Livewire: Web Sites Try to Make Internet Dating Less Creepy – another descriptive article about Friendster
Livewire: Web Sites Try to Make Internet Dating Less Creepy
gorgeous images
An artist on a psylist that i’m on just sent out a link to new images that he created and they are utterly gorgeous. My favorites:
Perfect timing! I totally fell in love with Sidhi (on the left) and i was thinking about refreshing my art with my upcoming move. Yay for being able to support artists in my community!
government information awareness
The Computing Culture Group at the Media Lab never ceases to make me smiles. To celebrate the 4th of July, they’ve unleashed the Government Information Awareness program:
To empower citizens by providing a single, comprehensive, easy to use repository of information on individuals, organizations, and corporations related to the government of the United States of America.
To allow citizens to submit intelligence about government related issues, while maintaining their anonymity. To allow members of the government a chance to participate in the process.
Happy Independence Day! Let freedom reign!
definition of weblog
One of my colleagues was trying to measure blogs (how many, how often, etc.) and i warned her that she had to first develop a concrete definition of a blog because i didn’t know of any. Apparently, last week, Jill Walker proposed a definition of a blog for Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. Also, read Andrew O Baoill’s response. His response is particularly interesting because he argues that blogs always exist in a community context. Thus, blogs are not simply about the production of information, but the role of the reader.
How Are Communication Agents Different From Those Who Publish Blogs?
How Are Communication Agents Different From Those Who Publish Blogs? is an interesting comparison essay by Robin Good
The Practical Republic: Social Skills and the Progress of Citizenship
A friend of mine pointed me to a recent Phil Agre paper called “The Practical Republic: Social Skills and the Progress of Citizenship.” It deals with the interrelationship between networks, trust, and social skills as it relates to social capital and different forms of social structures.
new age raves
When i gave money to NPR this year, i got signed up for a subscription of Newsweek. At first, this seemed rather odd to me but i have to admit that reading it over my cereal tends to make me smile.
The headline this week is about gay marriage in light of the fantabulous court decisions last week. But in the midst of it, there was an interesting article on “new age raves.” I guess you could say that i’m a part of that “new age rave” culture (albeit the term weirds me out) cause i still do yoga before dancing and view many of my dance nights as a process of reconnecting with myself spiritually, usually without drugs (no alcohol or caffeine as well). I have to wonder if this kind of press will relieve some of the hostility that people have towards dancing culture. Perhaps one day police in northern California will realize that parties with electronic music do not mean that 16 year old kids on ecstasy will show up. ::sigh::
charlie’s angels
Apparently, i’m an “impressionable little girl” because i truly enjoyed seeing Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. For me, it was a bunch of women kicking ass, taking names, being sexual their way and having fun doing it all. Of course, i realize that it is not “high art” or whatever, but damnit, it was fun.
American Airlines censoring?
Normally, i love American Airlines. In fact, they’ve been my primary airline for two years now. Of course, a message in my mailbox makes me reconsider that:
My niece and two of her friends saw the Vagina Monalogues this year at Berkeley California and became empowered, bought Pussy Power T-Shirts with the name, date and location of the play on the back of them.
Just a couple of weeks ago these three and a friend were on an American airlines trip to Hawaii. Three of the four young women were wearing their T-shirts from the play. The stewardesses would not serve them because of the T-shirts. NO water, drinks, food, meals, head-sets for the movie, nothing. The girls tried to explain but the women stewardesses would not listen. Their friend who had not seen the play and didn’t have a T-shirt was served. Other women in the area gave them some drinks, rented head-sets for them etc.
I was outraged at this. Is their anyone whom they can contact to help them with this? Also on the return trip from Hawaii, the exact same crew served them everything as they were wearing their new Hawaii shirts and garb.
Sincerely,
Margaret GarciaThe young women are more then willing to talk to someone about this. Their travel agent is upset and has contacted American Airlines but to no avail yet.
It’s frustrating that in a big corporate world, i couldn’t even fathom who they should contact to express their outrage and frustration.
COMMON CENTS: What About Your Friendster?
Fake Friendsters, Stalkers and The Uber-Popular are the three types of characters referenced in “COMMON CENTS: What About Your Friendster?”