“ [Iran’s “Soft war”] The Revolutionary Guards plan to start a news agency called Atlas in the spring, modeled on services like the BBC and The Associated Press, according to semiofficial Iranian news sites. The Revolutionary Guards already largely control the Fars news agency, which reflects views of Iran’s hard-line camp. Two weeks ago Iran formed a 12-person unit to monitor the Internet for “insults and the spreading of lies,” a phrase used to describe opposition activities, the semiofficial media reported.
November 24, 2009
November 20, 2009
“ [Camapign against hunger…] The Billion for a Billion campaign, the first ever global citizens’ campaign to end hunger, is aimed especially at the billion internet users in the world. It is based on the idea that many people doing a little can shift mountains — or, in this case, help eradicate hunger. Read news release
[…]
Billion for a Billion is built around online participation. And it’s not just about individuals. The private sector, with its potential to reach thousands of clients and employees, also has an important role. 10 Ways Companies Can Help As well as donating, supporters can also help fight hunger by spreading the word, using the multiple tools available to web users today. It could be as simple as posting the Billion for a Billion video on your Facebook page or tweeting to a friend the fact that a child dies every 6 seconds of hunger-related causes. Or you could join the Bloggers Against Hunger alliance. Or create your-own Fight Hunger T-shirt. Or enter our Hungerbytes contest to create the raciest short video about hunger. Whatever you do, it will help. If you want to know more, visit our campaign page: http://www.wfp.org/1billion
[…]
Billion for a Billion is built around online participation. And it’s not just about individuals. The private sector, with its potential to reach thousands of clients and employees, also has an important role. 10 Ways Companies Can Help As well as donating, supporters can also help fight hunger by spreading the word, using the multiple tools available to web users today. It could be as simple as posting the Billion for a Billion video on your Facebook page or tweeting to a friend the fact that a child dies every 6 seconds of hunger-related causes. Or you could join the Bloggers Against Hunger alliance. Or create your-own Fight Hunger T-shirt. Or enter our Hungerbytes contest to create the raciest short video about hunger. Whatever you do, it will help. If you want to know more, visit our campaign page: http://www.wfp.org/1billion
November 16, 2009
“ [eGovernment Today] Back in 2001, a report called “e-government: The Next American Revolution,” based on findings of a survey conducted by Hart-Teeter for the Council for Excellence in Government, found: “Americans have an agenda for e-government that is more ambitious than just cutting paperwork or time spent waiting in line. They see its potential for giving citizens more information, which gives people the power to hold their government more accountable.” Eight years later, that agenda is a lot closer to reality than to dream.
November 14, 2009
“ [Governments attack bloggers] Yoani Sánchez, an author and blogger who has forged a reputation as a critical voice against the Castro government, said over the weekend that she and other bloggers had been attacked in Havana in what she called a “gangland style kidnapping”. The incident caused outrage online, but according to advocacy campaign Threatened Voices - which launched last week to highlight cases of internet suppression worldwide - such a move was “only a matter of time” as regimes around the world lash out at web-based critics.
[…]
According to Threatened Voices, the five governments that rank as the worst offenders against freedom of speech online are China, Egypt, Iran, Tunisia and Syria, while bloggers in the US, Canada and Europe have also faced arrest and potential imprisonment for breaking the law. Last month eight Vietnamese bloggers were given sentences ranging from two to six years for posting criticisms of the government online, while three internet users in Thailand were arrested last week for writing that the king was in poor health, which they suggested would have an impact on the country’s stock market.
[…]
According to Threatened Voices, the five governments that rank as the worst offenders against freedom of speech online are China, Egypt, Iran, Tunisia and Syria, while bloggers in the US, Canada and Europe have also faced arrest and potential imprisonment for breaking the law. Last month eight Vietnamese bloggers were given sentences ranging from two to six years for posting criticisms of the government online, while three internet users in Thailand were arrested last week for writing that the king was in poor health, which they suggested would have an impact on the country’s stock market.
November 11, 2009
October 27, 2009
October 22, 2009
“ [Clay SHirky] “Every URL is a latent community. …This is a revolution; it can not be contained by the institutions. …People can now talk directly to each other without asking for permission. …We now have a medium in which we can have tiny global movements.
“ [Catalist microtargeting during ‘08 campaign] On the whole, progressives completed over 127 million contacts to more than 49 million unique individuals[1]. Of these, 28 million voted on Election Day, representing over 20% of all votes cast. Furthermore, and of greater significance, is that 82% of this work occurred in 16 swing states, accounting for 37%[2] of all votes cast in these states[3]. The results described in this report strongly indicate that progressive activities had positive effects, and in some places were essential to progressive victories.
“ [Data backed microtargeting] According to the analysis, those registered voters contacted by Catalist member groups turned out at a rate of 74.6%; the voters who weren’t turned out in proportions roughly equivalent to the national average — about 60.4%. In four states, the number of new votes cast by liberals exceeded Obama’s victory margin: in Ohio, Florida, Indiana in North Carolina. If you assume that only 60% of these voters chose Obama, the margin was still greater than Obama’s in North Carolina and Indiana, both essential to his victory. With the caveat that correlation does not equal causation, the report provides convincing, if not absolute, evidence that the progressive/Democratic data-mining and targeting operation measurably helped elect Barack Obama.
October 13, 2009
“ [Lessig against transparency] How could anyone be against transparency? Its virtues and its utilities seem so crushingly obvious. But I have increasingly come to worry that there is an error at the core of this unquestioned goodness. We are not thinking critically enough about where and when transparency works, and where and when it may lead to confusion, or to worse. And I fear that the inevitable success of this movement—if pursued alone, without any sensitivity to the full complexity of the idea of perfect openness—will inspire not reform, but disgust. The “naked transparency movement,” as I will call it here, is not going to inspire change. It will simply push any faith in our political system over the cliff.
