Posts tagged ‘technology’

November 23rd, 2011

Elections, Michael Moore & #ows

Yesterday, Michael Moore met with Occupy Wall Street protestors and helped to draft a vision statement and a list of 10 goals & objectives – you can read them all on his website.

I won’t get political, but one thing did stick out in point 10:

a) A constitutional amendment that fixes our broken electoral system by 1) completely removing campaign contributions from the political process; 2) requiring all elections to be publicly financed; 3) moving election day to the weekend to increase voter turnout; 4) making all Americans registered voters at the moment of their birth; 5) banning computerized voting and requiring that all elections take place on paper ballots. 

This appeal reminded me of the electronic records class I took, where we wrestled with the ideas of trust and authenticity in electronic record making and keeping.

This 2006 info graphic was used to highlight some of the complications. Things can change and improve and, of course, are different in each township/city/jurisdiction, but I don’t think the OWS trepidation of computerized voting is completely unfounded.

You can check out all of the content from the electronic records class, including the syllabus and lecture slides, at Open.Michigan. [HUGE props to David Wallace & Margaret Hedstrom for graciously allowing their work to be shared via a Creative Commons license.]

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November 18th, 2010

Just a quote

This week is CRAZY & I was up after 1am doing work last night, so my NaBloMoPo post was definitely forgotten. Today is just as busy, but I do want to share this quote.

It’s from the Librarians for Human Rights blog:

If I were to summarize everything I learned through research in ICT4D, it would be this: technology—no matter how well designed—is only a magnifier of human intent and capacity. It is not a substitute. If you have a foundation of competent, well-intentioned people, then the appropriate technology can amplify their capacity and lead to amazing achievements. But, in circumstances with negative human intent, as in the case of corrupt government bureaucrats, or minimal capacity, as in the case of people who have been denied a basic education, no amount of technology will turn things around.

It succinctly & clearly sums up many of my thoughts on technology & it’s role in development.
Enjoy today!

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June 17th, 2010

Before the webinar, technology & archival captions

It’s Thursday!! It’s the weekend!!
My exciting plans tonight involve attending a webinar & I have some time to kill before then, so here’s a blog post!

Digitizd has a really interesting post called How Is the Internet Changing Us? that nicely summarizes some recent articles on the way that the Internet is changing our attention spans & the way we consume information.

I absolutely love this article by Peter Bregman in the Harvard Business Review – Why I Returned My iPad. It perfectly sums up my love/hate relationship with technology. It’s too easy, it’s too gratifying, it’s too instant. In my drive to be ever productive, I lose something:

They are the moments in which we, often unconsciously, organize our minds, make sense of our lives, and connect the dots. They’re the moments in which we talk to ourselves. And listen.

To lose those moments, to replace them with tasks and efficiency, is a mistake. What’s worse is that we don’t just lose them. We actively throw them away.

I’m already so distracted with a laptop as it is, I don’t need a phone, an iPod with applications or an iPad to waste all my time with. This is a good reminder to spend intentional time sitting, in the grass, watching the clouds roll by & contemplating whatever my brain brings me.

I’m doing better in my 50 books in 2010 challenge. I’m up to 15, which is still 10 behind for where I should be by the end of the month, but I’m slowly but surely making progress.

The National Archives is holding a photo caption contest – it’s being judged by none other than the Archivist of the United States himself AND the winner gets 30% off a purchase from NARA’s online store. My husband saw my tweet about it & submitted a caption of his own. If he wins this, he’s going to be the very bestest husband in the world [one step up from his current position as 'best husband in the world']!

Time to sit back & experience my first webinar!
Have a good weekend, all!

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March 18th, 2010

Sunny thoughts on a sunny day

I’m writing this while sitting outside of the undergrad library, soaking up the sun. True, it’s a little more difficult to see the screen, but it’s warm & I’m wearing short sleeves & I don’t care. Apparently it’s ‘Greek Week’ & today is ‘diag day’, so the diag is filled with sorority & fraternity types. It appeared they were holding a spelling bee when I walked by earlier?

I sent off my passport application today! It feels very good to have that done. My new one should arrive in about two weeks, which is plenty of time before my departure in 42 days.

Yesterday turned out really wonderful. Here is a short list of the greatness:
- I swept our front proch & wiped down the table & chairs, so it is ready for hang outs
- For the first time this year I got out the hammock & spent some time reading in it
- I took a bunch of plants outside, repotted them & let them enjoy the sunshine
- Some friends came by & we took the dogs to the park, where we ran into other friends with dogs
- I wore a skirt for the first time this year!!
- I rode my bike for the first time this year!!
- There were lots & lots & lots of festive EMU students walking by our house all day
- Hanging out with friends was wonderful as always.

Our friends live close to Sidetrack, which had some bagpipers playing all day [even though thats probably more Scottish...]. Anyway, I made Joel take a picture of me while they were playing [even though everyone said you wouldn't be able to hear it in the photo, just know] – Sidetrack is in the background & I’m holding some Irish beer & a bowl of delicious green frosting.

Enough rambling about my life, here are some interesting things:

A prominent urban planner has been hired in Detroit to help reshape the city through its consolidation & downsizing plan. More good news is that his salary will be subsidized by the Kregse Foundation – a huge relief, I’m sure, to those in charge of Detroit’s struggling budget. I think this is a strong step forward & I’m optimistic about the future of Detroit.

This article about a Kenyan-based human rights reporting system is incredibly inspiring. Free, open source & using simple technology [in this case, cellphones], this system, Ushahidi [Swahili for 'testimony'] was built in a weekend in 2007 after violence erupted in Kenya over the disputed election. It’s since been used in Haiti, India, the Middle East and even Washington D.C. to track information after the blizzard. These few sentences can’t give justice to how powerful this technology could be & I highly suggest reading the article.

Now to go accomplish more things & cross them off my to-do list!

I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am. [Sylvia Plath]

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December 11th, 2009

A simple, yet profound, use of technology – Literacy Bridge

The Literacy Bridge is a perfect example of one of the ways we have use technology to improve someone’s standard of living. This device is so simple but the results it fosters are profound.

The device is called a talking book and requires no reading abilities to use it. Additionally, it’s small enough to fit in the hands of a child & durable enough to be used in many places in many environments. They’re being distributed by NGOs who preload the devices with audio programs about farming techniques, health & sanitation practices and other information that is relevant to the lives of those that receive the devices. Additionally, audio programs can be transferred from one device to another just by connecting them with the attached cord, allowing a transfer of knowledge. Listening to books read aloud helps both parents and children develop their literacy skills. People can also  record their own audio, which many are using to share their own stories.

Basically this is the coolest device ever.

These photos are from a village in Ving Ving, Ghana. Having received the literacy device which had best practices for farming, they cultivated half of their field using their past practices and the other half using the strategies learned from literacy bridge.

Here is a photo of the crops cultivated in the traditional way:

And here’s a photo of the crops using the new techniques:

These results are just phenomenal and astounding. An increase of crops means more food, a stronger livelihood and a higher standard of living. Absolutely beautiful.

It’s the very end of the week & the very end of the semester. This afternoon I present one half of an 8 minute presentation then I can BREATHE again. My brain is completely empty & depleted of any resources to form intelligent thoughts or sentences [which accounts for this post being less than understandable perhaps].

We have a group paper due a week from now, but it won’t be difficult and besides that I will be doooooone. Glorious.

This shirt is hilarious & I want it.
The 44 presidents, as cats:

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!

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