Author: jon
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Notes from Underground: Transformation, Intersections, and the Road to Ultra
With qw3ries and the intersection between writing, activism, entrepreneurship, psytrance, and transformation (and in so many other ways), I’m not just rejecting choices but finding ways to synthesize and combine them. — from DJ Anomaly at the party without a name Indeed! It’s looking like my startup qw3ries‘ first forays into helping everybody get answers…
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Social Network Users’ Bill of Rights: the voting so far
The SXSW panel got a decent amount of attention, including article by Helen A. S. Popkin’s Vote on your ‘Social Network Users’ Bill of Rights’ on MSNBC’s Technolog, Kim Cameron’s post on the Identity Weblog, and a brief link from Mark Sullivan of PC World. Here’s the voting so far 41 yes 0 no Honesty:…
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Q: What should I read to find more about the Q&A space? A: Here’s some links.
The Q&A (question and answer site) market segment is red hot right now. Here’s some links to complement my own posts Life imitates art imitates life, Prisms, Kool-aid, and Opportunity, and What do you think of this one-line pitch for qweries? The overall landscape Choe Sang-Hung’s South Koreans Connect Through Search Engine (in the New…
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Preparing for a coaches’ meeting, parts 1 and 2 (DRAFT)
Draft! Revised version to appear as a two-part series on NWEN’s blog. Congratulations to the 20 companies who advanced to the second round of the First Look Forum! Hopefully by now you’re already scheduling your meetings with the coaches.  We’ve got a great list of coaches, including some of the highest-profile investors and entrepreneurs in…
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Notes from Underground: DJ Anomaly at the party without a name
It was so underground that there weren’t any flyers and it didn’t even have a Facebook group. A tiny venue with headliners who we’ve seen at DNA Lounge and Barnevald, with DJ Anomaly opening and closing. The music was fantastic, amazing visuals, incredible depth, great colors. I heart psytrance. I was in a great mood…
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What do you think of this “one-line pitch” for qweries?
qweries helps everybody find answers get in the conversation, and contribute to your community by prioritizing diversity and design As I described on the NWEN blog in The agile one-pager (part 5), a good one-line pitch covers what a company does, who they do it for, and a bit about how. Here’s what I’ve currently…
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The home stretch: part 6 of “The Agile One-pager” (DRAFT)
Draft! Revised version on NWEN’s blog. The first four parts of the series (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) have gotten us close. Now it’s time for the final push. For impatient readers, here are the tips Go back over the section descriptions in the application form and double-check that you’re addressing the right questions in…
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First Look Forum participants, please join us Wednesday evening for a Twitter chat!
As we head into the homestretch with the First Look Forum, we wanted to give an opportunity for people to ask some last-minute questions and get some quick feedback. Email works, of course, but it’s soooooo 20th century. So we’re also going to be having a Twitter chat, on Wednesday February 16 at 7:30 p.m.…
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It’s Valentine’s Day (aka 25 Bahman), and people all over the world are fighting for their civil liberties
Two and a half years after I wrote It’s the Fourth of July and we’re fighting for our civil liberties, it’s another activism-filled holiday. Today’s House vote extending the Patriot Act until December went as expected, passing 275-144.  Now the action shifts to the Senate; EFF has more.  Nothing to see here, move along,…
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ACTION ALERT: House PATRIOT Act vote on Monday!
Monday at 6:30 Eastern, the House is once again voting on HR514, which extends the PATRIOT Act until December of this year without introducing any new safeguards.  So please try to find time this weekend to get involved and get the word out! To start with: use POPVOX to ask your representative know to oppose…
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Demand JUSTICE, not the PATRIOT Act!
It’s time to go on the offensive! Here’s the action alert Bill of Rights Defense Committee just sent out. Please help by using POPVOX to support the reintroduction of the JUSTICE Act, and getting the word out widely in email, via Facebook, and on Twitter. The House is expected to vote again early next week…
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Sharpening and tightening: Part 4 of “the Agile one-pager” (DRAFT)
Draft! Revised version to appear on NWEN’s blog. In the first three parts of the series (1, 2, 3) we got to an initial version of an executive summary and begin iterating on it. This installment focuses on improvements in a couple of individual sections. For impatient readers, here’s the tips: Get feedback from a…
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Patriot house alert breaks heads: found art from Twitter
Images from Twazzup’s Patriot Act page as the House prepares to vote again on the Patriot Act extension. The refrigerator magnets on the top are the most common words and hashtags. You can weigh in on the head-breaking yourself via POPVOX, Demand Progress, ACLU, EFF, Downsize DC or the phone. Julian Sanchez’ Now what? and…
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Notes from Underground: I’m noticing a pattern here …
Hey, guess what? Civil liberties activism and psytrance! Back in 2008, It’s the Fourth of July and we’re fighting for our civil liberties was written the day after Senator Obama responded to Get FISA Right’s open letter. It was a great moment in grassroots civil liberties activism, and the bonds we formed then have remained. …
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Patriot Act renewal: building on an unexpected victory (DRAFT!)
Draft! Work in progress! Feedback welcome! Talk about a shocker! 24 Republicans (including 8 new members) joined with 124 Democrats to stand up for civil liberties and defeat an attempt to sneak Patriot Act Reauthorization through the House. Here’s what EFF, Wired, and the Washington Post have to say about this unexpected victory. Thanks to…
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Making good use of a phone call: part 3 of “The Agile One-pager” (DRAFT)
Draft! Revised version to appear on NWEN’s blog. In the first two parts of the series (1, 2) we looked at the reasons to do a one-page executive summary and made some initial progress — enough to get to the point where we could get some useful feedback. Now we’re in the heart of the…