Salad makes a perfect open source project. While most people think it’s a drag to produce a whole salad, it’s not so hard to get them to cough up one or two ingredients. The ingredients people contribute automatically turn out to be complimentary, most of the time. And, as more people contribute ingredients, the salad gets better and better. Yum. More Open salad
Category: openeverything
Open everything unfolds
The Open Everything idea I’ve been talking about for a while has started to pick up steam. There is now a tiny web site up. And, there are events planned for London, Cape Town, Toronto, Singapore and a small, wonderful island off the coast of British Columbia. More Open everything unfolds
Challenge. Change. Conversation. Revolution.
Whatever it is that I do for a living today, it all started with community video. Five years as a portapak toting video activist in the early 90s gave me deep roots. It sparked DIY entrepreneurship and hacking. It taught me that media is conversation. It fascinated me with the power of fluid, open, participatory ways of working. In so many ways, community video made me me. More Challenge. Change. Conversation. Revolution.
A pirate, a professor and a political compass
Over the past week, I’ve been reflecting on the ideas of two people: Jonathan Zittrain (a professor) and Matt Mason (a pirate, or at least a fan of pirates). This has got me thinking about the ‘political compass question’ again, which goes something like this … More A pirate, a professor and a political compass
Wordless in Phnom Penh
It’s hard to find words for the week I just spent in Cambodia. Definitely a place in motion (which I love), but with a trajectory that’s far from clear. Exhilarating. Confusing. Hard to stop thinking about. More Wordless in Phnom Penh
Unconferencing collaboration (and public policy)
I was just reading on the Doors of Perception blog that Collaborative Innovation is this year’s theme at the World Economic Forum. Maybe this is a good thing (Jimmy Wales got to talk), and maybe it’s not (Don Tapscott got to talk). In either case, the really sad thing is the continued trend events about mass collaboration that are as uncollaborative as possible. Davos is just one long-lecture-fest, with most people zoned out in the audience in passive listening mode. It’s not collaboration, it’s television. More Unconferencing collaboration (and public policy)
Next steps: digging into open source thinking
As hinted in previous posts, I’m planning to spend the next few years digging deeper into how we can use networks and open source thinking for social change. Part of this is continued work with the telecentre.org community. Another part is open philanthropy and open education work with the Shuttleworth Foundation. A third bit is now coming into focus: reflecting more on ‘the meaning of open’ and feeding it into experiments with the Centre for Social Innovation and others here in Canada. More Next steps: digging into open source thinking
Spooks, and ambient cyberspace
Having just finished William Gibson’s new Spook Country, I have come away with one clear message: More Spooks, and ambient cyberspace
3 reasons for blessed unrest
I’ve been sideways referencing Paul Hawken‘s Blessed Unrest in every blog posting, presentation and conversation I’ve had for the last month. However, I haven’t really said anything specific on this page about ‘why this is such a great book’. Here are three reasons: More 3 reasons for blessed unrest
A journal, evolved
As I write this, I am looking at one of the most inspiring scenes in the world: the granite shores of Georgian Bay covered by wind-bent pine and rolling in and out of perfectly still waters. I’ve been calmly watching this scene for a week, playing with my kids, sipping wine, listening. I’ve also been sitting here reading Paul Hawken‘s new book Blessed Unrest (book reflections in another post). More A journal, evolved