One of the members of my swing website Yehoodi, ShortYgeorge sent me a story that perfectly combines lindy hop and geekiness. Apparently today is the one year anniversary of a dance in Amsterdam that ShortYgeorge started called "Swing Out of Pocket." Sadly, George was not able to be there, since he currently resides in New…
Category: Information Society
$4,000 prize for best “Choose Your Global Solution” interactive fiction project
Those nice folks at Citizens for Global Solutions are once again holding a contest for artists, webmasters, graphic designers, poets, video artists and creative activists who are interested in creating some unique digital art on the Web! This year's theme is "Choose Your Global Solution." $4,000 in cash prizes is up for grabs. The basic…
A new addition the family: Dell Mini 10v
After months of lusting for a netbook, I finally bit the bullet and purchased one: the Dell Mini 10v. For the past weeks, I have been polling friends of mine who have various makes and models of netbooks. Several people urged me to get the Dell Mini 9 because of how easily it can be…
MacArthur, Digital Youth Network & Chicago Public Library launch “YouMedia” digital youth center
Check out this cool video about the launch of the "YouMedia" youth media center in downtown Chicago. A partnership of the MacArthur Foundation, the Digital Youth Network and the Chicago Public Library, YouMedia is a digital learning space where young people from all over Chicago can come together to create and collaborate across a range…
Why America’s youth need affordable broadband internet access
The FCC has created a website using IdeaScale to solicit ideas and opinions on the importance of broadband internet on education in America. I just posted my own views entitled "All of America's Youth Deserve to Play a Part in the Digital Society." Here's a bit of what I wrote: I work at Global Kids,…
Perpetual Worship in the Ether
How does a Quaker stay centered, living in the Light, as he lives his daily life in this complex and noisy world? It’s a question I struggle with often. During Meeting for Worship, I feel such a strong connection to the Divine, to my fellow Quakers, and to life in general. And yet it only…
Becoming More Human through Robots: Youth programs and robotics
This morning I attended a cool session at the Games in Education Conference on "ROBOTS: They're Not Just for Taking over the World, but for Education, too!" put on by Nick Webb, Senior Scientist at the Institute for Informatics, Logic and Security Studies at the University at Albany and Ilene Frank, of the Schenectady Museum…
Vadis Turner + Brooklyn Museum’s super-secret tech project at 1st Fans Meetup
Shelly and Will gave us "1st Fans" members of the Brooklyn Museum a sneak peek at their new tech project last night. I was sworn to secrecy, but I will say this: it will change how you visit the museum… forever. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an over-sell. Still, it's a neat initiative that…
The Digital Quaker: What it means to be a Friend in the Information Society
This morning at Meeting for Worship at the Friends Meeting of Brooklyn, I was thinking about how analog our worship services are. There's almost no modern technology involved at all except for electric lights and maybe an oscillating fan in the summer. There's no amplifier, microphones, television or computer monitors, or other digital technology found…
“Tron Legacy” trailer released (video) OMG!
The original "Tron" was a very formative movie for me as a teenager. I remember walking out of the theaters being so excited about the possibilities for computer graphics and simulations, and really wanting to be able to program animations like that. It inspired me to join the computer club in school, to convince my…