Search Results for 'kindle'

Debugging Earmarks

Published by Jarred on July 22, 2009 in Politics. View Comments

earmarks

One of the big buzzwords around Washington and the rest of the country since November 4th, 2008 has been “transparency”. President Obama was widely prophesied as the harbinger of a political culture of openness and honesty. He has also been expected to be the first to leverage the Internet as a chief means of communication and collaboration with the American people.

So far the President and his administration have made promising steps on both fronts (see data.gov, for example). But what is important to remember about the web is that it’s designed to let the novice user contribute just as much as the elite power players.

WashingtonWatch.com, a website maintained in his spare time by Jim Harper of the Cato Institute, has started an initiative to let the average Joe and Jane identify pork spending buried within federal legislation. Wired.com’s Epicenter blog notes that the site, in partnership with the Sunlight Foundation, will be rewarding the top citizen watchdogs with Amazon Kindles, iPods, and other prizes.

This is a perfect example of what the New York Times recently referred to as “focused crowdsourcing.” If you want to put the mob to work, you need to do a few things. First, identify a market where there is a thirst for action. Then provide a specific and realistic objective, ideally one that is measurable and that can be registered in discrete steps (so as to lure both the curious and the committed). Offer users the tools and rules of the game, and provide worthy incentives. Next thing you know, you’re harnessing the wisdom and effort of the crowds to (hopefully) do some good in the world.

Harper has followed this model to perfection. The contest ends either when all earmarks have been entered, or when the fiscal year ends in October. Here’s hoping for robust participation from a digital citizenry hungry to see and make some change.

New Urban Visions and Shortcomings

Published by Taylor on June 10, 2009 in Design, Environment and Sustainability. View Comments

I’ve spent the past few weeks studying for my upcoming LEED Accredited Professional exam. As a result, I’ve been ruminating on sustainable development generally and LEED in particular.

This is a very effective video argument for New Urbanism (HT: The Daily Dish):

I find this vision compelling: walkable communities, condensed necessities like grocery stores, schools, workplaces, and churches, large public parks and recreation spaces, and conserved natural areas. But it’s silly to have a conversation about New Urbanism or neighborhood revitalization as if it’s an intrinsically and universally beneficial trend. The fact is, I’m drawn to this vision because I’m exactly the demographic that stands to benefit from it: white, middle/upper-middle class, well educated. Part of the creative economy and able to work essentially anywhere there’s a wireless connection. Lover of overpriced “artisan” sandwiches and ratios of coffee products and steamed milk. I own a Kindle for crying out loud.

The uncomfortable assumption underlying so many of these New Urban dream-scapes is that what would make for a REALLY great community would be an exclusive bunch of people like…well…me. And that’s crap.

As much as I like to think otherwise, I’m a boring cliche. I’m a product of privilege (more of the “great public schools” variety than the “trust fund” variety, but I digress) and will have the luxury to find parks for my hypothetical future children to play in, take bike rides on greenways, and work from various coffee shops whenever I need a change of scenery. New Urbanism seems well-equipped to satisfy that lifestyle but, frankly, I’m not worried about people like me.

Because walking to work can’t just be the accepted ideal for those of us who set out daily to work in a brightly-lit office or take our laptop to the village green. The checkout clerks at the grocery store, the teachers in those great public schools, and the folks waiting tables at the neighborhood restaurant all must be a part of this vision. But thinking about those folks (not to mention the factory workers and farmers who are presumably at the margins of this type of scenario…theoretically manufacturing wind turbines and growing organic spinach) brings up all sorts of difficult questions about affordable housing and the costs of living in trendy, clean, sustainable communities.

So here’s my challenge to New Urbanists: prove that your ideal communities can be inclusive of all people. Show me a plan that includes affordable housing between the coffee shop and the grocery store. Factor in the carbon footprint (not to mention actual costs) of low wage earning commuters who can’t afford to live in newly-remodeled trendy lofts.

Some of this admirable, inclusive work is taking place, but I think it merits a larger role in the conversation about green building, sustainable communities, and New Urbanism.

Newspaper Is Not The “One Medium To Rule Them All”

Published by Jarred on February 11, 2009 in Business, Culture, News and Web 2.0. View Comments

Reminder: I speak for myself and not for my employer.

Late last month, the New York Times ran an op-ed by David Swensen and Michael Schmidt called “News You Can Endow.” It begins with this quote from Thomas Jefferson:

“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right. [...] And were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.”

And then, ominously, the authors declare:

“Today, we are dangerously close to having a government without newspapers. [...] If Jefferson was right that a well-informed citizenry is the foundation of our democracy, then newspapers must be saved.”

I’ve done enough LSAT logical reasoning questions to recognize a broken argument when I see it. I could hash it out, but I much prefer passive aggressive analogies. Let’s say that Jefferson also wrote that the basis of commerce is the efficient movement of goods. Today, however, we are dangerously close to having an economy without carriages. Oh noes! If Jefferson was right that excellent transportation is the foundation of our economy, then carriages must be saved! Dunno about you, but I’m pretty sure the CEO of FedEx would disagree.

Swensen and Schmidt go on to argue that turning newspapers into non-profit organizations funded by endowments “would enhance newspapers’ autonomy while shielding them from the economic forces that are now tearing them down.” In other words, they believe that because newspapers are not surviving the market economy with their current business model, they should — instead of adapting to consumer demand and concentrating on moving their operations online — forgo a business model altogether and become self-sufficient institutions that are immune to the desires of their audience. I’ll give you a few seconds to apply and enjoy the carriage analogy here.

Of course, as Michael Masnick at Techdirt points out, Jefferson wasn’t really talking about newspapers as a medium, but newspapers as an implementation of journalism (just as — if my invented quote were true — he would probably have been talking about transportation, and not just carriages). Doesn’t Jefferson’s quote really imply that, if anything, a citizenry who could be informed frequently, and even in real time, would be better off than one who only received news in a single, diurnal, static form? To put it simply: wouldn’t Jefferson have been in favor of ditching newspapers for online news?

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Long Weekend Links: January 16th, 2009

Published by Taylor on January 16, 2009 in Monday Links. View Comments

Hey folks–I’m working on a series of longer posts in response to a book I read recently; those will be up next week. In the meantime, enjoy a few items of interest as we celebrate MLK, Jr., our new President, and a long weekend:

I really encourage you to commit some of the free time this long weekend provides to volunteering in your community. MLK day is also a national day of service, so click here to find opportunities in your community. Katherine and I will be helping to create a community vegetable garden for a neighborhood of fixed-income seniors in San Antonio as volunteers with the Green Spaces Alliance. Get out there and give a little time.

This is an intriguing new site to help consumers understand the various (and multiplying) sustainability labels on everything from produce and coffee to windows and flooring. The user interface could use some work, and from a few random spot-checks it seems like the database is slowly growing more robust in terms of the information offered on each certification program. Nevertheless, I’m glad someone thought to bring this information together in one spot. [Hat Tip: TreeHugger]

Not being a web designer myself, I rarely think about the amount of effort and artistry that goes into even the most basic elements of many sites. Working on a redesign project at work (with a contract designer for the heavy-lifting…I write the content) has helped me appreciate some of the finer points…and this blog takes my appreciation one step further: a gallery of pre-loading screens. You know the type, “10%…20%…” screens that display as graphic- or flash-heavy sites load. Check it out. [Hat Tip: Andrew Sullivan].

Matt Yglesias offers a helpful recommended reading list for folks who are interested in urban planning and transportation policy. Adding these to the list…now if only Amazon would release Kindle 2.o…

TAPPED breaks down 12 foods that absorb chemicals at alarming levels (making those a priority for organic alternatives as you cruise the grocery store aisle), and 10 foods with low absorbtion of pesticides and other undesireable additives.

Monica O’Brien follows up on a post about the need for millennials/Gen Y’ers to pursue a second job by offering 10 suggestions for what that job could be. Apparently I need to parlay my blogging into a guest columnist gig at a more reputable site (no pressure, eh?):

Blogging to demonstrate “expert” credentials is sooo 2007, but blogging IS a good way to test your writing skills and improve your understanding of a topic, which can lead to an article or column in a media publication. Start small, build a community around your blog, and use that momentum to land a stretch job writing about a topic that relates to your career.

Enjoy the weekend. Volunteer. Watch history. Remember why you have the day off:

Who Are The Digital Natives?

Published by Jarred on September 12, 2008 in Book Reviews, Computing, Culture and Sociology. View Comments

There’s a new book out that Taylor pointed me to a few weeks ago called Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. The book’s website describes the phenomenon in question and the purpose of the book:

The first generation of “Digital Natives” – children who were born into and raised in the digital world – are coming of age, and soon our world will be reshaped in their image. Our economy, our politics, our culture and even the shape of our family life will be forever transformed.

But who are these Digital Natives? How are they different from older generations – or “Digital Immigrants” – and what is the world they’re creating going to look like? In Born Digital, leading Internet and technology experts John Palfrey and Urs Gasser offer a sociological portrait of these young people who can seem, even to those merely a generation older, both extraordinarily sophisticated and strangely narrow.

A book about the impact of technology on an entire generation, written by two law professors? Consider it Kindled, my friends. But wait, there’s more! Make the jump!

Continue reading ‘Who Are The Digital Natives?’