Hackers & Designers - User contributions [en]

Offshore:Admin Hacks

2017-03-09T02:15:14Z

Vicky: /* ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C */

[[File:boat.gif]]

==ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C==

When you live on a boat, in the Netherlands, it is not possible to register your address there unless you are the lucky owner of one of the 2500 official houseboat addresses in Amsterdam. I moved to Amsterdam from Belgium in September last year. One month after, I bought an 8m motor cruiser boat with no working motor and really old batteries. The interior was covered with lacquer paint applied by the previous owner without paint hardener, which meant that if you would touch the walls, you’d be covered in paint. I knew it was quite some project to take on, but the price was tempting and I was ready for an adventure after graduating from university.

Since buying an official houseboat address was never an option for me, I had to find an alternative way to be able to register in the Netherlands. At first I registered myself as an [https://www.amsterdam.nl/veelgevraagd/?productid=%7B78A87674-890E-426F-8FF0-8452BF095699%7D RNI] which basically is a registration for someone that doesn’t live in the Netherlands. You need this registration to be able to receive your BSN number. With this [https://www.amsterdam.nl/veelgevraagd/?productid=%7BD9EEC2D8-7BA7-4DEA-A931-1D2ACB207608%7D BSN] number you’re able to work in the Netherlands. After registering for the RNI I thought I was good with my administration until my manager, at the hostel I work at two days a week, came to me and informed me I had to get an official address or else they wouldn’t be able to extend my contract. Apparently the RNI registration is only valid for four months. I didn’t know.

For this, I’m super glad I speak Dutch because it took me quite some time studying official websites to figure out what to do. At first I found an administrative construction that enables [http://startpuntgrensarbeid.benelux.int cross-border workers] of the BeNeLux to be registered in one country and work in the other. Due to this lead, I didn’t look further and thought once again everything was fine. A month later I got an email from the HR department from the hostel: this construction was only for people that really lived in a city situated next to a border, so surely not for me.

Informing with other people on what they did, I found out that I could register at a [https://www.amsterdam.nl/veelgevraagd/?productid=%7BB4A56660-8158-4DBA-A959-21DBAC61210D%7D#case_%7B1FEB8645-6EFE-45B8-A08F-72E15AD0463E%7D briefadres]. This is an address of a friend or family member that lives in the Netherlands and is willing to collect your mail. This registration can only be done by the main tenant and just two people can be registered at one briefadres.

It was time to start looking for this type of address. I knew housing is a big problem in Amsterdam, but I didn’t know a lot of my friends were also not able to register at their place, even if they rented an apartment or room. This situation was created by the housing shortage in Amsterdam and the need to register to be able to work in the Netherlands. An owner of a house would let out an apartment without giving the tenant the possibility to register at that address, this way the owner could register himself or other people there and together with the rent also get money for providing someone a registration.

After one month of looking for a possible briefadres I got really desperate, since my work contract was expiring so I made an appointment at the city hall and went there instead of calling them all the time and spending fortunes on callcredit. At the city hall I got the best service ever, I apparently charmed one of the employees there with my Flemish accent, explained my whole situation and he put a lot of effort to find a way to register: at my job.
This is a service they provide for expats living in hotels. I just needed proof of extension of my contract and a permission from my job, which I both got. Just 5 days before my contract expired, on my birthday January 25th, I was able to register for one year at a briefadres!

So far for the registration, but my administrative struggle wasn’t over. Basically everything you have to apply for in the Netherlands is really a hustle when you don’t have a physical mailbox. When you work for a Dutch company you are also obliged to have a health insurance. I already have one in Belgium which has much much better conditions than what Dutch health insurance companies have to offer, but I had no choice. I had to apply. They send you the insurance card by mail. You can apply for [https://mijn.toeslagen.nl zorgtoeslag] (a compensation for health insurance) online, only not when you have a briefadres, then they have to mail you papers and you have to post them back. For a [https://www.digid.nl/ DigID] (login system for government websites) you need a mailbox. I can go on and on and on.

Basically what I suggest you to do if you want to live off-the-grid in the Netherlands and come from another country: rent a room for some months first and fix your administration before starting to live on a boat, in a yurt, or on a trailer.

Offshore:Admin Hacks

2017-03-09T02:06:58Z

Vicky:

[[File:boat.gif]]

==ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C==

When you live on a boat, in the Netherlands, it is not possible to register your address there unless you are the lucky owner of one of the 2500 official houseboat addresses in Amsterdam. I moved to Amsterdam from Belgium in September last year. One month after, I bought an 8m motor cruiser boat with no working motor and really old batteries. The interior was covered with lacquer paint applied by the previous owner without paint hardener, which meant that if you would touch the walls, you’d be covered in paint. I knew it was quite some project to take on, but the price was tempting and I was ready for an adventure after graduating from university.

Since buying an official houseboat address was never an option for me, I had to find an alternative way to be able to register in the Netherlands. At first I registered myself as an RNI which basically is a registration for someone that doesn’t live in the Netherlands. You need this registration to be able to receive your BSN number. With this BSN number you’re able to work in the Netherlands. After registering for the RNI I thought I was good with my administration until my manager, at the hostel I work at two days a week, came to me and informed me I had to get an official address or else they wouldn’t be able to extend my contract. Apparently the RNI registration is only valid for four months. I didn’t know.

For this, I’m super glad I speak Dutch because it took me quite some time studying official websites to figure out what to do. At first I found an administrative construction that enables cross-border workers of the BeNeLux to be registered in one country and work in the other. Due to this lead, I didn’t look further and thought once again everything was fine. A month later I got an email from the HR department from the hostel: this construction was only for people that really lived in a city situated next to a border, so surely not for me.

Informing with other people on what they did, I found out that I could register at a briefadres. This is an address of a friend or family member that lives in the Netherlands and is willing to collect your mail. This registration can only be done by the main tenant and just two people can be registered at one briefadres.

It was time to start looking for this type of address. I knew housing is a big problem in Amsterdam, but I didn’t know a lot of my friends were also not able to register at their place, even if they rented an apartment or room. This situation was created by the housing shortage in Amsterdam and the need to register to be able to work in the Netherlands. An owner of a house would let out an apartment without giving the tenant the possibility to register at that address, this way the owner could register himself or other people there and together with the rent also get money for providing someone a registration.

After one month of looking for a possible briefadres I got really desperate, since my work contract was expiring so I made an appointment at the city hall and went there instead of calling them all the time and spending fortunes on callcredit. At the city hall I got the best service ever, I apparently charmed one of the employees there with my Flemish accent, explained my whole situation and he put a lot of effort to find a way to register: at my job.
This is a service they provide for expats living in hotels. I just needed proof of extension of my contract and a permission from my job, which I both got. Just 5 days before my contract expired, on my birthday January 25th, I was able to register for one year at a briefadres!

So far for the registration, but my administrative struggle wasn’t over. Basically everything you have to apply for in the Netherlands is really a hustle when you don’t have a physical mailbox. When you work for a Dutch company you are also obliged to have a health insurance. I already have one in Belgium which has much much better conditions than what Dutch health insurance companies have to offer, but I had no choice. I had to apply. They send you the insurance card by mail. You can apply for zorgtoeslag (a compensation for health insurance) online, only not when you have a briefadres, then they have to mail you papers and you have to post them back. For a DigID (login system for government websites) you need a mailbox. I can go on and on and on.

Basically what I suggest you to do if you want to live off-the-grid in the Netherlands and come from another country: rent a room for some months first and fix your administration before starting to live on a boat, in a yurt, or on a trailer.

Offshore:Admin Hacks

2017-03-09T02:06:40Z

Vicky: /* ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C */

[[File:boat.jpg]]

==ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C==

When you live on a boat, in the Netherlands, it is not possible to register your address there unless you are the lucky owner of one of the 2500 official houseboat addresses in Amsterdam. I moved to Amsterdam from Belgium in September last year. One month after, I bought an 8m motor cruiser boat with no working motor and really old batteries. The interior was covered with lacquer paint applied by the previous owner without paint hardener, which meant that if you would touch the walls, you’d be covered in paint. I knew it was quite some project to take on, but the price was tempting and I was ready for an adventure after graduating from university.

Since buying an official houseboat address was never an option for me, I had to find an alternative way to be able to register in the Netherlands. At first I registered myself as an RNI which basically is a registration for someone that doesn’t live in the Netherlands. You need this registration to be able to receive your BSN number. With this BSN number you’re able to work in the Netherlands. After registering for the RNI I thought I was good with my administration until my manager, at the hostel I work at two days a week, came to me and informed me I had to get an official address or else they wouldn’t be able to extend my contract. Apparently the RNI registration is only valid for four months. I didn’t know.

For this, I’m super glad I speak Dutch because it took me quite some time studying official websites to figure out what to do. At first I found an administrative construction that enables cross-border workers of the BeNeLux to be registered in one country and work in the other. Due to this lead, I didn’t look further and thought once again everything was fine. A month later I got an email from the HR department from the hostel: this construction was only for people that really lived in a city situated next to a border, so surely not for me.

Informing with other people on what they did, I found out that I could register at a briefadres. This is an address of a friend or family member that lives in the Netherlands and is willing to collect your mail. This registration can only be done by the main tenant and just two people can be registered at one briefadres.

It was time to start looking for this type of address. I knew housing is a big problem in Amsterdam, but I didn’t know a lot of my friends were also not able to register at their place, even if they rented an apartment or room. This situation was created by the housing shortage in Amsterdam and the need to register to be able to work in the Netherlands. An owner of a house would let out an apartment without giving the tenant the possibility to register at that address, this way the owner could register himself or other people there and together with the rent also get money for providing someone a registration.

After one month of looking for a possible briefadres I got really desperate, since my work contract was expiring so I made an appointment at the city hall and went there instead of calling them all the time and spending fortunes on callcredit. At the city hall I got the best service ever, I apparently charmed one of the employees there with my Flemish accent, explained my whole situation and he put a lot of effort to find a way to register: at my job.
This is a service they provide for expats living in hotels. I just needed proof of extension of my contract and a permission from my job, which I both got. Just 5 days before my contract expired, on my birthday January 25th, I was able to register for one year at a briefadres!

So far for the registration, but my administrative struggle wasn’t over. Basically everything you have to apply for in the Netherlands is really a hustle when you don’t have a physical mailbox. When you work for a Dutch company you are also obliged to have a health insurance. I already have one in Belgium which has much much better conditions than what Dutch health insurance companies have to offer, but I had no choice. I had to apply. They send you the insurance card by mail. You can apply for zorgtoeslag (a compensation for health insurance) online, only not when you have a briefadres, then they have to mail you papers and you have to post them back. For a DigID (login system for government websites) you need a mailbox. I can go on and on and on.

Basically what I suggest you to do if you want to live off-the-grid in the Netherlands and come from another country: rent a room for some months first and fix your administration before starting to live on a boat, in a yurt, or on a trailer.

File:Boat.gif

2017-03-09T02:05:30Z

Vicky:

Offshore:Admin Hacks

2017-03-09T02:00:18Z

Vicky: /* ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C */

==ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C==

When you live on a boat, in the Netherlands, it is not possible to register your address there unless you are the lucky owner of one of the 2500 official houseboat addresses in Amsterdam. I moved to Amsterdam from Belgium in September last year. One month after, I bought an 8m motor cruiser boat with no working motor and really old batteries. The interior was covered with lacquer paint applied by the previous owner without paint hardener, which meant that if you would touch the walls, you’d be covered in paint. I knew it was quite some project to take on, but the price was tempting and I was ready for an adventure after graduating from university.

Since buying an official houseboat address was never an option for me, I had to find an alternative way to be able to register in the Netherlands. At first I registered myself as an RNI which basically is a registration for someone that doesn’t live in the Netherlands. You need this registration to be able to receive your BSN number. With this BSN number you’re able to work in the Netherlands. After registering for the RNI I thought I was good with my administration until my manager, at the hostel I work at two days a week, came to me and informed me I had to get an official address or else they wouldn’t be able to extend my contract. Apparently the RNI registration is only valid for four months. I didn’t know.

For this, I’m super glad I speak Dutch because it took me quite some time studying official websites to figure out what to do. At first I found an administrative construction that enables cross-border workers of the BeNeLux to be registered in one country and work in the other. Due to this lead, I didn’t look further and thought once again everything was fine. A month later I got an email from the HR department from the hostel: this construction was only for people that really lived in a city situated next to a border, so surely not for me.

Informing with other people on what they did, I found out that I could register at a briefadres. This is an address of a friend or family member that lives in the Netherlands and is willing to collect your mail. This registration can only be done by the main tenant and just two people can be registered at one briefadres.

It was time to start looking for this type of address. I knew housing is a big problem in Amsterdam, but I didn’t know a lot of my friends were also not able to register at their place, even if they rented an apartment or room. This situation was created by the housing shortage in Amsterdam and the need to register to be able to work in the Netherlands. An owner of a house would let out an apartment without giving the tenant the possibility to register at that address, this way the owner could register himself or other people there and together with the rent also get money for providing someone a registration.

After one month of looking for a possible briefadres I got really desperate, since my work contract was expiring so I made an appointment at the city hall and went there instead of calling them all the time and spending fortunes on callcredit. At the city hall I got the best service ever, I apparently charmed one of the employees there with my Flemish accent, explained my whole situation and he put a lot of effort to find a way to register: at my job.
This is a service they provide for expats living in hotels. I just needed proof of extension of my contract and a permission from my job, which I both got. Just 5 days before my contract expired, on my birthday January 25th, I was able to register for one year at a briefadres!

So far for the registration, but my administrative struggle wasn’t over. Basically everything you have to apply for in the Netherlands is really a hustle when you don’t have a physical mailbox. When you work for a Dutch company you are also obliged to have a health insurance. I already have one in Belgium which has much much better conditions than what Dutch health insurance companies have to offer, but I had no choice. I had to apply. They send you the insurance card by mail. You can apply for zorgtoeslag (a compensation for health insurance) online, only not when you have a briefadres, then they have to mail you papers and you have to post them back. For a DigID (login system for government websites) you need a mailbox. I can go on and on and on.

Basically what I suggest you to do if you want to live off-the-grid in the Netherlands and come from another country: rent a room for some months first and fix your administration before starting to live on a boat, in a yurt, or on a trailer.

Offshore:Admin Hacks

2017-03-09T01:59:03Z

Vicky: Created page with "==ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C== When you live on a boat, in the Netherlands, it is not possible..."

==ADMIN HACK 06.03.2017 16:29 52°24'16.1"N 4°53'12.1"E inside: 16.7°C outside: 9°C==

When you live on a boat, in the Netherlands, it is not possible to register your address there unless you are the lucky owner of one of the 2500 official houseboat addresses in Amsterdam. I moved to Amsterdam from Belgium in September last year. One month after, I bought an 8m motor cruiser boat with no working motor and really old batteries. The interior was covered with lacquer paint applied by the previous owner without paint hardener, which meant that if you would touch the walls, you’d be covered in paint. I knew it was quite some project to take on, but the price was tempting and I was ready for an adventure after graduating from university.
Since buying an official houseboat address was never an option for me, I had to find an alternative way to be able to register in the Netherlands. At first I registered myself as an RNI which basically is a registration for someone that doesn’t live in the Netherlands. You need this registration to be able to receive your BSN number. With this BSN number you’re able to work in the Netherlands. After registering for the RNI I thought I was good with my administration until my manager, at the hostel I work at two days a week, came to me and informed me I had to get an official address or else they wouldn’t be able to extend my contract. Apparently the RNI registration is only valid for four months. I didn’t know.
For this, I’m super glad I speak Dutch because it took me quite some time studying official websites to figure out what to do. At first I found an administrative construction that enables cross-border workers of the BeNeLux to be registered in one country and work in the other. Due to this lead, I didn’t look further and thought once again everything was fine. A month later I got an email from the HR department from the hostel: this construction was only for people that really lived in a city situated next to a border, so surely not for me.
Informing with other people on what they did, I found out that I could register at a briefadres. This is an address of a friend or family member that lives in the Netherlands and is willing to collect your mail. This registration can only be done by the main tenant and just two people can be registered at one briefadres.
It was time to start looking for this type of address. I knew housing is a big problem in Amsterdam, but I didn’t know a lot of my friends were also not able to register at their place, even if they rented an apartment or room. This situation was created by the housing shortage in Amsterdam and the need to register to be able to work in the Netherlands. An owner of a house would let out an apartment without giving the tenant the possibility to register at that address, this way the owner could register himself or other people there and together with the rent also get money for providing someone a registration.

After one month of looking for a possible briefadres I got really desperate, since my work contract was expiring so I made an appointment at the city hall and went there instead of calling them all the time and spending fortunes on callcredit. At the city hall I got the best service ever, I apparently charmed one of the employees there with my Flemish accent, explained my whole situation and he put a lot of effort to find a way to register: at my job.
This is a service they provide for expats living in hotels. I just needed proof of extension of my contract and a permission from my job, which I both got. Just 5 days before my contract expired, on my birthday January 25th, I was able to register for one year at a briefadres!

So far for the registration, but my administrative struggle wasn’t over. Basically everything you have to apply for in the Netherlands is really a hustle when you don’t have a physical mailbox. When you work for a Dutch company you are also obliged to have a health insurance. I already have one in Belgium which has much much better conditions than what Dutch health insurance companies have to offer, but I had no choice. I had to apply. They send you the insurance card by mail. You can apply for zorgtoeslag (a compensation for health insurance) online, only not when you have a briefadres, then they have to mail you papers and you have to post them back. For a DigID (login system for government websites) you need a mailbox. I can go on and on and on. Basically what I suggest you to do if you want to live off-the-grid in the Netherlands and come from another country: rent a room for some months first and fix your administration before starting to live on a boat, in a yurt, or on a trailer.

Hackers & Designers Research

2017-03-09T01:57:14Z

Vicky: /* H&D articles */

By developing an elaborate hands-on program guided by the theme “Get Prepped. Investigating means of going on and off the grid” H&D developed a means to reflect on and question our daily work and living environments specifically focussing on dependence of systems, grids, and networks. H&D invited Vicky de Visser to write a series of articles that provide a context to ongoing H&D activities.
Do not hesitate to contact us to share your thoughts, questions or ideas for contributions: info@hackersanddesigners.nl.

== H&D articles ==

'''2017: Get prepped! Investigating means of going on and off the grid'''
*[[Grids:Remote support infrastructures|Grids: Remote support infrastructures]]
*[[Offshore:Admin Hacks|Offshore: Admin Hacks]]

Hackers & Designers Research

2017-03-09T01:56:50Z

Vicky: /* H&D articles */

Grids:Remote support infrastructures

2017-02-13T21:25:52Z

Vicky: /* The importance of going on and off the grid */

==Approaching Grids==
The process of going ‘on and off-the grid’ is a crucial societal topic and ongoing discussion at stake in both design/art and developer practices. To be able to reflect on the roles, meanings and impacts of different grids we are relying on as hackers and designers, this first article will explore the nature of grids, what they are, what they can be, where they come from, and what their impact is on our work- and personal environments.
Serving as a broad examination of how ‘a grid’ can affect our interactions this submersion into the world of grids will be followed by further writings that highlight more specific examples and cases, and by doing so hopefully creating a curious and experimental path towards an alternative or new grid.

When looking up ‘grids’ in the Cambridge Dictionary [1] we find that a grid is “a pattern or structure made from horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other to form squares.” Since going off-grid for sure does not mean stepping out of a graphical structure, a more clear explanation for the grids we can go on or off can be found in anthropologic studies and literature about cultural motives and infrastructures.

In her book “Gender” [2] sociologist Lisa Wade describes these grids as “persistent patterns of social interaction aimed at meeting the needs of a society that can’t easily be met by individuals alone”. Grid systems are there to provide a structure or connection between several people and enable a more efficient execution of goals, than we as individuals are capable of if we would try to reach the same goals alone.
Sociologists also tend to call these grids institutions and distinguish five main grids in our society: education, family, religion, polity, and economy. The problem with these big institutions is that once they are established, it is almost impossible for an individual to step out of them and they are not always set up with the goal of meeting the needs individual members of a society.

A more accurate description of what grids can be is formulated by Shaun Hargreaves Heap and Angus Ross in “Understanding the enterprise culture” [3]: [A grid is] “The set of rules which govern individuals in their personal interactions. Strong or “high” grid means strongly defined roles, which provide a script for individual interaction.”
While Lisa Wade assumes that grids always have a serving position in society, the previous definition is neutral in its judgement on whether the intention or impact of those grids are designed or put into place to serve society or a certain social group.

While studying the nature of grids it seems rather impossible to disconnect them from their relation with the participants. Without participants, there is no grid. A grid cannot exist without its initiators, actors, and participants. The relation between participants and grids is described as the grid/group theory by several anthropologists.

==The Grid/Group theory==
The Grid/Group theory was developed by anthropologists Mary Douglas, Michael Thompson and Steve Rayner.[4] The intention of the theory was to show how rituals and traditions are relevant to modern society. Douglas, Thompson and Rayner describe the group as “the extent to which an individual’s interactions are confined within a specific group of people who form a sub-group within the larger community.” There would be four different social models defined by their group/grid balance. These models are: hierarchism, egalitarianism, individualism and fatalism. The hierarchists, who have a high grid and high group balance, show respect for authority and are conformative to the dominant norms in a society. Egalitarians who have a low grid, high group balance, tend to identify with the group holding outsiders responsible for risk. Individualists with low grid, low group balance act independent and are entrepreneurial, avoiding and anticipating to risks by themselves. They are willing to take risks and recognise personal benefit in these actions. The last group, a group with a high grid and low group structure are called fatalists. This group’s approach to risk is not seen as a collective problem that has to be solved but a personal trust in fate or luck. [5]

Thus the grids I would like to discuss here are remote support infrastructures with an anticipated goal initiated by the developer or are based on the need of the participator. The grid’s effectiveness and impact is strongly connected to the position and relation it has with the participating individuals, and therefore can not be neutral.

==On the grid==
So what does it mean to be on a grid as an individual, being part of different groups and subgroups? What are different ways to be on a grid, or to be using the facilities of an infrastructure?

As an individual–being put on certain coordinates when born into this world, placed in a predefined context and time, we are certainly bound to participate in the grids that are designed for us. This may be through the laws of the country you live in, the laws of nature, or even the structure of your own body. Those grids have clear limits, do’s and don’ts. If you don’t participate they can have an extensive impact on yourself as an individual. As we grow up we get a slow but steady introduction into already established grids. It goes from how to eat, walk, talk, draw, to what study to chose, how to approach work, and so on. These grids imposed upon us by external factors come with differences in, for instance strength of their force and extend of the impact on an individual or group when they opt out. Choosing to not obey governmental law will probably have a big impact on someone’s individual freedom, as to not participating in certain technological progress will cut into the freedom to socially interact but might have a rather small impact due to smaller influence of that grid on one’s personal life.
Individuals might choose to hop on a specific grid-train because they strongly believe in the benefits of participating in that specific grid. These benefits can be personal, but can also have a positive impact on one’s surroundings.

==Off the grid==
Although grids can imply a lot of benefits for a participant like providing health care, ensuring safety and enabling efficient transportation, the same grids can also imply negative outcomes. Deciding to go off the grid will enable an individual to function without the use of that particular remote support system. Going off-the-grid by choice is often the result of a conscious and extensive process of comparing the pro’s and con’s of this action. It can be in favor of this person’s or group’s privacy, independence, economic situation, environmental impact or ideology.
Although going off-the-grid can have big benefits it is not always easy to do so as Denney describes: “Where a group is strong there is a clear boundary between members and non-members, and though it may be possible for an individual to leave the group, that will have high costs in that membership if the group confers many benefits. As a result, members of the group are able to exert considerable pressure on the individual to conform to its requirements.” [5]

Although there is the possibility to go off-grid by choice, it can also be forced upon a person. It can be due to an inability to participate, for example, because of remoteness, unavailability of facilities, or an absence of resources.
Choosing individually or collectively to go off-grid can not only have big impact on your personal environment but also on the external world. It can evoke change or undermine established grids and structures, since a grid needs its participants to enable its existence.

==The importance of going on and off the grid==
As hackers, designers, artists and net-workers, there are several grids that are almost inseparably connected to our professional and social environments. These grids seem to occur in four main categories: our way of communicating with each other, the valuation of our work, the facilities we use, and our own practice. While considering means to challenge new as well asand established grids that fabricate our environment questions emerge such as: What are the conflicts we encounter while participating in different grids? What kind of demands arise when we choose to go off the grid? What is the influence of established grids on us? How can we initiate processes that enable change in existing grids? How can we experiment and imagine a sustainable work method and environment that allows us to develop new technologies? How can we think about consequences of projects, research, and interventions we undertake? How can we embrace our interests in technology and experiment without turning our surroundings into [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo Grey Goo]? Can we use existing grids to find new working methods with different impacts?

As we observe a rise of conflicts in our environments in the fields of privacy, efficiency, monetary value system, time investment, resources, accommodation, transport, ecology, morals and methods, we are proposing to re-evaluate the grids we became accustomed to and take action to prepare ourselves and be ready to take position. Shall we participate or leave familiar grids and start a quest to look for alternative options and create new grids and solutions within our environment?

Written by Vicky De Visser, edited by Anja Groten.
Published on February 13th, 2017.

==References==
[1] Oxford dictionary, “grid”. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/grid, accesed on 13-2-2017.

[2] Wade, L., Ferree, M. M. Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions. New York: Norton Independant publishers, 2014.

[3] Shaun Hargreaves Heap, S. ed, Ross, A. ed. Understanding the enterprise culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992

[4] Verweij, M., Luan, S., Nowacki, M. PS: Political Science and Politics: How to Test Cultural Theory: Suggestions for future research. Vol. 44, No., pp. 745-748. Published by: American Political Science Association, October 2011.

Douglas, M., Cultural Bias, London: Royal Anthropological Institute, 1978.

Thompson, M., Ellis, R., and Wildavsky, A., Cultural Theory. Colorado: Westview Press, 1990.

Wildavsky, A. Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A cultural theory of preference formation. American Political Science Review 81: 1. 3-21, 1987.

[5] Denney, D. Risk and Society. London: Sage publishers, 2005.

Grids:Remote support infrastructures

2017-02-13T21:24:49Z

Vicky: /* The importance of going on and off the grid */

==Approaching Grids==
The process of going ‘on and off-the grid’ is a crucial societal topic and ongoing discussion at stake in both design/art and developer practices. To be able to reflect on the roles, meanings and impacts of different grids we are relying on as hackers and designers, this first article will explore the nature of grids, what they are, what they can be, where they come from, and what their impact is on our work- and personal environments.
Serving as a broad examination of how ‘a grid’ can affect our interactions this submersion into the world of grids will be followed by further writings that highlight more specific examples and cases, and by doing so hopefully creating a curious and experimental path towards an alternative or new grid.

When looking up ‘grids’ in the Cambridge Dictionary [1] we find that a grid is “a pattern or structure made from horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other to form squares.” Since going off-grid for sure does not mean stepping out of a graphical structure, a more clear explanation for the grids we can go on or off can be found in anthropologic studies and literature about cultural motives and infrastructures.

In her book “Gender” [2] sociologist Lisa Wade describes these grids as “persistent patterns of social interaction aimed at meeting the needs of a society that can’t easily be met by individuals alone”. Grid systems are there to provide a structure or connection between several people and enable a more efficient execution of goals, than we as individuals are capable of if we would try to reach the same goals alone.
Sociologists also tend to call these grids institutions and distinguish five main grids in our society: education, family, religion, polity, and economy. The problem with these big institutions is that once they are established, it is almost impossible for an individual to step out of them and they are not always set up with the goal of meeting the needs individual members of a society.

A more accurate description of what grids can be is formulated by Shaun Hargreaves Heap and Angus Ross in “Understanding the enterprise culture” [3]: [A grid is] “The set of rules which govern individuals in their personal interactions. Strong or “high” grid means strongly defined roles, which provide a script for individual interaction.”
While Lisa Wade assumes that grids always have a serving position in society, the previous definition is neutral in its judgement on whether the intention or impact of those grids are designed or put into place to serve society or a certain social group.

While studying the nature of grids it seems rather impossible to disconnect them from their relation with the participants. Without participants, there is no grid. A grid cannot exist without its initiators, actors, and participants. The relation between participants and grids is described as the grid/group theory by several anthropologists.

==The Grid/Group theory==
The Grid/Group theory was developed by anthropologists Mary Douglas, Michael Thompson and Steve Rayner.[4] The intention of the theory was to show how rituals and traditions are relevant to modern society. Douglas, Thompson and Rayner describe the group as “the extent to which an individual’s interactions are confined within a specific group of people who form a sub-group within the larger community.” There would be four different social models defined by their group/grid balance. These models are: hierarchism, egalitarianism, individualism and fatalism. The hierarchists, who have a high grid and high group balance, show respect for authority and are conformative to the dominant norms in a society. Egalitarians who have a low grid, high group balance, tend to identify with the group holding outsiders responsible for risk. Individualists with low grid, low group balance act independent and are entrepreneurial, avoiding and anticipating to risks by themselves. They are willing to take risks and recognise personal benefit in these actions. The last group, a group with a high grid and low group structure are called fatalists. This group’s approach to risk is not seen as a collective problem that has to be solved but a personal trust in fate or luck. [5]

Thus the grids I would like to discuss here are remote support infrastructures with an anticipated goal initiated by the developer or are based on the need of the participator. The grid’s effectiveness and impact is strongly connected to the position and relation it has with the participating individuals, and therefore can not be neutral.

==On the grid==
So what does it mean to be on a grid as an individual, being part of different groups and subgroups? What are different ways to be on a grid, or to be using the facilities of an infrastructure?

As an individual–being put on certain coordinates when born into this world, placed in a predefined context and time, we are certainly bound to participate in the grids that are designed for us. This may be through the laws of the country you live in, the laws of nature, or even the structure of your own body. Those grids have clear limits, do’s and don’ts. If you don’t participate they can have an extensive impact on yourself as an individual. As we grow up we get a slow but steady introduction into already established grids. It goes from how to eat, walk, talk, draw, to what study to chose, how to approach work, and so on. These grids imposed upon us by external factors come with differences in, for instance strength of their force and extend of the impact on an individual or group when they opt out. Choosing to not obey governmental law will probably have a big impact on someone’s individual freedom, as to not participating in certain technological progress will cut into the freedom to socially interact but might have a rather small impact due to smaller influence of that grid on one’s personal life.
Individuals might choose to hop on a specific grid-train because they strongly believe in the benefits of participating in that specific grid. These benefits can be personal, but can also have a positive impact on one’s surroundings.

==Off the grid==
Although grids can imply a lot of benefits for a participant like providing health care, ensuring safety and enabling efficient transportation, the same grids can also imply negative outcomes. Deciding to go off the grid will enable an individual to function without the use of that particular remote support system. Going off-the-grid by choice is often the result of a conscious and extensive process of comparing the pro’s and con’s of this action. It can be in favor of this person’s or group’s privacy, independence, economic situation, environmental impact or ideology.
Although going off-the-grid can have big benefits it is not always easy to do so as Denney describes: “Where a group is strong there is a clear boundary between members and non-members, and though it may be possible for an individual to leave the group, that will have high costs in that membership if the group confers many benefits. As a result, members of the group are able to exert considerable pressure on the individual to conform to its requirements.” [5]

Although there is the possibility to go off-grid by choice, it can also be forced upon a person. It can be due to an inability to participate, for example, because of remoteness, unavailability of facilities, or an absence of resources.
Choosing individually or collectively to go off-grid can not only have big impact on your personal environment but also on the external world. It can evoke change or undermine established grids and structures, since a grid needs its participants to enable its existence.

==The importance of going on and off the grid==
As hackers, designers, artists and net-workers, there are several grids that are almost inseparably connected to our professional and social environments. These grids seem to occur in four main categories: our way of communicating with each other, the valuation of our work, the facilities we use, and our own practice. While considering means to challenge new as well asand established grids that fabricate our environment questions emerge such as: What are the conflicts we encounter while participating in different grids? What kind of demands arise when we choose to go off the grid? What is the influence of established grids on us? How can we initiate processes that enable change in existing grids? How can we experiment and imagine a sustainable work method and environment that allows us to develop new technologies? How can we think about consequences of projects, research, and interventions we undertake? How can we embrace our interests in technology and experiment without turning our surroundings into [Grey Goo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo]? Can we use existing grids to find new working methods with different impacts?

As we observe a rise of conflicts in our environments in the fields of privacy, efficiency, monetary value system, time investment, resources, accommodation, transport, ecology, morals and methods, we are proposing to re-evaluate the grids we became accustomed to and take action to prepare ourselves and be ready to take position. Shall we participate or leave familiar grids and start a quest to look for alternative options and create new grids and solutions within our environment?

Written by Vicky De Visser, edited by Anja Groten.
Published on February 13th, 2017.

==References==
[1] Oxford dictionary, “grid”. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/grid, accesed on 13-2-2017.

[2] Wade, L., Ferree, M. M. Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions. New York: Norton Independant publishers, 2014.

[3] Shaun Hargreaves Heap, S. ed, Ross, A. ed. Understanding the enterprise culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992

[4] Verweij, M., Luan, S., Nowacki, M. PS: Political Science and Politics: How to Test Cultural Theory: Suggestions for future research. Vol. 44, No., pp. 745-748. Published by: American Political Science Association, October 2011.

Douglas, M., Cultural Bias, London: Royal Anthropological Institute, 1978.

Thompson, M., Ellis, R., and Wildavsky, A., Cultural Theory. Colorado: Westview Press, 1990.

Wildavsky, A. Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A cultural theory of preference formation. American Political Science Review 81: 1. 3-21, 1987.

[5] Denney, D. Risk and Society. London: Sage publishers, 2005.

Grids:Remote support infrastructures

2017-02-13T21:23:19Z

Vicky:

==Approaching Grids==
The process of going ‘on and off-the grid’ is a crucial societal topic and ongoing discussion at stake in both design/art and developer practices. To be able to reflect on the roles, meanings and impacts of different grids we are relying on as hackers and designers, this first article will explore the nature of grids, what they are, what they can be, where they come from, and what their impact is on our work- and personal environments.
Serving as a broad examination of how ‘a grid’ can affect our interactions this submersion into the world of grids will be followed by further writings that highlight more specific examples and cases, and by doing so hopefully creating a curious and experimental path towards an alternative or new grid.

When looking up ‘grids’ in the Cambridge Dictionary [1] we find that a grid is “a pattern or structure made from horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other to form squares.” Since going off-grid for sure does not mean stepping out of a graphical structure, a more clear explanation for the grids we can go on or off can be found in anthropologic studies and literature about cultural motives and infrastructures.

In her book “Gender” [2] sociologist Lisa Wade describes these grids as “persistent patterns of social interaction aimed at meeting the needs of a society that can’t easily be met by individuals alone”. Grid systems are there to provide a structure or connection between several people and enable a more efficient execution of goals, than we as individuals are capable of if we would try to reach the same goals alone.
Sociologists also tend to call these grids institutions and distinguish five main grids in our society: education, family, religion, polity, and economy. The problem with these big institutions is that once they are established, it is almost impossible for an individual to step out of them and they are not always set up with the goal of meeting the needs individual members of a society.

A more accurate description of what grids can be is formulated by Shaun Hargreaves Heap and Angus Ross in “Understanding the enterprise culture” [3]: [A grid is] “The set of rules which govern individuals in their personal interactions. Strong or “high” grid means strongly defined roles, which provide a script for individual interaction.”
While Lisa Wade assumes that grids always have a serving position in society, the previous definition is neutral in its judgement on whether the intention or impact of those grids are designed or put into place to serve society or a certain social group.

While studying the nature of grids it seems rather impossible to disconnect them from their relation with the participants. Without participants, there is no grid. A grid cannot exist without its initiators, actors, and participants. The relation between participants and grids is described as the grid/group theory by several anthropologists.

==The Grid/Group theory==
The Grid/Group theory was developed by anthropologists Mary Douglas, Michael Thompson and Steve Rayner.[4] The intention of the theory was to show how rituals and traditions are relevant to modern society. Douglas, Thompson and Rayner describe the group as “the extent to which an individual’s interactions are confined within a specific group of people who form a sub-group within the larger community.” There would be four different social models defined by their group/grid balance. These models are: hierarchism, egalitarianism, individualism and fatalism. The hierarchists, who have a high grid and high group balance, show respect for authority and are conformative to the dominant norms in a society. Egalitarians who have a low grid, high group balance, tend to identify with the group holding outsiders responsible for risk. Individualists with low grid, low group balance act independent and are entrepreneurial, avoiding and anticipating to risks by themselves. They are willing to take risks and recognise personal benefit in these actions. The last group, a group with a high grid and low group structure are called fatalists. This group’s approach to risk is not seen as a collective problem that has to be solved but a personal trust in fate or luck. [5]

Thus the grids I would like to discuss here are remote support infrastructures with an anticipated goal initiated by the developer or are based on the need of the participator. The grid’s effectiveness and impact is strongly connected to the position and relation it has with the participating individuals, and therefore can not be neutral.

==On the grid==
So what does it mean to be on a grid as an individual, being part of different groups and subgroups? What are different ways to be on a grid, or to be using the facilities of an infrastructure?

As an individual–being put on certain coordinates when born into this world, placed in a predefined context and time, we are certainly bound to participate in the grids that are designed for us. This may be through the laws of the country you live in, the laws of nature, or even the structure of your own body. Those grids have clear limits, do’s and don’ts. If you don’t participate they can have an extensive impact on yourself as an individual. As we grow up we get a slow but steady introduction into already established grids. It goes from how to eat, walk, talk, draw, to what study to chose, how to approach work, and so on. These grids imposed upon us by external factors come with differences in, for instance strength of their force and extend of the impact on an individual or group when they opt out. Choosing to not obey governmental law will probably have a big impact on someone’s individual freedom, as to not participating in certain technological progress will cut into the freedom to socially interact but might have a rather small impact due to smaller influence of that grid on one’s personal life.
Individuals might choose to hop on a specific grid-train because they strongly believe in the benefits of participating in that specific grid. These benefits can be personal, but can also have a positive impact on one’s surroundings.

==Off the grid==
Although grids can imply a lot of benefits for a participant like providing health care, ensuring safety and enabling efficient transportation, the same grids can also imply negative outcomes. Deciding to go off the grid will enable an individual to function without the use of that particular remote support system. Going off-the-grid by choice is often the result of a conscious and extensive process of comparing the pro’s and con’s of this action. It can be in favor of this person’s or group’s privacy, independence, economic situation, environmental impact or ideology.
Although going off-the-grid can have big benefits it is not always easy to do so as Denney describes: “Where a group is strong there is a clear boundary between members and non-members, and though it may be possible for an individual to leave the group, that will have high costs in that membership if the group confers many benefits. As a result, members of the group are able to exert considerable pressure on the individual to conform to its requirements.” [5]

Although there is the possibility to go off-grid by choice, it can also be forced upon a person. It can be due to an inability to participate, for example, because of remoteness, unavailability of facilities, or an absence of resources.
Choosing individually or collectively to go off-grid can not only have big impact on your personal environment but also on the external world. It can evoke change or undermine established grids and structures, since a grid needs its participants to enable its existence.

==The importance of going on and off the grid==
As hackers, designers, artists and net-workers, there are several grids that are almost inseparably connected to our professional and social environments. These grids seem to occur in four main categories: our way of communicating with each other, the valuation of our work, the facilities we use, and our own practice. While considering means to challenge new as well asand established grids that fabricate our environment questions emerge such as: What are the conflicts we encounter while participating in different grids? What kind of demands arise when we choose to go off the grid? What is the influence of established grids on us? How can we initiate processes that enable change in existing grids? How can we experiment and imagine a sustainable work method and environment that allows us to develop new technologies? How can we think about consequences of projects, research, and interventions we undertake? How can we embrace our interests in technology and experiment without turning our surroundings into Grey Goo? Can we use existing grids to find new working methods with different impacts?

As we observe a rise of conflicts in our environments in the fields of privacy, efficiency, monetary value system, time investment, resources, accommodation, transport, ecology, morals and methods, we are proposing to re-evaluate the grids we became accustomed to and take action to prepare ourselves and be ready to take position. Shall we participate or leave familiar grids and start a quest to look for alternative options and create new grids and solutions within our environment?

Written by Vicky De Visser, edited by Anja Groten.
Published on February 13th, 2017.

==References==
[1] Oxford dictionary, “grid”. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/grid, accesed on 13-2-2017.

[2] Wade, L., Ferree, M. M. Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions. New York: Norton Independant publishers, 2014.

[3] Shaun Hargreaves Heap, S. ed, Ross, A. ed. Understanding the enterprise culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992

[4] Verweij, M., Luan, S., Nowacki, M. PS: Political Science and Politics: How to Test Cultural Theory: Suggestions for future research. Vol. 44, No., pp. 745-748. Published by: American Political Science Association, October 2011.

Douglas, M., Cultural Bias, London: Royal Anthropological Institute, 1978.

Thompson, M., Ellis, R., and Wildavsky, A., Cultural Theory. Colorado: Westview Press, 1990.

Wildavsky, A. Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A cultural theory of preference formation. American Political Science Review 81: 1. 3-21, 1987.

[5] Denney, D. Risk and Society. London: Sage publishers, 2005.

Grids:Remote support infrastructures

2017-02-13T21:20:59Z

Vicky:

==Approaching Grids==
The process of going ‘on and off-the grid’ is a crucial societal topic and ongoing discussion at stake in both design/art and developer practices. To be able to reflect on the roles, meanings and impacts of different grids we are relying on as hackers and designers, this first article will explore the nature of grids, what they are, what they can be, where they come from, and what their impact is on our work- and personal environments.
Serving as a broad examination of how ‘a grid’ can affect our interactions this submersion into the world of grids will be followed by further writings that highlight more specific examples and cases, and by doing so hopefully creating a curious and experimental path towards an alternative or new grid.

When looking up ‘grids’ in the Cambridge Dictionary [1] we find that a grid is “a pattern or structure made from horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other to form squares.” Since going off-grid for sure does not mean stepping out of a graphical structure, a more clear explanation for the grids we can go on or off can be found in anthropologic studies and literature about cultural motives and infrastructures.

In her book “Gender” [2] sociologist Lisa Wade describes these grids as “persistent patterns of social interaction aimed at meeting the needs of a society that can’t easily be met by individuals alone”. Grid systems are there to provide a structure or connection between several people and enable a more efficient execution of goals, than we as individuals are capable of if we would try to reach the same goals alone.
Sociologists also tend to call these grids institutions and distinguish five main grids in our society: education, family, religion, polity, and economy. The problem with these big institutions is that once they are established, it is almost impossible for an individual to step out of them and they are not always set up with the goal of meeting the needs individual members of a society.

A more accurate description of what grids can be is formulated by Shaun Hargreaves Heap and Angus Ross in “Understanding the enterprise culture” [3]: [A grid is] “The set of rules which govern individuals in their personal interactions. Strong or “high” grid means strongly defined roles, which provide a script for individual interaction.”
While Lisa Wade assumes that grids always have a serving position in society, the previous definition is neutral in its judgement on whether the intention or impact of those grids are designed or put into place to serve society or a certain social group.

While studying the nature of grids it seems rather impossible to disconnect them from their relation with the participants. Without participants, there is no grid. A grid cannot exist without its initiators, actors, and participants. The relation between participants and grids is described as the grid/group theory by several anthropologists.

==The Grid/Group theory==
The Grid/Group theory was developed by anthropologists Mary Douglas, Michael Thompson and Steve Rayner.[4] The intention of the theory was to show how rituals and traditions are relevant to modern society. Douglas, Thompson and Rayner describe the group as “the extent to which an individual’s interactions are confined within a specific group of people who form a sub-group within the larger community.” There would be four different social models defined by their group/grid balance. These models are: hierarchism, egalitarianism, individualism and fatalism. The hierarchists, who have a high grid and high group balance, show respect for authority and are conformative to the dominant norms in a society. Egalitarians who have a low grid, high group balance, tend to identify with the group holding outsiders responsible for risk. Individualists with low grid, low group balance act independent and are entrepreneurial, avoiding and anticipating to risks by themselves. They are willing to take risks and recognise personal benefit in these actions. The last group, a group with a high grid and low group structure are called fatalists. This group’s approach to risk is not seen as a collective problem that has to be solved but a personal trust in fate or luck. [5]

Thus the grids I would like to discuss here are remote support infrastructures with an anticipated goal initiated by the developer or are based on the need of the participator. The grid’s effectiveness and impact is strongly connected to the position and relation it has with the participating individuals, and therefore can not be neutral.

==On the grid==
So what does it mean to be on a grid as an individual, being part of different groups and subgroups? What are different ways to be on a grid, or to be using the facilities of an infrastructure?

As an individual–being put on certain coordinates when born into this world, placed in a predefined context and time, we are certainly bound to participate in the grids that are designed for us. This may be through the laws of the country you live in, the laws of nature, or even the structure of your own body. Those grids have clear limits, do’s and don’ts. If you don’t participate they can have an extensive impact on yourself as an individual. As we grow up we get a slow but steady introduction into already established grids. It goes from how to eat, walk, talk, draw, to what study to chose, how to approach work, and so on. These grids imposed upon us by external factors come with differences in, for instance strength of their force and extend of the impact on an individual or group when they opt out. Choosing to not obey governmental law will probably have a big impact on someone’s individual freedom, as to not participating in certain technological progress will cut into the freedom to socially interact but might have a rather small impact due to smaller influence of that grid on one’s personal life.
Individuals might choose to hop on a specific grid-train because they strongly believe in the benefits of participating in that specific grid. These benefits can be personal, but can also have a positive impact on one’s surroundings.

==Off the grid==
Although grids can imply a lot of benefits for a participant like providing health care, ensuring safety and enabling efficient transportation, the same grids can also imply negative outcomes. Deciding to go off the grid will enable an individual to function without the use of that particular remote support system. Going off-the-grid by choice is often the result of a conscious and extensive process of comparing the pro’s and con’s of this action. It can be in favor of this person’s or group’s privacy, independence, economic situation, environmental impact or ideology.
Although going off-the-grid can have big benefits it is not always easy to do so as Denney describes: “Where a group is strong there is a clear boundary between members and non-members, and though it may be possible for an individual to leave the group, that will have high costs in that membership if the group confers many benefits. As a result, members of the group are able to exert considerable pressure on the individual to conform to its requirements.” [5]

Although there is the possibility to go off-grid by choice, it can also be forced upon a person. It can be due to an inability to participate, for example, because of remoteness, unavailability of facilities, or an absence of resources.
Choosing individually or collectively to go off-grid can not only have big impact on your personal environment but also on the external world. It can evoke change or undermine established grids and structures, since a grid needs its participants to enable its existence.

==The importance of going on and off the grid==
As hackers, designers, artists and net-workers, there are several grids that are almost inseparably connected to our professional and social environments. These grids seem to occur in four main categories: our way of communicating with each other, the valuation of our work, the facilities we use, and our own practice. While considering means to challenge new as well asand established grids that fabricate our environment questions emerge such as: What are the conflicts we encounter while participating in different grids? What kind of demands arise when we choose to go off the grid? What is the influence of established grids on us? How can we initiate processes that enable change in existing grids? How can we experiment and imagine a sustainable work method and environment that allows us to develop new technologies? How can we think about consequences of projects, research, and interventions we undertake? How can we embrace our interests in technology and experiment without turning our surroundings into Grey Goo? Can we use existing grids to find new working methods with different impacts?

As we observe a rise of conflicts in our environments in the fields of privacy, efficiency, monetary value system, time investment, resources, accommodation, transport, ecology, morals and methods, we are proposing to re-evaluate the grids we became accustomed to and take action to prepare ourselves and be ready to take position. Shall we participate or leave familiar grids and start a quest to look for alternative options and create new grids and solutions within our environment?

==References==
[1] Oxford dictionary, “grid”. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/grid, accesed on 13-2-2017.

[2] Wade, L., Ferree, M. M. Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions. New York: Norton Independant publishers, 2014.

[3] Shaun Hargreaves Heap, S. ed, Ross, A. ed. Understanding the enterprise culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992

[4] Verweij, M., Luan, S., Nowacki, M. PS: Political Science and Politics: How to Test Cultural Theory: Suggestions for future research. Vol. 44, No., pp. 745-748. Published by: American Political Science Association, October 2011.

Douglas, M., Cultural Bias, London: Royal Anthropological Institute, 1978.

Thompson, M., Ellis, R., and Wildavsky, A., Cultural Theory. Colorado: Westview Press, 1990.

Wildavsky, A. Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A cultural theory of preference formation. American Political Science Review 81: 1. 3-21, 1987.

[5] Denney, D. Risk and Society. London: Sage publishers, 2005.

2017-02-13T15:49:52Z

Vicky:

In 2017 Hackers&Designers will focus on the thematic thread and the process of going ‘off-the grid’, – a crucial societal topic and ongoing discussion at stake in both design/art and developer practices.
To be able to reflect on the roles, meanings and impacts of the different grids we are navigating on as hackers and designers, this first article will give an overview of the nature of different grids, what they are, what they can be, where they come from, and what their impact is on our work- and personal environments.
This introductory article will be a very broad examination of what ‘a grid’ can mean to our social interactions. After this submersion into the world of grids, the following articles will have a case based way to approach the ‘wild’ grid with experimental curiosity and will be based on the outlines of this introduction.

When looking up ‘grids’ in the Cambridge Dictionary [1] we find that a grid is ‘a pattern or structure made from horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other to form squares.’ Since going off-grid for sure doesn’t mean stepping out of a graphical structure, a more clear explanation for the grids we can go on or off can be found in anthropologic studies and literature about cultural motives and infrastructures.

Sociologist Lisa Wade describes these grids in her book “Gender” [2] as “persistent patterns of social interaction aimed at meeting the needs of a society that can’t easily be met by individuals alone”. Grid systems are there to provide a structure or connection between several people to be able to do things more efficiently, than we would be able when we would handle them alone.
Sociologists also tend to call these grids institutions and distinguish five main grids in our society: education, family, religion, polity, and economy. The problem with these big institutions is that once they are established, it’s almost impossible for an individual to step out from them and they are not always set up with the goal of meeting the needs of a society.

A more accurate description of what grids can be was formulated by Shaun Hargreaves Heap and Angus Ross in “Understanding the enterprise culture” [3]: [A grid is]‘The set of rules which govern individuals in their personal interactions. Strong or “high” grid means strongly defined roles which provide a script for individual interaction.’
While Lisa Wade assumes that grids always have a serving position for society, the previous definition is neutral in its judgement on whether the intention or impact of those grids are designed or put into place to serve society, or at least a certain social group.

While studying the nature of grids there is a strong impossibility to disconnect them from their relation with the participants. Without participants, there is no grid. A grid cannot exist without its initiators, actors, and participants. This relation between participants and grids is described as the grid/group theory by several anthropologists.

==The Grid/group theory==
The Grid/Group theory was developed by anthropologists Mary Douglas, Michael Thompson and Steve Rayner.[4] One reason it was designed was to show how rituals and traditions were relevant to modern society. Douglas, Thompson and Rayner describe the group as “the extent to which an individual’s interactions are confined within a specific group of people who form a sub-group within the larger community.” According to them there are four different social models defined by their group/grid balance. These models are: hierarchism, egalitarianism, individualism and fatalism. The hierarchists, who have a high grid and high group balance, show respect for authority and are conformative to the dominant norms in a society. Egalitarians who have a low grid, high group balance, tend to identify with the group holding outsiders responsible for risk. Individualists with low grid, low group balance act independent and are entrepreneurial, avoiding and anticipating to risks by themselves. They are willing to take risks and recognise personal benefit in these actions. The last group, a group with a high grid and low group structure are called fatalists. This group’s approach to risk isn’t seen as a collective problem that has to be solved but a personal trust in fate or luck. [5]

To conclude, we can assume that the grids we want to talk about are remote support infrastructures with an anticipated goal initiated by the developer or based on the need of the participator. The grid’s effectiveness and impact is strongly connected to the position and relation it has with the participating individuals, and cannot be politically neutral.

==On the grid==
What does it mean to be on a grid as an individual, part of different groups and subgroups?
What are the different ways to be on a grid, or to be using the facilities of an infrastructure?

As an individual put on a certain coordinates when born into this world, placed in a predefined context and time, we are certainly forced by external structures to participate in the grids they designed for us. This can for example be the laws of a country you live in, the laws of nature, or even the structure of your own body. They have clear limits, do’s and don’ts, and if you don’t participate in them they can sometimes have an extensive impact on yourself as an individual. As we grow up in our environments we get a slow but steady introduction into already established grids. It goes from how to eat, walk, talk, draw, to what study to chose, how to work, and so on. In these grids posed upon us by external factors there is a difference to be found in the strength of their force and the impact on an individual or group when they opt out. Choosing to not obey governmental law will probably have a big impact on your individual freedom, as to not participating in certain technological progress will also cut into your the freedom of your social interactions, but will rather have a smaller impact due to smaller influence of that grid on personal lives.

==Off the grid==
Although grids can imply a lot of benefits for a participant like providing health care, ensuring safety and enabling efficient transportation, the same grids can imply more negative results than benefits for an individual. Deciding to go off the grid will enable an individual to function without the use of that particular remote support system. Going off-the-grid by choice is al lot of times the result of a conscious and extensive process of comparing the pro’s and con’s of this action. It can be in favor of this person’s or group’s privacy, independence, economic situation, environmental impact or ideology. Although there is the possibility to go off-grid by choice it can also be forced upon a person. It can be due to an inability to participate by, for example, remoteness, no available facilities, or an absence of resources.
Choosing collective or individual to go off-grid can not only have big impact on your personal environment but also on the external world. It can evoke change or undermine established grid and structures, since a grid needs its participants to enable its existence.

==Advantages to (prepare to) go on or off grid for H&D==
With H&D we would like to challenge new and established grids that make up our environment. To do that we would like to examine questions as: What are the conflicts we encounter while participating in different grids? What kind of conflicts rise when we choose to go off the grid? How can we initiate processes that enable change in existing grids? How can we experiment and imagine a sustainable work method and environment that allows us to develop new technologies? How can we think about consequences of projects, research, and interventions we undertake? How can we embrace our interests in technology and experiment without turning our surroundings into Grey Goo? Can we use existing grids to find new working methods with different impacts?

As hackers, designers, artists or net-workers, there are a several grids that are almost inseparably connected to our professional and social environments. These grids seem to occur in four main categories: our way of communicating with each other, the valuation of our work, the facilities we use, and our own practice. As we observe a rise of conflicts in our environments in the fields of privacy, efficiency, monetary value system, time investment, resources, accommodation, transport, ecology, morals and methods, we are proposing to re-evaluate the grids we became accustomed to and take action to prepare ourselves and be ready to take position. Shall we participate or leave familiar grids and start a quest to look for alternative options and create new grids and solutions within our environment?

Grids:Remote support infrastructures

2017-02-13T15:21:21Z

Vicky:

2015-11-18T13:10:47Z

Vicky: /* Making the documentation public: publishing */

''Choosing the right technical workflow for your hybrid publication''

'''[[Vicky De Visser]]'''

==Content creation==
Before planning on how to gather the documentation we had to ask ourselves: what is to be documented?

There are three different moment where content can be created and has to be documented:

'''Before the summer academy'''

Although the academy wasn’t started yet, there was already a lot of content that was generated by the organising staff. They did research, choose a subject, plan schedules and dates, get the word out by printed and online media and process motivations of applicants. It can be good to already document this process. By documenting the organisation flow you can create a base or structure for the upcoming summer school program and it is useful for sharing information about the future academy with applicants.

'''During the summer academy'''

During the summer academy different formats of content were provided to the students. Analyse and estimate this before your academy starts. This way you can start looking for a suitable platform where everything can be documented. It wil save you a lot of time after the summer school is finished.
Organising this summer academy was our first time and we had to learn the hard way. It took us quiet some time to set up a good platform after the summer academy was over.

For collaborative note taking we experimented with Pirate Pad and Ether Pad. Both are online text editors where different users can take and edit notes in the same document. We really liked these editors.

Pictures were taken both by the organisation as participants. After the academy we had to email every participant several times to ask them to send their pictures. Using a platform that can be used during the academy can make it easier to upload the photo’s or other content at once.

'''After the summer academy'''

After the academy is finished, you can ask participants and teachers to write a review. This can be helpful feedback if you want to organise an other one the year after.

==Choosing the right back-end to collect the documentation==
To compile all the content we wanted to bundle co-writing, co-editing and content management all on the same platform. We looked for a back-end where we could do some real time documenting on, that was easy accessible, had a good way of ordering information, had a short learning curve for participants and supported several kinds of mediafiles.
The lectures, workshops, screenings, excursions, party and exhibition provided a big variety of media such as videos, sound files, notes, images, and code as well as objects and long texts that wouldn’t be suitable for only an online publication.

For this task we chose to use WikiMedia. It supports the several file formats and is easy editable by different users. It’s easy understandable structure and user guide is beneficial for changing collaborations and teams. This academy we didn’t have the opportunity to test WikiMedia as a back-end and content collector for students to upload their content as a WikiMedia page because we still had to built it. We used it after the academy to gather the information collected by writing emails and uploading code and pictures to a dropbox repository. During this filling of our WikiMedia back-end we encountered several hierarchy and workflow problems.

==Categorisation of the content==

We wanted to sort the documentation to be able to publish a well structured and logic documentation. We sorted the content by categorising the WikiMedia pages. Andre Castro recommended us to use a categorisation system sorted by state, media and topic.

Because not all media such as videos, sound files and links aren’t suitable for print publication we added a media category so we could divide articles in a suitable print version and not suitable print version.

It is important to consider that making a structure can inherit the danger of guiding the contributed content too much. Leave space for adding things that weren’t thought of before.

'''H&D Wiki categories structure:'''

{| class="wikitable" border="0"
|-
|'''State'''
|EditMe

|-
|
|WriteMe

|-
|
|Published

|-
|
|Ready to be published

|-
|'''Media'''
|Print

|-
|
|Web

|-
|'''Topic / Tags'''
|eg Arduino

|-
|
|eg HTML 2 Print

|}

==Co-editing==
After receiving the contributions, the organisation and participants must then select the most viable and implementable ones. The challenge of the selection process is that most submissions are not always useful, have an other hierarchy or are difficult to implement in the publication. Organisations have to deal with the submitted ideas in a very subtle way as throughout the process they don’t want to reject submissions and risk of alienating them which may eventually lead to disengagement.
It’s advised to give the participants a short introduction in how to collect and document the content. This way the organisers can prevent an extensive editing process afterwards.

Wikimedia let’s users adjust articles and write comments on the changes that were made in an article. Participants have the possibility to go back in time and compare older versions of the same article. This way content will not get lost after over-editing an article.

==Making the documentation public: publishing==

After building and filling our back-end documentation platform we had to translate the content to a website and print publication format. For print we looked into two options: creating a publication from the website and creating a publication directly from the WikiMedia page. The process will be discussed here.

===Currently used set-up===
'''Hackers & Designers documentation platform.'''

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
|Back-End
|WikiMedia Page

|-
|Front-End
|Website of Hackers & Designers

|-
|Print publication
|Generated from the wiki
|}

====Workflow====
organisation > preparation > communication > collaborative note taking and input assembly > editing > publication > printing > distribution

====Translation Wiki to website====

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
|Pandoc
|translates wiki-markup to the HTML markup language

|-
|Python Scripts
|Initiates several actions

|-
|Lay-out website
|CSS
|}

====Translation Wiki to print====

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
|Pandoc
|translates wiki markup to LaTeX mark-up

|-
|Python Scripts
|Initiates several actions

|-
|LaTeX
|Lay-outing of content from WikiMedia page and generating PDF
|}

===Publishing web===
Write. James? Lucian?

===Publishing print===
'''1A. Web to print: HTML to Print with CSS and print preview'''
It may seem a bit strange that content not particularly destined for the web should be maintained as HTML and formatted with CSS. HTML becomes a handy format to standardise on, far easier to deal with than having everything in a Word document or a traditional desktop publishing package.
The most exciting reason to use HTML/CSS is the fact that you can go back and forth between code and visual manipulation thanks to the element inspector of browsers. With Javascript on top of it, you can access every object in the DOM and its properties or do programmatic manipulations. This back-and-forth between hand and code manipulations is new to print production.
The second strong reason for this set-up is that because the design is made with code/text, it means you can use collaborative text editors such as Etherpad to design with several people at the same time.
The negative side on using this set-up is that you if you decide to not use a singel page website you’ll have to print each article separate and later bind it into a book.
This way no table of contents will be created or there will be no different layouts created for indexes, special chapters, or glossaries.

Interaction You also have to consider what’s going to happen with image sliders and the like. If your webpage has a slideshow with ten images at the top, that’s not going to translate well to paper. The most basic level of interaction on the web is a link. This too becomes problematic. On your computer, you can simply click a link to see where it goes, on paper this functionality is lost so you need a good way to take all those inline links and show the reader where they lead.
 The Differences Between CSS For The Web And CSS For Print
The biggest difference, and conceptual shift, is that printed documents refer to a page model that is of a fixed size. Whereas on the web we are constantly reminded that we have no idea of the size of the viewport, in print the fixed size of each page has a bearing on everything that we do. Due to this fixed page size, we have to consider our document as a collection of pages, paged media, rather than the continuous media that is a web page.
Paged media introduces concepts that make no sense on the web. For example, you need to be able to generate page numbers, put chapter titles in margins, break content appropriately in order that figures don’t become disassociated from their captions. You might need to create cross-references and footnotes, indexes and tables of content from your document. You could import the document into a desktop publishing package and create all of this by hand, however, the work would then need redoing the next time you update the copy. This is where CSS comes in, whose specifications are designed for use in creating paged media.

'''Print Preview'''
When you want to print your website a print preview window appears. The backend code in the browser process needs to do the heavy lifting to support all the requests coming from the front end.
To start, the browser process needs to get the list of printers and printer options using platform specific APIs. Cloud print already has code to generate html options code from a PPD/XPS, which is useful here. Though to make this work on Windows XP, which does support XPS, the browser also need to be able to query for common options from printers.

The majority of the work in the backend involves restructuring the messy printing pipeline to support preview. The current Linux printing pipeline works differently from Windows and Mac. Once all the platforms are brought in line, the printing pipeline needs to be broken up into two pieces: PDF generation and printing. The current printing pipeline waits for the user to select a printer before generating the print output using platform specific code and sending the output to the printer. The actual printing process uses pipelining: the renderer generates printing metadata one page at a time, so it can generate them while the PrintJobWorker in the browser process sends them to the printer at the same time.

'''1B. Web to print: HTML to Print with CSS and Prince'''
The book These are the basics how a book can be compiled using HTML and CSS. In doing so, we also developed a set of conventions for marking up a book in HTML. HTML has the wonderful class attribute which lets anyone extend the semantics of HTML documents while building on HTML’s universally known semantics. So, in our book, we used a rich set of HTML elements and added a bunch of-class names. This is how we developed a microformat for books.
From CSS and HTML to print with Prince.
Now that the HTML and CSS is ready for the website and the layout for the book is set with CSS, Prince or another API can be used for translating the HTML language to a PDF.

'''API’s'''
Prince
Download the ‘Prince’ application and install it with ‘Terminal’.
The Terminal runs ‘prince’ and translates it to a pdf. Prince is not an open source program but can be used as a trail. This means the front page of the pdf includes a logo of the prince software.

'''2. Wiki to print'''
'''Collection and the Offline Content Generator'''
After doing some research we found out that WikiMedia had already developed an open source plug-in, called Collections created by The Wiki Publisher Project.The extension makes it possible to select pages to create pdf’s or compile books. The user can create different chapters and arrange articles. Then the compiled pages are send to the OCG (Offline Content Generator). The OCG invokes a /Bundler to spider the articles and fetch all images, stylesheets, etc required to render them. One of several /Backends are then invoked to convert the bundle into a PDF, ZIM file, or other appropriate output format. This convertion to a pdf happens on wiki servers. We wanted to use this open source plug-in and adjust the code to fit our needs. (eg layout, page size, content table,…)

For rendering on your own server (not using the wiki content generator) we installed the Offline Content Generator. This way we were able to change the layout of the output files. (pdf’s)
'''
Offline content generator the package:'''
*Service
*Bundler
> This tool grabs all the dependencies for a given set of articles and creates a directory or zip file.
*Latexer

'''Latex'''
LaTex is a high-quality typesetting system; it includes features designed for the production of technical and scientific documentation. LaTeX is available as free language.
• Several extensions are available for LaTex called: ‘packages’ or ‘styles’ (better image placement, implementation of mathematic formula,...)
• Create a text file in LaTex mark-up, which LaTex reads to produce the final document.
• User needs to know the commands for the LaTex mark-up
• LaTex automatically adjusts fonts, text size, line heights or text flow.
• LaTex is not flexible for lay outing, but you’re able to write your own macro’s or download them from others at CTAN
• pdfTex: engine or pdf compiler. This converts the LaTeX mark-up to a pdf.

To be able to use the LaTeX mark-up, you have to install LaTeX distribution and an Editor. We used the TexMaker editor for Mac because this editor enables you to see quick previews of the Pdf file.

'''Bookshelf'''
Previous compiled books are added to the of a registered user on the wiki page. The bookshelves can be used to print previously published editions of a publication.
> good for Hackers and Designers because….. <<>>

'''Pandoc'''
This program converts files from one mark-up language to another. In this case, we used it convert the WikiMedia mark-up to HTML for our website, and to LaTex mark-up for the print publication.

'''Mark-up'''
A mark-up language is a notation used to annotate a document’s content to give information regarding the structure of the text or instructions for how it is to be displayed.

[[Category:DIY Manual]]
[[Category:WriteMe]]
[[Category:Print]]

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T13:06:45Z

Vicky: /* Categorisation of the content */

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T13:06:12Z

Vicky: /* Categorisation of the content */

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T13:05:54Z

Vicky: /* Categorisation of the content */

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T13:03:21Z

Vicky: /* Making the documentation public: publishing */

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T13:02:58Z

Vicky: /* Translation Wiki to print */

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T13:02:44Z

Vicky: /* Translation Wiki to website */

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T13:02:33Z

Vicky: /* Making the documentation public: publishing */

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T13:01:49Z

Vicky: /* Making the documentation public: publishing */

How to document a summer academy

2015-11-18T12:48:51Z

Vicky: /* Categorisation of the content */