Addressing algorithmic discrimination

Considering the intersection of technical design and civil rights when building and using classification algorithms.

Potential structural deficiencies within the Gokteik Viaduct Railway Bridge in Upper Burma

This article identifies potential structural deficiencies and safety concerns pertaining to the Gokteik Viaduct railway bridge in Shan State, Burma. The colossal Gokteik Viaduct, which spans 2260 ft and boasts of a superstructure height of 320 ft, was constructed by an American steel company under British contract with the intent of expanding the Burma Railway into Yunnan, China at the beginning of the twentieth century. The author investigates the historical aspects of the Gokteik Viaduct and summarises structural concerns related to the technical design, quality of construction, weathering and wartime damages sustained during the Burma Campaign. The author concludes that an in-depth structural inspection is necessary to ensure the future safety of train passengers.

Modularity in FOLIO: principles, techniques and tools

From its earliest inception, FOLIO was conceived not as an ILS (Integrated Library System), but as a true Services Platform, composed of many independent but interdependent modules, and forming a foundation on which an ILS or other library software could be built out of relevant modules. This vision of modularity is crucial to FOLIO’s appeal to the library community, because it lowers the bar to participation: individual libraries may create modules that meet their needs, or hire developers to do so, or contribute to funding modules that will be of use to a broader community — all without needing “permission” from a central authority. The technical design of FOLIO is deeply influenced by the requirements of modularity, with the establishment of standard specifications and an emphasis on machine-readable API descriptions. While FOLIO’s modular design has proved advantageous, it also introduces difficulties, including cross-module searching and data consistency. Some conventions have been established to address these difficulties, and others are in the process of crystallizing. As the ILS built on FOLIO’s platform grows and matures, and as other application suites are built on it, it remains crucial to resist the shortcuts that monolithic systems can benefit from, and retain the vision of modularity that has so successfully brought FOLIO this far.

FORTRESS WALLS WITH USABLE INTRA-WALL SPACE IN BACTRIAN FORTIFICATIONS

На примере крепости Узундара рассматривается такой элемент фортификации, как крепостные стены с внутристенным эксплуатируемым пространством. Анализ конструктивных особенностей образца позволяет внести предложение в неустоявшуюся терминологию, существующую в литературе и относимую к данному виду фортификации. Предлагается выделять: монолитные стены и стены с внутристенным эксплуатируемым пространством. Многочисленные аналогии в архитектуре Бактрии и соседних историко-культурных регионов еще раз подчеркнули особенную близость фортификации Бактрии и Хорезма. Рассмотрение десятков памятников с использованием двойных стен в хронологическом срезе всего античного периода требует внести поправку в устоявшееся в науке мнение о магистральном переходе в эпоху эллинизма к монолитным стенам. Использование крепостных стен с внутристенным эксплуатируемым пространством в фортификации и эллинистических и кушанских крепостей и городов позволяет утверждать, что возводились они по необходимости и возможности и в зависимости от десятков разнообразных факторов. Taking the Uzundara fortress as a case study, the paper reviews a specific element of fortification, which is fortress walls with usable intra-wall space. The analysis of technical design of the construction helps clarify some terms used in literature to describe this type of fortifications. It is proposed to single out monolithic walls and walls with intra-wall usable space. Multiple analogies in Bactrian architecture and neighboring historical and cultural regions reiterate special similarity of fortifications in Bactria and Khwarazm. The review of dozens of sites with the use of double walls chronologically throughout the Classical period requires changes to be made in the established opinion that in the Hellenic period the shift to monolithic walls occurred across the board. The use of fortress walls with intra-wall usable space in fortifications and Hellenistic and Kushan fortresses suggests that they were constructed, when necessary and when possible, depending on multiple factors.

When the winner takes it all: online campaign factors influencing the success of donation-based crowdfunding for charitable causes

This research explores the extent to which campaign factors may influence the success of donation-based crowdfunding (DCF) promoted online with social purposes. Factors that may explain the success of online fundraising campaigns for social causes are firstly identified from previous literature and linked to DCF campaigns through a set of hypotheses: disclosure, imagery, updating, and spreadability. Following, their explanatory capacity is measured through quantitative analysis (logistic regression) based on 360 all-or-nothing campaigns fostered by nonprofits through an online platform. Results confirm the high explanatory capacity of determinants related to the updating and spreadability of the campaign. However, factors related to the disclosure and imagery do not influence their success. This research suggests that the success of online campaigns is closely related to share and update transparent information of those details that contributors deem relevant. Implications are drawn for the effective technical design and management of DCF campaigns channeled through digital media, and specifically for the engagement with potential online communities of funders in digital platforms.

Decolonizing Philosophy of Technology: Learning from Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches to Decolonial Technical Design

The decolonial theory understands that Western Modernity keeps imposing itself through a triple mutually reinforcing and shaping imprisonment: coloniality of power, coloniality of knowledge, and coloniality of being. Technical design has an essential role in either maintaining or overcoming coloniality. In this article, two main approaches to decolonizing the technical design are presented. First is Yuk Hui’s and Ahmed Ansari’s proposals that, revisiting or recovering the different histories and philosophies of technology produced by humankind, intend to decolonize the minds of philosophers and engineers/architects/designers as a pre-condition for such decolonial designs to take place. I call them top-down approaches. Second is some technical design initiatives that, being developed alongside marginalized/subalternate people, intend to co-construct decolonial sociotechnical solutions through a committed, decolonizing, and careful dialog of knowledge. I call them bottom-up approaches. Once that is done, the article’s second half derives ontological, epistemological, and political consequences from the conjugation of top-down and bottom-up approaches. Such consequences challenge some established or not yet entirely overcome understandings in the philosophy of technology (PT) and, in so doing, are meant to represent some steps in PT’s decolonization. Even though both top-down and bottom-up approaches are considered, the article’s main contributions are associated with (bottom-up) decolonial technical design practices, whose methodologies and outcomes are important study cases for PT and whose practitioners (i.e., decolonial designers) can be taken as inspiring examples for philosophers who want to decolonize/enlarge PT or make it decolonial (that is, a way of fostering decoloniality).

A Narrative Review on Disinfection Tunnel for Covid-19: A Friend or Foe?

T The use of a disinfection tunnel has become increasingly popular to eliminate the Covid-19 on the body particularly during the pandemic, however insufficient attention paid to its effectiveness and safety. We undertake a narrative review on the disinfection tunnel and evaluate their effectiveness and safety. The keyword searches of Medline, EMBASE, PubMed, EBM reviews database and manual searches of Google Scholar and US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) was used. An analysis of the papers reviewed were categorized into three main themes: technical design of disinfection tunnel; effectiveness of disinfectant used; and safety or harmful effect. To date, no relevant specific scientific studies or evidence retrieved about disinfection tunnel for public usage including effectiveness and safety. We found a various designs of disinfection in the market today. It mainly originated from an innovative idea to assist in limiting the spread of Covid-19. However, current available evidence does not support its effectiveness and safety. Although it may lead to a false sense of security, this potential approach appears attractive thus creates an opportunity for further research.