audubon

Recent blog posts by audubon

Subversive Tech & Burma's Struggle for Democracy

Submitted by audubon on April 21, 2009 - 6:50pm

Recently, I have been working in partnership with the founders of Digital Democracy to plan an upcoming media literacy project with recently arrived Burmese refugee youth and their American classmates in two high schools in Indiana. The folks at Digital Democracy are also taking part in a talk next week which I thought I would repost here, since the discussion will be streamed live online:

In Burma/Myanmar, the military junta has ruled since 1962, brutally suppressing human rights and the flow of information. Yet in the fall of 2007, the military found itself challenged by Buddhist clergy and ordinary citizens who used nonviolent actions and 21st century technology to challenge the regime. Although the so-called Saffron Revolution failed to result in regime change, dedicated Burmese activists are continuing to risk their lives to work for change in their country. In a country of 58 million with less than 1% internet and cell phone penetration, how is technology being used to challenge a military regime?

Join us for an evening conversation on this topic, including:

Twitter is blowing up, getting hacked in awesome ways

Submitted by audubon on February 10, 2009 - 4:20pm

Wired posted this article about the many expanding uses of Twitter...including many examples of inanimate objects (lights, washing machines, computers) and living organisms (plants) triggering an auto-twitter to a recipient:

Thanks to its open-ended design and a thriving user community, Twitter is fast outgrowing its roots as a simple, easy-to-use messaging service. Enterprising hackers are creating apps for sharing music and videos, to help you quit smoking and lose weight -- spontaneously extending the text-based service into one of the web's most fertile (and least likely) application platforms.

Hardware hackers have set up household appliances to send status alerts over Twitter, like a washing machine that tweets when the spin cycle is through, or a home security system that tweets whenever it senses movement inside the house. Others have incorporated Twitter into their DIY home automation systems. Forgot to turn off the lights? Send a tweet to flip the switch by remote control.

Apps for America/Making mashups for Congress

Submitted by audubon on January 15, 2009 - 3:32pm

NetSquared has posted an announcement by Sunlight Labs about a contest to create applications that make Congress more accountable, interactive and transparent. Top prize is $15,000. It seems like an cool civic engagement contest for techies...the company says it's all a part of their effort to encourage open source civic coders to help make government more transparent.

From their website:

Entries can be client applications, web based applications, applications that use the Adobe AIR platform, Java applications or whatever other kind of platform you'd like to write it in. Awards will be judged based on the following criteria:

1. Usefulness to constituents for watching over and communicating with their members of Congress

2. Potential impact of ethical standards on Congress

3. Originality of the application

4. Potential usability of the application

5. Code quality of application

Government 2.0: A case study from Australia

Submitted by audubon on January 8, 2009 - 2:15pm

I found this presentation by Matthew Hodgson a great overview of the ways "government 2.0" tactics are succeeding at home and abroad. Check out some of his screenshot examples online: FutureMelbourne (a wiki for citizens to design a better Melbourne), Powerhouse Museum (a Sydney museum that allows users improve its online collections through tagging, ranking and sharing information), and Bang the Table (a service facilitating public policy discussion).

Government 2.0 - Trends and adoption strategies - WSG Web Standards Group - Nov 2008

New media for NGOs: A case study on the U.S. Campaign for Burma

Submitted by audubon on December 11, 2008 - 3:21pm

The U.S. Campaign for Burma has blown up over the past three years. They went from a few hundred members in 2005 to over 60,000 in 2008 -- but without much of an increase in staff or funds. I wanted to examine how the use of digital media has helped increase their presence as an advocacy organization and enhanced their capacity to reach new grassroots activists. I talked to three key people at USCB and incorporated their thoughts into this presentation.

New media outreach for NGOs: a case study on the US Campaign for Burma

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