[it's not news until it's been blogged]

Remember Valerie Plame? Ms. Plame was the CIA undercover operative who was outed by the White House in effort to punish her husband former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had publicly stated in a July 6, 2003 op-ed in the New York Times, that despite President Bush’s statements to the contrary, Iraq had not attempted to purchase yellow cake uranium from Niger. The existence of that uranium, you may recall, was presented to the public as "evidence" that Iraq had nuclear weapons which, in turn, was used to justify our unilateral attack on Iraq.

The Justice Department launched its allegedly official probe on September 26th, but neglected to direct the White House to preserve critical evidence until the evening of September 29th. Then, when the White House Counsel asked if he could wait until the next day to inform the staff of the need to preserve documents, the Justice Department allowed it. Simply, if the leaker(s) had not been smart enough to get rid of the evidence between July 6th and September 29th, the White House Counsel’s office wanted to be sure that there was at least one last chance to do so before destroying evidence would constitute criminal obstruction of justice.

Since September 29th? Hrmmm... Nothing from the White House and nothing from the Department of Justice. The President never asked his staff to investigate the matter and never called for the leaker to come forward. The White House is, however, "cooperating."

It is strange then that Friday's announcement brought little web interest: "Lewis Libby, chief-of-staff to Dick Cheney, was also charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to a federal grand jury. Bush aide Karl Rove was not charged but the investigation remains open." (BBC) While the Washington Post, the BBC, and the Toronto Star reported "A top aide to the US vice-president has resigned after being charged with perjury over an investigation into the unmasking of a covert CIA agent," (BBC) it doesn't seem that this story has really grabbed the newsheadlines. How much radio play did this story receive? Why didn't all national papers print this latest development? At least people plugged in can have their say and the blogsphere is waking up to the fact that "they can do more to respond than just yell back at their television." (David Sifry @ Wired.com)

For more blogging on this story see: Antonia Zerbisias, JOHN PODHORETZ, Jonathan R, Murray Waas, George Friedman (note: there don't seem to be many women out there blogging this?)

[interdisciplinarity = alien]

Today I attended an induction for research students new to DMU. While I learned about the myriad of forms I have to fill in and the million signatures I will have to collect, I also met someone interesting; Ivor. During the break we had a very animated discussion. We talked about narrative, hypertext, new media, computing technology, undergraduate degrees, postgraduate degrees (and all that red tape), and then we both complained that there is no PG group. (I've already decided to start one like I did at RHUL). Anyway, after our lengthy discussion we found out that I'm in humanities and Ivor is in Computing. We uttered a collective gasp. What?! But we're opposites, there's no way two people from different disciplines can actually communicate with each other (let alone communicate full stop...he was a techie after all!). What did that teach us - how ingrained singularity in academia really is. It's time to branch out and connect with other departments and other discplines. The worst that can happen is realising that there is so much more out there to learn.

[transliteracies]

According to UNESCO, in the world today there are about 1 billion non-literate adults.
This 1 billion is approximately 26 percent of the world's adult population.
Women make up two-thirds of all non-literates.
98 percent of all non-literates live in developing countries.
In the least developed countries, the overall illiteracy rate is 49 percent.
52 percent of all non-literates live in India and China.
Africa as a continent has a literacy rate of less than 60 percent.

Right. So what are we doing about this? Well for one UNESCO has launched a Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) while others are developing country/province specific initiatives. In other words the world has recognised the extreme importance of being able to read and write. Literacy is an indispensable prerequisite to gain access to information about health, environment, education and employment.

ENTER TECHNOLOGY. With almost everything existing online (banks, clothing, food, shelter - buying and letting, friends, family,etc...) one must be technologically literate. Without this new literacy there is no access to this world. In Professor Sue Thomas's talk today at DMU she discussed the (alarming for some) speed at which web technology is progressing. Unfortunately, although technologies are converging at breakneck pace, research about them has not followed suit. Universities and some (can we say most?) academics seem to "fear" the progress of the internet. Perhaps they are worried that what is available is not academic...but that of course is the case for print as well. Good researchers recognise academic sources whether they exist online or offline. Perhaps the problem with the web (at least the new web, web 2.0) are the myriad of connections which abound. So universities retreat into what Thomas calls "gated communities;" communities where academics might feel protected from the wilderness but isn't collaboration and aren't connections central to any strong research? The question becomes how to "manage" the information (overload) which exists in the ether. There are all sorts of platforms and tagging devices but I think it comes down to each person being aware of what they want (subjective view, social view, academic view) and looking for sources which provide that.

If universities don't get involved now we'll have what Epic depicts - an internet where there is no "truth" to be found as newspapers have gone "offline" in protest and blogs become the news and, on top of it, each "news" story is tailored to each individual reader so the question of what really happened becomes impossible to answer. With universities not afraid to add to the "stone soup" of power and potential that is inherent in such a connective tissue the key words for information management will become "filtering," "ordering," and "delivering." In one word: we all need to be transliterate.

[dappple conference]

Right after the Portsmouth conference I zipped up to Glasgow with Sue and Gavin to take part in this workshop/seminar. Although it was aimed at educators there were certainly things to be learned by those working in other areas. I must say I was somewhat surprised at how much money schools in Britain are getting (from the government) to put towards IT. The conference centred on technology (in the classroom) and storytelling. Papers were presented on games which were designed to help students (some with physical and/or mental impairments) learn about themselves, others, and narrative. It was interesting to see what kinds of programmes are being designed but I think it's all still in very embryonic stages - especially if we think of games like Sims. The ideas are certainly pointing in the right direction - using computers in the classroom - but I think there is a way to go. That of course is part of a complex problem concerning the education of teachers (when would they have time to learn the software?) and money to provide that very necessary education.

[multimodal texts conference]

Today I presented a paper at the Multimodal Texts conference at Portsmouth University. I centred on my theory of multi-mimesis: how different representational modes (sound, font, images, video, narrative etc...) appear together in certain hyperfictions (specifically Fisher's These Waves of Girls). After presenting this paper I'm thinking I'd like to concentrate on how we "read" hyperfictions which employ these various (and at times subversive) devices...can we still refer to this kind of reading (of images, text, sound, video) as "literacy?" I wonder as literacy originally refered to letters...
The condition or quality of being literate, especially the ability to read and write. [Middle English litterate, from Latin littertus, from littera, ltera, letter. See letter.]
Hypertext (as in the web) really does call for a new theorising and a new vocabulary. I think I'd like to concentrate on this aspect of reading hyperfictions...

[the orange tree cafe]

I've loved this little cafe with its colourful walls since my first visit to Leicester in 2001. For anyone into people watching this is the place to mull over theories of social discourse - that's what we're doing of course.

[synesthesia]

the view from my study: the ponderous sky caresses the window with a timid trumpeting of purple.

[Bonfire in the backgarden]

bon·fire (n.)
A large fire built outdoors, as for signaling or in celebration of an event.
[Middle English bonnefire : bon, bone; see bone + fir, fire; see fire.]

In such a long, cold Winter
With the deadly breath of an ice age,
What we need
Is making a bonfire
Of all our memories:
How else can we wait
For a new Spring
That may never come?
Let us sit and count the stars
As they melt
On the palm of our hands.
(Mahmud Kianush)

[Leicestershire Countryside]

Gently rolling countryside dotted with cows and sheep. Small villages abound and this is a photo of us enjoying an outdoor meal at a rambling old farmhouse way off the beaten track.

[glamour magazine u.k. nov. 2005]

We're all allowed to indulge ourselves with "fun" reading...aren't we? Taking a break from Jane Yellowlees Douglas's The End of Books - or Books without End? I'm flipping through the latest U.K. edition of Glamour. I've come across a promising-sounding article: "The Importance of Doing Nothing." Sounds good...until I read that "we're too busy texting, emailing on our BlackBerry's or rearranging our iPod playlists." And what's wrong with this scenario? The author of this article seems to think that this is evidence of our collective desire to "achieve." To me, it sounds like people like their gadgets and know how to multi-task. What would we stare out of a tube window into the blackness when we can be reading or catching up on work? Well, I would be scoffed at by the author as "such relentless activity" can spell stress. How do we help ourselves you might be asking (or not as the case may be)? Well, there is a list of 13 things that are "perfectly fine not to do" number eight being NOT writing or reading a blog - "that means any blog." Hrumph. I know several people who would balk at that idea. I smell technophobia.

[the baghdad blog]

Two things strike me while reading Ian Katz's (Guardian Features Editor) introduction to The Baghdad Blog:

• Katz sees Salam Pax's (his real name is unknown) account of the war in Iraq as "simply the reshest, most exciting writing coming out of Iraq."
• Katz seems to see Salam's portrayal of Iraqis as redeaming in a certain kind of way. With Salam's writing suddenly "we" (Katz's word) see that Iraqis are not necessarily "poor, anti-Western, frequently hysterical, and altogether very different from us; here was one who addressed us in perfect idiomatic English, was obsessed with David Bowie lyrics and awaited the release of the new Massive Attack album as eagerly as any Glastonbury regular" (ix).

Now, is it just me, or does it seem like Katz is an example of why people might be annoyed with "Westerners." Katz sounds exsaperated and relieved that *finally* "we" (who is that really?) can identity with an Iraqi. "We" don't try to understand the pain/turmoil/distress that someone is experiencing but, for Katz, we can understand his "perfect" English and admiration of Western musicians. Not that there is anything wrong with enjoying this type of music but why is it this that holds the key to "our" ability to identify with the trauma Salam was experiencing? How do these superficial qualities find resonance within "us"?

Amazingly Salam survived undetected (fueling rumours he was some kind of secret agent) and I think that it is his (or her, as the case may be) bravery with which we should identify for "we" who fight for a voice are brave in our own (very different) ways.

"Raed is in Baghdad after a trip to Basra (south of
Iraq). He is at the moment crashing on my couch. He wears that
t-shirt24/7. It says MY LIFE IS HAPPY. Yeah, right. And I have a body like
Schwarzenegger's" (8).

[driver's licence exchange]

I'm attempting to fill out the DVLA application for a driving licence so that I can exchange my Ontario one for a British one. In BIG RED letters at the top of the application it says: "You must read booklet INF1D when filling in this form." Hrm...sure, I would...if I knew what it was...does this mean I need to find another postoffice that has these forms and get another envelope which actually contains the mysterious but seriously necessary INF1D form...

[back end of blogs]

Yay! Second job as research assistant means I get to design a blog/webpage for the project. Now I'll NEVER leave my computer...the possibilities are endless.

PS I also learnt about google's crawlers today...you just can't keep them at bay. They're always going...I found that a *wee* bit freaky.

[first job as research assistant]

Well, as research assistant for the Narrative Laboratory project we're going to a conference in Glasgow. It's hosted by DAPPPLE - "a research network which aims to bring together academics, educators and artists who are interested in storytelling, learning and IT." They are having a conference/workshop on the 25th of October. We're going to hear about current research and classroom teaching which involves children with storytelling and technology. (Check out Gavin Stewart's latest e-poetry in the classroom). Right, so my first job was to find a b&b close to Glasgow Caledonian University.This is what I've found...looks pretty good eh and comes with Scottish breakfast...yum!

[research assistant]

It has taken a little bit to get settled into Leicester but now that I have a study of my own (shared with millions of books and some remaining banana boxes) and the internet I feel "connected." After two meetings with my supervisor things are going well and I'm excited with the prospect of a new project called Narrative Laboratory. I've been made a "research assistant" which is just super! Now I'll get a taste of working in academia. Studies are of course most important though (right mum!) and now have lots of deadlines and thinking and planning to do...speaking of which....

[dac]

Not only is the Digital Arts and Culture upcoming conference programme online but check out the swish website design.

[withdrawal symptoms]

I hate dial-up. I also hate moving. When will I have my connection to the digital world....