Entries Tagged 'progressive' ↓

Recently I started working at Blankspaces. This is a coworking office environment designed for freelancers and independent professionals who work solo, but who want to do so with others in an office environment. This can be a temporary, or somewhat more permanent solution to the isolation of working from one’s home. It’s a fantastic idea that embodies the best aspects of collaborative work and the potential for cross-pollination of ideas.  The proximity encourages conversations that might only arise seldomly at a cafe or cocktail party, thereby increasing chances of serendipity in one’s business and life.

Blankspaces is the paradigmatic example of the intersection between physical and online space–they have an online community that compliments and augments the offline community. Some of my graduate school work looked at examples of synchronous and asynchronous online/offline collaboration; I’ve been looking for more examples ever since. Continue reading →

It is not often that I tell people they “must read” something. Bill McKibben eloquently tells us in this article why it is necessary for us to act now to make sure our governments collaborate on climate change agreements in the next 3 years.

I will say this at the outset– I believe him. I believe the scientist Rajendra Pachauri who McKibben quotes as giving humanity a hard deadline of 2012 — if we do not begin actions to lower emissions before that date, we will set off irrecoverable chain reactions in the environment.

The goal is to roll back our CO2 emissions from 385 to 350ppm (parts per million).

A few of us have just launched a new campaign, 350.org. Its only goal is to spread this number around the world in the next 18 months, via art and music and ruckuses of all kinds, in the hope that it will push those post-Kyoto negotiations in the direction of reality.

If ever there were a time for me to proclaim “this is the paradigmatic example of why social and collaborative media are crucial,” now would be it. If you’ve ever asked, “what’s the point of Web 2.0?”, here is Continue reading →

I recently returned from Sacramento, where I attended my cousin’s memorial (there was no funeral). I will never forget this event; 500 people came out to honor Harvey Rose, M.D. While this is not a personal blog, there is insight to be gained from the life of Harvey Rose, especially with respect to human interaction and the medical field in the U.S.

Perhaps we are forced to scour the Internet in the role of personal medical researcher more often than we would like; is medical research our part-time job? We spend more time harnessing the collective intellect of the English-speaking world on medical topics precisely because most doctors do not have the dedication or encyclopedic knowledge of Harvey Rose. I appreciate the use of community knowledge to help us understand our own medical conditions–in fact it is a crucial step since no doctor can keep up with the world’s research–but what happened to doctors embracing their oath to us, assisting their community of patients with even a fraction of what Dr. Rose gave to his?

Harvey Rose embodied the term community. He was a pain physician who fought for patients rights in the State of California at great personal cost. His stand for those patients ultimately culminated in the creation of the Patient’s Bill of Rights. Back in the ’80s the principle governing body of doctors wanted to pull his medical license in their blind quest to quash narcotics, just for his daring to prescribe pain medication to patients with unremitting chronic pain.

It was remarkable to watch patient after patient tell the audience that Harvey Rose was their hero, and that he saved their lives. Over time, the blog in which I am now posting will certainly evangelize the prospect of online communities making a difference in people’s lives, however it will not do so by covering up how important local community is, along with professionals who care enough to call their patients every night with their test results. Harvey Rose was such a man. He cared for his patients unlike any doctor I have ever known, and he helped make this country a better place to live. He will indeed be missed by the world at large and by Kari, Dianna, Nathan, and the rest of his family and friends. I will miss him. Click the above link to read the obituary from the Sacramento Bee.

Update: The Journal of Practical Pain Management has published a definitive obituary of Harvey. This is a must-read to get the full sense of his contribution to this world.

Freecycle.org is starting to gain more momentum. They are one of a number of online forums that facilitate the exchange of…well…..stuff — keeping all sorts of items out of landfills by providing an opportunity to give it away for free to someone else in your community. It’s a more efficient structure than leaving it on the sidewalk or having a garage sale. My question is… why are they still using Yahoo Groups as their primary means of interaction? This site is in dire need of some Web 2.0.

They are likely on a shoestring budget, therefore if you are willing to help them implement tags and their own online social apparatus, perhaps they would welcome the help.

Other than the obvious Craig’s List, what are your experiences with competitor sites that facilitate the exchange of goods and services? Which ones are most useful?