Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
54 lines (37 loc) · 6.07 KB

20191010-weeknote.md

File metadata and controls

54 lines (37 loc) · 6.07 KB

Research note 10th October

Reading

A while ago, Richard Pope introduced me to Andrew Schrock also at the Harvard Kennedy School, and it has been great to see other anthropology/science technology studies people and what they're reading.

When research gets difficult, as it always does when researching organizing, I always return to the late Sally Hacker, a feminist and organizational sociologist who described her methodology as "doing it the hard way." pic.twitter.com/gqTeuQQYz7

— Andrew R. Schrock (@aschrock) October 8, 2019
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Worth reading the thread, but it's been sufficiently interesting for me to order a used copy for ~£2 and I'm hoping for good things.

I have a huge backlog of books that need reading, but Health Stuff has been leaving me laid out and my eyes won't co-operate. If only audible covered my DPhil reading backlog.

I've also been reading a copy of the LRB that I bought for a long train journey. The takedown of John Updike that's been all over twitter has been delighful.

bury me in this lede https://t.co/YGsHFb3nlr pic.twitter.com/GWBw5zQ9fU

— rachel syme (@rachsyme) October 2, 2019
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"Work" work

We've got a supplier lined up to start. We've got a department to work with. It's fun and still mindbendingly complicated (good thing) I've been trying to write a little newsletter for the team to send out the links I've seen each week, and I think you deserve them too.

Health

I've just been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis after five weeks of pain and blood. Glad to have a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Sad to have another disease that's going to mess with my life. It is early days, so I don't know what this is going to be like to live with. It's painful so far and I'm pretty exhausted and feel a bit through the wringer with it all. I'm grateful to the offers of company but it will need to wait until my energy is higher.

Film photography

Got some films back. I've been using Aperture photography off TCR to develop since Lomo in Soho closed down. They're really good. A bit pricey, but good folks and do an amazing job with the prints and good detail on the scans.

collage of black and white, purple and colour shots
collage of black and white, purple and colour shots

Career

I'm feeling a bit out of strategy. I want lots of things that seem mutually exclusive. I want to get a more senior role in the next year or two. I want to work with less than daily travel. I'd like to do four days a week so I can be a parent. I'm looking for people's ideas on what I should or could do to get there.

Thoughts on civic tech

  • What do you show to people looking for democracy data? This note from Democracy Club has had me thinking. Data we put up on candidates shapes what is considered important in a candidate. I think, perhaps, that it is fair to judge a candidate on their ideas, not if they've been in the army. We have to remember that every data point we put up can be used for bad reasons. Put up gender data, arseholes can select for only men to vote for. Worse options for BAME, LGBT or really anyone else who can be described and found by data. The sociological framing of this data is as important as the data itself.

"Create minimum requirements for prospective MPs to stand for election" https://t.co/ReFMwvKfPZ

— Rejected Petitions (@rejectpetitions) October 1, 2019
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> ^^^^^ No.
  • I want to do a deep dive into the debate on algorithmic law. I am not convinced by the Australian debate. Not everything that is an innovation is a good idea and research on law and algorithms that I've seen at conferences recently suggests that it's the constant reinvention of the wheel: improving processor speed doesn't make the problems of removing humans better. Anyway, needs a proper read as I'm not sure (in a "hmmm" way).

Music

Been listening/hallucinating to a few songs on repeat. They don't fit together, but I've put them in a playlist anyway.

<iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/3RmpYSMZke9dYJW42T1xe1" width="300" height="380" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe>