A couple of years ago, while working for another non-profit at the United Nations, I proposed the creation of a community-based, multi-issue civil society calendar of events at the UN. This evolved into the website NGOevents.org. As of today, the domain name NGOevents.org has officially expired, marking the end of a mostly failed effort to…
Category: Information Society
Amnesty Intl webcast on Internet Repression today!
Amnesty International is broadcasting on the web today a global event entitled "Some People Think the Internet is a Bad Thing," as part of their Irrepressible Campaign. Scheduled to begin at 6:30PM UK time / 1:30PM EST, the webcast will bring together both experts and victims of cyber-repression including: Martha Lane Fox of lastminute.com, Clark…
“Virtual Activism” mixed-reality event next Monday at Games for Change
I’m spreading the news that the 4th annual Games for Change conference happening next Monday and Tuesday (June 11-12) will feature a mixed-reality panel on "virtual activism" at 10:30AM EST. Games for Change brings together game developers, industry experts, academics and non-profits to discuss how to use digital games to promote social change. The "virtual…
CC Chapman gives John Edwards campaigners “A” for effort, “D” for execution
Social networking guru CC Chapman has a great post about how the John Edwards campaign folks (1) initially tried to connect with him via Twitter, (2) sent some low-level flunky to preach to him about "pushing some information" about Edwards out to his friends, and (3) asked him if he ever used MySpace or Delicious. …
Bad ass logo for Machinima Fest ’07
My buddy Ill Robinson (Paul Marino), head of the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences, has just put up a super-sweet logo for the 2007 Machinima Festival. The Machinima Fest, for those that don’t know, is the principal gathering point for machinimators (digital filmmakers who use 3D computer graphics engines) from around the world. Every…
Tell the FCC to set aside spectrum for faster, cheaper internet!
The activist group Free Press sends out the alert that the US government is going to give away to telecom companies key slices of the radio spectrum left vacated in the transition to digital TV. In their view, these newly available frequencies should be kept aside for unlicensed use to facilitate faster, cheaper form of…
iCommons open internet summit goes multiverse
The iCommons summit brings together several hundred of the major pioneers, big thinkers, activists and developers working for an "open internet." This year’s gathering takes place from June 15-17 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The convocation is full of internet rock-stars like Larry Lessig and Joi Ito of Creative Commons , Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales and CTO…
Viral campaign launches Ambassador of Lindy Hop to #7 on Amazon
I am so proud of our swing dance community right now I could burst. What began as a random suggestion by my friend Shorty Dave — “Hey wouldn’t it be great if all the lindy hoppers in America bought Frankie’s book on the same day?” — blossomed into an international campaign that shot Frankie Manning: Ambassador…
New business / non-profit alliance calls for cheaper broadband, net neutrality
The Open Internet Coalition is a new alliance of 54 private companies and non-profits united behind the cause of cheaper broadband internet and the principle of network neutrality in the United States. Yesterday, the coalition issued an open letter to the US Congress and the President to take serious measures to preserve net neutrality and…
I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if a million mash-up artists cried out in glee…
The Washington Post sends out news that will thrill sci-fi nuts everywhere. Lucasfilm tomorrow is releasing 250 video clips on their website StarWars.com to encourage fans to mash-up and play with. This very surprising news given how litigious George Lucas has been about fans "borrowing" images and video footage and using it for their own…