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- Path: sparky!uunet!ogicse!news.u.washington.edu!stein.u.washington.edu!hlab
- From: SPA0287@AppleLink.Apple.COM (Alfons Almendros Morcillo,ES,IHD)
- Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
- Subject: WHO: Barcelona Computer Cultures Group
- Message-ID: <1ibb34INN2f2@shelley.u.washington.edu>
- Date: 4 Jan 93 22:46:00 GMT
- Article-I.D.: shelley.1ibb34INN2f2
- Organization: University of Washington
- Lines: 120
- Approved: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu
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- Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
-
-
-
- Hi Bob!
-
- This is an introduction to the Barcelona Computer Cultures Group.
-
- Alfons Almendros
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Computer Cultures Group
- Catalan Society of Technology
- INSTITUTE OF CATALAN STUDIES
-
- The Computer Cultures Group, founded recently under the auspices of
- the Institute of Catalan Studies, serves as a focal point for studying
- various technologies (information science, artificial intelligence,
- telecommunication, and virtual reality among others) as they interact
- with the sociological and cultural elements of our society.
-
- The Group is very inter-disciplinary in nature. We wish to include a
- wide variety of people (engineers, historians, economists, musicians,
- poets. etc), people with and without formal academic backgrounds or
- technical expertise. These different viewpoints and perspectives are
- critical in searching for a complete picture of the impacts of these
- technologies as they seep into the fibres of our culture.
-
- The Institute of Catalan Studies, which hosts the Group, consists of
- various, independent Societies dedicated to the study of the various
- Arts and Sciences (Archeology, Economics, Literature, Physical
- Sciences, Philosophy, etc). The Institute was founded at the beginning
- of this century as a part of a cultural, social and political movement
- which creates in Barcelona and Catalonia the ambiance that nurtures
- individuals like Gaudi, Picasso, and other modernist and noucentiste
- architects, poets, businessmen, and politicians.
-
- The Institute is located in a fifteenth century Gothic palace in the
- heart of the old city. The Library of Catalonia, housed at the
- Institute, has over 800.000 books and is situated in a system of
- Gothic naves built to host a hospital in the fifteenth century.
-
- Despite the historic setting, the Institute also keeps one foot in the
- 21st century. Its Computer Studies and Development Center is equipped
- with an IBM AS400 and an IBM RS 6000. A local area network connects
- these machines with a variety of personal computers and terminals.
- Most importantly, the Institute is connected to the Internet, a
- communications network linking hundreds of thousands of computer
- centers around the world. The Internet, itself an object of our study,
- creates a virtual community of experts from all fields. It collapses
- the distances that previously prevented real-time, international
- collaboration.
-
- The Group's first publication, Information Technologies and Cultural
- Differentiation, Lectures of the First Computer Conference at the
- XXIII Catalonia Summer University, is nearing publication. This
- conference was, in fact, the birth of the Group. In the year since
- then, diverse working and informal meetings have been held. The
- members of the Group plan to meet frequently (both physically, and
- virtually through the Internet).
-
- Diverse doctoral dissertations (some written at Carnegie Mellon
- University) and other papers concerning our work are being compiled
- for publication both electronically and on paper. We also plan to
- publish the works in CD-ROM format which will include an interactive,
- graphical browsing application.
-
- The Group has chosen the nickname ROGER for its historical and
- symbolic significance. Roger is the name of a famous thirteenth
- century Catalan Admiral: Roger de Lluria. Roger also appears in a
- popular, old Catalan folksong called Adeu Roger. In aviation, Roger is
- the signal given over the radio to indicated that one party has
- understood the other, a tradition sometimes carried over into the new
- world of electronic communication.
-
- The initial members of the group are:
-
- Santiago Guillen Engineer
- Director of the Computer Science Diffusion Center of the
- Autonomous Government of Catalonia.
- Tel.: (3) 215 33 23Fax: (3) 487 23 46.
-
- M; Jesus Buxo Anthropologist
- Cultural Anthropology Professor. Geography and History Faculty.
- University of Barcelona.
- Tel.: (3) 440 92 00Fax: (3) 449 85 10
-
- Llorenc Guilera Engineer
- Director of New Technologies of Oracle Iberica S.A.
- Tel.: (3) 419 50 50Fax: (3) 419 12 27
-
- Alfons Almendros Economist
- Information Officer of the Center for Information and Business
- Development of Autonomous Government of Catalonia.
- Tel.: (3) 415 54 40Fax: (3) 237 77 36
- E-Mail: SPA0287@applelink.apple.com
-
- Salvador Alegret Chemist
- Analytical Chemistry Professor. Autonomous University of Barcelona
- (Bellaterra).
- Tel.: (3) 581 19 76 Fax: (3) 581 20 03
-
- Enric Casassas Chemist
- Analytical Chemistry Emeritus Professor. University of Barcelona.
- Tel.: (3) 402 11 00Fax: (3) 411 14 92
-
- Josep Amat Engineer
- Robotics Professor. Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
- Tel : (3) 401 69 74 Fax: (3) 401 70 40
-
- Antoni Josep Gomez. Filologist
- Tel: (3) 429 86 01 Fax: (3) 429 86 01
- E-Mail: 100027.107@compuserve.com
-
- (N.B. The country code for these numbers is 34.)
-
- Institute of Catalan Studies
- Carme, 47
- 08001 Barcelona
- Tel.: (3) 318 55 16Fax.: (3) 412 29 94
- E-Mail: PROGROMM@AS400.IEC.ES
-