“What You Can Invent over the Weekend” and the Recurring History of Corporate DIY

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-132
Author(s):  
Samantha Shorey
Keyword(s):  
Digital Fabrication ◽  
General Motors ◽  
Maker Movement ◽  
Industrial History ◽  
Hands On ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cyclical Process ◽  
Do It Yourself ◽  
A Current ◽  
Single Set

Abstract At the emergence of the contemporary American maker movement, O’Reilly’s Make: magazine positioned making as a method of innovation beyond the system of industrial research and development. These narratives emphasised the value of hands-on, material engagement for inspiring novel ideas and building inventive minds. This Do-It- Yourself (DIY) spirit was positioned as inherently oppositional to the corporate groupthink of “do as you’re told”. Today, dominant public discourses tend to emphasise the power of digital fabrication tools - collapsing much of the innovative potential of the maker movement into a single set of material practices and thus limiting the analytic field of making research. In this “Entering the Field” format article, I explore two maker texts: early issues of Make: magazine (published between 2005 and 2007) and a collection of pamphlets produced by the General Motors Information Rack Service throughout the 1950s. These pamphlets were distributed for free in order to inspire and advance General Motors (GM) employees. Through connecting these collections, I both extend and complicate an industrial history of making as a source of innovation. I argue that, more than any particular set of tools, it is DIY practice that defines the core of Make: magazine’s vision of making. However, as the pamphlets at GM illuminate, these practices are never fully outside of industries that benefit from the betterment of makers. Taken together, these stories reveal DIY as alternately challenging and contributing to corporate logics - a cyclical process that yields a current cultural moment in which makerspaces are installed in the ground floor of offices at Google, Facebook and, unsurprisingly, GM.

scholarly journals Co-Design of Do-It-Yourself Face Shield in Japan Under COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 502-510
Author(s):  
Kazutoshi Tsuda ◽  
Mariko Sakuragi
Keyword(s):  
Laser Cutting ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Digital Fabrication ◽  
Numerical Control ◽  
Maker Movement ◽  
The Past ◽  
Open Design ◽  
3D Printers ◽  
Do It Yourself

  Along with the spread of open design environments and various types of digital fabrication tools (e.g., computer numerical control machines, laser cutting devices, and 3D printers), the "maker movement" or "personal fabrication" has been spreading worldwide over the past decade. This case study introduces grassroots activities in Japan that are employing personal fabrication tools to manage the COVID-19 crisis, focusing on the co-design of do-it-yourself face shields for healthcare workers. We address various issues emerging from the activities of face shield production: (1) development of face shield designs and materials, (2) examination and information sharing regarding the practicality and safety of open-source designs, and (3) collaboration with local factories. Thus, we demonstrate the significance of maker contributions to COVID-19, and provide suggestions for challenges in the future.

Post-Soviet economy development: From the past to the future

2017 ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Yasin
Keyword(s):  
Present Situation ◽  
Soviet Economy ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Democratic Development ◽  
The Past ◽  
Current Period ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Working Out ◽  
A Current

The article is devoted to major events in the history of the post-Soviet economy, their influence on forming and development of modern Russia. The author considers stages of restructuring, market reforms, transformational crisis, and recovery growth (1999-2011), as well as a current period which started in2011 and is experiencing serious problems. The present situation is analyzed, four possible scenarios are put forward for Russia: “inertia”, “mobilization”, “decisive leap”, “gradual democratic development”. More than 30 experts were questioned in the process of working out the scenarios.

An Introduction to Nonlinear Chemical Dynamics

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irving R. Epstein ◽  
John A. Pojman
Keyword(s):  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Chemical Dynamics ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Chemical Oscillators ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Undergraduate Laboratory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mechanistic Basis ◽  
Nonlinear Chemical Dynamics

Just a few decades ago, chemical oscillations were thought to be exotic reactions of only theoretical interest. Now known to govern an array of physical and biological processes, including the regulation of the heart, these oscillations are being studied by a diverse group across the sciences. This book is the first introduction to nonlinear chemical dynamics written specifically for chemists. It covers oscillating reactions, chaos, and chemical pattern formation, and includes numerous practical suggestions on reactor design, data analysis, and computer simulations. Assuming only an undergraduate knowledge of chemistry, the book is an ideal starting point for research in the field. The book begins with a brief history of nonlinear chemical dynamics and a review of the basic mathematics and chemistry. The authors then provide an extensive overview of nonlinear dynamics, starting with the flow reactor and moving on to a detailed discussion of chemical oscillators. Throughout the authors emphasize the chemical mechanistic basis for self-organization. The overview is followed by a series of chapters on more advanced topics, including complex oscillations, biological systems, polymers, interactions between fields and waves, and Turing patterns. Underscoring the hands-on nature of the material, the book concludes with a series of classroom-tested demonstrations and experiments appropriate for an undergraduate laboratory.

scholarly journals Photoconduction of Polar and Nonpolar Cuts of Undoped Sr0.61Ba0.39Nb2O6 Single Crystals

Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 780
Author(s):  
Elke Beyreuther ◽  
Julius Ratzenberger ◽  
Matthias Roeper ◽  
Benjamin Kirbus ◽  
Michael Rüsing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Measurement ◽  
Excitation Wavelength ◽  
Trap States ◽  
Strontium Barium Niobate ◽  
Strontium Barium ◽  
Current Voltage ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Current ◽  
Complex Manner

In the last two decades, variably doped strontium barium niobate (SBN) has attracted a lot of scientific interest mainly due to its specific non-linear optical response. Comparably, the parental compound, i.e., undoped SBN, appears to be less studied so far. Here, two different cuts of single-crystalline nominally pure strontium barium niobate in the composition Sr0.61Ba0.39Nb2O6 (SBN61) are comprehensively studied and analyzed with regard to their photoconductive responses. We present conductance measurements under systematically varied illumination conditions along either the polar z-axis or perpendicular to it (x-cut). Apart from a pronounced photoconductance (PC) already under daylight and a large effect upon super-bandgap illumination in general, we observe (i) distinct spectral features when sweeping the excitation wavelength over the sub-bandgap region as then discussed in the context of deep and shallow trap states, (ii) extremely slow long-term relaxation for both light-on and light-off transients in the range of hours and days, (iii) a critical dependence of the photoresponse on the pre-illumination history of the sample, and (iv) a current–voltage hysteresis depending on both the illumination and the electrical-measurement conditions in a complex manner.

scholarly journals The dimensions of streaming: toward a typology of an evolving concept

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1210-1225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Storstein Spilker ◽  
Terje Colbjørnsen
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Live Streaming ◽  
General Audience ◽  
Industrial History ◽  
On Demand ◽  
History Of ◽  
Media Research ◽  
Key Dimensions

Based on research on the development of streaming solutions across media forms and industries, this article traces the dynamics and dimensions of the notion of streaming. It theorizes streaming as an evolving concept, and argues against strict, set and limited definitions such as those suggested by Lotz and Herbert et al. A short substantive and industrial history of streaming is provided, recognizing its many manifestations and variations. Five key dimensions are identified, and trends and traits within each of them discussed: (1) professional versus user-generated streaming, (2) legal versus piracy streaming, (3) on-demand versus live streaming, (4) streaming on dedicated versus multi-feature platforms, and (5) niche versus general-audience streaming. The article concludes by pointing out how streaming is a concept that metaphorically unites media research across industries, practices, and media forms, encouraging more comparative research.

Golden Opportunities: Jewelry Making in Birmingham between Mass Production and Specialty

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Carnevali
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Mass Production ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Product Market ◽  
Industrial Districts ◽  
Mass Consumption ◽  
Industrial History ◽  
Flexible Specialization ◽  
Productive System ◽  
History Of

Narratives of flexible specialization as an alternative to mass production are largely absent from the industrial history of twentieth-century Britain. In this article, I challenge the notion that we should relegate small firms and industrial districts to a marginal place in the historiography of this period. Drawing from a range of sources, I explore the history of Birmingham's jewelry makers to show how they adapted the traditional productive system of the district to respond in a dynamic way to the challenges of rapid product market differentiation. As jewelry increasingly became a commodity for mass consumption, the firms in the Birmingham district used a combination of specialty and mass production as a strategy to both satisfy and create demand.

Luther's Word on Man's Will: A Case Study in Comparative Intellectual History

1984 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-667
Author(s):  
Mark Migotti
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
History Of Thought ◽  
Thematic Unity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
Single Set

It is commonplace to observe that the history of thought reveals certain recurring patterns whose mode of expression changes according to context. It is equally apparent that to chart the salient characteristics of an influential way of thinking – to give concrete, clearly defined shape to the usually tangled fundamental impulses informing a cast of mind – is a complex, difficult task which calls for attention from (at least) the historian, the psychologist, the philosopher and, in the case of religious figures and movements, the theologian alike. With regard to the manner of thinking embodied in the theological doctrines of Martin Luther such a task is fraught with more than the usual number of pitfalls. In the first place, following recent Luther scholarship, we must be wary of assuming that the great Reformer held fast to a single set of theological opinions throughout his long career. We shall not, therefore, attempt to reach conclusions applicable to Luther's thought as a whole, but rather shall focus exclusively on a number of key early expositions of the Theologia Crucis. Here, between about 1514 and 1520, we find, according to our argument, enough thematic unity to warrant the search for underlying principles. A second, less easily disposed of difficulty is the lack of a working consensus as to how and with what aims in mind one should even begin an historical analysis of Luther's texts. For example, to the believer who regards Luther's basic tenets as in a straightforward sense divinely inspired, the attempt to extract from his writings the ingredients of a certain thoroughly human way of thinking will seem doomed to inadequacy from the start. Likewise, for different reasons, many of today's.

Rates of Depressive and Anxiety Disorders in a Residential Mother–Infant Unit for Unsettled Infants

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 836-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Phillips ◽  
Louise Sharpe ◽  
Stephen Matthey
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Major Depression ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Not Otherwise Specified ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Current ◽  
Infant Behaviour

Objective: Depression and anxiety are known to be common among women presenting to residential mother–infant programmes for unsettled infant behaviour but most studies have used self-report measures of psychological symptomatology rather than diagnostic interviews to determine psychiatric diagnoses. The aim of the present study was to determine rates of depressive and anxiety disorders and rates of comorbidity among clients of the Karitane residential mother–infant programme for unsettled infant behaviour. Method: One hundred and sixty women with infants aged 2 weeks–12 months completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and were interviewed for current and lifetime history of depressive and anxiety disorders using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV diagnosis (Research version). Results: A total of 25.1% of the sample met criteria for a current diagnosis of major depression, 31.7% had met criteria for major depression since the start of the pregnancy, and 30.5% of clients met criteria for a current anxiety disorder. Of note were the 21.6% who met criteria for generalized anxiety disorder or anxiety disorder not otherwise specified (worry confined to the topics of the baby or being a mother). High levels of comorbidity were confirmed in the finding that 60.8% of those with an anxiety disorder had experienced major or minor depression since the start of their pregnancy and 46.3% of those who had experienced depression since the start of their pregnancy also met criteria for a current anxiety disorder. Conclusions: There are high levels of psychiatric morbidity among clients attending residential mother–infant units for unsettled infant behaviour, highlighting the importance of providing multifaceted interventions in order to address both infant and maternal psychological issues.

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