:: Netwoman ::

:: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 ::

World-Renowned Gaming Girls - the PMS Clan

WITI (Women in Technology International) Makes Move Into Gaming by Sponsoring World-Renowned Gaming Girls, PMS Clan

PMS Clan's mission is to provide a fun and competitive environment for female gamers. As an established team and community numbering more than 400 female gamers from around the globe, they have been breaking the stereotypes of gaming since their formation on XBOX LIVE in 2002.

With a global presence, PMS Clan have not only maintained the title of being the largest female gaming community in online gaming, but also one of the most respected. They regularly compete professionally in the male-dominated PRO tournament circuits. At this time, PMS Clan encompasses three different game platforms which include PMS XBOX, PMS Playstation2 and PMS PC.

I'm not thrilled about the name - PMS - which stand for "Pandora's Mighty Soldiers", but what they are trying to do is good. Do we need to reinforce stereotypes of 'hormonal women' or is this group reclaiming/reworking this phrase for empowerment?

:: Netwoman 9:20 AM [+] ::
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The Canadian Women's Health Network...
Wants to Hear From You!

Health Canada's Bureau of Women's Health and Gender Analysis has recently announced its plans to review their current Women's Health Strategy and develop a renewed action plan. This is great news. To help with this process, the CWHN is undertaking an informal outreach and consultation project. Our goal is to seek feedback and identify groups and individuals willing to have an ongoing role in the review process.

You can help by telling us what you think of the current federal strategy, what's missing and what a renewed plan of action should include. The results will be compiled into a report that will be provided to parliamentarians and to Health Canada. Please note: you and/or your group will not be identified individually in this report.

Go HERE to take the survey (about 15-20 minutes long).

:: Netwoman 9:12 AM [+] ::
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Feminist Database
gender Inn is a searchable database providing access to over 8,400 records pertaining to feminist theory, feminist literary criticism and gender studies focusing on English and American literature. We would also like to call your attention to the latest issue of our internet journal gender forum, edited by Prof. Dr. Beate Neumeier. The eleventh issue, Imagendering: Gender and Visualization was published in July 2005 and can be accessed HERE. The focus of the journal, consisting of article-, review-, discussion- and fiction sections, is on gender, intercultural and media issues.

:: Netwoman 8:51 AM [+] ::
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iBuzz - uBuzz - y'allBuzz
The wonders of modern technology; hook up your vibrator to your iPod:

APPLE'S iPod is set to bring even more pleasure to music lovers this Christmas - after boffins invented a vibrator that moves in time with the songs.
The £25 iBuzz connects up to the gizmo and pulses while each tune is played.
When the volume is pumped up, the vibrations get faster as the music gets louder.

:: Netwoman 3:09 PM [+] ::
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Women and their Weblogs: Redefining the Female Voice in America

An article by Deirdre Clemente:

Weblogs are reshaping how women are represented in and represented to American society, offering unprecedented and unparalleled insight into such topics as motherhood, single life and sexuality. Blogs are silently altering the landscape of "the female voice" in the 21st century, as push-button publishing emerges as an accessible means of self-expression. Time and again, American women bloggers share stories of medical problems, discuss parenting techniques, and expound upon political issues that they deem important.

:: Netwoman 2:52 PM [+] ::
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Cyber-Asia: The Internet & Society in Asia
New book edited by Zaheer Baber:

The wiring up of Asia has triggered off a wide range of social transformations even as the internet itself is transformed by the social and cultural context in which it is embedded. The papers included in this volume analyze various aspects of these social and cultural transformations in spheres ranging from the economy, politics and sexuality in Asia and beyond. While the majority of the papers focus on Asian experience of the internet, the volume also includes papers on Europe, North America and theoretical and conceptual discussions of communication and culture. The contributors to this volume are social scientists, historians and social activists. Overall this book provides a unique critical perspective on the two-way interaction between the internet and society in Asia.

:: Netwoman 2:49 PM [+] ::
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Women & ICTs - Assorted Stuff

Cut IT skills shortage by closing gender gap, say female IT professionals
by Antony Savvas

Leading female IT professionals have warned that UK businesses and the government have a moral and competitive responsibility to address the looming IT skills shortage by bridging the gender gap in the IT industry.

Computers aren't just a man's world - Naomi Canton

For years the stereotype of the computer designer has persisted: young men huddled over computers clicking away on their mice. However, women are helping shed the geeky image — both by playing games and getting involved in programming. The games industry is desperate to recruit more women, who now account for 43 per cent of all computer gamers.

Bibliography on Gender and Technology in Education

The Bibliography on Gender and Technology in Education has been created by gender equity specialist Jo Sanders. Focusing primarily on information technology, the bibliography is comprehensive as of 2005 and draws on international research as well as intervention literature. It contains nearly 700 entries and is extensively annotated, key-worded, and searchable. Sanders compiled the bibliography for her 2005 review article, "Gender and Technology: A Research Review."

:: Netwoman 11:15 AM [+] ::
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Video Games as Ideological Artifact

One of the best things about playing video games is the online element. Gaming online is more then just the interactive community building - it's learning, mentoring, watching other people make mistakes and having a good laugh. Online Socom 3 has been the household weapon of choice as of late (when the server is working). It’s much more fun then playing with bots - I mean the unpredictability and creativity of humans is fascinating to watch – and some players are just SO good. Ok, so I am a late arrival to online gaming - and I have some playing issues with the 360 worldview (don't ask). I don't really have that much leisure time on my hands. One of the funniest things I have experienced - my friend just had a kill, and decided to have a crazy little victory dance - then realizing that someone is watching 'you' do this victory dance on the body. Graciously the sniper allowed my friend to finish her lovely little dance on the body before shooting. Even more entertaining is doing a victory dance with another online gamer. I mean, this stuff has me in stitches.

Granted the war theme is not generally an area that I'm interested in. This is the first time I have played this genre. I generally like shooting things and am good at it (more so with GunCon). The first time I played this game, I wondered if I could play a female navy seal - if it would be an option or a character to unlock later. No such luck. There is a female terrorist that can be unlocked, and there is a really annoying female civilian (who my friend promptly subdued because she was so annoying). At first I thought - well here is another example of a video game, designed for men and there are no female characters. That sucks.

Then someone drew my attention to the fact that - there are no female navy seals. That's it, that's the bottom line. There are no female navy seals.

All communities in the Navy are open to women officers with the exception of Submarines and SEALS.

Yes, ok GI Jane is a favourite of mine and I haven't watched JAG (but I hear it's pretty good). But here is another example of structural problematics and systemic inequalities - how society is mirrored in video games. I like to think that video games are the perfect venue for fantasy. Maybe we don't want to make the game so darned realistic. I mean the realistic - the real, the physical - it's laden with stuff sociologists spend a life time researching. What about using video games to manifest the 'unreal' - the fantasy - the utopia? Let's include women in the navy seals (though in a perfect world I don't envision war or navy seals). Is that so hard to imagine? Perhaps the simulacra can be more real than the real itself.

I think of Socom 3 as a media weapon of mass destruction. It's fun to play and it's easy to get sucked into the cut scenes of camaraderie of battle and victory; sharing victory dances and scheming together to protect your country. This is the American dream after all - protect your country from terrorists. War, death and violence are championed - honour, pride, valour - no fear - ideologies of patriotism embedded in game play. What's also been interesting to me is that you can play terrorists, and I know people who only want to play terrorists - rather then the seals. There's some room for movement - but it's still the us and them mentality.

Right, so there are many issues with the game, there are issues with the culture we live in. Knowing it and recognizing it is good - we can move forward, make some changes and strive for equitable life spaces. So why play it? It's like eating a carton of ice cream; you know it's bad for you but it tastes so good, you have to eat it anyway. Ideologies are convincing, they’'e part of our individual identity, social identity and national identity. Do I support it? No. But I play it to gain a deeper understanding of the social world I currently exist in. Video games tell us a lot about the world we live in, about the people we are and the people we strive to be.

:: Netwoman 8:05 PM [+] ::
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Friendship Communication Survey

From: Jiali Ye - Ph.D. Candidate -Department of Communication, Georgia State University

This research is intended to examine people's maintenance behaviors for online friendships and their links to various relational and media factors. The purpose of this study is to discover how people feel about their friendships initiated and developed on the Internet and the types of behavior that they use to keep these relationships in a satisfactory condition. It should take you about 15-20 minutes to complete. These are no right and wrong answers. I would like you to share your experience honestly and completely.

If you are interested in completing this survey, it will take about 15-20 minutes to complete.

:: Netwoman 1:39 PM [+] ::
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Zoey's Room

I stumbled across a website called Zoey's Room - a 'tech-know-how' for young girls. "Explore with Zoey the world of Math, Science and Technology in a fun and creative environment"

"Zoey's room is an online community for girls ages 10-14, a place where girls can go to explore math, science and technology in a fun, safe and creative environment. Zoey's room delivers what girls want: a tight online collaborative community, a daily personal connection to Zoey in her chat room after school, Fab Female role model online chats, a place to showcase the girls' creative work and hands-on challenges that lead to big prizes such as digital cameras and wireless mice from Logitech.

Unlike other websites for girls in this genre, Zoey's Room is the only character-driven website out there that uses a personal connection to Zoey every day after school. Its unique verification process ensure the identity of every girl, making it one of the safest math, science and technology communities around..."

Looks colourful and interesting. It's really interesting to see how fictional characters can be used in a manner to teach and mentor using new ICTS. There are some really creative ways to use the internet to overcome digital divides. Of course, if you don't have access, or don't have flash in this case, then you are out of luck. So, nice tools - but still many people without access, hardware and skills to use these innovative tools.

:: Netwoman 10:42 AM [+] ::
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Mapping the Digital Divide on a Global Scale



Andy Carvin's blog has an interesting map that shows the Digital Divide all over the world.

"Much of today's information is accessible on the Internet and other electronic forms through ICTs. For many people however, access to electronic information is difficult or even impossible - leaving them excluded from opportunities to access global markets and information resources. This lack of access creates what is commonly referred to as the 'digital divide'.

This 'divide' threatens economic growth and social development and mostly affects marginalized people with reduced access to ICTs due to a lack of capacity, finances or infrastructures. Overcoming this divide through digital inclusion is mostly about enabling social inclusion - using ICT as a vehicle to improve skills, enhance quality of life, drive education and promote economic wellbeing for all of society."

This is a good reminder that many people are not so connected. We have to remind outselves that while 62% of Canadians may be online (see Statistics Canada 2002), I believe only 14% of the world's population has access to the communication tools and information sources that many North Americans do.

:: Netwoman 10:29 AM [+] ::
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Gendered Text Messages - Not Surprising Really

There is a lot of research concerning how women's and men's verbal conversations are gendered. We've also looked at textual conversations - email and list-servs, we've looked at blogs and blog comments - now we are looking at cell/mobile phones. Not surprisingly, we are seeing that men and women communicate differently in their text messages.

Mobile Phones open new front in the sex war HERE

"Messages between men are shorter than those between women, and text messages from men get longer when they are texting women. There are also significant differences in the content of messages men and women exchanged, men being much more likely to use sarcasm, sexual humour and swearing. Women are more likely to show support and affection. They also rarely swear, use little sarcasm, often put themselves down -– something men never do in their texts."

Men write short, sarcastic text HERE

"The researchers also found that people used text messaging to switch between "identities", such as men who were out with their friends preferring to send their partners text messages rather than talking to them."

Interesting - but we need to think about the implications of what this all means. Why is it important - thoughts?

:: Netwoman 5:29 PM [+] ::
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Media Bits and Bytes

There are quite a few interesting media articles floating about - here are a few of interest:

Inside the Video Game Industry HERE

"Seven years ago," he says, "videogames were played mostly by teenage boys, usually in the basement or the bedroom. No longer. Today, videogames are mainstream entertainment: they're played by people of all ages; they're played by people of all tastes; and they've become as important a part of our culture as television and movies. . . . They're in the center of the home, they're on the Internet, they're in movies, they're in schools, they're on cell phones; they're on PDAs and airplanes; and they're even in medical research labs. In short, videogames are everywhere."

Untangled by the Web HERE

"Web sites, search engines and e-mail have changed the way veterans stay in touch and have helped them to locate long-lost friends. Today's technology offers tools and resources previous generations did not have, which can help make Veterans Day, observed today, an even more poignant occasion."

Girls get their hands on technology HERE

"Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region participated in the four-hour interactive session, with women scientists and engineers from the General Electric Women's Network."

Minority women who make a difference in the workplace HERE

"Minority women in male-saturated professions like technology report frequent instances of subtle discrimination. "Microinequities" is what Allwood calls the small slights and blithe biases that alienate women like her: the inside jokes, the averted eyes, the overlooked suggestions. "They're the very small things that can make a person feel included or excluded in the work environment"

CEO Mom balances tech trends and family HERE

"I think women are already starting to set technology trends. (There is a) different level of confidence in the generation after me. Those women, those girls are going to do anything they want to do. If that means they're going to lead technology companies, then they're going to lead technology companies.
Women are also setting technology trends, and that is going to result in them leading the charge moving forward. The example I was talking about is with backup software. Women are historians of the family. Right now these women are driving technology decisions (with their) digital lifestyle.
They no longer just have their budgets on their computer. Now women have baby's first steps on their computer, they have kindergarten graduation (digital photographs) on their computer. They don't have it documented anywhere else besides their computer. If you lose your budget, it's one thing. It's a hassle to re-enter it, but if you lose your baby's first steps, they're gone and you're going to be devastated. So I think women are going to demand to have really excellent backup capabilities, that's easy to use."

:: Netwoman 5:09 PM [+] ::
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The Digital Divide Network
I just came across this website/blog - looks good - useful with information and you can build a community.

The Digital Divide Network is the Internet's largest community for educators, activists, policy makers and concerned citizens working to bridge the digital divide. At DDN, you can build your own online community, publish a blog, share documents and discussions with colleagues, and post news, events and articles.

:: Netwoman 5:05 PM [+] ::
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Rural and Urban Household Internet
Not related to my thesis (which I should be writing at this moment), I am involved in a new research project. The project researches a Canadian town called Chapleau, which until Nov 9th, 2005 only had dial-up internet access. Bell Canada and Nortel funded the laying of fibre optic wires and creating wireless internet access. So depending on your location, you will either have DSL or wirless internet access. They're offering the service free for 3-6 months depending on which one you're using.

Enter in University of Toronto, Department of Sociology and Netlab, where we are replicating the survey used for the recent East York study (which my thesis IS a part of), plus the same interview schedule. We added some questions and removed others, and create a second survey about their experiences of the high-speed internet access. We are concerned with the social aspects of the implementation of high-speed internet access - looking at health and education in addition to leisure, information and communication. I believe Guelph University is also involved, but looking at the business aspects - how the internet has influenced how businesses run etc.

These are some of the things that I am interested in - basically comparing rural and urban households and how they use the internet etc etc:

How do Rural and Urban residents utilize the internet in the home?

Almost all existing research regarding the impact of ICTs and the resulting networked society has looked at either community life (reviewed in Wellman 2001; Wellman and Haythornthwaite, 2002; Wellman and Hogan, 2004) or organizations (Adler and Heckscher 2005). There has scarcely been any attention paid to how ICTs and the possible change to a networked society affects relations within households. Statistics Canada (2002) indicates that internet use is highest from home, with 62% of households using the internet at least once a day on average from home. However, rural areas do not point to the same levels of internet participation due to geographical constraints (McLaren, 2002).

By employing a comparison between an urban area of East York, and a rural location of Chapleau, we will be able to:

1) Examine internet users and usage patterns in two distinct Canadian locales

Given that East Yorkers are quite ‘connected’, we might expect to see variances regarding internet usage patterns of residents in Chapleau. According to Singh (2004), residing in a rural area constrains household internet use. These differences are important to note if we want to get a clearer picture of not only how Canadians utilize the internet in the home (or how they may want to utilize household internet), but also how people maintain and create their social networks. Because rural residents are faced with geographical isolation, studying internet use in this context will provide a comprehensive understanding of the needs and expectations Canadians have of the internet overall, both in an urban and rural context.

2) Investigate the diversity of household types in an urban and rural context and consider how this diversity might shape household internet use

Household organization has changed over time; repeat divorces has increased, marriage rates have decreased (Statistics Canada 2005), more households have dual-earners (Jacobs & Gerson 2001), people are working longer work weeks (Fagan 2001), the average age of married couples has increased, and more women are having children later in life (Statistics Canada 2003). As well, women are spending less time on household chores (Robinson & Godbey 1997), but they are still primarily responsible for these tasks. This signifies a new family structure – or the post-familial family (Beck-Gernsheim 2002), reflecting modern family life in an individualized society (Wehner & Abrahamson 2004). Households have moved from solidary groups to that of social networks with CMC being used to communicate and coordinate busy schedules and tasks. Family members organize their own schedules, but often around the schedules of others in the home.

While this is certainly true in urban locations such as East York, we cannot make generalizations about families and households and internet use without including small cities and towns that are limited by a lack of computers and modems, internet access, and/or broadband access, and the skills and literacy to use computers and internet. We need to consider the demographic specificity of residents in rural towns, which generally have lower incomes than the Canadian mean, lower levels of education, and a higher number of First Nation residents. For example, because of geographic location, residents in rural areas are faced with expensive long distance costs in order to keep in touch with family and friends (Singh 2004). This will have repercussions regarding the way rural residents can preserve and construct social networks, and if they are even able to do so.

3) Examine household relationships in an urban and rural setting and consider how this might influence household internet use

In order to contextualize the household Internet, we need to consider household roles – interactions and relationships shaped by societal expectations and social roles and the domestic division of labour – who is responsible for domestic jobs and how does this influence household Internet use? Overall, women and men of East York utilize the Internet differently within the household; women’s use of technology the household is often functional so that work is done more efficiently and quickly (Frissen 1992), and women tend to use internet more instrumentally in such instances of helping children with homework and communicating with family and friends, using it as a tool (Singh 2001; Shade 2002). Women are the historic kinkeepers and networkers within and between households (Rosenthal, 1985; Wellman, 1982; Wellman and Wellman, 1992; Spitze, 1996), yet they are spending less time at home doing household chores and more time out of the home doing paid work (Robinson and Godbey, 1997). The modern household has become complex with household members keeping different schedules, no matter if they are dual career, single parent, married couple, or several friends.

However, given that Chapleau’s industry consists of forestry, tourism, and gaming, household roles and the division of labour will vary from East York urban residents; employment types and schedules will differ, and this will ultimately affect the internet needs of the household in terms of access to different types of information and how individuals might communicate with others both inside and outside the household.

Furthermore, we shall evaluate the extent to which ICTs affect relations among household members, facilitating contact when all are not home, changing power dynamics, and possibly diverting attention to immersive online relations and away from other household members.

4) Consider ICT policy initiatives that are suitable to the specific needs of the Canadian population.

As the prevalence of household internet access increases and spreads to more remote areas of the Canadian population, the connectivity divide between urban and rural locations should start to shrink. New pathways to information and new modes of communication will become available to small towns such as the residents of Chapleau. As small towns such as Chapleau become more dependent on ICTs with the implementation of broadband and wireless technology, economic structures and public institutions will continue to change. Change, however, cannot be made without understanding the needs and expectations of the residents involved. As well, we need to consider the ramifications of implementing ICTs into the community. While broad band implementation might address the connectivity divide, we must be wary not to create additional digital divides. For example, providing workshops for new internet users to accommodate digital literacy and skills might be necessary. Also necessary to consider are impending costs of computers with DSL or cable modems to local residents, and whether local residents be able to afford DSL and/or cable access prices, as they are usually more expensive then dial-up services. These are the kinds issues that should be not only be addressed, but residents need to be included in these decision making processes; one must have a keen critical eye that community member's interests and needs are really being met and satisfied.

Here are some media articles related to the 'opening ceremonies' and kick off.

"Bell Canada and Nortel Deliver Advanced Broadband Services and Applications to Northern Ontario Community" HERE

"Project Chapleau Wires Northern Ontario" HERE

"Bell Canada and Nortel Deliver Advanced Broadband Services and Applications to Northern Ontario Community; Next-Generation Wireless Solutions to Enhance Socio-Economic Growth in Chapleau" HERE

Here are some websites about Chapleau and the project.

Should be a very interesting research project. I am looking forward to diving in (as if I haven't had enough already!).

If you have any input or suggestions, let me know.

:: Netwoman 9:17 PM [+] ::
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Gender & ICTs - Assorted Goodies

- Women and ICT: Creating Global Transformation-An International Symposium, Center for Women and Information Technology, 2005 This report summarises the proceedings of the First International Symposium on Women and Information and Communication Technology which brought together 250 international gender and ICT experts.

- Digital Dangers: Information & Communication Technologies and Trafficking in Women (English, Spanish and French), Maltzahn, K., 2005 This paper seeks to explore the possible relationships between trafficking women and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) with a view to advancing understanding of these complex issues.

- Engendering ICT Policies in Africa WSIS Gender Caucus Efforts, Etta, F., 2005 This document summarizes the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Gender Caucus (GC) engagement in Africa since December 2003.

- World Summit on the Information Society: Potential for Addressing the Gender Digital Divide? Banks, K., 2005 This paper outlines the continuous efforts of gender and ICT advocates from around the world to mainstream a gender equality perspective into the WSIS process.

- Gender and ICTs for Development: A Global Sourcebook, Cummings, S., 2005 This book is a collection of case studies about women and their communities in developing countries, and how they are influenced by, and use ICTs for development.

- Strategies of Inclusion: Gender and the Information Society, Faulkner, W., 2004 This European study explores initiatives to include women in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) through undertaking 48 case-studies of inclusion initiatives in the public and private sectors.

:: Netwoman 10:26 AM [+] ::
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Examing Conversations in the Blogosphere - Addendum
The paper that I gave at the recent AoIR talked about how the comments that women and men leave in blogs is gendered.

Here's an interesting case study of how comment-conversations can escalate into an ugly virtual text war. 37Signals suggests that software is designed for men, and readers comment.....

"...More men design software. More men use software. Why on earth would one purposefully create software for women, the minority of users? Would you design a parking lot for Ugos? Obviously there are (few) exceptions, but by far the majority of computer users are men."

Let the rant begin...

:: Netwoman 4:43 PM [+] ::
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A Window on Ourselves
By Frank Ahrens

Nothing says "can't-put-it-down reading!" like census data.

But the folks at the U.S. Census Bureau give us the best regular updates on who we are and what we do -- sometimes at great personal risk to census-takers. Census data expose educational and economic gaps that can be addressed with government and private efforts. The data reveal new categories of Americans that savvy marketers can reach -- consider the minivan, which no one knew they needed until Chrysler realized that families were changing.

The most recent round of data spewed forth by the green eyeshades over at Census tells us how we use our computers and the Internet. Well, owing to the significant lag time between collection of the raw numbers and the shampooing, scrubbing and manicuring of them, the new data -- released Thursday -- tell us how we used our computers and the Internet in 2003. Which, in many ways, given the warp-speed evolution (or intelligent design) of the Internet and technology, is sort of like telling us how we used our computers and Internet in 1990.

But you work with what you've got.

In 1984, only 8.2 percent of U.S. households had computers, and they were diesel-powered. By 2003, that number was up to 61.8 percent, which still seems amazingly low. On the other hand, everyone I know has a TiVo, while only about 5 percent of all U.S. households have digital video recorders. Which just goes to illustrate, once again, what a bubble we live in. And by "we," I mean "you," because I am omniscient. But that's another column.

According to the census data by state, Alaska has the most residents with Internet access, at about 63 percent of all households. Makes sense, I suppose. Alaska's female population portion is lower than the national average. Lotta guys. With a lotta time on their hands. No daylight from October to March. You do the math.

After Alaska, the top Internet-access states are New Hampshire, Colorado, Connecticut and Utah. (Huh?) From the bottom up, the list goes: Mississippi (about 39 percent), Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Alabama.

Computers are no longer a boys' club, says the census. In 1984, 63.1 percent of men who had a home computer used it; only 42.8 percent of women did. In 2003, more women (83.5 percent) than men (81.5 percent) used their home computers.

And there is this soul-crushing statistic, for anyone who lost it all in the dot-com bust by assuming shoppers were ready to flock to the Internet: In 1997, only 2.1 percent of adults used the Internet to buy products or services. By 2003 -- is it too late to get venture capital for a start-up e-tail site? -- that number had soared to 32.3 percent.

Ah, the perils of being ahead of your time. Oh, yeah: and blowing all your money on a Super Bowl ad.

:: Netwoman 11:02 AM [+] ::
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Internet users read more: study

Canadians the most experienced Internet consumers in the world

Hey Google - you're not so tough.

The belief that the Internet is pushing aside traditional media as a source of news and information may be mistaken, according to a new study profiling online Canadians.

The study, one of the largest and most comprehensive ever conducted on Internet users in Canada, found that those who use Google, Yahoo and other online sources to get their daily dose of news are more likely to pick up a newspaper, read a book or flip through a magazine than non-users of the Internet.

Newspapers were cited by 59 per cent of Internet users as an important source of information, compared to 50 per cent of non-users, while books were important for 55 per cent of Web surfers compared to 38 per cent of non-users.

A similar trend could be found for magazines and radio, with television being the only medium considered more important by offline Canadians.

"While Internet use has a measurable displacement effect - with some time that might have been spent watching television, listening to the radio or reading magazines and newspapers instead devoted to the Internet - our data support the general conclusion that, for most users, the Internet serves more as a supplement to traditional media than a replacement," the study concluded.

"Internet users, it would seem, are simply more media-oriented than are non-users."

The results are based on a survey of 3,014 Canadians at least 18 years old who answered questions in a telephone interview in May and June of last year. The margin of error is 1.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The study is the first to come out of the Canadian Internet Project, an ongoing research initiative led by a consortium of universities and supported with provincial, federal and private-sector funding. It’s Canada’s contribution to the World Internet Project, a global research group working to compile and compare data about Internet use around the world based on standardized surveys. The project involves more than 25 countries.

Dr. Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School in Southern California, founded the World Internet Project six years ago. He said the Internet is no longer considered an emerging technology.

"We're getting to the point where most of the people who want to be online are online," he told an audience at Ryerson University, where the results of the study were released. "The fact you can call up a search engine, enter a question and get the answer in seconds means we now rely on it."

He said people now surf the Internet to kill time, rather than using it selectively for a particular purpose, such as email. Part of this change in behaviour is the embracing of high-speed Internet services that, in addition to being fast and supporting broadband applications such as video streaming and music downloading, are 'always on' and always available.

Broadband technologies have also encouraged Internet surfers to bring their own content to the Web, reversing what Cole calls a 450 years of spoon-feeding by the media.

"The audience is now posting huge amounts of content," he said, pointing to the rising popularity of online journals such as blogs or peer-to-peer file trading networks. "We’re no longer just consumers of information, but providers of information."

Among the study’s other key findings:

-Among non-users of the Internet, 1 in 3 have previously been online but decided later they didn't want to use the Internet.

-The vast majority of non-users of the Internet cited a general lack of interest in and usefulness of the Internet for not being online. Privacy, spam and social concerns were also cited. Only 7 per cent of non-users said they were offline because it's too expensive, suggesting the existence of any digital divide is not based on financial barriers.

-Internet users watch an average of 3.7 fewer hours a week of television compared to non-users, and most users, particularly those who have used voice over Internet protocol services, say they have reduced their use of traditional telephone service.

-Users spend nearly twice as much time online for information (6.1 hours a week) as they do for entertainment (3.3 hours).

-Farmers, fishers and unskilled workers are less likely to be online, while business owners, office workers and professionals are most likely to surf, and more often.

-Two-thirds of online Canadian households use a high-speed connection.

-Among government services accessed online, federal services are used most often, followed by provincial and municipal ones.

-Canadians are the most experienced Internet consumers in the world, with 60 per cent of users saying they've been online for more than five years. The United States came second at 58 per cent, followed by Sweden at 55 per cent.

Project co-director André Caron, a professor at the University of Montreal who studies emerging technologies, said the biggest disappointment out of the study is that Canadians don't go on the Internet with the purpose of accessing Canadian content.

"It’s where we need to do the most work," he said.

Another concern is the 28 per cent of those surveyed who described themselves as non-users of the Internet, a group that Caron called an "invisible minority" - a group not taking part in the knowledge society.

"We had to decide what to do with these non-users," he said, pointing out that an effort is also needed to get less frequent users and those from lower income and education demographics to tap into a richer variety of online content, services and applications.

"Those people are not accessing the same information as everybody else."

:: Netwoman 10:56 AM [+] ::
...

What does a female researcher look like?

From Hilde :

"In 1990-1993, children between 7 and 15 were invited to send a drawing of a 'typical researcher'. Most of them illustrated men, chemists and 'mad scientists'.
The same invitation in 2005, to children 6-13 years, showed a larger variation, both in gender and in research fields. 28% of the scientists were drawn as women, 15% as gender neutral and 57% as male. And while the 'mad researcher' still is visualised as male, the female researcher is rather fancy dressed and apparently a kind of 'cool researcher'."

There are some other things to consider here as well. For example, class is apparent in the 'fancy dress' outfits. Also race and ethnicity as most are depicted as white. It's unfortunate that most kids still think of researchers as male. I think that if we specified the type of research, we would see much more gender disparities in the drawings.

:: Netwoman 12:52 PM [+] ::
...

Marie Curie Postgrad Fellowship

SOCIAL, ECONOMIC & CULTURAL ASPECTS OF INNOVATION IN DIGITAL MEDIA

Applications are invited for a doctoral student research Fellowship addressing socio-economic, cultural or policy aspects of Innovation in new/digital media services, based in Dublin City University.

Funded under the EU's Fifth Framework Programme*, this Marie Curie fellowship opportunity covers a research visit period up to 10 or 11 months in Dublin. The visit must commence by January 2006 at latest and the studentship pays 1,200 Euro per month.

The Fellowship will be based in the Communication, Technology and Culture (COMTEC) research centre, Dublin City Univ. Founded in 1991, COMTEC is an interdisciplinary research unit focused on the socio-economic and policy aspects of the mediascape, new ICTs and the knowledge society/economy. The COMTEC centre combines expertise in the fields of socio-cultural shaping of technology, media studies, political economy of communication and information policy studies.

Applicants must be registered for a doctoral degree in their home institution and have proven abilities in written and spoken English (and match the nationality, residence etc criteria of the Marie Curie prog).

Interested applicants should [immediately] send an initial short note outlining their research interests and a copy of their CV to :

Paschal Preston
Director, COMTEC centre,
Professor, School of Communication,
Dublin City University,
Glasnevin, Dublin 9, IRELAND
Tel: +353-1-700-5478
Email: Paschal.Preston@dcu.ie
Webpage: http://www.comms.dcu.ie/prestonp/

:: Netwoman 2:06 PM [+] ::
...

Useful Spam? PhD for Sale
Given that I am writing my thesis right now (with writers-block and all), this email spam caught my attention:

"PhD for sale
Sorry you don't have the proper educational qualifications for this job. Sound all too familiar? Then you need this:
- they give a weird link -
this is the link which will purge you from any futures : - another weird link -
Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. "

Strange. 'Frenzied outbursts of emotion' is quite funny and pretty accurate when you are writing a dissertation. Emails like this are tempting while immersed in the depths of graduate school hell. :)

:: Netwoman 2:02 PM [+] ::
...