April, 2008

While channel surfing a few weeks ago I stumbled across a PBS American Experience program about Walt Whitman. It touched me and took me back to my first experience of his poetry.

As a teenager I precociously chose part of “I Sing the Body Electric” for a junior high recitation. The nuns were a bit conflicted. The literal way to interpret this piece from Whitman’s famous Leaves of Grass as a celebration of the sensual, physical human body had them worried. But I, in my youthful beneficence and eagerness to embrace humanity, went for the big metaphor. I loved the image of a body made up all people, connected and charged. I could see sparks leaping tiny gaps of space between ganglia and bone, igniting each other, lighting up and giving life and spirit to a body politic. I was particularly intrigued with the second line—to be surrounded and surround at the same time, to be an individual and yet be part of something else. Here is the first stanza from the 1887 edition of Leaves of Grass:

continue reading "Looking for Walt Whitman"

• Venture money going to companies taking on Web advertising - The Boston Globe
  Nationwide, investments in Internet companies have exceeded $1 billion in six of the past seven quarters, hitting $1.3 billion in the three months ended March 31, according to the new MoneyTree report

continue reading "Links for 2008-04-30 [del.icio.us]"

This is my annual long article about Beltane with additions and modifications because this year is actually different from last, though its patterns are similar. What follows is a summary of some of the stuff I have written in answer to questions about pagans and their festivals. It includes a brief history of how the current NeoPagan ways of celebrating the old festivals came about. A sort of Wiccan and NeoPagan history 101.

continue reading "Beltane Festivals Old and New"

Michel Bauwens is the Founder of the P2P Foundation. He presents a 30 minute keynote entitled “Infrastructure, Communities and Corporations: is There a Middle Way Between Open and Closed?” at the Emerging Communications (eComm) conference held in Mountain View, California, on Friday 14th March 2008. Telecom operators take note!

continue reading "Video: “Infrastructure, Communities and Corporations: Is There a Middle Way Between Open and Closed?”"

In Amsterdam three weeks ago, there was a gala film premiere for Big Buck Bunny, a computer-generated animated movie made completely with open source software. At ten minutes long, Big Buck Bunny is more of an animated short than a film. Still, it is very funny – and it proves the power of open-source software as a creative platform and the viability of an open-content business model based on foundation support, pre-sales and commercial sponsorship.

continue reading "Big Buck Bunny"

Nous percevons notre monde selon le niveau de nos désirs. Egoïste - ce monde ci. Altruiste - le monde spirituel. Le passage d’une réalité à l’autre est faisable grâce au point dans le coeur dont le développement nous permet d’acquérir la perception du spirituel tout en vivant dans ce monde ci.

continue reading "Passer d’une réalité à l’autre"

• Transition Hankbook | united diversity
  The Transition Handbook will come to be seen as one of the seminal books which emerged at the end of the Oil Age
• Gin, Television, and Social Surplus - Here Comes Everybody
  Here's something four-year-olds know: A screen that ships without a mouse ships broken. Here's something four-year-olds know: Media that's targeted at you but doesn't include you may not be worth sitting still for.

continue reading "Links for 2008-04-29 [del.icio.us]"

In Amsterdam three weeks ago, there was a gala film premiere for Big Buck Bunny, a computer-generated animated movie made completely with open source software. At ten minutes long, Big Buck Bunny is more of an animated short than a film. Still, it is very funny – and it proves the power of open-source software as a creative platform and the viability of an open-content business model based on foundation support, pre-sales and commercial sponsorship.

continue reading "Big Buck Bunny"

As a frequent speaker on peer to peer issues, there is always a temptation to settle into routines, and if you do so many lectures, there is always a danger that your memory turns originally distinct experiences into a single blur.

There is one event in the year where I think this will not happen, and these are the memorable experiences of the annual gathering of the Center for the Experience Economy.

continue reading "Experiencing the Experience Economy: Lego’s participative army marches on .."

I have been rather bothered recently by the way in which the emerging church - though not only the emerging church - makes use of the concept of the ‘kingdom of God’ to define its mission, the idea being that the task of the church is to extend or build the kingdom of God on earth. Very often there is an implicit polemical aspect to the usage: we build the kingdom of God rather than merely convert people; or we are more concerned about the concrete social dimension of the kingdom on earth than the rarefied - if not mind-numbing - prospect of an eternity in heaven. The phrase ‘kingdom of God’ appears to capture for us something of the down-to-earth political and moral relevance of the gospel that we are so anxious to reintroduce into Christian discourse; and it gives substantial theological justification for this shift in missional focus. But I am not at all sure that this is how the term works biblically.

continue reading "New creation, Spirit, blessing and kingdom: a clarification of terminology"

Writer Micheal Edwards’ recent book http://www.justanotheremperor.org/ takes a critical look at the hype surrounded the emerging phenomenon that some are calling “philanthrocapitalism”: using business and market systems to affect social change. The main criticism from Edwards can be summed up in his opendemocracy.net article:

continue reading "“Philanthrocapitalism”: An oxymoron with promise?"

“Matt Mason’s keynote on The Pirate’s Dilemma, his book on how to compete with piracy, filmed at The Medici Summit, March 3rd 2008, Scottsdale, Arizona. Mason discusses why piracy can be an opportunity as well as a threat, how pirates innovate outside of the marketplace and how legitimate businesses can respond. Using examples from music, fashion, software and the video game industry (to name just a few of the topics covered), Mason makes the case that it is possible to beat pirates offering the same products for free, and that when pirates are adding value to society in some way, society will get behind them, at which point the only way companies can beat them is by compete with them in the marketplace. More on the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Pirates-Dilemma-Culture-Reinv”

continue reading "Video: Matt Mason on the ‘pirate’s dilemna’"

C’est l’histoire d’un scientifique occupé qui tentait de trouver une solution à tous les problèmes du monde, mais qui devait garder son petit garçon qui lui posait sans cesse des questions. Pour garder son fils occupé autant que possible, le scientifique découpa en morceaux une image en couleur de la planète Terre dans un magazine et lui dit : «Ta mission est de reconstituer cette image. Quand tu l’auras fait, je te promets qu’on ira s’amuser ensemble.»
Le scientifique occupé était certain d’avoir gagné de bonnes heures de tranquillité pour vaquer à ses importantes recherches. Mais à sa grande surprise, en moins de dix minutes, voilà que son fils entre dans son bureau avec le puzzle recomposé entre ses mains et lui demande: «Papa, est-ce qu’on peut aller s’amuser maintenant?»
Le scientifique médusé demanda à son fils : «Comment as-tu fait si vite?» «C’était simple» lui répondit l’enfant, «je ne sais pas à quoi ressemble la Terre, mais de l’autre côté de l’image, il y avait un homme dessiné, et ça je connais. J’ai rassemblé les morceaux de l’image de l’homme, et quand j’ai retourné le puzzle, je me suis aperçu que j’avais redonné forme à l’image de la Terre. »
Les sages de la Kabbale connaissaient ce principe depuis bien des siècles. Ils ont expliqué qu’il n’y avait pas besoin de corriger le monde car le seul élément dans la nature qui devait être corrigé était l’homme. Une fois que nous nous corrigerons, ils promettent que nous découvrirons un monde parfait.
Dans ce cas, quel est le dysfonctionnement et quelle est la correction que nous devons accomplir? La sagesse de la Kabbale explique que la réalité que nous ressentons dépend uniquement de nos attributs. Les attributs avec lesquels nous naissons sont égoïstes, et par voie de conséquence, nous exploitons les autres et ne pensons qu’à notre propre intérêt. Une attitude égoïste envers la nature et envers les autres est appelée «la sensation de ce monde». Si nous changeons notre attitude envers ce qui est en dehors de nous, nous commencerons à ressentir le monde environnant comme un monde spirituel. Ainsi, en nous corrigeant, nous corrigerons le monde qui nous entoure, à l’image du fils du scientifique.

continue reading "Le monde et l’enfant"

We’ve never even talked about Clay Shirky’s landmark book Here Comes Everybody. I guess the reason is that it was already so present everywhere, that I did not feel it needed added backup from our own limited means.

Nevertheless, it is of course a hugely important book. To give you an idea, here Clay introduces the idea of the cognitive surplus, the huge amount of free cognitive time that was previously unavaillable, which becomes wasted at first, but when it comes truly into awareness, creates deep transformatory pressures in society.

continue reading "Clay Shirky on the cognitive surplus that drives the emergence of participation"

• Selectricity
  differentiated voting mechanism
• Grupo Decisión Multicriterio Zaragoza
  complex voting mechanism
• Swotti. Opinion Analizer
  opinion-based search engine
• JotYou™ - Location Based Mobile Messaging
  

  continue reading "Links for 2008-04-28 [del.icio.us]"

Does peer production hamper the monetary economy?

With Adam Arvidsson, I have been developing the concept of a crisis of value that will increasingly affect the workings of the current money-based system. The way I interpret this trend, is that while peer production causes the creation of use value to grow exponentially, only a part of this is being transformed into monetary value.

continue reading "Does peer production hamper the monetary economy?"

My computer finished downloading the Graffiti Research Lab Movie Sunday morning. I stuck it on for a quick look and ended up watching the whole thing. The film is a testament to the cultural value of the hacker ethic and a free and open source approach in cultural production. GRL are an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication. After quiting their ‘proper jobs’ Evan Roth and James Powderly founded The Graffiti Research Lab while working together at the Eyebeam OpenLab.

continue reading "Graffiti Research Lab - The Movie"

Dans la Kabbale, deux élements sont proches l’un de l’autre selon leur équivalence de forme, selon leurs attributs. Dans la mesure de similitude entre leurs attributs, ils sont proches l’un de l’autre et dans la mesure où leur attributs sont opposés, ils sont éloignés l’un de l’autre.

Ainsi, la force générale de la nature, ou le Créateur (ce qui est la même chose dans la Kabbale ainsi que le souligne le Baal HaSoulam dans l’article la paix dans le monde ) est proche de la créature selon la même règle, celle de l’équivalence de forme.

continue reading "Ressentir le Créateur"

It is a cause for celebration that Lewis Hyde’s classic book, The Gift, is being re-released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its original publication in 1983. When I first read The Gift, I was a few years out of college, making my way as a writer and activist. Rarely has a book spoken so deeply to me and brought so much into focus. As David Foster Wallace writes in his blurb for the new edition, it’s “the sort [of book] that you hector your friends about until they read it too.”

continue reading "The Gift Turns 25"

• French Parliament Say Non to Sarkozy-style "Three Strikes" Internet rule - Boing Boing
  The anti-three strikes amendment, condemning policies that would throw citizens off the Net, has cleared the European Parliament!
• La Quadrature du Net
  Squaring the net was launched by concerned citizens to alert on government projects that threaten civil liberties and economic and social development, and make alternative proposals.

continue reading "Links for 2008-04-27 [del.icio.us]"

It is a cause for celebration that Lewis Hyde’s classic book, The Gift, is being re-released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its original publication in 1983. When I first read The Gift, I was a few years out of college, making my way as a writer and activist. Rarely has a book spoken so deeply to me and brought so much into focus. As David Foster Wallace writes in his blurb for the new edition, it’s “the sort [of book] that you hector your friends about until they read it too.”

continue reading "The Gift Turns 25"

From Kasper Souren:

“You heard about the SHE-conference? SHE stands for Sustainable Hospitality Exchange and is a conference that organised during the last weekend of June in Amsterdam (27-29 June). It is based in a local former squat that can host a hundred people and more. The goals of SHE is to increase exchange of knowledge on the different hospex-networks around the world & foster debate and change.

continue reading "Announcement: conference on sustainable hospitality exchange"

Charlie Chaplin compara le monde moderne à une énorme machine dans laquelle nous sommes de petits boulons sans importance. Le Baal HaSoulam nous compare lui aussi à des rouages dans un grand mécanisme, mais avec une signification tout à fait différente. Où vous incarnez vous dans ce grand système ?

Dans son grand classique de 1936 « Les Temps Modernes », Chaplin décrit un vagabond cherchant son chemin dans la plus difficile réalité économique que l’Amérique ait connu. Au cours de sa recherche, il se retrouve ouvrier sur la ligne de production d’une usine monstrueuse rappelant davantage une prison et où les ouvriers deviennent des prisonniers contrôlés par des machines automatiques modernes dont le but est d’exploiter jusqu’au bout toute la capacité de rendement de l’homme. Dans sa tentative de répondre à la cadence de travail folle de l’usine, le pauvre héros vagabond est entièrement avalé par l’engin qu’il est censé manœuvrer lui-même.

continue reading "Esclavage des temps modernes"

• Total growth of open source
  research shows the code base is growing exponentially
• Global Open Source Trends and Public Inititiatives
  march in san-francisco: panel with dirk riehle
• iGoogle + OpenSocial = Social Network?
  

  continue reading "Links for 2008-04-26 [del.icio.us]"