http://thefrailestthing.com/2014/03/14/taylorism-on-digital-steroids/
Taylorism on Digital Steroids
Here are reminders, if we needed them, that the role of technology in our world transcends artifacts, tools, and devices. It also entails, as Jacques Ellul well understood, a particular way of looking at the world and its problems (and, as Morozov has suggested, it constitutes certain conditions and phenomenon as problems).
From Salon:
“Amazon equals Walmart in the use of monitoring technologies to track the minute-by-minute movements and performance of employees and in settings that go beyond the assembly line to include their movement between loading and unloading docks, between packing and unpacking stations, and to and from the miles of shelving at what Amazon calls its “fulfillment centers”―gigantic warehouses where goods ordered by Amazon’s online customers are sent by manufacturers and wholesalers, there to be shelved, packaged, and sent out again to the Amazon customer.
Amazon’s shop-floor processes are an extreme variant of Taylorism that Frederick Winslow Taylor himself, a near century after his death, would have no trouble recognizing. With this twenty-first-century Taylorism, management experts, scientific managers, take the basic workplace tasks at Amazon, such as the movement, shelving, and packaging of goods, and break down these tasks into their subtasks, usually measured in seconds; then rely on time and motion studies to find the fastest way to perform each subtask; and then reassemble the subtasks and make this “one best way” the process that employees must follow.”
From Business Insider:
“There’s a fine line between micromanaging and house arrest, and British grocery store chain Tesco [...] seems determined to cross it. According to the Irish Independent, employees at the company’s Dublin distribution center are forced to wear armbands that measure their productivity so closely that the company even knows when they take a bathroom break.
The armbands, officially known as Motorola arm-mounted terminals, look like something between a Game Boy and Garmin GPS device. The terminals keep track of how quickly and competently employees unload and scan goods in the warehouse and gives them a grade. It also sets benchmarks for loading and unloading speed, which workers are expected to meet. The monitors can be turned off during workers’ lunch breaks, but anything else―bathroom trips, visits to a water fountain―reportedly lowers their productivity score.”
These folks would’ve been in trouble. They might also have had the good sense to revolt, being peasants and all.
Pieter Brueghel, The Harvesters (1565)
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Sent from my iPhone
Hey all,
Posted to the sudo-kids list, wanted to cross-post to make sure it's on
your radar!
// Matt
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jeffrey Gordon <jgordon.oakland(a)gmail.com>
Date: Sat, May 17, 2014 at 6:35 PM
Subject: [Sudo-kids] sudo-kids "Code Docent" idea
To: sudo-kids(a)lists.sudoroom.org
Hi everyone. My name is Jeffrey Gordon. I'm a 4th grade teacher at Ruby
Bridges Elementary School in Alameda, where I've taught for seven years.
My school's population is 80% free/reduced lunch (high poverty) and 10% of
our students are homeless, as our population zone includes The Alameda
Point Collaborative.
I've been developing a curriculum in Scratch, that I use to reinforce my
math lessons. Each week, my students build a little modeler that
reinforces that week's work in math. My students use their free time
throughout the week to add to and change the projects. Here's a studio
that my students have organized of some of those projects. We also use it
to share resources for projects.:
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/373147/projects/
My goal this year was to create a portable and modular curriculum to share
with other teachers to use in their own classrooms. What I've come to
understand, is that this is a basically unfeasible goal; while nearly every
educator I show them to sees the value of the modelers instantly, none of
them has felt comfortable leading their students to build them.
Here's a Google Doc of the curriculum in progress. I'm doing the page
layouts this summer, but most of the actual projects have been coded and
tested by kids at this point, and just need to be commented and laid out.
I'm hoping to get about 25 lessons done over the next month or so:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WXwnMZTeIcZYLMyB_seGqaZ8R9JOhFQTh-wXP17…
I spoke to Matt about the issues you've had with liability and insurance
concerns. It sounds like a new space might solve some of those problems,
but I think I have an idea that may compliment the existing sudo-kids
project.
Many elementary schools have art docent programs, which bring in community
volunteers to lead students in art lessons while a teacher attends to the
business of running the classroom. The liability and legal concerns in
running one of these programs are relatively simple: volunteers will need
to undergo a federal background check and Livescan fingerprinting.
Districts have existing procedures in place for these sorts of things,
which means the principal of the school will make the choice, rather than a
committee of administrators (which is how most good things die in
education.)
I could arrange matchmaking for docents and teachers, facilitate background
checks, model the lessons for docents with actual students, and assist with
teachers with integrating the curriculum into their everyday math
instruction.
What I would need is one or two (to start) volunteers to work with a couple
of known excellent educators and their 4th-grade students next year on a
weekly basis. Those volunteers would need to be competent with Scratch and
able to read and understand the code linked to above. That would mean
about 60 kids would benefit.
If you have the time and inclination, please, look closely at the modelers
and the curriculum.
If anyone is interested in working with me, there are a couple of weeks
left in the school year, and I'd be happy to demo a lesson with my
students.
Thanks,
Jeffrey Gordon
4th Grade Teacher
Ruby Bridges Elementary School
Alameda, CA
_______________________________________________
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https://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-kids
On Fri, May 16, 2014 at 10:47 PM, Marina Kukso <marina.kukso(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> what's the current timeline for the move?
It's one of many questions in the ongoing lease negotiation. We prefer
June 1, the owners prefer July 1. We are going to reach a compromise
that benefits as many people as possible. In the past week since I
wrote that "Omni update", my personal sense has now become that July 1
is more likely to happen.
George & Laurie have already been given notice, and they are ok with
the ambiguous timeline, i.e. they won't be an issue one way or the
other.
We're very sorry about the ambiguous, opaque and last-minute nature of
this process. We realize how this impacts our community's ability to
plan and hold events, and how it strains our trust and faith. We will
be able to talk in MUCH greater detail as soon as we have a lease. The
lease will almost definitely be signed in less than two weeks, most
likely sooner than that. We continue to encourage interested people to
come to meetings and join working groups to help with this process. A
few of us are getting burned out and would VERY MUCH welcome
additional hands, brains, hearts, perspectives!
Thanks everybody!
Hey Sudoers,
Anyone going to FEDCON... I mean Defcon, this year? Want to go in on a
hotel room? Anyone interested in driving/caravaning there? Anyone have any
interested in spending the entire time there with me solving the badge
crypto/puzzle challenge, like I did last year?
--Andrew
--
-------
Andrew Lowe
Cell: 831-332-2507
http://roshambomedia.com
just thought i would call attention to it. its down there somewhere in
your indox.
*☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟*
*☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟*
*☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟*
*☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟*
*☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟*
*☟**☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟*
*☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟☟*
In 8 days, Sudoroom will host these amazing people!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1430569700530791/
--
The Bay Area is blessed to have some amazing and inspiring community
health projects that bring healing and medicine to the people. These
projects save lives, increase access and sustain communities in
struggle.
Come for an evening celebrating healers building projects to reclaim
medicine in different communities and hear their stories!
Donations will be accepted for Sharena of People's Community Medics in
a effort to get her a van so she can continue her work
Speakers:
Sharena Thomas- People’s Community Medics
http://www.peoplescommunitymedics.org/
Sharena is a long-time organizer, warrior and single mother of 4 who
has co-founded People's Community Medics. She is the daughter of
parents who she frequently stopped with as a child to respond to
community emergencies. She has worked within her community of various
projects including community cleanups and anti-police brutality
efforts fighting for justice for families of victims in her community
as well as family members.
The People’s Community Medics (PCM) was founded in the summer of 2011
by Sharena Thomas and Lesley Phillips. As members of the Oscar Grant
Committee we learned that the BART police refused to call an ambulance
for 20 minutes for fatally wounded Oscar Grant, despite the passionate
pleas for medical help from his friends who were detained at the
Fruitvale station by the police. That experience as well as our
knowledge that 911 calls often do not result in an ambulance arriving
in a timely manner to Black, Brown and poor neighborhoods largely
inspired us to teach our people basic emergency first aid so that we
can help one another until an ambulance arrives.
Michelle Steinberg- Consultas Naturistas Program at Street Level Health Project
http://www.streetlevelhealth.org/
Michelle started Consultas Naturistas, the nutrition and herbal
medicine clinic at Street Level Health Project, in 2009 to provide
free, Spanish/English bilingual, integrative health care to low-income
individuals in East Oakland. Hundreds of clients have received
holistic care and medicine through the program. Visits last
approximately 30-60 minutes per person and involve a client-centered
discussion of health history and lifestyle, focused on nutrition,
exercise, and sleep habits. Clients receive free custom blended
tinctures and teas, as well as vitamins and supplements.
Street Level Health Project, which houses the program, is a
multi-purpose organization focused on both health care navigation and
worker empowerment. In addition to Consultas Naturistas, there is a
doctor on-site three days/week to provide basic medical treatment,
while health navigators direct clients to outside service providers
for on-going or specialized care. Other core programs include mental
health services, exercise/yoga classes, free lunches and food bags,
and a workers’ collective.
Orlando- HEPPAC, Berkeley Free Clinic, Oasis
http://www.casasegura.org/http://www.berkeleyfreeclinic.org/
Orlando a community advocate at HEPPAC and BFC and a senior peer
educator at Oasis Clinic. He will talk about his experiences in
approaching hep c, hiv and other health related concerns, primarily
among former and current consumers of substance. It's all in the
approach.
Laura--Berkeley Free Clinic
Laura works with the Berkeley Free Clinic and will speak on her
experience as well as the pitfalls of liberal healthcare.
On Sat, May 17, 2014 at 10:35 AM, Romy Snowyla <romy(a)snowyla.com> wrote:
> The omni is cool but it's interesting how cleanly it dovetails with the MacArthur Bart transit village. It'll certainly make Temescal call again .. That neighborhoods gone downhill lately ..
How do you think the Omni will dovetail with the "MacArthur BART
Transit Village"?
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Hi all!
The Omni Oakland Collective is the non-profit organization serving as an
umbrella for the current 'collective of collectives' seeking to move
together into 4799 Shattuck. We are currently in the process of
applying for 501c3 status.
"OMNI Oakland Collective is comprised of several Bay Area collectives.
Its express purpose is to build consensus among member collectives
with minimal possible bureaucracy for the administration of a common
space and sharing of resources for the use and stewardship of the
greater community.
The point of the OMNI Oakland Collective is NOT to function as any
sort of governing body for the groups involved in any general sense.
There are no senators. Its only and sole point is to administer the
space, pay bills, make group decisions about the shared space, resolve
any conflicts between the groups in the space, interface with the
state, banks, authorities, etc. Logistics and bureaucracy: That's it."
See the current draft of the bylaws here:
http://wiki.omni-oakland.org/w/Bylaws
Feedback is requested over the next month to incorporate them into the
new version of the bylaws. You can post feedback or questions to this
thread, make a diff on the wiki, or add to the Riseup pad:
http://pad.riseup.net/p/omnibylaws
Cheers,
Jenny
http://jennyryan.nethttp://sudomesh.orghttp://thevirtualcampfire.orghttp://technomadic.tumblr.com
`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
"Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories."
- -Laurie Anderson
"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining
it."
-Hannah Arendt
"To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."
- -Stéphane Mallarmé
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
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