RYNSA: LINKS

Significant Objects (...and how they got that way)

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:42:27 -0700

Significant Objects (...and how they got that way):

Significant Objects, a literary and anthropological experiment whose first two phases ran from July 2009 through October 2010, demonstrated that the effect of narrative on any given object’s subjective value can be measured objectively. The project auctioned off thrift-store objects via eBay; for item descriptions, short stories purpose-written by over 200 contributing writers, including Meg Cabot, William Gibson, Ben Greenman, Sheila Heti, Neil LaBute, Jonathan Lethem, Tom McCarthy, Lydia Millet, Jenny Offill, Bruce Sterling, Scarlett Thomas, and Colson Whitehead, were substituted. The objects, purchased for $1.25 apiece on average, sold for nearly $8,000.00 in total. (Proceeds were distributed to the contributors, and to nonprofit creative writing organizations.) The project’s organizers, Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn, are currently working on the third phase: a collection of stories, which will be published by Fantagraphics in April 2012. Phase four will be announced at that time. Enjoy the stories here, and stay tuned!

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:50:37 -0700

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood:

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, parents, and individuals who care about children. CCFC is the only national organization devoted to limiting the impact of commercial culture on children. CCFC’s staff and Steering Committee are activists, authors, and leading experts on the impact of media and marketing on children. Most of us are also parents.

Sister Fa

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:42:55 -0700

Sister Fa:

Urban Soul and Hip-Hop from Senegal.

Village Telco -- Mesh Potato

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:58:49 -0700

Village Telco -- Mesh Potato:

The Village Telco is an initiative to build low-cost community telephone network hardware and software that can be set up in minutes anywhere in the world. No mobile phone towers or land lines are required. The Village Telco uses the latest Open Source telephony software and low cost wireless mesh networking technology to deliver affordable telephony anywhere.

The project consists of two principal elements:

1. Mesh Potato – A low-cost wireless mesh device you can plug a regular phone into

The Mesh Potato is a combination of a low-cost wireless Access Point (AP) running mesh networking software with an Analog Telephony Adapter (ATA). Mesh Potatoes automatically connect with each other, forming a “cloud” of Mesh Potatoes. Each Mesh Potato relays the phone calls for other Mesh Potatoes, greatly extending the range of the network. Plug an ordinary telephone into one Mesh Potato and you can instantly make a phone call to any other Mesh Potato on the network.

2. The Village Telco Entrepreneur (VTE) Server

Based on popular Open Source applications, the Village Telco Entrepreneur (VTE) Server combines network management, upstream voice connectivity, and pay-as-you-go billing management to create a simple system for an entrepreneur or community organization to sustainably deliver voice and Internet services.

Code Year

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 08:07:33 -0700

Code Year:

Sign up on Code Year to get a new interactive programming lesson sent to you each week and you’ll be building apps and web sites before you know it.

Tiger Mom Says

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:03:08 -0700

Tiger Mom Says:

“Of course I love you. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t be so terribly disappointed in how you’ve turned out.”

Flesh on Fire: Addicted to a Dream

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:20:56 -0700

Flesh on Fire: Addicted to a Dream:

“Flesh on Fire: Addicted to a Dream” is a feature documentary film that takes the viewer on an intimate roller coaster of pain and joy as actor Donnie Faught climbs his way out of the backwoods of Arkansas to success in the city of Angels. Along this journey, passionate (and volatile) relationships are ignited, but some are agonizingly sacrificed, all for the ultimate dream of making it on the big screen. Faught’s unwavering determination to succeed in an industry that swallows people whole and spits them out broken, is a testament to his burning passion that refused to be extinguished.

Anti-Christmas Cards

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:29:46 -0700

Anti-Christmas Cards:

A Celebration of Everything That’s Wrong with the Holidays.

Set List: Comedy Without a Net

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:12:51 -0700

Set List: Comedy Without a Net:

Top comedians get a “set list” of never-before-seen topics - as they’re walking to the microphone - to create comedy on the spot, and under pressure.

Bank of Natural Capital

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:45:06 -0700

Bank of Natural Capital:

Natural Capital is something we all own, all share and all need to protect.

What is the perfect crime? A theft that’s barely noticed. Natural Capital is a communal wealth. It’s something we all own and benefit from. Each time an ecosystem service is degraded, we all lose just a little. Imperceptible until we account for it.

We wouldn’t let our bank manager off the hook if they lost our deposits. So why do we let our governments off the hook when they allow our wealth to be exploited? Why do we continue to trade with people who exploit it?

As citizens, it’s our responsibility to be aware of our share of Natural Capital. You can make a difference through the choices you make in your daily life as a consumer and as a voting citizen.

Econ4

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:37:06 -0700

Econ4:

The economic crisis we face today is not only a crisis of the economy. It is also a crisis of economics. The free-market fundamentalism that attained ideological dominance in the final decades of the 20th century has been discredited by financial collapse, global imbalances, mass unemployment, and environmental degradation. To confront these challenges, we need an economics for the 21st century.

We need an economics for open minds that breaks free of the closed-minded economic dogmas of the past. We need an economics that aims to secure long-run human well-being, not an economics preoccupied with maximizing short-run output and profits. We need an economics that recognizes that we need to safeguard the Earth for our children and generations to come. We need an economics for people, the planet, and the future.

Occupy Writers

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:08:55 -0700

Occupy Writers:

We, the undersigned writers and all who will join us, support Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy Movement around the world.

Hot Coffee

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:11:53 -0700

Hot Coffee:

Hot Coffee, a documentary feature film by Susan Saladoff.

The civil justice system has been under heavy attack for over 25 years…

Despite the fact that federal legislation has never been successful, big business interests have won in the hearts and minds of average people. They launched a public relations campaign starting in the mid-80’s and continuing over the last two decades to convince the public that we have out of control juries, too many frivolous lawsuits and a civil justice system that needs reforming. They have used anecdotes, half-truths and sometimes out and out lies in their efforts, for one purpose – to put limits on people’s access to the court system, the one and only place where an average citizen can go toe to toe with those with money and power and still have a shot at justice.

Because of the success of the public relations campaigns, paid for by tobacco, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, to name a few, our civil justice system is not impartial. Jurors have been led to believe that a large verdict will affect their pocketbooks. Voters believe that we have a court system out of control that needs reforming. Although there are consumer advocacy groups who have attempted to set the story straight, there has yet to be enough money to launch the kind of public relations campaign for consumers that can even begin to combat and challenge the public relations campaigns of pro-business and tort reform groups. Over the last few years, however, documentary films and independent film festivals have become a vehicle for alternative ideas to get a public forum.

Because almost everyone has heard about the McDonald’s coffee case, and most people believe they know what it’s about, this project has a fascination for people. Of course, we go much further into the debate than just the McDonald’s coffee case, but the case is a vehicle for people to think about their long held beliefs and whether they are valid. We think this movie has the potential, with the right funding and effort, to really change the way people think about our civil justice system and access to the courts.

Life Edited

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 17:16:49 -0700

Life Edited:

What if we could save money, radically reduce our environmental impact, and have a freer, less complicated life? Treehugger founder Graham Hill has part of the answer: we need to have less stuff and live in smaller spaces…

We Are The 99%

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:03:44 -0700

We Are The 99%:

We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we’re working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.

Battle for Brooklyn

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:33:12 -0700

Battle for Brooklyn:

BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN is an intimate look at the very public and passionate fight waged by residents and business owners of Brooklyn’s historic Prospect Heights neighborhood facing condemnation of their property to make way for the polarizing Atlantic Yards project, a massive plan to build 16 skyscrapers and a basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets.

Mooncake

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:29:00 -0700

Mooncake:

Mooncake is a Russian instrumental and post-rock band founded in Moscow early 2006. The main idea of the band’s music is to open the door to infinite space and cosmos in any everyday thing. Mooncake is sometimes compared to Pink Floyd or Mogwai but the band has made a name for itself having developed its own style and became quiet popular among connoisseurs of genre both home and abroad. Catchy melodies, atmosphere, the ideal balance between rapture and grief: all this has always been Mooncake’s distinctive feature.

Occupy Wall Street

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 19:15:00 -0700

Occupy Wall Street:

We are occupying Wall Street…

Our voice will no longer be ignored. There are too many things wrong with this world for our voices to be silenced. You know this. We know this. This is why we are here, why we grow every day…

We stand in solidarity with homeowners across the country and the world whose homes are in the process of being stolen by faceless conglomerations motivated only by profit. We are the 99 percent. We will not let you steal our homes. We will not let you deprive us of a basic right, shelter, so that you can buy a home you do not use. We are here. We are growing. And we will not be moved…

We stand in solidarity with Madrid, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Madison, Toronto, London, Athens, Sydney, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Milan, Amsterdam, Algiers, Tel Aviv, Portland, Chicago and Palestine. Soon we will stand with Phoenix, Montreal, Cleveland, Atlanta, Kansas City, Dallas, Orlando and Miami. We’re still here. We are growing. We intend to stay until we see movements toward real change in our country and the world.

Fair Test

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:12:37 -0700

Fair Test:

The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) advances quality education and equal opportunity by promoting fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers and schools. FairTest also works to end the misuses and flaws of testing practices that impede those goals.

We place special emphasis on eliminating the racial, class, gender, and cultural barriers to equal opportunity posed by standardized tests, and preventing their damage to the quality of education. Based on Goals and Principles, we provide information, technical assistance and advocacy on a broad range of testing concerns, focusing on three areas: K-12, university admissions, and employment tests.

FairTest publishes a regular electronic newsletter, The Examiner, plus a full catalog of materials on both K- 12 and university testing to aid teachers, administrators, students, parents and researchers. FairTest also has numerous fact sheets available to educate you on standardized testing and alternative assessment.

ALEC Exposed

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:00:00 -0700

ALEC Exposed:

On July 13, 2011, the Center for Media and Democracy unveiled this trove of over 800 “model” bills and resolutions secretly voted on by corporations and politicians through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). These bills reveal the corporate collaboration reshaping our democracy, state by state…

We have analyzed and marked up the bills and resolutions to help readers understand what the bills do, beyond the PR in the names of bills. We share them to help the public identify the legislation in their state and the wide extent of the agenda to rewrite our rights by the corporations that bankroll ALEC.

These bills and resolutions reach into almost every area of American life: worker and consumer rights, education, the rights of Americans injured or killed by corporations, taxes, health care, immigration, and the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. Only by seeing the depth and breadth and language of the bills can one fully understand the power and sweep of corporate influence behind the scenes on bills affecting the rights and future of every American in every single state.

Please join us in helping to expose ALEC, its corporations and politicians, and how money has corrupted the democratic process.