This is a really remarkable and must-see presentation in which Lawrence Lessig explains the need for transparency in politics, and why he launched the “Change Congress” project.
Date archives "June 2009"
Genocide by denial of open access medicine
Peter Mugyenyi: “Laws that deny or delay access to life-saving and emergency drugs should be urgently addressed on the humanitarian principle of lives above profits, but without hurting the businesses. Innovation in the crucial area of human survival should not be entirely dependent on money-making and big business, but should primarily aim at the alleviation… Continue reading
Towards purpose-driven business organizations
Good summary of Umair Haque’s important ideas and proposals for a business reformation:
Building capacity towards true participatory governance
A proposal by Mark Elliot: “We now have the capacity to support direct collaboration between the public and government through the use of wikis etc (and by ‘collaboration’ I mean actual co-creation of content between public and government participants). Collaboration is ostensibly the final phase of this initiative regarding the statement on Whitehouse.gov/open/blog (THU, MAY… Continue reading
Freeing the cloud
The Economist has published an editorial on May 28, declaring victory of the open source paradigm in the software world, but predicting complications that ‘threaten openness’, in the new reality of cloud computing. Thomas Lord offers the following commentary/critique in the Autonomo.us mailing list: “The article asserts that “it is now generally accepted that the… Continue reading
The Max-Neef Model of Human-Scale Development
This is not new, but it is a very useful model of human development, i.e. a way to conceive of building a society that responds sustainably to a maximum of human needs. Kath Fisher: “Manfred Max-Neef is a Chilean economist who has worked for many years with the problem of development in the Third World,… Continue reading
Google Wave – A P2P Tool?
Google has announced a new tool for real-time online collaboration it is developing. Wave is being developed by a team operating in Australia that previously worked on Google Maps. Mashable has a great introductory article by Ben Parr – Google Wave: A Complete Guide Parr sums up the essentials of the Wave as follows: Google… Continue reading
Creating the Open City – Creative Class
David Eaves posted this at Creative Class Creating the Open City Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing… Continue reading
8 policy goals for sustainability
Sensible summary of 8 important policy goals for sustainability, by Harvey Wasserman of the Solartopia project. Harvey Wasserman: “Our eco-future is defined by the four Great Green Truths: we have a global crisis, it has a solution, the solution is winnable, and winning requires a “middle path” of action that is both non-violent and non-stop…. Continue reading
David Bollier on Governing the Digital Commons
Very clear, recommended, lecture on the governance of the commons:
Important monetary reform steps in Uruguay and Latin America
Via Chris Lindstrom: This looks like a fundamentally important development. More details about the proposed mechanism are here. (INFORMATION EXTRACTED FROM ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN URUGUAY, APRIL 2009) Excerpt: “The Executive Power (in Uruguay) prepares details for a new system of payment which will be adopted to stimulate micro and small businesses. In two months, the… Continue reading
Goodbye, GM …by Michael Moore
Michael Moore on General Motors Goodbye, GM …by Michael Moore I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled. As I sit here in GM’s birthplace, Flint,… Continue reading
A synthetic model of intersubjectivity and governance
Networks can bring order to complex situations by providing platforms for the vast interdependencies, connectivity and emergent phenomena to express itself. Networks create opportunities for everyone to win and benefit from others’ succeeding. Everyone can have the effect of empowering others by encouraging their contributions, appreciating their sharing, and maintaining the commons. The collective abundance… Continue reading
Book of the Week: History of Italian art hacking
Book: Networking. The Net as Artwork. Tatiana Bazzichelli. Digital Aesthetics Research Centre, Aarhus University. It is available for download here and buy it here as well. The book describes the evolution of the Italian hacktivism and net culture from the 1980s till today and it is a reconstruction of the history of artistic networking in… Continue reading
Christian Siefkes: Building Blocks for a Commons-based Society
I had missed this new essay by Christian Siefkes (in The Commoner): as he has a very clear writing style, many insights, he is always worth reading: “Are new commons-based communities just a fad, or are they indicators of a serious new trend? Will there, maybe, even be an economic paradigm shift—will future production increasingly… Continue reading
Saving Europe’s Internet
IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS ON JUNE 6TH DO NOT VOTE TO THE PARTIES WHICH WANT TO GIFT OUR RIGHT OF ACCESS TO THE INTERNET TO PRIVATE INTERESTS. The Black Out Europe campaign reminds us that European internet freedoms are still at risk, and to use the upcoming European elections for supporting candidates in favour of… Continue reading