natematias

Recent blog posts by natematias

Can we create Solitude on the Web? Jonathan Harris on Cowbird

Submitted by natematias on January 14, 2012 - 1:12am

Can we graft our humanity and our souls onto the web—using the Internet to craft a life story which grows in richness over time? In the 19th century, the Romantic poet Wordsworth famously stated: "all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity." Jonathan Harris, who spoke at the MIT Media Lab last Monday, is trying offer something similar with his new storytelling platform Cowbird.

Is the BBC Framing Issues differently on Facebook?

Submitted by natematias on January 10, 2012 - 9:15am

Recently when I pasted a BBC article link into Facebook, the title and summary in Facebook presented the opposing view to that taken by the article. Here's the story.

Co-design in a historical context

Submitted by natematias on December 23, 2011 - 12:32pm

Who should decide what products, services, and structures shape our lives? In political debates, our answers play out between markets on one hand and the state on the other. On issues including power generation, healthcare, or transportation, we tend to argue about accountable corporations versus the accountable state. But accountability is only a retrospective tool of democracy. It says nothing about a question of fundamental importance to any group: who should design the things which shape our lives? Is it even possible for values of democratic participation to apply to the way we design our streets, devices, and media? Or is it best to provide feedback through our votes, purchases, and tech support phone calls?

Guest Post: Mass Challenge at the Center for Civic Media

Submitted by natematias on December 8, 2011 - 2:18pm

This great guest post has been written by my Media Lab colleague, the entrepreneur and engineer Travis Rich (twitter) (linkedIn). Mass Challenge visited the Center for Civic Media for lunch today; both Travis and I took notes. My companion post, which includes further detail is here: "Mass Challenge: A Startup Renaissance?".

Mass Challenge, a Startup Renaissance?

Submitted by natematias on December 8, 2011 - 2:10pm

Today, Mass Challenge joined the Center for Civic Media for lunch. My notes here form an extended record of our conversation. A great summary: "Mass Challenge at the Center for Civic Media," has been written by my Media Lab colleague, the entrepreneur and engineer Travis Rich.

Can the big challenges facing our world be solved by entrepreneurs? If so, then what kind of community might be needed to coordinate the resources, ideas, and connections required for large-scale, big impact initiatives?

Today, we had a visit from Karl Buttner, Jeremy Bersin, and Warren Anderson of MassChallenge, a $1M global startup competition and accelerator program that aims to catalyse the launch and success of high-growth, high-impact new businesses.

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