Author: jon
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Notes from Underground: Anomalous at the Atrium
Tonight’s the Atrium’s official opening night, with DJ Anomaly headlining. The venue’s really taken shape over the last few months and it’s been great to be a part of it.  There’s so much to like about it, including the way the lighting makes everybody look good. Four friends drove up from California, reminding us of…
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Communications tools for Startup Weekend: some recommendations
If we didn’t have a 54-hour time limit, of course a core team should define the problem, specify roles, set milestones, and designate team members to take on various tasks. But we did have a 54-hour time limit, and the entire team was not going to spend all of Friday night (the equivalent of three…
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Just two weeks until Seattle Startup Weekend!
This was my first Startup Weekend, and I decided to not just observe, but to get involved. In case you haven’t heard of it, Startup Weekend is an event where techies try to create a business in less than three days. Going in I didn’t know how much I could help – I can’t code…
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Notes from Underground: Retox, the Nexus Fire Ball at Space 550, and DJ Anomaly at ‘Beyond Rapture’
So between activism, NWEN, and qweries, I’ve been working hard but not killing myself — and still taking lots of time to have fun, hang out with friends, and get sleep. And the universe has been aligning. Life is good. — from DJ Anomaly and the Mysterious Voice of Ra Life has continued to be…
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Beyond comment threads: any ideas about “game-changers”?
One of the best things about the web is that it enables many voices to be heard. Blogs, comment threads, forums, and social networks empower people to take part in new kinds of discussion, dialogue, and debate…. With all that activity happening across the web, how do we enable more coherent, elevated discussion? — Beyond…
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Will Facebook “archive” the One Million Strong for Barack group?
With Facebook announcing an “upgrade or die” policy for old-style groups, it’s a stressful time for One Million Strong for Barack. As the Erratic Synapse writes in Facebook Stands Poised to Take Our Group of Over 980,000 Obama Supporters… Back to 0 on Daily Kos, Here’s the problem: our group may not be eligible for…
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M&C Consulting and Qweries Launch Prototype “Canadian Election Platform Resourcesâ€
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ottawa, Seattle | April 21, 2011 What questions do you have about Canada’s party platforms as you prepare your vote in the May 2 general election? As they stand, do the current platforms make you want to vote? If so, how? If not, why? That’s the goal of “Canadian Election Platform Resources,”…
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The first Facebook skirmish of the 2012 election
Not too shabby at all. The Town Hall itself seems to have gone well (Ryan Singel’s Softball questions, familiar themes has the details in Wired, and Sharon Gaudin’s A Sign of Things to Come in Computerworld puts it in context), but there’s no question that ForAmerica showed a lot of strength on what used to…
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Any Canadians out there have a minute to help?
I’ve been working with M&C Consulting on a couple of Q&A (question-and-answer) sites for the Canadian election. We haven’t gone live yet, so sites are currently at http://achangeiscoming.qotd.co/ (English) and http://ca2011fr.qweries.net/ (French). If you’ve got a minute or two to check it out and vote for at least one answer you think is interesting, it’d…
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Equal Pay Day: Pay Equity and Startups
American women who work full-time, year-round are paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. This gap in earnings translates into $10,849 less per year in female median earnings, leaving women and their families shortchanged. The wage gap is even more substantial when race and gender are considered together, with African-American…
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Save the Rave: Stop Surveillance in San Francisco
Hot on the heels of last month’s joint San Francisco Youth and Entertainment Commission’s hearing on electronic dance music, we’re back with a sequel.  Now, in what Jim Harper of Cato calls a “jaw-dropping attack on privacy and free assembly“, the San Francisco Police Department has proposed onerous new conditions for permitting for all…
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PATRIOT Act Update: After a successful call-in day, the focus shifts to Congress
Thousands of patriots fought their way through jammed White House phone lines on April 5 to call on President Obama to keep his campaign promises by vetoing any PATRIOT Act extension unless it includes substantial new protections. The timing was perfect, just a day after he launched his re-election campaign. Now, the focus shifts to…
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Notes from Underground: DJ Anomaly and the Mysterious Voice of Ra at The Atrium
Wow! We were bumming about missing last night’s PULSE in San Francisco with the legendary Green Nuns of the Revolution and Dutch. But then we discovered that DJ Anomaly’s in the Seattle area tonight at one of our favorite venues. I heart psytrance. After spending almost a month in SF, we were both glad to…
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PATRIOT Act reform: phone the White House on April 5
On April 5, 1792, President George Washington vetoed a bill — the first time in U.S. history that the presidential veto was exercised. On the anniversary of this day, we’re calling on Barack Obama to exercise his presidential powers to veto any PATRIOT Act renewal bill that does not include powerful reforms to safeguard civil…
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Notes from Underground: April Fool’s Day
It’s been a hectic few weeks.  It started with cleaning out our SF apartment, creating more space in the apartment — and attacking the storeroom from Hades in the garage.  We had put some stuff in there in 1991 when we moved into the apartment and then more in 1999 and then our Burning Man…
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Poetry: Spread the Word and 30 Poets 30 Days — Happy National Poetry Month!
April is National Poetry Month, and my brother Greg has a couple of things going on. Here’s his summary of the Poetry: Spread the Word Kickstarter project: If Poetry: Spread the Word is funded, over the course of the next year (roughly May, 2011 through April, 2012), I will put 100 original poems up on…
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Save the Rave at City Hall: Next Stop Sacramento?
At one point, a speaker was criticizing AB74, and a commissioner asked “are you ready to go to Sacramento?” The room erupted in cheers so loud that I couldn’t actually hear what the speaker said, but I’m pretty sure the answer was “yes”. Sounds like a good idea to me. Can’t wait for the afterparty!