Invisible Users

An account of how young people in Ghana's capital city adopt and adapt digital technology in the margins of the global economy. The urban youth frequenting the Internet cafés of Accra, Ghana, who are decidedly not members of their country's elite, use the Internet largely as a way to orchestrate encounters across distance and amass foreign ties—activities once limited to the wealthy, university-educated classes. The Internet, accessed on second-hand computers (castoffs from the United States and Europe), has become for these youths a means of enacting a more cosmopolitan self. In Invisible Users, Jenna Burrell offers a richly observed account of how these Internet enthusiasts have adopted, and adapted to their own priorities, a technological system that was not designed with them in mind. Burrell describes the material space of the urban Internet café and the virtual space of push and pull between young Ghanaians and the foreigners they encounter online; the region's famous 419 scam strategies and the rumors of “big gains” that fuel them; the influential role of churches and theories about how the supernatural operates through the network; and development rhetoric about digital technologies and the future viability of African Internet cafés in the region. Burrell, integrating concepts from science and technology studies and African studies with empirical findings from her own field work in Ghana, captures the interpretive flexibility of technology by users in the margins but also highlights how their invisibility puts limits on their full inclusion into a global network society.

For the last 20 years the dominant form of user interface has been the Graphical User Interface (GUl) with direct manipulation. As software gets more complicated and more and more inexperienced users come into contact with computers, enticed by the World Wide Web and smaller mobile devices, new interface metaphors are required. The increasing complexity of software has introduced more options to the user. This seemingly increased control actually decreases control as the number of options and features available to them overwhelms the users and 'information overload' can occur (Lachman, 1997). Conversational anthropomorphic interfaces provide a possible alternative to the direct manipulation metaphor. The aim of this paper is to investigate users reactions and assumptions when interacting with anthropomorphic agents. Here we consider how the level of anthropomorphism exhibited by the character and the level of interaction affects these assumptions. We compared characters of different levels of anthropomorphic abstraction, from a very abstract character to a realistic yet not human character. As more software is released for general use with anthropomorphic interfaces there seems to be no consensus of what the characters should look like and what look is more suited for different applications. Some software and research opts for realistic looking characters (for example, Haptek Inc., see http://www.haptek.com). others opt for cartoon characters (Microsoft, 1999) others opt for floating heads (Dohi & Ishizuka, 1997; Takama & Ishizuka, 1998; Koda, 1996; Koda & Maes, 1996a; Koda & Maes, 1996b).

Every child has a fear or a special need. The Invisible Friends series was written with the sole purpose of reaching just one child that feels he or she is all alone or that nobody understands. The Logan's Poems section was written for Barbara's youngest grandson, who has special medical needs. This poetry section is meant to make children think, laugh, and remember. This book is also written to help both children and parents laugh, and it may possibly make them think and shake their heads. Invisible Friends is dedicated to Victor's mother and Barbara's friend, Hazel Furness. Logan, Barbara's youngest grandson, suffers from a mixture of ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, and light autism. The poems were written to help Logan learn to laugh and be proud of himself. This, in turn, makes life easier on his brothers and sisters. Barbara Horne was blessed with two daughters, Tammy and Connie, twin sons, James and John, and seven grandchildren. Writing poetry is her deep passion. As a cancer survivor, she knows the power of children's laughter. Victor Furness has a son, Robert, who has Aspergers syndrome. Being mentally challenged, Robert was bullied in school. This inspired Victor to write children's stories full of hope and understanding.

Listening to the chatter of her six-year-old daughter, Cammi, Connie Cantland begins to wonder if Cammi's imaginary friend could be more than just imaginary. Connie knows her friend and coworker, Dani, believes in the survival of souls after the death of bodies, and the reincarnation of souls, so she shares her concerns with Dani about Cammi's supposed friend. Dani introduces Connie to Dacque LaRose: a friend and mentor on souls and reincarnation. Connie and Dacque's conversations propel Connie and her husband Carson into an educational journey into reincarnation of souls, soul groups, past life regression sessions, spirit guides, and conversations with souls, of which Connie and Carson previously had absolutely no knowledge of.

"Demographic and technological trends have yielded new forms of work that are increasingly more precarious, globalized, and brand centered. Some of these shifts have led to a marked decrease in the visibility of work or workers. This edited collection examines situations in which technology and employment practices hide labor within the formal paid labor market, with implications for workplace activism, social policy, and law. In some cases, technological platforms, space, and temporality hide workers and sometimes obscure their tasks as well. In other situations, workers may be highly visible--indeed, the employer may rely upon the workers' aesthetics to market the branded product--but their aesthetic labor is not seen as work. In still other cases, the work occurs within a social interaction and appears as leisure--a voluntary or chosen activity--rather than as work. Alternatively, the workers themselves may be conceptualized as consumers rather than as workers. Crossing the occupational hierarchy and spectrum from high- to low-waged work, from professional to manual labor, and from production to service labor, the authors argue for a broader understanding of labor in the contemporary era. This book adopts an interdisciplinary approach that integrates perspectives from law, sociology, and industrial/labor relations"--Provided by publisher.

With breadth and depth of coverage, the Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology, Second Edition has a multi-disciplinary scope, drawing together comprehensive coverage of the inter-related aspects of computer science and technology. The topics covered in this encyclopedia include: General and reference Hardware Computer systems organization Networks Software and its engineering Theory of computation Mathematics of computing Information systems Security and privacy Human-centered computing Computing methodologies Applied computing Professional issues Leading figures in the history of computer science The encyclopedia is structured according to the ACM Computing Classification System (CCS), first published in 1988 but subsequently revised in 2012. This classification system is the most comprehensive and is considered the de facto ontological framework for the computing field. The encyclopedia brings together the information and historical context that students, practicing professionals, researchers, and academicians need to have a strong and solid foundation in all aspects of computer science and technology.

*A mesmeric, harrowing and ultimately uplifting childhood memoir about identity, family and mental health that has touched so many readers around the world* 'So raw and full of so many emotions. I didn't want the book to end' @ftsworld 'It's hard to put into words how sacred this book is' @lisainthecity27 'I've literally read it in one sitting. Glued to every single word' @lorencoles 'Thank you for shining a light on 'different' children. Thank you for showing that there is no normal. But most of all thank you for proving that even when it's hard to make friends...there is always someone looking out for you' @gabrielle.rea It was an ordinary day in 2016. In Gatwick Airport, Jonathan and his wife Anna were having breakfast with their two little children while waiting for their flight to be called. And then it happened, a familiar sensation that Jonathan hadn't had for decades: an out-of-body experience that transported him to another place, the safe place he used to escape to in his mind when he was a boy. Because growing up in conservative 1980s Dublin, where there was little tolerance for children who were 'different', Jonathan Joly was, indeed, a different sort of child: creative, expressive, and - on the inside - a girl. The limitations of the people around him to understand his differences led to years of tyrannical bullying and abuse, forcing him to withdraw within himself to the point of clinical absence. His only chance for survival was the inner world he created for himself, rich with loving and supportive friends and playmates, that only he could see. Jonathan's invisible friends were his lifeline, and on that day at the airport, they came flooding back, and have remained with him to this day. This extraordinary childhood memoir is not only an important, thought-provoking and exhilarating read, it gives hope and community for all those who have ever felt 'other', and proves how vital it is to provide children with the safe space to be themselves. In All My Friends are Invisible, Jonathan Joly, known widely as one of social media's most successful content creators, shares the secret he's kept hidden these many years. He shows the beautiful world he retreated to time and time again when life was unbearable for his 'skin machine'. Most importantly, he introduces us to his invisible friends, and in so doing you may be transported back to the friends you had as a child that no one else could see, and who may have saved you, too. 'This will blow you away'- Stylist 'Joly's prose is sensitive and heartbreaking...darkly compelling' - Business Post 'An extraordinary and thought-provoking memoir' - Belfast Telegraph