25th March in the Lecture Theatre, Ravensbourne College at 2pm
Category: culture-and-politics
BBC Three: Dead Man Walking
Watching this well made and captivating documentary about Racism in the UK. Wish I'd made a copy of the programme now. Its truly haunting to see how the BNP have changed there image and used clever propaganda to gain support in critical areas where the local community are split.
Mon 15 Mar at 01:55 on BBC Three
Ten years ago, 21 year-old Matthew Collins fled the country, a wanted man. As a far right activist, he'd witnessed the formation of the terror group Combat 18, and been involved in some violent attacks on innocent people. But there was something about Matthew that his friends didn't know. He'd become an informer, working against them from the inside. Eventually his evidence led to convictions and he was forced to flee Britain for Australia at short notice.
But Matthew Collins isn't hiding any more. Now he's come back to face the demons he left behind and rebuild his life in Britain. Dead Man Walking charts Matthew's return journey as he tries to find out what's changed on the far right since he left a decade ago and prepares to face the race hate groups from the outside this time.
Too little, too late: EUCD passed
EU backs tighter rules on piracy. Its all too late… Here are some more stories. Anti-piracy directive could expose consumers
Can you believe this all went through without much media coverage? All the web finds nothing. Yahoo news. Altavista news. Shame on you searchlores.
Thank god for slashdot. and ip justice.
I saw this while browsing – European Union Copyright Directive lecture. and this is great – Why America’s Mistake is Europe’s Future. Can you trust your computer? by Richard Stallman. Lawrence Lessig's comments. And finally spiked-online has a debate in the same area, while I was reading Lawrence again…
Some more fall out later after the date. EU Tightens Copyright Laws
European Union Directive for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights
European is about to vote for or against the European Union Directive for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights
, which would ultimately create a intellectual property legislation that copies and extends the American DMCA.
The legislation would allow copyright owners, such as record labels, to raid P2P users' homes if they suspect the user for sharing copyrighted material via P2P networks. It would also allow copyright owners to seize users' assets and get their bank accounts frozen whether they had any financial — or any other — gain from file sharing or not.
Briefing Materials on the European Union Directive on Data Protection
Campaign for digital rights – European Union Copyright Directive
European Union directive – Wikipedia
Use this page to contact EU Parliament members with a pre-written message from EFF
Recommend reading for the Richard Stallman lecture
Keep on forgetting to send people who ask different questions about the stallman lecture this bunch of links. Well hopefully just look at my blog will do now.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html http://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-doc.html
Preparing for Stallman
Miles sent a few of us, an article to get us ready for Stallman. A Radical Theory of Property. I've also been reading the Open sources book again, to get a full grip of stallmans thoughts on different matters. I'm also going to bid for the Free as in Freedom book on amazon soon as I get paid again. I believe theres no need to invest in the selected essays book because there all online at GNU.org. Really looking forward to the lecture…
Following on from twincities post
Birch sent me a link which basicly said all what I had said about the twin cities. In Birch's own words I coined it, that article is everything you already iterated
.
Birch (19:29:05): Did you ever call it or what? Cars are the biggest problem. Whether driven or parked, they require enormous amounts of space. Unless auto dependence is reduced, the classic neighborhoods that Minneapolis plans for cannot happen. More transit and more walking are the only answers.
At the same time I was talking to Miles about the whole Twin cities thing and he pointed me towards Jane Jacobs which I'm sure I've either read or heard of before. I know we had talked about her thoughts along time ago but I'm sure i've read her books. She thought all this through 40 years ago and no one took her serioulsy till 25 years ago. How many times do we hear the same story? McLuhan, Chomskey, etc etc… Its a shame because we could be in such a better state if we did.
Miles asked a important question regarding the twin cities.
italicdj (20:00:51): Is through planners – or is it social change? that things are happeing in twin cites?
Birch replies
Birch (20:27:26):
I believe we are all products of our environment. Regions of climate extremes tend to embrace femenine qualities. Not at the individual level, but at a cultural level. Social structures are of course evolutionary abdaptation that ensure survival. Public transporation, health care, public schools, etc are all natural aspirations now that colder cultures as able to satify Maslow's hierachy need
Birch (20:29:57):
urban planning is logical social step on the cultural latter. social change is a bi-product of the history/climate. we are what we are. nothing nobel about it.
Birch (20:33:26):
Geert Hofestede is a Dutch author who developed this theory by make cross cultural comparisons. It is Hofestede's 'Masculinity-Femininity' theory to which i am referring. It shreds perspective on why Sweden exists in one frame of mind while Texas exists in another.
Birch (20:36:17):
The theory would suggest why northern U.S./Canadian cities tend to fall on the far more socialistic end of the spectrum. Why they might adopt social change more quickly then cities of the south
Twincities = European thinking?
Not really, but the spending on public transport is well beyond any other city in america. They have developed miles of skyways which interlink buildings together. You can park your car at one end of the city and walk across to the other. Thats pretty much impossible in most cities in america unless your driving or taking a greyhound through the city. Its amazing to see. And going out clubbing in Minneapolis actually has a buzz about it now… But it doesnt stop there
Minneapolis facility opens underground tram.passenger shuttle, new terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. I believe the tram will not only link the airport to the cities but the cities together and unfortually mall of america to the rest too.
What on earth is going on in the states
Welcome to Packing.org. This is a great place to find out how to legally carry a concealed weapon, if it is possible in your state
– HELLO What on earth is goind on! I spent some time in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / St Paul) and in the state of Minnesota, you may carry a concealed gun around. You do not need to notify the police and the gun does not need to be registered with the police.
Places off-limits while carrying a gun?
Public or Private Elementary, Middle or Secondary Schools, School Buses, Child/Day Care Centers, Private establishments – if posted that establishment bans guns on premises. Places of employment, public or private, if employer restricts the carry or possession of firearms by its employees. Yes thats right, unless the establishments says no, you may carry a gun into a bar, a club, a restuarant, etc…
I cant seem to find my picture of the no guns signs on most of the doors in the twin cities…
Free Culture not by Lawrence Lessig?
I always follow Lawrence Lessig's blog and I caught his blog on his new book. I am dieing to start reading the free ebook but I've only just started reading the future of ideas… Anyway thinking of putting it down and reading or even listening to Free Culture. Specially now I'm going to be on my 1 hour commute into work at the BBC from tomorrow.
I believe the PDF version doesnt come in tagged, so I will convert it for my ipaq and then upload it for others to enjoy on there palms and pocketpcs.
Nice little ebook store for future reference, Doctrow and Lessig. Still need to do my version using a lot of the demos books too. Also elegant ebooks looks worth keeping an eye on.
By the way these movies building on the past and mixtape are great… And I guess I should make some comment about Get Creative, which involves work done in flash.