CivicActions

The Archimedes Movement, a project of the Foundation for Medical Excellence, initiated by former Oregon state Governor John Kitzhaber, will launch a new website on December 5th that will support their goal of changing the way that people think about and work toward universal health care. The site, designed to maximize the effectiveness of online and in-person activism taking place all over the state, includes features such as document forums where members can discuss and suggest changes to proposed legislation, and a Chapter section, where members in a defined geographic area can call and publicize meetings, post and generate dialog about meeting notes, and post stories, blog posts, photos and other content that is specific to a given area.

At first glance, the PEW report on the Future of the Internet seemed a bit juvenile. Then jumping in to it, I realized those surveyed included Internet luminaries Esther Dyson and Howard Rheingold (among others), and should be taken seriously...

From the report summary:

"A survey of internet leaders, activists, and analysts shows that a majority agree with predictions that by 2020:

* A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a “flattening� world.

* Humans will remain in charge of technology, even as more activity is automated and “smart agents� proliferate. However, a significant 42% of survey respondents were pessimistic about humans’ ability to control the technology in the future. This significant majority agreed that dangers and dependencies will grow beyond our ability to stay in charge of technology. This was one of the major surprises in the survey.

* Virtual reality will be compelling enough to enhance worker productivity and also spawn new addiction problems.

* Tech “refuseniks� will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change.

* People will wittingly and unwittingly disclose more about themselves, gaining some benefits in the process even as they lose some privacy.

* English will be a universal language of global communications, but other languages will not be displaced. Indeed, many felt other languages such as Mandarin, would grow in prominence."

Read the full PDF report.

A brief look at YouTube's most popular videos of the day, and what do you find? Cingular with the #1 video?! (391,397 views today alone!) Yep, the name of the video is "Cingular presents: YouTube Underground!" Cingular nabs the "Viral Day Action" award (VD Action) with this clever bit of marketing... a video announcing a YouTube contest for the best band, video or song on the hugely popular video social networking site. And, only a day after Warner Music signed a deal with YouTube - agreeing to a new royalty-tracking system... A good week for the 'Tube.

Politicians are discovering the new political maxim in the Web 2.0 age: "The next stupid thing you say may be on YouTube." This great NYTimes article examines the new political landscape in which millions of grassroots cameras and instant video publishing are shining new light into the banal and risk-averse world of modern politics.

Some political analysts say that YouTube could force candidates to stop being so artificial, since they know their true personalities will come out anyway. “It will favor a kind of authenticity and directness and honesty that is frankly going to be good,� said Carter Eskew, a media consultant who worked for Senator Lieberman’s primary campaign. “People will say what they really think rather than what they think people want to hear.�

Photography is a great equalizer. Photography has enabled the defense of freedom and fundamental rights, providing evidence to the subversion of law and the trampling of those freedoms for later redress. A photo can shine light upon malfeasance that powerful perpetrators might otherwise lie their way out of.

No wonder those who protest too much about defending liberty, all the while subverting it, are doing all they can to prevent individuals from exercising this fundamental, transparentifying right.

As Bert P. Krages II points out in this fascinating introduction to a newly-released flyer called The Photographer's Right,

Mobile Voter has just launched TxtVoter.

The new free system allows individuals and organizations to use texting (SMS) to conduct their own voter registration campaigns. Users can define their own text-in keywords, print out customized postcards, track respondents, and win prizes.

For example using your phone, you can text "civicactions" (no quotes) to 75444 and register to vote!

Sweet!

The negotiations between Apple Computer and the French government over Apple's "FairPlay" DRM technology -- which restricts a user's rights to move their songs bought on the iTunes Store to other players -- today brought the light of the Washington Post on the Defective By Design initiative.

Henri Poole, a Free Software Foundation board member, said that such software restrictions infringe on consumer rights and are designed to protect "antiquated business models. "We purchase [songs] and we think we have the same rights we had two years ago, but those rights are being eroded and the [digital rights management] rules can even be changed after you've purchased," he said.

After nine months of development, The Institute of Noetic Sciences has launched "Shift in Action" 1.0, an already thriving online community of like-minded thresholders committed to personal, social and global transformation.

The tireless and amazing CivicActions team engineered the site, with partner HoloCosmos providing architecture, visual design and online marketing. Stephen Dinan, the Institute's Director of Membership and Marketing, was the visionary client and head of a talented team there.

George Lakoff writes, "The mantra of incompetence has been an unfortunate one. The incompetence frame assumes that there was a sound plan, and that the trouble has been in the execution. It turns public debate into a referendum on Bush’s management capabilities, and deflects a critique of the impact of his guiding philosophy. It also leaves open the possibility that voters will opt for another radically conservative president in 2008, so long as he or she can manage better. Bush will not be running again