TED is an annual event that pulls together some of the greatest and most innovative thinkers of our time. Defined initially as ‘technology, entertainment and design’, TED encompasses far broader topics than that, from the neuro-sciences, to cyborgs, to carbon footprints. Each event consists of a program of filmed talks that are later shared freely on the TED website. Daring in its protocol of limiting attendees to its actual events and revolutionary in its thinking of giving all the talks, presentations and lectures away free on the internet, TED is revitalizing the way we spread ideas.

I’m over buying music. The industry is changing, I don’t know exactly where it’s headed, and I refuse to spend money buyin new stuff… especially music.

In light of this I had been spending a lot of time listening to SeeqPod. Seeqpod allowed you to search and then stream any and all music ever recorded and stuck online. It was amazing. You could create playlists of stuff you liked, save them, and share a link to them on Twitter or wherever.

Over the weekend Seeqpod stopped working. I am sad. I’ve heard they might be trying to sell their music search technology to the record companies instead of being sued of existence by them.

Either way I need to find a new source to get my fix.

My resolution is revolution but here’s a couple more goals for the coming year…

– Read more books (one a month).
– Eat more lunch (everyday!).
– Get an acting agent (I want to play a villian in a movie this year).
– Don’t be in love… be love.

Updated: I should also prolly talk less and just see what happens…

What are gonna get up to this year?

I came accross a great list of New Year’s Resolutions for photographers by Bob Johnson over at one of my favorite photography blogs, Earthbound Light. Check out the list, I’m definately going to be trying to work some of these into my 2006.

* Actually read the manual for your camera.
* Learn to use the lenses you already have rather than buying more.
* Buy a new lens.
* Take a photography class or workshop.
* Take a Photoshop class.
* Join a photo club.
* Use your tripod more often.
* Learn to spot meter and use manual exposure.
* Shoot things in both horizontal and vertical.
* Convert to digital.
* Start shooting raw instead of jpeg.
* Learn to use adjustment layers.
* Learn to use color management.
* Set up your own website.
* Organize your images.
* Register the copyright for your photographs.
* Find a new place to photograph.
* Explore a well known location all over again.
* Take more pictures.

(cross-posted from Static Photography)

This morning walking to work I had the opportunity to join project FU H2. I’ve been cruisin’ around flippin’ off Hummers all week but this was the first time I had quick access to my camera phone in order to document it. I sent it into the the FUH2.com website photo gallery today and will link to it once they post it.

From their website, here’s some good reasons for you to give the bird to HumVee’s and their owners too….

* The H2 is the ultimate poseur vehicle. It has the chassis of a Chevy Tahoe and a body that looks like the original Hummer; i.e. it’s a Chevy Tahoe in disguise.

* The H2 is a gas guzzler. Because it has a gross vehicle weight rating over 8500 lbs, the US government does not require it to meet federal fuel efficiency regulations. Hummer isn’t even required to publish its fuel economy (owners indicate that they get around 10 mpg for normal use). So while our brothers and sisters are off in the Middle East risking their lives to secure America’s fossil fuel future, H2 drivers are pissing away our “spoils of victory” during each trip to the grocery store.

* The H2 is a polluter. Based on G.M.’s optimistic claim that it gets13 mpg, an H2 will produce 3.4 metric tons of carbon emissions in a typical year, nearly double that of G.M.’s Chevrolet Malibu sedan.

* The H2 is a death machine. You’d better hope that you don’t collide with an H2 in your economy car. You can kiss your ass goodbye thanks to the H2’s massive weight and raised bumpers. Too bad you couldn’t afford an urban assault vehicle of your own. Or could you…?

* The H2 is a tax loophole. Under the current tax laws, business owners can deduct nearly half the cost of their H2s. If you are in the highest tax bracket, that’s a tax savings of nearly $10,000! The government rewards you more savings for buying an H2 than you’d get for buying an electric car.

From the Webby Awards via the Web of Change mailing list…

10 Web Moments That Changed the World

1. The Dotcom Boom and Bust (1995-2001) – Launched by Netscape’s IPO, the Boom & Bust fast-tracked the Web

2. The Drudge Report Breaks Lewinsky Scandal (1998) – Matt Drudge Scoops one of the decade’s biggest stories

3. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Named Time’s Man of the Year (December 1999) - 1999 Was A Watershed Year for Online Commerce

4. Elections Worldwide (2004) - Howard Dean Revolutionizes Politics

5. September 11th (2001) – Millions of Americans Turn to the Internet for Information About the Tragedies

6. Asian Tsunami (2005) - Citizens Journalists Are the First on the Scene to Document the Tsunami

7. Napster Shut Down (July 2001) - Court Ruling Spurs Innovation and New Business Models

8. Live 8 on AOL (July 2005) – Internet Coverage Of Global Concert Bests Television’s

9. Match.com Booms (2002) - The Web Becomes the Primary Means for Making Connections

10. SARS Virus Discovered Online (2003) – Web Plays Central Role in Research to Discover SARS Virus

Tomorrow I’m finally going to break the curse and leave North America. I’m 28 years old have traveled lots and lots around the States and Canada but have never left the continent. So after much ado and a couple planned trips that ended up failing through for one reason or another I’m finally off to see a lil bit more of the world.

YVR >> LHR >> LGW >> EDI >> LHR >> YVR

I’m going to be flying from Vancouver to London on British Airways. I’m going to hang in London for a few days and explore and take pictures and meetup some old friends like Andy and Suw and some new friends like Sarah and Max. Then I’m headed up to Edinburgh for a weekend, then back to London, and then home to YVR. What should I do while I’m there? What should I see? What is your fav resturant/pub/museum/gallery/club that I just can’t miss?

I’ll be gone for 9 days. I’m sure I won’t have access to my cell phone at all so email will be the best way to get a hold of me (or Flickr). I’ll be working some and playing some so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need me.

*stretch* Just getting up after a big first night here at Web of Change. We had a great meal together last night and then spent a couple hours getting to know each other.

The crowd is amazing… big names that everyone will know are here… like Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and CivicSpace Labs, the Humane Society, etc… as well as lots of web and online people from various local, state and federal politicians and governments. People came from as far away as Amsterdam with big concentrations of peeps from NY, DC, SF, and Vancouver. Some other interesting random demographics (that I haven’t figured out whether to place significance in or not) are… everyone here is less than 50, and I bet only a handful are in there 40’s, the group is split between viewing technology as the problem or the solution, everyone has a(t least one) website, everyone has a cause, the group is half female, 90% of us are white, and I don’t think anyone here likely voted for George Bush.

70 of us or so walked in the dark up to the ‘drum circle house’… a new structure built here at Hollyhock to accommodate the Nigerian drummers who spend a lot of time teaching here. We sat around on the floor and went around the room and each of us took a minute or two to introduce ourselves. Jason was smart… we can read each others bios online and probably already have. Save the formal, scientific description of your skills and exploits for your resume… tell us your name, where you live, and what is ‘rocking your world’. It was cool to hear everyone get passionate about something and made the session a lot less boring than most icebreaker meetings that I’ve been to.

Pretty much the rest of the night was spent bouncing between the gingerbread house, the clothing optional hot tub, and the smoking temple… but you’ll have to ask Phil, Leda, and Alex about that.

I just arrived on Cortes Island for the Web of Change conference. For the record this place is 3 ferries away from the mainland (Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo, Campbell River to Quadra Island and then Quadra Island over to Cortes Island). This is definately the most remote spot I’ve been to since living in Yellowstone.

People are still arriving and I’m about to wander down and find some (vegetarian dinner). I’m excited… and a lil bit nervous… about the days to come. Themes of this event seem to be hippies, eagles, synergy, un-connected-ness, yoga, granola, sticking the word community in front of anything, hot tubbing, geekery and winning the 2008 US election. More to come later tonight.

(cross-posted from my Bryght blog)

I’ll be going to Web of Change on Cortes Island here in British Columbia on Wednesday. Web of Change is an annual gathering that connects global leaders in online communications, technology, and activism, who are actively building a better world.

"Web of Change is an invitational gathering for networked leaders from NGO’s, foundations, and the business world that are using the web to build relationships and inspire people to take action towards social change goals. We are the people leading change online and transforming the world through our work. Many participants return annually for trend-spotting, inspiring keynote speakers, to connect with like-minded peers, and tap into the humour, fun and creativity of this exceptional network."

The themes for the event are:

• Collaboration Culture
• Relationships and Networks
• Branding and Storytelling
• Open Business and Campaign Models

I’m excited to take a few days out with such an amazing group of people (including friends like Alex, Rob, Kaliya and Phil) and talk about how we can use the power of technology and the internet to connect, share, inspire, and change the world.

Here’s an awesome report from Poynter Online and Steve Outing about the emerging trend of citizen journalism. He provides a great overview and links to almost all the important players in the space. It would have been cool to see Roland, UrbanVancouver, Drupal or Bryght mentioned also… especially since it’s still a small and emerging space and they’ve been in it since the beginning. I dropped Steve a line and hope to hook him up with Roland later today.

Here’s his list of the 11 steps to help media publishers go from dipping a toe into the waters of participatory journalism to fully embracing citizen reporting and putting the organizations resources behind it.

1. The first step: Opening up to public comment
2. Second step: The citizen add-on reporter
3. Now we’re getting serious: Open-source reporting
4. The citizen bloghouse
5. Newsroom citizen ‘transparency’ blogs
6. The stand-alone citizen-journalism site: Edited version
7. The stand-alone citizen-journalism site: Unedited version
8. Add a print edition
9. The hybrid: Pro + citizen journalism
10. Integrating citizen and pro journalism under one roof
11. Wiki journalism: Where the readers are editors

“Citizen journalism.” It’s one of the hottest buzzwords in the news business these days. Many news executives are probably thinking about implementing some sort of citizen-journalism initiative; a small but growing number have already done so.

In my conversations and communications with editors, I sense plenty of confusion about the concept. There’s enthusiasm about experimenting in some quarters — about harnessing the power of an audience permitted for the first time to truly participate in the news media. But mostly I hear concern and healthy skepticism.

This article is designed to help publishers and editors understand citizen journalism and how it might be incorporated into their Web sites and legacy media. We’ll look at how news organizations can employ the citizen-journalism concept, and we’ll approach it by looking at the different levels or layers available. Citizen journalism isn’t one simple concept that can be applied universally by all news organizations. It’s much more complex, with many potential variations

Thx to my crazy Swedish friends for the link…

This looks pretty interesting, going to play with it later today and will let you know how it goes. Thx for the link Alex

Torrentocracy (pronounced like the word democracy) is the combination of RSS, bit torrent, your television and your remote control. In effect, it is what gives any properly motivated person or entity the ability to have their own TV station. By running torrentocracy on a computer connected to your television, you not only become a viewer of any available content from the internet, but you also become a part of a vast grass roots media distribution network.

This is not about the illegal distribution of media, but rather it’s about enabling an entirely new way to receive the video which you watch on your TV. If you ever wondered how and when your computer, the internet and your television would merge into one seemless device with access to anything and everything, then at this very moment the theme song from 2001: A Space Odyssey (”Also Sprach Zarathustra”) should be resounding through your head..

The geekier part (this is where you find out that this software runs only on Linux and is not really intended for use by normal humans )…

So, not only is torrentocracy a way of rethinking how you get your media, but it’s also an actual (free) software product by the same name. It is written to be integrated within MythTV, the Linux based home media server project (think Tivo on steroids). It allows you to join bit torrent (p2p) sessions linked to from RSS feeds so that any person running a capable blog can automatically have many people sharing the media they are trying to distribute. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

I took this little quiz meme thing that is supposed to reveal something about your world view or take on life. I was skeptical while I was taking the test but found the results pretty interesting. Please take the test too and put the HTML code it generates in the comments or on your own blog and track it back. I’d love to see how others ‘rate’.

What is Your World View?

What is Your World View?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.

The Home Page is Dead – Every Page is a Hub and Portal to All Others

The home page — where Web designers and editors have for so long poured much of their effort is no longer the be-all, end-all. You to pay serious attention page, course, but equally important these days template used article pages.

BOULDER, Colo. (April 22, 2005) — It’s a trend that’s been a long time in coming: More and more people bypass news Web sites’ home and section pages, instead entering a site at the article-page (or “inside-page”) level.

The home page — where Web designers and editors have for so long poured so much of their effort — is no longer the be-all, end-all. You have to pay serious attention to the home page, of course, but equally important these days is the template used for article pages.

PODCAST: Cory Doctrow on Technology, Activism, CopyLeft, and DRM

“Cory Doctrow is something of a technology renaissance man. He’s an advocate for the EFF, providing outreach in Europe as well as working on policies aimed at ensuring freedoms in the digital future. He’s a Nebula award nominee for the outstanding science fiction novel, Down and Out in The Magic Kingdom. Cory contributes regularly to Popular Science and Wired. In his spare time he’s a prolific poster to Boing Boing. We caught up with Cory at the Computers, Freedom & Privacy conference, where he talked about his infamous DRM speech at Microsoft, writing science fiction, living in London, Boing Boing, copyright laws and a stream-of-consciousness on other topics.”

Thx Chris. Roxor interview.

Well, looks like we were in fact onto something with the whole Flickr acquisition poll.

Congrats to the Ludicorp team! I hope this works out great for you all and the users/fans of Flickr. It’s cool to see good things happen to good people.

Derek wrote a great little post today about how the real story of this gay marriage decision is going to be lost in the media’s desire to create controversy, pitting “gay activists” against “religious fundementalists”.

I’m a 31 year-old married guy. I am not, by any measure, a gay activist. And I am thrilled by Judge Kramer’s ruling. Why? Because I believe in equal rights.

This is a very simple equation: The California constitution says that the state cannot discriminate. And marriage, for better or worse, is a state-sanctioned practice. So for the state to say that one group of people cannot participate because of who they are, that’s discriminatory. Period.

California’s ban on same-sex marriage is no different than the old laws that said that men could own property and women couldn’t. Or that blacks and whites couldn’t marry. Those laws had tradition and religion on their side, too, and how do they look today?

Read the rest of his post at http://www.powazek.com/2005/03/000500.html

My friend Andy Miah is helping to promote an upcoming conference he will likely be presenting at on the topics of digital bodies, virtual characters, man-machine hybrids, simulated ‘humans’, androids, and cyborgs. That makes it sound more like a SciFi convention that an academic symposium, but I assure you that these guys don’t take this stuff lightly. The conference is being put on by the University of Belfast School of Art and Design and the Braunschweig School of Art Institute of Media Research. One question I had after reading over the call for papers below is, why are these guys talking about and studying MUDs instead of MMPORPGs?

Call For Papers
Hybrid Identities in Digital Media
Vol 11, no 4, Winter 2005

“What do you get when you mix P2P, inexpensive digital input devices, open source software, easy editing tools, and reasonably affordable bandwidth? Potentially, you get what Lawrence Lessig calls remix culture: a rich, diverse outpouring of creativity based on creativity. This is not a certain future, however. Peer-to-peer is on the verge of being effectively outlawed. Continuation of the current copyright regime would mean that vast quantities of creative content will be forever locked away from remix artists.

Lessig is joining the battle for the remix future on several fronts: the court battle on the legality of P2P; another legal battle to free “orphan works” from their copyright gulag; rolling out new Creative Commons “sampling licenses” with the help of big-name artists like David Byrne; and supporting the “free culture” work of Brazilian musician and culture minister Gilberto Gil toward a society based on freedom of culture.”

I have to say the Jefferson’s theme song kept going through my head this weekend as I toiled away moving this site from it’s Blogger roots to a new and improved content management system, WordPress 1.5.

For the most part I think the move was pretty seamless. There were a few spotty moments yesterday afternoon and evening, a broken RSS feed this morning, and a few refugees left back over on my old Blogger RSS feed. All in all, it could have gone a lot worse and I’m very excited to be up on this new platform.

I haven’t seen much written about it, but in my opinion the Blogger platform is going downhill. They haven’t added many new features lately, don’t support basic old blogosphere features such as trackbacks and pingbacks or categories, and when things break they generally are left unfixed. I’m sure Google has some uber-release up their sleeve or something but waiting around and hoping had become too painful. Blogger, thanks, it was fun while it lasted… you served me well. I promise to write.