text:
- 1 General Interaction Issues / bugs
- 2 Main View
- 3 List View
- 4 Details View
- 5 Welcome Screen
- 6 Dialogs
General Interaction Issues / bugs
murrayc: I have commented on some of these. Where I have not commented, please just assume that I agree. murrayc: Note to other readers: I asked Daniel to ignore the awful Layout dialog because it's only ever been a temporary solution until we get the drag-and-drop layout working properly.
"Open Failed" dialog after cancelling creation of a new document from template doesn't make sense.FIXED
"Processing" dialogs popping up when loading a document are small and all over the place. Embedding these into the main view would be good, but otherwise they should be centered and a bit more detailed.FIXED (Dialogs have been cleaned up, could still consider embedding)
- murrayc: Shall we use GtkInfoBar?
- "This database has no tables yet!" should not appear every time the tables dialog is closed.
- murrayc: How can I reproduce this exactly? File a bug if necessary.
- danielb: Create a new empty document, open the Tables dialog and close the dialog before adding new tables. If this information should be always present to the user, it would be better to show it as a label in the main window. Also, menu items that don't work without a table should probably be insensitive, rather than displaying the dialog when activated.
- murrayc: How can I reproduce this exactly? File a bug if necessary.
- A resize triangle is always useful, could be combined with a status bar.
- murrayc: Where? For What?
- danielb: A statusbar could be used as the container widget for all the info labels at the bottom. Even without a status bar a resize triangle would be good to have. It is sad that Gtk makes it harder than it should be to add one.
- murrayc: Where? For What?
- "Save as Template" functionality is not obvious. Where should the file be saved? Why does it not appear in my list of templates after saving it in my home folder? How do I create a new document from it?
- murrayc: Yes, this is only useful for developers of Glom itself, to create the examples. It should not be visible. Maybe we can make it visible when providing a command-line option. Or even better, just make it a command-line tool.
"Add / Delete / Open" button combination is often used, but not always consistent.FIXED
- murrayc: Please list the actual cases.
- danielb: Main list view has "Delete / Open / Add", dialogs have "Add / Delete / Open". The latter seems more logical to me. Is there a reason why the list view has a different setup?
- murrayc: Please list the actual cases.
- Also, "Open" can be a little ambiguous, "Details" might be more clear in most cases.
Main View
- "Table" and "Mode" at the top could just as well be dropdown menus, rather than forcing the user to go the menus. The layout of the "Table" header is also not very attractive.
- murrayc: I fear that users won't expect the entire UI to change just when they change one choice in a combo box.
- danielb: I would be surprised if this would turn out to be an actual issue in practice and I don't think that it would outweigh the benefits in any case (for the table selection that is). It also wouldn't be hard to revert to a simple label, in case it doesn't work out for some reason.
- murrayc: I fear that users won't expect the entire UI to change just when they change one choice in a combo box.
Unless there are imminent plans to add more modes, "Find mode" could be a toggle rather than a radio selection.FIXED
- The notebook adds a lot of visual clutter, considering that it only contains two very small pages, which also provide small click targets (especially compared to the space they take up).
- murayc: Yes, and it wastes space around the edges. I working on a patch to just have two (Details, List) toggle buttons.
- The fact that switching to details view shows the details of the selected record makes a lot of sense, but is slightly surprising.
- murrayc: What other possibility is there? Or is this only an issue when you have previously looked at a record in the details view?
- danielb: Yes, as long as it is displayed as a toggle, I would expect "Details" to show me what it was showing previously, rather than opening the selected record. For this reason I don't think that it should be a toggle (more on that in the layout proposal).
- murrayc: What other possibility is there? Or is this only an issue when you have previously looked at a record in the details view?
Related button groups should be homogeneous or at least have a minimum size.FIXED
- murrayc: For instance, where?
- danielb: Referring to the button groups at the bottom of the main view, "Delete / Open / Add", "Add / Delete", and "First / Back / Forward / Last".
- murrayc: For instance, where?
Clicking on an empty cell in an empty row and cancelling adds a new dataset.FIXED
"Found: All Records: 3" is confusing.FIXED (moved the items around to appear as mentioned in murray's comment)
- murrayc: Well, that should be Records: 3 Found: All, I think. Glade and GtkBuilder and me-editing-the-XML-by-hand keep moving that around accidentally. Better suggestions are welcome. It's based on FileMaker - see the left hand side here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FileMaker_Pro_Screenshot.jpg
- Very wide minimum size. It would be better to scroll horizontally when the window is too small.
Can the minimum width of columns be reduced?
- murrayc: Should be fixed already. The entry widgets were stupidly wide for a while until I fixed a silly bug recently.
- danielb: Yes, this is much better. It would still be nice if the window could be made even smaller by adding scrollbars, but perhaps that is technically difficult.
- murrayc: Should be fixed already. The entry widgets were stupidly wide for a while until I fixed a silly bug recently.
In the File menu, "Import", "Save As Example" and "Shared On Network" are lacking mnemonics. Suggesting "m", "a", and "h" respectively.FIXED
"Shared On Network" should probably be "Shared on Network", see http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/design-text-labels.html.en#layout-capitalization. Possibly "Save As Example" => "Save as Example", as the "As" is used as a preposition in this case.FIXED
"Data" mode mnemonic should be "D".FIXED
Duplicate mnemonics should be avoided:FIXED
Copy / Clear (suggesting "e" for Clear)WONTFIX(?) These are stock items, so probably not worth the bother.
Relationships for this Table / Relationships Overview (suggesting "O" for Overview)FIXED
Layout / Script Library (suggesting "S" for Script Library and "h" for "Show Layout Toolbar").FIXED
Translations / Test Translation (suggestion "a" for "Test Translation")FIXED
Glade mockup of details view proposed changes (does not include changes of the application menu). The lower buttons should always show icons, even if icons on buttons are disabled by default. Whether or not to also show text labels is not important for the sake of this mockup, both would be perfectly fine. The records status text in the lower right has been reworded to be more clear.
Tabs are replaced with a toolbar, which unclutters the appearance and saves space. The "Back to List" button is replaced with a "Details" button in list view. This also makes it more obvious that clicking this button will show the details of the currently selected item. To allow quick switching between the views, going back to list should pre-select the previously shown record.
The table label is replaced with a combobox, which allows quick switching between tables without going to the menu.
The "mode" label has been removed from the main UI. Going to find mode (by selecting the Find menu item) could show an additional toolbar at the top with a quick search bar and an "Exit Find Mode" button. This also avoids (or reduces) the input field growing excessively large. This could be using the "extra view widget" look and feel, which is e.g. used by Nautilus for the search view or by gedit when a document was modified on disk. The widget could also include a label describing how to search using specific data fields.
- The Table is a very primary part of navigation. So it should at least be at the left.
- danielb: I was thinking about swapping the positions of the table combo and navigation button. I wouldn't put both elements to the left, but that's not an important issue.
- "Back to List" suggests that there's a whole history. But it's just a details/list toggle, so that seems confusing.
- danielb: It could also be "Go to List" or something similar, that certainly deserves more consideration. It is a hierarchy with two levels though, so making it look like a toggle isn't a good idea in my opinion. When in list view, it does the same thing as "opening" a record, so it is going one level deeper into the hierarchy. Going to the list is going back one level to the top of the hierarchy. As a toggle, I would not expect it to change the active record. "Details" is also a duplication of the "Open" button at the bottom (if I'm not mistaken), so I think this should be consolidated. E.g. the "Open" button could be removed in favour of a similar button in the toolbar, which turns into a "List" button when details are displayed. This could also be two separate buttons, each one being insensitive where appropriate (this would be pretty much the same as the toggle buttons, just a different visualisation).
(Very ugly and rough mockup of find toolbar)
(Nautilus Search Bar)
List View
- Arrows next to table headers are missing (to indicate active sort order).
- The folder icon for opening details is not entirely clear, and a very small target.
Details View
Input fields are very large. Could this be reduced?
- murrayc: Fixed already, as mentioned above.
- Date chooser dialog doesn't need more detail than the title and calendar widget. Icon, primary text and secondary text are not necessary. Could be a popup (as in Evolution). Help button seems excessive and doesn't lead to anything useful right now (what would it possible explain?).
- murrayc: Sure. A popup sounds nice. Otherwise, if it's a dialog, I think the "Please select a date to enter in this field." text is helpful.
- Date chooser dialog button could have a calendar icon rather than "...".
- murrayc: Yes. Please make a GNOME Art request.
Welcome Screen
- Background window is useless, as the welcome dialog is modal. Gray window in the background does not add anything to first impression.
Inappropriate icon, dialog is not a question dialog.FIXED (just hidden for now)
Missing window icon.FIXED
Glom starts with title ".: - Glom" in the window list.FIXED
- murrayc: This might be fixed already.
- danielb: Yes, now it reads "Untitled: - Glom". Also, opening a document shows "Document Name: - Glom" before it switches to "Database: Table - Glom". At least the colon could be omitted if no table is loaded. (now fixed)
- murrayc: This might be fixed already.
Title overload. Too much text. Too many repeating verbs.FIXED mostly, by hiding the primary text.
- Selections are phrased as verbs, e.g. "Select File".
- murrayc: What could they be instead.
- danielb: I suggest to show a limited number of recent items first, and then call this item "Other..." and put it at the end. This way the focus is put on the frequently opened items, and the meaning of the "Other" item should be immediately clear. This also matches with the file chooser button, which shows the list of bookmarks with an "Other..." item in the end.
- murrayc: What could they be instead.
- Many clicks required for common actions (open existing file, create new document).
- Unnecessary clutter caused by empty document groups.
- murrayc: What empty document groups? Maybe you just have Ubuntu's broken package that doesn't have the examples/templates.
The red icon used for empty groups inappropriately indicates an error ("no sessions found on the local network" does not look like an error, but a vaguely useful information).FIXED
Notebook padding not aligned with action buttons.FIXED
Spacing is not HIG conform.FIXED
- Quit buttons are not commonly used in Gtk applications anymore, so an alternative may be preferable.
- Either: Make welcome screen optional and non-modal (but keep on top). Replace "Quit" with "Close", and make the initial Glom window usable. Set a reasonable initial title (e.g. just "Glom") and enable File menu options (new, open, etc). Close the welcome screen automatically if a document is opened from the Glom window. Possibly add a "Do not show again" option to the dialog (but that should be accompanied by a preference setting to undo). Remove the dialog title.
- murrayc: Yes, I don't like having a welcome screen in general. It's meant to be mostly educational. We should explore better behaviour.
- Or (I suggest this option for simplicity): Make welcome screen a normal window. Don't show the initial Glom window, until a document is being opened. Replace "Quit" with "Close". Keep the dialog title.
- murrayc: Yes. I'd like to hide the main window when it's empty.
Remove the dialog icon. It is not necessary and adds clutter. This is not a standard question dialog, complex dialogs don't need icons.FIXED
Remove the primary label, as almost the exact same text is repeated in the tab labels.FIXED
- Remove the notebook, and show both lists side by side in frames. This makes it possible to get a quick overview and removes one extra click in many cases.
- murrayc: No. Creating a new database is the unusual action, and it shouldn't complicate the simpler actions for opening an existing database.
- danielb: A notebook adds complexity too though, and reduces clarity. I don't believe that it helps, but the same design would still work with a notebook.
- murrayc: Also, putting it all in one window would make that window very big (particularly if you do have networked databases in the list) and complicated.
- danielb: Adding multiple layer is not making it less complicated. Yes it is fairly big, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course this has to be well thought through and reasonably limited (with scrolling content if absolutely necessary).
- murrayc: No. Creating a new database is the unusual action, and it shouldn't complicate the simpler actions for opening an existing database.
Adjust border spacing to 12 pixel and align the borders, see http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/design-window.html.en#layout-dialogsFIXED
Glade mockup. Advantages are an uncluttered appearance, and a reduction of redundant text for faster parsing. All items are buttons and only require a single click to activate.
The individual items are GtkButtons with RELIEF_NONE and custom packing of an Image and a left-aligned label. The recent documents come first, because they are most likely to be the most frequently accessed. Recent documents should of course have the Glom document icon instead.
Recent Documents are limited to five, Local Network and Template sections need to have a reasonable limit after which they start scrolling. But this should rarely be necessary. If a section is empty, it can contain a similar string to the one shown under Local Network (using <small> markup).
- murrayc: No. Creating a new database is the unusual action, and it shouldn't complicate the simpler actions for opening an existing database.
- murrayc: Also, putting it all in one window would make that window very big (particularly if you do have networked databases in the list) and complicated.
- murrayc: Most of the items in the mockup don't appear clickable. So the typical user just sees a big complicated dialog with a Close buttons. I think most would just click Close and move on. The existing dialog is not perfect, but I think exactly this would be worse.
- danielb: The items appear as clickable as toolbar items, with buttons appearing on mouse over. Unfortunately Gtk doesn't seem to provide a better (standard) way to display clickable labels (I also mentioned this on my blog). I still think it is much easier to understand this dialog, but otherwise the items could also be displayed as standard buttons. It would look ugly, but it would be just as usable. I don't think that "most" users would just click Close when they see this dialog (this is something we could test for easily), but some might indeed. If the main window is already usable, this would not be a big problem though. If the main window is not displayed, then it may be better to call the button "Quit" after all. "Quit" worries me a little though because it usually closes all windows of an application. The user has no way of knowing whether Glom is single process or not, and shouldn't have to.
All Dialogs
Missing window icon.FIXED in most cases, but still needs to be looked out for. Another common issue is that transient is not set correctly and/or the dialog is not set to center on the parent.
Many dialogs have horizontal separators which are deprecated.FIXED in most cases, should file individual issues now.
- Many dialogs do not have the right spacings (12px border, 18px between content and action buttons). See http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/design-window.html.en#layout-dialogs.
- The question mark icon is used all over the place. It should not be used for Alerts, etc. And with complex dialogs the icon is probably overkill.
Save Document / Creating From Example File
- When creating a new document, using a title such as "Create Document" or "New Document" would be clearer.
- murrayc: I have avoided that because it's often more than just a document. For instance, it can create a database on a central server. One day the document might even just be a link to the database, with all the document's other XML in the database itself. Also, this is not a traditional document-based application - it also has immediate saving of changes. I don't want to give misleading visual cues.
- danielb: But right now it is "Save Document", which is even more confusing. What could it be instead?
- murrayc: I have avoided that because it's often more than just a document. For instance, it can create a database on a central server. One day the document might even just be a link to the database, with all the document's other XML in the database itself. Also, this is not a traditional document-based application - it also has immediate saving of changes. I don't want to give misleading visual cues.
- The explanation before the "Title" label should wrap, so it doesn't force the dialog to be wide. Consider using <small> markup.
- murrayc: There is a general problem (with a bug in bugzilla) about GtkLabel not wrapping properly. It needs height-for-width (also in bugzilla) to work properly.
There should be a colon after the "Title" label.FIXED
"New Database" should have more spacing towards the element above and less spacing to the element below to emphasize the grouping.FIXED, this was an issue with an empty label taking up space.
- Perhaps "Create Database" or "Database Setup" would be clearer.
The general layout of the save dialog with database setup attached to it is not ideal, but it's probably not worth changing the default layout.FIXED, some spacings have been improved, which is about as much as can be done without a complete redesign.
Connection Details
Dialog should only have one title, primary text is redundant. Consider "Connect to Server" as window title, removing the primary text.FIXED
- murrayc: If dialogs should never have primary text, why isn't this the default in Glade?
- danielb: Message dialogs (and save dialogs, etc) have primary text, but no window title instead. Normal dialogs have no primary text. Double titles should always be avoided.
- murrayc: If dialogs should never have primary text, why isn't this the default in Glade?
Form labels should have colons.FIXED
- murrayc: This might be fixed already.
- danielb: I'm still missing the colons.
- murrayc: This might be fixed already.
Form fields should start 12px from the end of the longest label.FIXED
- Consider "Server" instead of "Host" for consistency with the GNOME connect to server dialog.
The "Connect" button apparently has a hard-coded image, as it still shows despite button images being disabled in Ubuntu Lucid.FIXED by using stock button ID.
Suggestion: Add a 6px margin below the "Please enter [..]" help text. It could also be removed, as it adds no information that isn't already obvious.FIXED
Export Dialog
Title should not have a period at the end, also probably should be "Export to File" rather than "Export To File".FIXED
Export button is missing a mnemonic.FIXED
Import Dialog
"Choose a CSV file to open" is really elaborate for a title, and doesn't follow capitalisation rules. Suggesting "Open CSV Document", if "CSV" must be mentioned.FIXED
Print Layouts
Title is "glom", should be "Print Layouts" presumably. Could then get rid of the label and odd indentation of the treeview.FIXED
- Suggesting 18px spacing between Close button and Add / Delete / Open
- murrayc: Just for my education, where (URL, please) does the GNOME HIG mention 18px spacing?
- danielb: I got the 18px from here: http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/design-window.html.en#window-layout-spacing "For vertical spacing between groups of components, 18 pixels is adequate". Spacing above action buttons is not specifically mentioned. On the other hand, the guide for alert dialogs specifies 24px in that case (http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/windows-alert.html.en#alert-spacing), so just sticking with 24px may be even better.
- murrayc: Just for my education, where (URL, please) does the GNOME HIG mention 18px spacing?
Edit Tables Dialog
Label is obvious and could be removed. Title could be "Edit Tables".FIXED
- "Show hidden tables" label would fit well to the left of of the "Add / Delete / Open" buttons.
Add Related Table
murrayc: By the way: This is a useful feature for people who understand Glom very well, but it requires explanation so I worry that nobody will actually use it, though it is based on a request in bugzilla.
Label is a duplicate of the dialog title and should be removed.FIXED
There should be 12 or 18 pixel spacing under the help text.FIXED
From Field => From fieldFIXED (also needs a mnemonic).
Input fields are not alignedFIXED and their labels lack mnemonics.
Create Table button lacks mnemonic.FIXED
Field Definitions
Label is a duplicate of the dialog title and should be removed.FIXED
No spacing between "Table:" label and the table name (should be 6px).FIXED
Indentation of the treeview is unnecessary. This is not a group.FIXED
Field Definition
- Labels are not left-aligned and lack mnemonics. Mostly FIXED but not yet for the generated elements.
Should have 6px padding under radio button labels. Suggesting 12px between groups of elements belonging to radio buttons.FIXED
- Tab labels on Default Formatting page should not be bold.
- murrayc: Yes, I think I felt that this made the structure clearer, particularly when that same notebook UI is used for layout properties - Right-click a field on the layout (in developer mode) and choose "Field Layout Properties" to see that (too high) dialog.
- The layout is pretty crowded, but this is probably not an issue. But in any case, this would seem like a much worthier candidate for a "Help" button than the date chooser.
- murrayc: I particularly don't like the nested notebook under Default Formatting. Look at it for a number field to see all 3 tabs there.
Edit Reports
Title can be "Edit Reports", does not need the label (and indentation).FIXED
Report Layout
"Show Table Title" should be "Show table title" with a mnemonic.FIXED
Missing mnemonics on input field labels. Labels probably shouldn't be bold.FIXED
- Layout suggestion:
This could do with more consideration though.
murrayc: This whole window is almost as horrible as the Layout window. However, unlike the Layout window, this window will probably always be necessary. It would need a complete rethink. Filemaker does this with a drag-and-drop layout, but that's even more awkward and confusing, allowing the user to make stuff that just doesn't work for no obvious reason. murrayc: I also don't like the awkward way that you have to go through the Reports dialog+treeview just to add a new report. murrayc: Your mockup shows a misunderstanding. Items are not just moved from left to right. The tree on the right contains available items, a bit like a palette. Deleting them from the right does not mean moving them back to the left. Your misunderstanding is not surprising and not your fault.


text:
Prince William Freemason 'Recognition' Handsignal (Stockholm Syndrome) @ 00:02 of clip
VIDEO: Prince William with Kate Middleton, after Bro. Windsor got his RAF pilot wings (Freemasonry Handsignal)
December 21st, 2012 | Tags: Kate Middleton, Prince William, R.A.F., The Royal Family | Category: 2010, Canada, Freemasons, Masonic Gestures, Military, Religion, Royal Family, U.K.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
#View Desktop Homepage
Recent Comments
9/11 Abortion Aliens Al Qaeda Auditor General BGM-71 Cardinal Wuerl Catholic Church CBC CBS CIA CNN Conservative Party Conspiracy David Letterman Department of National Defense donetsk Egypt FBI Freemasonry google Gross Underestimates Hans Kung Italy Jack the Ripper Joseph Ratzinger Kate Middleton Masonic Dress NBC Nobel Peace Prize obelisks PBS Peter Mansbridge Poroshenko Queen Elizabeth II raul castro Secret Societies Shriners Terrorism Terrorists TOW Missiles TV U.S. Army UFO Ukraine
Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa
Go To Freemasonry Watch Desktop Homepage
Organized Freemasonry has personally hurt yourself,
family, friends, aquaintances, or community. We would
also appreciate any additional background information,
links, and references on Freemasonry and the Occult.
FastCounter by bCentral
June 24, 6000 A.·.L.·.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This article explores the responses to acknowledged anthropogenic transformations of Lake Naivasha in Kenya, whose ecosystem is considered to have been disturbed by the intensification of agricultural uses of natural resources (notably land and water) over the last half century. It examines the ways in which a "payments for environmental services" (PES) project has been implemented, reflecting the rationale of ecological modernization. This article aims to challenge the environmental narrative that supports the project by revealing its oversimplifications. Empirical data demonstrates how the environmental issues addressed by the project are embedded in historically inherited land trajectories. This in turn forces us to reflect on the necessary question of responsibility, an issue at the heart of the debate since the emergence of the Anthropocene concept.
You are looking at 1 - 10 of 10,478 items for
Distributing Responsibilities in an Agricultural Ecosystem
Insights from the Lake Naivasha Water Basin in Kenya
Gaële Rouillé-Kielo
Fragile Transfers
Index Insurance and the Global Circuits of Climate Risks in Senegal
Sara Angeli Aguiton
In recent years, Senegal's developed a program of index insurance to cover farmers from economic losses due to drought. I investigate this emerging market in light of Jane Guyer's question: "What is a 'risk' as a transacted 'thing'?" To grasp the social practices required to make "rainfall deficit" a transferable risk, I explore the climate and market infrastructure that brings it into existence and follows actors who function as brokers allowing the risk to circulate from Senegalese fields to the global reinsurance industry. I show that the strategies set up to convince farmers to integrate a green and rational capitalist management of climate risks are very fragile, and the index insurance program only endures because it is embedded in the broader political economy of rural development based on debt and international aid.
Hesitant Recognition
Toward a Crop Ontology among Sugar Beet Farmers in Western Poland
Dong Ju Kim
In response to climate change, sustainability has become the keyword for exploring alternative ways of cultivation in different parts of the world. However, local farmers still understand these sustainable alternatives in terms of soil nutrients and their absorption by crops. I examine how sugar beet farmers in western Poland read the condition of crops and field conditions, and accordingly try to cope with agricultural droughts in spring and early summer. While they maintain a practical position that is extremely inductivist, they simultaneously allow for symbolic, indexical meanings. These meanings of farming practices are multilayered and evoke relationships, local histories, and traditions. The farmers accept the reality of climate change only hesitantly, and their aspiration of gaining recognition in Europe has only started to penetrate the multilayered indexical meanings of farming practices.
Agri-cultures in the Anthropocene
Martin Skrydstrup and Hyun-Gwi Park
Today when we think about climate change and Greenland, we do not think about agriculture, but of the melting ice. Perhaps the most evocative articulation of this connection was made in December 2015, when Paris was hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP21. At this event, artist Olafur Elisasson and geologist Minik Rosing exhibited their art installation Ice Watch at the Place du Pantheon: a circle of icebergs with a circumference of twenty meters, which resembled a watch ticking and/or a compass providing orientation for the world's leaders in the palm of Paris. The ice had been transported by tugboat from the harbor of Nuuk—Greenland's capital—to France. The captain of the tugboat was Kuupik Kleist, former prime minister of Greenland, who was quoted saying: "Ninety per cent of our country is covered by ice. It is a great part of our national identity. We follow the international discussion, of course, but to every Greenlander, just by looking out the window at home, it is obvious that something dramatic is happening" (Zarin 2015).
Hyun-Gwi Park
This article presents an ethnographic study of watermelon cultivators in the Russian Far East and how they approach and respond to climatic risk. For watermelon cultivators, the spatial boundaries of climatic risk are perceived as the baseline condition for the watermelon market, in which cultivators compete with each other by dealing with uncertainties caused by weather changes. While the market is linked to the spatial boundaries of climatic risk, this connection is only meaningful when there are weather changes that differently affect individuals within the boundary; weather changes that affect individual performance in the competitive watermelon market is perceived according to a recursive and cyclic timescale, rather than a linear one as discussed by most theories of the Anthropocene.
People, Clouds, and Roots
Between the Unseen, the Seen, and the Unforeseen
Yunita T. Winarto, Sue Walker and Rhino Ariefiansyah
Various studies reveal the paradox of farmers' local knowledge. Farmers are equipped with traditional cosmology and detailed empirical knowledge of their agricultural habitats. However, these same knowledge frameworks seem to contribute to entrapping farmers in a mind-set that prevents them from understanding the diverse unintended consequences of changes in their environment. To avoid this, we utilize the learning arena of science field shops (SFSs) to help farmers better understand the relationships at work from the "clouds to the roots and in between", and to address ongoing changes and vulnerabilities in the environment. This article seeks to explain the changes that occurred to farmers following the learning they acquired from SFSs and its impact on their anticipation and decision making.
Timescales of Intervention
A Postscript
Marilyn Strathern
This stimulating collection puts agriculture into current conversations on the Anthropocene. In particular it relates, as an effect of the impetus toward defining responsibility, the contemporary sense of urgency that makes "us" find new reasons for thinking of humankind as a whole. The articles carefully unpick this holism, both in terms of people's varying relations to the circumstances of cultivation or marketing and in terms of populations being divided through offsetting or knowledge-distribution strategies. It is a small extrapolation to observe that the same must be true of the particularity of crops: no more than persons can they be lumped together.
The Weatherman
The Making of Prepared Farmers and the Postcolonial Predictive State in Kenya
Martin Skrydstrup
This article explores weather forecasting as an emergent technology of governmentality through a detailed ethnography of the ways in which the relationships between weather and crops are rendered knowable in a two-day "participatory scenario planning" (PSP) workshop in Naromoru in the Central Highlands of Kenya. Farmers were "made into meteorologists" and developed their preparedness for hazards, impacts, opportunities, strategies, and responsibilities within the context of facing El Niño. The ethnography targets seemingly novel ways of preparing farmers for El Niño. I argue that the PSP served two principal functions: (1) to redistribute responsibilities of the farmers themselves by making them into "meteorologists"; and (2) to integrate "scientific expertise" with "local knowledge" to generate public trust in the metrological institutions of the postcolonial predictive state.
The Academic Reserve
Israel's Fast Track to High-Tech Success
Gil Baram and Isaac Ben-Israel
Why is Israel world-renowned as the 'start-up nation' and a leading source of technological innovation? While existing scholarship focuses on the importance of skill development during Israel Defense Forces (IDF) service, we argue that the key role of the Academic Reserve has been overlooked. Established in the 1950s as part of David Ben-Gurion's vision for a scientifically and technologically advanced defense force, the Academic Reserve is a special program in which the IDF sends selected high school graduates to earn academic degrees before they complete an extended term of military service. After finishing their service, most participants go on to contribute to Israel's successful high-tech industry. By focusing on the role of the Academic Reserve, we provide a broader understanding of Israel's ongoing technological success.
Moisés Orfali
This discussion of the processes of Spanish acculturation among Moroccan Jews deals with influences that Spanish Jews brought to Morocco both before and after 1492, especially their regulations establishing a considerable improvement in the status of Jewish women and restrictions on expenditure on the occasion of family celebrations. In accordance with the Valladolid Takkanot (1432), they forbade the wearing of certain jewellery and the display of valuable finery. These social and ethical-religious measures also expressed a concern not to expose property and people to the envy of non-Jews. The megorashim (newcomers from Spain) spread the Castilian custom of ritual slaughter of animals for consumption. The re-Hispanisation of the Judeo-Spanish language (Ḥaketía) was consciously considered among the descendants of the megorashim as part of their Spanish identity and collective memory.


text:
Welcome to the new-look Iain [M] Banks website. This website contains a wealth of information on the fiction of Iain Banks and the science fiction of Iain M Banks. New content is being added to the site on a regular basis. If there's anything you'd particularly like to see on the site, please contact the site editors and let us know.
October 25th, 2017 in Book News
25 years ago, THE CROW ROAD first found its way into readers' hands.
From its bravura opening onwards, THE CROW ROAD is justly regarded as an outstanding contemporary novel.
'It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.'
Prentice McHoan has returned to the bosom of his complex but enduring Scottish family. Full of questions about the McHoan past, present and future, he is also deeply preoccupied: mainly with death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances...
On 2nd November, Abacus will publish a special anniversary edition of The Crow Road. Available from all good retailers.
February 16th, 2015 in Book News
Iain Banks the literary novelist and Iain M. Banks the science-fiction writer are too well known to need introduction, but Iain Banks the poet has hitherto been almost undetected. A single poem, '041', published in a poetry magazine; two poems ('"Slight Mechanical Destruction"' and 'Zakalwe's Song') book-ending Use of Weapons; some lines from 'Feu de Joie' (which he excluded from this collection) embedded in The Crow Road (and with much more of its content saturating A Song of Stone) have been his only publications. But he took his poetry seriously and worked on it carefully, though he shared the results (about which he had no false modesty) mainly with friends.
As can be seen from the dates, Iain started writing poetry almost as soon as he arrived in high school, and continued until 1981. Why he stopped I can only speculate. The manuscript – handwritten, contents-listed, page-numbered – of the collection, characteristically titled poems where the heart is, from which he selected (and sometimes slightly but significantly revised) the poems here, has something of a sense of completion.
Readers of Banks's prose will find in these poems many aspects of his writing with which they're already familiar: a humane and materialist sensibility, an unflinching stare at the damage people can do to each other, a warm appreciation of the joy they can give to each other, a revel in language, a geologically informed gaze on land and sea,a continued meditation on what it means for us to be mortal embodied minds with a fleeting but consequent existence between abysses of deep time.
I too started writing poems in high school, and I've continued to write them, on and off, since. Only 'Faith as a Grain of Poppy Seed' has been published in a poetry magazine; others have appeared in publications of various science-fiction communities and conventions, and one, 'Erosion', was included in the text of my novel Intrusion.
Some time in 2012, well before he had any inkling of his illness, Iain said to me that he wanted to see his poems and mine published, preferably together. I demurred; he insisted, and I agreed. He had the risible notion that my poems would provide his with some kind of covering fire. I think the truth is quite the reverse, but in defence of my works' inclusion I can say that – because over the years we read and discussed each other's poems – there is an element of dialogue and evidence of mutual influence.
He continued to work on this project during his illness. A few final revisions to a handful of poems were only found after Iain's death, and I've incorporated them here. For finding the final corrections and the original manuscripts, and for much else, I thank Adele.
Ken MacLeod,
May 9th, 2014 in Event News
Starting at 3:33 pm on June 28th there will be a walk following Graham Park's route from the Iain Banks book Walking on Glass.
The date and time come from the book and the anniversary is on a Saturday this year. Gather from 3:15pm at the corner of Theobald's Road (south side) and Southampton Row (east side) near the old Central St Martin's site just up from Holborn tube station.
After following Graham's route from the book the plan is to head up Upper Street to visit more locations from the book and the author's life finishing after about three hours at the Hope & Anchor near where Banks wrote the first draft of The Wasp Factory.
Further information: https://www.facebook.com/events/462900703839787/
or email@example.com
March 28th, 2014 in Book News
Iain Banks's last novel, The Quarry, is out now in paperback.
The Quarry is the story of a dying man and his only son, six old friends, a missing videotape and a reunion in a crumbling house on the edge of a quarry.
First published in hardback and ebook last year, here's what critics had to say:
'A quietly incendiary piece of writing, at times heartbreaking, at other times really wonderfully funny ... a profoundly humane, funny and smart novel.'
'Wonderfully exuberant ... written with the life-enhancing verve characteristic of Banks's best work.' Scotsman
'His final novel is shot through with Banks's trademark humour, political engagement and hope' Louise Welsh, Times
'Infallibly entertaining'
'Banks's relaxed fluency - the direct, funny, unpretentious intelligence of his writing, which, along with his teeming imagination, made him perhaps Britain's best-loved major contemporary novelist.
March 6th, 2014 in Book News
The Wasp Factory has been voted one of the top 50 books that help shape and inspire teenage lives the most, in a public vote held to mark World Book Day today. Thousands of adults and teenagers in the UK voted in the 'Writes of Passage' initiative, intended to create the ultimate list of 50 recommended reads for teens.
Adele Banks said "I know that Iain would have been flattered and delighted to see The Wasp Factory still enticing and thrilling readers a mere 30 years after its first publication."
The full list of 50 is split into the following categories:
Books that will change the way you think
Books that will help you understand you
Books that will make you cry
Books that will make you laugh
Books that will scare you
Books that will teach you about love
Books that will thrill you
Books that will transport you
World Book Day is celebrated in more than 100 countries worldwide with a main aim in UK and Ireland to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading.
You can find out more about 'Writes of Passage' here
February 16th, 2014 in Book News
Our much loved and admired author, Iain Banks would have celebrated his 60th birthday today, Sunday 16th February. To mark the date, Little, Brown is delighted to announce that in February 2015, we will publish a collection of Iain and Ken Macleod's poems, edited by Ken.
Simon Pegg, a long-standing fan of Iain's work, said this month:
'Whenever I am asked about a favourite book, I immediately think of The Wasp Factory. Iain Banks' beguiling novel is a funny, terrifying, beautiful piece of writing; a story told through the complex, compartmentalised thoughts of a calmly amoral, occasionally homicidal child, no more guilty of insanity than the questionable authority figures that surround this fractured youth. The Wasp Factory has stayed with me since the first of several reads and haunts me still, buried in my brain like maggots, the images appearing in my mind's eye like so many burning sheep on the horizon.
If I had only read this one book of Iain's and not devoured and enjoyed much of his other work, he would still be one of my all-time favourite authors.'
– Simon Pegg, actor, comedian, screenwriter and film producer - February 2014
Many fans continue to leave messages and tributes to Iain on the Banksophilia website set up by Iain's friends. http://friends.banksophilia.com/guestbook/
November 29th, 2013 in Awards & Accolades
Iain Banks' books account for two of the top ten books Scottish novels of the last 50 years as voted by the public.
As part of Book Week Scotland 2013, The Scottish Books Trust conducted a poll to find the 10 Favourite Scottish Novels of the Last 50 Years. Members of the public were invited to visit the Book Week Scotland website to choose from a shortlist of 50 titles compiled by author and literary critic Stuart Kelly in collaboration with Scottish Book Trust. The shortlisted novels were carefully selected in an attempt to reflect the depth and breadth of the journey Scottish writing has taken over the last half century.
The Bridge by Iain Banks and Excession by Iain M Banks were both selected.
You can see the full shortlist on the Scottish Book Trust website.
July 4th, 2013 in Book News
In recent months, the astronomer José Luis Galache at the Minor Planet Center put forth a request that an asteroid be named after Iain M. Banks. Sadly, it was too late for Iain to hear of it, but on the 23rd of June this was approved by the International Astronomical Union.
Asteroid Iainbanks now resides in the Main Asteroid Belt of the Sol system; with a size of 6.1 km (3.8 miles), it takes 3.94 years to complete a revolution around the Sun. It is most likely of a stony composition.
Read more about the asteroid on the MPC Blog , where you can also view an interactive sketch of its orbit around the sun.
June 17th, 2013 in Event News
Some of Iain Banks' most avid readers have organised a commemorative walk in London on the 29th of June.
Iain Banks's second published novel, Walking on Glass, has three interlinked storylines. One of these has chapter names which are the roads in London that the character Graham Park walks in his journey from Theobald's Road to Half Moon Crescent. This is an area that Iain was familiar with especially the final chapter that takes Graham to Upper Street / Regent's Canal, and after the storyline walk we can pop into the Camden Head, which is mentioned in the book. From there we can venture further north to find other related locations, and the plan is to finish in the Hope & Anchor which was somewhere Iain drank when he lived in Islington Park Street.
Meet at the corner of Southampton Row / Theobald's Road (nearest tube: Holborn) at 13:00 on Saturday 29th June, this is a day after the 30th anniversary of when the walk takes place in the book. Bring a copy to follow Graham's walk and see where the different story lines interlink with each other and the author's life.
For more information please see the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/509809792407615/
April 5th, 2013 in Resources
If you would like to leave a personal message for Iain, please feel free to sign his guestbook for friends and family: http://friends.banksophilia.com/guestbook/
April 3rd, 2013 in From the Author
I am officially Very Poorly.
After a couple of surgical procedures, I am gradually recovering from jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct, but that - it turns out - is the least of my problems.
I first thought something might be wrong when I developed a sore back in late January, but put this down to the fact I'd started writing at the beginning of the month and so was crouched over a keyboard all day. When it hadn't gone away by mid-February, I went to my GP, who spotted that I had jaundice. Blood tests, an ultrasound scan and then a CT scan revealed the full extent of the grisly truth by the start of March.
I have cancer. It started in my gall bladder, has infected both lobes of my liver and probably also my pancreas and some lymph nodes, plus one tumour is massed around a group of major blood vessels in the same volume, effectively ruling out any chance of surgery to remove the tumours either in the short or long term.
The bottom line, now, I'm afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, I'm expected to live for 'several months' and it's extremely unlikely I'll live beyond a year. So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last.
As a result, I've withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I've asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry - but we find ghoulish humour helps). By the time this goes out we'll be married and on a short honeymoon. We intend to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us. Meanwhile my heroic publishers are doing all they can to bring the publication date of my new novel forward by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves.
There is a possibility that it might be worth undergoing a course of chemotherapy to extend the amount of time available. However that is still something we're balancing the pros and cons of, and anyway it is out of the question until my jaundice has further and significantly, reduced.
Lastly, I'd like to add that from my GP onwards, the professionalism of the medics involved - and the speed with which the resources of the NHS in Scotland have been deployed - has been exemplary, and the standard of care deeply impressive. We're all just sorry the outcome hasn't been more cheerful.
A website is being set up where friends, family and fans can leave messages for me and check on my progress. It should be up and running during this week and a link to it will be here on my official website as soon as it's ready.
Iain Banks
To leave a personal message for Iain Banks, please visit: http://friends.banksophilia.com/guestbook/
Iain's novel The Quarry has been delivered and will be published this year.
February 22nd, 2013 in Resources
David H, the editor of the Banksonian Fanzine, has been in touch to let us know the newest issue is available to download from efanzine.org.
This edition looks back at 2012 but also forward into 2013 and beyond. He talks about the covers makeover on backlist reissues of Iain Banks' (non M) titles and has a full publicity round up.
Issue #19 can be downloaded here. For a full list of back issues, please visit the efanzines website.
October 17th, 2012 in TV, Radio & Film, UK-Specific
On Monday the 8th of October, Iain M Banks appeared on BBC's Book Cafe, discussing his newest book The Hydrogen Sonata.
You can listen to a clip from the show with Iain's interview on the BBC Radio website here.
April 4th, 2012 in Book News
Stonemouth is published tomorrow, and to whet your appetite, here's a round-up of what the critics have been saying so far:
'There is more than a shade of Pip and Estella in Stewart and Ellie, and to create an emotionally satisfying while intellectually convincing ending is a rare achievement' Guardian
'The storytelling is very, very smooth.. One of his best' Evening Standard
'Addictive, funny, and brilliantly observed' Daily Mail
'This is Banks at his waspish, intelligent, nuanced best. His fans will give thanks' Scotland on Sunday
'…it's tender, and funny, and heart-stopping-ly exciting. I finished it on a high that gave way rapidly to bereavement – as if I were eight again and had just finished Five Go to Smuggler's Top' The Times
'Jocular, gritty and smart-alecky, Stonemouth is very Iain Banks' Sunday Independent, Ireland
Iain will be out and about signing books in the next few weeks, so check the appearances section for details.
February 2nd, 2012 in Book News
Thanks to everyone who entered our competition to win a signed proof of Iain Banks new novel Stonemouth. We had some great answers to why you'd like to review it (as well as some helpful spelling advice on the word 'receive':-)). And now, without further ado, the winners are . . .
Seth DeHaan
Gordon Ritchie
Jason Cordes
Louise Hunter
Vanessa Round
Congratulations! Your proofs are on their way to you as we speak - looking forward to hearing what you think!
January 30th, 2012 in Event News, UK-Specific
Spring is nearly here, and with it comes the much-anticipated Stonemouth - Iain Banks' new novel set in an estuary town in far-north Scotland. To support the release of the novel, Iain will be appearing at a number of events around the UK, including:
For details, please see the appearances section of the website.
[Thank you to David H from The Banksonian for the heads up on these three.]
January 23rd, 2012 in Book News, UK-Specific
Stonemouth. Home to sea fog. Gangsters. Lost love. And a suspension bridge . . .
Iain Banks returns in April with his new novel - a dark, fast-paced and brilliant thriller that deals with adolescence, love and vengeance, and the perils of coming home.
We're very excited about it, and with less than three months to wait until Stonemouth is released on the 5th of April, the countdown to publication has well and truly begun. We have a limited amount of signed and numbered reading copies of Stonemouth to giveaway to 5 readers - all we ask in return is for the lucky recipients to let us know what they think of it once they've read it!
To win one of the copies, just fill in the form below and tell us why you'd like to recieve a proof copy. We'll choose the 5 best ones and put the winners names on the website. Once the winners have written their review, they can just send it to us and we'll post them here. The review can be as long or short as you like, though the more in depth the better. No spoilers though! For terms and conditions see here.
The competition has now closed. The winners will be contacted via email shortly. Good luck to all who entered!
January 9th, 2012 in Book News, UK-Specific
[CountDown id=1 width=250 custom_widget=1 containerx=0 containerxy=0 imagebackground=false reflection=false year=2012 month=2 day=1 hours=00 minute=00 textunder=true]
After so many of you voted to see an Iain M Banks title on the World Book Night 2012 list, we were thrilled when it actually happened and The Player of Games made the final list of twenty-five titles.
World Book Night 2012 will be held on April 23, and they're looking for 20,000 'givers' to volunteer. These givers will have the opportunity to give away twenty-four copies each as a way to share their enthusiasm for The Player of Games.
Share your love for Iain's books and The Player of Games by signing up as a giver. Simply register through the World Book Night website before February 1st, and select The Player of Games from the Book Choice drop down.
January 6th, 2012 in Book News
Iain M. Banks is interviewed by David Conyers for the feature piece in the latest issue of Albedo One, Ireland's longest-running magazine of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.
For more information, or to order a copy of the magazine, head to the Albedo One website.
November 22nd, 2011 in TV, Radio & Film, UK-Specific
This Sunday, 27th of November, tune in at 12pm to hear Iain Banks on BBC Radio 6 Music as he takes listeners through an hour of music as part of the BBC 6 Paperback Writers programme.
More information can be found on the BBC Radio 6 website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017pncn