[iDC] Blake makes good point here. A parallel here with cities Re: Hackademia as ..

[Saskia sassen]

Blake makes good points...the whole sequence of ideas and suggested  
readings this past 2 weeks has been great.

In the spirit of expanding the terrain where these dynamics are  
present ......The question for me would be about the dialectical  
interaction between the corporate grab and what it is seeking to grab  
-- does the latter take it sitting or does it in turn get to hack the  
corporate machine.

I see this dynamic in the case of smart cities, intelligent cities,  
and such. My image is that the city talks back, it does not fully  
submit to the logic of the technology. it does its own thing with it.  
In short, it hacks the tech. I wonder if there are parallells with  
higher ed and the public sphere.

here a couple of links about the City as Hacker of whatever  
intelligent systems. short, simple pieces.Also a way of introducing  
myself to the list ...so hope this is useful rather than too  
much/irritating

Talking Back to your Intelligent City.
http://whatmatters.mckinseydigital.com/cities/talking-back-to-your-intelligent-city

Open-Source Urbanism
http://www.domusweb.it/en/op-ed/open-source-urbanism/

a good intv by Nicolas Nova of Lift: http://t.co/cZl1GnK

and here another version of it --how the city constrains superior  
military power --also a kind of role for the city as hacker of a  
superior technology.


When the city itself becomes a technology of war.
http://www.columbia.edu/~sjs2/PDFs/city_technology_of_war.pdf


saskia


Saskia Sassen
Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology and
Co-Chair, Committee on Global Thought
Columbia University
Knox Hall 713
606 W 122nd St
New York, NY  10027
T - 212.854.0790  F - 212.854.2963
E/M - sjs2 at columbia.edu; website: www.saskiasassen.com



Quoting Blake Stimson <blakestimson at gmail.com>:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> I have been following this exchange only sporadically so please   
> accept my apologies if I am repeating something that has already   
> been said.
>
> In addition to the generative potential of concepts like DIY higher   
> ed, digital humanities, and hacking academia, it is also important   
> to address the ways in which it is being  aggressively pursued by   
> various business interests. These range from the seemingly mixed,   
> such as Bill Gates's sponsorship and repeated strong personal   
> endorsements of Salman Khan   
> (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM95HHI4gLk) to Peter Theil's paid   
> dropouts   
> (http://www.fastcompany.com/1755089/legendary-investor-peter-thiel-names-dream-team-of-whiz-kids) to Jonathan Lebed's truly scary effort to bring crisis-capitalist profiteering to higher ed as a way to pilage college savings accounts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpZtX32sKVE). Accelerating the privatization of higher ed through a DIY model is not yet an official part of the Republican platform as far as I know, but it is certainly on their radar and it seems reasonable to expect that it will get significantly more play soon, perhaps in the coming   
> e!
>  lection   
> (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/18/pawlenty-daily-show_n_617766.html).
>
> Blake Stimson
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