnicos e en nocións malentendidas coma “tapón urbanístico”, gustarianos debater sobre si as cualidades do tecido urbano onde se sitúan estos centros sociais teñen relación ca súa aparición, de tal xeito que poideramos construir outros discursos urbanísticos que sí teñan en conta as produccións sociais autónomas e as súas consecuencias claramente positivas para as cidades.

> E por outra banda, gustarianos “traducir” os discursos, reclamacións e desexos sociopolíticos de cada un dos procesos que xiran arredor destes centros sociais en plantexamentos e posicionamentos urbanísticos, de forma que poidamos construir ferramentas de traballo autónomas para actuar na realidade dos barrios tamén desde a arquitectura/urbanismo.

…

ACTIVIDADES
Que limitacións producen as leis e ordenanzas municipais á hora de organizar actividades no espazo público? Que obxectos e/ou tecnoloxías ampliarían as posibilidades de organizar máis actividades no espazo público? Que clase de infraestrutura faría falla, por exemplo, para que os procesos de reciclaxe (de comida, de mobles, etc.) fosen máis eficaces no barrio? Como podemos facer viable a autoxestión de certos elementos urbanos (bancos, mesas, luces, electricidade, etc.) presentes no espazo público?

ESPAZOS
Que iniciativas poderían aumenta-las facilidades de acceso e uso dun espazo (unha vivienda, un centro social, un obradoiro, etc.) sin que o mercado sexa o principal regulador? Que fórmulas de xestión poderiamos inventar para os solares baleiros, máis aló da necesaria reclamación da súa apertura como espazos públicos mentres non se edifiquen? Deberíase regular legalmente a okupación de edificacións abandonadas ou estes deben seguir sendo procesos á marxe do amparo institucional?

EXPRESIÓNS
Adicar algúns espazos na cidade para permiti-las pintadas é bo ou é un simple sistema máis de captura das expresións autónomas? Como se produce actualmente a aparición de discursos autónomos no espazo público (cartelería, pintadas, manifestacións, actividades en locais públicos, páxinas web…)? Que outros xeitos serían de interese para a cidadanía? Deberían explicitarse no espazo público as múltiples subxectividades presentes no barrio ou este debería seguir tendendo á procura desa imposible “neutralidade” (que, en realidade, é unha visión política coma outra calquera)? En que lugares se fai patente algunha forma de agresión lingüística (cartelería comercial, sinalizacións municipais, locais privados, equipamentos públicos, etc.)? Como poderían estar representados no espazo público a presenza de determinados conflitos políticos nas sociedades (migración, precariedade, etc.)?

AS ATOCHAS – MONTE ALTO
Que realidades determinan o singular sentimento “identitario” das Atochas–Monte Alto? Como se poden asumi-los beneficios dos procesos de “Sohización” (que levan uns anos sentíndose no barrio ca aparición de múltiples locales de ocio), sen provocar os procesos de reconstrucción inmobiliaria da zona, o aumento dos valores do solo, a presión @s veciñ@s, a reducción do barrio a imaxe-marca, etc.? Cales son as cualidades diferenciadoras do espazo urbano das Atochas–Monte Alto fronte a outras zonas da cidade? Que factores poden ter máis influenza na aparición de varios procesos sociais nas Atochas nos últimos anos (“tradición” do barrio, prezos do solo e dos alugueres, formas urbanas, situación na cidade, etc.)?

XÉNERO
A través de que mecanismos (publicidade comercial, cartelería municipal, deseño da cidade, materialidade, etc.) se fai patente no espazo público a discriminación dalgunha das sexualidades frente a outras? Que características (de situación, de horario, de privacidade, etc.) teñen os lugares-refuxio para toda práctica sexual non recoñecida? Que implicacións tería nos usos cidadáns deixar de considerar o xénero coma unha cualidade identificativa? En que lugares da cidade percibimos de forma directa a exclusividade de dous únicos xéneros (servicios públicos, locais de ocio, etc.)? Que caracteriza ós lugares onde a maioría das mulleres non se sentirían a gusto pola noite (iluminación, visibilidade, silencio, baleiro, etc.)?

PLANEAMENTO
Para que é necesaria a planificación urbanística? Que pasos se poderían dar para acadar unha participación cidadá non vencellada exclusivamente ás alegacións a posteriori? Que se lle podería pedir a un plan integral de rehabilitación do barrio? Cales son as “necesidades” urbanísticas dos centros sociais autoxestionados? Que lle pediríamos para As Atochas - Monte Alto á revisión do Plan Xeral de Ordenación Municipal da Coruña? A noción de “tapón urbanístico” pode ser, como xa o foi, unha forma de xustificar a destrucción das tramas urbanas máis complexas e incontrolables? Pódese alonxar dos discursos do control e a seguridade unha disciplina coma o urbanismo, pensada para “ordenar” a cidade?

El boom de las redes sociales

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:30:41 +0100

El boom de las redes sociales

DISECHOS09, encuentro de diseño y reutilizacion creativa Se...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:22:51 +0100

DISECHOS09, encuentro de diseño y reutilizacion creativa

Se organiza y convoca nuevamente Disechos del 18 al 21 de Noviembre 2009 en Valencia, un espacios temporal de diálogo, reflexión y trabajo donde las disciplinas creativas y técnicas confluyen para proyectar transformaciones sociales hacia una realidad más sostenible.

Habrá mesas redondas con ponentes tan estimulantes como Xénia Viladás, Santiago Cirugeda y Jon Marín ( diseñador y autor del blog amigo Resseny) y para finalizar un laboratorio, taller de creación; sólo hay 21 plazas por que debéis inscribiros enviando un mail a laboratorio@disechos.net

El encuentro parte de la iniciativa del estudio Flou Flou | Disoñadores Asociados y cuenta con la colaboración de la Cámara de Comercio de Valencia, la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería del Diseño (ETSID) y Vicerrectorado de Cultura de la Universidad Politécnica, así como el apoyo de Asociación de Diseñadores de la Comunidad Valenciana.

Aquí os dejo el programa y el enlace a la web de Disechos.

Mesas redondas:

POLÍTICAS DE DISEÑO Y ECO-INNOVACIÓN
Invitados: Xènia Viladàs, Rafael Mossi, Patricia Boquera. Modera: Manuel Lecuona.
Fecha: miércoles 18 Noviembre 2009, 11:00h.
Lugar: Cámara de Comercio de Valencia. C/ Jesús, 19. Valencia.

ARTEFACTOS COTIDIANOS
Invitados: Marco Zaccara, Ernest Garcia, Jon Marín. Modera: Gabriel Songel.
Fecha: miércoles 18 Noviembre 2009, 19:00h.
Lugar: Salón Actos. ETSID (Universitat Politècnica València).

REDES Y CONSTRUCCIÓN DE NUEVOS ESCENARIOS
Invitados: Juan Freire, Santiago Cirugeda, Olivier Shulbaum. Modera: Joan Olmos.
Fecha: jueves 19 Noviembre 2009, 19:00h.
Lugar: Salón Actos. ETSID (Universitat Politècnica València).
Taller:

LABORATORIO DISECHOS
Invitados: Makea Tu Vida
Fecha: del 19 al 21 de Noviembre de 2009.
Lugar: ETSID (Universitat PolitécnicaValéncia).