In June of 2009, the Center for Future Civic Media’s “Future of News and Civic Media” conference showcased some of the work done as a part of the Knight News Challenge, focusing on creative ways to provide people with the news and information needed to manage their communities effectivel
It’s been a long term dream of mine to attend the Media Lab: who knows, someday I’ll even make it happen! In the meantime, I’m very grateful for views of the work that so many people are doing in new media, in the future of news and even more, how communities talk with each other, influence and inform each other.
I was love the picture of women in India with their video cameras…
Well worth watching if you need a burst of optimism.
I’m very grateful to tech entrepreneur/mover and shaker Ed Dunn, founder of the phrase-based search engine Fooky who came on a fact-finding trip to Tokyo, got in touch with folks via Facebook and came down to Tokyo Hacker Space to talk about tech, life in Tokyo and beyond.
You can see the first part of our conversation below. Head to his blog, Dream and Hustle, for parts 2 & 3.
Thanks Ed!
I trust the progressive blogosphere in the States to find and test some of the best online applications for lifehacks, video and audio production, project management, and more. As a long-time member of DailyKos, I’ve found out about applications that have become a key part of my online life, including Wordpress for content management/web design, Feedly for customized news, Evernote for capturing ideas and images on the fly, Coda for hand-coding HTML & CSS, Animoto for quick web slideshow editing, Prezi for presentations, and more.
Now, being a fairly geeky person, and a progressive, I’ve been waiting with baited breath to see what new functions DailyKos is rolling out with the new version of the site: DK4.0. And here’s the first hint: to create some new rules for DailyKos, they’re using MixedInk a tool that will give community members an opportunity to democratically (final version is voted on) and collectively (you can create your own piece, which can be revised, and vice versa. And everyone’s contribution is tracked, right to the point where it’s published.) revise the site rules. The developers bypass copyright issues by licensing every document under Creative Commons.
I bet this would also be useful for non-confidential collaborative writing in any area, by remote project groups, small businesses, NGO’s etc.
It would be pretty interesting to see if there are similar apps in Japan and how successful they are.
For now, I’m going to keep an eye on the site and when I find a subject I can contribute to, I’m in!
I’m sad today, because I’ve lost Uncle Teddy. He reminded me, in some ways, of my beloved Uncle Leon, my mother’s oldest brother. Leon was big, strong, with a smooth, bass-heavy voice. He brought a sense of danger, of jazz and of risk and reward. But when I was hurting, having run away from home for days and lived in a Ryder truck, in dubious circumstances all the way around, when I came home, he took me in his arms and understood that I was hurting, soothed my spirit, made me acknowledge how I was responsible for my actions, and helped to create an environment where things could be right again.
Sen. Kennedy was the Lion of the Senate, but he’ll always be Uncle Teddy to me. Here is the eulogy his gave for his brother Bobby. It could very well be said of him as we sing him home:
