Writing
A collection of thoughts, research, and reflections spanning technology, sound, community, and social change.
Source
Topics
-
gfsc.communityGeeks for Social What? Our year of explorations and beginnings
Five years ago, I calmed myself with the words 'What a silly year!'. Half a decade later, this still applies.
Opens externally -
gfsc.communityTrans Digital Archiving with Dr Zoyander Street
"I'm so excited that you reached out! I love your work and it means a lot that this project connects with your practice and your communities."
Opens externally -
gfsc.communityKarrot: Community Spotlight
We emerged out of a dream to build a digital sharing platform for the world, building off the back of the success a great foodsharing platform for German-speaking regions.
Opens externally -
gfsc.communityOur plan to build bottom-up resistance to billionaire technology
We shouldn't need platforms owned by the biggest losers on the planet to live happy, healthy, connected lives.
Opens externally -
gfsc.communityHave you noticed how our lives feel louder and lonelier every year?
Technology, on the whole, promises to make our lives happier, better and more connected. But if you look around, it feels like a lot of technology actually delivers exhaustion, isolation and a feeling of being spied on.
Opens externally -
gfsc.communityResilience Web: Community Spotlight
It's a platform that maps community, social justice and environmental groups in a local area. These maps are created and maintained by the people who live there.
Opens externally -
gfsc.communityWhat's the best way to make my personal website?
The question we get the most on the Discord is simply 'how do I get started with a web presence?' As you might expect, there are a plethora of options out there today.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioGreater Manchester Trans Organisers Fund
Over the last year we administered a fund for trans organisers in Greater Manchester. We used this as an opportunity to research the priorities, goals, barriers and experiences of trans organisers on the ground.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioOur First Year of Community Technology Partnerships
Key findings from our National Lottery Community Fund funded project. What we've learnt, what we've done, what we want to do, what's next.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioThe Craftsperson and the Scientist
Two ways of working we've identified through our collaborative practice. Some people work best iteratively and some would prefer to forge ahead alone – but how do we ensure these approaches play nicely together?
Opens externally -
Singularity
"The singularity" is a well-worn concept in sci-fi. What if the really scary thing isn't an AI that takes over everything, but rather one that is exactly stupid enough it can happily take over the boring office jobs for the rest of time?
-
Are the interesting conversations in the room, or in the corridor?
Something I've noticed a lot recently when thinking about what events I want to go to is if I think the reason for going is the event itself, or the people who are at the event.
-
The First Eighteen Months of Running a Mastodon Server
We are a small community tech studio doing mostly publicly funded community sector work. We've been running a Mastodon server since November 2022.
-
Minimum Viable Organisations
It should be easy (low emotional labour, low technical labour, zero cost) to start a project with a small group of people with shared goals.
-
Artist
I've always had a complicated relationship with art. More specifically, I've always had a complicated relationship with knowing if what I make is art or not.
-
Community
'Community' is a concept at the heart of a lot of the work I've done over my life. I think for most people most of the things that bring them happiness and allow them to assert their identity are through ideas of community and family.
-
Document
Computers have been fully embedded into the operations of daily life for at least thirty years at this point. In this historically relatively short time they've utterly integrated into capitalism, but almost all our working metaphors are still based on physical things.
-
BMI
BMI, or "body mass index", is a very old — and famously completely fucked — health metric.
-
gfsc.studioAnnouncing GFSC Publications!
Sometimes we make things you can hold in your hands. Sharing a collection of publications we've made over the years and announcing a new collaboration with Pen Fight to distribute them.
Opens externally -
Estrogen
It feels suuuuper cliche to write a piece on estrogen as a transfemme who recently started HRT but the politics around the representation and technology of it are utterly fascinating to me.
-
Fax
We don't really see fax machines so much nowadays but they were a really magical and fun invention when I was a kid.
-
Go
Go is my favourite board game. I got really into it in my 20s and was dedicated enough to go pretty regularly to an IRL group in a pub a fairly long bus ride away.
-
Goodhart's Law
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
- gfsc.studio
Creating a national network of Community Technology Partnerships
How we are going to transform the relationships between people, technology and place over the next two years, thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund.
Opens externally - gfsc.studio
The Rise and Fall of Facebook Events
David Hayward and Rachele Evaroa join Kim to talk about the infiltration of all our social lives by Facebook, and how things are probably worse for venues now than they were 10 years ago.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioAnnouncing the Geeks for Social Change Podcast!
By popular demand our first episode 'How government technology limits who we can become' is out today. Mallory Moore, Zara Manoehoetoe, and Dr Kim Foale discuss technologies of state and empire.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioWhy is it so hard to do nice things, that make a difference, with other people?
Our presentation from Electromagnetic Field Festival 2022. On the surface of it it seems simple: tech types have skills, and community groups have unmet needs. Why does it feel so hard?
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioThe Trans Dimension Guide to Inclusive Events
A first look at our new zine on making events more inclusive for everyone. When we asked our collaborators for affirming experiences at events we heard 'the best I've had is mediocre.'
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioRAFTT design diary #1
Co-designing a local history archive with Oldham residents. We are currently in the early stages of working on a number of local history projects.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioWhat Happened to Nuclear Free Manchester?
Now not only do we have several companies here who manufacture or assist in the production of nuclear missiles and submarines, we put 'em in the regional marketing brochure.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioEverything is connected, but should it be?
The most important question to ask whenever you are developing software is: should this be connected to the internet at all? And if it should be, how do we minimise the amount of data we store to do so?
Opens externally - gfsc.studio
Enter... The Trans Dimension!
A new space for trans community enabled by technology and collaboration. We're really proud to finally launch The Trans Dimension, a new online community hub connecting trans communities across the UK.
Opens externally -
resistancelab.networkTaser usage by Greater Manchester Police has risen to its highest ever level
Analysis revealing a discrepancy between Greater Manchester Police's public claims about declining Taser use and actual Home Office data showing usage at more than double the rate claimed.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioimok is launched!
We've been working on imok for a while, and are glad it's now ready for public use. It's a simple bot designed to support people undertaking potentially risky activities.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioTechnology isn't a magic wand, it's a treasure map
Due to the massive amounts of money and hubris that reside in the tech sector, we now seem to believe that the same methodology used to sell pens that write upside down can somehow be adapted to fixing homelessness.
Opens externally -
resistancelab.networkA Growing Threat to Life: Taser Usage by Greater Manchester Police
Comprehensive examination of Taser deployment risks, highlighting concerns about accountability gaps and potential for serious injury or death. We advocate for the abolition of tasers.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioWhy an Email List is the Most Important Tool for Community Groups
When starting a new community group or campaign of any type, one of the first things to get right is group communication. Despite dozens of tools claiming to sort out this kind of thing, in my experience nothing beats an email list.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioThe Ladder of Citizen Participation
There's a lot of discussion about co-production, co-design and other impressive-sounding terms starting with 'co-' at the moment in tech circles. This article revisits Arnstein's 'Ladder of Citizen Participation'.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioPlaceCal and the Capabilities Approach
We discuss how a capability approach to information technology in neighbourhoods with low social capital can create embedded and sustainable Community Technology Partnerships.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioA Brief Introduction to PlaceCal
PlaceCal is a package of calendar software, education and community development. It makes it easier for residents to publish events, find information about their area, and see how to get involved in local groups.
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioPlaceCal: The Story So Far
Looking back on how PlaceCal came to be. How do we help local communities publish their events collectively?
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioTech culture is failing communities. How can we make it better?
The shift in internet and technology culture over the last decade has been phenomenal. And yet despite all this technology that's supposed to bring us together, social isolation is a major player in the current epidemic of depression and loneliness.
Opens externally -
Victory Points Suck
I really hate victory points (VPs) as a game mechanic.
-
gfsc.studioData is meaningless without social power
We have the data, but who is listening? How can we hope to solve social problems using open data when we're having trouble getting any kind of progress on social issues that have been widely documented for decades?
Opens externally -
gfsc.studioNo False Users
User stories are meant to be non-fiction. We should not be in the business of giving any more airtime to fictional user stories than we need to, given how easy it is to gather them.
Opens externally -
Understanding modern Manchester through baths and wash-houses in the 19th century
What can we learn from the baths and wash-houses of the time? This one small aspect of life in Manchester in the 1840s gives a crucial insight into people's lives and experiences.
-
Paul Graney, Pioneer of Acoustic Ecology?
I discovered Paul Graney at Manchester Histories Festival, learning about a figure notably absent from historical records.
-
Dear Friend
Dear Friend is a letter-writing project celebrating women in public life and struggles for liberation.
-
What is a factory? Or, how the Industrial Revolution made Facebook possible
Most obviously, a factory is a place: a building where products are assembled on a production line.
-
"To all Whom These Presents Shall Come Greeting:" Transcribing a Royal Charter
What does a huge certificate from 1855 have to do with the history of Hulme? This is the Manchester and Salford Baths and Laundries Company's Royal Charter.
-
Stop Making Pincushion Maps!
There has been an explosion in the use of maps to visualise data, prompted by the rise of the "data scientist".
-
Living in the ruins: my experience of New New Hulme
The poplar trees in Hulme Park were planted to beautify the area surrounding the Hulme Crescents. Historical aerial photos reveal these sturdy trees remained constant even as everything around them transformed dramatically.
-
From Civilisation to Pax Porfiriana: how I learned to stop worrying and accept colonialism
Civilization was one of the first computer games I really learnt anything from.
-
Art of Noises: risk, live music, play and power
Art Of Noises is an experimental board game centered on avant-garde musical improvisation.
-
Pass-SING: gender, sound, power and patriarchy
Sound creation and auditory perception are deeply intertwined with social hierarchies.
-
Selective Imagination: you can be anything you want, but you can't be that
For me, one of the most frustrating things about any kind of vaguely nerdy fandom is the application of what I can only describe as selective imagination.
-
Why I love watching England lose
This World Cup, I've been quite surprised to find myself really enjoying the football -- but only when England lose. Why is this?
-
Publishing PhD theses
PhDs take years, are an "original contribution to knowledge", and are generally paid for by the taxpayer.
-
Don't trust "I Side With"
I've been pointed by a few people now towards I Side With as a policy guide. This site is extremely poorly sourced.
-
Recordings from The Termite Club at Ladyfest Leeds 2007
Dug out some recordings of a noise/experimental night at Ladyfest Leeds in 2007, recorded in Holy Trinity Church.
-
Acoustic Citizenship: The Night and Day Debacle
Like many others this week, I was amazed to find out that someone moved in next to an iconic Manchester music venue, and then complained about the noise. What were they thinking?
-
Rethinking Sound and the Web: Part 3
How can very large collections of audio data be quickly and easily searched and catalogued?
-
Agriculture: Soundscape Recordings from 2007
These are some field recordings I made in 2007 as part of my BA(Hons) dissertation.
-
Experiments in JavaScript: arbor.js
Arbor.js is a great little library that lets you make visual thesaurus style springy node diagrams using JSON network descriptions.
-
Rethinking Sound and the Web: Part 2
I've bounced the ideas in Sounds and the web off a few people now and had some very valuable feedback.
-
Sounds and the Web Don't Work
Generally speaking, I think the web handles audio very badly.