Today we had the pleasure to meet with Om Malik, the legendary founder of GigaOM.com. No, we didn't discuss tech, but mostly life without tech. A wonderful man and a true cosmopolitan who has built his life going west: From New Delhi to Mumbay, Moscow, London, New York and San Francisco.
Want to know more about his daily life? Become his 197'501th follower on twitter! Om, we're looking forward to welcoming you in Switzerland.
Who said environmentalism and fun don't go together well? The activists and activettes at Avaaz show us: It is possible! Please watch their highly entertaining spoof ad of some petrol industry guy bragging about how things used to be easier for them in the past. And then, if you will, go to the Avaaz site and donate to get this ad onto CNN for further agitation.
Clay Shirky speaking at NTC 09. Here his words – rough style:
- Group action got easier. Organized activity is not a privilege of organizations anymore. Media are not a source of information only, but have become means for the coordination of real-life action and large scale collaborative efforts. E.g. flash mobs (spontaneous pillow fights in Toronto, ice cream on Belarus' October Square).
- The internet is global and cheap. There have been media revolutions before: Printing press, telegraph and telephone, recording of images, radio, but the internet for the first time allows for a “many to many” collaboration pattern.
- Change in media leads to a change in the way that institutions work. Even banal self-amusement tools can become a political tool in the right hands (Yes we can – Barack Obama music videos – a not so happy example: “Sing for Change” shot ).
- The “engine of progress” does not just force one big idea; it spreads a few smaller ideas into galaxy, lets people participate, iterate, make the best survive, and succeed: Indeed, here comes everybody!
Do you remember?
... and yes, real Amazees must also know how to farm.
Did anyone say that geeks don't know how to live the rough outdoor life?
A fellow blogger recently recommended I read Foreign Policy Magazine, which I gladly tried, always on the outlook for some fresh brain food. It seems to be a very good magazine, worthwhile reading. One article particularly caught my interest. Bill McKibben's "Climate Change" rounds up a couple of powerful thoughts, nothing entirely new, but altogether they form a very urgent call for action, which hopefully will be heard by those in power. The renowned environmentalist states that "global warming suddenly feels less like a huge problem, and more like a Oh-My-God emergency." Well said.
But he backs his seemingly simplistic argumentation with some interesting insights on what scientists think, and concludes that, "as abrupt climate change hits home, warfare may again come to define human life." We have heard of the possibility of armed conflict over scarce water resources, but there seems to be a larger scale escalation at hand. So, can we still turn this ship around? Yes, he says, but we must act now, not in ten or twenty years. "Quite simply, we've already done too much damage and waited too long to have any easy options left," he states. Today's pollution of soil, water and air will long cling to the Earth, so it is clear that, even if we should all go completely green tomorrow, the worst is yet to come. Let's hope it is not too late.
It was twenty years ago today (to start with a famous Beatles-Song), dear World Wide Web, that Tim Berners-Lee became your proud father. Unfortunately, we never found out, who your mother is. You've been raised by Geeks and Nerds until they thought you to be fit to be sent out into the world. We embraced you like one of our own, keen to share things you probably don't care to know, but you keep quiet and go on with your business.
That's probably why we like you so much: you don't mind being used. You've evolved pretty much, grown, in a true sense. Message board became chats where you can talk about most anything you wouldn't talk about in a face to face conversation. You have supplied us with time stealing things like online games and Youtube, gave us the furry lolz, took us on a cruise aboard the failboat and showed some pretty awesome things. And without you, I wouldn't know about a lot of seriously bad bands! Although we sometimes hate you for being so – oh, hang on, Luci just fell of his chair, I have to twitter that – um, where was I?
Nevermind, anyway, we like you, even though you are not perfect. You have endured – and pelted us – with flash sites, but you also gave us millions and millions if Gazzigabytes of music and, um, adult entertainment. Thanks to you I can watch the best football team in my town play – with Chinese commentary! Without you I wouldn't be able to Gmail-chat with my colleague sitting across from me.
No, seriously. You have made life a lot easier for every one of us. We connect, inform, organize and share through you – okay, and sometimes we use you to end things. We have discovered things we didn't ever think we would. We can't imagine living without you any more. So please, stay around – this afternoon, we'll get you a couple of beers.
It's Luci. Here elevator-pitching Amazee's new, recession-proof business model.
Please note our brand new booster glasses which we're happy to rent out for only 20 $ a day - will provide you with a crystal clear view on all pitfalls of the financial crisis. Includes the Swiss army's new, groundbreaking head-up display technology (HUD). Tested and battle-proven. Don't waste any time: Contact boosterglasses [at] amazee [dot] com now and get 10% off your first day!
Remember what you did in the year 2001? Take a look back on an episode of "To tell the truth" - when Google only had 170 Employees. Fun video!
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Latest comments
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Permalink21.05.2013 -
Carla
We are beginning to use Drupal as a platform for clients and this was a great article to come across to kick start my learning. I have my own check list of modules to include that were mostly covered in this article however, I now have some thoughts on what am I missing since there were several here that I did not previously consider. Thanks for the enriching and thought provoking info!
Permalink21.05.2013 -
Daniel
By the way, by "no documentation" I´m referring to Views Autorefresh. It is either not complete or conflicting.
Permalink18.05.2013
Great booster party success!
1What a great first fundraising event we had on Friday night! The Amazee Booster Party went down well in every aspect. There were loads of people, everybody was having a good time, the collaborative wine-cooler worked well and we raised quite a bit of money for four projects on Amazee. An all-out success, in other words, and certainly not the last party we had!
To be honest, when the first guests arrived, we weren't quite sure if the collaborative wine-cooler would work. We had asked the Ladies to bring cut fruit and the Gentlemen to supply us with the alcoholic ingredients. But soon we had a nice wine-cooler going which actually tasted quite well. Only that it turned into more of a vodka-cooler as the party proceeded.
The fundraising part, the centerpiece and primary reason for our party, also worked very well. We had asked everybody to leave a few quid for a project of their liking. Four projects were selected by us before the party and they received quite nice amounts of donations: Water for Dixie, Abolish The Death Penalty, Mosquito Nets To Fight Malaria! and Mission Moonbear.
We thank everybody for showing up and hope you had a good time. We woke up with slight headaches and our office looked like it was fun the night before. After cleaning up we took the chance and rearranged our workplaces. Come by and have a look! Or just visit the project and enjoy Danny's nice party pics we posted there.