Convivial Tools Database - User contributions [en]

Open Source Crawlers

2007-10-31T10:31:04Z

BigTurtle: /* Links */

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataparkSearch is a crawler and search engine released under the GNU General Public License.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

[[Wget|GNU Wget]] is a command-line operated crawler written in C programming language and released under the GNU General Public License GPL. It is typically used to mirror web and FTP sites.

[[Heritrix]] is the [[Internet Archive]]'s archival-quality crawler, designed for archiving periodic snapshots of a large portion of the Web. It was written in Java.

[http://www.htdig.org/ ht://Dig] includes a web crawler in its indexing engine.

[[HTTrack]] uses a Web crawler to create a mirror of a web site for off-line viewing. It is written in C programming language and released under the GNU General Public License GPL.

[http://www.iterating.com/products/JSpider JSpider] is a highly configurable and customizable web sSpider engine released under the GNU General Public License GPL.

[http://larbin.sourceforge.net/index-eng.html Larbin] by Sebastien Ailleret

[http://sourceforge.net/projects/webtools4larbin/ Webtools4larbin] by Andreas Beder

http://bithack.se/methabot/ Methabot] is a speed-optimized web crawler and command line utility written in C programming language and released under a 2-clause BSD License. It features a wide configuration system, a module system and has support for targeted crawling through local filesystem, HTTP or FTP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutch [[Nutch]] is a crawler written in Java and released under an Apache License. It can be used in conjunction with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucene Lucene] text indexing package.

[http://dbpubs.stanford.edu:8091/~testbed/doc2/WebBase/webbase-pages.html#Spider WebVac] is a crawler used by the [http://dbpubs.stanford.edu:8091/~testbed/doc2/WebBase/ Stanford WebBase Project].

[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rcm/websphinx/ WebSPHINX] (Miller and Bharat, 1998) is composed of a Java class library that implements multi-threaded web page retrieval and HTML parsing, and a graphical user interface to set the starting URLs, to extract the downloaded data and to implement a basic text-based search engine.

[http://www.cwr.cl/projects/WIRE/ WIRE - Web Information Retrieval Environment] (Baeza-Yates and Castillo, 2002) is a web crawler written in C++ and released under the GNU General Public License GPL, including several policies for scheduling the page downloads and a module for generating reports and statistics on the downloaded pages so it has been used for web characterization.

[http://search.cpan.org/~marclang/ParallelUserAgent-2.57/lib/LWP/Parallel/RobotUA.pm LWP::RobotUA] (Langheinrich , 2004) is a [[Perl]] class for implementing well-behaved parallel web robots distributed under [http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ Perl5's license].

[http://www.noviway.com/Code/Web-Crawler.aspx Web Crawler] Open source web crawler.

[http://www.ucw.cz/holmes/ Sherlock Holmes] Sherlock Holmes gathers and indexes textual data (text files, web pages, ...), both locally and over the network. Holmes is sponsored and commercially used by the Czech web portal [http://www.centrum.cz/ Centrum]. It is also used by [[Onet.pl]], displayed as:
holmes/3.11 (OnetSzukaj/5.0; +http://szukaj.onet.pl)

[http://www.yacy.net/yacy/ YaCy] YaCy is a web crawler, indexer, web server with user interface to the application and the search page, and implements a peer-to-peer protocol to communicate with other YaCy installations. YaCy can be used as stand-alone crawler/indexer or as a distributed search engine. (licensed under GPL)

[http://sourceforge.net/projects/ruya/ Ruya] Ruya is an Open Source, high performance breadth-first, level-based web crawler. It is used to crawl English and Japanese websites in a well-behaved manner. It is released under the GNU General Public License GPL and is written entirely in the Python programming language. A [http://ruya.sourceforge.net/ruya.SingleDomainDelayCrawler-class.html SingleDomainDelayCrawler] implementation obeys robots.txt with a crawl delay.

[http://uicrawler.sourceforge.net/ Universal Information Crawler] Fast developing web crawler. Crawls Saves and analyzes the data.

[http://www.agentkernel.com/ Agent Kernel] A Java framework for schedule, thread, and storage management when crawling.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler#Examples_of_Web_crawlers
[[Category:FOSS]]

Convivial Product

2007-10-30T23:23:01Z

BigTurtle:

The [[Convivial Product]] is a [[Convivial Tool]] offered for public use.

The [[Convivial Product]] is a vision what the [[Convivial Tool]] can and should be.

See the [[Convivial Characteristics Narrative]] for a discussion of the characteristics of the [[Convivial Product]].

[[Category:Convivial Product]]

Whole Earth Catalog

2007-10-30T23:19:22Z

BigTurtle:

__NOTOC__
The Whole Earth Catalog (WEC) was published twice a year from 1968 to 1972, and periodically thereafter. It had rudimentary typesetting and page-layout, and outsize pages measuring 11x14 inches (28x36 cm).

The principal creator of the Whole Earth Catalog was [[Stewart Brand]]. The title derived from Brand's 1966 campaign to pressure NASA to release satellite images the Earth, during which he distributed buttons that read, "Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?"

The Whole Earth Catalog brought together many of the themes of 1960s, such as natural lifestyle, counterculture, ecology and the importance of looking at the big picture. The Catalog's proclaimed purpose was to provide "access to tools," expressing a "do it yourself" and "hands-on" attitude associated with the "counterculture." It presented a wide range of specialized technical tools, but used a broad definition of the term "tools," including notably informational tools, such as books, maps, professional journals, courses and classes. The majority of the entries in fact concerned books rather than physical tools.

==The Whole Earth Catalog from 1968 to 1972==
The first edition of the Whole Earth Catalog which appeared in 1968 was dedicated to [[Buckminster Fuller]]. The Catalog was published twice a year until the "Last Whole Earth Catalog" of 1972, which announced the intention of discontinuing the series. It was nearly an inch thick and won the National Book Award. By this time Brand and colleagues had decided that Fuller's viewpoint placed too much emphasis on individualism, and they dedicated the Last Catalog instead to [[Gregory Bateson]], who was felt to reflect the Catalog's orientation towards community and ecology.

==The Whole Earth Catalog after 1972==
Updated editions of the Last Whole Earth Catalog appeared periodically, including the:
*Whole Earth Epilog in 1974.
*Next Whole Earth Catalog in 1980, with an updated second edition published in 1981.
*Essential Whole Earth Catalog in 1986.
*Millennium Whole Earth Catalog, the last 'full' WEC, in 1994.
*30th Anniversary Celebration WEC in 1998.

In 1989 the WEC was published on CD-ROM using an early version of hypertext.

==Whole Earth Catalogs on special subjects==
Separate Whole Earth Catalogs on special subjects included the:
*Whole Earth Software Catalog published in the 1980s (two editions)
*Whole Earth Catalog dedicated to Communications Tools published in the late 1980s (or in 1990).
*Whole Earth Ecolog, devoted exclusively to environmental topics, published in 1990.
*Special WECs on specific topics such as "The Fringes of Reason."

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Catalog
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Brand

[[Category:Whole Earth]]

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

2007-10-30T23:16:30Z

BigTurtle: /* The Dispute between Voltaire and Rousseau concerning Progress */

==The Dispute between Voltaire and Rousseau concerning Progress==
The modern criticism of industrial technology first emerged along with industrial technology itself, during the "industrial revolution" of the first half of the nineteenth century. However, the general framework for the debate was set nearly a century earlier, in the divisions that sprang up between the philosophers of the French Enlightenment.

Most of the philosophers of the Enlightenment, such as Voltaire and Diderot, held that the development of civilisation and knowledge would inevitably bring social progress. Opposing this view, Jean-Jacques Rousseau held on the contrary that the progress of civilisation, in separating city dwellers from nature, degraded their well-being and corrupted their morals

In claiming that the "noble savage" had better morals and sounder pleasures than corrupt city dwellers, Rousseau initiated the view that social reform should aim to release and to direct the "natural" inclinations of individuals. More generally, the dispute between Voltaire and Rousseau set the pattern for subsequent conflicts between those who advocate and believe in social and technological progress, and those who warn about the negative consequences of technical progress.

==References==
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men" (1754)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rousseau

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Post-War Cybernetics

2007-10-30T12:46:41Z

BigTurtle:

In the years just before, during and after the second world war, emerging tendencies in scientific thought coalesced into a new field which [[Norbert Wiener]] called [[Cybernetics]]. This discipline formed at the crossroads of computer science, electrical engineering, biology and social science. Cybernetics exercised a major influence on the development of theories about society, information, the environment and the use of computers.

Figures who contributed to [[Cybernetics]] include:

*[[Gregory Bateson]], anthropologist
*[[Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy]], biologist
*[[Julian Bigelow]], electro technician
*[[Vannevar Bush]]
*[[Heinz von Foerster]], biophysicist
*[[Warren McCulloch]], psychiatrist
*[[Margaret Mead]], anthropologist
*[[John von Neumann]], mathematician
*[[Walter Pitts]], mathematician
*[[Arturo Rosenblueth]], physiologist
*[[Claude Shannon]], electrical engineer
*[[Norbert Wiener]], mathematician

[[Category:Post-War Cybernetics]]

Macy Conferences

2007-10-30T12:43:01Z

BigTurtle:

The ten Macy Conferences, held between 1946 and 1953, were the first organised approach to interdisciplinarity, spawning breakthroughs in systems theory and cybernetics.

The "core group" of scientists participating in all or most of the conferences were:

*[[Gregory Bateson]], anthropologist
*[[Julian Bigelow]], electro technician
*[[Heinz von Foerster]], biophysicist
*Lawrence K. Frank, social scientist
*Ralph W. Gerard, neuro physiologist
*Molly Harrower, psychologist
*Lawrence Kubie, psychiatrist
*Paul Lazarsfeld, sociologist
*Kurt Lewin, psychologist
*[[Warren McCulloch]] (chair), psychiatrist
*[[Margaret Mead]], anthropologist
*[[John von Neumann]], mathematician
*[[Walter Pitts]], mathematician
*[[Arturo Rosenblueth]], physiologist
*Leonard J. Savage, mathematician
*[[Norbert Wiener]], mathematician

In addition to the core group a number of invited guests participated in the conferences, including information theorist [[Claude Shannon]] and geneticist and biophysicist [[Max Delbrück]]

The inaugural Macy Conference held in March 1946 was entitled "Feedback Mechanisms and Circular Causal Systems in Biological and Social Systems." At this conference [[Norbert Wiener]] presented an overview of automatic mechanisms for self-regulation and [[Arturo Rosenblueth]] described purposive behavior and teleological mechanisms.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macy_Conferences
*http://www.asc-cybernetics.org/foundations/history/MacySummary.htm

[[Category:Post-War Cybernetics]]

Claude Shannon

2007-10-30T12:39:13Z

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__NOTOC__
Claude Shannon, an American electrical engineer and mathematician, is considered the founder of information theory.

==Shannon's contribution to the design of digital circuits==
Shannon graduated from the University of Michigan in 1936 with two bachelor's degrees, one in electrical engineering and one in mathematics. He began graduate study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on [[Vannevar Bush]]'s differential analyzer, an analog computer.

While studying the circuits of the differential analyzer, Shannon realized that Boolean algebra and binary arithmetic could be used to simplify the arrangement of the electromechanical relays. He then turned the concept upside down and proved that arrangements of relays could be used to solve Boolean algebra problems. This use of relays, which was set out in Shannon's 1937 master's thesis, A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits, is the basic concept that underlies all electronic digital computers. It has been claimed that this was the most important master's thesis of all time.

A paper drawn from Shannon's 1937 master's thesis was published in the 1938 issue of the Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Shannon's work became the foundation of all practical digital circuit design when it became widely known among the electrical engineering community during and after World War II. Shannon's theoretical rigor completely replaced the ad hoc methods that had previously prevailed.

[[Vannevar Bush]] suggested that Shannon carry out work for his doctoral dissertation at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, to develop similar mathematical relationships for Mendelian genetics. This resulted in Shannon's 1940 PhD thesis at MIT, An Algebra for Theoretical Genetics.

==Shannon's invention of information theory==
During World War II Shannon joined Bell Labs to work on fire-control systems and cryptography, under a contract with the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC).

In 1945 the NDRC published a volume on fire control containing an essay titled Data Smoothing and Prediction in Fire-Control Systems, coauthored by Ralph Beebe Blackman, Hendrik Wade Bode, and Claude Shannon. This article formally introduced the problem of fire control as a special case of the transmission, manipulation and utilization of intelligence, formulating the problem in terms of signal processing and thus heralding the coming of the information age.

In 1948 Shannon published the two part article, A Mathematical Theory of Communication, in the Bell System Technical Journal. This work focuses on the problem of how best to encode the information a sender wants to transmit, using probability theory developed by [[Norbert Wiener]]. Shannon used information entropy as a measure for the uncertainty in a message, essentially inventing the field of information theory.

Shannon's 1948 article was reprinted in a book, The Mathematical Theory of Communication, together with a popularization of the article by co-author Warren Weaver. Shannon's concepts were also popularized in John Robinson Pierce's Symbols, Signals, and Noise, which Shannon proofread.

==Shannon's subsequent activities==
Shannon published in 1949 a paper on Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems, a major contribution to the mathematical theory of cryptography, where he proved that all theoretically unbreakable ciphers must have the same requirements as the one-time pad.

He is also credited with the introduction of the theory of sampling, by which an analog signal is represented using a discrete set of samples. This theory enabled telecommunications to move from analog to digital transmissions systems in the 1960s and later.

In 1950 Shannon created Theseus, a magnetic mouse controlled by a relay circuit that enabled it to move around a maze of 25 squares. The mouse was designed to search through the corridors until it found the target. Having travelled through the maze, the mouse would then be placed anywhere it had been before and because of its prior experience it could go directly to the target. Shannon's mouse appears to have been the first learning device of its kind.

In 1950 Shannon published a groundbreaking paper on computer chess entitled Programming a Computer for Playing Chess. It describes how a machine or computer could be made to play a reasonable game of chess, using a minimax procedure.

Shannon extended information theory to natural language processing and computational linguistics in his 1951 article "Prediction and Entropy of Printed English", which demonstrates that treating white space as the 27th letter of the alphabet actually lowers uncertainty in written language.

Shannon and his wife Betty also went on weekend forays to Las Vegas with M.I.T. mathematician Edward Thorp, making a fortune in roulette and blackjack using game theory methods co-developed with fellow Bell Labs associate physicist John L. Kelly Jr. Shannon and Thorp invented what is considered the first wearable computer, which they used when playing roulette. Shannon and Thorp also applied the same theory, later known as the Kelly criterion, to the stock market with even better results.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon

[[Category:Post-War Cybernetics]]

Cybernetics

2007-10-30T12:38:19Z

BigTurtle: /* Developments leading up to cybernetics */

__NOTOC__
Cybernetics is the study of control and communication in mechanical, biological and social systems.
==Origin of the term "cybernetics"==
The term cybernetics stems from the Greek "kybernetes" meaning rudder or pilot. It was used by Plato to signify government in the political sense, and the Latin cognate gubernator is the origin of the English word governor. In the late 1700s James Watt equipped his steam engine with a centripetal feedback valve for controlling the speed, which he called a "governor."

In 1947 [[Norbert Wiener]] chose the term "cybernetics" to denote the general study of feedback mechanisms in mechanical, biological, and electronic systems. This use of the term clearly refers back to Watt's "governor" as the prototype of a feedback device. Wiener called systems using feedback "teleological," meaning that the system aims towards a specific goal, and thus requires feedback to correct its actions in order to achieve the goal. Wiener's book Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine, published in 1948, brought the term "cybernetics" to the attention of the scientific community.

==Developments leading up to cybernetics==
Control systems in electronics were developed starting in 1927 at Bell Telephone Laboratories by Harold S. Black, who worked on the use of negative feedback to control amplifiers. The biologist [[Ludwig von Bertalanffy]] gave his first lecture about General System Theory as a methodology that is valid for all sciences at the University of Chicago in 1938 (although his first paper on the subject was not published until 1945, in German as "Zu einer allgemeinen Systemlehre").

In the early 1940's [[John von Neumann]] developed thought-experiments about cellular automata, leading to the concept of self replication, which cybernetics later adopted as a core concept. During World War Two [[Norbert Wiener]] studied the use of negative feedback in electronic circuits to control anti-aircraft gun mounts. In 1943 [[Arturo Rosenblueth]], [[Norbert Wiener]], and [[Julian Bigelow]] published the paper "Behavior, Purpose and Teleology," concerning communication within mechanical, biological, and electronic systems. Also in 1943, [[Warren McCulloch]] and [[Walter Pitts]] published the paper "A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity," which considered the brain as a system. In 1945 Ralph Beebe Blackman, Hendrik Wade Bode, and [[Claude Shannon]] published an essay titled Data Smoothing and Prediction in Fire-Control Systems. This article treated the problem of fire control as a special case of the transmission, manipulation and utilization of data, formulating the problem in terms of signal processing and thus heralding the coming of information science.

In March 1946 was held the inaugural session of the [[Macy Conferences]], entitled "Feedback Mechanisms and Circular Causal Systems in Biological and Social Systems." At this conference [[Norbert Wiener]] presented an overview of automatic mechanisms for self-regulation, and [[Arturo Rosenblueth]] described purposive behavior and teleological mechanisms. The ten [[Macy Conferences]] held between 1946 and 1953 were the first organised approach to interdisciplinarity, bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines to discuss systems theory.

In the summer of 1947 [[Norbert Wiener]] first used the term "cybernetics" to denote the study of "teleological mechanisms." He published the book Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine in 1948. In the UK this book became the focus for the Ratio Club.

==Cybernetics in the nineteen-fifties and sixties==
Cybernetics thus began in the 1940s as an interdisciplinary study connecting the fields of control systems, electrical network theory, mechanical engineering, logic modeling, evolutionary biology and neuroscience. It began as the study of communication and control in machines and living organisms, and was soon applied to the study of social organizations. One goal became to apply knowledge about systems in general to the management of social systems, such as business organisations, to make them more efficient and effective.

[[Norbert Wiener]] popularized the social implications of cybernetics in The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society, published in 1950, a readable and best-selling sequel to his more technical 1948 book on cybernetics.

[[Jay Forrester]], a graduate student working on electronic control systems at the Servomechanisms Laboratory at MIT during WWII, applied systems ideas to social organizations such as corporations and cities. An original organizer of the MIT School of Industrial Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Forrester is known as the founder of [[System Dynamics]].

W. Grey Walter was one of the first to build autonomous robots as an aid to the study of animal behaviour.

The Biological Computer Lab at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign, under the direction of [[Heinz von Foerster]], was a major center of cybernetic research for almost 20 years, beginning in 1958.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics

[[Category:Post-War Cybernetics]]

Norbert Wiener

2007-10-30T12:33:49Z

BigTurtle:

Norbert Wiener was an American mathematician who initiated the science of [[Cybernetics]].

Wiener was a child prodigy in mathematics. In his Ph.D dissertation on mathematical logic, written when he was only 18, Wiener was the first to see that the ordered pair can be defined in terms of elementary set theory. This implies that the theory of relations needs no axioms distinct from those of set theory. After obtaining his doctorate he studied in Europe under Bertrand Russell and G. H. Hardy in England and David Hilbert and Edmund Landau in Germany. Wiener worked on ballistics during World War I and after the war became an instructor in mathematics at MIT.

In 1926, Wiener returned to Europe as a Guggenheim scholar, spending most of his time at Göttingen and with G.H. Hardy at Cambridge. During this period Wiener worked on Brownian motion, the Fourier integral, Dirichlet's problem, harmonic analysis, and the Tauberian theorems. He was a pioneer in the study of stochastic and noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering and electronic communication, notably providing a foundation for [[Claude Shannon]]'s invention of information science.

During World War II, Wiener's work on the automatic aiming and firing of anti-aircraft guns led him to communication theory. He may have conceived the idea of considering the operator as part of the steering mechanism and of applying to the operator such notions as feedback and stability, which had been devised for mechanical systems and electrical circuits. Together with physiologist [[Arturo Rosenblueth]] and electrical engineer [[Julian Bigelow]], Wiener published in 1943 the seminal paper "Behavior, Purpose and Teleology," concerning the ways in which mechanical, biological, and electronic systems communicate and interact. A "teleological" system is one that aims towards a specific goal, which can only be achieved if the system uses feedback to correct its orientation.

In March 1946 Wiener attended the inaugural session of the [[Macy Conferences]], which was entitled "Feedback Mechanisms and Circular Causal Systems in Biological and Social Systems." The ten [[Macy Conferences]] held between 1946 and 1953 were the first organised approach to interdisciplinarity, bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines to discuss systems theory. Wiener was one of the core members who participated in all of the [[Macy Conferences]]. At the inaugural session he presented an overview of automatic mechanisms for self-regulation.

In the spring of 1947, Wiener was invited to a congress on harmonic analysis, held in Nancy, France. While in France, Wiener received the offer to write a manuscript on the unifying character of harmonic analysis, which is found in the study of Brownian motion and in telecommunication engineering. In the summer of 1947, back in the United States, Wiener decided to introduce into his scientific theory the neologism [[Cybernetics]] to denote the study of "teleological mechanisms." His book Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine, a technical presentation of cybernetics, was published in 1948. Wiener popularized the social implications of cybernetics in a more readable and best-selling sequel called The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society, published in 1950.

Wiener's prominence helped MIT to recruit a research team in cognitive science, including researchers in neuropsychology, notably [[Warren McCulloch]] and [[Walter Pitts]]. From 1952 McCulloch worked at the MIT Research Laboratory of Electronics on neural network modelling. This group went on to make pioneering contributions to computer science and artificial intelligence. Shortly after the group was formed, Wiener broke off all contact with its members, and the reasons for split remain a subject of speculation.

During the war, Wiener had declined an invitation to join the Manhattan Project. After the war, he became concerned with what he saw as political interference in scientific research, and published an article "A Scientist Rebels" in the January 1947 issue of The Atlantic Monthly urging scientists to consider the ethical implications of their work. He thereafter refused to accept any government funding or to work on military projects. Breaking new ground in cybernetics, robotics, computer control, and automation, he shared his findings with other researchers, and credited their contributions, including those of Soviet researchers. Wiener's connections with them placed him under suspicion during the Cold War. He was a strong advocate of automation to improve the standard of living, and to overcome economic underdevelopment.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Wiener

[[Category:Post-War Cybernetics]]

Road Maps

2007-10-28T23:10:08Z

BigTurtle:

[[RoadMaps]] are a traditional feature of [[Wikis]], to help users find their way around. Although this website currently functions as a personal database rather than as a [[Wiki]], a series of Road Maps will be developed to guide the user around the site.

'''Introductory Pages Tour:'''
*[[Historical Roots]]
*[[Whole Earth]]
*[[Appropriate Technology]]
*[[Convivial Tools]]
*[[Free and Open Source Software]]
*[[Wiki]]
*[[Open Design]]
*[[Convivial Product]]

'''Narratives Tour:'''
*[[Historical Roots Narrative]]
*[[Hacker Generation Narrative]]
*[[Wiki People Narrative]]
*[[Wiki Websites Narrative]]
*[[Wiki Concepts Narrative]]

[[Category:This Site]]

Historical Roots Narrative

2007-10-28T23:08:22Z

BigTurtle:

In the mid-1970s Ivan Illich presented his idea of [[Convivial Tools]] as an alternative to the existing system of industrial tools. The criticism of industrial technology first emerged during the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, but the framework for the debate was set nearly a century earlier, during the French Enlightenment. Most of the Enlightenment philosophers held that the development of civilisation and knowledge would inevitably bring social progress, but [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] held on the contrary that the progress of civilisation, in separating city dwellers from nature, degraded their well-being and corrupted their morals

The industrial revolution brought with it widespread social ravage that was commented upon by many contemporaries, such as the sociologist [[Emile Durkheim]]. In his "On the social division of labour" Durkheim cites several early nineteenth-century observers who commented on the degraded condition of industrial workers. In a similar vein, the Marxist [[Theory of Alienation]] analysed the discontent of the worker in the industrial factory. Another nineteenth century critic of the industrial revolution was [[Henry David Thoreau]], who foresaw that the development of industrial society would foster inequality of competencies.

Throughout the nineteenth century, however, the great majority of observers greeted industrial development favorably, the disputes centering on the question of how to distribute the newly-produced wealth. It was only following the experience of the First World War, with the carnage of trench warfare and the use of mustard gas, that serious questions were first raised about the potential misuse of technology.

Doubts about the directions taken by technical development were expressed by scholars such as [[Lewis Mumford]], an American architectural critic and historian of science. In "Technics and Civilization" (1934) Mumford contrasted a Polytechnic society, which enlists a range of different modes of technology, and a Monotechnic one, which is based on a single oppressive mode of technology, such as America's transportation networks with its over-reliance on automobiles. Also during the 1930s, a group of unorthodox leftist scholars in Germany, known as the [[Frankfurt School]], asked how Western civilisation could have given rise to German fascism. In "Dialectic of Enlightenment", which was only published after the second world war, Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno proposed that Enlightenment thought contained the seeds of its own self-destruction, in the form of a split between human subjectivity and natural forces, the former being embodied in a form of scientific rationality which is raised to the status of myth, thereby becoming irrational. Meanwhile, while the Second World War was raging in Europe, Swiss architect and historian [[Sigfried Giedion]] was calmly searching through the American patent archives for his history of mechanical invention, published in 1947 as "Mechanization Takes Command," which examined the intrusion of mechanization into all realms of modern life, from bakeries and slaughterhouses to private kitchens and bathrooms.

At the end of the Second World War the dangers of technological development were strikingly demonstrated by the Nazi extermination camps and the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this context the French social philosopher [[Jacques Ellul]] published in 1953 "The Technological Society," in which Ellul expanded the notion of "techniques" to cover all procedures for social and administrative management. Ellul's radical conclusion was that the interrelated system of techniques takes on a life and logic of its own, such that techniques themselves determine human decisions, rather than the contrary, a conclusion which Ellul summed up as follows: "efficiency is no longer an option but a necessity imposed on all human activity."

During the nineteen-fifties the evolution of American society towards consumerism and a service economy spawned new analyses of these phenomena. The sociologist [[C. Wright Mills]] contended that new middle class bureaucracies had turned city workers into cheerful robots, paid a decent salary, but unable to exercise any effect on the world around them. In The Power Elite (1956) he called attention to the interlaced interests of the leaders of the military, corporate, and political elements of society, suggesting that the ordinary citizen was a relatively powerless subject of manipulation by those elites. In "The Waste Makers" (1960), cultural critic [[Vance Packard]] denounced the tendency of business to make consumers wasteful, debt-ridden, permanently discontented individuals. Packard notably analyzed [[Planned Obsolescence]], a marketing strategy which aims to wear a product out in the owner's mind through changes in "styling" unaccompanied by meaningful design changes in the product.

The nineteen-sixties brought wider public consciousness of the negative side-effects of over-industrialization. The harmful environmental impact of uncontrolled use of pesticides was documented by Rachel Carson in Silent Spring (1962), the publication of which can be considered the founding act of modern environmentalism. In 1963 appeared the little book
Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by R. [[Buckminster Fuller]], an American inventor best-known for having developed the geodesic dome. Fuller was an early advocate of holistic thinking, which a new type of [[Comprehensive Designer]] would apply in order to design new technologies in accord with the universal patterns inherent in nature.

Also in the mid-sixties, an economist named [[E.F. Schumacher]] began promoting what came to be called [[Appropriate Technology]], and a counter-cultural entrepreneur called [[Stewart Brand]] published the first [[Whole Earth Catalog]]. These trends are more fully covered in the [[Appropriate Technology]] and [[Whole Earth]] parts of this website.

The same period brought increased awareness of ecological limits of planet Earth. In 1968 appeared [[Paul Ehrlich]]'s book [[The Population Bomb]], in which he predicted that world population would keep growing exponentially while agricultural production would reach its limits, resulting in mass famine. While this prediction of immediate catastrophe failed to materialise, the book helped promote consciousness of the earth as a finite system. In 1972 the Club of Rome published a book called [[The Limits to Growth]], written by an MIT team working under Dr. Dennis Meadows. The MIT team built an elaborate computer model of the world system, and concluded that continued exponential economic growth would lead to a catastrophic collapse some time before the year 2100, unless transition could be made to a steady-state. In the following year, 1973, two books were published which proposed positive steps towards such as transition: [[E.F. Schumacher]]'s [[Small is Beautiful]], and [[Ivan Illich]]'s [[Tools for Conviviality]].

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Ivan Illich

2007-10-28T21:49:12Z

BigTurtle:

Ivan Illich coined the term "Convivial Tools" in his book [[Tools for Conviviality]] (1973).

==Links==
*"Ivan Illich" article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Illich
*"Ivan Illich" article on Convivial Tools Encyclopedia: http://conviviality.ouvaton.org/article.php3?id_article=7

[[Category:Convivial Tools People]]

Coevolution Quarterly

2007-10-28T21:39:58Z

BigTurtle:

==Coevolution Quarterly (1974 to 1985)==
From 1974 to 1985, the Stewart Brand and Whole Earth colleagues published a magazine known as CoEvolution Quarterly. The name was changed to Whole Earth Review in 1985.

CoEvolution Quarterly was founded to publish full-length articles on topics in natural sciences, invention, social evolution, arts, and other areas. The industrial designer and educator J. Baldwin served as the technology editor.

The journal espoused architect [[Christopher Alexander]]'s approach to building and planning. Besides giving space to unknown writers, the quarterly (under its successive names) presented articles by authors including [[Lewis Mumford]], Howard T. Odum, Witold Rybczynski, [[E.F. Schumacher]], Gwynne Dyer, Karl Hess, Christopher Swan, Orville Schell, [[Ivan Illich]], Ursula K. Le Guin, Gregory Bateson, Amory Lovins, Steve Baer, Hazel Henderson, Gary Snyder, Lynn Margulis, Peter Calthorpe, Sim Van der Ryn, Paul Hawken, John Todd, [[Kevin Kelly]], Malcolm Margolin, Jay Kinney, Robert Gilman, Wes Jackson, Jerry Mander, Jeremy Rifkin, Mark Satin, Donella Meadows, and Daniel Imhoff.

==Whole Earth Review (1985-2003)==
The short-lived Whole Earth Software Review was published in the early 1980s. In 1985 the Whole Earth Software Review was merged with CoEvolution Quarterly to form the Whole Earth Review.

The Whole Earth Review, later called Whole Earth Magazine and finally just Whole Earth, was edited at different points by Jay Kinney, Kevin Kelly, and Howard Rheingold. The last issue, number 111 edited by Alex Steffen, was meant to be published in Spring 2003, but funds ran out. As of 2007, the Whole Earth magazine website still exists, but it does not appear to have been updated since 2003.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoEvolution_Quarterly
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Review

[[Category:Whole Earth]]

Convivial Tools

2007-10-27T09:55:50Z

BigTurtle: /* See also: Thematic Topics */

''Convivial Tools'' can be defined as tools which allow the user to operate with independent efficiency. The term was coined by [[Ivan Illich]] in his book [[Tools for Conviviality]] (1973). However, the [[Historical Roots]] of the idea of Convivial Tools go back at least to [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]. Also, [[Ivan Illich]] built upon the ideas which the [[Appropriate Technology]] and [[Whole Earth]] movements had developed in the late nineteen-sixties, a few years ''before'' the publication of Illich's [[Tools for Conviviality]].

The term Convivial Tools applies in particular to tools that are developed and maintained by the commmunity that uses them. Thus each of the thematic topics presented on this website (see below) illustrates, in its own way, the idea of "Convivial Tools."

==See also: Thematic Topics==
*[[:Category:Historical Roots]] -- history of the ideas underlying Convivial Tools
*[[:Category:Cybernetics Generation]] -- the post-war scientists who developed [[Cybernetics]]
*[[:Category:Whole Earth]] -- the [[Whole Earth Catalog]] and its off-shoots
*[[:Category:Appropriate Technology]] -- [[E.F. Schumacher]] and [[Small is Beautiful]]
*[[:Category:Convivial Tools]] -- the convivial philosophy of [[Ivan Illich]]
*[[:Category:Hacker Generation]] -- the developers of the personal computer in the nineteen-seventies
*[[:Category:FOSS]] -- the Free and Open Source Software movements
*[[:Category:Wikis]] -- the world of [[Wiki]]s
*[[:Category:Open Design]] -- the open source design of physical tools and machines
*[[:Category:Convivial Product]] -- the [[Convivial Tool]] as a product offered for public use

==Links==
*The [http://conviviality.ouvaton.org Convivial Tools Encyclopedia] companion website: http://conviviality.ouvaton.org
*[http://conviviality.ouvaton.org Convivial Tools Encyclopedia] article on "What are Convivial Tools": http://conviviality.ouvaton.org
*[http://conviviality.ouvaton.org Convivial Tools Encyclopedia] article on "Ivan Illich": http://conviviality.ouvaton.org/article.php3?id_article=7
*Wikipedia article on "Ivan Illich": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Illich

[[Category:Convivial Tools]]

Open Source Software

2007-10-26T12:08:00Z

BigTurtle:

Open Source Software is computer software whose source code is available under a license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified form. It is often developed in a public, collaborative manner.

The term Open Source Software was chosen during a strategy session held in Palo Alto by a group that sought to encourage major software businesses to release their source code. The group met in reaction to Netscape's January 1998 announcement that they planned to release the source code for Navigator (as Mozilla). Those present included Todd Anderson, Larry Augustin, Jon Hall, Sam Ockman, Christine Peterson, and [[Eric S. Raymond]]. The term Open Source was suggested at the strategy session by Christine Peterson of the Foresight Institute.

The group sought to use the opportunity of the release of Navigator's source code to clarify a potential confusion caused by the ambiguity of the word "free" in English. Since a great deal of Free Software is free of charge, the term Free Software is associated with the idea of zero cost, which seems anti-commercial. The use of the term Open Source Software aimed to ease business adoption of Free Software by getting rid of the zero-cost ambiguity, and to avoid the political connotations of Free Software. Open Source Software was thus explicitly proposed as "replacement label" for Free Software.

However, the [[Free Software Foundation]] (FSF) recommends always using the term [[Free Software]] and never [[open Source Software]], due to the open source community's lack of emphasis on [[Software Freedom]].

Shortly after the strategy session, in February 1998 [[Eric S. Raymond]] and [[Bruce Perens]] formed the [[Open Source Initiative]] (OSI) to promote the term Open Source Software as part of "a marketing program for free software". Perens originally attempted to register "open source" as a service mark for the OSI, but that attempt was impractical by trademark standards. Meanwhile, thanks to the presentation of a paper by Raymond to the upper management at Netscape, Netscape released its Navigator source code as open source, with favorable results.

==Links==
*Wikipedia article on Open Source Software: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation

[[Category:FOSS Concepts]]

Convivial Characteristics Narrative

2007-10-26T12:04:43Z

BigTurtle:

The most important of [[Convivial Characteristics]] is [[Usability]], or the ease with which a tool can be used. Usability refers to what is more commonly called "User Friendliness."

The subject of Usability is so vast that it covers many properties that are important [[Convivial Characteristics]] in their own right. One example is [[Intuitive Use]], which means that the user can intuitively discover how to operate the tool without having to refer constantly to the [[User Manual]]. Another is [[Reliability]], which means that the object should repeatedly prove to be effective, and should operate with few and non-catastrophic errors.

Another major convivial characteristic is [[Reparability]], or the ease with which a tool can be repaired. [[Reparability]] could be considered part of [[Usability]], to the extent that repair of the tool is one step in the overall cycle of its use.

Reparability is closely related to [[Durability]], which refers to the length of the useful life of the tool. However, ease of repair is only one of the factors that increases a tool's durability and lifespan, others being the quality of the materials and the general robustness of the tool.

There is much overlap between [[Convivial Characteristics]] and what has traditionally been called [[Ergonomics]]. Ergonomic characteristics will notably tend to increase a tool's usability.

Additional characteristics of convivial tools include those which serve to enhance the primary characteristics. An important secondary characteristic of convivial tools is [[Simplicity]]. A simple tool will tend to be easy to use, easy to repair, and durable.

Another secondary convivial characteristic, related to simplicity, is [[Robustness]]. A robust tool has high [[Usability]], since it continues to fonction under adverse conditions, and it has high reparability, since it is more resistant to the user's tinkering.

A key secondary Convivial Characteristic, in particular with respect to [[Reparability]] is what could be called [[Open Access]]. This refers to the ease with which the user can reach and manipulate the tools innards. For a physical appliance, access means being able to open it up and dismount the inner parts. For software, easy access means being able to descend into the lower levels of the program and to tinker with it. Thus open source programs generally have more open access than hidden source programs, but only to the extent that the user can understand and actually manipulate the code.

[[Reparability]] may also be enhanced through design of standard interchangeable modules. [[Modularity]] can thus be considered another secondary characteristic of certain type of [[Convivial Tool]].

There is also much overlap between [[Convivial Characteristics]] and [[Environmental Characteristics]]. For example, [[Reparability]] and [[Durability]] are [[Environmental Characteristics]], since increasing the tool's life reduces consumption of resources for its replacement. However, the environmental characteristic of being [[Recyclable]] only enhance the user's independent efficiency if the user specifically desires to recycle the tool at the end of its useful life. We will however assume that the typical user of [[Convivial Tools]] wants tools that are also environmentally and socially friendly.

A characteristic which figures in [[Ivan Illich]]'s basic definition of [[Convivial Tools]] is that they increase [[User Autonomy]]. The tool's capacity to promote autonomy can in itself be considered a fundamental characteristic of the [[Convivial Tool]].

In today's service economy, the level of [[After-Sales Service]] is a major criterion for the comparative evaluation of tools that are available as products on the market. Dependence on [[After-Sales Service]] might seem to decrease the user's autonomy. However, given that services such as repair under warranty or on-line help are often necessary, high levels [[After-Sales Service]] providing full external support in fact increase the feeling of personal control and [[User Autonomy]].

Ivan Illich envisaged that convivial tools would enhance a sort of "graceful playfulness" in personal relations. This "graceful playfulness" is the Illich's transposition of the Greek word [[Eutrapelia]], which was one of Aristotle's "social [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue virtues]". ([[Eutrapelia]] is sometimes translated as "wittiness".) Since the word "conviviality" refers to the entire range of characteristics of convivial tools, we will use the word [[eutrapelia]] to refer this specific characteristic of power to enhance personal relations.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergonomics
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robustness
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_design
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recyclable

[[Category:Convivial Product Concepts]]

Whole Earth

2007-10-26T11:56:29Z

BigTurtle:

The [[Whole Earth]] movement began with the publication of the [[Whole Earth Catalog]] (WEC) by [[Stewart Brand]] in 1968. The [[Whole Earth Catalog]] served as the focal center of an informal community of users and contributors to that publication, which appeared regularly until 1972, and periodically thereafter. There was also a retail outlet called the [[Whole Earth Access]].

[[Stewart Brand]] and the [[Whole Earth]] community spawned a number of spin-offs, such as the [[Coevolution Quarterly]], the Internet community called the [[WELL]] and the magazine [[Wired]].

[[Category:Whole Earth]]

MeatballWiki

2007-10-26T11:53:32Z

BigTurtle:

MeatballWiki was founded by [[Sunir Shah]] in 2000 as a friendly fork from [[WikiWikiWeb]], in order to host discussion of [[WikiOnWiki]] and online community topics. MeatballWiki is one of the [[SisterSites]] of the [[WikiWikiWeb]].

Detailed information on MeatballWiki can be found at:
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeatballWiki Wikipedia article on MeatballWiki].

See also:
*[[MeatballWiki List]]: a list of selected pages on MeatballWiki

==MeatballWiki Main Pages==
Homepage: http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?MeatballWiki

[[Category:Wiki Websites]]

Hillside Group

2007-10-25T21:32:26Z

BigTurtle:

The Hillside Group is a group of software developers that gathered to develop [[Erich Gamma]]'s use of object-oriented patterns, which was in turn inspired by [[Christopher Alexander]]'s use of patterns in architecture.

In August of 1993, [[Kent Beck]] and [[Grady Booch]] sponsored a mountain retreat in Colorado, inviting [[Ward Cunningham]], [[Ralph Johnson]], [[Ken Auer]], [[Hal Hildebrand]] and [[Jim Coplien]]. The Group agreed to build on [[Erich Gamma]]'s work studying object-oriented patterns, but proposed to use patterns in a ''generative'' way, as [[Christopher Alexander]] used patterns in architecture, thus distinguishing the creative use of patterns from ''Gamma patterns'', which captured observations. The Group held these discussions on the side of a hill, whence the name.

The HillsideGroup met again in April 1994 to plan the first PLoP conference, joined this time by [[Richard Gabriel]]. The PLoP conference was held in August 1994 near Monticello, Illinois. The PLoP proceedings came out in May 1995 as Pattern Languages of Program Design.

Other members of the Hillside Group include [[Desmond DeSouza]] and [[Norm Kerth]].

When [[Ward Cunningham]] created [[WikiWikiWeb]] in early 1995, he posted an invitation to the members of the [[PatternsList]], many of whom were members of the Hillside Group.

The Hillside Group has been incorporated as an educational non-profit. It has sponsored various conferences since the first Plop Conference (EuroPlop, ChiliPlop, KoalaPlop, Mensore PLoP, SugarloafPLoP and UP97) and has been responsible for the PatternLanguagesOfProgramDesign series of books.

==See also==
*[[PatternsList]]

==Links==
*http://hillside.net
*http://hillside.net/history.html
*http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?HistoryOfPatterns

[[Category:Wiki People]]

Ward Cunningham

2007-10-25T21:31:21Z

BigTurtle:

Ward Cunningham is a computer programmer who created [[WikiWikiWeb]], the first-ever wiki, in 1995. He was also one of the original members of the [[Hillside Group]].

Cunningham created the [[WikiWikiWeb]] as a repository of information on [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PeopleProjectsAndPatterns People, Projects and Patterns] related to Pattern Languages. It formed a companion website to his [[Portland Pattern Repository]]. Both of these sites were (and still are) hosted on the [[c2]] website of Ward's company "Cunningham & Cunningham."

Cunningham is known for his contributions to the use of pattern languages in the development of object-oriented programming. His interest in patterns was inspired by architect [[Christopher Alexander]]. [[Kent Beck]] and Ward Cunningham took up the idea of applying patterns to programming and presented their results at the 1987 [[OOPSLA]] conference. [[Design Patterns]] in computer science were made popular by the success of the book "Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software," published in 1994 by the [[Gang of Four]]. The [[Portland Pattern Repository]] was set up the following year as a repository of documentation on design patterns.

Cunningham also developed [[CRC Cards]] (CRC stands for Class-Responsibility-Collaboration) with [[Kent Beck]], and took up the latter's invention of [[Extreme Programming]].

==Biographical and Personal Information==
Wikipedia biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham

Ward's page on [[WikiWikiWeb]]: http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WardCunningham

Ward's page on advogato: http://www.advogato.org/person/Ward/

Ward's personal page on [[c2]]: http://c2.com/~ward/

==Other Links==
Website of [[Hillside Group]]: http://hillside.net/patterns/

Website of Ward's current employer Eclipse: http://www.eclipse.org

[[Category:Wiki People]]

Help Desk

2007-10-22T19:45:50Z

BigTurtle:

==Help Desk Definition==
The Wikipedia article on Help Desk gives the following definition:

:A help desk is an information and assistance resource that troubleshoots problems with computers and similar products. Corporations often provide help desk support to their customers via a toll-free number, website and/or e-mail. There are also in-house help desks geared toward providing the same kind of help for employees only.

The Wikipedia article notes that the term Help Desk may also be used in a broader sense:

:Help desk is a broadly applied term referring to a staffed resource - often, an actual desk, or a telephone service - that can help persons answer questions or to use resources such as audio-visual or computer resources.

According to the above definitions, a Help Desk may be either a telephone service or a website. However, one might reserve the term Help Desk to refer to technical assistance provided by telephone, and use the term [[Web Help]] for technical assistance provided via a website.

The telephone Help Desk is closely related to other telephone service centres, such as the Call Centre and the Helpline. A Service Desk differs from both the help desk and the call centre in that it combines digital communications with telephone communications, and may offer its service to a wide range of "users" including at the same time both in-house employees and out-of-house customers.

==Operation of a Customer Help Desk==
A customer help desk provides a central point where the user can request and receive help in using the product. Most customer help desks are reserved for purchasers of the product, and will thus require the caller to give the identification tag or series number of the purchased item.

Often the users calling a customer help desk will first encounter either an Automatic Call Distributor or an Interactive Voice Response. An Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) plays greetings or announcements while the caller is waiting to be put through, then typically routes a caller without prompting for input. An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) will generally request an input from the callers, with a computerised voice recording inviting them to make selections by pressing buttons on their telephone. Interactive Voice Response may be used to answer simple questions without operator intervention, to obtain information from the caller such as account numbers, or to identify the needs of the caller so that the call can be automatically routed to a particular skillset, which is a group of agents with a particular skill.

Interactive Voice Response definitely lacks conviviality. But it may be the price to pay for widespread development of help centers. It seems likely however that companies could significantly reduce the number of help desk calls by furnishing more complete and effective [[Online Help]] (internal to software) or [[Web Help]] (through internet). On the subject of Interactive Voice Response, see the ezine article [http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Beat-Those-Automatic-Telephone-Answering-Systems&id=108229 How To Beat Those Automatic Telephone Answering Systems].

When the caller finally gets through to a human being, the request will typically be managed by staff using help desk software. Such software provides an "issue tracking system," also known as an "incident tracking system" or a "ticket tracking system."

Many software applications are available to support the help desk function. Wikipedia provides a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issue_tracking_system comparison of issue tracking systems].

When the user notifies the help desk of a problem, the help desk issues a unique ticket number which will be used to track the user request through all stages of resolution.

In larger help desks one group of staff, called queue managers, are assigned to take the incoming calls and to manage the tickets. The ticket queues can be setup in various ways depending on the help desk size or structure. In general, the queue manager will identify the type of user problem and will assign the ticket to a member of a specialised team that is experienced in working on that type of issue.

Some help desks operate with different levels to handle different types of questions. The first-level help desk is prepared to answer the most commonly asked questions. If the issue is not resolved at the first level, the tracking system escalates the ticket to a second level that has the necessary resources to handle more difficult calls. When the issue is solved, the ticket is closed and updated with documentation of the solution to allow other help desk technicians to reference.

==In-House Help Desks==
In-house help desks do not offer "after sales service", but they are discussed here since they may provide additional insight into the help desk function.

Among help desk software applications for in-house use, some target larger enterprise-level help desks, while others target smaller departmental help desk needs. (See the Wikipedia
comparison of issue tracking systems.) Help desk software can help to find, analyze, and eliminate common problems in an organization's computing environment.

The skillset teams of an in-house help desk may include a deskside team and a network team. The deskside team, also known as "desktop support", is responsible for the desktops, laptops and peripherals such as PDAs. They set up and configure computers for new users and are responsible for any physical work relating to the computers such as repairing software or hardware and moving workstations to another location. The network team is responsible for the network software, hardware and infrastructure such as servers, switches, backup systems and firewalls. They are responsible for the network services such as email, files, and security.

Some larger companies may also have a telecom team that is responsible for the phone infrastructure such as PBX, voicemail, VOIP, telephone sets, modems and fax machines. Companies with custom application software may also have an applications team, who are responsible for development of any in-house software, and who may be assigned problems such as software bugs from the Help Desk, or requests for new features or capabilities.

==The Help Desk as an Information Source==
The Wikipedia Help Desk article cites research showing that the communication with numerous customers or employees puts help desks in a unique position to monitor the user environment for issues ranging from technical problems to user preferences and satisfaction. Information gathered at the help desk can be useful to other departments such as sales and product development.

==The Wikipedia Help Desk==
Wikipedia has its own help desk: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk Wikipedia:Help desk]. However, according to the way the terms are used on this site, the above Wikipedia information page would be a form of [[Web Help]] rather than a telephone-based Help Desk.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_support
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_desk
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_centre
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helpline
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Desk_%28ITSM%29
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_voice_response
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_call_distributor
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issue_tracking_system
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_issue_tracking_systems
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk

[[Category:Convivial Product]]

E.F. Schumacher

2007-10-22T19:38:54Z

BigTurtle:

In the mid-sixties, a development economist named E. F. Schumacher began promoting what he called [[Intermediate Technology]], and which came later to be called [[Appropriate Technology]].

In a 1965 article on "Social and Economic Problems calling for the Development of Intermediate Technology", Schumacher stated that in developing countries: "an Intermediate Technology would be immensely more productive than the indigenous technology (which is often in a condition of decay), but it would also be immensely cheaper than the sophisticated, highly capital-intensive technology of modern industry." Schumacher lists the advantages of intermediate technology as follows:

:The equipment would be fairly simple and therefore understandable, suitable for maintenance and repair on the spot. Simple equipment is normally far less dependent on raw materials of great purity or exact specifications, and much more adaptable to market fluctuation than highly sophisticated equipment. Men are more easily trained; supervision, control and organisation are simpler; and there is far less vulnerability to unforeseen difficulties.

This article later appeared in Schumacher's celebrated book [[Small is Beautiful]], which was not published until 1973, the same year as [[Ivan Illich]]'s book [[Tools for Conviviality]]. These two books are often cited together as being kindred volumes.

==References==
*E.F. Schumacher, [[Small is Beautiful]] (1973)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriate_technology
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful

[[Category:Historical Roots]]
[[Category:Appropriate Technology]]

Historical Roots

2007-10-22T19:36:34Z

BigTurtle:

When [[Ivan Illich]] wrote [[Tools for Conviviality]] in 1973, he was informed by a long tradition of criticism of industrial technology and of formulation of alternatives. Forebears extend at least as far back as [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], and include twentieth-century figures such as [[Lewis Mumford]] and [[Jacques Ellul]].

It should also be noted that the [[Whole Earth]] and [[Appropriate Technology]] movements in fact appeared a few years before [[Ivan Illich]]'s book [[Tools for Conviviality]], and probably exerted a major influence thereon.

For an introduction to the Historical Rools of [[Convivial Tools]], see [[Historical Roots Narrative]].

*[[Emile Durkheim]]
*[[Theory of Alienation]]
*[[Henry David Thoreau]]
*[[Frankfurt School]]
*[[Sigfried Giedion]]
*[[C. Wright Mills]]
*[[Vance Packard]]
*[[Buckminster Fuller]]
*[[E.F. Schumacher]]

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Buckminster Fuller

2007-10-22T19:35:37Z

BigTurtle:

In 1963 appeared the little book "Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth" by R. Buckminster Fuller, an American inventor best-known for having developed the geodesic dome. Fuller was an early advocate of the type of holistic thinking that was to characterise the emerging environmental movement. He wrote:

:...society operates on the theory that specialization is the key to success, not realizing that specialization precludes comprehensive thinking. This means that the potentially-integratable techno-economic advantages accruing to society from the myriad specializations are not comprehended integratively and are therefore not realized, or they are realized only in negative ways, in new weaponry or the industrial support only of warfaring.

==References==
*R. Buckminster Fuller, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (1963)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller
*http://www.futurehi.net/docs/OperatingManual.html

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Vance Packard

2007-10-22T19:33:18Z

BigTurtle:

As American consumerist society was getting into full swing, cultural critic Vance Packard presented a dissident point of view in his book "The Waste Makers" (1960). Packard denounced "the systematic attempt of business to make us wasteful, debt-ridden, permanently discontented individuals." He notably analyzed [[Planned Obsolescence]], a concept first popularized by the American industrial designer Brooks Stevens.

Brooks Stevens had used the phrase [[Planned Obsolescence]] as the title a talk that he gave at an advertising conference in Minneapolis in 1954, and it thereafter became his catchphrase. Stevens defined [[Planned Obsolescence]] as: "Instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary."

Vance Packard's critique of Planned Obsolescence divided it into two sub-categories: obsolescence of function and obsolescence of desirability, the first being useful, and the second being unnecessary. According to Packard, marketers artificially create "obsolescence of desirability," also called "psychological obsolescence," in order to wear a product out in the owner's mind through changes in "styling," when no other meaningful design contribution can be made to change the product.

==References==
*Vance Packard, The Waste Makers (1960).

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vance_Packard
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Henry David Thoreau

2007-10-22T19:31:59Z

BigTurtle:

Henry David Thoreau was another major nineteenth century critic of the spirit of the industrial revolution. Thoreau is best known as the author of Walden, an account of his year spent living alone in the woods, in a shack on the shores of Walden pond.

Thoreau advocated simplicity above all other values. He advised his fellows to "make riches the means and not the ends of existence." He foresaw that the development of industrial society would foster inequality of competencies, as shown in the following quote:

:Men have an indistinct notion that if they keep up this activity of joint stocks and spades long enough all will at length ride somewhere, in next to no time, and for nothing; but though a crowd rushes to the depot, and the conductor shouts 'All aboard!' when the smoke has blown away and the vapour condensed, it will be perceived that a few are riding, but the rest are run over - and it will be called, and will be, 'a melancholy accident'."

==References==
*Henry David Thoreau, "Walden; or Life in the Woods" (1854)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoreau

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Theory of Alienation

2007-10-22T19:30:46Z

BigTurtle:

Marxist theory unconditionally supported industrialisation as the major vector of economic progress. Marx took from Hegel a fundamental belief in the "inevitability" of social progress, which Hegel had in turn taken from the French Enlightenment, notably Voltaire. Thus the soviet regimes of the twentieth century promoted unbridled industrialisation, at the price of ecological devastation. Marxist communism created an industrial totalitarianism, as summed up in Lenin's formula: "communism is the soviets plus electrification." Marxist theory as a whole is thus enthusiastic about, rather than critical of, industrialization per se.

However, the Marxist Theory of Alienation does present elements of an interesting critique of industrialisation. According to the Marxist analysis, the worker in the industrial factory produces mechanically an object which is completely defined by someone else, so that the product contains nothing of the worker's own creativity, and the finished product is experienced as something alien. By extension, the entire society and its component parts, including notably the media, are produced in a similar manner, and are thus experienced as something that is alienated from the producers.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

C. Wright Mills

2007-10-22T19:29:20Z

BigTurtle:

While American society in the fifties was as a whole characterized by conformism, scholars working quietly in academia proposed a subtle critical analysis of the consumerist malaise. In "White Collar: The American Middle Classes" (1951), the sociologist C. Wright Mills contended that bureaucracies had overwhelmed the new class of city workers, depriving them of all independent thought and turning them into cheerful robots, paid a decent salary, but alienated from the world because of their inability to affect or change it. In "The Power Elite" (1956) Mills called attention to the interlaced interests of the leaders of the military, corporate, and political elements of society, suggesting that the ordinary citizen was a relatively powerless subject of manipulation by those entities.

==References==
*C. Wright Mills, White Collar: The American Middle Classes (1951)
*C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite (1956)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Wright_Mills
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Elite

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Sigfried Giedion

2007-10-22T19:27:40Z

BigTurtle:

While the Second World War was raging in Europe, the Swiss architect and historian Sigfried Giedion was calmly searching through the American patent archives, charting the anonymous history of the age of mechanical invention. This research lead finally to the publication in 1947 of "Mechanization Takes Command," which examines the intrusion of mechanization into such diverse realms as locks and keys, bread baking, slaughterhouses, furniture, kitchen appliances and bathing.

Giedion showed how the mechanisation of modern life was accompanied by, and in fact required, an evolution of public taste and notions of comfort. For example, the replacement of traditional black bread by less nutritious, industrially-produced white bread required prior public acceptance of the idea that white bread is more "refined" and hence superior.

==References==
*Sigfried Giedion, "Mechanization Takes Command" (1947)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Giedion

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Frankfurt School

2007-10-22T19:27:09Z

BigTurtle:

During the 1930s a group of unorthodox leftist scholars at the University of Frankfort in Germany, known as the "Frankfurt School", began asking how Western civilisation, with its roots in humanistic culture and the Enlightenment, could have given rise to German fascism.

The conclusions of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno were only published after the second world war, in "Dialectic of Enlightenment." They proposed that Enlightenment thought contained the seeds of its own self-destruction, in the form of a split between human subjectivity and natural forces, the former dominating the latter, to the point of finally turning against itself. The Frankfort School thus formulated an explicit critique of scientific rationality, which in being raised to the status of myth, becomes irrational.

==References==
*Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, "Dialectic of Enlightenment" (1947)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Emile Durkheim

2007-10-22T19:26:29Z

BigTurtle:

In the nineteenth century, the social ravages of industrialization were commented upon by numerous contemporaries. The sociologist Emile Durkheim wrote a pioneering study "On the social division of labour," analysing the transition from pre-industrial to industrial society.

Durkheim cites several early nineteenth-century observers who commented on the degraded condition of industrial workers, such as Jean-Baptiste Say who observed that "the worker who during his whole career uses only a file and hammer ... degrades the dignity of his nature," and de Toqueville who wrote: "As the principle of the division of labour is applied more and more completely, production progresses, but the producer regresses."

==References==
*Emile Durkheim, "The Division of Labor in Society" (1893)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durkheim

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Jacques Ellul

2007-10-22T19:21:23Z

BigTurtle:

The French social philosopher Jacques Ellul published "The Technological Society" in 1953 (it was not published in English until 1964). In this ground-breaking work Ellul expanded the notion of "techniques" to cover all procedures for social and administrative management, including the collection and use of statistics, the development of bureaucratic organisations, and the governmental regulation of private life through the mobilisation of social workers.

Ellul's radical conclusion was that the interrelated system of techniques takes on a life and logic of its own, so that the techniques themselves come to determine human decisions, rather than the contrary. This conclusion he summed up as follows: "efficiency is no longer an option but a necessity imposed on all human activity." The bureaucratic system thus tends to impose whatever solutions are perceived to be the most efficient, regardless of any other considerations, such as morality, human well-being or social justice.

==References==
*Jacques Ellul, "The Technological Society" (1953)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellul%2C_Jacques

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

Lewis Mumford

2007-10-22T19:19:26Z

BigTurtle:

Doubts about the effects of technical development on modern society were expressed by Lewis Mumford, an American architectural critic and historian of science. In "Technics and Civilization" (1934) Mumford introduced the distinction between Polytechnic, which enlists many different modes of technology, thereby providing a complex framework for solving human problems, and Monotechnic, which is based on a single mode of technology, thereby obliging humanity to follow that single technology's own oppressive trajectory. Mumford for example saw America's transportation networks as being monotechnic in their over-reliance on automobile transportation, neglecting other transport modes such walking, bicycling and public transit, and causing thousands of maimed and dead each year as a result of automobile accidents.

In 1967 appeared Lewis Mumford's "The Myth of the Machine: Technics and Human Development," in which he deepened his earlier critique of modern technology. Mumford observed that the industrial production of consumer products relies on mechanisms such as consumer credit, built-in fragility, and superficial "fashion" changes, to ensure constant production and replacement of products. This goal of rapid product replacement works against technical perfection, product durability, social efficiency, and overall human satisfaction. Mumford wrote:

:Without constant enticement by advertising, production would slow down and level off to normal replacement demand. Otherwise many products could reach a plateau of efficient design which would call for only minimal changes from year to year.

==References==
*Lewis Mumford, "Technics and Civilization" (1934)
*Lewis Mumford, "The Myth of the Machine: Technics and Human Development" (1967)

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Mumford

[[Category:Historical Roots]]

User-Centered Design

2007-10-21T19:23:30Z

BigTurtle:

Wikipedia defines [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-centered_design User-Centered Design] as follows:

:User-centered design (UCD) is a design philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of the end user of an interface or document are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process.

The article indicates that this definition follows the ISO standard 13407 on "Human-centered design processes for interactive systems", published in 1999. (See this [http://www.usabilitynet.org/tools/13407stds.htm Description of ISO 13407] and this [http://www.mitsue.co.jp/english/company/management/13407.html Diagram of ISO 13407]).

The Wikipedia article in some places seems to limit the scope to design of an "interface or document" and to "software designers," but elsewhere indicates that the scope of User-Centered Design may be much wider:

:While user-centered design is often viewed as being focused on the development of computer and paper interfaces, the field has a much wider application. The design philosophy has been applied to a diverse range of user interactions, from car dashboards to service processes such as the end-to-end experience of visiting a restaurant, including interactions such as being seated, choosing a meal, ordering food, paying the bill etc.

In short, it seems that the user-centered design philosophy can be applied to the design of just about anything.

==User-Centered Design according to Donald Norman==
The term User-Centered Design was invented by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Norman Donald A. Norman] in his 1986 book "The Design of Everyday Things" (originally called "The Psychology of Everyday Things"). In this book, Norman used the term "user-centered design" to describe design based on the needs of the user, leaving aside what he considered to be secondary issues like aesthetics. Norman later recognised that aesthetics could also be considered part of the needs of the user, and he corrected his initial overly-reductive approach in a later publication "Emotional Design". Another author, Patrick Jordan, explicitly suggested in "Designing Pleasurable Products" that different forms of pleasure should be included in the user-centered approach.

Donald Norman's official website: http://www.jnd.org

==Basic principles of user-centered design==
Human centered design was summed up by Norman in a [http://www.thefeaturearchives.com/topic/Announcements/Ergonomics__The_Donald_Norman_Interview.html 2002 interview] as follows:

:Human centered design starts by watching people. In other words, start with people, their needs, and their behavior. The technology comes second. In addition, it means iterative design, where early sketches are tested, then refined and further tested, with this design-test-refine cycle continuing to the very end.

In User-Centered Design the designers try to analyze how users are likely to use an interface. They then test the validity of their assumptions in real world tests with actual users. Thus User-Centered Design tries to design the user interface based on how people can, want, or need to work, rather than forcing the users to change how they work to accommodate the system or function.

In User-Centered Design, the user's overall series of interactions with the product is called "user experience". In product design, this is also referred to as the "out of the box experience," referring to all tasks the user must complete, from first opening of the shipped package, through unpacking, reading the directions, assembly, first use, and continuing use.

See also UCD at usabilitynet: http://www.usabilitynet.org/management/b_design.htm

==Variations on the UCD Approach==
Since user-centered design requires studying the behaviour of the future users of the systems, various approaches have been developed which involve the active participation of real users. These variations include:
*Cooperative design: involvement of designers and users on an equal footing. This is a Scandinavian tradition in the design of Information Technology products, which has been evolving since 1970.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_design Participatory design] (PD): a North American term for the same concept, inspired by Cooperative Design, focusing on the participation of users.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contextual_design Contextual design: customer centered design in the actual context, including some ideas from PD

All these approaches follow the ISO 13407 standard on "Human-centered design processes for interactive systems".

[[Category:Convivial Product Concepts]]

Intuitive Use

2007-10-21T19:17:28Z

BigTurtle: /* Limits to intuitive use */

One of the essential criteria of Usability is that the operation of the tool should be easy to learn. This can be provided by designing the tool for Intuitive Use.

==Mapping==
An object can be doted with Intuitive Use by designing it so that its operation can be learned simply by observing it. This approach was pioneered by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Norman Donald A. Norman] in his 1989 book "The Psychology of Everyday Things" (since renamed "The Design of Everyday Things"). Norman pointed out that as well as interacting physically with objects, human beings interact psychologically with them. Norman's initial reflections on the nature of our subconscious psychological interaction with our surroundings provided the starting point for trendy topics such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-centered_design User Centered Design] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-Computer_Interaction Human Computer Interaction] (HCI).

Norman observed that the tool itself can give us clues as to how to use it. For example, a control device such as a knob or switch can relate visually with the object it affects. Norman called this "mapping."

A cogent example is given in the article [http://www.cooper.com/insights/journal_of_design/articles/dont_get_burned_by_bad_mapping_1.html Don't get burned by bad mapping], by Wayne Greenwood. His example concerns knobs for turning on stove burners:

:The typical cooktop features four burners arranged in a flat square, with a burner in each corner. However, the knobs that operate those burners are laid out in a straight line on the front of the unit. ... Does twisting the left-most knob turn on the left/front burner, or does it turn on the left/rear burner? The answer to this question is usually found by trial and error, or by referring to the tiny icons next to the knobs, even when the person has used the oven before.

As Greenwood points out, this uncertainty can be removed by laying out the knobs in a square, such that the position of each knob in the square corresponds visually with the position of the burners on the cooktop. With one quick glance, the user intuitively understands exactly which knob turns on which burner.

==Intuitive use and stored knowledge==

The specialised literature on intuitive use focuses on the question of the extent to which we unconsciously use knowledge stored from other experiences. Consider for example the following citation from the abstract of an article by Blackler, Popovic and Mahar, entitled [http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00003639 Studies of Intuitive Use Employing Observation and Concurrent Protocol] (2004):

:Intuition is a type of cognitive processing that is often unconscious and utilises stored experiential knowledge. Intuitive use of products involves utilising knowledge gained through other products or experiences. So, things that people use intuitively are those that employ features they have encountered before.

The role of prior knowledge in intuitive use is also examined in the following two papers available on-line:

*[http://www.ekphorie.de/ham/pub/pdf/HCI07_Naumann_et_al.pdf Intuitive Use of User Interfaces: Defining a Vague Concept]
*[http://www.metaphorik.de/12/hurtienneblessing.pdf Metaphors as Tools for Intuitive Interaction with Technology]

==Limits to intuitive use==
There are however limits to what can be obtained in the way of intuitive use, as pointed out in an on-line [http://www.eurescom.de/message/messageDec2004/Interview_with_Dr_Nico_Pals_and_Joke_Korte_from_TNO.asp Interview with Dr. Nico Pals and Joke Korte from TNO]:

:Some goals which should be realized with communication devices are so complex that intuitive use without prior knowledge is not realizable. ... The goal is to design a service as intuitive as possible during first interaction. Later on, when the user got used to the basic levels of interaction, he or she will often be more prepared to go through some trouble to learn, for example, the extra features for extra functionality. We might never reach the utopia of intuitive services and products, but we can try to get as close as possible with good design.

Thus in practice it is often necessary to make a compromise between intuitive use, which is important for the basic functions of the tool, and learned use, which permits development of more complex functionality.

[[Category:Convivial Product Concepts]]

Reparability

2007-10-21T19:15:21Z

BigTurtle: /* Maintainability */

There is no Wikipedia article entitled either Reparability or Repairability (alternative spellings). The small Wikipedia article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repairable Repairable] says only:

:Repairable is a term used by the United States Armed Forces for certain types of material. Generally these items are expensive hardware components for military equipment. They are called repairable because when they break or wear out, the servicemember will turn this item in for repair at a maintenance facility where it will be fixed or reconditioned to be issued again. The service unit receives funding credit for turning in these items.

Reparability is however mentioned in the Wikipedia article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_design Sustainable Design], under "Standardization and modularity," which are among the listed "Principles of Sustainable Design":

:Standardization and modularity: standard, modular parts allow products to be repaired rather than replaced and promote interoperability so that systems can be upgraded incrementally rather than wholly scrapped and replaced.

An indirect reference to reparability is likewise found in the Japanese policy document entitled [http://www.meti.go.jp/english/information/data/cReHAppr02e.html Public Notice No. 1 Concerning the Collection, Transport, and Recycling of Designated Household Appliance Waste Products], by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare and Ministry of International Trade and Industry, as follows:

:Consumers and businesses, when purchasing and using designated household appliances, should restrict unnecessary replacement purchases, select appliances with superior durability that are easily repaired, strictly observe appropriate usage methods, always carry out repairs when the appliances break down, re-utilize used products, and otherwise use designated household appliances for the longest possible period of time, and thus strive to restrict the volume of target-appliance waste products that are discarded.

In these example, the specific feature of Reparability is found mixed together with diverse related concepts, such as product durability and waste reuse, rather than being considered on its own.

An interesting exchange concerning appliance reparability is posted on the environmental website [[Treehugger]], under an article entitled [http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/what_can_you_sa.php What Can You Say About a Three Year Old Coffee Grinder that Died?]. The author of the article describes the impossibility of repairing a three year old seventy-five dollar Cuisinart coffee grinder that suddenly stopped working. The article received numerous comments expressing an interest in more reparable appliances.

==Repair Friendly==

Somewhat better results can be obtained by searching for the key words Repair Friendly (a term constructed on the model of User Friendly). A search for Repair Friendly leads for example to the website of the [http://www.ecodesign.at/team/index.en.html EcoDesign Team] of the Institute for Engineering Design at the Vienna University of Technology. This website includes a page about a [http://www.ecodesign.at/forschung/fdz/reparatursiegel/index.en.html sustainability label] for repair-friendly products, specifically mentioning "repair-friendly electronic appliances". The site also provides a checklist for [http://www.ecodesign.at/pilot/ONLINE/ENGLISH/PDS/DETAILS/716A.HTM improving reparability].

Repair Friendly also leads to a website vaunting the characteristics of the [http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsID/2040427.014/country/gcf/opel/new-opel-astra-consistently-tuned-for-low-cost-of-ownership Opel Astra] under the sub-heading "Repair-friendly design for low servicing costs and short downtimes."

==Maintainability==

The word "maintainability" yields even more results, but this term appears to apply to the maintenance of industrial plants, rather than to the repair of personal equipment such as household appliances. Also, the orientation seems to be towards reducing the amount of necessary maintenance, as much as towards making the maintenance easier to perform.

The sites dealing with "maintainability" are all highly specialised. There does exist a Wikipedia article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintainability Maintainability], but it gives little more than the following highly technical definition:

:In telecommunication and several other engineering fields, the term maintainability has the following meanings:
::1) the probability that an item will be retained in a specified condition within a given period of time, when the maintenance is performed in accordance with prescribed procedures and resources
::2) the ease with which maintenance of a functional unit can be performed in accordance with prescribed requirements

A glance through the thousands of sites that Google finds for Maintainability suggests that this is an important topic for maintenance professionals.

The [http://www.plant-maintenance.com/maintenance_articles_maintainability.shtml Plant Maintenance Resource Center] presents a series of articles on "Design for Maintainability". The site sums up design for maintainability as follows: "Human factors engineering can be applied to systems design to minimize the time and effort required to perform periodic preventive maintenance as well as unscheduled maintenance."

Another specialised website is devoted to [http://www.mttr.net Mean Time To Repair] (MTTR), which is the most common measure of maintainability. This website provides information about how the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) relates to Reliability and Maintainability (RAM) software and analyses.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repairable
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_design
*Japanese waste policy: http://www.meti.go.jp/english/information/data/cReHAppr02e.html
*Treehugger article: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/what_can_you_sa.php
*Ecodesign Team: http://www.ecodesign.at/team/index.en.html
*Ecodesign sustainability label: http://www.ecodesign.at/forschung/fdz/reparatursiegel/index.en.html
*Ecodesign checklist for improving reparability: http://www.ecodesign.at/pilot/ONLINE/ENGLISH/PDS/DETAILS/716A.HTM
*Opel Astra: http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsID/2040427.014/country/gcf/opel/new-opel-astra-consistently-tuned-for-low-cost-of-ownership
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintainability Maintainability
*Plant Maintenance Resource Center: http://www.plant-maintenance.com/maintenance_articles_maintainability.shtml
*Mean Time To Repair: http://www.mttr.net

[[Category:Convivial Product Concepts]]

Usability

2007-10-21T19:05:41Z

BigTurtle:

Wikipedia defines Usability as:

:The ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal.

The Wikipedia definition appears to be a simplified version of the definition of [[Software Usability]] given by the International Organization for Standardization (IOS).

The term "user friendly" is often used as a synonym for usable. The Wikipedia article however advises that the term "user friendly" should be avoided, as it has no widely accepted definition and is thus often used without much substance.

The term [[Ergonomics]] (consideration of human factors in design) is related to usability, although the relationship is diversely interpreted. Some think of usability as a specialised branch of [[Ergonomics]] that deals with software design. Others view these topics as complementary, with [[Ergonomics]] focusing on physiological matters (e.g. turning a door handle), and usability focusing on psychological matters (e.g. recognising that this door can be opened by turning that handle).

The concept of Usability is at present particularly used in the design of:
*Human-computer interactions for computer programs or web sites
*Consumer electronics products
*Knowledge transfer objects or systems such as hard-copy documents or online help software

However, since "usability" may apply to any tool or other human-made object, it can also refer to the efficient design of mechanical objects such as a door handle or a hammer.

The term [[User-Centered Design]] refers to the design of objects or products with the user's psychology and physiology in mind. Going one step further, [[User-Driven Design]] or [[Participatory Design]] refer to a process in which some of the users become actual or de facto members of the design team.

==Criteria of Usability==
An object or product has high "usability" to the extent that it is:
*Effective for its purpose
*Efficient to use
*Easy to learn to use
*Reliable
*Adaptable and extensible
*Accommodating to a variety of users
*Satisfying to use

An object is effective if it is fit for its purpose, and can be used to complete the desired task. A shovel is effective for digging a trench, but a spoon is not. Another word for effectiveness is utility.

An object is more efficient than another if it permits achieving the purpose with less work or time. For digging a trench, an excavator is a more efficient tool than a shovel. Usability experts are generally more concerned with efficiency than with effectiveness, since few products are introduced that are actually ineffective for their purpose.

The use of an object can be made easy to learn by designing the object such that its operation can be learned by simply observing the object. An example of an object with high learnability might be an intuitive navigation tool.

Related to learnability is memorability, or the ease with which users can recall how to operate the object.

An object is reliable if it repeatedly proves to be effective and efficient. One aspect of reliability is that the object should operate with few and non-catastrophic errors.

An object has adaptability and extensibility if it is endowed with features that allow it to be adapted or extended to suit new and unpredicted tasks or goals.

An object has accommodation if it has been designed to accommodate different user populations.

Subjective satisfaction of the user is also an important criteria of usability, though it may be more difficult than the other criteria to describe precisely.

==Additional Usability Topics==
Usability is a rapidly expanding field. Additional specific topics in usability include the following:
*Web Usability: usability in the context of web browsers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_usability
*Universal Usability: usability for all type of users, in particular those with handicaps (related to Accessibility): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_usability
*Accessibility: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility">
*User-Centered Design: design for usability: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-centered_design
*Usability Testing: how to measure usability: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability_testing

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergonomics
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-centered_design
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_design
*The best-known usability guru is Jakob Nielsen, pioneered the systematic approach to designing usable computer interfaces, notably for websites: http://www.useit.com
*Neilsen’s best-known article is the following: Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design: http://www.usabilitynet.org/management/b_mistakes.htm
*Another well-constructed usability site was produced as an EU-funded project: http://www.usabilitynet.org/home.htm
*James Horn provides a website devoted to usability testing, James Horn's Usability Methods Toolbox: http://jthom.best.vwh.net/usability

[[Category:Convivial Product Concepts]]

Convivial Characteristics List

2007-10-21T18:11:06Z

BigTurtle:

The [[Convivial Characteristics]] of a tool are those which enhance the user's capability to work with independent efficiency. The following is a list of [[Convivial Characteristics]] in alphabetical order:

*[[After Sales Service]]
*[[Durability]]
*[[Ergonomics]]
*[[Eutrapelia]]
*[[Intuitive Use]]
*[[Open Access]]
*[[Modularity]]
*[[Recyclable]]
*[[Reliability]]
*[[Reparability]]
*[[Robustness]]
*[[Simplicity]]
*[[Usability]]
*[[User Autonomy]]

*Environmental friendliness
*Social friendliness

[[Category:Convivial Product Concepts]]

Open Source

2007-10-21T14:39:58Z

BigTurtle:

Open Source is a general term covering a broad range of [[Copyleft]] licenses, as opposed to the traditional [[Copyright]]. Open Source grew out of the [[Free and Open Source Software]] movements.

To be continued...

[[Category:Open Source]]

Software Freedom

2007-10-21T09:57:14Z

BigTurtle:

The intent of the more elaborate definitions of free software is expressed as follows by [[Richard Stallman]], the founder of the [[Free Software]] movement:

:Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of 'free' as in 'free speech', not as in 'free beer'". More specifically, free software means that computer users have the freedom to cooperate with whom they choose, and to control the software they use.

[[Category:FOSS Concepts]]

Convivial Tool

2007-10-21T08:59:19Z

BigTurtle:

The term [[Convivial Tool]] denotes the tool when it is offered as a [[Convivial Product]] for public use, as opposed to the term [[Convivial Tools]] which denotes a set of philosophical concepts developed by [[Ivan Illich]].

[[Category:Convivial Product]]

About this Site

2007-10-21T08:24:49Z

BigTurtle: /* Other topics on this Convivial Tools website */

==This site contains review information rather than encyclopedic or how-to information==
The information about [[Convivial Tools]] presented on this website is primarily '''review information''' rather than '''encyclopedic information''' or '''how-to information'''. The difference between these types of information is explained below:
*'''Review information''' presents a rapid overview and evaluation of a subject. This type of information is found for example on a [[Review Sites|Review Site]], which Wikipedia defines as "a website on which people can post reviews for products or services."
*'''Encyclopedic information''' is detailed, objective and verifiable information, such as should be found in Wikipedia articles. See the companion website: [http://conviviality.ouvaton.org Convivial Tools Encyclopedia].
*'''How-to information''' is practical step-by-step instructions on how to do something, as is found on [[How-to Websites]].

Although the name "Convivial Tools User Guide" might suggest that this is a how-to site, it is closer to a review site. Detailed how-to information can be found on [[How-to Websites]].

==Theme topics on this Convivial Tools website==
The theme of this site is ''Convivial Tools'', which [[Ivan Illich]] defined as tools which allow the user to operate with independent efficiency. Information is presented on the following topics, each of which illustrates in its own way the idea of "Convivial Tools":
*[[:Category:Historical Roots]]
*[[:Category:Whole Earth]]
*[[:Category:Appropriate Technology]]
*[[:Category:Convivial Tools]] (philosophical aspects)
*[[:Category:FOSS]] ([[Free and Open Source Software]])
*[[:Category:Wikis]]
*[[:Category:Open Design]]

==Other topics on this Convivial Tools website==
This website also presents information on the following general topics:
*[[:Category:Information Sources]]
*[[:Category:MediaWiki]]

[[Category:This Site]]

Appropriate Technology

2007-10-20T22:37:22Z

BigTurtle:

The theme now called "Appropriate Technology" was introduced as [[Intermediate Technology]] in the mid-nineteen sixties by the economist [[E.F. Schumacher]], who is best-known for his book [[Small is Beautiful]].

In the mid-nineteen-sixties [[E.F. Schumacher]] used the term [[Intermediate Technology]] to refer to the type of technology he believed would be most appropriate in developing countries,which he described it as being at least ten times more expensive than that then prevalent in developing countries, yet ten times less expensive than that prevalent in the developed nations.

Schumacher's idea of Intermediate Technology was soon expanded so that it might also be applied in highly developed countries, and the name was accordingly changed to the more general Appropriate Technology, which Wikipedia defines as follows:

:Appropriate technology is technology that is appropriate to the environmental, cultural and economic situation it is intended for. An appropriate technology, in this sense, typically requires fewer resources, as well as lower cost and less impact on the environment. Proponents use the term to describe technologies which they consider to be suitable for use in developing nations or underdeveloped rural areas of industrialized nations, which they feel cannot operate and maintain high technology.

This definition retains the original orientation towards developing nations, but Wikipedia does indicate that the term also has broader connotations:

:What exactly constitutes appropriate technology in any given case is a matter of debate, but generally the term is used by theorists to question high technology or what they consider to be excessive mechanization, human displacement, resource depletion or increased pollution associated with industrialisation.

Other terms closely related to Appropriate Technology include:
*[[Alternative Technology]]
*[[Sustainable Technology]]
*[[Environmental Technology]]

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriate_technology

[[Category:Appropriate Technology]]

Alternative Technology

2007-10-20T22:36:06Z

BigTurtle:

The Wikipedia article on [[Alternative Technology]] defines it as follows:

:Alternative technology is a term used by environmental advocates to refer to technologies which are more environmentally friendly than the functionally equivalent technologies dominant in current practice.

The Wikipedia article also notes that the major difference is that [[Appropriate Technology]] emphasises the importance of low cost and ease of maintenance for developing country applications, whereas Alternative Technology emphasises the environmental aspects, with less concern for cost and ease of use.

The term Alternative Technology was reportedly coined by Peter Harper, one of the founders of the Centre for Alternative Technology in North Wales in the 1970's. Harper also used the term Radical Technology. However, as noted in the Wikipedia article, when Alternative Technologies become widely adopted they may no longer be considered "alternative". An example is the widespread acceptance of the use of wind turbines to produce electricity.

==See also==
*[[Appropriate Technology]]
*[[Environmental Technology]]

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_technology

[[Category:Appropriate Technology]]

Sustainable Technology

2007-10-20T22:34:59Z

BigTurtle:

In Wikipedia, Sustainable Technology redirects to Sustainable Design. The definition of Sustainable Technology is then found buried half-way down to the bottom of this long article. The definition is as follows:

:Sustainable technologies are technologies which use less energy, fewer limited resources, do not deplete natural resources, do not directly or indirectly pollute the environment, and can be reused or recycled at the end of their useful life.

It can be seen that Sustainable Technology here means environmentally friendly technology. The term is thus generally synonymous with [[Environmental Technology]] and [[Alternative Technology]]. However, Sustainable Technology would appear to be currently the preferred term for this topic, judging from the size and pertinence of the corresponding Wikipedia articles.

The Wikipedia article also observes that Sustainable Technology may have high cost or maintenance requirements that make it unsuitable as an Appropriate Technology, meaning technology suitable to the needs of people in developing countries. Moreover, a technology that is most appropriate to a developing context may not be the most sustainable one (for example simpler technologies may in some cases be more highly polluting).

==See also==
[[Environmental Technology]]

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_technology

[[Category:Appropriate Technology]]

Environmental Technology

2007-10-20T22:34:16Z

BigTurtle:

The short Wikipedia article on Environmental Technology gives the following definition

:Environmental technology or "green technology" is the application of the environmental sciences to conserve the natural environment and resources by curbing the negative impacts of human involvement.

This article goes on to say that "sustainable development is the core of environmental technologies". It thus seems that the terms Environmental Technology and [[Sustainable Technology]] are virtually synonymous.

==See also==
*[[Sustainable Technology]]

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_technology

[[Category:Appropriate Technology]]

Intermediate Technology

2007-10-20T22:29:52Z

BigTurtle:

In an article that first appeared in 1965, the economist [[E.F. Schumacher]] described as follows the type of technology that would be most appropriate in developing countries:

:An Intermediate Technology would be immensely more productive than the indigenous technology (which is often in a condition of decay), but it would also be immensely cheaper than the sophisticated, highly capital-intensive technology of modern industry ... The equipment would be fairly simple and therefore understandable, suitable for maintenance and repair on the spot. Simple equipment is normally far less dependent on raw materials of great purity or exact specifications, and much more adaptable to market fluctuation than highly sophisticated equipment. Men are more easily trained; supervision, control and organisation are simpler; and there is far less vulnerability to unforeseen difficulties.

[[E.F. Schumacher]] thus saw Intermediate Technology as a half-way compromise between insufficient "indigenous technology" and overly sophisticated "capital-intensive technology". He described it in specifically economic terms as a technology that is at least an order of magnitude (10 times) more expensive than that prevalent in a developing nation yet at least an order of magnitude less expensive than that prevalent in a developed nation offering aid.

==See also==
[[Appropriate Technology]]

[[Category:Appropriate Technology]]

Whole Earth Access

2007-10-20T21:37:57Z

BigTurtle:

==Whole Earth Retail Outlets==

In the early 1970's the Whole Earth Truck Store was opened in Menlo Park, California. This small store sold a variety of books described in the Whole Earth Catalog, as well as hard-to-find household goods, tools, and other items.

In the 1980's the Whole Earth Access store opened in Berkeley, California. It sold a variety of products including tools, furniture, cameras, electronic devices and clothing. Branch stores in San Mateo and San Jose soon followed. This business thrived into the 1990's but eventually succumbed to competition from more specialized retailers, established department stores, and national chains of discount stores.

The website for Whole Earth Access still offers a few items for sale directly over the internet but is apparently unmaintained.

The Whole Earth Provision Company, based on the Whole Earth Catalog, was founded in 1970 in Texas and now has six locations, in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. It also has a web site wholeearthprovision.com.

[[Category:Whole Earth]]

WELL

2007-10-20T21:35:32Z

BigTurtle:

The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, also called The WELL, is one of the oldest virtual communities in continuous operation. It was started by [[Stewart Brand]] and [[Larry Brilliant]] in 1985, and the name is partially a reference to the Whole Earth Catalog.

The WELL began as a dial-up bulletin board service (BBS). It then became one of the original dial-up Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the early 1990s when commercial traffic was first allowed, and changed into its current form as the Internet and web technology evolved. It is best known for its Internet forums, but also provides email, shell accounts, and web pages.

From 1994 to 1999 the WELL was owned by Bruce Katz, founder of Rockport, a manufacturer of walking shoes. Since April 1999 it has been owned by Salon.com, several of whose founders such as Scott Rosenberg had previously been regular participants. It currently has about 4,000 members.

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_WELL

[[Category:Whole Earth]]

Free and Open Source Software

2007-10-20T17:12:07Z

BigTurtle: /* Links */

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is a comprehensive term encompassing both the Free Software and the Open Source Software movements.

There are so many different terms for free software that Wikipedia provides a whole article just on the subject of <br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_terms_for_free_software Alternative terms for free software]. The alternative terms include:

*[[Free Software]]
*[[Freeware]]
*[[Shareware]]
*[[Open Source Software]]

There are also several alternative terms that try to group both [[Free Software]] and [[Open Source Software]], including:

*Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
*Free, Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS)
*Free/Open Source Software (F/OSS)

See the [[FOSS Narrative]] for an introduction to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).

==Links==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software_movement
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software

[[Category:FOSS]]

Free Software

2007-10-20T15:22:56Z

BigTurtle:

Free Software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions only to ensure that end users have the same freedoms as the original authors.

A piece of Free Software acquires the corresponding legal status by the use of a [[Free Software License]]. The difference between Free Software and [[Freeware]] is in the form of license that is granted for use. Free Software has either to be accompanied by a
[[Free Software license]], or to be in the public domain. Freeware by contrast is accompanied by a
[[Copyright]].

For alternative terms for Free Software, see [[Free and Open Source Software]].

==Links==
*Wikipedia article on Free Software: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software
*Wikipedia article on Alternative terms for free software: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_terms_for_free_software"
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software_licence

[[Category:FOSS Concepts]]