CitizenShift
Updates from the basement, courtesy of the CITIZENShift team.
Archive of February, 2007
I’m writing this at 4:40am vancouver time, so forgive me if that the title of this post sounds a bit goofy. I’m excited though, to let you know about ART THREAT, a new ‘political art journal’ that aims to show that art (visual, music, film, plastic, etc.) CAN be political and in fact is a force for social change.
Its brought to us by the folks behind ?berculture (also the guys behind Cinema Politica), with Rob Maguire as the editor.
It’s published online regularly and in print twice a year by ?berculture.
Lots of eye candy for politically and non-politically inclined folks. totally inspiring. have a look for yourself. ART THREAT
related dossier : ROADSWORTH
GRAFFITI RESEARCH LABS - L.A.S.E.R. Tag
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Fresh off the train from PodCamp Toronto - which was a brilliant non-profit meeting of ideas, energy, and enthusiasm about the quiet revolution in social economics which is taking place on-line - and I’m just trying to organize my thoughts and compile my notes when I notice this:
DemoCamp Montreal is tomorrow. From Austin at BillionsWithZeroKnowledge:
‘DemoCampMontreal1 will be held next Tuesday, February 27th at the Society for Arts and Technology. The SAT has generously donated their incredible space for this and other Montreal Barcamp/Democamps.
‘You don?t have to present anything to attend. You just need to have an interest in the local Montreal technology community. Sign up on the wiki, and come out to support the community.’
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend - the upcoming weeks are just too busy - but it looks like a great event.
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Written by
catrina
February 25, 2007
Catherine Winters/Catherine Omega is a Second Life author, programmer and user. She also works for Social Signal, (one of the wonderful organizers/sponsors of the NorthernVoice conference).
phoof. still haven’t totally wrapped my head around this one. My husband is a bit of a .. luddite. He is still unconvinced about this Virtual world that seems to mirror the consumer-heavy activities that exist in the ‘real world’.
I keep telling him that i’m convinced that there are opportunities to actually do good in there as well. Online social networks and and tools like blogs can help create greater communication, community empowerment and hopefully/ideally lead to positive social change.
Perhaps because the possibilities in Second Life are infinite, it can mirror and facilitate these same things in fantastical ways. And that’s the other thing I have to say I’m attracted to, is the creative aspect of it. Same kind of attraction that i have to animation, drawing, and art. where the impossible is possible.
Catherine is a seasoned Second Lifer. She’s been in there since nearly the inception of it 4 years ago. She showed us her character and told us about the Yak Shak (a Save the Children campaign).
image (and article on this)- nfp 2.0
You can buy a Yak with Linden dollars, and this in turn buys a Yak for a family in Tibet in the real world. You can milk the yak in Second life and you can make wool..
Blows my mind. I think its time to take the leap and check some of this out for myself…
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Written by
catrina
February 24, 2007
Things started to get really interesting for me at Moosecamp, when I attended the sessioon on CBC tech guru, Todd Maffin’s session ‘Hacking the Mother Corp’ where he invited all attendees (full-house) to comment on what they think that the CBC can do to catch up with the times a bit, and how they should go about user-generated content & participatory content.
They are hoping to start a new phase that includes civic/citizen journalism, blogging, user upload etc. It seems like institutions and organizations across the board are grappling with transformations of the web.. and it was intersting
to be there as a CitizenShifter (after all, we are supported by the National Film Board…)
all comments were going to be given to the CBC executives. As well, you can listen to the podcast of it here.
some feedback included:
- adding links to other points of views/sites (more holistic approach)
- using more open source tools
from Tod - how to sustain/ pay for these changes (as CBC, like the NFB, is limited in resources)
- people are willing to pay 99cents for monthly subscription to downloadable content.
-improve navigation
- other suggestions included that every show should have a wiki to ‘don’t hurt the quality’ of CBC’s professional journalistic
qualities by replacing it w/ amateur writing…
These are all interesting questions and points, as I get warmed up for a CitizenShift retreat next week. We are also
looking into changes with our site. (all comments welcome!!)
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Written by
catrina
February 24, 2007
While Matt is at that conference all around Podcasts, I had one little session on them, lead by Bruce Sharpe who has come out w/ a tool called the Levelator, that essentially balances out
sound inconsistencies (for example loud vs. quiet speakers) - all you need to do is drag & drop your audio file into the (free software) and it will do the work for you.
Other points he covered were to make sure that your audio files are clean.. and sound good. Because if they don’t, know one
will listen. With free or cheap software like Amadeus (for mac) and Audacity (cross-platform) will help you do this.
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Written by
catrina
February 24, 2007
Very excited to have the opportunity to attend the 2007 MooseCamp / NorthernVoice (unconference) http://northernvoice.ca. Today was a super packed day of MooseCamp sessions of self-organized workshops. I?m feeling a little overwhelmed with avatars, urls & other tidbits, but will do my best to pass on some first impressions…
Session 1 - Social Media Diaspora
Roland Tanglao (http://rolandtanglao.com) (blogging since 1999 and has over 30,000 photos on flickr, is one of the founders of Bryght, a Web 2.0 startup) lead this first session that I attended as a warm-up exercise.
Something about the title of the session was intriguing. As a hybrid girl of mixed heritage and nomadic pasts, I can?t help but be attracted to discussions around cross-cultural issues.
It goes without saying that with the advent of new(ish) online communities and social networking tools, that we have so many wonderful opportunities to engage with one another across borders and cultures. I apologize if this all sounds clich?, but I really think that this can serve as a benefit in learning more deeply about ourselves and one another.
There were interesting questions raised about cultural appropriation, and what constitutes or authenticates one?s belonging to a particular community. Just because I?m half-japanese, does it give me more of a right to embrace and communicate things about Japanese culture, over something a learned ‘gaijin? or foreigner would have to say? In Roland?s ‘un-summary? of the discussion, I think he was right on target when he mentioned the word respect. Cultural appropriation is not a new phenomenon. Perhaps with the exponential possibilities of communicating now it might be easier to take these issues for granted, but they shouldn?t…
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Another great initiative highlighted by metafilter:
‘First Nations Histories is a site with compact histories of 48 first nations, from the Abenaki to the Winnebago, written by Lee Sultzman. They are primarily focused on nations in the Northeast, Midwest, with a smattering in the Plains and the Southeast. It also hosts two articles that aren’t part of the project, Manifest Destiny and Western Canada and The Coree are Not Extinct.’
First Nations Histories
metafilter link.
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Written by
denise
February 20, 2007
Earlier this month Juarez premiered at the NFB cinema in Toronto. In this film, filmmakers Alex Flores and Lorena Vassolo seek to find answers and to raise awareness about the systematic murder of 450 women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico a small border town situated mere minutes from the U.S./Mexico border.
Despite optimistic expectations, the turnout and interest in the screening took us by surprise! Word about the screening really spread and as a result approximately one hundred people braved the early February cold, to be there. In fact, we had to set up extra chairs in the cinema and a neighboring room where the film was simulcast for the overflow of attendees.
The film was well received by all and was followed by a great q&a/discussion session. People wanted to know about the next step for the film, the future safety of the people who speak out about the killers (as nearly all have recieved death threats), and whether Alex and Lorena themselves were concerned for their own safety while filming in Jaurez. It was great to have an audience show their interest in the issue and to discuss ideas on how action could be taken.
Regarding the next step, Alex and Lorena have great ambitions for the film. They plan to have it screened for politicians in the various levels of government and hopefully this will lead to the Canadian government taking some sort of action on this situation.
As for safety concerns, the people in the film as well as the filmmakers know the risks but feel strongly that it’s important to come forward and speak out. Alex and Lorena admit to feeling uneasy while filming in Juarez, but obviously felt it important to make the film and tell the world what is going on in the hopes that the perpetrators will be brought to justice and that the killing will stop. Personally, I’m impressed by their bravery, especially in light of the fact that two more women were murdered during the week that they were filming in Jaurez. So ultimately the silence and intimidation has got to stop. To paraphrase Alex ‘If people stay silent, then they (the women) will continue to die.’
The screening had special significance to me because it was the culmination of a year long relationship between CITIZENShift and the filmmakers. It’s been a great experience from start to finish, from lending equipment to Alex and Lorena to make the film, to hosting the Juarez clips and photos on this site and finally co-presenting the screening. If you?re interested in seeing clips of Jaurez please visit: http://citizen.nfb.ca/onf/info?did=226. In the meantime Alex and Lorena will be launching a website dedicated to the film. We’ll be sure to link to the site when it becomes available.
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Written by
reisa
February 16, 2007
The V?lorutionnary cyclists are at it again! Sounds like a cool way to spend a Sunday…
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According to Montreal’s administrators, during winter, cyclists hibernate: bike paths are closed, replaced by parking spaces for cars, bike racks disappear… In fact, the city’s bicycle infrastructure officially closes from November 15th to April 1st. However, according to Velo-Quebec, 50 000 quebecers brave the cold and use their bicycles as a mode of transportation during the winter months. Indeed, cyclists are here to stay, all year long.
We demand
- bike paths open and well-kept all year long
- bike racks all year long
- snow-free bike paths (in the street, parks and on bridges)
Winter cyclists, join us in our festive event,
come shovel a bike path (or come watch someone shovel one)!!!
After the shoveling, there will be a fun bike ride in the streets of Montreal!
The great Montreal shovel-in (shovel a bike-path!)
Sunday February 25th 2007
1pm – On the Parc Lafontaine bike path
In front of La maison des cyclistes
Montreal Cycling Enthusiasts
Le Collectif de V?lorutionnaires Inspir?s de Montr?al
V?locit?
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From Montreal’s CKUT:
This year’s Homelessness Marathon will broadcast live from the streets of Montreal on Tuesday, February 20th, starting at sunset and running all night long until sunrise on Wednesday, February 21st. Cette annee le marathon sera diffuse des le couche du soleil le mardi 20 fevrier et se poursuivra tout au long de la nuit pour se terminer au lever du soleil le mecredi 21 fevrier.
Listen to the Radio Announcement / PSA.
For more information check out the CKUT Homelessness Marathon page.
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