In the special issue of the Journal of Peer Production on the DIYBio/Hardware movement, author Sara Tocchetti gives some interesting genealogies, focusing on the personal links of its leaders with the Whole Earth Catalog and the cyberpunk movement: Sara Tocchetti: “By being presented at OSCON, the magazine was placed at the center of the vast… Continue reading
A UFO in publishing: #24H, a P2P novel in a P2P format …
The Spanish ‘Indignados’ movement represents one of the first historical expressions of a native p2p movement, born from the networked generation, their desires for a better life and their discontent with a dying system. Bernardo Gutierrez (i.e. @bernardosampa) , himself an insider and participant, kept track of the networked communication that preceded and accompanied its… Continue reading
The ideal uses of money in relation to the gift economy and the commons
This is a interesting 40-minute conversation between International Economist, James Quilligan and Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics recorded at Immediacy Studio in Media, PA on June 27, 2012. Key topic: How do markets, gift and commons economies fit in with each other, and do we need new forms of government/governance?
Open Source Digital Geiger Counters in the Tokyo Hackerspace
The Hackerspace culture gained a momentum in the recent Fukushima disaster, proving its ability to mobilize and serve the needs of the public by building low tech solutions used for participatory monitoring of radiation. These tools in Japan enabled citizens to deal directly with the disaster by measuring, sharing and interpreting data, and to better… Continue reading
Retiring Adam Smith: the new biosphere politics and economics of the third industrial revolution
Excerpted from Jeremy Rifkin: “The intercontinental era will slowly transform international relations from geopolitics to biosphere politics. A new approach to political life on the planet is just beginning to emerge, based on operating principles and assumptions that are more compatible with the dynamics of a Third Industrial Revolution economic model, and the ecological constraints… Continue reading
Marc Joffe on why we need a open source credit rating agency
Very interesting TV interview from a Canadian business channel: “The for-profit credit rating agencies missed the financial crisis and the European debt crisis, says Marc Joffe of Public Sector Credit Solutions, which has a new, transparent way to assess debt.” Watch the video here:
Should it be difficult to enter a p2p organisation? or: the jesuits as early hackers
A provocative thoughtpiece by David de Ugarte of lasindias.net: He asks: “What can we learn from the way Jesuits are organized?” The organizational base of the Jesuits gives us some basic keys on how an organization focused on doing and the creation of knowledge can sustain itself with a hacker ethic… as long as it… Continue reading
Bacteria want to be free: Indonesian fermentation-hacking
Excerpted from the excellent 2nd issue of the Journal of Peer Production on bio/hardware hacking, where Denisa Kera introduces the Asian DIYBio movement and specific experiences such as this one in Indonesia. For context, here is Denisa’s conclusion of the three cases featured in her study: “The Asian Hackerspaces that have emerged in recent years… Continue reading
Economist Ha Joon Chang in conversation with Layne Hartsell and Michel Bauwens
Layne invited me to participate in an online interview with Korean heterodox economist Ha Joon Chang, using Skype in my own home office in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The topics are the current economic crisis, East Asia and ASEAN, global governance, climate change and the future. Ha Joon Chang is a Reader in Economics at Cambridge… Continue reading
The New (Digital) Industrialization of Architecture
Now that we have some understanding of why 20th century attempts at the industrialization of building were such abject failures we can better appreciate the potential revolution eluded to in this Ancient Lasers article. It is far more than just a revolution in automation. It’s not simply obsolescing building contractors. It’s industrial technology that radically… Continue reading
Layne Hartsell with Michel Bauwens
A 3-part interview on P2P issues, conducted by Layne Hartsell. Layne Hartsell teaches at Sungkyunkwan University and lectures at Mahidol University. His research is in the philosophy of ethics and technology related to related to nanotech/piezotronics applications in undeveloped countries. He is a coordinator for Seoul Global Study Group, Cafe Chat Layne Hartsell with Michel… Continue reading
Iceland after the meltdown: what we can learn from their #realdemocracy movement
Miguel Marques, maker of this interesting and recommended documentary, invites us to : In Iceland, many citizens are now organized in associations and have substantial proposals for a society where everyone can participate. Let’s meet the Icelanders that the media refuse to talk about. He writes: “In Iceland, the first European country to wake up… Continue reading
How do we change the system of production?
Jean Zin on the need for an integrative strategy. Excerpted from: * Article: Changing the system of production. Jean Zin. Journal of Peer Production, Issue #1: Productive Negation. 2012 Summary Jean Zin: “The economic and financial crisis, serious as it may be, will not provoke the end of capitalism which has weathered worse. But if… Continue reading
Introduction to the 2nd issue of the Journal of Peer Production on Biohacking
Scholarly perspectives have until now been missing out in debates about the implications and meanings of biohacking and open hardware development. The issue is out and fully available. Here is an excerpt from the editorial introduction by issue editors Alessandro Delfanti and Johan Söderberg: “Can it be imagined that hardware technology will one day be… Continue reading
Communal property is the oldest and most universal form of property
Agrarian and forest commons are the original form of property and labor, having appeared long before state property and private property. All languages have words to designate their institutions, from the Polynesian mumi to the Xhosa ubuntu, to the North American potlatch. Via Natalia Fernández of lasindias.net: (the original article has many links) “The institutions… Continue reading
Micheal Linton on Open Money
Source: Extraenvironmentalist “In Extraenvironmentalist #45 we speak to Michael Linton, developer of LETS and the Community Way currency system about how to open up our money to emphasize positive aspects of human nature . Michael describes how local currencies can help to overcome the feeling of scarcity imposed by a centralized national currency. We ask Michael… Continue reading