Participants in focus groups (the assumed forefather of Design Research) have learned over the years to adapt to the conditions of those research engagements. This is because the structures of those engagements rarely change. Participants learn the appropriate responses, give those responses and then bolt with the reward only to target later focus groups with similar motives. The measurement is tainted by the participants motives.

In collaborating with end-users through design actions (drawing, collage, sorting,etc.) rather that rapid fire opinion scraping we we create temporary cultures within the framework of a design goal. Participants become aware of their affiliations with a targeted user segment (small world) and how their creative input begins to shape the devices/experiences of that segment.

But essentially it's up to us as designers, with clients, to define those cultures of use and make the connections that fit them into a larger context. Let's start small, even at a device level, with these cultures and work to connect the dots between them to understand how they shape culture at large.

This also raises the idea that as we explore these cultures, it's often at a local level. In Design Research the connections are going to become richer, more detailed, as we begin to experience and engage at a hyperlocal level.

Up till now I have participated.You could even say as a part of the bubble and working as a post-bubble consultant I’m an active agent in designing the spaces that shape webgen behaviors and communities. But my participation in the digital domain (I help shape and design) is limited by webgen standards. I was there when there was no such thing as ubiquitous cable and satellite connections. Growing up in a lower middle class family I remember getting our first color TV. I had a B/W (with no coax input) in my room until I was 15. A Saturday trip to the arcade was my computer culture and social networking site.

The reason I’m so explicitly defining the parameters of this age gap are simple, differentiating capacity for output. When we are younger our output capacity is greater for two reasons. One, because they have the time. They don’t have the beast of burden on their backs. Us pre-Reaganites have to sing for our supper and this cuts down on time we can spend archiving photos and uploading them on Flickr. Two, because webgen has an overwhelming desire to be seen and heard by their peers. We all did but webgen is in a unique position where higher capacity for output is equal to infinite possibilities for finding audiences.

But there is something completely different in understanding a community and participating in it.

Berkshires Fall 2006
This weekend in the Berhshires I captured some photographs of trees at night. These images were adjusted using on Auto Levels in Photoshop. Natural contrasts emerged from the original data to reveal almost impressionistic facets of light.

Abstract
If so much of our current mental state (i.e., what in actuality constitutes our worlds) is about constant distractions and just simply not being able to slow down, then how about finding more drastic measures for slowing the world down? A mental space must be created to allow for slowing down time to focus the thoughts. In meditation the general idea is to fine one thought (mantra) and repeat it continuously to induce a state of detachment from mind, really the "thinking" process.

The things that hold our attentions and create our distractions are the things that we hold so dear and we interface with those things through the screen. This is our window into knowledge of information "in the world". Our memory, even with sufficient training, could not possibly retain The reason this information is so crucial to us as knowledge of the worldThe Death Machine takes advantage of this relationship by creating a barrier between you and this precious information.

Abstract
As a consumer of oil and oil-based goods I can, if I desire, through a long and arduous process monitor my footprint in some limited form. I can never fully know the impact and extent of my true footprint but I will eventually desire to know this as a consumer and businesses will desire this data as well and cater to it.

If the objects and processes (SPIMES) that make-up my footprint can be tracked through an extensive set of meta-data consisting of commercial life and user metrics then my behaviors may likewise be tracked as well. This could be combined to create a psychometric meta-data about my footprint behaviors.

Fig. 1 The eyes are missing and the word is carved in

Fig. 2 The big picture

Fig. 3 Head branded

Fig. 4 Working between the lines, people find new meaning

Fig. 1 Aggression towards women, the words blanket the image

Fig. 2 Derogatory names for anatomy

Fig. 3 Needs and desires facilitated by the image

Fig. 4 Focus from the face to the body changes the tone of the message

Fig. 5 Sexism leads to more serious cross-overs of negative behavior

Fig. 6 Words are not always used to make a point

Fig. 7 Joining in to communicate a message outisde the focus of the original dialogue

Fig 1. Asian stereotype concerning height

Fig 2. Jewish stereotype concerning money

Fig 3. Caucasian and African-American conversation?

Fig 4. Caucasian aversions

Fig 5. Who is the source of these comments?

Fig 1. Nine faces, eight male, one female

Fig 2. Nine faces, five female, four male

Modern supplementation has added a layer of mental need to the immediate physical needs these technologies have attended to for so many centuries. And the degree of supplementation of any society is directly proportional to its capacity for creating increasingly complex materials and processes of manufacturing.