Politics, the environment, technology, activism. And stuff.
Posted in General on Jun 25th, 2010
Do Apps for Democracy and Other Contests Create Sustainable Applications?No they do not. Contest hype is just hype.Spotted owl surviving 20 years laterChefs now offering low-carbon dietsPrecision Polling founders cash out in deal with Survey Monkey
Posted in General on Jun 19th, 2010
Inside the mind of the anonymous online poster – The Boston GlobeGlad to see this finally getting some notice.War for resources: From slander to clarion call – Afghanistan – Salon.comSirota nails it.The strange and consequential case of Bradley Manning, Adrian Lamo and WikiLeaksHow To Talk About Energy PolicyToy Story + The Wire mashupAuction inspiration from [...]
Posted in General on Jun 13th, 2010
Painfully FunnyCashing In On The ChasmGov't App Contests Are Cool, But Are They Useful?Pike Place Fish Market plans a sea changeSalesforce.com as free, bolt-on analytics engine for any database appReport To MeCalling BS on Social Media Gurus (Slides)Taking on the Townhouse ScourgeNo plan for Mr. Floatie to resurface — yetPermalinks and hashtags for city council [...]
Posted in General on Jun 10th, 2010
We were chatting a bit today at Groundwire HQ, and it occurred to me that there is a fair amount of conceptual resonance between our notion of an “Engagement Pyramid” and badge/achievement systems such as those on Stack Overflow, Foursquare or your Playstation 3/Xbox 360. Just a thought.
Posted in General on Jun 6th, 2010
Frank Rich doesn’t usually grab me much as a columnist, but in today’s column about Obama’s political opportunity around the Gulf oil spill, he really hits the nail on the head. Maybe’s he’s finally learning a thing or to from Krugman. This all adds up to a Teddy Roosevelt pivot-point for Obama, who shares many [...]
Posted in General on May 27th, 2010
Being an expert comes with traps. The more of an expert you are, the more time you will tend to spend with people who know nothing about your craft. The more senior a creative you become (Art Director, Senior Creative Lead Dude), the more time you will spend in rooms with powerful people who know [...]
Posted in General on May 22nd, 2010
In his article,”BDFL considered (potentially) harmful,” Steve McMahon makes some important observations about moral vs. legal authority of open-source project leaders and the importance of paying attention to the ownership of your open-source project’s trademarks and intellectual property, not just the license on the code. Worth a read.
Posted in General on May 18th, 2010
My colleagues at Groundwire and I spend a lot of time and energy thinking about integration. How to connect various software stacks into seamless systems that solve complex problems for our clients. It’s been really great to see the emergence of lots of great integrations enabled by the widespread adoption of web services APIs. But [...]
Posted in General on May 17th, 2010
The “Send Path As Link Via Email” utility from Muvenum is free and very handy for folks that use email, a file server and Windows. It lets you quickly send well-formatted links to files on your fileserver by right-clicking in Explorer. Good stuff. Thanks, Muvenum!
Posted in General on May 13th, 2010
Matt Yoder here at Groundwire is brewing up a really nice new feature for his already-excellent Google Analytics integration for Plone, collective.googleanalytics: tracking of external links, file downloads and mailto: links via Google Analytics “event tracking.” If you’re not already familiar with collective.googleanalytics, that’s OK — it’s still in beta. But it’s definitely worth [...]
Posted in General on May 9th, 2010
Argh.
Posted in General on Apr 30th, 2010
Data.seattle.gov formally launched nearly two months ago, with a flurry of press releases, an initial batch of “60 datasets” and the promise of more. I thought I’d take a quick look and see how the platform and the community are evolving. Unfortunately, its potential is still mostly unfulfilled. I’m bummed. About the only positive thing [...]
Posted in General on Apr 28th, 2010
Welcome to EaarthReality Check From the GulfMake “Small” Your AdvantageGreat adviceSunday Morning Thoughts: Facebook, Graph API, and Open GraphGetting depressed with this whole Social Media thingThe Alot is Better Than You at EverythingSo beautiful. Wiping tears from my eyes.Understanding the Open Graph ProtocolHigh-Earners Income Tax Queued UpA Strategy for Change?Great, tough analysisKeeping tabs on Canada's [...]
Posted in General on Apr 20th, 2010
I’m very excited to share the news that Groundwire has just hired Neal Myrick to be our new executive director. He’s got a great mix of nonprofit executive experience, technology chops, and a passion for environmental activism and social change. I continue to be humbled by opportunity to work amongst such talented colleagues, and Neal [...]
Posted in General on Apr 11th, 2010
I’m very happy to hear that Sarah Harmer will have a new album out this June, her first in over 4 years. Titled, “Oh Little Fire”, there’s a track “Captive” already streaming on her website. Truly, she is one of Canada’s national treasures. For a quick intro to her delightfulness, try “Lodestar.”
Posted in General on Apr 10th, 2010
Obama for America’s Lessons on Technology for Social ChangeMagazine Preview: Climate Change – Building a Green EconomyLexington: A refreshing dose of honesty | The EconomistThe Economist on Maria Cantwell’s cap-and-dividend plan. Good stuff.Wave Energy Scales Up Off ScotlandCool!Salesforce.com Foundation 2010 Grant Round Open – NOW OPENThe Power of ‘No!’Canon EOS 550D / Rebel T2i ReviewWANT.
Posted in General on Apr 6th, 2010
Enraged by health care reform, man threatens to kill Sen. Murray. And now we see the Republican/Tea Party’s relentless, ongoing incitement of violence start to have its intended effect. Make no mistake; this is the goal of right-wing talk radio and the coded language used by Republican leaders — to push disturbed individuals over the [...]
Posted in General on Apr 2nd, 2010
Why I won't buy an iPad (and think you shouldn't, either) – Boing BoingCory’s not drinking the kool-aid. Good on him.‘Missing link’ ruling expected soonAn open letter to conservatives | AmericanDad's BlogWow, amazing rant, amazing foototes.Whales spotted near the Ballard LocksCan’t get rid of your memories? Call Death BearDealing With The Debt: A Brief Note
Posted in General on Mar 30th, 2010
I hope that when Everett grows up and remembers about his early childhood, that one of the things he’ll say is “My house was filled with music.” In other words, I’ve been spending some quality time on paternity leave rocking my Squeezebox. One of the coolest things about the Squeezebox is the fact that it’s [...]
Posted in General on Mar 27th, 2010
If anyone can explain to me the theory of change behind Earth Hour, or how it actually builds power for the climate change movement, I’d love to hear it.
