Saturday, February 21, 2009

Whole Earth Catalog archived online!

http://www.wholeearth.com/index.php

If you want a butt-ton of DIY (Do It Yourself) stuff, here's your treasure-trove.

The non-future of some of our treasured media types

http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=171555&

Cory Doctorow covers the future of movies, newspapers, and other media. This shows that many aspects of our society are changing drastically, not just the economy. I'm beginning to believe that this is such a unique structural change going on throughout our society and culture that the experts will not have a handle on what's going on either. This may just be a huge shakeout that we'll have to ride instead of control.

Friday, February 20, 2009

non-hierarchical organizations cause confusion in court

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/02/neij.html

Pirate Bay is being sued over copyright issues. In court the prosecutor couldn't wrap his head around how Pirate Bay is organized. I wrote about the non-hierarchical group Anonymous:
http://www.lisamcpherson.org/pc.htm

I believe this style of organization will grow more and more as it is more flexible and cheaper than top-down hierarchical structures.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The News Business is a Harbinger of the Future

http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2009/02/default-o-matic-update-closer-to-brink.html

Who would have ever thought that the New York Times would be in financial trouble? This demonstrates that the economy is changing rapidly in ways that aren't being addressed. It's not just that derivatives are hard to understand, it's that the way the entire economy is changing that is hard to understand. I really think the things our economic experts learned just don't apply now, but then, that means nobody knows just what's going on.

If it was me, because of this uncertainty, I'd go back to basics as much as possible; buy sparingly, keep funds handy in case of problems, don't get giddy when things are going well.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

neo-liberalism has failed, let's pick up the pieces

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/01/30/1232818725574.html

KEVIN RUDD has denounced the unfettered capitalism of the past three decades and called for a new era of "social capitalism" in which government intervention and regulation feature heavily.

In an essay to be published next week, the Prime Minister is scathing of the neo-liberals who began refashioning the market system in the 1970s, and ultimately brought about the global financial crisis.

"The time has come, off the back of the current crisis, to proclaim that the great neo-liberal experiment of the past 30 years has failed, that the emperor has no clothes," he writes of those who placed their faith in the corrective powers of the market....