Mashin’ it Up

Sunday, April 22, 2007

First online communication tool designed specifically for neighborhoods and their residents.

eNeighbors is best explained as a combination of Facebook (private), Blogger (news posting), Evite (social events), Meetup (groups), and finally Craigslist (classifieds). eNeighbors is specifically designed for neighborhoods or other hyper-local residential communities that are self managed or are managed by a homeowners association.

eNeighbors allows neighborhoods to setup private social networks through our unique PIN registration process that has proven to get the majority of the residents registered and actively using the site.

eNeighbors has created a web-based communication tool that replaces newsletters, and paper directories while also offering the latest in online social network features including the following:

* A unique sign-up process that gets the majority of your neighborhood online
* Up-to-date news and automatically generated weekly eNewsletters
* Automated online social event registration
* The ability to create and join neighborhood social groups
* Access to classified adds and the ability to post your own instantly
* Architectural review and board of director contact forms
* Real-time content updates
* Online resident directory

Techmambo

Global Voices – citizen media

An interesting interview with Ethan Zuckerman who discusses citizen media on the web site Global Voices. Unfortunately, Motionboxes, the site that hosts this video is not yet compatible with wordpress. http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/video-ethan-zuckerman-interviewed-about-global-voices-online/2007/04/04

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E-Agriculture Report Just In…

Okay, I really have no time to write, but I just found this great link to the Global Alliance for ICT and Development.  I really want to come back to it and explore some of the work they’re doing.  Also, just hot off the press, a report that discusses e-agriculture and the importance of focusing on Information over technology.

Ever Read the Fine Print of Facebook?

We like to thinkthe web is a tool for liberation and humanizing purposes, but we might be wise to understand more about the economic interests that drive this machine. Check out this Trebor Sholtz’s blog that touches on the price we pay for all this collaboration, connection, and participation. I read the fine print in facebook before pressing I accept, did you?

Bougainville Our Island Our Fight

The film focuses on an indigenous people who fight against a multinational mining company and government forces. The guerrillas hold the belief that they are fighting to defend their independence and the local environment on the island of Bougainville. This film is notable for its unique subject matter, as most Western media has not reported upon the Bougainville conflict.

Tulalip Lushootseed Lesson 1

Lushootseed is one of the main indigenous languages of western Washington state. Please note that these videos belong to the Tulalip Indian Tribe and are reproduced here in an attempt to preserve the language, and for educational purposes. Please go to the Tulalip Tribe website for more information on Lushootseed.

Elyo Lyaagagavu

A video Detailing What happened and continually happens with so called African Leaders and some of their Rather Well Documented Offerings.
A great Activist Video in Uganda

Web 2 – Reinforce or Disrupt Social Structures.

First it was the telephone that was going to revolutionize society. Then, the World Wide Web and now Web 2 is heralded as technologies that have the potential to challenge current social structures. I have always been sceptical of the true potential Web 2 has for making changes to power structures between the first and third worlds. Sure, Web 2 might be a set of tools to promote voices of those who are often marginalized, but I am unsure and possibly even pessimistic of the actual changes that Web 2 will promote.

This morning I am even more sceptical as I read my RSS fead from WiredNews that refers to the cancellation of Kathy Sierra as a presenter at Tim O’Reilly’s Etech conference. Linking to her blog, I was shocked to read her last post, which details some of the misogynistic death threats she has received in the last few weeks. While blogging does create a space in which women can voice their views, the action of speaking is clearly not enough to change power relations between men and women in North America. These threats also show how women are attacked by attacking or questioning their sexuality; something that rarely occurs for men. In the multiple comments that follow the post, there are others who profess to having experienced harassment online.

One blog comments on whether women should be afraid to blog. In the entry, the author comments on Kathy’s reactions to the threat by reducing her “overreaction” to the threats to biological responses that apparently only occur for women. This biological reductionism is dangerous in that it not only veils a very serious social issue, but it also suggests that because the reactions are “natural,” they are unchangeable. When we reduce social phenomena to our biology, we come up with explanations that are simplistic and that fail to capture the complexity of the situation.

Stories such as these suggest that the Web has the potential to reinforce rather than disrupt social structures. While I think the WWW is an invaluable tool for women, for marginalized, for third world countries etc. I think we need to look at the root causes of injustices, imbalances of wealth and power, to make effective changes to current inequalities.

Indigenous use of the Internet to protect Brazilian Rainforest

A couple of interesting articles about the promotion of the use of Western technologies, the internet & GPS, in order to help preserve biodiversity in the Brazilian rainforest. 
http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1114-google_earth-act.html
Recently, the Brazian government has offered free Internet connections to indigenous peoples in the Amazon in order to reduce illegal logging.  The internet is a tool, which will allow Indigenous peoples to connect and communicate with one another in order to protect their areas.
http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1114-google_earth-act.html

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The Third World in First Monday

First Monday is a peer-reviewed journal available online.  They currently have an issue which deals with issues facing the Third World.  They also recently published a study on Wikipedia and its credibility, which is definately a worthy read.