Nearing the end of the OpenCamp event, we discussed the future of OpenEverything and related events. I suggest(ed) that we must first appeal to the most common attitude of most people in order to bring awareness of the benefits of openness in our society.
For example, most people are oriented toward consuming media and acquiring 'things'. If one would like to promote openness in media, create an event in which people are invited to download music/video that is licensed under creative commons.
You set up computers and projectors and speakers in a highly trafficked room to let people play media and allow them to plug in their own storage to download it. People get to fill up their CDs and thumb drives with tons of free music and movies all legally and free. Make sure some impressive music & video is playing to show bystanders that free content can be high quality.
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
OpenCamp
Last weekend Rachel and I went up to Madison, WI to attend the OpenCamp, which was on the 18th of April. It was quite an enjoyable weekend. You can take a look at our pics if you'd like.
Our travel experience itself was rather interesting, in mode if not saliency. We first took a train from Champaign up to Chicago. There is no train from Chicago to Madison, so we rented a Zipcar(a blue Nissan Versa) and drove to Madison. There are a number of Zipcars fairly close to Union Station in Chicago, so it was easy to walk to it.
We stayed with Alnisa Allgood, a non-profit IT specialist in the Madison area who was one of the organizers of OpenCamp. She was very hospitable and sweet to us. She treated us to brunch on Sunday at Iron Works Cafe, which was very enjoyable.
This event was associated with the Open Everything organization, which is a loose organization trying to motivate people to move toward an open society. This means, in general, transparency, freedom, sharing, choice, etc in all aspects of life. The thesis is that when society works in an open way, it works better most of the time. This movement mostly originates from the software freedom movement, and also has influences from the creative commons movement.
It wasn't a very large group, maybe 25 people attended. There were no invited speakers. It was conducted in an "unconference" style. This means we assembled topics and schedules ad hoc, once we got there. Here's what the schedule looked like:
I ran(or at least scheduled) a session on openness in academia and education. We mostly talked over openness in the software used in classes, such as Blackboard(which I am unlucky enough to use in my teaching). We also discussed openness in publication and sharing of knowledge, as well as public policy on using tax payer's money to fund proprietary solutions to public schools' information technology needs. A fellow attendee took some notes on our discussion, as well:
We also had a session on The Pirate Bay, whose founders were recently convicted of conspiracy to infringe copyright. Most of the discussions at this whole event seemed to reduce down to a discussion of what copyright policy should be, and what can people claim to own? Is immaterial property indeed "imaginary property"?
At lunch time we had a walk on State Street, which is the main commercial center on the campus. Rachel and I split off from the group(who had wandered into Chipotle) and ate at a European-style cafe. We enjoyed an Izze drink, a cup of split pea soup, and some cheese bread(referred to as a sun bun).
Douglas Whitfield and Alnisa Allgood did an excellent job facilitating the event, and I hope to continue collaboration and communication with them.
The next day Rachel and I visited Olbrich Gardens, which was a short walk from Alnisa's house, and was quite relaxing. We then drove downtown and saw a bike race going on around the capitol building, and we looked in all the little shops on State Street. A good weekend and much needed travel.
Our travel experience itself was rather interesting, in mode if not saliency. We first took a train from Champaign up to Chicago. There is no train from Chicago to Madison, so we rented a Zipcar(a blue Nissan Versa) and drove to Madison. There are a number of Zipcars fairly close to Union Station in Chicago, so it was easy to walk to it.
We stayed with Alnisa Allgood, a non-profit IT specialist in the Madison area who was one of the organizers of OpenCamp. She was very hospitable and sweet to us. She treated us to brunch on Sunday at Iron Works Cafe, which was very enjoyable.
This event was associated with the Open Everything organization, which is a loose organization trying to motivate people to move toward an open society. This means, in general, transparency, freedom, sharing, choice, etc in all aspects of life. The thesis is that when society works in an open way, it works better most of the time. This movement mostly originates from the software freedom movement, and also has influences from the creative commons movement.
It wasn't a very large group, maybe 25 people attended. There were no invited speakers. It was conducted in an "unconference" style. This means we assembled topics and schedules ad hoc, once we got there. Here's what the schedule looked like:
I ran(or at least scheduled) a session on openness in academia and education. We mostly talked over openness in the software used in classes, such as Blackboard(which I am unlucky enough to use in my teaching). We also discussed openness in publication and sharing of knowledge, as well as public policy on using tax payer's money to fund proprietary solutions to public schools' information technology needs. A fellow attendee took some notes on our discussion, as well:
We also had a session on The Pirate Bay, whose founders were recently convicted of conspiracy to infringe copyright. Most of the discussions at this whole event seemed to reduce down to a discussion of what copyright policy should be, and what can people claim to own? Is immaterial property indeed "imaginary property"?
At lunch time we had a walk on State Street, which is the main commercial center on the campus. Rachel and I split off from the group(who had wandered into Chipotle) and ate at a European-style cafe. We enjoyed an Izze drink, a cup of split pea soup, and some cheese bread(referred to as a sun bun).
Douglas Whitfield and Alnisa Allgood did an excellent job facilitating the event, and I hope to continue collaboration and communication with them.
The next day Rachel and I visited Olbrich Gardens, which was a short walk from Alnisa's house, and was quite relaxing. We then drove downtown and saw a bike race going on around the capitol building, and we looked in all the little shops on State Street. A good weekend and much needed travel.
Friday, November 07, 2008
The Significance to Racial Equality of the Election of Barack Obama
This post is in response to a Slashdot post on the election of Barack Obama.
The fact is that there is still a very real discriminatory element in our society toward under-priveleged races. There are certainly many cases in which black people are demonstrably on equal footing with the more priveleged social groups, but it is also demonstrable that blacks continue to be underserved because of their skin color, in a significant number of cases to make it a problem.
I don't think the people saying they're finally on equal ground really believe there will be no longer a bias against them, nor did they not work toward the highest pursuits in our society before Obama was elected.
I think what they really mean, the right way to interpret their claim to be finally on 'equal ground', is that there is now proof that the consensus of the country is that it can accept blacks into any position in the country. This consensus existed for some time before Obama was elected, but we don't know how long. But we know that before a certain time, the consensus was that a black person could never be president of the USA.
In the end, it's a question of power. The black race began in the US at the bottom echelon of society, and were treated as such. Now, to have someone of that race at the very top echelon of our society, in the most powerful position in the entire world. One could see it as the final desegregation.
It means they have representatives working from the very top end of our society, advocating for them, even subconsciously, and the subconsciouses of people in our country will slowly change, seeing a black person as their leader. It will no longer be out of the question, and from now on, no position of power will be as biased against blacks because of the question as to whether or not blacks are capable or should be trusted with such power. Now people will become more comfortable with a black people having power over them.
To sum up, this election is both a proof of something that's been true for some time, and also an impetus for a shift in our society, though both have been and will be rather subtle.
:-)
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Doctor Horrible
If you're a fan of Joss Whedon, you'll love Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Video Blog.
It's a story about a dorky evil mad scientist(Neil Patrick Harris, of Doogie Houser fame) who publishes a public video blog. The story spends little time with that, however. It mostly centers around his crush on a girl he sees at the laundromat that he's too shy to talk to. It's also about his neverending battle against his nemesis, Captain Hammer(Nathan Fillion, of Firefly fame). The lovely woman who completes this eventual love triangle is Felicia Day(of Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
You can watch it online. But if you like it, please buy the episodes on iTunes to show your support. This is a very innovative piece of art with a high level of production quality.
Felicia Day is a prolific web content creator these days. She has another great series that she created and stars in called The Guild. It's about people who play World of Warcraft(well, not by name) all day everyday. I enjoyed the first season. The second should be released in October.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
HP tx2000z
So, do you see the computer that is being used in the video below? It's this one:
This is one of the best tablet pc's in production at the moment: the HP tx2000z. I want to be able to take notes with this machine. And play Crayon Physics Deluxe.
Why do I want a tablet pc? I believe that interface is where the real benefit of computers comes from, and it's the future of the best innovation. tablet pc's are a well-established yet front line technology toward making computers and humans coexist in greater harmony.
What's in a note?
I don't write down notes too often, really. I do it when I feel it's expected of me, and sometimes not even then. There are some things that need to be noted, though. My thoughts about my research, for instance. It's really really hard to hold all the good ideas you have in your head indefinitely. Since I really really want to graduate with a PhD, I need to hold those good ideas in a more permanent form. Notes occasionally help improve my grades, though not that often. For daily and weekly activities, my brain is good enough. I write down noticeably less than most people. Since I tend to read and write slowly, I prefer to listen and be able to respond quickly, rather than being bogged down with writing what was said 30 seconds ago.
This is a problem, don't you know. People often take down notes under time pressure. People also want notes that give them the most information in the quickest way possible. Note-taking is an internal discourse that allows you to connect ideas over long periods of time, and very efficiently. Since I began contributing a couple bug fixes to the open source note-taking program called Tomboy, I've become aware of what kinds of features are most useful for note-takers. This experience has led me to researching note-taking in depth.
I really love Tomboy because it sits right where I spend most of my time: inside my computer. It's simple and intuitive for me, and it's more flexible and compact than writing on paper. For instance, I can link to websites. I can also link to other notes, which I've found is an amazing feature when I want to take notes on multiple academic papers within a particular field...like my note-taking research!
What would make Tomboy better? Well, the main problem is that it lacks free-form control of note formatting and writing. In other words, you use it like a flexible word processor. Being able to "draw" your notes is huge for humans. OK, let's take a step back from drawing. This is clearly beyond the scope of Tomboy, which is supposed to be "simple". How about an implementation of an ad-hoc layout manipulator, in which movements of the mouse determine the shape and position of text on the screen either future, present or past.
Don't quite know what I'm talking about? Well, take a look at the video demonstrating Crayon Physics Deluxe in the next post!
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