I just took a survey being done by some folks at UNC about blog archiving and preservation. Click here to take the survey, or here to learn more.
The purpose of this research is to survey bloggers’ own perceptions on digital preservation. It is hoped that the results of this study will inform development of recommendations for impacting stewardship of weblogs at the level of creation, and the development of strategies for capturing the content of blogs for perpetuity.
According to Lawrence Korb, a former senior Pentagon personnel official now affiliated with the Center for Defense Information and the Center for American Progress:
The current use of ground forces in Iraq represents a complete misuse of the all-volunteer military…
If the United States is going to have a significant component of its ground forces in Iraq over the next five, 10, 15 or 30 years, then the responsible course is for the president and those supporting this open-ended and escalated presence in Iraq to call for reinstating the draft.
– Experts: Force increases may not be enough – Military News, Marine Corps News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports – Marine Corps Times
The ACLU has launched a new campaign styled after missing-persons ads: FindHabeas.com. You can friend Mr. Corpus on MySpace, download a buddy icon, make your own t-shirts and stickers, sign a petition to Congress, and send postcards from the past (a reminder of how long he’s been around).
Habeas corpus isn’t a fancy legal term, it’s the freedom from being thrown in prison illegally, with no help, no end in sight and with no due process. No president should ever be given the sole power to call someone an enemy, wave his hand, and lock them away indefinitely. The Founders made the president subject to the rule of law. They rejected dungeons and torture, and instead chose due process and fairness.
The concept of habeas corpus is a centuries-old legal procedure that is even older than the United States. The first recorded use of the phrase habeas corpus dates back to 1305, to the reign of England’s King Edward I.
So when the 109th Congress passed and the President signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and, in a specific context, effectively abolished the writ of habeas corpus for certain people, they were turning away from a centuries-old tradition that is a cornerstone of our Constitution, and our freedom.
– Find Habeas: About habeas corpus
Check out the site and spread the word. This may seem like just some legal wrangling but it’s actually fundamental to a functioning democracy!
I am so disgusted by the Supreme Court’s upholding of the Republican Abortion Ban today that I just don’t know if I can make sense right now. It is time for people without wombs to stop making laws about reproduction!
As I am an itinerant worker today, in search of quiet places to sit with good access to an electric outlet.
Twenty-four hours ago, this happened about a quarter mile from my house:
And wouldn’t you know it, I was in the middle of leading a remote presentation using a web conference, voice over IP, and video! Amazingly, I completed the presentation without too much trouble (sans Internet) by relying on my battery powered laptop and cell phone.
I think nearly 10% of the community is out of power. Community updates and reactions are here: http://OrangePolitics.org/2007/04/turn-on-the-lights/
The world is a little less clever since Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday. I survived high school on a steady diet of his semi-science-fiction. I don’t know what I would have done without him – I might have been a duller and and more intellectually inhibited person if not for Breakfast of Champions (the first one I read, it got me hooked).
Fortunately his legacy is dozens of wonderful books that can continue to inspire and amuse future generations to come.
I’ve posted the second in my techPresident series on voter-generated campaigns in Second Life. It’s about Edwards Campaign Central, and it’s not pretty. After getting griefed on the mainland, they moved to a PG-rated location at Laguna Beach. I find the tropical setting to be mighty incongruous with a serious, populist campaign.
All the photos I’ve taken are also being added to this Flickr Collection. Please go read the review at techPresident and let me know what you think.
The bad news: My laptop battery, which was already too quirky for my tastes, completely stopped working yesterday morning.
The good news: I was at home and back from the NTC where a failed battery would have been a much bigger disaster.
The better news: It turns out I am eligible for the 15-inch MacBook Pro Battery Exchange Program so I should be getting a brand new battery in the mail soon.
Whew!
The American Friends Service Committee (awesome Quakers) have this great campaign right now where people take pictures of themselves making a statement of their constituency for peace.
Here’s a picture they took of me at the Nonprofit Technology Conference:
And here’s one that Brian added to the collection:
You can browse them all at http://friendsforpeace.org/browse or http://flickr.com/photos/friendsforpeace. Unrelated – they also just sent me a big Friends for Peace sign in the mail and I also saw one on a car in Carrboro yesterday!
I was quoted on the CBS News web site talking about candidates in Second Life! The article does a decent job of focusing on the interesting story of how supporters are working for candidates independently of their campaigns, and avoids trite sensationalism around the obscenity that is just as common in SL as it is on the rest of the Internet. (Although the author strangely seems to have visited the old Edwards HQ which has since been moved to a quiet beach setting.)
So far, the default model for building a campaign in Second Life has been “build first, ask for endorsement later,” as Ruby Sinreich wrote in TechPresident. The default stance of campaigns toward their Second Life depiction is curious indifference.
– Democratic ’08 Hopefuls Go Virtual, Obama Dips Gucci-Clad Toe In Second Life Waters; Clinton, Edwards Hands Off Of Their Digital HQs – CBS News
I remember being quite pleased with myself when I came up with that phrase. I’m glad someone else noticed. This reminds me, I am overdue for posting some more reviews on techPresident. I have already taken pictures of John Edwards’ virtual bungalow, so I need to write that up, revisit the Barack Obama HQ, and apparently there are some Republicans I have to check out…