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News for June 2003

27 June 2003

Human Centred Design Processes for Interactive Systems

I'm often asked for more information about the concept of Communication Centered Technology Planning. With the demise of Social Ecology, it finally looks like I'll have the time to develop some material, but in the mean time let me point you to an excellent resource. The ISO standard 13407 is called Human Centred Design Processes for Interactive Systems and is a very good place to start. Posted: 6/27/03; 12:13:32 PM #

Internet Blocking in Public Schools (EFF report)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Online Policy Group have published Internet Blocking in Public Schools, a report on "extent to which blocking software impedes the educational process by restricting access to web pages relevant to the required curriculum". It's another strike against technological fixes for problems best solved by real human relationships and engagement. Posted: 6/27/03; 12:13:15 PM #

25 June 2003

The Road to Oceania
	On the occasion of George Orwell's 100th birthday, William Gibson reflects on the state of technology and liberty in The Road to Oceania. Posted: 6/25/03; 11:21:08 AM #

Why Europe still doesn't get the Internet
	Observing some very strange new regulations, Declan McCullagh asks Why Europe still doesn't get the Internet. Although frankly, it's not looking too good on this side of the Atlantic either. Posted: 6/25/03; 11:20:55 AM #

22 June 2003

NGOs in the US firing line
	In NGOs in the US firing line, Jim Lobe explores what the right wing organizations that are targeting nonprofits have in mind. The line I find particularly disturbing is when one of these people describes nonprofits as being Stalinist. Posted: 6/22/03; 11:01:50 PM #

Iraq Museums: What Really Happened
	The Guardian has a pretty good summary and clarification of what really happened to Iraq's museums. Posted: 6/22/03; 11:01:36 PM #

16 June 2003

Conservative think tank takes aim at NGOs

If anyone thinks that nonprofits should just stay out of the current global political situation, they should think again. Right wing think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute are taking aim at NGOs. In typical fashion, they portray nonprofits as a dangerous threat to the poor, honest corporations that have the best interests of all people at heart. If it weren't for the fact that these are the people in power right now, I would find it pretty hard to read this stuff. Posted: 6/16/03; 11:11:32 AM #

BDebbie Weil on HTML versus text
	Debbie Weil weighs in on the HTML versus plain text email debate with insight into why publishers prefer HTML, despite readers prefering text. Posted: 6/16/03; 11:11:14 AM #

12 June 2003

Graphic on the Decline of the Public Domain

Jay Worthington & Luke Murphy have posted a graphic illustrating the decline of the public domain. Along with the decline in library funding, the growing information oligopolies, the continuing digital divide, and the chilling effect of government and business spying, I wonder when we'll end up paying rent to a few big companies, just to learn from, speak to, and mobilize each other. Posted: 6/12/03; 12:10:09 PM #

Planetwork 2003 Proceedings
	The recent Planetwork Conference has posted a large proportion of their proceedings online, in the form of links to comments and chats made during the conference. A little hard to follow, a little chaotic, but intriguing nonetheless. Posted: 6/12/03; 12:09:53 PM #

International Research on Privacy for Electronic Government
	The International Research on Privacy for Electronic Government reports are up. It's a worldwide analysis of privacy issues, technologies, and policies that affect people's ability to come together to do good work. Posted: 6/12/03; 12:09:37 PM #

9 June 2003

Augmented Social Network
	I was unable to attend this last weekend's Planetwork conference. But I can point you to the white paper by Ken Jordan, Jan Hauser, and Steven Foster, entitled The Augmented Social Network: Building Identity and Trust into the Next-Generation Internet. The ideas in it aren't necessarily groundbreaking, but they are put together very well. Posted: 6/9/03; 9:42:04 AM #

Spanish interest in Linux
	Juan Alberto Belloch is a Spanish politician who is campaigning for Linux. One of the things I found fascinating was how he described open source advocates as a "different kind of activist", people who are actually building things. Although frankly, I think most activists are building things. They are just less tangible. Posted: 6/9/03; 9:41:43 AM #

Spam is Not a Problem
	My news tends toward the big picture, but here is a very practical item. In Spam is Not a Problem, Mark Hurst documents just how little time spam takes him to handle. Makes me wonder how much our emotional response exaggerates our assessment of its impacts. Posted: 6/9/03; 9:41:24 AM #

Free Speech Movement Digital Archive
	One of the joys of the Internet is the proliferation of very specialised libraries, which are of great benefits to causes that are thinly spread. The Free Speech Movement Digital Archive is a great example of a resource that helps ground a cause in its history. Posted: 6/9/03; 9:40:37 AM #

6 June 2003

The Triumph of the Diligent Dozen

In The Triumph of the Diligent Dozen, Richard Behan profiles the twelve foundations that have done the most to undermine progressive values in the United States over the last four decades. I take particular interest in some of these organizations, since the death threat I received after 9/11. The note used language that was straight from the John Birch Society and other institutions supported by these foundations. Posted: 6/6/03; 11:41:24 AM #

5 June 2003

Pipevine goes out of business
	Pipevine, a major player in the nonprofit ecommerce space, is going out of business. Being at the helm of a business that's closing up shop, I find myself disturbed by some things here. For example, some charities will not receive the money earmarked for them by employees in payroll deduction campaigns. Posted: 6/5/03; 10:21:09 AM #

4 June 2003

Hackers and Painters
	For a nonprofit professional, I have spent a remarkable proportion of my career managing computer programmers. I have always found it more sensible to treat them as artists than as scientists. In Hackers and Painters, a wonderful essay by Paul Graham, I found this insight confirmed. Posted: 6/4/03; 11:16:47 AM #

Anti hunger program funded by an international tax on arms
	Swords into plowshares. A nonprofit project of magnificent scope. The president of Brazil proposes an anti hunger program funded by an international tax on arms. Posted: 6/4/03; 11:16:22 AM #

2 June 2003

FCC votes to allow greater media consolidation
	Along entirely partisan lines, the U.S. Federal Communication Commission voted today to allow greater consolidation of the media. Our recent rush to war is only one symptom of this disease. I implore you to assess the potential impact of this on your organization and contact your legislators. Posted: 6/2/03; 1:00:17 PM #

1 June 2003

Media Consolidation Map

I firmly believe that one of the reasons the United States has such a strong nonprofit sector is that we have a strong tradition of a free press. It means that the diversity of a million organizations can actually reach its audience. But that is changing. This Media Consolidation Map shows how bad things are already and the Federal Communication Commission may be about to make things even worse. I fear a future in which there are five legitimate charitable categories and the rest of us are isolated. Posted: 6/1/03; 10:39:43 PM #

Munich drops Microsoft for Open Source
	It seems the City of Munich has decided to switch to open source software. If they can do that, with 14,000 employees, I'm hoping a major U.S. nonprofit organization can follow suit. Any takers? Posted: 6/1/03; 10:39:23 PM #