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November 2020

New advice for the clinically vulnerable is out

"it's dangerous for you to be at work. But if you can't change this, oh well, bad luck."

Rheumatoid arthritis is a bastard disease. I've gone months without any joint symptoms. Then today, admittedly after a stressful week, out of the blue, right knee has swollen to epic proportions. Can't walk without my stick.

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, on telepathy: "the noise of other people's thoughts can drive some people mad".

Me: it's bad enough that they can talk.

I have found myself, due to last minute urgent staff changes, lecturing on Black Mirror and real legal scholarship that has emerged from its ethical tech. issues. Wheeling this one out for sure.

This morning it's lecture recording on hypothetical violations of epistemic privacy in contemporary fictional settings

Stop. Captioning time.

And now

The creatures outside looked from dog to man, and from man to dog, and from dog to man again; but it was already impossible to say which was which.

I have had a very fine day. I walked with Toby, I made some music, I edited some book, I read some of a PhD I am examining, I did an hour on the exercise bike, I played VR Beat Saber, I read some book, I Skyped friends, I watched STAR TREK.

This week I have hit a first draft of my Warez book by pulling some early morning sessions. I concluded by analyzing a set of Topsite rules files on what they show us about the Scene and its quasi-juridical set of anarchically governed, consensus-garnered principles.

Thoughts on Slack-like systems when tired at the end of a day: the internet equivalent of an open-plan office, except that I am in two of them already and had a proposal for a third today.

Two measures in the UK seem to be moving in a positive direction (infection rate is down on last week; deaths seem to be slowing) but hospitalisations continue to increase. Meanwhile, the broader picture remains grim.

We have a phrase, of an evening, for when you've stopped work but are still mentally in high-stress, high-energy mode: "still driving", because it's the same once you get out the car after a long journey. I'm very tired here after a long day, but "still driving".

I reflect that, were it not for the pandemic, I would, at this very moment, be in the Arctic circle, in Tromsø in Norway, preparing for my 200th conference paper, tomorrow. Instead, I'll give it from my office. At least I am safe. But this year is suboptimal.

“I couldn’t actually find a reason why to not keep it open, other than there was legislation in place,” gym owner told PA news agency. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

The same rubbish. "I want all students to look at the grades that they’ve got and see what is the best university that they can get to". How are you defining that "best"? "Has lots of money historically", or "takes those who have potential and gives them a chance"? Hacks me off.

I've been writing this morning about conducting ethnographies of hidden, illicit (or at least subcultural) digital spaces. Using the example of 'in-world' histories of Minecraft anarchy servers I'm fascinated by how the documents of these scenes present their universes as total.

I'm pleased to say that I am now co-convener of the @BirkbeckUoL Staff Disability Network. This network is a space where staff with disabilities and those interested in disability can come to talk. We feed into College policy and aim for an inclusive working environment.

Last night's strange dream was that I had grown an additional hand, sprouting from my right bicep. It had decreased sensitivity but I could move the fingers through the same muscle memory as my extant right hand. They planned to remove this appendage at Duke University Hospital.

I'm not kidding, I just got an email that referred to improving the "invoice experience". That is, the occurrence of being asked to pay. An "experience".

Today's research work has been writing about the Nuke Council ruleset for NukeNets and the quality-control/arbitration measures employed within the Warez Scene.

I note that I appear 6th in line for a vaccine.

Although as a friend points out, the probable actual order is:

1. Friends of the PM and big corporate donors;
2. Everyone else, scrambling for it from an incompetent privatised source that bungles the entire operation.

I don't know what kind of fierce beast I was fighting in my dreams, but from what I reportedly said in my sleep, it was "six times as tall as a mouse".

Our Disability Service Manager at @BirkbeckUoL, Mark Pimm, writes on the admirable changes that have taken place since the Disability Discrimination Act was passed, 25 years ago. It is remarkable also to read of Mark's own university experience. http://blogs.bbk.ac.uk/bbkcomments/2020/11/09/the-disability-discrimination-act-whats-changed/

"All my exam notes were put onto tape, and I listened to these to revise. To give an idea of the scale, I had over 500 tapes containing over 2,000 hours of recording. Even though I was organised, it often took me an hour to find the right point on the right tape."

"In those days, being blind I knew I would never get a non-graduate job. If I wanted to work, I had to get a degree. I had no choice but to carry on despite extraordinary odds because if I didn’t, I would never work."

I am an external examiner at several universities. Some are brilliant and send me precisely the sample I wish to audit, along with feedback etc. Others make me scrabble around in the VLE trying to find the essays, the marks, and the comments. It takes hours just to do the latter.

I've complained about this for multiple years in my reports. It never changes.

Spent today analysing FLAC Scene rules v3. The striking thing is that they don't care about comprehensive coverage - digital media are not accommodated. They care about physical possession of media by the ripper/group. Prestige and speed in the supply chain is what matters.

This afternoon I have been writing about the quasi-legislative form of Scene standards/rules, including recitals, and whether the metaphor of contract or criminal law holds better.

I've been writing every weekday for the past 2 months now and have regained a steady rhythm that I lost at the start of the pandemic. Normally having weekends off, but feel like doing the section on NukeNets for my Warez book today.

2020 has been a pretty catastrophic year for everyone. It felt particularly odd and bad in many ways to be walking along the seafront on a day normally dominated by the town's spectacular firework display. Usually thousands of people. Today, unsurprisingly, none.

Finally, advice for the clinically vulnerable. It came in at 19.04 with the instruction not to go to work under any circumstances coming into force just five hours later. I am personally fine -- my employer is great at keeping us safe -- but for others this left no planning time.

"For a moment I had an inkling of what it might be like if instead of two people in the World there were thousands" - Susanna Clarke's PIRANESI or lockdown life?

Needed to get out and clear my head today, so went for a rare daytime walk. I normally only do very early (before school drop off) or late (to avoid people, again) but today was too gorgeous to miss.

Sorry, but subeditors who hype my claims from "here's a good model" to "I've found the holy grail of all models" are not helping...

Academic book royalties are never huge, unless you're a popular historian or Slavoj Žižek. Pleased to say, nonetheless, that I made ~$210 royalties on CLOSE READING WITH COMPUTERS this year, which will go to "Vs Arthritis". Thanks to all who bought a copy.

Just realised that the Munin conference, in 2 weeks' time, will be the 200th conference paper I have given in my academic career.

Pleased to say that I'll be keynoting the Austrian Association for American Studies's conference next year: "Digital Americas". More nearer the time. (When I've worked out the precise subject...)

Thanks to @leahhenrickson for the review! A nice surprise inside my copy of ENGLISH: THE JOURNAL OF THE ENGLISH ASSOCIATION.

I spent 2hrs today doing cable management in my office/music studio. There's probably 6hrs left to do, but the small amount I have done looks a bit better... 🤔😂