Fragility of Internet Access

Here are two examples yesterday that demonstrated the fragility and cost of internet access.
I was in line yesterday to pay for my lunch at a University eatery, and the net was down. And with net being down, so too was the debit machine, so cash only. The two people in the line in front of me, had to abandon their lunch plans, left the food behind, presumably to be thrown out (i.e. no sale). Multiply that by number of people who don't use cash and we can only imagine the number of sales lost in a very short period of time.

In my second example I was part of a test with colleagues in Vancouver regarding conferencing using web based conference calling. The net went down, and we were stranded in mid-conversation. There were a few chat messages before they too didn't go through. Thankfully this was a test run, but the conclusion is we're not there yet, and will have to persevere with the more costly and clumsy option of teleconferencing.

In a model that is actively discouraging what the vendors / IP providers are labelling overuse this kind of thing is bound to be devastating to small and medium sized businesses in this country. Back in the day, millions were invested (admittedly to varying geographic degrees, since much of the investment was provincially regulated, or on a for-profit model) to create a strong and profitable infrastructure. Ironically, part of that infrastructure was a system of 'residential schools', and while I'm sure everyone is glad to see the demise of those, we are missing some glorious opportunities to create a viable network of education facilities if we're going to persist with a for-profit model of communication, and especially one that punishes over use, regardless of its purpose. Surely there is a difference between stable cash transactions, information flow for education, and streaming of entertainment. And even that, didn't the broadcasters in this country once have a mandate (at least in practice) to transmit the same quality of programming throughout the country? In Manitoba last spring, an opposition MLA tabled a list of some 200 communities that didn't have adequate internet access. Regardless of what that means exactly, I find it shameful that this kind of situation doesn't merit public outcry, in light of all the possibilities, and in light of the minimal financial cost to implement a suitable infrastructure. As with railways before, it sounds very much like if they want it -- if the political will is there -- it can happen. Course, like the railway, lets hope the lessons from that experiment are taken to heart, and the geographical distribution of crisis are well understood and addressed.

nother teachable worth filing

Had another today. Effect of industrialization on working class women in Europe after 1800. Not much luck finding materials on historical dbs, but when I directed student to Geographical dbs, the light bulb went on. I did caution her that some of the materials will have a slightly different approach, but that she could certainly milk the footnotes. Some geographers are damn fine historians (and some are not). They come in all shapes and sizes, but nice to know there are other ways to view the world, and that I was able to provide a different lens.

Is access to Information structural?

I'm pondering how might access to information (and these days that means primarily suitable telecommunications infrastructure) be related to poverty? To uncover this, a couple of things need to be defined clearly. 1st Poverty -- what is it? what causes it? 2nd what is suitable telecommunication infrastructure, and where does it rank as a symptom or determinant of poverty. Does it weigh in as heavily as clean air, drinking water, suitable shelter? Education.

Can education be provided, in a sustainable manner, without suitable high speed internet access? Is there still room in development models, for keeping the solutions local and sustainable?

My first thoughts about this, was that indeed there was something structural about poverty, and hence about suitable and sustainable infrastructure. At the simplest level, perhaps, but it is just that, too simple. The structure does not exist in a vacuum, it is not superorganic, in the sense that it somehow floats above all the other attributes of any given culture, and to get a deeper understanding of the problems, at a theoretical level, we need to identify who the stakeholders are, and in which context they operate. But this is not a theoretical problem alone and needs some imaginative solutions in the present. So in short, probably not a structural problem, or if it is, let's stop playing the blame game.


Now you can blame the social system
But I still say it was his necktie (From "Necktie" by Michelle Shocked, Texas Campfire Tapes (Cooking Vinyl 1987).

CIRA to host national event on the future of the Internet | Canadian Internet Forum

CIRA to host national event on the future of the Internet | Canadian Internet Forum

Some interesting discussions here.

Personally I'm interested to hear what they have to say about access, and distribution of information services. I attended one of the sessions that this one is summarizing, in my capacity as Provincial Director for the SLA -WCC, but also expressed my concerns at the time regarding the geographical distribution of internet access. The discussion at the time back in November ended on a fairly optimistic note, that all we needed to do is hound the politicians to do the right thing. But I'm not sure that in that small an informal gathering we were able to agree what the right thing might be.

As it turns out a lot of thought and imagination needs to be expended, and in very limited time. Already since we met a few months ago, a recent CRTC decision has come down that may have significant impact on this country's internet access; that decision has placed caps on unlimited internet access previously promised by some service providers.
This decision not only limits the ability of smaller service providers to compete, but more importantly it places limits on the access to information for people who are already at a lower socio-economic status, and cannot afford to pay the rates offered by the larger service providers, many of whom don't serve the remote communities, citing the rules of market forces (rather than social responsibility) as the driving force behind irresponsible decisions. These are harsh criticism to be sure, and unsubstantiated, so I throw these out to the wider community to engage in discussion.

What is at stake is an uneven distribution of information in a society that ostensibly values education as a basic human right.

Watch this space for further thoughts as they develop.

Filing 'Teachable' moments

What are the chances? two reference questions that touched on two very different aspects of my past research. I was able, without consulting external resources.

Historical Atlas that shows events of the 18th century in western europe. Was able to remind student of a resource I hadn't used in over 10 years, back when I was teaching historical geography of Europe.
treatment of women in shakespeare's time -- directed student to New Historicism and stephen greenblatt.
This experience needs to be filed as I prep for interviews as a teachable moments.  And speaking of teachable moments, have been confronted with a spectacular one, as I failed to be shortlisted for position that I've been doing for several years, and had developed an excellent rapport with the folks I was meant to serve, but perhaps not so much with my team mates.  Tricky one.  Siomebody moved my cheese, and I'm expected to make lemonade.  Watch this space, as I try to reinvent myself.  I've been told in the past I have a good broadcasting voice.  What of the voice of Information Literacy.  What shall I call myself?  Open to suggestions,

Liberation Technologies

Encountered a new term, still struggling with what it means and what the implications might be.

Liberation Technologies.


Something to do with mobile technologies, but liberate from what?  and did we ask to be 'liberated'.
Fishing for active discussion, what these might be.

GIS vs. Geography

Bit of a personal journey, but I've been thinking about what the difference between a geographer (me) and cartographer is.  In essence, cartographer (aka, GIS) is one tool that a geographer can use to understand and articulate spatial distribution of events or phenomena. 


But there is so much more to it.  Other tools I use are critical thinking, analysis, recognition of particular epistemologies, ability to identify and counter popular arguments, the recognition that geographies are actively created through unintentional and unplanned arguments and actions.  For example a pervasive world view of liberalism in the 19th century, that throughout western Europe and ultimately the world, held that humanity might be liberated by the geographical coincidence of nation and state, produced a very unique geography with dominant nations neatly compartmentalised across the globe, and less dominant groups being subject to discrimination, diminished social status, oppression and in extreme cases genocide.

These are tools not often in the toolkit of GIS practioners, although many a professional in most any field these days, might be expected to have these.


Ever since making a monumental shift in my career away from what I thought was a profession in Geography to Librarian, my Librarian colleagues, somewhat misguidedly, as it seems to me now, steered me towards gis or map librarianship.  This is a highly technical skill that certainly isn't beyond me to learn, but a set of skills I was not presented with early on in my career.   My skills and / or training extends beyond this, or at best run parallel to this.  Opportunities to retrain are rare (I've seized many), and yet professional positions elude me.  Is it time to recognize that the divisions set out some time after Humboldt, between cartography (an art) and geography (a scientific or humanistic pursuit) are here to stay, or indeed that GIS has moved away from the realm of Geography.  Its popularity and ease of use, has certainly made it very attractive to a wide variety of applications that should have recognized its value generations ago, but for lack of easy and computer power would hope that somebody else dealt with it.  Then the question I'd like to address in time (another posting perhaps) is what are the origins of the difference between cartography and geography, when did they split, why, and what of it?