empowerment
Make iphone theme for the empowerment
a Mission (something one person can do once) by Agent0x45 Sat, 2008-07-12 02:35 Tags:The iphone is a special case in that it is a native application, not just a web application. Thus, much of the data fetched on each page load is unnecessary and adds clutter.
We need a theme that removes bolcks, supports iphone resolutions, and is a step towards a generic web service interface (i.e. one that doesn't necessarily produce valid html).
Thoughts on the Empowerment
blog posted by cidviscous Mon, 2007-10-01 20:28 Tags:It still amazes me how the Internet can reach across the globe and connect people who would have never otherwise met. I feel fortunate to have found a community like EmpowerThyself. I know we can do good things here.
Ideas about the Future
Right now, there are a number of technologies converging on the Internet--xml, p2p, user moderation, gpg, web of trust, page scraping, collaborative computing, onion routing, etc. A lot of the ideas that have been floating around this site promise to harness these convergences in exciting new ways.
More and more, people are realizing that they have a voice. This site has the potential to empower people in two ways--by spreading knowledge (education), and helping people to find their voice (which is encouraging relevant new dialogue).
Hopefully, we'll be able to provide a flexible new way to link resources and people together from all over. There is a lot of potential building rapidly at the moment. If we can successfully combine all the best ideas and resources (without becoming reliant on them) our community will be useful.
And if we combine this usefulness with fun and ease of use, we will thrive.
I think the gold stars (userpoints) module is a fantastic idea. In the future, it might even be possible to expand to different types of stars for different activities. Who knows? As simple of a concept as it is, the stars can add a little boost of motivation.
New ideas about motivation and the reasons we do things have recently begun to congeal. This is manifested in things like free and open source software, online communities (with volunteer and user moderation), and ideas like gift economies and time-based economies. The desire for independence and creative expression, combined with a growing unhappiness with our current hyper-consumerist economy has led a lot of people to get into a DIY type of lifestyle, opening many peoples' eyes to new methods for happiness.
It's cool to share again
Remember when you were a kid and you were always told to share, sharing is good, sharing makes you feel all warm inside, better to give than receive and all that? Did you ever get it? That warm feeling that makes you actually understand what the person was talking about with the Better to Give thing.
A lot of people are capturing that feeling again. Communities are coming together both online and in real life, bonding together in ways that haven't existed for decades, and sometimes in completely new ways.
This has become especially true on the Internet. Zero-sum isn't always the hard rule of the Internet. Digital media allows for win-win situations (meaning, you can have your cake and eat it, too). Volunteering can also allow for win-win--if you enjoy the work you're doing, or you derive satisfaction from it's completion, you win, plus whoever is getting the benefits of your work wins, also. The people over at Altruists.org have a lot of interesting writing on this sort of thing--and what's more, they're actually working on doing some things about it.
This, I believe is at least part of what lxpk and I were talking about the other day--acting as glue for the community. If we can provide support for the people and communities that are already out there doing good, empowering things, and link the benefits and services and people, our effectiveness (and the services/resources being linked) becomes exponentially increased.
Part of what we need to focus on, I believe, is new ways to interact with the other empowering projects. If we can do that, there's no telling what we could change.
DIY
DIY means Do It Yourself.
Why?
There are a number of reasons to embrace the Do It Yourself ethic.
- Save Money: Since you're the one doing the doing, you can control what (and how much) goes into whatever you're working on. You don't have to waste time or money on extra (unneeded) features.
- Pride: It's a good feeling to know that you've made something yourself. Success in these areas can go a long way to building up your self-confidence.
- Extension of Skillset: Frequently when you're doing something yourself, you'll have to learn new things to successfully finish the project. This is a great way to increase your skillset, discover new talents and interests, and provide yourself with a stronger base for future success.
- Entertainment: It can be very rewarding and diverting to work on something yourself, sometimes consuming your interest (in that wonderful way where you lose track of time).
- Control: Since you're the one making the Whatever, you get to decide exactly what you want it to do and how you want it to get done.
- Self-Reliance: The more things you are capable of doing yourself, the less you are subject to someone else's control. This, in turn, gives you more choices about how to live your life.
Doing It Yourself for Fun and Profit
If you stop and think about it, there are really a lot of things we can get done for ourselves, right where we are, with the things we've already got.
Everybody's got various talents and abilities and resources, but these are not limited and fixed. New talents can be developed, existing (sometimes latent) talents can be unlocked and enhanced with a little practice and experimentation.
You might start to adopt this DIY attitude for any of the reasons above, or for some other reason, but the point is, you'll likely discover a lot about yourself (and the world) in the process. It's a very freeing feeling to use something you created with your own two hands.
You don't have to start from scratch
Many people hear DIY and think of shoddy, homemade Rube Goldberg-style contraptions which are barely functional (and quite possible dangerous), but this doesn't have to be the truth.
Like it's been said so many times before, you don't have to re-invent the wheel.
Modding
One of the best (and easiest) ways to start using the DIY ethic in your own life is to begin by Modding some kit you've already got. Go ahead, make all your gear customized.
Sanitizing / Blackspotting / Relabeling
It's the worst, right? You just paid (way too) much money for your shiny new Whatever-it-is, but that's not enough. You don't just have to pay for it, you end up as a walking billboard for whoever made it in the first place.
Blackspotting / Sanitizing / Relabeling save you from being a walking advertisement by blotting out (blackspotting), removing (sanitizing), or altering (relabeling) these corporate logos with something of your choice. Have a favourite symbol? Want to send out a message? Got some comfortable shoes, but don't wanna help out the manufacturer's ad campaign? Customize your gear by replacing labels and logos with whatever you feel like saying.
Painting / Resurfacing
Again, you can control the way your kit looks just by getting a little creative. Some ideas? Take the case off your cell phone and paint it your favourite colour. Make covers with some of your favourite art to put on folders/binders (actually, anything with a smooth surface).
Add some Pockets
Pockets are one of the easiest things to attach. Add pockets to your clothes, your backpack, add hidden pockets, add stylized pockets with custom logos.
Sewing's really not all that hard to learn (at least the basics) and you'll be amazed at how quickly you'll be able to make simple alterations--hem those pantlegs, add patches, add pockets, add overlays (for texture and colour).
Reinforcement
Many things we use in day-to-day life can be strengthened and extended with just a little bit of work. Backpacks can be made stronger by double stitching, adding additional straps, etc.
Almost anything can be made water resistant (with chemical treatments, or the clever addition of plastic sheets).
Items receiving hard use can be patched (even before they wear out)--for instance, sewing extra cloth over the knees or seat are can greatly strengthen a pair of pants.
Take it to the Next Level
The DIY ethic has progressed a long way over the last few decades. Many DIY'ers have begun to form communities and share their information, and consequently there are many, many resources which can serve as 'Jumping Off' points to get you started. You might not realize just how far you can take this mindset.
Self Sustenance - You can save money, eat healthier, and ease your reliance on society's infrastructure by growing (some of) your own food. Even in urban environments, you can probably grow more stuff than you've thought about. Herb boxes in windowsills, indoor plants, back yard planters (if you have a back yard), community gardens, etc.
Get off the Grid - Some people have even gone so far as to DIY their own electricity. Solar, wind, hydrological, whatever they happen to have available in their area. In fact, many of these people stay hooked up to the electrical grid, and if they don't make enough power, they can still buy it from the electric company, and when they do, they can sell the excess power back to the electric company and help sustain other peoples' use.
Auto - If you develop skills in the automotive areas, you can begin to work on your own vehicles. Many people start slowly and build--beginning by changing their own headlights or oil or wiper blades, and as they learn more about it, they begin to take care of more things themselves.
Education - School is great, but it is far from the only way to learn. All of the overwhelming amount of knowlege we (humans) have discovered so far is available, somewhere, to someone. Much of this information is available for free to anyone (in the form of libraries, peers, and the Internet). While self-taught education might not be a replacement for formal education, it can certainly be a supplement.
DIY Media (a.k.a. Don't hate the media, become the media)
Many people (exponentially more so, given the advent of the Web) have taken to creating and distributing their own, independent media.
Songs, videos, images, newsletter, blogs, newspapers, discussion groups, podcasts, and a host of other formats provide you the chance to get your own ideas out there, and to soak up the creative excretions of other free thinkers.
The more ideas we have to rub together, the more complex and refined those ideas can become. Mainstream media (being a business), inherently has a goal--namely that of making money. Thus, choices made about content and presentation are often trumped by reasons other than getting the best content out there.
Independent, DIY created media doesn't necessarily have that limitation, though it most certainly can still be subject. Point is, by having the creations of anybody who has something to say, the pool of media (and human knowledge) can be expanded. More choices for everyone.
Some Resources to get you Started.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIY
http://www.diynetwork.com
http://www.doityourself.com
"When small men begin to cast long shadows, it is a sure sign that the sun is setting". -Anonymous
blog posted by Netsniper Sun, 2007-09-16 23:57 Tags:Surely anyone familiar with current events in news, politics and media can relate to the fact that current "hot topics" in popular culture and momentous events in the political circles are continually changing the world we live in on a daily basis - both in direct action-reaction and in unintended and far-reaching consequences. These "small men" are currently casting long shadows. Continual categorization, polarization and other various distractions have caused many to act in a cognitive disjoint in which they willingly act against their own and their communities best interests - not only as convenience, but even as a career or life philosophy. Individualism, sustainable commerce, education, local and global community building has nothing to do with a few deciding for the many: but in each and every one of us taking one step forward - leaving the current broken system behind as a relic for history to record as yet another one of the failed attempts of the few to harness the power of the many for thier own ends.
-Netsniper
Alternative Media
book posted by cidviscous Fri, 2007-09-14 23:37 Tags:The term Alternative Media (or Independent Media) describes any content produced and released by an independent or non-traditional source. This can be anything from a single person to an organized group, producing anything from blogs, newsletters and podcasts to videos, music, books and games.
Basically, alternative media is any media content that is not mainstream.
Diversified Sources
Many of us do not think enough about the sources of our information--gossip, television, random websites, magazines, etc. We live in an age where there is an overwhelming amount of information available to us, and as such we are able to reap the benefits of this huge mass of human knowledge.
Thing is, one needs to be very careful about where one gets one's information, and exactly who to believe. There are an inordinate number of conflicting sources, as well as just plain disinformation.
In order to make the best decisions, it is important to examine all the facts available, rate the sources, and put together your own picture based on all the info you have available. Common sense, right? So why don't more of us use this critical thinking to filter our inputs?
By examining a more broad set of sources, you can start to see different perspectives, and begin to piece together a larger picture. The more diverse your pool of inputs, the more information you'll have to help you on your quest for the truth.
Trust
Each source needs to be weighted by how much you trust it. Here's the tricky part--there is no master list to check who to trust, so you'll just have to make up your own mind. Sources (both mainstream and alternative) can be rated for trust in a number of ways.
Friend of a Friend--If a media source is recommended to you, you can weight the new source based on how much you trust the judgement of whoever recommended it to you. In fact, you probably do this already, automatically, but by consciously thinking about who's telling you what, you'll be less likely to believe something you shouldn't.
Prior Record--By examining a source over time, you are able to better determine how you feel about it. If the source always releases content that's spot on, that trust level will build. When you see crap coming out, it's a big clue to take what's said with a grain of salt.
Critical Analysis--Even if you have no other info to base trust (or lack thereof) on, you can still use your head to examine what you're being fed. Does the info make sense? Do you like what you see/hear? Can claims and references be verified? Common sense and critical thinking/logic skills go a long way in this area. Is your bullshit filter in good repair and engaged?
Finding New Media
There are a plethora of media outlets to experience. In fact, there's more media content out there than you'll likely be able to soak up no matter how hard you try, or how long you live. Not all of this media is digital, by any means, but the Interweb has provided us such a unique and powerful new paradigm for sharing and distributing information.
http://www.zinelibrary.net/
The best way to find new media is to keep your eyes and ears open. Search engines can be powerful tools for finding new media--though advanced searching techniques are a bit beyond the scope of this page. Audio and video directories are also great tools for stumbling onto the newness.
Below, I'll provide a few content categories and some of my favourite links to independent content.
Indymedia is a network of independent journalism web sites where you can find local news and post news stories in your community.
Audio
A collection of hacking/phreaking/security/technology audio feeds all in one place.
A weekly hacking/phreaking radio show produced by 2600 staffers.
A (formerly weekly) hacking broadcast on a variety of subjects.
A weekly independent news baudcast on current events, interesting thoughts, and opinions from a wog perspective.
An alternative audio source, a division of RantMedia, they have music, news and talk.
radio freek america
A (now defunct, but still informative and entertaining) phreaking/hacking internet radio show.
An open music competition--song title is release and competitors have a week to make the best song, which users vote on.
A collection of homemade songs and remixes of video game musihttp://www.zinelibrary.net/c.
MC Frontalot, the Godfather of Nerdcore Hiphop.
Several compilations of various nerdcore/geeksta tracks, distributed in bittorrent form.
twat radio - today with a techie
A community produced show on anything technology related.
Video
Recently, a plethora of video hosting sites have popped up. I don't think you'll have to much trouble....
Images
Images are a wonderful form of media which is often overlooked in this sort of list. Everything from scans to digital art to photography.
Books, Zines and other Text
An extremely diverse collection of various textfiles assembled by Jason Scott.
A collection of free books on computers, programming, networking, etc.
Google's collection of scanned books, freely available.
An online collection of various Zines.
An actual physical library of various Zines, located in Denver, CO.
A collaborative collection of papers on computer/hacking/technology/free thought/culture jamming/etc topics run by the ddp.
A very interesting source of very interesting links and stories.
Other
open educational resources
MIT's project to make public their course materials.
user moderated news feeds
slashdot (/.)
DIY - Get your own voice out there
"Don't hate the media. Become the media." --Jello Biafra
The best thing about the internet is its ability to connect us to anybody else (or everybody else) on the planet, regardless of physical location. And the best thing about digital media is its inherent ability to be reproduced perfectly, without additional overhead.
Take these two things together, mix in your own ideas, style and opinions, add a dash of motivation and patience as required, and you can become dj of your very own radio or tv station. You can author something which has the potential to reach millions of other minds, and what some publisher says is irrelevant. You have the potential to communicate with the world.
Cool to think about, huh?
Closing thoughts
The point of Alternative and Independent Media is not simply to cut yourself out of the mainstream. It is to provide a more rich set of resources for you to inform yourself about the universe we live in.
Look at all your choices, and try to build a broad view. Weight everything you take in by how much you trust it, how reliable, how useful it's likely to be. Don't necessarily shun the mainstream simply because it's mainstream (very hipster, I know, but a silly idea nonetheless).
Keep your eyes peeled.
If you have something to say, put your own voice out there. Be the media.
Self Jamming
Self Jamming means taking the techniques and ideas of Culture Jamming and apply them to controlling and eliminating the external influences in your own life, rather than society as a whole.
Developed by XLogicX and dual_parallel, there is an episode of Antimeme on Self Jamming, which introduces the concept.
Culture Jamming utilizes existing memes and media of pop culture in creative and subversive ways in order to alter the messages being sent by corpolitical sources to something deemed more appropriate or constructive. In other words, using the corpolitical memes against themselves in order to limit the damage these memes create, or even better to change them into constructive forces.
Likewise, in Self Jamming, the idea is to alter the negative effects of all these influences into the neutral or positive range (as relative to your own life).
You are more than likely assaulted with a constant barrage of various attempts to affect your thoughts and behaviour from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. Logos, brands and catch phrases--ads and commercials, peer pressure (from others being affected by the same memes), radio jingles, pushy salespeople, billboards, political groups, religious groups--everybody seems to want a slice of you--your mind, your resources, your time, your vote, your money, your attention, your distraction.
Many of us develop a kind of natural resistance to this sort of thing. Being subjected to so much of this stuff for so long (likely your entire life), it begins to all seem the same. Eventually, many of us simply learn to 'tune it out'. Surfing the web, your eyes dart right around the ads on the page, never focusing on the ads themselves--automatic selective attention.
So, you've already got that going for you. But, the thing is, some of that crap still gets through--and anyway, it's pretty much all going straight to your subconscious, and god knows how it'll be processed there.
All of this overwhelming input causes a constant background hum in our lives, and sometimes it's harder to block out than others. The idea of Self Jamming creates a filter with which to screen this constant input for relevancy and truth.
By stopping and asking yourself certain questions about things about an input, you are able to rate the input. Why is this person/ad/book/etc telling me that I want/need/should do this thing? How do I feel about this thing? How do I feel about the source making the suggestion? If I say yes, what will this mean for me (in terms of cost, life change, effects on family and friends,etc)? If I say no?
Are there dirty tricks being used? Plays on the emotions, sense of duty, sense of honor, desire for security? In short, what do I want? I--me--what do I really want?
Another tactic for controlling these outside influences in your life is simply to limit them--don't watch as much tv, read something constructive or uplifting or educational instead of pop culture and empty entertainment. When you go shopping, wear headphones so you don't have to hear ads and jingles and sales pitches. Take some time in your day to just sit and think about yourself, who you really are, and what sort of influences have entered your life.
If you consciously identify a source of attempted influence, it often loses its power over you, just because you are conscious of it.
In short, Self Jamming is anything that controls the negative effects of the corpolitical memes designed to control you. Make yourself immune, or even better--take these attempts to control your mind, and draw strength from them, instead.
Monetary Reform
The economy is broken. We all know this, and we can all point out different angles on how and why it's broken--big money is in bed with the government, the control of national/internation interest rates is in the hands of a private few, fractional reserve banking techniques, slave wage capitalism, and on and on.
So, since we've identified a problem--the economy is fundamentally broken, and we're suffering because of it--now, it would stand to reason that the most empowering thing to do, would be to try and address the problem, figure out some possible solutions, and then try to get the ball rolling in a more positive direction.
Let's try and list some of the specific areas in which the system is suffering...
- So-called Slave Wages--most people make enough to scrape by, but it takes a massive percentage of their personal resources (time, energy, concentration, emotion) to function in society as a 'normal'.
- Interest rates are privately controlled--in America, that would be the Federal Reserve. So, not only do we have this artificial money being created by banks and creditors in the form of loans and other debt, but we have a very small group of private/quasi-governmental bankers with their hand on the throttle of our economy
- Consumerism--corporations drive the consumerism attitude through marketing and buy legislation through lobbying, creating and inflating desire for shiny, new stuff, causing much waste, and also the need for more money (earned painstakingly from too-low paying jobs) with which to buy the shiny, new stuff.
- Debt--we've been at this crazy game for so long, that there's an enormous amount of debt, and a very uneven distribution of wealth--so, in order to fix this system, we're going to have to sort out who really gets what and somebody's toes are going to be stepped on.
- Wealth & Power--disproportional weath relative to the general populace often creates disproportionate power over people. Simply said, a relatively small amount of people control a relatively large amount of the total 'money' floating around in this convoluted system that has us in its tendrils--money tends to bestow power, and those with power tend to want to keep it (or gain new power).
- Apathy & Distraction--the People as a whole do still have power, but many (or even most) people tend to be apathetic to what's happening (for reasons ranging from lack of belief in their ability to change things, to lack of direct discomfort caused by the deficiencies of our system in their own lives) or too distracted (by personal situations--i.e. life, trying to work enough to make enough money, trying to fit in, television, pop culture, gossip, and a million other things) to even notice there is a problem.
- Ignorance--whether because of all the distractions of society, or because of the failings of our education system (and i don't just mean k-12 here), many people simply don't understand the reality of the situation which has control of their lives.
I don't know what the answers are, but I do intend to find out.
Hack Yourself
The mentality of computer hackers is a powerfully potent state of mind. The drive is what makes them so dynamic--the constant compulsion to keep asking why, how, and what if i...? This drive, combined with an outlook that is frequently less clouded by social preconceptions than the average person, allows for many unique ideas and outcomes.
It might be surprising to realize that hacking is not relegated to the field of computers and technology. Hacking can be applied to anything.
One of my favorite examples on the matter is that of a mechanic, who takes apart his car again and again, just trying to squeeze out that extra horsepower. He is a hacker. He just hacks cars.
He does it because he wants to--to see how far he can take it.
If you can take this attitude, this outlook on life, and direct it at yourself, you can gain a powerful tool for affecting change in your own life.
Keep an open mind.
Don't let preconceptions and other people telling you what's impossible rule out possibilities for you. Make up your own mind, and try to stay open for all the options, no matter how ridiculous they may sound at first.
Do it 'cause you love it.
Part of what makes hackers so fruitful is that they are doing what they love. Steve Wozniak said about his development process of the Apple computer line, "I was just a kid with a crush on technology." That's powerful. He loved what he was doing, so it didn't feel like work to him, so much as a wonderful game--seeing how far he could push it.
Take that same mentality in your own life. Fall in love with being alive. The universe we live in is an amazing place, and we are living in very dynamic times. Do what you do to see how far you can take it--how far you can make yourself go. Try new things and don't rule out possibilities until you've thought them through.
Protect your box.
If you think of your brain as a piece of biological computer hardware, then it stands to reason that your mind would be the software running on top.
Continuing with this metaphor, there are negative influences or 'malware' coming in through your senses in order to attack your mind. These mal-memes are put forth from a variety of sources for a variety of reasons (to make them money, to control your actions, to make them feel better about themselves, etc.), and work in a variety of ways (confusion, fear, peer pressure, subconscious, moral, emotional).
If you think of it like that, you can begin to develop mental tools for excising these mal-memes, and controlling them as they continue to be introduced to you in the future.
This metaphor can even continue to another level--in computer malware removal, there are a number of tools which are utilized to control different types of threats. Just as in the real world, we have multiple vectors to protect against. Pattern recognition snags a lot of the unclever, copycat known threats. Once bitten, twice shy--after you know what to look for, certain techniques stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. They lose their power over you.
Heuristic analysis algorithms and run-time protections attempt to find new threats by examining what code is trying to do, rather than relying on a signature of something you've seen before. More proactive, but you have to weight the results for what they are because of the increased chance for false positives.
Immunization patches. If you deal with the underlying vulnerability, the threat is nullified. If you control all of your wants, the push/pull engine of consumerism loses its hold on you and commercials don't affect your judgement as much. If you come to complete acceptance of the reality of a particular situation, the emotional poison of someone taking jabs at that certain subject begin to lose their sting.
Footprinting.
Gaining knowledge about a particular subject or target before directly engaging. If you're the target, you'll need to footprint yourself. Find out all you can about yourself.
Take personality quizzes, write yourself up a character sheet, tally up your likes, wants, needs, and vulnerabilities and strengths. You need to be honest with yourself, and I think this may be the hardest part. If you're not honest, you won't have accurate information to work with.
Luckily there are tools you can wield to help clarify your objectivity somewhat, but it still has to come with that inward desire to seek the truth, or else you'll simply see what you expect to see, what you want to see.
Journals can be a powerful form of externalization. When you go back and read some of your older entries you'll be astounded by what you may have been thinking. There are several tests which can give you some sort of external perspective, but you must again be careful--if you're deceiving yourself, and you're intelligent, it is often easy to manipulate the results of these tests. The Alexander technique is another tool for gaining an external perspective on yourself. The more objective, honest, and complete your information gleaned from the footprinting, the better equipped you will be to maximize your own efforts.
NLP.
There is also some research being done into fields like neurolinguistic programming, hypnotic suggestion and the like. I've heard of techniques similar to buffer overflows where many topics or ideas or loops are opened in rapid succession and the mind assigns some part to keep track, but none of them are ever resolved, and eventually, the person becomes lost, and as such more susceptible to influence (i.e. more likely to involuntarily run somebody else's code).
-cid
0wn yourself