Construction Management and Economics, Sep 1, 1992
... A: Algorithms to compute the standard deviation, and to select values from a triangular proba... more ... A: Algorithms to compute the standard deviation, and to select values from a triangular probabilitydistribution ... A cost estimate (as considered in this paper) is intended to predict the total anticipated expenditure required by the client, to complete a particular building project. ...
If you are intrigued by the explosion of interest in neural networks then you could do a lot wors... more If you are intrigued by the explosion of interest in neural networks then you could do a lot worse than read this book. As the title of the book plainly indicates, it provides an introduction to this exciting area of research and development. In fact it presents considerably more than just the technical introduction typically found in other books on this subject. Certainly there is a description of the basic algorithms, but you also get a most helpful background to the development and (particularly) the vocabulary of neural networks. Most interestingly of all, perhaps, the developments in neural networks are placed in the broader context of various issues and controversies. Although 1 did find the arrangement of chapters and chapter sections at times rather muddled, one can discern, overall, three principal changes in focus as one reads through the book. Chapters ! 7 provide a kind of tutorial introduction to the main concepts underpinning neural networks. These concepts are given a historical flavour and, most importantly to my mind, they are presented with a clear and comprehensive description of the vocabulary typically found in the more technical papers on this subject. The reader is taken through such staple concepts as propagat ion rules and activation levels, and led step by step through the most basic neural network models; some of the specific characteristics (and problems) that set neural networks apart from mainstream artificial intelligence are explored. Chapters 8 14 present a technical description of the common algorithms used in neural network systems, including the kind of applications to which each is best suited. Five general algorithms are desISBN 1 85058 174 6
There is growing interest in design as a process of engagement with the world, which permits crea... more There is growing interest in design as a process of engagement with the world, which permits creativity and innovation and recognises the increasing complexity of emerging phenomena. The ‘creative industries’ espouse design as a key practice. So-called, ‘wicked problems’ embrace the methodologies of design. Other disciplines are enticed by the multi-disciplinarity of design. Design academics then seek to map and describe design from within, defining and revealing to those outside of design what makes design what it is. An alternative perspective is to look at design from the outside. This paper looks not at the particulars of design, but rather at design in the sense of a characteristic device. Specifically, it looks at the phenomenology of design applied as a device to generate (disclose) new possibilities in a humanities research project. A case is developed conceptually that sets design, not as some intrinsically configured, particularly articulate methodology for the future (a so-called, ‘third way’ within itself), but rather (and merely) as a device that effects disclosure through ‘introducing’.The paper draws on a particular case study. The case study came about because of a collaborative research project between communication, media and design academics. The research itself is fundamentally a humanities project, and aims to develop a re-imagining of a given text. This text describes a specific journey through Central Australia, undertaken in 1922, and represents a significant contribution to Australian historiography. The project involves providing a digital repository of cultural knowledge and materials spun from the book, composed of critical interpretations, supplementary documentation, illustrative photographs and video, and oral histories. Interestingly, the incorporation of an explicit design methodology for the visual mediation of the text to its various communities of interest has had an impact well beyond the specifics of the project itself. The academic participants have had to negotiate a common vocabulary in order for them to mediate the differences between communication and design as professional practices, and between the theory-guiding research principles of the project and its active realisation. This reveals an interesting perspective on design. The design methodology, based on visual mapping techniques, has been extended as a more formalised process of user engagement and knowledge representation within itself. This offers an interesting potential for visual communication design. This paper will describe the collaborative research project as a case study in how design and other disciplines intersect. Critically, it will argue that what design brings to such a situation may have less to do with design as a particular methodology, and more to do with design as a new device for understanding and engaging with the material content of the project. The paper will argue that significant qualities otherwise (and typically) attributed to ‘the nature of design’, can in fact be accounted for through the phenomenological concept of ‘introducing’. This alternative account has clear implications for the future ground of design, where design is either not able or cannot find ways to continue to function as this ‘new’ device
... The Emergence of Transformative Learning What is transformative learning? The notion of trans... more ... The Emergence of Transformative Learning What is transformative learning? The notion of transformative learning, originally proposed by Mezirow (1991), seeks to address the process of change involved when students move from a schooling context to a working context. ...
EEC 94: Electrical Engineering Congress 1994; Preprints; Enabling Technologies, Developing Industry; Congress and Exhibition, 1994
Future predictions about information technology (IT) are important to building services designers... more Future predictions about information technology (IT) are important to building services designers and managers, because they provide the necessary basis for decisions on what may or may not be appropriate service provisions in current building projects. This paper will describe an orientation to IT based on the idea that the ways in which we think about and conceive of a new technology have important and direct influence on the particular technology's ultimate impact. The paper will illustrate a series of common perceptions about IT: a new medium for expression; a new form of mass communication; an artificial intelligence; a ubiquitous facility. Each different metaphor tells us something different about the future impact of IT. These implications will be identified and considered in the paper.
’We are living through the utopian moment that accompanies all new media technologies’ (p. xiii).... more ’We are living through the utopian moment that accompanies all new media technologies’ (p. xiii). And isn’t it marvellous! Multimedia, Virtual Reality and computer networking technologies have arrived. With apparently unlimited potential, not a little pizzazz, and the scale of global impact any promoter would die for, these new media technologies are proving a perfect grist to the dream mills of consumerist culture. Imagine a future. Stop me and buy one. Sold. Next. Imagine a future. Sold. Next. Imagine a future ...
Abstract The paper presents a discussion of the application of connectionism to design. The under... more Abstract The paper presents a discussion of the application of connectionism to design. The understanding provided by connectionism as to how designers actually design (cognitive modelling) is considered to be relatively minor. A challenge is therefore presented to the mechanistic metaphors on which cognitive modelling is based. In keeping with post-rationalistic views of cognition, design is well described in terms of noncomputable metaphors such as 'play'and 'dialogue'. This view relegates connectionism (and other ...
Construction Management and Economics, Sep 1, 1992
... A: Algorithms to compute the standard deviation, and to select values from a triangular proba... more ... A: Algorithms to compute the standard deviation, and to select values from a triangular probabilitydistribution ... A cost estimate (as considered in this paper) is intended to predict the total anticipated expenditure required by the client, to complete a particular building project. ...
If you are intrigued by the explosion of interest in neural networks then you could do a lot wors... more If you are intrigued by the explosion of interest in neural networks then you could do a lot worse than read this book. As the title of the book plainly indicates, it provides an introduction to this exciting area of research and development. In fact it presents considerably more than just the technical introduction typically found in other books on this subject. Certainly there is a description of the basic algorithms, but you also get a most helpful background to the development and (particularly) the vocabulary of neural networks. Most interestingly of all, perhaps, the developments in neural networks are placed in the broader context of various issues and controversies. Although 1 did find the arrangement of chapters and chapter sections at times rather muddled, one can discern, overall, three principal changes in focus as one reads through the book. Chapters ! 7 provide a kind of tutorial introduction to the main concepts underpinning neural networks. These concepts are given a historical flavour and, most importantly to my mind, they are presented with a clear and comprehensive description of the vocabulary typically found in the more technical papers on this subject. The reader is taken through such staple concepts as propagat ion rules and activation levels, and led step by step through the most basic neural network models; some of the specific characteristics (and problems) that set neural networks apart from mainstream artificial intelligence are explored. Chapters 8 14 present a technical description of the common algorithms used in neural network systems, including the kind of applications to which each is best suited. Five general algorithms are desISBN 1 85058 174 6
There is growing interest in design as a process of engagement with the world, which permits crea... more There is growing interest in design as a process of engagement with the world, which permits creativity and innovation and recognises the increasing complexity of emerging phenomena. The ‘creative industries’ espouse design as a key practice. So-called, ‘wicked problems’ embrace the methodologies of design. Other disciplines are enticed by the multi-disciplinarity of design. Design academics then seek to map and describe design from within, defining and revealing to those outside of design what makes design what it is. An alternative perspective is to look at design from the outside. This paper looks not at the particulars of design, but rather at design in the sense of a characteristic device. Specifically, it looks at the phenomenology of design applied as a device to generate (disclose) new possibilities in a humanities research project. A case is developed conceptually that sets design, not as some intrinsically configured, particularly articulate methodology for the future (a so-called, ‘third way’ within itself), but rather (and merely) as a device that effects disclosure through ‘introducing’.The paper draws on a particular case study. The case study came about because of a collaborative research project between communication, media and design academics. The research itself is fundamentally a humanities project, and aims to develop a re-imagining of a given text. This text describes a specific journey through Central Australia, undertaken in 1922, and represents a significant contribution to Australian historiography. The project involves providing a digital repository of cultural knowledge and materials spun from the book, composed of critical interpretations, supplementary documentation, illustrative photographs and video, and oral histories. Interestingly, the incorporation of an explicit design methodology for the visual mediation of the text to its various communities of interest has had an impact well beyond the specifics of the project itself. The academic participants have had to negotiate a common vocabulary in order for them to mediate the differences between communication and design as professional practices, and between the theory-guiding research principles of the project and its active realisation. This reveals an interesting perspective on design. The design methodology, based on visual mapping techniques, has been extended as a more formalised process of user engagement and knowledge representation within itself. This offers an interesting potential for visual communication design. This paper will describe the collaborative research project as a case study in how design and other disciplines intersect. Critically, it will argue that what design brings to such a situation may have less to do with design as a particular methodology, and more to do with design as a new device for understanding and engaging with the material content of the project. The paper will argue that significant qualities otherwise (and typically) attributed to ‘the nature of design’, can in fact be accounted for through the phenomenological concept of ‘introducing’. This alternative account has clear implications for the future ground of design, where design is either not able or cannot find ways to continue to function as this ‘new’ device
... The Emergence of Transformative Learning What is transformative learning? The notion of trans... more ... The Emergence of Transformative Learning What is transformative learning? The notion of transformative learning, originally proposed by Mezirow (1991), seeks to address the process of change involved when students move from a schooling context to a working context. ...
EEC 94: Electrical Engineering Congress 1994; Preprints; Enabling Technologies, Developing Industry; Congress and Exhibition, 1994
Future predictions about information technology (IT) are important to building services designers... more Future predictions about information technology (IT) are important to building services designers and managers, because they provide the necessary basis for decisions on what may or may not be appropriate service provisions in current building projects. This paper will describe an orientation to IT based on the idea that the ways in which we think about and conceive of a new technology have important and direct influence on the particular technology's ultimate impact. The paper will illustrate a series of common perceptions about IT: a new medium for expression; a new form of mass communication; an artificial intelligence; a ubiquitous facility. Each different metaphor tells us something different about the future impact of IT. These implications will be identified and considered in the paper.
’We are living through the utopian moment that accompanies all new media technologies’ (p. xiii).... more ’We are living through the utopian moment that accompanies all new media technologies’ (p. xiii). And isn’t it marvellous! Multimedia, Virtual Reality and computer networking technologies have arrived. With apparently unlimited potential, not a little pizzazz, and the scale of global impact any promoter would die for, these new media technologies are proving a perfect grist to the dream mills of consumerist culture. Imagine a future. Stop me and buy one. Sold. Next. Imagine a future. Sold. Next. Imagine a future ...
Abstract The paper presents a discussion of the application of connectionism to design. The under... more Abstract The paper presents a discussion of the application of connectionism to design. The understanding provided by connectionism as to how designers actually design (cognitive modelling) is considered to be relatively minor. A challenge is therefore presented to the mechanistic metaphors on which cognitive modelling is based. In keeping with post-rationalistic views of cognition, design is well described in terms of noncomputable metaphors such as 'play'and 'dialogue'. This view relegates connectionism (and other ...
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Papers by Sidney Newton