Date archives "June 2008"

Ideas on a new research infrastructure for emerging collaborative networks

Today I read this amazing article: http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/06/the_google_way.php It’s worth mentioning that their is no science without theory. The human mind is wired for creating theories. That is why there is a neural network built into our brain/mind system. It is wired to consider the un-manifested. That being said, what Kevin Kelly describes is a lot… Continue reading

On the relation between open design communities and their physical production partners

(the following may be a useful summary restatement of an issue that we have discussed here quite a few times) A key issue is how a mode of production that is successful in the creation of ‘immaterial value’ is co-dependent and can co-exist with the sphere of material value creation. The problem can be described… Continue reading

Networked scenius, private patronage, and the partner state

Remember Ian Skerret ‘s (Eclipse Foundation) quote a few days ago ? It is a myth that committers are volunteers. The committers for the established open source projects are nearly all paid by companies to commit code to open source projects. This reminds us of an uncomfortable truth: peer production, in order to work, needs… Continue reading

A reply to ideas about the loss of credibility and viability of “the movement”

This is a blog post in reply to http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/marcin-jakubowski-on-a-policy-to-expand-material-peer-production-through-land/2008/06/25, and the quote therein from James Edwards: “I feel that if the movement doesn’t free itself from its dependence on corporate support it can’t legitimately claim to be a viable and credible alternative to the current system.” Problem is not that p2p production is or is… Continue reading

Marcin Jakubowski on a policy to expand material peer production through land

In one of the email discussions taking place around the edge of the P2P Foundation, there was a vigorous exchange after a remark by James Edwards: “I feel that if the movement doesn’t free itself from its dependance on corporate support it can’t legitimately claim to be a viable and credible alternative to the current… Continue reading

Hacking tax forms: One of many presentations given at barcamp gov in Amsterdam

Links: slideshare presentation – tax choice(larger version) – tax report (larger version) Here are the slides to an informal presentation i gave at the Barcamp Gov. in the Netherlands which kickstarted a lively discussion on taxation, engagement and accountability. Participatory budgeting is usually a municipal rather than nation state level, or, dare i say, multi-scalar… Continue reading

Community and corporation

Ian Skerrett of the Eclipse Foundation has an interesting article at the June issue of the Open Source Business Resource. Some quotes and excerpts below. In his lecture on “Building Technical Communities” Ian Skerrret observes: “In a technical community: i) peers, not vendors, determine the message; ii) developers talk to other developers, not through intermediaries… Continue reading

New portal page for Appropriate Technology

The Appropedia wiki has been there for a while, but Chris Watkins has made a special effort to reorganize the content for easier usage through a portal, that focuses on the ‘technological solutions’ per se, rather than lifestyles or practices. Here’s how Chris explains it: “One challenge with making an Appropriate technology portal on Appropedia… Continue reading

Raoul Victor: P2P in the material world (3): Envisioning the transition

We continue serializing Raoul Victor’s reply to an Oekonux text by the ‘two Stefan’s”. In this third and last part, Raoul Victor focuses on the transition strategies. Raoul Victor: 3 – Production and distribution The text reads, in part 3: “Though there are a lot of peer phenomenons, peer production is primarily about production and… Continue reading

Schools’ Web 2.0 ban contributes to social exclusion

This is soo important, I’m reproducing it in full. Niki Widdowson: “Blocking students’ use of Web 2.0 sites – blogs, Facebook, YouTube, and chat – at school could exclude them from valuable educational opportunities as well as heighten social exclusion, particularly in remote and Indigenous communities. Queensland University of Technology media and communication PhD candidate… Continue reading