by gregoryheller | Nov 22, 2005 | Uncategorized
<p>Kaliya Hamlin pointed me towards [l:http://2006.northernvoice.ca/wiki/moose-camp|Moose Camp] in an email earlier today. Kaliya and I have been scheming about DrupalGuild and the opensource cms world a bit. Looks like this might be a good opportunity to talk to a bunch of development shops about the DrupalGuild Concept and Guilds in general as a way to enhance open source projects.</p> <p>So Vancouver in February?<br /> then San Diego, Austin and Seattle in march for eTech, SXSW and...
by gregoryheller | Nov 18, 2005 | Uncategorized
<p>[l:http://feeds.feedburner.com/echoditto?m=253|EchoDitto Blog as a story this week about how a simple email list can be part of an egovernment solutioon]. In the example, a local councilperson asked people on a neighborhood email list about a traffic issue.</p> <p>Michael Silberman (the blogger) pointed out that such a simple technology can have great value (and he seeming contrasted Rasiej's failed WeFixNYC.com which I have written about [gh:node/254|here].)</p> <p>I am working on a local site for my apartment complex using Drupal and [lk:citizenspeak.org|CitizenSpeak] along with a few other modules to empower my fellow cooperators to contact the city and the management about issues of import to people living in my neighborhood. Not mo-ph-logging necessary. Just a connection to the internet and a desire to make our community a better place to live. I'll be launching the site, [lk:corlearshook.net|CorlearsHook.net] at the end of the...
by gregoryheller | Nov 18, 2005 | Uncategorized
<p>I am a big fan of sunlight. I believe it makes the best disinfectant. And there is nothing wrong with sites like <a href="http://www.fundrace.org" target="_blank">fundrace</a> or guidestar or the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/" target="_blank">center for responsive politics</a> or <a href="http://theyrule.net" target="_blank">they rule</a> that all try to point out the influence and sources of money for politicians and other organizations. But [lk:activistcash.com|ActivistCash.com] is a little different. The site claims:<br /> <cite> ActivistCash.com, a project of the Center for Consumer Freedom, provides the public and media with in-depth profiles of anti-consumer activist groups, along with information about the sources of their exorbitant funding. </cite><br /> But is does so with well written but heavily biased narratives about individuals and organizations. It is the kind of site the left needs to go after the bevvy of right wing organizations that are funded by the same cabal of ideologues. Everyone should take a look at the site and see what the enemy is saying about your favorite organizations, especially environmental organizations.</p> <p>The site appears to have amazing research and provides a tremedous, almost overwhelming about of information on each organization or funder.</p> <p>On a technological end, it also takes advantage of faceted navigation (at least that is what i call it) you can navigate around for hours without ever returning to the top level of the site. Contextual links are provided on every page (just about) that will take the browser to related pages. This is a "technology" that we at [lk:civicactions.com|CivicActions.com] willl be using in our new website when it launches shortly.</p> <p>"The Left" needs a site like this, well written, well researched and...
by gregoryheller | Nov 18, 2005 | Uncategorized
<p>[l:http://www.citizensunion.org|Citizens Union] and a bunch of other goo-go groups hosted what was supposed to be a civic discussion or debate between the seven declared candidates for city council speaker. IN NYC the council is a body of 51 members who each represent about 150k voters (could be more, could be less based upon the immigrant/citizen split), and the speaker is elected by his or her peers. Since term limits kicked in we have had one council speaker, Giff Miller, and the next speaker will only be around for one term unless term limits are changed (which all seven declared candidates would at least look into doing).</p> <p>What was really dissapointing about this event was that for the most part it became a policy debate with 60 second sound bite answers from the participants who generally agreed on everything. What I really wanted to see, and what i imagine other members of the council would have wanted was to see some indication of why any candidate would have been better than any ohter at LEADING the council. And I am talking about some indication beyond platitudes about lessons learned as a child growing up in NY, or committment to public service.</p> <p>The council consists of 51 elected officials, 48 are democrats. Rather than 15 minutes of short answers from each participant, i woud have rather heard 2 or 3 statements about how the candidate would bring together the council and lead the body in a fair and effective way so as to better serve the people of NY and provide a legislative counterweight to the strong executive system we have...
by gregoryheller | Nov 18, 2005 | Uncategorized
<p>A few years ago I discovered the first issue of [lk:readymademag|Ready Made Magazine]. I think i might have been at an Urban OUtfitters in south beach finding shelter from an afternoon rain shower. It was awesome! filled with home improvement projects and DIY crafts with a high design aesthetic. I subscribed, and with each issue i grew more and more dissapointed with the content. It became heavy on advertising for off the shelf products and craft kits, and many of the actual projects became unrealistic for an urban dweller like me. Not like i can build a [l:http://readymademag.com/feature_10_shack.php|zen cabin] in the back yard.<br /> Well monday night I was at my [l:http://kristineandrob.com/|friends'] house and saw [l:http://www.makezine.com|Make Magazine], a densely packed quarterly volume filled with awesome high and low tech projects. A popular science for the hacker generation. Check out the website and the blog, they look great. I think I know what I will be reading this winter when inches of snow are piling up...
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