Controllers for buildings have existed since 1883, when Warren Johnson, a Milwaukee school teacher invented the thermostat. Back then, it was not just a round device on a wall. Rather, when room temperature fell, a light in the boiler room was turned on, indicating that janitors should shovel more coal into the furnace.
You’ve come a long way, Virgil!
In the 135 years since this invention, building controls have improved, and are extensively used in offices, commercial buildings and factories. Most owners of these buildings have deep pockets, and are able to afford integrated solutions vendors provide.
The pockets of the average Joanne, or median resident as statisticians want to refer to her, are not quite so deep, and this weblog post focuses on room controllers that can be used by an extremely average person.
Domotics, or if you prefer terms that people actually understand, house/ home automation, refers to systems used to control: lighting, temperature and humidity (indoor climate), audio and video (entertainment), unauthorized access, smoke/ fire detection (security) and related services, in a residence.
There are three main reasons why I am interested in this field. First, it is a field that combines my studies in computer science and operations research. Second, I like to play with technological toys. Third, I interact with people who have allergy and other indoor environment issues, and have a need for indoor climate control with very fine tolerances.
A potential fourth reason, is that I know people who are aging, and may in the future need assistive devices, for dispensing medication or spoon feeding. As mentioned in a previous post, I certainly don’t want to be spoon fed by another human being; give me a robot any day. I would rather have human contact with another person as an equal, not as a patient requiring help.
At Cliff Cottage, there are plans to install one room controller in most of the rooms of the house.
Power over Ethernet (PoE)
Factoid 1. All devices need power. Some get it from batteries, others get it from wall sockets. PoE devices get it from Ethernet data communication cables.
Factoid 2. Most devices need to communicate. Some communicate wirelessly using Bluetooth or WiFi. However, the number of such devices is limited, and the speed can be slow. Thus, it can be appropriate to connect devices using cables, and Ethernet cables are the most common ones used today.
Factoid 3. A switch is a device that allows multiple other devices in a local area network to be inter-connected. Yes, these connect using Ethernet cables. A typical switch may have up to 48 different cables connected to 48 separate devices.
Factoid 4. PoE eliminates the need to have two different cables. Each device can is provided with power from the switch itself. Voltage levels can be up to 48 volts, and the same cable can be used to send data in both directions.
At Cliff Cottage, we have now invested in two PoE switches. A person was trying to sell five switches for NOK 1 000 (USD 120), or one for NOK 300 (USD 36). They were very inexpensive because businesses won’t buy used equipment, and most other people don’t know what they can be used for. Each of the PoE switches will allow us to connect up to 24 devices, and provide power to them. A cable is connected between a switch and a device through the walls of the house. So these cables are being installed, as the house is being remodelled. We have 305 meters of CAT 6A cable to make these connections. CAT 6A was selected because it is the fastest cable type currently available for Ethernet, allowing for PoE. That means it won’t have to be replaced anytime soon. Hopefully, the cables will last 30 years.
Other cables are not so important, as they are not placed in walls and can be changed easily. The same is true of devices, such as a NAS (network attached server) or a room controller.
Room Controllers
Room controllers, and similar devices, are one of the main categories of devices that need PoE connections. Take, for example, a front-door access controller. It will typically have an infra-red camera, proximity sensor and infra-red light connected to it, that will be activated as someone approaches. Video of each event will be sent to an external location, that could be located anywhere in the world. A room controller may have proximity sensors as well as others to register temperature, CO2, humidity levels and more. Data gained from these sensors and others throughout a house, can be used to activate lights, or heating, display time, temperature and other data on a touch screen. It can even listen and answer using a microphone and speaker.
Controllers need to be placed in the following locations: 1) access control at entrance doors; 2) living room control; 3) dining area control; 4) kitchen control; 5) bedroom control; 6) study, studio and workshop control. Some people may want to have controllers in 7) bathrooms and/or laundry rooms, while others may want to avoid this. In addition, there will be 8) PoE access points for WiFi.
A second switch, without PoE, can be used for other devices dependent on higher power levels. These include: 1) a home theatre connections; 2) a printer and/ or scanner; 3) clothes washer and/ or dryer; 4) dishwasher; 5) refrigerator and/ or freezer; 6) stove top and/ or oven; 7) microwave oven; 8) kettle; 9) hot water tank; 10) heat exchanger; 11) heat pump or solar thermal controller; 12) greenhouse controller.
The preferred solution uses a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+. Unlike more conventional Raspberry Pis, the CM is totally flat, but uses the bottom edge for connection. There are five versions of compute modules available with 0 (Lite), 4, 8, 16 or 32 GB of eMMC memory provided. A Compute Module Development Kit is made for developing industrial applications with these and other CM boards. The purpose of a development kit is to provide hardware that allow the use of CM boards in custom systems that avoid unnecessary components.
The Compute Module IO (CMIO) board, is a simple, open-source breakout board into which one can plug a Compute Module. The board hosts 120 GPIO pins, an HDMI port, a USB port, two camera ports, and two display ports.
A Compute Module on a Compute Module Input-Output Board used for development purposes (Photo: Raspberry Pi Foundation)
Not everyone will have the possibility to retrofit their dwellings with Ethernet cable, so one will always have to provide a backstop room controller. In terms of current technology this could be based on a Raspberry Pi Model B 3+, with a Pimoroni Automation HAT for Raspberry Pi. See: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3289
A Pimoroni Automation HAR on top of a Raspberry Pi Model B (Photo: Piomoroni)
Each of the room controllers would have a 7″ touch screen. This is a standard RPi product category, so there is no problem finding these in Norway.
The Invisible
What I can’t show in this weblog post are the plastic fittings, and the printed circuit board populated with electronic components, that I intend to use with this room controller. The reason for this is that they have not yet been designed.
I am waiting to design them until a 3D printer and a PCB printer arrive at the local makerspace. This could be a matter of weeks away. The proposed printer is a Ultimaker 3.
Ultimaker 3 with dual extruders, allowing for 2 materials to be used in the same product (Photo: Utimaker)
While there are many different systems that can be used to make printed circuit boards, the additive process provided in a Voltera V-one has many advantages. Its one drawback is initial cost.
Voltera V-one, a complete tool for the manufacture of printed circuit boards (Photo: Voltera)
Lotta Hitschmanova, CC (1909-11-28 – 1990-08-01) was a Canadian humanitarian. In 1945, she founded the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada, an international development organization that began as a small group of aid workers sending supplies to war-torn Europe for relief and reconstruction.
Lotta Hitschmanova (1909 – 1990)
She was born in Prague, where she earned a Ph. D. She worked as a journalist, and was an outspoken critic of the Nazis. Both of her parents died in the Holocaust, while she had to flee Czechoslovakia in 1938. For four years she wandered over Europe, eventually finding her way to Marseilles, where she helped refugee support groups.
In 1942, after a 46-day voyage on a converted banana boat, she arrived penniless in Montreal “with an unpronounceable name” as she said, and feeling completely lost. Three years later, she founded the Unitarian Service Committee (USC Canada). Her mission from the mid-1940s into the 1980s, was to educate and mobilize Canadians. “I experienced personally how much it hurts to be hungry. To be a refugee, to be without a home, to be without country, to be without friends. And this is something dreadful; you have no more roots, you have no one to turn to.”
Her work took her first back to post-war Europe, and then to Africa and Asia, to conflict zones and newly-independent nations, where the need was greatest. She urged Canadians to become aware of the living conditions of people living far away, and calling upon them to take action and help: “Charity begins at home…and then it goes on to embrace next door neighbours and all those who need help.”
Yet, Lotta’s influence went well beyond her work with USC Canada. Her educational efforts over four decades, provided a foundation for the Canadian public’s ongoing support for international humanitarian aid and development assistance. I remember listening to her talk about her work, and admiring her unique army nurse uniform, complete with military-style hat. She spoke with a thick Czech accent, but it never detracted from her message.
Each year she travelled to poor and strife-torn towns and villages of the world, in need of Canadian assistance to recover from drought, war, disease and poverty. Her message was sincere, and received as such by many thousands of Canadians. People from all faiths and occupations responded by becoming lifelong supporters. USC’s address 56 Sparks Street, Ottawa became the most recognizable address in Canada.
Nova Scotia author Joan Baxter wrote: “It was Lotta Hitschmanova who shaped my values as a Canadian, and the type of Canada I believe in. She helped give us our identity.”
I am neither the first person, nor the last who was moved by Lotta. The CC after Lotta’s name refers to her merit as a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest grade after that of the Monarch and the Governor General, given her in 1980. She has received numerous other awards and honours from countries and organizations on four continents.
In 2007, the Canadian Museum of History included her as one of the founders in its Canadian Personalities Hall. In 2013, when the Museum conducted a poll, she received the most votes as the person who had shaped Canada’s history most, ahead of Tommy Douglas, Terry Fox and Pierre Trudeau.
Her greatest legacy remains is the deep, emotional reverberation of her values in the memory by hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Her background as an articulate refugee impacted and enriched Canadian society. Today, Canadians – especially – are awaiting the next Lotta Hitschmanova, who may be arriving soon in Canada. Let us welcome each and every one.
In Vancouver, folk singer Vera Johnson (1920 – 2007) commented for decades on political events starting in 1949. Her humorous, original songs spanned every conceivable forbidden topic: censorship, divorce, family life, liberation, politics, religion and sex. Her most famous song, The Fountain, described the Vancouver hippie protests of 1968. She also attended the Vancouver Unitarian Church, although in periods of her life she also lived in Penticton BC, Stratford Ontario, as well as in Britain and Mexico.
Johnson writes, [While in Ottawa for a singing engagement at the beginning of September 1968] “I wrote Nagamma and, next morning, went into Lotta’s office and sang it for her. She cried. I cried. She phoned CBC. They didn’t cry but made an appointment for me to record it at 1:30. Then Lotta used it as the theme song for [her next] campaign.“
I have tried to find Nagamma on YouTube, without success. In fact, I have been unable to find anything sung by Johnson, anywhere. She was a generous person. Royalties for Nagamma, went to the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada. For The Fountain they were given to the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. That’s What I Believe royalties went to the Unitarian Church of Vancouver. We’re Gonna Make His Dream Come True, went to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, Martin Luther King’s organization. For Pierre Trudeau, they went to UNICEF.
Lotta is one of many Unitarians who have influenced my life positively. Others include: Tim Berners-Lee (born 1955) – inventor of the World Wide Web; Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) – author; Brock Chisholm (1896–1971) – director, World Health Organization; Charles Darwin (1809–1882) – English naturalist and biologist; Charles Dickens (1812–1870) – English novelist; Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) – inventor, engineer; Ashley Montagu (1905–1999) – anthropologist and social biologist; Isaac Newton (1642-1726) – English physicist and mathematician; Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) – writer; Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) – architect; and, N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945) – illustrator and painter.
For more information on Lotta and USC-Canada, visit:
Artwork from Makerspace Nanaimo celebrating Canada Day, 2018-07-01. Nanaimo was my father’s home town, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. For more information about it, visit: https://makerspacenanaimo.org/
Dear everyone,
This is a letter to potential partners regarding a maker’s workshop. It is not an official request, but loose thoughts from an individual. Not everything I do is commercially profitable. I am grateful that I am in a financial situation as a pensioner, where I can prioritize socially beneficial activities. Many – but not all – who read this are probably in a similar situation. But my life is too short, my brain too small and my hands too few to do everything I want.
I have just read Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson’s book, Empty Planet (2019), which explains one of the greatest challenges mankind faces in the future, a rapid population decline, in the second half of this century. In Norway, fertility is now slightly above 1.6 compared to 2.1 which is necessary to maintain the population. With the exception of Africa, almost the whole world is now below this limit, or will soon reach this limit. The authors believe that it is possible that in the year 2100, the US and China’s population could be about the same, 600 million each, with the US population increasing by immigration. Despite the freeing of child production, fertility in China is only 1.2. China does not want immigration, but are not alone in this. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has provided “slave laws” that impose increased overtime on workers, and has also promised women who give birth to 4 (or more) children, tax exemptions for the rest of their lives, along with some other benefits. He also refuses to accept immigrants, but focuses on domestic production. It will probably not help to bring up the birth rate. Women are too wise to fall for it. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s New Year’s speech did not generate much enthusiasm either.
I am committed to removing useless work, including driving. A lot of construction work consists of old fashioned methods, which are used only because of traditions. Working methods that promote low energy, environmentally friendly products and minimal use of labor must be used. I want more robotics, which can also relieve people from boring work tasks.
It will be impossible to launch every single project I have proposed. However, I would like to share some of the project proposals. To a couple of them, I add links to current material, including YouTubes video of short duration. What I would like to know is which of these YOU would like to work with and in which priority order. Are there other projects you could suggest that you would prioritize? What role do you want in these or other projects.
1. The Norwegian Society for Nature Conservation Inderøy has been granted some money to build an up to 15 square meter geodesic dome to grow vegetables using hydroponics. Part of the thinking is to try it as a method for producing “near” food. The dome could be built with reused impregnated wood, and recycled glass. The facility could be controlled with microprocessors, Arduino or Raspberry Pi.
2. Monitoring of the environment has also been discussed at the local group of Norwegian Society for Nature Conservation. This could involve the construction of drones and underwater robots (ROVs) for monitoring sea and land areas. Equipped with camera and/ or different sensors. See: https://www.openrov.com/
3. Smart house. Well the houses are not so intelligent, but this project is about using control technology and similar methods to control the house conditions, including light and heat. As usual, I am concerned about open source software such as Home Assistant, cheap microcontrollers, LED lights, and more. See: https://www.home-assistant.io/
4. Robotics are important to relieve people from work. Self-propelled cars (and tractors) are part of this. At the same time, with an aging population, there is a need for machines that can help people with their chores. I am interested in initiating training in robotics with an emphasis on mechatronics, ie the interdisciplinary engineering field that combines mechanics, electronics, computer technology, regulation technology, and systems engineering design in the development and production of useful new products.
5. As any reader can see, most of the activities here have a male orientation. I regret that, but for my own defense I would also like to have women participate. In addition, I would also like to encourage other activities, especially those that women would like to participate in. Despite this, I feel that women can also benefit from gender-separated education, especially in technical areas that have a male feel – mechanics, electronics , programming. I would like to know female views here, especially. Also think that here women can have more nuanced understanding in areas that concern clothes and food.
6. Other locations. The workshop at the municipal centre (Straumen) has been granted money from the Gjensidige Foundation. If workshop activities are to replace TV viewing as Norway’s national sport, then several workshops must be put into use. These workshops should be located everywhere in the municipality, preferably a stort distance from where you live! It should be possible to find suitable locations.
7. Machines. There will be a need for new types of machines over time. The workshop is intended for training and production with a limited range of materials, with a limited range of machines. Construction of, for example, geodesic domes must take place elsewhere and use other types of machines. These machines could be purchased used then repaired and deployed.
The Service Network
“The Service Network consists of people with complimentary skills looking for ways to serve society. We particularly target gaps and can aid other organizations where their skills are insufficient. Our competence range from social networking and marketing to metalworking and wireless technologies.”
This week, I have devoted much of my time to compiling a list of equipment for a workshop. This is by no means an individual activity, where one can impose one’s beliefs and opinions on others. Rather, it is a time to listen to (and reflect on) the un-articulated needs of a diverse group of people, and to mesh them into a harmonious whole. I am particularly concerned about the needs of children. Far too often they are distracted into playing games and using toys. Yes, these activities are important, but there are times when they should be treated as adults-in-training, as people who can make a significant contribution to the betterment of the world.
Of course, I am also concerned about the needs of the weaker gender, that one that has a shorter life-span, more debilitating disease, more undiagnosed mental health issues and a reduced ability to speak face-to-face. They need a place to work, and an opportunity to speak shoulder-to-shoulder.
That said, the needs of the stronger gender also need to be addressed. In the past, they have often been denied access to workshops and to technical education. Given the opportunity during the second world war, they excelled brilliantly, until the end of the war forced them out of the workshop and into the bedroom, so they could become the mothers of the boomer generation.
Immigrants have a special place in a workshop, for it is by working and contributing to a society, that people start to understand how society functions, in the real world. A workshop offers an opportunity for the lives of the immigrant, as well as the native populations to intertwine, and for both groups to become integrated.
Verksted aktivisme… på norsk
Kjære alle sammen,
Dette er et brev til mulige samarbeidspartnere når det gjelder et maker-verksted. Dette er ikke en offisiell henvisning, men løse tanker som privatperson. Ikke alt jeg driver med er bedriftsøkonomisk lønnsom. Jeg er takknemlig for at jeg er i en økonomisk situasjon som pensjonist, der jeg kan prioritere samfunnsnyttige aktiviteter. Mange – men ikke alle – som leser denne er sannsynligvis i en lignende situasjon. Men mitt liv er for kort, min hjerne for liten og mine hender for få til å gjennomføre alt som jeg har lyst til å gjennomføre.
Jeg har nettopp lest Darrell Bricker og John Ibbitsons bok, Empty Planet (2019), som forklarer en av de største utfordringer menneskeheten står overfor i fremtiden, en rask befolkningsnedgang, i den andre halvdel av dette århundre. I Norge er fertilitet nå litt over 1,6 sammenlignet med 2,1 som er nødvendig til å opprettholde befolkningen. Med unntak av Afrika, er nesten hele verdenen nå under denne grensen, eller vil nå denne grensen snart. Forfatterne mener at det er mulig at i år 2100 kan USAs og Kinas befolkning være ca. det samme, omkring 600 millioner hver, der USAs befolkning økes ved hjelp av innvandring. Til tross for fri slep av barneproduksjon, er fertilitet i Kina kun 1,2. De vil heller ikke ha innvandring, men er ikke alene om dette. Ungarns statsminister Viktor Orban, har sørget for “slave-lover” som påtvinger arbeidstakere økt overtidsinnsats, og har også lovet kvinner som føder 4 (eller flere) barn, skattefritak resten av livet, sammen med en del andre goder. Han også nekter å ta imot innvandrere, men satser på hjemlig produksjon. Det vil trolig ikke nytte til å få opp fødselstallet. Kvinner er for klok til å falle for det. Statsminister Erna Solbergs nyttårstale har heller ikke nøstet begeistring.
Jeg er opptatt av å fjerne unyttig arbeid, herunder kjøring. Mye byggearbeid består av avleggs metoder, som brukes kun på grunn av tradisjoner. Arbeidsmetoder som fremmer lav-energi, miljøvennlig produkter, og minimal bruk av arbeidskraft må benyttes. Jeg er også opptatt av robotikk, som kan også avlaste mennesker fra kjedelige arbeidsoppgaver.
Det er slik at jeg kan ikke bare sette i gang hver eneste prosjekt som jeg kommer bort i. Jeg vil gjerne dele noen av prosjektforslagene. Til et par av dem, legger jeg ved lenker til aktuelle stoff, herunder YouTube video av kort varighet. Det som jeg vil gjerne vite, er hvilke av disse kunne DU tenke deg å jobbe med, og i hvilken prioritert rekkefølge. Er det andre prosjekter du kunne foreslå som du ville prioritere? Hvilken rolle vil du ha i disse eller i andre prosjekter?
1. Naturvernforbundet avdeling Inderøy har fått innvilget litt penger til å bygge en inntil 15 kvadratmeter geodetisk kuppel til å dyrke plantevekster med et hydroponisk anlegg. En del av tankegangen er å prove det som en metode for produksjon av kortreist mat. Kuppelen kunne bygges med gjenbrukt impregnert treverk, og gjenvunnet glass. Anlegget kunne styres med mikroprosessorer, gjerne av type Arduino eller Raspberry Pi.
2. Også på Naturvernforbundet lokalt, har man drøftet overvåking av miljøet. Dette kunne gjerne kreve bygging av luftroboter (droner) og undervannsroboter (ROV = remotely operated vehicles) til overvåking av hav- og landområder. Utstyrt med kamera og/eller ulike sensorer. Se: https://www.openrov.com/
3. Smarthus. Vel husene er ikke så intelligente, men det gjelder å bruke reguleringsteknikk og lignende metoder til å styre husets tilstander, herunder lys og varme. Som vanlig er jeg opptatt av åpenkilde programvarer som Home Assistent, billige mikrokontrollere, LED-lys, med mere. Se: https://www.home-assistant.io/
4. Robotikk er viktig til å avlaste mennesker fra arbeid. Selvkjørende biler (og traktorer) er en del av dette. Samtidig, med en aldrende befolkning er det behov for maskiner som kan hjelpe folk med sine gjøremål. Jeg er interessert i å igangsette opplæring innenfor robotikk med vekt på mekatronikk dvs den tverrfaglige disiplin innen ingeniørfag som kombinerer mekanikk, elektronikk, datateknikk, reguleringsteknikk, og systems engineering design i utvikling og produksjon av nyttige nye produkter.
5. Som enhver leser kan skue, så er de fleste aktiviteter overfor preget litt for mye av interesser som er mer vanlig i mannfolk. Det beklager jeg, men til min egen forsvar vil jeg gjerne også ha med kvinner. I tillegg vil jeg gjerne også prioritere aktiviteter som kvinner kunne gjerne glede seg til å delta i. Til tross for dette, så føler jeg at kvinner kan også ha fordeler av kjønnsdelte undervisning, spesielt i tekniske områder som har en mannlig preg – mekanikk, elektronikk, programmering. Jeg vil gjerne få vite kvinnelig synspunkter her, spesielt. Tenker også at her kan kvinner ha mer nyanserte forståelse i områder som gjelder klær og mat.
6. Andre lokaliteter. Verkstedet på Straumen har fått innvilget penger fra Gjensidige Stiftelsen. Om verkstedaktiviteter skal erstatte TV-titting som Norges nasjonalsport, så må flere verksted tas i bruk. Disse verkstedene bør lokaliseres overalt i kommunen, gjerne i gang avstand av der du bor! Det bør være mulig å finne frem til egnete lokaliteter.
7. Maskiner. Det blir behov for nye typer av maskiner etter hvert. Verkstedet er tiltenkt brukt til opplæring og produksjon fra et begrenset utvalg av materialer, med et begrenset utvalg av maskiner. Bygging av, for eksempel, geodetisk kupler må foregå andre steder, og bruke andre typer av maskiner. Disse maskiner må anskaffes gjerne brukt, istandsettes og utplasseres.
Det tjeneste nettverket
“Det tjeneste nettverket består av folk med utfyllende ferdigheter som ser etter måter å tjene samfunnet på. Vi retter oss spesielt mot hull og kan hjelpe andre organisasjoner der deres ferdigheter er utilstrekkelige. Vår kompetanse spenner fra sosiale nettverk og markedsføring til metallbearbeiding og trådløse teknologier.”
I denne uken har jeg viet mye tid til å lage en liste over utstyr til et verksted. Dette er på ingen måte en individuell aktivitet, der man kan pålegge sin tro og meninger om andre. Det er snarere en tid å lytte til (og reflektere over) de uforutsette behovene til en mangfoldig gruppe mennesker, og å samle dem inn i en harmonisk helhet. Jeg er spesielt bekymret for barns behov. Altfor ofte blir de distrahert i å spille spill og bruke leker. Ja, disse aktivitetene er viktige, men det er tider når de skal behandles som voksne-under-opplæring, som folk som kan gi et betydelig bidrag til verdens forbedring.
Selvfølgelig er jeg også opptatt av behovet for det svakere kjønn, den som har en kortere levetid, mer svekkende sykdom, mer udiagnostiserte psykiske problemer og en redusert evne til å snakke ansikt til ansikt. De trenger et sted å jobbe, og en mulighet til å snakke skulder til skulder.
Når det er sagt, må behovet for det sterkere kjønn også tas opp. Tidligere har de ofte blitt nektet tilgang til verksteder og teknisk utdanning. Gitt muligheten under andre verdenskrig, utmerket de seg briljant, til krigens ende tvang dem ut av verkstedet og inn i soverommet, slik at de kunne bli mødrene til boomergenerasjonen.
Innvandrere har en spesiell stilling på et verksted. Når man arbeider og bidrar til et samfunn, så begynner folk å forstå hvordan samfunnet fungerer, i den virkelige verden. Et verksted gir en mulighet for innvandrere, så vel som den innfødte befolkningen til å blande seg, og for begge grupper å bli integrert.
Yesterday, I sent out the fifth installment of an email series about keywords. It should have gone out BCC, but it didn’t so each and every recipient received contact information about all of the other recipients. While this is not the end of the world, it should not have happened. Of course, I have prepared a list of several hundred excuses to explain away this mistake. Yet, for this one time only, I’ve decided to simply admit that this was my mistake, to say I am sorry it happened, and – in this web log post – explain procedures that I have taken to prevent it happening again, as well as other procedures that could be undertaken if it, unbelievably, should ever happen again.
In addition, I am providing some more general thoughts on the challenges facing content creators, and the distribution of their works.
Web-log vs email
I feel more comfortable writing a web-log post, than an email. There are two important reasons for this. First, writing content in a web-log post is almost a pleasure, because of the editing facilities found in web-log software. In comparison, Email editing facilities are second-rate. Second, content written in a web-log post can be updated as required, even after it is published.
This web-log uses WordPress as its platform. Recently, its new Gutenberg editor has been used to write posts. While some features (such as links) still require use of the Classic editor, Gutenberg is a superior editor. Mozilla Thunderbird is used for emails. I work on both a Chromebook laptop and a Linux Mint stationary machine. Both programs allow me to transition between these machines as often as I want, and the updated post or email I am writing follows me.
One of the major differences between an email and a web-log post is that an email is immutable. It doesn’t change. If one has written something foolish it remains in that foolish state, in that email, forever. This is not the situation with a web-log post, which can be edited and updated. This is very useful for a person, such as myself, who has difficulty spelling words correctly.
Please note, that from Keywords 06 and onwards, keywords content will be posted on Brock at Cliff Cottage. Only a link will be sent as an email.
Thunderbird
At Cliff Cottage, the Mozilla Thunderbird email application, runs under Linux Mint. David White, provided a Use BCC Instead add-on for Thunderbird. If the Always Substitute BCC for TO and CC option was enabled, any recipients addressed using TO or CC were automatically changed to BCC before the message was sent. This was a great help for people such as myself who can be forgetful.
Unfortunately, the Use BCC Instead add-on, was not updated when Thunderbird V60 was released in August 2018. TO was the default setting. This meant that every email had to have BCC selected manually. I failed to do this when Keywords 05 Brands was sent out.
Current Fix
The English language recipients of Keywords were stored in an address list titled Keywords. Similarly, the Norwegian language recipients, were stored in Nøkkelord. These two lists have had their respective names changed to BCC-Keywords and BCC-Nøkkelord. Hopefully, when I add the name to the TO: field, this name change will be sufficient for me to change TO to BCC.
Permanent Fix
If I make the same mistake again, a more permanent fix is to downgrade the version of Thunderbird to 57. This version allows Use BCC Instead to function as an add on.
Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California. From the south. Photo Chad K. 2007-02-16
It is challenging to engage conservative Christians in discussions about climate. Here are three responses.
There is no need to do anything about climate change. Christ will return, and everything will be fine.
There is no climate change. God micromanages the earth. There is no need for people to do anything.
Forget climate change. Concentrate on business. God rewards Christians on Earth and well as in heaven. Capitalism, business jets and offshore tax shelters are all part of God’s plan.
This post was originally written 2018-08-01. It stopped here. In keeping with the above set of Christian principles, I waited patiently for God to finish writing this text for me, and to publish it. This did not happen. Thus, I have had to revise my text about God’s plan.
Forget business. Concentrate on climate change. God rewards people on Earth and well as in heaven, who are or were stewards of his planet. Capitalism, business jets and offshore tax shelters have no place in God’s plan.
Climate change is real. God does not micromanage the earth. People have to do everything, and they have to work together.
Christ has already returned (as Baha’u’llah) – and left again, leaving us to deal with climate change. Nothing is fine until we learn to work together, for the benefit of all humanity.
Websites have many uses. Perhaps two of the more important, involve the sharing of information, through emails and web logging, or blogging. The first email was sent by Ray Tomlinson (1941-2016) in 1971. He is quoted as saying that these first “test messages were entirely forgettable and I have, therefore, forgotten them.” The first web log post is 25 years old, this week. It was published on 1994-01-27 by Justin Hall. Here is a link to it:
Statistics are hard to come by, but it seems at least half a billion people have their own web logs. On 2017-09-14, one blogger reported 440 million blogs just on Tumblr, Squarespace and WordPress. Most of these people, including myself, don’t have either the interest or the skills to set up a website that follows best practices. I am not sure that they even want to, I don’t. Instead, they want something that is simple but good enough for the needs of themselves and their families.
Why stress to obtain the best, when good enough will do? Patmos, Farm vehicle near Chora, Greece. Photo: Brock McLellan/ Digitization: Patricia McLellan. 1979-07-27.
Having gained some experience through work, with Moodle, a Learning Management System, and being dissatisfied with a couple of web hosting providers that were supposed to support this product, I opted for one.com as a host, on the advice of someone I trust. The first lesson, then, is to ask for help from 1) someone who has experience with family oriented websites, 2) is trustworthy and 3) knows you, your family and your situation.
The proposed solution, which was implemented, may not be the world’s best hosting service, but it is certainly adequate, inexpensive and good enough for my family’s purposes. No issues have arisen during the past year that make me want to change vendor.
We purchased, or more correctly rent on an annual basis, a domain based on our family name, which provides email addresses for members of our family, but they are not in active use by everyone. We also paid for “Starter” web hosting services on a server.
Like most web hosts, our provider tries to make customers feel that they are getting a lot, or at least something, for their $3 a month in hosting fees. They try to impress with a content list that includes ten items: Unlimited bandwidth; Email on your own domain; Unlimited email accounts; Unlimited email aliases; Spam & Virus Protection; Fully featured professional webmail; Individual Calendar & Address Book per email account; IMAP/POP; Single domain; and, 25 GB SSD Storage. While I have a theoretical interest in some of these services, including spam and virus protection, the main product being purchased is storage space. This storage is being used for emails, as well as web logs.
Now, a second domain name has been purchased/ rented for a family member with a different surname. This has necessitated an upgrade to a “Professional Plus” web hosting service, offering hosting of multiple domains, eight times more storage (200 GB) as well as Backup & Restore facilities. Above this there is a “Business” level that offers 500 GB of storage, as the only significant difference.
Sometimes an upgrade is necessary. But that does not mean it has to be expensive. Honda Van, Exeter, England. Photo: Brock McLellan/ Digitization: Patricia McLellan. 1979-06-21.
An aside: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if names didn’t have to have elitist attributes? Why not name products after winds? The breeze, the gale and the hurricane. Or birds? The crake, the coot and the crane. I would even accept the apprentice, the journeyman and the master, or even a simple level 1, 2 and 3.
The needs of most families are relatively simple. They are not running businesses that need complex e-commerce solutions, with marketing and sales support, traffic management and guaranteed up-time. Everyone finds downtime detrimental, but it is something that can be lived with.
So, one of the first questions to ask is: Why not just use Gmail/ Hotmail/ Outlook/ Yahoo? Yes, some of these offer lots of storage space, spam and virus protection, and much more. Google offers 15 GB of storage for each user, Yahoo offers 1 TB. Personally, I am not using more than 10 GB, for email and web log, and other family members are using considerably less.
Similarly, one can ask: Why not just use Facebook to post information/ opinions that would otherwise end up in a web log?
The main reason to avoid multi-national corporations, is to protect families from the effects of long-term exploitation. These corporations are mining data and monetizing it. Yes, that is a big word, and it means they are making money off of your data. In the long-term, this will make you and your family poorer and less secure, while the elites grow richer. By using your own website, you will prevent these corporations from accessing the data they need to manipulate consumers and voters. These corporations, and a few others, are instruments effectively used by an elite, to consolidate their power.
Another important reason for having a family domain is for blogging. Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook, has written that information and disinformation look the same; the only difference is that disinformation generates more revenue, so it gets better treatment, at Facebook or Google. He claims that there is no way for these giants to avoid influencing the lives of users and the future of nations. Recent history suggests that this threat to democracy is real. McNamee proposes fundamental changes to their business models to reduce the harm they cause to democracy
The rest of humanity cannot wait for these enterprise Titanics to turn in an attempt to avoid icebergs of dictatorship and oppression. People must take control of their own lives back again, to the degree that this is possible. This means reducing our presence on Google, Facebook and Twitter, and increasing our presence on our own personal websites.
Blog is short for weblog, an online journal or informational website displaying information in posts, generally accessed in reverse chronological order. Some blogging platforms are run by the Titan(ic)s. Blogger (previously called Blogspot) is owned by Google. Tumblr is owned by Verizon. Instagram is not so much a blog, as a photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook. Two open source platforms are WordPress and Joomla.
Joomla is powerful and flexible enough to be used to build any kind of website or blog. There are enough templates to choose from, to customize any site. Extensions add more features. Yet, because Joomla has a shorter reach than WordPress, there are fewer themes and addons, and less support. Backups, updates, and security take more work.
WordPress provides sufficient control website, and allows one to add extra features like forums and an online store, if that is the direction of travel. Website management can have its challenges, especially things like backups and security. Despite some imperfections, WordPress is the platform used on Brock at Cliff Cottage. Personally, I do not see any advantages to throwing away my insights with this platform, just to select a different platform that will require more time to learn.
Video bloggers are called vloggers. Many choose to upload their videos to YouTube, another Google owned site. Here, one creates a free and simple vlogging channel, with an existing audience close by. Other websites for video content include: blip.tv, vimeo and veoh. However, there is nothing to prevent a vlogger from using their own site to host their own videos. This, in fact, is in the spirit of this weblog post. WordPress offers several plugins especially designed for vlogging.
Some web logs are very specialized: auto repair, cooking, fashion, music, Norse mythology and robotics come to mind. In addition to vloggers, there are podcasters, who make web logs featuring audio tracks. Some people create portfolios of their work. Others just want a place to display their photographs, or their paintings/ drawings/ etchings. It is all up to the individual. Artists and artisans may want to upgrade a website for business purposes, including the display and sale of merchandise. It is relatively easy to build out WordPress with plugins to accommodate new needs.
WordPress can be updated using plugins, into a website for e-commerce. Three-wheeled electric milk van, Exeter. Photo: Brock McLellan/ Digitization: Patricia McLellan. 1979-06-22.
There are several WordPress books for beginners. The one I prefer is: Michal Bradek 2017 WordPress Guide for Beginners. The only challenge with this book is that it is based on WordPress version 4.8. Version 5.0 was released 2018-11-19, and is becoming standard. The greatest change with this update is the Gutenberg editor, which is actually easier to use than the previous “classic” editor, but is different – so some skills have to be unlearned, and others learned.
The Universal House of Justice, the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Bahá’í Faith, published a peace letter on 2019-01-18. This post contains a short summary of what the letter is about. The complete text can be found in the Download link, below.
The letter is addressed to the Bahá’ís of the World
The letter is written on the 100th anniversary of the Paris Peace Conference which was held after World War 1 ended.
Bahá’u’lláh asked people to establish peace on earth.
The letter is five pages in length, divided into five sections, and 14 paragraphs.
Section /A/ is the introduction (paragraph 1)
Section /B/ is a reflection on the progress made towards peace (paragraphs 2 – 4), so what has happened so far
Section /C/ is a comment on some of the contemporary challenges to establishing peace (paragraphs 5 – 9), mainly the need for people to see unity and peace as the goal
Section /D/ is a statement of the contributions that Bahá’ís are asked to make (paragraphs 10 – 12), that they need to act on to make things happen
Section /E/ is the conclusion (paragraphs 13 – 14) and tell us what we must do – “build communities founded on spiritual principles and apply those principles for the betterment of your societies”
The members of the Universal House of Justice are, from left to right, Paul Lample, Chuungu Malitonga, Payman Mohajer, Shahriar Razavi, Stephen Hall, Ayman Rouhani, Stephen Birkland, Juan Mora, and Praveen Mallik. The House of Justice was elected by delegates to the 12th International Baha’i Convention in Haifa, in 2018-04.
Here are the specific contributions to world peace that Baha’is are asked to make:
Accept the oneness of humankind. /6/
Recognize that there is diversity, yet maintaining a love for all people, and subordinating lesser loyalties to the best interests of humankind. /7/
Guard themselves from becoming enmeshed in conflicts or falling into adversarial methods. /9/
Promote the well-being and tranquility of everyone [children of men]. /10/
Educate people. /10/
Create genuine love, spiritual communion and durable bonds among individuals. /10/
Build up and broaden a system of social organization based on Baha’u’llah’s teachings. /11/
Nurture communities. /11/.
Cultivate environments in which children can be raised without racial, national or religious prejudice. /11/
Champion the full equality of women with men. /11/
Welcome everyone. /11/
Empower everyone to build of a new world. /11/
Invite followers of all faiths and none to devotional meetings. /11/
Engage youth to build communities. /11/
Govern in servitude. (This applies to members of local/ national Spiritual Assemblies) /11/
Resolve conflicts and build unity. /11/
Develop an electoral process. /11/
Engage with those around them. /12/
Make meaningful contributions to various important discourses. /12/
Practice consultation. /12/
Cultivate conditions that are conducive to unity. /12/
Implement peace! /13/
Build communities founded on spiritual principles. /14/
Some 1,300 delegates representing 166 countries, at the 12th International Baha’i Convention in Haifa, in 2018-04.
The adjective Swedish is used deliberately, as potential substitutes, such as Scandinavian or Nordic, are far too generous in describing the affected geographical area, unfortunately.
Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall, authors of Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, comment, “Functioning as both a verb and a noun, the concept of fika is simple. It is the moment that you take a break, often with a cup of coffee, but alternatively with tea, and find a baked good to pair with it. You can do it alone, you can do it with friends. You can do it at home, in a park or at work. But the essential thing is that you do it, that you make time to take a break: that’s what fika is all about.”
Wikipedia, under the heading Coffee Culture, notes the following: “Swedes have fika (Swedish pronunciation: [²fiːka]), meaning “coffee break”, often with pastries, although coffee can be substituted with tea or even juice, lemonade or squash for children. A sandwich, fruit or a small meal may be called fika as the English concept of afternoon tea. The tradition has spread through Swedish businesses around the world. Fika is a social institution in Sweden and the practice of taking a break with a beverage and a snack is widely accepted as central to Swedish life. As a common mid-morning and mid-afternoon practice at workplaces in Sweden, fika may also function partially as an informal meeting between co-workers and management people, and it can even be considered impolite not to join everyone else for fika.”
Coffee entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch koffie, from the Ottoman Turkish kahve, from the Arabic qahwah. It entered Swedish as kaffe, about one hundred years later.
Wikipedia also notes that the English language term coffee break dates from 1952. The Swedish term, fika is considerably older. Equally close to American English as it is to Swedish, it is probably closer to Arabic. The first reference to it, dates from 1910 – 13. Yes, sources differ. Take the English word coffee (kaw-fee) then turn the syllables around (fee-kaw) or fika. Its origins are that simple. Where, precisely, in Sweden this first happened, and why, are questions left to etymologists, and will not be addressed here, except to say that not all sources agree.
The Universal Fika
At formal meetings, almost nothing new is ever said and the importance of messages imparted, is always in doubt. Informal meetings are much more effective, when communication is the goal. Yet, things cannot be left to chance.
I have often argued that e-mails are a much better substitute for meetings. Unfortunately, on the one occasion that my employer tried this, I neglected to read the pertinent e-mail. Thus, one day I drove the 45 km to work, only to be told that we would be going on a course at a hotel 10 km in the opposite direction from our house.
The physical meeting place for a regular fika should be designed. One has to take into consideration how people group, and interact while engaging with each other over coffee. There can be various approaches. Anthropologists use ethnographic observation, and interaction designers have similar techniques. One might even want to consult with architects and engineers, as well as other people who have an understanding of materials and the environment.
Sound is a particularly fascinating factor in the design of meeting spaces. An excess of polished surfaces may cause needless reverberation, while an excess of textiles may absorb and deaden too much sound. With computer simulation, as my own specialization, I will take the opportunity to encourage the use of simulation models in designing any environment.
My experience of fikas is in work and educational settings. For me, a fika is an informal meeting, disguised as a break. During a fika, the situation confronting each and every participant can be discussed in a friendly and helpful manner. Bosses have to put away their titles, and open their ears. Even the most timid are expected to voice their opinions. In this way group consensus can be explored and developed.
While there can be clusters of people, who have cluster-wide communication, there must also be wider forms of communication that allow conversational topics to seep between clusters. It is also important that participants (to some degree) rotate their cluster membership. As in any meeting, some topics are generally avoided. On the other hand, there are usually some people who are willing to break any taboo. This results in fluid transitions, rather than sharp demarcations.
Far too much discussion of fikas revolves around food. Obesity is a major problem in Western countries. Many people suffer with gluten related conditions. Brones and Kindvall are far too concerned with baked goods, and do a disservice in encouraging their consumption. I have come across some institutions that provide free waffle batter (and iron), along with assorted sweet condiments such as syrups, honey and jams. I wonder why these institutions hate people. I will end this tirade by noting that processed foods bring with them more disease than health, and have no place in a modern workplace.
Personally, I would like to encourage the consumption of more fruit and vegetables. These can take many different forms, but I will mention both salads and soups. There are people who cannot consume various types of fruit and vegetables. For example, more than one person I know has problems after consuming raw apples and raw carrots. Yet, they are able to eat apple sauce and carrot cake without problems. The lesson here, is that if anything is to be served, there must be a variety. One size does not fit all.
Every workshop needs space and time for discussion. At Cliff Cottage’s Unit One, we are attempting to develop our own fika tradition. Unfortunately, it still occurs more often in theory than in practice. On Friday, at 12:00 tools are put down, cups are picked up, to be filled with coffee, tea, infusions or just plain water, along with a choice of fruit. For the next hour people are expected to contribute their opinions about workshop activism, or any other topic of mutual interest. The one sin to be avoided is gossip.
Mothership has been selected as the generic name for the constellation of products and services provided by the central server rack at Cliff Cottage. While cloud is a buzzword referring, especially, to somebody else’s server, we tried to find a specific cloud variety that we could use for a name. Our choice refers to one of the most beastly type of clouds found on earth.
Mothership Clouds, also referred to as Supercell Thunderstorms, bring long-lived, dangerous storms with strong updrafts and rotation. They generate violent (F2-F5) tornadoes, cause downburst damage and produce large hailstones. Warm, humid conditions promote rapid lifting of air, quick changes of wind speed and/or direction increase rotational speed.
A mothership is also a large vehicle/ vessel/ craft that leads, serves or carries other smaller vehicles/ vessels/ craft, including aircraft or spacecraft. For our purposes, it is a large digital device serving a number of smaller devices/ computers/ peripherals.
For the past 14 years, we have used an ADSL-based internet, which was a dramatic improvement over a dial-up modem. We have now gone over to fiber-optic broadband and cut out our landline. Our handheld personal devices, aka cell phones, are being updated to more advanced variants. We have replaced our inkjet printer, with a laser printer. CAT 6A cables are being installed throughout the house. While our network speed is currently 50 Mb up and down, increasing speeds to 1 Gb is simply an email away. So this is probably the last major communications upgrade in our lifetime.
In another post, a clustered NAS (Network Attached Storage) server system has been discussed (2018-06-21). This is still the goal. While we are not there yet, we are replacing our current NAS, with one designed and built by Alasdair. While we previously maxed out at 24 TB of data, the new NAS will start off with 40 TB. It is expandable to 120 TB. While many of the components are old and used, they are more appropriate for our needs. Typically, they are commercial products, produced by Cisco, but made redundant in commercial environments.
It is not my intention to publish further details about the Mothership in this web-log, at the moment. Rather, detailed information will be made available after a period of implementation and testing, to ensure that proposed solutions work properly.
If you, your close friends or family have developed technological solutions to modern problems, please consider making them freely available, and publishing them in a web-blog, or through other channels.
Keywords previously found on this site, including the original text below, have been moved to: https://keywords.mclellan.no There, a new keyword will be posted on Sundays.
The meaning of words changes. This does not present any significant problems if everyone in a culture adapts simultaneously to these changes, and it reflects agreed upon changes in that culture. Unfortunately, this scenario never happens. Rather, elites, usurp particular words, and impose their definitions on others, notably the marginalized, but everyone else as well.
Raymond Williams (1921 – 1988) examined the changing meanings of sixty words used in cultural discussions, beginning with the word culture itself. He intended this to appear as an appendix to Culture and Society (1958). That didn’t happen, but an extended 110 word version, including notes and essays was published as Keywords in 1976. By 1983 a new version added 21 additional words.
Keywords is not an abridged Oxford English Dictionary. It doesn’t include philological or etymological considerations. Instead, its focus is on meanings and contexts.
Culture, published in 1981, continued this work, but focused on this single concept, defined as “a realized signifying system” (p. 207). The work is especially concerned with cultural production, and reproduction (p. 206). What is a realized signifying system?
Chris Barker, Making Sense of Cultural Studies (2002), writes: “…a banknote signifies and constructs nationality while at the same time being used for purposes of exchange” (p. 34). Barker has difficulties understanding what an unrealized signifying system could be. Perhaps I can help him. It is best understood using a time machine. Lots of words have the potential to signify something, but do not yet do so. While the Han Dynasty introduced promissory notes in 118 BC, the first attempt to issue banknotes in Europe, occurred in Sweden in 1661. Before these dates, promissory notes and banknotes were unrealized signifying systems. In fact, for most of the world they were only realized much later.
Cultural materialism can best be described as a theoretical movement. Cultural materialists analyze how powerful elites use (historically) important texts to validate or inscribe certain values on the cultural imaginary, that is, that set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols common to a particular social group.
Political Shakespeare, edited by Jonathan Dollimore (1948 – ) and Alan Sinfield (1941 – 2017), is a seminal text of the cultural materialism movement, with four defining characteristics: Historical context, close textual analysis, political commitment and theoretical method. Most of us in the English-speaking world, have been required to read Shakespeare as part of our education and, in doing so, have adopted at least part of Shakespeare’s world view.
Neema Parvini (? – ) writes in Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory (2012) “… culture is irreducibly complex and made up at any given time by numerous cultures which are dynamically linked to each other. At any given time, there is not just one ‘culture’ but lots of different cultures with their own geneses in different epochal moments. Williams gives the examples of ‘feudal culture’, ‘bourgeois culture’ and ‘socialist culture’ which are all part of a cultural process. Culture is not static but processional and its different subcultures are in competition for hegemony. The status of a single subculture is liable to change over time. Williams identifies three different statuses: ‘residual’, ‘emergent’ and ‘dominant’. These are fairly self-explanatory. To use his examples: bourgeois culture is ‘dominant’ because it has hegemony; socialist culture is ‘emergent’, because it is still being created and perhaps may one day become dominant; and feudal culture is ‘residual’ because it is the remnant of a by-gone era, essentially an anachronism, but crucially it is still ‘active in the cultural process . . . as an effective element of the present’.” With reference to Raymond Williams, Marxism and Literature (1977) pp. 121 -2.
Fintan O’Toole (1958 – ), author and Irish Times journalist, notes, “Best thing that happened to me when I was young was that my father told me that everyone had read the complete works of Shakespeare by the time they were 14. It was life-transforming for me.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/29/fintan-otoole-the-books-interview-brexit-english-nationalism
Unfortunately, I have never found Shakespeare life-transforming. Yes, there are days when even I can appreciate Shakespeare, although not usually at the theatre or even in book form. Much of my understanding comes from Coles Notes/ CliffsNotes, and the odd Classic Comic Book. My preferences are for: Scotland, PA, directed and written by William (Billy) Morrissette (1962 – ), a reworked MacBeth dark comedy made in 2001 in Nova Scotia, but set in 1975 at “Duncan’s Cafe”, a fast-food eatery in Scotland, Pennsylvania; and, Julie Taymore’s (1952 – ) 1999 Italian-American-British film interpretation of Titus Andronicus.
Not all commentators of Shakespeare are Marxist. The right-leaning, Foundation for Constitutional Government, Inc. notes his political importance in these terms, “… Shakespeare seems to have understood the concept of the regime (Greek: politeia) as developed by Plato and Aristotle—the idea that different forms of political organization encourage different forms of human development. Not every human possibility is equally available under every regime; it is difficult to be a Christian saint in pagan Rome (and as Hamlet shows, it is equally difficult to be a classical hero in Christian Europe). A monarchy will inevitably discourage certain forms of political activity (particularly those that challenge monarchy), while a republic may cause the very same activities to flourish. Shakespeare is generally praised for the immense variety of human types he portrays in his plays. Perhaps one of the keys to this success is the variety of regimes Shakespeare covers in his plays—from ancient pagan republics to modern Christian monarchies.” https://thegreatthinkers.org/shakespeare-and-politics/introduction/
Words continue to be important in political discussions. A Raymond Williams Society was established in 1989 to promote related work. Since 1998 it has published Key Words: A Journal of Cultural Materialism. Tony Bennett, Lawrence Grossberg and Meaghan Morris have edited, New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society. In addition, New York University Press has published several related books.
Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Linda Trinh Võ, K. Scott Wong
Disability Studies (2015)
Rachael Adams, Benjamin Reiss, David Serlin
Children’s Literature (2015)
Philip Nel, Lissa Paul
Environmental Studies (2016)
Joni Adamson, William A. Gleason, David N. Pellow
Media Studies (2017)
Jonathan Gray, Laurie Ouellette
Latina/o Studies (2017)
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Nancy Raquel Mirabal, Deborah R. Vargas
African American Studies (2018)
Erica R. Edwards, Roderick A. Ferguson, Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar
Most recently, in 2018, John Patrick Leary, in Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism, wrote: A keyword, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (hereafer the OED), is “a word serving as a key to a cipher or the like.” In his 1976 classic Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, the Welsh literary critic Raymond Williams laid out the foundational vocabulary of modern British society in a wide-ranging project of critical historical semantics. He defined keywords as “binding words in certain activities and their interpretation,” elements of a living vocabulary that shape and reflect a society in movement. Keywords show what knowledge ties this society together, and how this common knowledge changes over time. As both Williams and the OED make clear, keywords are therefore “key” in a double sense: they are important, and they unlock something hidden.
Where should we be using keywords?
On Monday 2018-11-26, GM CEO Mary Barra announced cuts, explaining them as: “The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient, and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future, …” This transformation involves the discontinuance of six models, closure of five factories, and the lay-off of up to 14 000 workers in North America. This figure includes 3 300 blue-collar workers in USA, and 2 600 in Canada, in addition to 8 000 white-collar workers.
John Patrick Leary responded to this by tweeting, “Language was pronounced dead at the scene.” Resilient and flexible are two of Leary’s 47 keyword topics.
I have just started reading Leary’s Keywords. They are being read as published, in alphabetical order, except where a topic is too tempting to resist. DIY (Do-It-Yourself), is one such seductress. It begins with, “In a 2014 column in the New York Times, architecture critic Jayne Merkel argued that the underfunded New York City Housing Authority could address its vast backlog of unfinished repairs by training residents to make their own repairs.” and ends with “DIY’s present mixture of autonomous self-determination with entrepreneurial self-reliance is what makes propositions like Merkel’s so insidious. Rent-paying tenants of public housing have every right to expect their landlord to “do it” for them; in this case, the enthusiastic voluntarism of “do it yourself” has become more like an indifferent invitation to “do it your damn self.” Is the prospect of student debt preventing you from pursuing higher education? Find a cheaper alternative with “DIY education” in the form of free online classes and Project Gutenberg. Can’t afford a home mortgage? Buy some land and build yourself a tiny house. DIY celebrates individualistic substitutes for state obligations or political solutions, like free public education or affordable housing. In this way, DIY can become, like the more politicized versions of artisanal and maker culture, a practice of consumption masquerading as a practice of citizenship.”
The importance of keywords, by whatever author that attracts a person, is that it encourages everyone to examine how words are being used to manipulate thought processes. We have a duty to ourselves to be critical of everything that we are fed, intellectually, emotionally as well as physically. Some products are nutritious, but increasingly many are simply empty calories.
