ginger coons learns to blog

Localisation/Internationalization

The simple difference between an "s" and a "z" is a small but vital representation of the theme for issue 2.1 of Libre Graphics magazine. While the two letters sound the same when used in words like "localisation" and "internationalization," the cultural baggage attached to them differs. They indicate the way small regional differences are played out, the way choices are made on national and regional levels, for reasons of culture, heritage or simply backlash.

In software, localisation and internationalisation go hand in hand, with internationalisation forming the framework into which localisation is slotted. Creating a piece of software representing a notional no-place allows customisation, serving very real some-places. In technology, art, design and everyday life, we see countless examples of artefacts walking the line between localisation and internationalisation. From the no-place, wordless, pictorial instructions for assembling flat-pack furniture to the clothing hang tag written in six languages, we find different tactics for coping with our small world.

We're looking for work, both visual and textual, exploring issues of regionalisation, localisation, internationalisation and globalisation. Whether it's the cultural differences in the significance of colour, or the unique problems of non-latin type, we want to hear about and see it. We invite submissions for articles, showcases, interviews and anything else you might suggest. Proposals for submissions (no need to send us the completed work right away) can be sent to submissions@libregraphicsmag.com. The deadline for submissions is May 31, 2012.

Localisation/Internationalization is the first issue in volume two of Libre Graphics magazine. Libre Graphics magazine is a print publication devoted to showcasing and promoting work created with Free/Libre Open Source Software. We accept work about or including artistic practices which integrate Free, Libre and Open software, standards, methods and licenses.

Below, an outline drawing of an ordinary bicycle. I'm going to laser cut it out of card stock and use it as a stencil. It's forming the basis of an article I'm writing about making stencils. Photos once that's all done.

Back in May, I made a fancy pants guide for the laser cutter at ThingTank. It covers all the basics of vector graphics and the specific basics of the VersaLaser. I originally designed the booklet to be printed out. Just this week, I finally got around to tidying the manual into a digital-friendly version. It's a little specific to the laser/environment at ThingTank, but also useful for looking at the basic ideas of vector graphics and their relationship with lasers.

Download the booklet if you want.

More backlogged daily illustrations. This one is an artichoke.

It's been a while. Here's a pattern made of bats.

NOTE: This is a cross-post from the Libre Graphics magazine blog. I felt it would be relevant here, too.

Today marks the final day of the third CulturaDigital.Br festival. In attending talks and Experience Sharing sessions, two things struck me: hackerspaces are wildly popular and people are still surprised that RFID technology has drawbacks. There's something linking the two together. That something is the degree of techno-optimism still present in the DIY, hacker, maker and digital culture communities.

We see brilliant technologies being used by large organizations, often against us or simply to make a profit, and we want a piece of the technology for ourselves. So we get hold of it, we hack with it, we build our own interventions. And this feels significant. It is significant. It matters deeply that people are able to feel ownership over technologies that will only become more enmeshed in their daily lives. It's brilliant to see such enthusiasm and so much effort being put into social change through technological intervention.

The problem, as briefly highlighted by Mimi Hui of NYC Resistor, who presented on the security risks of RFID (Radio-frequency Identification), is that we don't often enough turn our interest in technology back on itself. We spend so much of our time doing interesting things with technology that we often fail to direct an intelligent, critical eye towards the tools of our production. This has been said before. It has been said by many people. But it continually fails to sink in.

Instead, we leave the job to the popular media, eager to jump on every new development and criticize it with little depth. For our intelligent criticism, we look, most often, to security researchers and academics, if we look anywhere at all. But those researchers are, more often than not, not us. They are not the ones attempting to own technologies, to make change with those technologies, to use them for purposes at turns casual and grand.

We leave the critique of our technologies to outsiders, instead of doing it ourselves. Things like the Maker's Bill of Rights approach the problem. Yet we continue with our techno-utopianism. We build for fun, or we build for change. Both are wonderful. But perhaps, though it's been said before, we need to spend a moment, every time we sit down at the bench to produce something, thinking about the ramifications of our actions. In spending a moment to take a holistic view, we might give ourselves some perspective, and some power. We might take the power to criticize out of the hands of those who do not use our tools. We might put that power into our own hands.

Here are about as many reindeer as I can fit into a 24"x12" space. Why that size? Because these reindeer are being prepared for laser cutting. Next week, I'll be making a small herd of corrugated cardboard reindeer. If you're in Toronto, you can join me. I'll be leading a holiday laser cutter workshop at ThingTank. We'll be building cool ornaments out of paper and cardboard, with the help of our friendly laser cutter. It's going to be pretty darn fun, and free, too.

You, as an intelligent user of software, have the power of choice.

You have the power to choose your tools, to understand what differences exist between options, and why. You get to decide what is most important for you. You get to decide what makes you angry and what you're willing to live with. You get to decide where to place your effort. Above all, no matter what you choose to do, remember that you have the power of choice. Your tools cannot force you to do anything you don't want to do, because you have choice. If the software you use frustrates you, you can choose to replace it with something better.

You may not realize that you have choice. You may think that you have few options. You may think that the things included with your computer are the things you need to use. They are not. They are a small subset of your options. They are a few things that happen to be in your life, mostly for the convenience of others. You, and only you, have the power to choose what is right for you. Sometimes, that may be difficult. Sometimes, it might feel as if you're swimming against the current.

Remember that you have the power of choice. You can choose for yourself, against the voices on all sides. There is no right, there is only what's right for you. It is your job to decide where your priorities should be placed. It is your job to inform yourself about the things that matter to you. And then, because you have a choice, because you are intelligent and informed, you have the power to choose for yourself.

If you choose to do something difficult, there will be pushback. If you choose to do something easy, there will be pushback. There will always be pushback, because no software is perfect, because no file format or workflow is perfect. It is this recognition that matters, the recognition that you are not powerless against pushback. If you find yourself dissatisfied with the way your software pushes you, you have the power to choose something new, to explore different options. Never feel powerless. Never feel complacent. Because you have choice.

You, as an intelligent, informed user of software, have the power of choice.

-ginger "all-lower-case" coons
Editor, Libre Graphics magazine
Free/Libre Open Source Software user since 2002
F/LOSS graphic designer since 2005

(If you feel the same way, feel free to re-post, redistribute and add your signature.)

Back in 2009, I wrote about Mertgart, my notional, vertically integrated, lambic beer. At the time, I did a logo for it. Looking at it now, though, I find myself unsatisfied. So I've done a few new logos for Mertgart. It's not there yet, but I'm pleased to have broken the text out of the confines of the bull's eye.