I am excited to be asked to submit a chapter to a new book called Open Waves Freeways: Approaches to free wireless networks on WiFi edited by Yann Bona and Efraín Foglia. It will be published later this year under a Creative Common license.

This publication debates and focuses on the construction of open networks which use wireless technology without rejecting the possibilities now staring to be available concerning the use of optical fiber. The concept of open network refers to the use of any technology providing a sustainable solution which allows increasing degrees of freedom for knowing, accessing and modifying a telecommunication network.

Whether we think of a scarce resource to be regulated by a restricted cluster of actors or by an open spectrum, it remains unclear how these different actors interact and posit their arguments.

Here is an abstract for my proposed chapter:

Wireless enculturation: The role of the BBQ in the making of an Australian WiFi network

What does the BBQ have to do with WiFi? This chapter uses the BBQ as a lens to examine how an Australian wireless community innovates, contends with technological uncertainty and continues to expand coverage and membership. It argues that developing an understanding of the distinctive spirit of community WiFi in specific places, as it is produced in the nuance and texture of ordinary activities, is vital not only for understanding how technical systems emerged in the first place and continue to operate but is imperative for fostering similar arrangements in the future.

From bedrooms and backyards to the rooftops of public schools and local hospitals, the eclectic range of informal places, times and encounters in and through which community WiFi networks are made present a strikingly different vision of new technology development to conventional models. Instead of negotiating access to a sterile laboratory or corporate office filled with carefully catalogued materials, expensive machinery and appropriately attired technicians engaged in hierarchical practice, community WiFi members make use of a heterogeneous assemblage of unstable actors to produce and reproduce networks that are indubitably socially derived, culturally shaped and deeply embedded in the local environment. Yet, despite successfully running for over a decade, surprisingly little is known of how these systems are actually made and the social and cultural influences that shape them.

This chapter attempts to address this gap by focusing closely on a critical social space that emerged regularly during an eighteen-month ethnography of the largest community wireless group in Australia, located in Adelaide, South Australia. During this period, BBQs were a frequent part of monthly meetings, antenna installation sessions and public information open days. So customary were these events that I began to ask: What bearing does the BBQ have, if any, on who makes WiFi, where and how it is made? What can it tell us about the nature of community networking in Australian culture? My analysis contributes to the idea that technologies are firmly embedded in distinctive social, spatial and cultural environments, and if we are to understand them we need to examine the many forms they take in different contexts (Miller and Slater 2003; Wakeford 2003; Goggin 2004, 2007; Ito et al 2005). It draws on the work of science and technology studies (STS) writers who argue that unremarkable artefacts and systems make explicit the familiar and taken-for-granted ways in which people make sense of and operate in everyday life (Star 1991, 1999; Latour 1992; de Laet and Mol 2000; Michael 2000; 2006; Mol 2002). This chapter is premised on the idea that it is precisely because the overlooked and trivialised characteristics of new technologies yield such sharp contrast to conventional accepted models of production and distribution that they are critical to understanding them.

I have just heard that I’ve had two papers accepted for upcoming conferences:

Making ‘middlework’ public: Mods, mess and homebrew high-tech innovation in suburban Australia
The Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) Annual Conference , 25-29 August University of Tokyo, Japan

and

It’s the making that matters: Performing (im)possible futures (with Julian McHardy)
European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) 2-4 September 2010, University of Trento, Italy.

Given EPIC 2010 is squeezed in between these two events (29-1 Sept) in Tokyo, it is going to be a frantically busy time. Still, what a way to get all my conferences done for the year.

Yay!

I’ve spent the last few weeks in Australia doing freelance research for Intel’s Digital Home Group and part of this involved time in central South Australia. During one home visit, my colleague and I were taken on a tour of the cattle and sheep station to check for recent flood damage; there was talk that many of the fences had been washed away. We drove with the property owner in his old weathered ute which had as much red dust inside as out, and was filled with everything he ‘could ever possibly need’. This eclectic ensemble included cutlery, sunscreen, hammer, spanners and cable cutters, mobile phone, pens, bits of paper, matches, food in tupperware containers, tobacco, sheep tags and shearing clippers amongst a plethora of other objects.

Driving around at dusk we spotted lots of roos (Western greys, reds and Euros), Wedge tailed eagles, sheep and some feral goats.

This year, I’ve had for the pleasure of participating in the long distance Learning Assistance Programme (LAP) for the School of the Air in Australia. Every week (barring technical issues, travel breaks and school holidays) for one hour I have logged onto a special programme called Centra and communicated with a seven year old girl in central Australia. Because of our shared interests in travel, we have focused on geography. This meant learning a little of the language, landscape, art, architecture, cultural and social practices of a different place each week. Centra is an amazing tool – kind of like a combination of an interactive whiteboard, Facebook and Skype. It enables us to talk to one another and other people can join in, we can upload images and share them, make links to websites and write questions or simply illustrate things on the whiteboard.

The School of the Air (SOA) provides education for hundreds of children living on isolated properties in central Australia. Children who would otherwise have a limited education and opportunities for social engagements use various communication technologies to participate in school via the air. Begin in 1951 using radio, SOA now run their own ISP and utilise satellite technology. As a result, SOA’s history is a rich socio-technical chronicle of cutting edge technology adoption.

It is probably no surprise that SOA featured briefly in the intro to my PhD about innovative technology practices in Australia. It is a great example of an Australian world first that emerged from the fusion of available technologies, skills, isolation and challenging circumstances to meet basic needs. I saw it as emblematic of local knowledge, technical skills and the unique spatial character of the country and demonstrates the imperative to connect people across great distances. Despite the fact I had researched and written a little about SOA in my thesis, I had no real experience or contact with the service until March this year. Working as ethnographer for two months with Dr Genevieve Bell in her role as the 15th Thinker in Residence, our research lead us all over the state of South Australia. During this time we had the opportunity to visit a SOA office in Port Augusta where teachers work to teach their students online. We participated in a school assembly via Centra and Genevieve was interviewed by the Principal with input from students via voice and written questions on the shared whiteboard. It was then that I discovered LAP, run by the very supportive, super calm and time generous co-ordinator Vanessa Kirkham. With Vanessa’s help I cleared a Police check, was given access to and taught to use the computer programme and was matched with a student.

I have many notes of the rewarding experience of being a LAP volunteer (I’m an ethnographer of science and technology studies after all). I will post some of these over the next few months between school terms. I was also surprised on many occasions about the significant role the weather played in our communications. I was often (not unsurprisingly) unaware of weather conditions in central Australia and the effect it would have on our cross-hemisphere sessions. For instance, the massive dust storms that raged over central Australia in September this year and later hit the coast, covering Sydney with fine red dirt, resulted in cancelled lessons, and not just ours but literally days of school, as landlines and communication satellites were badly affected.

Temporal differences are also a unique aspect of my experience of LAP. All LAP volunteers, except for me, are located in Australia. Tonight for instance, because of the current 10.5 hour difference between London and South Australia (SA), the session for me starts at 22.30 which is 09.30 in SA. Earlier in the year, our sessions commenced at 7am London time which was 16.30 in the afternoon in SA. Tomorrow night is the end of year LAP morning tea which is an annual event to publicly thank volunteers for their commitment to LAP and students. I really want to attend this and I will even though for me it is not really morning tea time, but rather will involve midnight snacks.

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Update: A screen grab from last night’s SOA morning tea.

Good stuff:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/futuretense/stories/2009/2722560.htm

Ben just told me (and supplied the pics) of this innovative ‘frontyard’ community garden project in Melbourne. The absence of a traditional garden space (backyard, roof terrace or window boxes) has not stopped the residents of this suburban street from producing their own food in a very creative yet simple way. Three large wooden crates, lined with black plastic and filled with dirt provide ample space to grow herbs and vegies. Moreover, these crates make one of the best uses of a single car parking space I’ve seen in a long time.

(Thanks Ben. Lovey stuff.).

Introducing a new range of DIY backyard activities:

– Meet Ginger Rogers, Captain Cook, Eggbert and Helmet. They are red cross (Rhode Island Red/ New Hampshire), white cross (White Leghorn/Rhode Island Red) and black cross (Australorp/New Hampshire). Note their tiny combs and feathery pantaloons, these pullets are just teenagers at eight week old.

– The re-appropriated garden shed. Replace a few wall panels with chicken wire, add hay and a few old wooden storage boxes as well as an old manger from a well worn nativity scene and presto – the new chicken coop. Although we are hopeful, it remains to be seen whether the chooks will in fact ‘lay in the manger’.

Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, is talking in Sydney tonight about sustainable cities and public transport. I heard him speak on Radio National this morning about the effects of congestion charging and increased public transport on London’s gridlock problem. He highlighted the phenomenal growth of cycling as a result of these two factors which is inspiring for a city like Sydney which currently makes the task of being cyclist more than a little challenging.

He will be joined by Simon Marnie (ABC broadcaster), Garry Glazebrook (Senior Lecturer, School of the Built Environment, University of Technology) and Robert Whitehead (Director, Marketing & Newspaper Sales, The Sydney Morning Herald). I cannot attend but I will post a link to a recording of the event if and when it is made public.

Tickets are free but you have to book them in advance here.

DATE: Wednesday 16 September 2009

TIME: 6.30pm – 8.00pm

VENUE: State Theatre, 49 Market Street, Sydney

UPDATE: Here is the podcast

At the end of my work contract in Australia I had a few days to catch up with respondents of my PhD research. And funny enough, I spent a day making freakbikes with some of the WiFi group members – such is the cross-over between these two groups. As per usual, the day was characterised by much laughter, noise, beer, barbeques and bike mess.

Some stats from the Thinker in Residence fieldwork:

13,500 – (kms) total distance traveled
4,500 – digital photos taken, labeled and catalogued
1,277 – (kms) longest driving distance in one day
410 – people interviewed or presented to in community meetings
59 – days on the road
48.5 – (degrees celcius) hottest temperature
38 – rural and regional cities visited
20 – (litres) minimum water in the car at any time
14 – (hours) longest driving day
8 – (hours) longest drive to get to and from a single interview
4 – articles of clothing destroyed by red dust
1 – tyre blown and replaced
1 – tyre rim blown and replaced
0 – wildlife killed on the roads (some roo’s came close but we, and they, were lucky)