University of the West of Scotland

I think I’ve got this before the official release. Screen shot form the first version of the UWS site. In case anyone ever needs to use my email at the university it is now: andy.miah@uws.ac.uk

Human Futures @ FACT

It’s perplexing how i can be invited all over the world to speak about this subject and, on my own doorstep, not a peep. There’s a moral here somewhere, and it’s a good one. Anyway, visit Human Futures @ FACT, then get down to London next week for Ethical Futures @ RSA where I am speaking to the title ‘Justifying Human Enhancement: The Accumulation of Biocultural Capital

[straight after which I'm taking a motorcycle taxi to make my train. life is complicated]

Ethics, Technology and Identity (Delft, 18-20 Jun, 2008)

Ethics, Technology and Identity

Conference, June 18-20 of 2008

Information technology plays an increasingly important role in society and in human lives. Identity Management Technologies (e.g. biometrics, profiling, surveillance), in combination with a variety of identification procedures and personalized services are ubiquitous and pervasive. This calls for careful consideration and design of collecting, mining, storing and use of personal information. This conference aims to discuss the theme of ‘identity’ in light of new (information) technology. Key-note speakers are David Velleman, Oscar Gandy, Robin Dellon and David Shoemaker.

Key-note speakers

• David Velleman, New York University
• Oscar Gandy, University of Pennsylvania
• Robin Dillon, Lehigh University
• David Shoemaker, Bowling Green State University

Call for papers / submission of abstracts

Authors should submit an electronic version of an extended abstract (total word count 800-1000 words). The extended abstract submission deadline is Friday 7th December 2007. Please submit to: ETI@tudelft.nl. PhD students are especially encouraged to submit. Download call for papers.

Important dates

• December 7, 2007 – Deadline for extended abstracts
• February 8, 2008 – Notification of acceptance
• May 1st, 2008 – Registration deadline
• June 18 – 20, 2008 – Conference dates

On the conference topic

Information technology plays an increasingly important role in society and in human lives. Identity Management Technologies (e.g. biometrics, profiling, surveillance), in combination with a variety of identification procedures and personalized services are ubiquitous and pervasive. This calls for careful consideration and design of collecting, mining, storing and use of personal information.
Access, rights, responsibilities, benefits, burdens and risks are apportioned on the basis of identities of individuals. These identities are formed on the basis of personal data collected and stored and manipulated in databases. This raises ethical questions, such as obvious privacy issues, but also a host of identity related moral questions concerning (the consequences of) erroneous classifications and the limits of our capacity for self-presentation and self definition.
Which conceptions of identity are used when addressing ethical issues regarding information technology? How can the concepts of ‘identity’ and ‘identification’ be understood from a philosophical perspective when discussing morally problematic developments in information technology? What are the philosophical semantics pertaining to reference and identification which may help clarify ambiguities and ethical issues? How can we arrive at a normatively sound conception of personal identity as a starting point for the study of the ethical aspects of the (information) technology that is shaping our lives? This conference aims to discuss the theme of ‘identity’ in light of new (information) technology.

Location and registration

The conference will be held in The Hague, the Netherlands. Registration fees and procedures will be posted shortly.

Organisation / more information

The conference will be organized by Noëmi Manders-Huits. For more information on the conference, please contact ETI[at]tudelft.nl.

Letter to Utopia

I’ve just finished a reply to Nick Bostrom’s ‘Letter from Utopia’ It will appear on my website in a few days, but here’s the final document and it’s citation details:

Miah, A. (2007) Letter to Utopia, v1.0: A Reply to ‘Letter from Utopia, v1.4’ (Bostrom, 2007). PDF Document. Available Online at: http://www.andymiah.net/documents/utopia1.0.pdf

Scholars for Olympia (Athens/Olympia, 24-25 Nov, 2007)

After the fires in Greece this year, an event has been created to support the village of Olympia on its road to recovery.

 http://www.scholars-for-olympia.com/

Community, Capital and Cultures (Liverpool, 8-10 July, 2008)

Community, Capital and Cultures:
Leisure and Regeneration as Cultural Practice

Dear LSA Members and other recipients,

We are pleased to be circulating the initial announcement and call for papers for the LSA 2008 (8-10 July) conference event to be hosted by Liverpool John Moores University.

Please visit and bookmark the website, where more conference information will included in due course.–

The deadline for submission of proposals is January 15, 2008. See guidelines here

PLEASE circulate this announcement to potentially interested individuals or groups.

We look forward to hearing from you.

With best wishes,

Conference Committee Chair, Deborah Pownall D.Pownall[AT]ljmu.ac.uk

LSA Administration Myrene McFee mcfee[AT}solutions-inc.co.uk

MTV Europe Music Awards in Liverpool 2008

Liverpool to host 15th MTV Europe Music Awards in 2008

“MTV Networks International (MTVNI) today announced that Liverpool will be the host city for the fifteenth annual MTV Europe Music Awards in 2008.

This will be the third time that the UK has hosted the Awards. Previously the event has been held in London (1996 and Edinburgh (2003).

The 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards will be broadcast live across all platforms on Thursday 6th November 2008.

“It is fantastic to be back in the UK and it is only natural that Liverpool should host the fifteenth annual Europe Music Awards. Not only is it the European Capital of Culture next year but the influence of its rich music heritage is still felt today,” commented Richard Godfrey, Senior Vice President Content & Music, MTV Networks International and Executive Producer. “The state-of-the-art Echo Arena Liverpool is the perfect venue for such a large-scale multi-platform event as the Europe Music Awards and will give us the opportunity to bring newer and more exciting elements to next year’s show.”

Bryan Gray, Chairman of Liverpool Culture Company, said: “The MTV Europe Music Awards in Liverpool in 2008 is a perfect match – it’s pop music coming home. There was huge competition to stage these awards so this is a major coup for Liverpool, the new arena and our European Capital of Culture celebrations. This event and the plans we have in place to celebrate them will provide a huge international platform for the city, the arena and the music scene in Liverpool today.”

Rt. Hon James Purnell MP, Secretary of State, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, commented: “With its stunning back catalogue of musicians and current crop of chart toppers, Liverpool is a creative force in the world music industry. “It’s fantastic that MTV has chosen Liverpool to host the 2008 Europe Music Awards – this will make the European Capital of Culture year even more special.”

Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council, commented: “To attract the MTV EMAs is a watershed in Liverpool’s return to the world stage. With being European Capital of Culture, the city has rediscovered the confidence and ability to attract the world’s best. All the years of planning for 2008 and the regeneration that has developed alongside it is now beginning to pay off. Liverpool can look forward to regularly staging major international events of this calibre.”

The EMAs will be held at the Echo Arena Liverpool, a 10,600 seat venue opening in January 2008. The brand new concert and event facility is located on the city’s famous riverfront and is set to be one of the most environmentally-friendly venues of its kind in Europe.

Bob Prattey, Chief Executive, ACC Liverpool – home of the Echo Arena – said: “The MTV Europe Music Awards is a fantastic event which is broadcast across the globe and attended by some of the biggest names in the industry. For an organisation such as MTV to have chosen to come to the Echo Arena Liverpool – particularly during the city’s year as European Capital of Culture – is a real coup. We can’t wait to welcome them with open arms.”

The Liverpool bid to host the 2008 awards was led by the Liverpool Culture Company and the Echo Arena with support from the North West Regional Development Agency.

Peter Mearns, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at the NWDA, said: “The MTV Europe Music Awards is an extremely high profile event which will project the image of Liverpool across the world. This is the kind of event we had in mind when we invested and supported the Arena development and European Capital of Culture programme. Events of this calibre will showcase Liverpool at its very best with the eyes and ears of the media world all watching our famous waterfront, promoting a positive image of the city and the region to millions of people”.

Launched in 1994, the MTV Europe Music Awards has not only become one of the most sensational, maverick, live music award shows in the world but in recent years MTV has also led the way to offer the audience the opportunity to enjoy the EMAs on each different platform. From live-artist web-chat and exclusive web and mobile performances to WAP content downloads, the EMAs has pioneered and revolutionised multi-platform viewing.

Created with the single aim of honouring the music and artists – established and up-and-coming – that Europeans love, the MTV European Music Awards takes place in a different European city every year. Past host cities include Copenhagen (2006), Lisbon (2005), Rome (2004), Edinburgh (2003), Barcelona (2002), Frankfurt (2001), Stockholm (2000), Dublin (1999), Milan (1998), Rotterdam (1997), London (1996), Paris (1995) and the inaugural awards in Berlin in 1994.

In 2007 the MTV Europe Music Awards will broadcast to a potential worldwide audience of 1.5 billion people in 100 countries including a live broadcast across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In addition to its 56 TV channels globally, MTV has 47 websites, 19 broadband services and 17 mobile TV channels and mobile video-on-demand services – including distribution to the majority of the world’s video-enabled mobile handsets.”

Nano Now

The Institute of Nanotechnology is now offering its fantastic magazine for free electronic download.

http://www.nanonow.co.uk/