This looks interesting – another useful step towards Internet independence.
unCloud — It’s not that kind.:
(Via http://www.creativeapplications.net/)
Check out Douglas Rushkoff’s “Life Inc – The Movie” to see why this matters then read Program or Be Programmed
There has been a continuous stream of media about finding your passion and reviewing your working life against higher goals. This post from workawesome is a nice summary, and once it referred to the Eightfold Path and Right Livelihood I had to link it.
Is it a Job, Career or Your True Calling?:
What is it that you love doing the most? What are you passionate about and what brings you alive? What work would you engage in if you had no other considerations? How could you use your talents to make a difference to society? Stepping back and deliberating on these thoughts can provide you the stimulus towards discovering your deeper purpose and true calling.
(Via workawesome.com)
Still very much an ongoing challenge for me.
I noticed this post recommending the movie “Off The Map” recently.
We watched it last night and really enjoyed it. We have been talking about it on and off all day today which is the sign of a movie that has gotten under our skin. I particularly liked the understated direction that let the landscape and the story unfold without joining all the dots for the viewer. Fascinating also to see the homesteading life depicted. I was scanning each frame for those small details that give authenticity and was not dissapointed. We already had the Taos region on our destination list as we love native american jewellery, so now we have another motive to visit.
(Via Cage Free Family)
Reviews
Macdrifter is a straight shooter, in this post “Man Up” he calls for direct action against SOPA. I like the style and support the cause.
Banners and Cartoons are not going to create the change most internet users want. I know it’s not something I care to waste time on. Instead, I’m gathering links and writing this post. Here’s some things that will actually make a difference.
- Donate to EFF
- Donate to Wikipedia (Wikipedia is down today in protest)
- Stop giving money to companies that support SOPA or PIPA
- Talk to people about what’s going on
- Call a representative. A lot.
- Support representatives that oppose this garbage
- Campaign against representatives that support SOPA and PIPA
(Via Macdrifter)
Thought provoking post by Adam Richardson at Harvard Business Review on the levels of abstraction implicit in the financial system and the trust that is required from all participants for it to continue to operate.
Crisis of Faith in the Financial System:
From Bernie Madoff to derivatives to the housing bubble to dubious AAA credit ratings, we continue to find new ways to encourage people to make financial leaps of faith. Have we reached a breaking point where the abstraction has gone too far, and is too complicated for 99% of people to understand what they’re signing up for, that we must backtrack to more conventional methods? And has the level of trust in private and state financial institutions sunk so low that most people now feel there is no accountability or responsibility for the promises made, or that sound decisions will be made to guarantee “circulation forever”?
(Via HBR.org)
A video of a US policeman calmly capsicum spraying unarmed sitting protestors has created an international storm. James Fallows has exhaustive coverage and Mark Bernstein summarises the story with key links and adds his own view in this excellent post Shame:
The walk of shame, as UC Davis Chancellor Katehi walks to her car before rows of silent students, was extraordinary. James Fallows wrote of the affectless sadism of the campus police, captured forever in film. If the euro collapse does usher in the second great depression, that video is going to become an icon and this behind-the-scenes account will someday be treasured the way we cherish stories of riding in the car with Martin.
Bob Ostertag wrote a terrific piece on the shameful militarization of campus police. He doesn’t go far enough. Chancellor Katehi claimed that the quad was cleared because of “the encampment raised serious health and safety concerns.” Ostertag argues treats this as an error, a stupid failure of understanding and planning. But it’s not just a mistake.
It was a lie.
……….
(Via Mark Bernstein)
Perhaps all law enforcement officers should be trained in the fundamentals of non violent action to enable them to more appropriately respond to these situations. Thoreau’s essay is a good starting place (full text here), Ghandis’ biography is another valuable source
Sophisticated campaign orchestrated by Greenpeace using the same Star Wars theme that feature in the latest VW adds. The aim is to raise pressure on Volkswagen to put more effort into bringing its green technology to bear across its fleet. Worth checking the video’s out and sign up..
There is good in Volkswagen. We feel it…
Volkswagen is a big part of many of our lives – indeed many rebel vehicles are VWs. But it seems the bosses at Volkswagen have been seduced by the dark side of the Force and left us with little choice but to challenge them. But it’s not too late. There’s a chance that together we can turn Volkswagen away from the dark side and into a Force for good, leading to a brighter future for us all.
via vwdarkside.com
Douglass Rushkoff is always worth reading, here is a rousing speech he gave to Occupy Wallstreet
You are not fighting against people, but against a machine.
It was put in place over 500 years ago.
By a wealthy elite – trying to repress a booming peer to peer economy.
Those people are all dead, but their program lives on.(Via Douglas Rushkoff)
As he says in the opening lines this speech covers the material that is exhaustively documented in his book Life Inc
which is a fascinating read – read the book and start thinking.
Tim Bray on Occupying Wall Street:
“
A large number of people in the finance business enriched themselves to the tune of billions in a manner that feels essentially like bald-faced theft. Nobody has been punished. Very few of these people even experienced much in the way of financial setbacks, because they were bailed out with other people’s money. As in, yours & mine.
The general degree of inequality, whether measured in money or power, seems unreasonable.
The political system seems structurally unable to take any action which runs counter to the interests of the finance-industry elite.
I think those perceptions are broadly correct, and I think it’s reasonable to be angry about them, and to engage in political action: This is what politics is for.
“
(Via ongoing by Tim Bray.)
RIght on – a succinct summary of why many people are emphasising with this movement.
I had missed the interesting social experiments Ruskofff describes, the local media is adopting its usual superficial view.
CNN: Occupy Wall Street is not a Protest but a Prototype: “
… “Occupy” is anything but a protest movement. That’s why it has been so hard for news agencies to express or even discern the “demands” of the growing legions of Occupy participants around the nation, and even the world. Just like pretty much everyone else on the planet, occupiers may want many things to happen and other things to stop, but the occupation is not about making demands. They don’t want anything from you, and there is nothing you can do to make them stop. That’s what makes Occupy so very scary and so very promising. It is not a protest, but a prototype for a new way of living. (Via Douglas Rushkoff.)
