-- Michel Lenoble | Litterature Comparee | NOUVELLE ADRESSE - NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS Universite de Montreal | ---> lenoblem@ere.umontreal.ca C.P. 6128, Succ. "A" | MONTREAL (Quebec) | Tel.: (514) 288-3916 Canada - H3C 3J7 | (2) --------------------------------------------------------------51---- Date: Thu, 21 Oct 93 20:31:07 PST From: "William Winder" <winder@unixg.ubc.ca> Subject: Computer lab design I have a question about computer lab design that I would like to put to the Humanist community. At UBC we are in the process of designing a lab and find that several incompatible layouts for the room are needed, or at least desirable. For example, sometimes we may wish to use the lab for drop-in and would need to pack as many machines as possible into the room; probably the best configuration for that use would be by rows. At other times we may wish to hold a class in the lab, and then the center of the room would have to be open and the machines arranged around the perimeter only, perhaps in clusters. Most labs I have seen have stations that are indeed stationary. Which generally means that the room layout is decided once and for all during construction. What I would like to know is whether anyone has ever seen a lab that is designed around less stationary stations. One could imagine a PC sitting on a cart, that could be wheeled anywhere. Portable computers are in some sense mobile workstations. But it would seem technically difficult to design a unit that could be easily attached to a power supply and to the Lan. I suppose cables could be combined and run to a single coupling, and a single cable could perhaps drop down from the ceiling for each machine. But it doesn't seem like one could ever design a system that would be simple enough to allow the room to be rearranged quickly, say in 30 min. between a class and a drop-in session. Plus there are all the problems associated with machines careening around the room, such as wear and tear on the mechanical parts. But perhaps someone could enlighten me: is there any way to design a workstation that is as mobile as an office chair on casters? Any remarks would be most welcome.-- William Winder: French, U. of British Columbia, WINDER@UNIXG.UBC.CA (3) --------------------------------------------------------------42---- Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 18:20:38 -0400 (EST) From: Antony Dugdale <antdugl@minerva.cis.yale.edu> Subject: Heidegger and Cyberspace Heidegger and Cyberspace I am currently working on a project that seeks to open a space within the Heideggerian vocabulary for a non-primitivist, non-technophobic perspective. I will be using cyberspace as a model for this movement through technology towards what I will construe as a utopic vision that is in accord with Heidegger's language of the "Holy", "Revelation/Manifestation" and "Being/Appearance". If anyone out there has any knowledge about literature that has philosophically addressed the phenonemon of cyberspace (I have Michael Benedikt's book _Cyberspace_), preferably within the perspective of Continental philosophy, could you please send me some information about it? You can send to the list or private email at: antdugl@minerva.cis.yale.edu Sincerely, Antony Dugdale Dep't of Religious Studies Yale University