Cybernetics and System
Analysis, a translation of Kibernetica, publishes articles on:
software and hardware; algorithm theory and languages; programming and
programming theory; optimization; operations research; digital and
analog methods; hybrid systems; machine-machine and man-machine
interfacing. Simulation, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence,
finite automata, switching theory, and computer logic are also
covered. The journal focuses on fresh formulations of problems and new
methods of investigation. Publisher: Consultants Bureau, An Imprint of
Springer Verlag New York LLC. This has been added to Artificial Intelligence
Resources Subject Tracer™ Information Blog.
Fairview Range Regional Health Services Selects Unibased Systems Architecture, Inc's Award Winning Solutions - RMS For Enterprise Resource Management With ORMS For Surgery Management
Space time08/09/2004 03:18 PM Here's a stunning gallery
of vintage space age watches from 1949-1979. Some of these exquisite
specimens are even for sale. Link(Thanks,
Michael-Anne!)
Appreciative Inquiry, Complex Systems, and the Four Practices of Open Space
The
Idea: A combination of the Appreciative Inquiry approach, Four
Practices skills and attitudes, and Open Space meeting protocols might
be the ideal combination for dealing with complex systems -- which we
are learning most systems are.
I was initially put off
Appreciative Inquiry by the name: "Appreciative" sounded too close to
"affirmation" and "positive thinking", while "inquiry" refers to more
formal investigations driven by mandate, versus "enquiry" which is a
more fluid process driven by curiosity. But I was provoked by blogger
Chris Corrigan,
with whom I had an astonishing Skype conversation yesterday, to take a
closer look. Principal author of 'AI' David Cooperrider descri
bes
it as nothing less than "the end of problem-solving". And Cooperrider
does indeed use words like "life-affirming" and "spiritual" to
describe
AI. If you wade through this you get to the approach, described as
follows (I'm paraphrasing extensively since I find some of his
terminology unhelpful):
Discovery—exploring and discovering the
relationships and patterns in the system;
Vision—creating a clear results-oriented vision
in relation to discovered potential and overall objective;
Design—collaboratively creating alternatives,
opportunities, possibilities towards realizing the vision;
Realization—improvisational and consensual
actions, practices, experiments and outcomes that move towards
realizing the vision.
At the core of the cycle is Topic Choice, the
question that
frames the inquiry. This choice is critical since it often carries
within it presuppositions, unchallenged assumptions and limiting
points
of view of what is, and what is possible, in the system.
Cooperrider uses as an illustration an organizational system and a
challenge of dealing with rampant sexual harassment in it. The initial
problem-focused Topic Choice—"How do we reduce sexual harassment
in the
workplace", is replaced by the more visionary, strategic, human and
affirmative "How do we develop a model of quality cross-gender
relationships in the workplace." The process you then follow to
explore
that topic (or those topics—there can be more than one) and
realize the
vision has evolved substantially since AI was first developed, and is
very different from the prescriptive process used in traditional
problem-solving approaches. The best way to appreciate the approach
(it's deliberately not rigid enough to be called a methodology)
is to look at the four skills/attitudes you need to acquire to
facilitate or participate in AI effectively—which Chris explains
as the
Four Practices of Open Space (no paraphrasing
from me this time):
practice of
opening:
It's about willingness. Willingness to see, to know, to open. It's
personal and reflective, but can be felt physically in body and
charted
in organizations.
practice of
inviting:
It's about goodness. Finding benefits TO others, as in what's in it
for
them, and also benefits IN others, as in recognizing what they can add
to the process of achieving what is desired personally in the first
practice. It makes that first practice social, collective,
organizational, and cultural, but also documented in invitation
emails,
letters, posters.
practice of
holding:
It's about supporting movement and change. Providing space and time,
structures that support without making decisions for people, giving
attention, carrying in awareness or carrying forward, holding in one's
heart or home or conference room. It creates room for others to
expand,
explore, experiment... to bring new things out in the world. It is
simultaneously logistical, mental, and emotional.
practice of practicing:
It's about sustaining, returning, realizing, and making real. This is
action, taking a stand, making progress, going somewhere, documenting
results. This implies the continuation and diffusion of the above.
Standing ground, staying the course, seeing things through. It is the
personal and individual (I, me, my) pursuit of the good that WE
invite,
in the space that WE provide. It can look simply mechanical and become
deeply meditative, as we go round again, starting with opening. (Note... this might also
be called the practice of 'participating,' perhaps 'making,' or simply
'doing' or 'changing.'
Each of these 'practices' can be conducted holistically throughout the
four stages of AI. There is an enormous sense of personal responsibility
in this, as contrasted with the high level of structure and assignment
of tasks in problem-solving methodologies. There must be passion
around the topic to keep participants engaged -- and permission for
those that lose that passion to take time out or move to rekindle it
(the Law of Two Feet). And respect
is a critical component— in my discussion with Chris yesterday I
was so
enthused by his explanations of this that I often interrupted him. He
was kind enough not to point that out to me, and he never interrupted me. He was
practicing what he was trying to teach me.
And the medium by which most of this is carried out is—and this
is critical—conversation.
Chris is an awesome conversationalist. Every word he says is nuanced
by
and guided by the Four Practices. I learned more in an hour of
conversation with him (including learning about myself) than I have
ever learned in a week of intensive study. And the critical content of
the conversation is never analysis or argument, but contextual stories.
If you're not familiar with the concept of Open Space meetings, please
read this short explanation now.
I think you should then be able to see how the Appreciative Inquiry
approach, the Four Practices, and the Open Space meeting protocols fit
together. I don't know that there's an umbrella name for these three
components, but let's just call them The Approach.
My thesis in all of this is that
this Approach is brilliantly designed
to deal with (not manage, not optimize, not improve, not solve
problems
in— just effectively deal
with) complex systems and environments. And we are
learning that most of the systems and environments that we puny humans
try to affect are, in fact, complex ones.
Coincidentally (or perhaps not?) this month's running dialogue on the
AOK
Knowledge Management forum is led by Dave Snowden of the Cynefin Centre on the topic of
sense-making in complex systems.
Snowden argues that systems fall into four categories (ontologies)
that
each require different methods and tools. Simple systems are those
where there is one clear 'best practice' that always applies. For
example, in disinfecting and monitoring a water reservoir on a regular
schedule, there is one prescribed best way to do this. You don't want
authorities using their own judgement
to override this best practice, just sense, categorize and respond.
These systems are most suited to automation.
Complicated systems are what we have generally assumed we are dealing
with in business and in local ecosystems. Methodologies can be
developed following sufficient analysis to solve the
problems of how to intervene in the system to achieve the desired
change or correction. Senge's 'systems thinking', which I have
used
extensively in these pages, is a wonderful tool for dealing with
complicated systems, where the cause and effect of things is not
obvious or simple, but is knowable. Sense, analyze and respond.
Complex systems are another matter entirely. In such systems no cause
and effect is knowable—there
are just too many, perhaps an infinite number of, inter-related
variables. When consultants' analyses and solutions fail to solve a
business problem, or scientists' prescriptions or economists'
forecasts
don't pan out, it's often because they've tried to use approaches
meant
for complicated systems to address complex ones, and have
(deliberately
or inadvertently) oversimplified or overlooked some or many of the
variables. Especially since the acceptance of the Gaia theory, that
all
life (and all matter) on Earth is part of a single, complex system, we
are realizing that most of what we thought were complicated systems
are
in fact complex, not completely knowable. This is galling to
scientists, rationalists, business leaders, and the rest of us that
are
solution-oriented. Even the human body, it turns out, is more of a
complex system than a merely complicated one. And each attempt to find
a unifying theory or a fundamental constituent of all matter or the
precise size and shape and nature and age of the universe leads to the
discovery of more exceptions and variables, and realization that most
things are more complex than they appear.
This is where The Approach comes in. It is the embodiment of Snowden's
probe, sense, respond method
for dealing with complexity. It uses discovery (probing), with an acknowledgment that not
all can be known, rather than analysis. It looks at design as the
consideration of possibilities and
options instead of the creation of plans and blueprints. It
seeks to realize a vision through the knowledge-sharing and ideation
of conversations, rather than
to do so by implementing an action plan and assigning 'who will do
what by when'. It trusts
individuals
to act upon the emerging understanding of the group and in the
collective interest, improvisationally, unhampered by orders and
hierarchical channels, rather than prescribing precisely what must be
done. The Open Source meeting method optimizes the learnings and
teachings of the group instead of hamstringing them with structure and
process. And the Four Practices serve to guide and show each
individual
how they can most effectively contribute to that collective learning
and doing process. No 'command and control', no 'solutions'. Just
powerful learning, collaboration, and doing.
Of course, none of this is new. It's been used by aboriginal
communities for centuries to guide decision-making and steer
communities in their collective best interest. As I keep saying, there
are no new ideas, just the (re-)discovery and application of old ones
in creative and appropriate ways, and the unlearning of all the myths
and misinformation we have been led, quite voluntarily and innocently,
to believe.
I had just finished designing and sharing with some of my colleagues a
quite elaborate model for a Solution Centre/Think Tank. Oh, well, back
to the drawing board.
Scalable vector graphics and animation are two of the hallmark
features of Macromedia's nearly ubiquitous multimedia player. Yet the
company has done a poor job of creating -- or convincing third-party
developers to create -- components that make it routine for people to
work with spatial and temporal data. And in the recent push to
legitimize Flash as a rich-client platform, the company has
de-emphasized what is at the core of every Flash movie: its timeline.
It's a hard sell, admittedly. Microsoft is also having a tough time
articulating the business case for the scalable vector graphics, 3-D,
and animation capabilities it's building into Avalon, the
next-generation Windows graphics subsystem. My advice? Stop
worshipping the raw power of next year's graphics processing unit, and
start showing developers concrete ways to help users deal with their
four-dimensional data. [Full story at
InfoWorld.com]
I hadn't yet seen Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote when I wrote this column. The demos,
collectively, add up to a pretty convincing shot across Longhorn's
bow. But I'd level the same criticisms at Apple's use of its hot new
graphics technologies. Here Phil Schiller applies a bump distortion
to an image of a tiger, and here he creates the Electric Zebras album
cover. Later, Jobs casually shows off liquid distortion as he drags Dashboard
widgets onto the desktop. Absolutely luscious eye candy. But, to what
end?
...
Collaboration Across Space (and a Wee Bit of Time)
Music Professor Chris Chafe played his celleto with
Berkeley musician Roberto Morales, left, in Wallenberg Hall during an
intercontinental jam session June 18 that took advantage of
sophisticated teleconference technology. Projected on the screen are
Hogne Moe, left, and Oyvind Berg, who "virtually" joined the concert
from the Royal Academy of Technolgy in Stockholm. The quartet played
three improvisational concerts as part of the "Point 25" project (the
title refers to the one-quarter-second delay of the Internet
broadcast) sponsored, in part, by the Wallenberg Global Learning
Network. Audience members in Stanford and Stockholm also were able to
watch each other.
Yesterday I drove to a meeting in another state. On the way there and
back, my car radio was tuned to no regular broadcast but instead to
the pirate radio station in my briefcase. Its components: a $20 Belkin
FM transmitter, a $90 Creative Nomad MuVo MP3 player, and
do-it-yourself programming. As I drove to my destination, I listened
to Shai
Agassi's talk at the Accelerating Change Conference, courtesy of
ITConversations.com. On
the way back, I listened to an audio interview I'd done the day
before, reviewing which parts I might want to use in a podcast or
weave into an article.
When I got home, I dialed in to a conference call, fired up a WebEx
session, and conducted another interview -- in this case, one that
featured a demonstration of a software product. I made an audio/video
recording of that demo, and, as soon as I get a chance to edit it down
to the most interesting parts, I'll share it with you on my blog.
At the end of the day, it struck me that time-shifted content and
space-folding telepresence are becoming complementary.
...
Martin Geddes, who blogs thoughtfully at telepocalypse.net about
telecommunications and IT, recently asked an
important question: "How do telecom and transport substitute [for] or
complement one another?"
Geddes argues that although trillions of dollars ride on the answers,
we mostly don't have a clue. It's a fascinating essay that I won't try
to summarize, but one key point -- the distinction between "travel for
sense of presence" and "travel for information exchange" -- is
relevant here.
As Geddes notes, we're only now approaching the point at which telecom
can sustain credible telepresence. Last weekend, my DSL was upgraded
from 384Kbps to 3Mbps, and I can take it to 7Mbps if necessary. At
what point does the link carry enough emotional bandwidth to begin
displacing travel for sense of presence? I'm not holding my breath.
Apple's iChat AV was cool before, and it'll be cooler now, but it's
not going to replace face-to-face meetings any time soon.
Meanwhile, three megabits per second sure makes travel for information
exchange seem sillier than it already did. Coupled with podcasting, it
makes the two kinds of travel nicely complementary. The podcasting
model is partly based on the assumption that TiVo-izing your audio
content should be a scheduled process. Now that I can download hours
of audio in mere seconds, I just grab what I need on the fly.
Shifting time, folding space, juggling atoms and bits -- is this how
we want to live and work? Yes! [Full story at InfoWorld.com]
Norson Telecom Consulting Today Released: IPTV in China: "Time for a Commercial Break?" Norson Analysis Report
Norson Telecom Consulting Today Released: IPTV in China: "Time for a Commercial Break?" Norson Analysis Report02/01/2005 08:48 PM Report Briefing: Late in 2004, China witnessed a flurry of new
partnerships and announcements related to Internet Protocol Television
(IPTV) promising to bring high-quality video to both computers and
television sets. Besides offering customized, interactive video
services, IPTV is envisioned as a low-cost solution for expanding the
reach of Internet services into China's huge television audience.
Behind this potentially vast market, however, lie serious obstacles:
regulatory confusion, a lack of unique content, and serious threats
from competing technologies and services. In this report, Norson looks
at the promise of IPTV and the substantial threats this new technology
faces in China. [PRWEB Jan 31, 2005]
Human Recognition Systems Launch Latest Version of Biometric Time & Attendance Solution
Sentry Security Systems Inc. announces the Sentry Mobile DVR-4 channel, real-time video and audio recording, shock and vibration resistant.-
Sentry Security Systems Inc. announces the Sentry Mobile DVR-4 channel, real-time video and audio recording, shock and vibration resistant.-09/24/2004 03:18 AM With real time video (30fps/channel) and audio recording capabilities,
simple to use IR remote control interface and excellent stability, the
shock and vibration resistant Sentry SMD-04 Mobile Series DVR is the
optimal mobile video security solution when durability, longevity and
high quality video are required. Leading the competition in
performance, features, quality and price, the Sentry Mobile DVR is at
the forefront of mobile digital video surveillance technology. [PRWEB
Sep 24, 2004]
Beyond the Moon: Inside Bush's space plan (part 2 of 3) | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference
SPACE.com: space news, games, entertainment and science fiction
SPACE.com: space news, games, entertainment and science fiction01/06/2004 04:31 AM SPACE.com: space news, games, entertainment a... SPACE.com: space
news, games, entertainment a... SPACE.com: space news, games,
entertainment a .. Mars Rover success .. .. up there ..
Space
The 2 Crewmembers of the ISS will attempt for a second time to
repair a circuit breaker to a broken gyroscope. If everything goes as
planned and no further spacesuit problems they will spend approx 6
hours replacing the circuit breaker. [NASA]
Space odyssey The 'father of the internet' on taking the net into space
FLASH! Space Ship One makes space history06/21/2004 12:28 PM “SpaceShipOne has rocketed into the history books to become the
first private manned spacecraft to fly to the edge of space and back.
The craft, built by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, went over
space’s 100km (62 mile) boundary, said mission control. It was
carried to 50,000ft (15km) by its launcher White Knight at which point
it was unleashed. It fired its rockets to continue its trip.”
The BBC’s servers are being hit hard at the moment - if you
can’t get the story, try again later.
Three and a half-year old SETI@home project identifies candidate radio signals from space, heads for Arecibo to take second look | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference
Newsday.com - AP Regional08/14/2004 04:55 AM 8-Year Old's First Communion Invalidated by Church .. because she used
a gluten free wafer .. here’s the
story
newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--communioncontrove0812aug
12,0,6656242.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire track this
site | 3 links
Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. Signs a Letter of Intent with FUJIFILM Medical Systems, USA
Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. Signs a Letter of Intent with FUJIFILM Medical Systems, USA12/17/2004 06:40 PM Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. (ISS) signs a letter of intent with
FUJIFILM Medical Systems, USA (Fuji) for it to purchase additional
technology and marketing rights for its Synapse system for the Picture
Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) market. [PRWEB Dec 2,
2004]
Lynx Wealth Management Systems and STB Systems Announce Strategic Alliance
Lynx Wealth Management Systems and STB Systems Announce Strategic Alliance09/17/2004 02:49 AM Lynx Wealth Management Systems, the leading supplier of wealth
management systems to the financial services industry, has entered
into an alliance with leading compliance software specialist STB
Systems. [PRWEB Sep 17, 2004]
Perot Systems signs 10-year deal with Key Safety Systems
Longmont Area Economic Council sponsors "Company Success Stories" Forum presented by the Colorado Software and Internet Association; Executives from Digital Globe, Time Warner Telecom and Evolving Systems shared stories, advice, lessons learned
Hey, Regional Carriers Can Merge Too01/06/2005 06:52 AM When Cingular finished buying AT&T Wireless, it was as if everyone who
wrote about mobile operators had a pre-conceived notion that the
market needed six carriers. To fill that empty slot, suddenly Alltel
started to get much more recognition -- despite being a regional
carrier. With Sprint and Nextel merging, there's going to be more
room on that six spot list. However, it looks like this merger mania
also represents a chance for some of these regional operators to
consolidate a bit themselves. The latest is that it looks like Alltel
(rather than being bought by
Verizon Wireless, as some had thought) is trying to buy
Western Wireless, another regional carrier. Both are CDMA-based,
so that makes integration easier. Also, with little overlap, the
combined companies start to look a lot more like a national carrier
(though, they're not completely there). What was that about
consolidation among the national carriers creating less competition?
It certainly looks like some of the regional players see it as a
vacuum they can fill. Anyone taking bets on which regional carriers
will be rumored to be merging next?
Regional referendums 'postponed'07/22/2004 02:57 AM A senior Whitehall source tells the BBC ministers intend to postpone
two of the three referendums for regional assemblies.
ANC push for regional domination
ANC push for regional domination04/22/2004 05:16 AM For the first time, South Africa's ruling party nominates premiers to
all nine regions, after their election triumph.
Regional Google Filtering
Regional Google Filtering10/25/2002 07:23 AM Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman have released their latest
report, systematic documentation of how Google.de and Google.fr filter
controvertial sites. Google gives no notice that results are being
filtered (as they do with the DMCA) and have nothing about it on their
website (although they did acknowledge the practice in one email I
found). Declan McCullagh asked for a list of blocked sites but Google
refused to supply one. The authors list 113 sites they found thru
trial-and-error to be blocked and again let you submit your own and
record the results. Disclaimer: I assisted the authors with portions
of the report....
Kozio, Inc. Introduces Two New Products; Colorado embedded systems software developer saves customers time, money with ready-to-run manufacturing test and self-test software for shipping products
Unibased Systems Architecture, Inc. Positioned Number One in Prestigious Independent National Study for Surgery Management Systems
Unibased Systems Architecture, Inc. Positioned Number One in Prestigious Independent National Study for Surgery Management Systems06/25/2004 02:16 AM KLAS™, a research and consulting firm specializing in monitoring and
reporting the performance of healthcare’s information technology (HIT)
vendors, announced today, the publication of a Surgery Management
Systems Study. The 296 page report positioned Unibased Systems
Architecture, Inc.’s product periOperative Resource Management System
(ORMS) first among HIT surgery management products from an impressive
list of firms including GE, McKesson and Cerner. [PRWEB Jun 25, 2004] Grok Description matches for Space Time Analysis of Regional Systems 0.7.2 GrokA matches for Space Time Analysis of Regional Systems 0.7.2
Space Time Analysis of Regional Systems 0.7.2
The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry:
The
Idea: A combination of the Appreciative Inquiry approach, Four
Practices skills and attitudes, and Open Space meeting protocols might
be the ideal combination for dealing with complex systems -- which we
are learning most systems are.
I hadn't yet seen Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote when I wrote this column. The demos,
collectively, add up to a pretty convincing shot across Longhorn's
bow. But I'd level the same criticisms at Apple's use of its hot new
graphics technologies. Here Phil Schiller applies a bump distortion
to an image of a tiger, and here he creates the Electric Zebras album
cover. Later, Jobs casually shows off liquid distortion as he drags Dashboard
widgets onto the desktop. Absolutely luscious eye candy. But, to what
end?
...
Here's a stunning gallery
of vintage space age watches from 1949-1979. Some of these exquisite
specimens are even for sale.