Why Wiki Voter Guide is needed - a specific example from the 2010 election in Georgia.
Topic: Miscellaneous
11:44 am EDT, Oct 26, 2010
There is a reasonable and objective argument that voters ought to understand what they are voting for, and that in order to do that it may be important for voters to have access to complete background information about the meaning of a ballot item and not just the text of the question that is going to be asked on the ballot. Where should voters turn for that information?
Editorial: Amendment 1 is too confusing for words || OnlineAthens.com
Topic: Miscellaneous
2:54 pm EDT, Oct 25, 2010
This is why Wiki Voter Guide is needed...
The plain truth is that, at this moment, the Banner-Herald's editorial board - after hearing from advocates and opponents of the proposed amendment, and reading various commentaries, pro and con, on it - can't comment definitively on the proposal.
What the board can suggest at this moment, however, is that the ballot language approved by the Georgia General Assembly is outright misleading, and the process by which the amendment came to the ballot is more than a little confusing.
In truth, Amendment 1 on the Georgia ballot is an attempt by employers to prevent former employees from being able to accept jobs with competing companies in the state. It is an assault on individual rights. The ballot language "Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to make Georgia more economically competitive by authorizing legislation to uphold reasonable competitive agreements?" does not suggest that. People who are voting for this will have no idea what they are voting for.
Five bombshells from WikiLeaks' Iraq war documents - Details of torture and abuse - CSMonitor.com
Topic: Miscellaneous
9:39 pm EDT, Oct 22, 2010
In the largest document leak in US history, WikiLeaks has released more than 400,000 secret US documents about the Iraq war. As with the second-largest leak in US history – the 92,000 Afghan war documents released in July – much of the substance of the leaks has been reported already, but details are new. WikiLeaks will hold a press conference Saturday morning in Europe. Click through the following slides to learn what the documents reveal.
CSM is often the paper of record for issues like this.
These slides are mostly the same as the ones I gave at Phreaknic. They talk about the structural problems that exist in our democracy as a result of campaign advertising and what role Wiki Voter Guide plays. I'm hoping to record audio notations for this and post the result to YouTube soon.
Why You Should Start a Company in ... Atlanta | Fast Company
Topic: Miscellaneous
1:03 pm EDT, Oct 19, 2010
It used to be, if you were serious about starting a tech company, you went to Silicon Valley. But emerging entrepreneurial hubs around the country are giving startup aspirants options. In this series, we talk to leading figures in those communities about what makes them tick.
Wiki Voter Guide is a website that helps you research upcoming elections in the United States using Wikipedia. Why use Wikipedia for this purpose? On the one hand, Wikipedia can contain information that is incorrect or misleading, because it can be edited by anyone. However, we believe that Wikipedia can be a useful resource if it is used properly and read with a critical eye. Its openness and collaborative process enables people to work together to create objective documentation of a politican's positions and views, independent of any campaign or special interest. Also, the WikiTrust Browser Plugin makes it easier to identify and eliminate vandalism. You can read a detailed discussion of the philosophy and origins of this website by clicking here.
Decision on WRVU sale postponed until next semester | InsideVandy
Topic: Miscellaneous
8:06 am EDT, Oct 8, 2010
In response to requests from WRVU executive board members, the Vanderbilt Student Communications Board agreed that they would not make any conclusions about if or when they will sell the broadcast license of the station until at least January 2011 in a meeting on October 6.
Google's CEO: 'The Laws Are Written by Lobbyists' - Derek Thompson - Technology - The Atlantic
Topic: Miscellaneous
8:35 am EDT, Oct 6, 2010
"The average American doesn't realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists"
Yeah, thats true - people probably don't understand that. Congressional offices don't have enough staff to write the reams of legislation they put through. Those guys are merely a deliberative power brokering process. The actual law writing gets done across the street by lawyers who, incidentally, make a lot more money. People talk shit about lobbyists, but lobbyists are basically how laws get made. Should Congress employ more staff and pay them more? If they tried, everyone would be up in arms that they are becoming corrupt! For all the talk about "special interests" I'm not aware of anyone who has a serious proposal for an alternative.
But this article has more juicy nuggets:
"Google policy is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it," he said. Google implants, he added, probably crosses that line.
At the same time, Schmidt envisions a future where we embrace a larger role for machines and technology. "With your permission you give us more information about you, about your friends, and we can improve the quality of our searches," he said. "We don't need you to type at all. We know where you are. We know where you've been. We can more or less now what you're thinking about."
