Talented amateurs don’t just build kits; kits help build talented amateurs. And healthy innovation cultures — and successful innovation economies — need the human capital that their talent embodies. Kits are integral, indispensable, and invaluable ingredients for new value creation. See the full article by Michael Schrage on ‘Kitonomic Innovation’: “The Industrial Revolution began with… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Therapy Futures without Psy-Enclosures
“Therapists distill expertise about the human condition from the psyCommons and sequester it in professions. Therapy Futures tells how the psychological therapies diligently sought state backing for these professional enclosures and how this ambition failed. The case study that narrates this history is a story of ‘couch wars’, and a narrow escape from capture by… Continue reading
Going beyond “The Wealth of the Commons”
Leo Burke has read The Wealth of the Commons and gives recommendations for a second volume: “”If Bollier and Helfrich had the interest and energy to develop a second volume, I would ask them to expand on three key themes. The first is education. There is a brief article by George Pór on his pioneering… Continue reading
Trend of the Day: Open Public Transportation Data
Excerpted from Sam Muirhead: “Open data presents an opportunity to compare statistics, to make graphs, apps and maps which allow us to better understand the world and see what needs improvement, to base our understanding on facts rather than impressions. Transport companies, the heart of a city’s circulatory system, hold extremely important data on how… Continue reading
Ten Years of Sharing Culture with IsoHunt
Tenth Anniversary reflections by the founder: “10 years of isoHunt. Jan. 22 to the day, when the domain was registered. When I started isoHunt during engineering school, I truly did not think I’d be working on it for 10 years, but here I am. Napster, Kazaa, Suprnova, LokiTorrent. Big names have come and gone, and… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Why Small-Scale Alternatives Won’t Change The World
Key thesis: The localist form of citizenship may empower us, but it cannot confront capitalism. Against a global network of power must emerge globalised forms of struggle. * Book: No Local. Why Small-Scale Alternatives Won’t Change The World. Greg Sharzer. Zero Books, 2012. Here is the summary of this book which challenges localist initiatives: “Can… Continue reading
Towards Integrative Ecosocial Design
Republished from Oyvind Holmstad: Aranya, my PDC-teacher, explaining the five zones of permaculture On my PDC-Course in Sweden I learned about the therm Integrative Ecosocial Design, and I fell in love with it. Here follow the history and description for this therm, from Gaia University: This descriptive name, Integrative Ecososial Design, arose from observations and… Continue reading
Trend of the Day: Desktop Fashion
From an interview of Chris Anderson, conducted by Vikram Alexei Kansara: “BoF: How might digital fabrication apply to the fashion industry? Are we going to be able to print out a sweater or a shirt? Printing it out is probably not the right process, as the material is so important. But you will certainly be… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Rooftop Revolution
It’s time for a new revolution, an energy revolution, our revolution — a Rooftop Revolution. * Book: Rooftop Revolution. By Danny Kennedy. How Solar Power Can Save Our Economy — and Planet — from Dirty Energy. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2012 An excerpt from author Danny Kennedy: “There’s an epic struggle afoot for the head and the… Continue reading
A review of “The Wealth of the Commons”
“This book is a remarkable collection of some 72 articles written by academics and activists on a variety of topics related directly or indirectly to the theory of ‘the Commons’ and the practice of ‘commoning’. The book explores the possibility that the concept of the Commons provides us with the model we need to build… Continue reading
Developing the Capacity to Hold a Collective Field
The text below is excerpted from the second part in a series on developing the new ‘p2p facilitation’ method called Collective Presencing. Source: The Circle of Presence: Building the Capacity for Authentic Collective Wisdom. By Ria Baeck and Helen Titchen Beeth. Kosmos Journal, Fall | Winter 2012 * Journey Through the Group — Developing the… Continue reading
Is Open Access Still Relevant in 2013
By Sumandro: Is Open Access still relevant? “The last years have been both satisfying and challenging for the Open Access community worldwide. On one hand, we have experienced numerous ‘victories’ of the OA agenda, such as the OA policy of Research Council UK, the Finch Committee report, and the OA policy of World Bank. Various… Continue reading
Trend of the Day: Accountable Algorithms
“When I say that a public algorithm is “accountable” I mean that the output produced by a particular execution of the algorithm can be verified as correct after the fact by a skeptical member of the public”. Excerpted from Ed Felten, who also gives an example here: “Public processes often involve algorithms, and the public… Continue reading
Book of the Day: Open Utopia
“Open Utopia is the first complete English language edition of Thomas More’s Utopia that honors the primary precept of Utopia itself: that all property is common property. Open Utopia, licensed under Creative Commons, is free to copy, to share, to use. But Utopia is more than the story of a far-off land with no private… Continue reading
Tom Atlee on Societal Collective Intelligence Feedback Loops
Excerpted from Tom Atlee: “Intelligence is a cognitive feedback system that allows us to adjust appropriately to changing conditions. Here’s how it works – at least ideally: Using our intelligence, we observe and organize what’s going on in and around us. We learn – by reflecting on what we observe, calling up memories, and creating… Continue reading
George Monbiot: Why we need a land value tax
Excerpted from George Monbiot: “The most expensive flat in that favourite central London haunt of the international super-rich, One Hyde Park, cost £135m. The owner pays £1,369 in council tax, or 0.001% of its value. Last year the Independent revealed that the Sultan of Brunei pays only £32 a month more for his pleasure dome… Continue reading