connecting*the*dots

Marc’s new baby, People Aggregator, may sound more like a cracker spread from a sci-fi movie than a social network, but after bouncing around in there for a bit, I can see where Marc’s taking this thing.

His vision for both decentralized, meshed communities (what I’m envisioning for The People, Yes — local to the geo-community of Greensboro, NC) and people’s ownership of their participatory data, is spot on with where my head is at right now. I’m psyched to see where this goes from here, as there are a lot of other infrastructure contingencies that need to be ironed out to make communities such as this a reality.

Good luck in your bulldozing efforts, Marc.

Kent Newsome: …”In sum, most businesses don’t trust their employees enough to allow them to blog.”…

Dave Winer (6/24/2000): …”My journalist-developer duality, which was uncomfortable for a few years now feels just right. If I can be a journalist, so can everyone else. The ability to share a point of view openly without help from a PR firm is the right and responsibility of every CEO, imho. The better your company does this, the more effective you will be.”…

Nancy Pelosi has a member page on YouTube.

Richard Morin: “This is not funny: Jon Stewart and his hit Comedy Central cable show may be poisoning democracy. Two political scientists found that young people who watch Stewart’s faux news program, “The Daily Show,” develop cynical views about politics and politicians that could lead them to just say no to voting.”…

Lord Jamar: …”The 5% represents the population of the planet Earth,” explained Jamar. “We teach that there’s 5% who know the truth about who they are in this world and know the truth about who God is. There’s 85% who the truth is kept from them and don’t know the truth about what’s going on in this world and then there’s 10% who know the truth but they hide it from the 85% in order to be the blood suckers of the poor and use their knowledge to make themselves rich. That would be a basic break down of what the 5% Nation represents.” The album drops on 6/27/06.

Susan Pizarro-Eckert: …”We must be willing to question whether our opinions, especially those we dearly hold, are based on real knowledge and facts, or whether they are based on misinformation we’ve inherited or acquired somewhere along the way […] The first step: many people believe they are demonstrating empathy, when really, they are sympathizing. But in fact, empathy requires patience and practice, and oftentimes, that we adjust our attitudes in the interest of learning something new and creating peace with others. […] The reward: Gaining wisdom about other experiences and perspectives; resolving conflict quicker; understanding; better relationships; peace.”

Dr. Mary Johnson: …”I realize that I am a middle-class, Caucasian, Christian, educated, articulate female and that might not qualify me for sympathy in Ed’s eyes (as he made very clear earlier he thinks I should be able to take it for those very reasons), but figuratively speaking I’m not that much different from the residents of Morningside or the innocent bystanders who got caught in the crossfire of warring ideological interests. Figuratively speaking, I’m another mortally-wounded public service doctor who has been lying on the sidewalk for eight years.”…