SSIT'05. If you have not already registered for this years's Social Study of IT Conference, there is still time to do so. The conference is free and starts Monday morning 4/4 in the Hing Kong Theatre on Aldwych, London. Click here to find out more on the conference web-page.. Industry-Academia Panel. As part of the SSIT Conference we are hosting a panel session Monday 4/4 5:30-7:00pm in the Hing Kong Theatre. If you are interested in participating in this, hopefully lively debate on the opportunities and challenges facing idividuals and organisations in the mobile society, please send an email to Emma Keys on e.s.keys@lse.ac.uk with PANEL in the heading. The panel consists of: Steve Atkinson, Chief Technology Officer, Morse Hugh Davies, Director of PR, Microsoft Jim Connor, Director, CSTIM Limited: Zahid Khan, Morebalance Kevin Warwick, Professor, University of Reading Peter Brown, Director of Strategy Business Solutions, Orange Steve Evans, CEO BT Mobile Scarlet Pruitt, Journalist, IDG News Service John Higgins, Director General, IntellectUK Giles Lane, Proboscis Stephen Palmer, Emap Performance Gideon Kunda, Professor, Tel Aviv University Stephen Parry, International Manager, Group Public Policy, Vodafone

PRIVACY - The Korean Information Security agency (KISA) says it has gotten three-and-a-half times as many complaints about unwanted mobile spam as it did about spam to desktop computers. A KISA official said that the total number of unsolicited SMS messages now officially outnumbers that of email spam. Mobile spam in South Korea exists in two forms -- unwanted SMS messages and automated voice calls. TheFeature Article

Jesse James Garrett reports that Amazon Mobile Japan customers can purchase an item with their camera phones. "Snap a photo of a product bar code using your cell phone, and Amazon Japan will give you a price check". Read the article in Ketai Watch (Wireless Watch). Here is the English translation from Babelfish.

Cell phones are learning to share files, but the earliest efforts don't nearly resemble the peer-to-peer renegades like Napster and Kazaa that the designers have in mind.

According to a message posted to the Nettime-L mailing list, some protestors at the Democratic National Convention had used a tool called TXTmob to organize themselves. TXTMob was produced by 'the Institute for Applied Autonomy (IAA)', an art and engineering collective that develops technologies for political dissent. You can read more about how to use Txt Messages to coordinate smartmobs here.

Mobile pants: Just when we were getting used to iPod ready jackets, we are hit with mobile pants. For the newest in geekery comfort, check out this link (and in particular the tv add). RFID home system: When you are done stacking your phones and PDA's inside all the pockets, perhaps it is time to be the first to play with RFID at home? There is now a kit available allowing you to finally trace the TV remote control, kids and small household animals. Check it out here.

IFIP 8.2: Dr Carsten Sørensen is co-chair of the International IFIP 8.2 Conference held at Case Westerne Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio, August 1-3, 2005. The theme of the conference is Designing Ubiquitous Information Environments: Socio-technical Issues and Challenges. Tom Malone, MIT and Paul Dourish, UCLA, Irvine are among the invited speakers. For more information, please visit the conference website on ifip2005.cwru.edu.

SSIT'05.This years SSIT (Social Study of IT) Conference, on April 4-5th, is the 5th and is this year organised by Mobility@lse and features both an exciting academic programme, a industry-academic discussion panel, and a phd poster workshop. Attendance is free, but registration is neccesary. Click here to find out more on the conference web-page.. The conference theme is Mobile Interaction: Individuals, Organisations and Infrastructures., and the speakers are: Professor William Webb, Head of Research, Ofcom Professor Kevin Warwick, University of Reading Professor Kalle Lyytinen, Case Western Reserve University Professor Gideon Kunda, Tel Aviv University Dr Eric Laurier, Glasgow University Professor Urban Nulden, Göteborg University Dr Steinar Kristoffersen, Olso University If you wish to participate in the conference, please email Emma Keys (e.s.keys@lse.ac.uk). The industry-academic discussion panel Monday 5:30-7:00pm will discuss the opportunities and challenges of the mobile society. If you wish to participate in this event (but not in the academic event), please email Emma Keys (e.s.keys@lse.ac.uk), and put PANEL in the email heading.