Mark Bauerlein focuses on what we loose through heavy use of digital media. Are we really the “Dumbest Generation”? His points seem valid and worth pondering:
Date archives "March 2011"
Property Rights in the Commons: The ubiquity of mixed systems
* Research article. Ostrom’s Law: Property Rights in the Commons. Lee Anne Fennell (University of Chicago Law School). International Journal of the Commons, Vol 5, No 1 (2011). One of the key articles in the latest issue of the IJC, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Ostrom’s ‘Governing the Commons’. Abstract “Elinor Ostrom’s work has… Continue reading
Going from weak ties connections to engagement relationships
After explaining the difference between connections and relations in a previous post, Gideon Rosenblatt goes to the heart of the matter of what is important for social change mobilization: ” The weak-tie connections we build on Twitter and Facebook are great for asking small favors like signing online petitions. Connections are not relationships and not… Continue reading
After Japan: Time for an Energy Revolution
Tzeporah Berman, co-head of the climate and energy campaign at Greenpeace International, gives a TedX talk about the solution to our current and future energy needs: Details: Founding principles The Energy [R]evolution is based on five founding principles: * Increase human well-being without fossil fuels. * Fair energy access for all, including the 2 billion… Continue reading
The SSG Framework for Cloud Manufacturing: bringing modularity to matter
A proposed standards methodology for ‘production outside the factory’, by Dominic Muren: We should aim for a DJ culture for objects “Sourceforge is a great example of what a distributed community can accomplish by working on small pieces together. It was the need to allow local developers to work on small parts that lead to… Continue reading
Landmark legal ruling: The Supreme Court of India Defends the Village Commons
Excerpted via David Bollier, where you can read the more extensive legal analysis: “While common lands and waters are being stolen by investors and developers the world over, the Supreme Court of India decided it was not going to look the other way. In a bold, surprising ruling, the Court made a sweeping defense of… Continue reading
Robin Dunbar explains the Dunbar Number
Excellent presentation of relational limits by the originator of the Dunbar Number hypothesis:
Dominic Muren on production without factories
From an interview by Treehugger: “On your website you ask the question, “How can designers make low-cost products without factories?” Have you found an answer to this yet? Is it something we could accomplish on a large scale? I’m currently working on around 15 techniques for low-tooling, small-scale manufacturing of durable, beautiful goods with low… Continue reading
The internet, market domination, and the public utility vision
1. It is supremely ironic that the Internet, the long-ballyhooed champion of increased consumer power and cutthroat competition, seems, in the end, to be more a force for monopoly. To be clear, the Internet is still crystallizing as an area of capitalist development, and historically speaking, appears quite dynamic, so it is premature to act… Continue reading
The shock doctrine as applied to the American states
Naomi Klein the logic behind the Republican anti-labor measures in American states, based on the ideas of her book, The Shock Doctrine:
Real Cities, Real Transformations
Check out our recent blog post on our new blog at http://blog.futureforwardinstitute.com/2011/03/15/real-cities-real-transformations This post is a response to “How Seattle Transformed itself” by Edward L. Glaeser. Some highlights: Systems Matter First, system-effects matter. Cities exist in networks of flows that depend on existing infrastructure. That infrastructure has system-level properties, and it is these properties, not… Continue reading
Free College Textbooks for Ohio Students
University System of Ohio and Flat World Knowledge Team Up to Expand Access to College Textbooks and Measure Student Learning COLUMBUS – Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut today announced a joint pilot program between the University System of Ohio and Flat World Knowledge, the largest publisher of free and open college textbooks for students worldwide. The… Continue reading
A resource shared is a resource squared
Brilliant lecture, must see video, from the always entertaining Mark Pesce which touches on a variety of important p2p subjects: Main theme: choose your friends carefully, as they are “epidemiological vectors”, our puppet masters. This is why a sound, open and free “social graph”, is so essential. Don’t let yourself be manipulated by a corporate-owned… Continue reading
CopySouth Rio papers released
A new set of papers that critically analyse the failings and contradictions of the international copyright system are being released today by the CopySouth Research Group. The papers were presented at the third international conference of CopySouth held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the end of June 2010. Previous CopySouth events were held in… Continue reading
FTA announces guest lecture by Richard Stallman and other news
Preseting the last announce from the Free Technology Academy: Featured courses Deadline Early Bird discount – March 22nd, 2011 On April 18th the next round of courses will start! The FTA offers seven different modules in this term. A 10% Early Bird discount is available until March 22nd, so register now and enrol yourself to… Continue reading
Book of the Week: The History and Future of Civic Humanity
Covering a broad range of cases, the book identifies basic principles governing state’s relation to civil society. It shows how anarchist ideas and practices emerge naturally in civil society in response to different forms of state power. The book seeks to demonstrate how a proper appraisal of modern anarchy is enriched by a deeper understanding… Continue reading