TransVision06

TransVision06 August 17-19, 2006

University of Helsinki, Finland, Europe

http://www.transhumanismi.org/tv06/

The annual TransVision conference brings together leading transhumanist thinkers, technologists, scientists and philosophers from around the world.

This year's conference is held under the theme "Emerging Technologies ofHuman Enhancement".

The conference will be held in Helsinki, Finland, one ofthe world's leading high technology centers. TransVision06 is organized bythe World Transhumanist Association together with the Finnish Transhumanist Association.**

Keynote speakers     * Dr. William Sims Bainbridge  National Science Foundation (USA)     * Dr. Aubrey de Grey           University of Cambridge; IEET

** Other prominent speakers:

  • Prof. Timo Airaksinen        University of Helsinki
  • Dr. Nick Bostrom             Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford; WTA; IEET 
  • Jose Cordeiro                Millennium Project
  • Dr. Ben Goertzel             Noveamente LLC 
  • Dr. James Hughes             WTA; IEET
  • Prof. Hannu Kari             Helsinki University of Technology
  • Giulio Prisco                FutureTAG; WTA; IEET
  • Dr. Richard Sherlock         Utah State University
  • Philippe Van Nedervelde      Foresight Nanotech Institute
  • Natasha Vita-More            Extropy Institute
  • David Wood                   Symbian Inc.

Full list of speakers is available at the conference website.             Early registration open until May 31st!

More information and registration at: http://www.transhumanismi.org/tv06/

American College of Sports Medicine

I just arrived into Denver, where the weather is not looking great. This is bad news as I have booked a Harley Davidson for a day at the end of the ACSM meeting. It is my first time at ACSM and I am really looking forward to it. I have heard so much about this meeting over the years. As always at science/medical meetings, I spend most of my time listening and trying to make sense of it all.  Our session is invited by the ACSM and is about Gene Doping. The panel includes Gary Wadler from New York Medical School, Olivier Rabin from WADA and is Chaired by Stephen Roth at the University of Maryland.

After this, I conclude my USA whirlwind trip and look forward to getting back in the UK for a while. First thing to do - besides marking, etc - will be to obtain a China tourist visa for Beijing in the summer. I gather they can take some time to obtain.

Cyberathlete Professional League

I read another in-flight magazine on my way to Chicago, en route to Denver, which had an article about Cyberathlete Professional League and competitor Fatal1ty.  Within the piece, he talks about the relationship between playing sport and playing computer games. I quote:

'It's all hand/eye coordination from sports...but it's also about geometry and mathematics. In a game, I'm looking at my opponent's position and where I have to shoot a raget and have them meet at the same time. When I golf, I visualize the shot.'

International Performance in Sport Conference

I have been invited to speak at this meeting in September. The brochures came through the post the other week and it looks like an excellent meeeting. It covers a whole range of technological issues, which is precisely what I have argued for over the last few years. I'm not saying that I've influenced anything, but it's at least nice to go to a meeting with this range of approaches to the roles of technology in sport.

CSearch

A few weeks ago, I helped Gary Hall and others test-run the CSearch database. It looks like a great project, working in relation to Culture Machine. Here is Gary's call for submissions: CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

CULTURE MACHINE http://www.culturemachine.net

Culture Machine is looking for contributions to a digital archive for media and cultural studies texts and related materials. The archive,called CSeARCH (which stands for Cultural Studies e-Archive), is completely free to both download from and upload into. What's more, recent figures suggest that research published as 'open access' is between two and four times more likely to be read and cited than if it is just published in print-on-paper form.

You can find CSeARCH at: http://www.culturemachine.net/csearch

This will let you browse the archive as well as read and download its contents for free. It already contains over 500 books, book chapters,journal articles, interviews, lectures and so on, from Abbas and Agamben, through McRobbie and Poster, to Williams and Zizek.

To upload work into the archive go to the 'Submit' page. Fill in thebrief details and you'll then be sent a login name and password via e-mail together with a directlink. Click on the link and you'll be there - no need to login at thatpoint the first time. (The password just ensures no one but you can edit your entries.) It's really fast and easy.

We realise it's going to take a little time to grow. But one of theideas behind open access archives is that if everyone deposits a digital copy of their published material in the archive, then it means that allthe media and cultural studies research is going to be available for students, teachers, lecturers and researchers to use anywhere in the world, for free, for ever (as opposed to being restricted just to those individuals and institutions who can afford to pay for access to it inthe form of journal subscriptions, books cover prices, interlibrary loans, photocopying charges etc., as is the case now).

Obviously anything that is already in digital form, be it Word, pdf andso on, can be uploaded easily. If anyone does have early media and cultural studies texts, including out of print books, book chapters, journal editions or journal articles they can scan in or otherwise makeavailable, that would be great, too.

However, the idea is also to include recent and even current work, both already published and that which is awaiting publication.

More information about the archive, including how to include books, book chapters and journal articles which have already been published elsewhere, or which are due to be so in the future, without infringing copyright, is availablein:

'The Cultural Studies e-Archive Project (Original Pirate Copy)', Culture Machine 5, 2003 http://culturemachine.tees.ac.uk/Cmach/Backissues/j005/Articles/hall.htm

But any questions or problems just send me an email:

gary.hall@connectfree.co.uk

Cheers, Gary

------------------------

ABOUT CULTURE MACHINE

Culture Machine is an umbrella term for a series of experiments in culture and theory.

The Culture Machine journal http://www.culturemachine.net The Culture Machine Reviews section http://culturemachine.tees.ac.uk/bk_rev.htm The Culture Machine InterZone http://culturemachine.tees.ac.uk/InterZone/index.htm The Culture Machine book series (published by Berg and including City of Panic by Paul Virilio) The Culture Machine open access archive CSeARCH http://www.culturemachine.net/csearch

Culture Machine has an International Advisory Board which includes Geoffrey Bennington, Robert Bernasconi, Lawrence Grossberg, Peggy Kamuf, Alphonso Lingis, Meaghan Morris, Paul Patton, Mark Poster, Avital Ronell, Nicholas Royle and Kenneth Surin.

For more information, visit the Culture Machine site at: http://www.culturemachine.net

Gunnar Breivik

My final formal meeting today was with my dear friend and colleague Gunnar Breivik. I have known Gunnar since around 1999. I think we met first at the IAPS conference in Bedford, but it might have been when I visited the Norwegian University of Sport Science earlier that year. At the time, I think he was Rector o the University, or maybe it was a little later. Anyway, we have seen each other in Brisbane, Melbourne, Salzburg, Oslo, and numerous other places. Gunnar was also on my PhD examination committee many moons ago. Gunnar has spent the last year at University of California, Berkeley chilling out after a long stint as Rector. I seem to recall going to Oslo in 1999 and hearing about his antics of taking a kayak off the high diving board in the swimming pool; one of many extreme sport stories he has to tell.

Craig Heller

The next stop on my whirlwind meeting run today was also set up just today. I can't believe how lucky I have been to hook up with these people at Stanford Uni. They have been so generous with their time and at such short notice. So, the next meeting today was with Craig. On the flight down to San Jose, the airline magazine had an article about his 'cooling device', the RTX Core Control system, which seems to be producing extraordinary results. The magazine article talked about its application for athletics where overheating impedes performance. This system seems to cool in ways that can yield an enormous performance gain. It was lovely to meet Craig and he kindly showed me a few of the designs that had gone into this 10 year project development. Here's a reference to one of their recent publications: Grahn DA, Cao VH, Heller HC "Heat extraction through the palm of one hand improves aerobic exercise endurance in a hot environment." J Appl Physiol 2005;

Fred Turner

After spending some time with Jeremy today, he introduced me to Fred. We spent around 45minutes just talking about our respective takes on the development of cyberculture as a mode of inquiry. The programme here at Stanford seems excellent; my kind of digital culture. It's so nice to meet a fellow cyber theorist, I don't seem to have encountered many in my recent travels, which just reminds me of how much bioethics I am doing at the moment.

Jeremy Bailenson

Today, I nipped into Stanford University early to meet a few people whose work I had heard of over the last year. The first of these was Jeremy, whose work on HCI games and avatars is just fascinating. At about 2hrs notice, he let me play in the Virtual Human Interaction Lab and it was just great to see the possibilties of this technology. Thanks Jeremy!

surveillance camera players

Some of my work at the moment has moved into issues of exploring mobile communications and the city. The inspiration for these ideas are the works of Guy Debord, Henri Lefebvre and our contemporary William Mitchell. Also, trawling through back issues of the Journal of Urban Technology makes for interesting reading.  So, it was interesting to see an email about the Players arrive in my inbox. I had not heard of them (ashamed) but they seem to have made an interesting contribution.

Paradise Bound

Last week, I saw my first play in Liverpool, which was called Paradise Bound. It was set in the Dingle area of Liverpool and semi-autobiographical. The writer, Jonathan Larkin (26) explains the story of two teenagers growing up in the area, struggling with sexuality, race and aspirations. Their stories are intimately connected with two middle-aged women, one of whom is mother to one of the teenagers.

The play makes explicit response to the European Capital of Culture future for the city and provides a warning for organisers from those who already feel marginal to the plans. I couldn't help but feel that some level of exclusion is envitable in this process.

So, it was a good start, followed shortly by (a week later) a free gig of th Zutons, playing on their home turf for a Channel 4 filming.

The Hastings Center

This week, I visited The Hastings Center in Garrison New York for a project meeting. This was my fourth trip to Garrison. I was first there in the summer of 2002, when I spent around 2 months working on the manuscript for Genetically Modified Athletes. It has to be one of the most idyllic settings for a philosopher to work.

Their building overlooks the Hudson River (photo above) and looks across to West Point Military Academy on the west side of the river. The Center is in a lovely forest setting, where deer frequently pop their heads out of the bushes (in a suitable philosophical pose). This photograh of the Center's veranda is a lovely place to have lunch in the summer and everybody is just so nice there.

I could hardly believe that three years have passed since I was there last. It was reassuringly similar. It was especially nice to see Erik Parens and Greg Kaebnick again who are the kind of people that can inspire someone to do philosophy.

Playing with Convergence

Call for Papers:  Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies Vol 13 no 4   Special Issue: Playing with convergence – digital games   The field of Game Studies is maturing beyond the boisterous binary positioning that characterised its early development, with even those in attendance during the early ‘theory wars’ attempting rapprochements of one kind or another (e.g. Juul 2005, Jenkins 2003).  The process of disciplinary development has shown that the most vociferously held early positions are simply inadequate to the task of accounting for the complex and diverse pleasures of gameplay, and the jostling to define games in general may even have distracted from  a proper critical focus on the games themselves.   We no longer need to describe our object of study as though to the uninitiated, nor do we need to persuade a resistant audience that games are cultural objects worthy of detailed critical analysis.  This special issue is particularly interested in work which demonstrates a familiarity with the debates that have shaped the emergent field but which show the confidence to develop those earlier debates through detailed, sustained analysis of individual games.   For this special issue of Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies we are seeking original Research into videogames, and we are particularly interested in the following areas: consideration of the work of particular designers or design teams, reflections on the status of authorship in games, and reflections on the relationship between visual design and gameplay in particular games and considerations of the relationship between particular games and broader visual traditions.   We seek a variety of approaches that represent the diversity of work in game studies, from textual analysis through to ethnographic studies of players and historical investigations.   Authors should submit expressions of interest or papers to helen.kennedy@uwe.ac.uk <mailto:helen.kennedy@uwe.ac.uk>  or jason.wilson@luton.ac.uk <mailto:jason.wilson@luton.ac.uk> Deadline: 30th November 2006   www.luton.ac.uk/convergence <http://www.luton.ac.uk/convergence> http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalsProdDesc.nav?prodId=Journal201774

  Jason Wilson

Reviews Editor - Convergence

School of Media, Art and Design University of Luton Park Square Luton Bedfordshire LU1 3JU United Kingdom

T +44 (0)1582 489114 F +44 (0)1582 489212 M  07886508141 jason.wilson@luton.ac.uk

Crónica de una fuga

I'm not sure how to begin this entry, but it feels like one of the most wonderful things to write about. I saw my (philosopher) friend Claudio Tamburrini last week at the Oxford ENHANCE meeting where he was 'forced' into telling me that his book 'Pase Libre' has been made into a movie called: Crónica de una fuga.

The book - in English 'free pass/kick' (as in soccer) is about a young football player in Argentina who was taken captive by a 'task group' working for the Argentine military government.

It was great to talk with him about the process and, by all accounts, it seems already to have been received incredibly well in Argentina, where Claudio has spent the last, tiring month. It has been included in this year's Official Selection at Cannes!

Claudio sent me a copy of the book a couple of years ago and I have just seen a glimpse of the website trailers. It looks fantastic and evidently with a great crew. The lead man who plays Claudio is Rodrigo de la Serna (The Motorcycle Diaries - plays travelling companion to Che Guevara, played by Gael Garcia Bernal) and the Director is Adrien Caetano.

So it is now my mission in life to advertise this widely and unashamedly. Although, with 20th Century Fox distributing, I guess they don't need much help.

By the way, Claudio is now looking for an anglo-saxon publisher to translate his book. Any offers?

Playing with Mother Nature

I wonder what happened to this...  Call for Papers: Playing with Mother Nature: Video Games, Space, and Ecology Editors Sidney I. Dobrin, Cathlena Martin, and Laurie Taylor seek proposals for a new collection of original articles that address the useand place of space and ecology in video games. This collection willexamine video games in terms of the spaces they create and use, the metaphors of space on which they rely, and the ecologies that they createwithin those spaces. This collection will address the significantintersections in terms of how and why video games construct space and ecology as they do, and in terms of how those constructions shapeconceptions of both space and ecology. The editors seek proposals for innovative papers that explore theintersections between ecocriticism, theories of spatiality, and videogames. Ecocriticism of video games straddles studying ecology as the Earth (or alternate world setting), nature, and land, while adding physical representation and experimentation through video game spaces and other technological spaces. These video games spaces create their own spatial practice through their representation and through the players' lived interaction with the gaming environments as constructed worlds.Video game spatial analysis comprises the created representation of space in the games, the players' experiences with those spaces, and the nuances by which those spaces are constructed and conveyed, including theirportrayal of cultural norms for space and spatiality. In addition, the editors are looking for several papers that specifically address children's culture and education in terms of video games, space, andecology.

Editors seek contributions which explore and initiate conversations using the triple lens of ecology, space, and video games about areas that may, but will not necessarily, pertain to:

  • Role of imaginary space in video games
  • Implications of Soja's Thirdspace and other spatial theories on videogames
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) and artificial life (AL) and the creationof artificial ecologies
  • Games specifically designed for education about ecological concerns,places, or uses (Oregon Trail, free online games)
  • Over-all ecological educational/conceptual effect of video games
  • Environment in video games and how it is constructed spatially andrhetorically
  • Relationship of the players to the game worlds arenas, landscapes,cities, and worlds
  • Rhetorical effect of nostalgic and romantic representations of nature
  • How video games effect eco literacies
  • Rhetorical effect of architecture and the creation of game spaces
  • Function of utopian and dystopian World Constructions
  • Creation of communities within artificial lands (often in MMORPGs, likeEverquest homes and communities)
  • Ecologies of play: evolutionary change and progression (powerups andenemy progression in relation to evolutionary models); cycle of life anddeath and the disruption of that cycle with re-play
  • Game creatures / anthropomorphism; cyborgs / cloning
  • Relationship of science and nature (control in games like Zoo Tycoon,science as a perversion of nature sci-fi games)
  • Analysis of ecolological tropes: mastery or control of nature (SIMCITYand the natural disasters as the opponent; land as something to becontrolled and colonized in Civilization)
  • Cultural construction of nature (prevalence of post apocalyptic worldsin Japanese games like Final Fantasy)
  • Virtual zoos viewing and capturing 'nature' (photographs of alien creatures in Beyond Good and Evil, capturing creatures in Pokemon)
  • Intersections of eco-theories and visual rhetoric as portrayed in video games
  • Historical representations of physical spaces and its relationship to the cultural definitions of those spaces (Battlefield 1942, Medal ofHonor)

All articles should pertain specifically to game studies scholarship and/or pedagogy. Articles that lend to the theoretical and criticalscholarship of video game studies will be favored. The editors are lessinterested in submissions that simply offer readings of particular games in order to identify that a game might be 'read' as ecological.

Please send a proposal of 500-750 words and a contributor's bio by November 1, 2004 to (preferably) e-mail or snail mail address below.(Early inquiries and submissions are highly encouraged). Authors will benotified of acceptance by December 1, 2004. Final drafts of articles will be due: April 1, 2004.

For more information, please email the editors or see the longer CFP online: http://www.nwe.ufl.edu/~ltaylor/ecology.html

Sdobrin@english.ufl.edu, Cmartin@english.ufl.edu, or Ltaylor@english.ufl.edu

Sidney Dobrin, Cathlena Martin, and Laurie Taylor Department of English University of Florida PO Box 117310 Gainesville, Florida, 32611-7311

Genomics and Criminal Justice

Third edition of Genomics, Society and Policy! Nice one Mark!

SPECIAL ISSUE - GENOMICS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Vol.2, No.1

Download the complete issue at their website

Editorial Anthony Mark Cutter

Editorial Essay

To Clear or To Convict? The Role of Genomics in Criminal Justice Anthony Mark Cutter

Articles

Police collection and access to DNA samples Jane Kaye

First Impressions Count: Serious detections arising from Criminal Justice Samples Michael Townsley, Chloe Smith & Ken Pease

Bar-coded children: an exploration of issues around the inclusion of children on the England and Wales National DNA database Mairi Levitt & Floris Tomasini

Policy Implications of Defining Race and More by Genome Profiling Susanne B. Haga

Behavioural Genetics in Criminal Cases: Past, Present, and Future Nita Farahany & William Bernet

The true ramifications of genetic criminality research for free will in the criminal justice system Ozan Onay

Addiction in public health and criminal justice system governance: neuroscience, enhancement and happiness research Robin Mackenzie

Policing Procreation: Prisoners, Artificial Insemination and the Law Helen Codd

End of Life Decision-making, Policy and the Criminal Justice System: Untrained Carers Assuming Responsibility [UCARes] and Their Uncertain Legal Liabilities Hazel Biggs & Robin Mackenzie

Case Report

Forensic uses and misuses of DNA: a case report from Norway Bjørn Hofmann

Book Review

Review of Wrestling with Behavioral Genetics. Science Ethics and Public Conversation Mairi Levitt

Genetic Doping in Sport

Genetic Doping in Sport: The Facts and the Future 1-day seminar 27 July 2006

Sydney Olympic Park

Course Overview

The prospect of a genetically engineered athlete is now a reality (Parisotto, 2006). Science has reached the stage where it is possible to determine an individual’s potential from their genetic make-up and we are seeing the increasing spectre of gene doping looming large in athletes and sporting contests.

This seminar will provide an in-depth analysis and understanding of the history, science, practice, policy and ethics of genetic doping in sport and what the future might hold.

Presenters*

Professor Peter Fricker, Director of the Australian Institute of Sport.

Dr Brian Sando Chief Medical Officer for the last five Olympic Games.

Dr Damien Abarno Research Geneticist, University of South Australia and Sport Knowledge Australia.

Mr Robin Parisotto Principal researcher for the AIS ‘EPO 2000 Project’ and author of the recent book “Blood Sports”

Benefits To Participants

You will learn about:

  • the biology underpinning genetic doping effects on physiology
  • genes that are currently linked to physiology and performance
  • genetic testing for athlete potential - how it is done and some of the current testing being carried out
  • gene doping - it’s origins, application and regulations.
  • the extent of gene doping in international sports
  • the testing and impact of genetics in sport at the club, national and international level.
  • the ethical implications of genetic doping and testing in sports.

It promises to be an outstanding and unique opportunity to engage with the leading thinkers, practitioners and policy makers on this controversial but now very real issue.

Who Should Attend

  • Scientists
  • Sports organisations
  • Coaches and managers
  • Strength and conditioning coaches
  • Government Departments of Sport and Health
  • Sport Institutes
  • Player Associations
  • Professional Associations for sport science and medicine
  • Pharmaceutical organizations
  • Academics
  • Media commentators

COST AU$495 (Incl GST)**DATE 27 July 2006 VENUE Sydney Olympic Park RSVP 21 July 2006 **The above cost includes morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. 5% off for registrations made before 26 May 2006 For all courses offered by Sport Knowledge Australia, please visit http://www.sportedu.org Telephone + 61 2 9390 9390, Fax + 61 2 9390 9391, Email courses@sportedu.org Level 1, Building A - 1 Herb Elliott Ave - Sydney Olympic Park - NSW 2127 Australia