Archive
September 24th, 2004
Better?
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 09/24/2004 - 12:48(Originally published in Greater Democracy)
“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”
This is a question that gets asked during just about every election, and the answer usually seems to be more, “Do you want the current administration to remain in power?” People who do want the current administration to remain in power, cite examples of how they are better off, and point out that the places where they are better off are not a result of the current administration. Those who want regime change site examples about how things are not as good as the were four years ago, and how the things that are better are not a result of the current administration.
Herding free-range cats
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 09/24/2004 - 10:58Herding free-range cats: An exploration into the organizational dynamics of an open software project
On a mid-September weekend in 2004, about two dozen people sat around a table on the fifth floor of an ecologically friendly building in San Francisco. Almost everyone there was under twenty-five, almost everyone there was male, almost everyone there had a laptop fired up and connected to the internet over WiFi, and everyone there was interested in finding ways to better use technology to bring about social change.
It was the first CivicSpace Summit. A year and a half earlier, a couple college kids who had become excited about electoral politics through Howard Dean’s presidential campaign had started talking together. They wanted to build the ultimate open source campaign tool. It would use some sort of content management, syndication of articles, maybe some sort of buddy list, etc. All the sites would be connected together.
September 22nd
It takes a village
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 09/22/2004 - 18:29Flying back from San Francisco, over Chicago. It has been an uneventful flight so far. The woman next to me is flying with her 10-month-old son. She is on her way to her mother’s house where she will spend the final weeks of her second pregnancy. The son has slept for a good while and she has gotten some sleep, but now, he is awake, but she still needs rest. I tell her to try and rest and I will try to help. He is interested in the computer and wants to squirm around. It does take a village, even a small ad hoc village forty thousand feet over lake Michigan.
September 16th
The great debate debate
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 09/16/2004 - 17:54(Orginally published in Greater Democracy)
In his article on the Presidential debates, Jonathan Alter talks about ‘The Danger of Distractions’. He points out “there's a second reason Bush wants to spend valuable time debating debates. It runs down the clock on discussion of important stuff, like his record in office.”
Reflections – Part 3
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 09/16/2004 - 16:23(Originally published in Greater Democracy)
Recently, I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on my experiences blogging the national conventions. My thoughts have meandered, but I think I’ve finally arrived at the crux of my reflections. Bloggers are not the new media’s journalists. Bloggers are the new media’s op-ed writers.
