OneWebDay: A toast to the net

The internet is a wondrous anomaly, a technical and creative achievement grander than the Tower of Babel, an infinite tangle of knowledge, ideals, data, entertainment, beauty, trivia, terror, news, noise, hubris, despair. It’s a cultural blender, a mixmaster archive crammed with visions, twits and everyday things. Andrew NachisonAndrew Nachison is founder of We Media. He […]

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These designs are not legal tender

Back in the September, I wrote that “one of the fundamental tasks of design and business is to stand between revolutions and life, to help people deal with change.” That was the premise of The Right Brain Rules, a strategic vision and a portfolio of assets for creating value into the future. Allison Arieff goes […]

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Podcast: Melinda Wittstock from AskYourLawmaker

We haven’t recorded a podcast in a while — life gets in the way, you know — but we are back on track, effective immediately. WeMedia conducts regular regular podcasts that feature in-depth interviews with prominent media, technology, and social change figures, as well as distinguished experts on current affairs and news. Our goal is […]

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Is Democracy Holding Us Back?

On Monday, the Cambridge, MA City Council adopted a policy order recognizing that a climate emergency exists and directing the City Manager to “direct the appropriate city departments to increase the City’s responses to a scale proportionate to the emergency and consistent with the city’s own Climate Protection goals for 2010 and beyond.”  (The full […]

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How about world press freedom EVERY day?

There’s a media and technology feeding frenzy in Washington. Failing U.S. newspapers are looking for a bailout from the government; nonprofits, telecoms and policy wonks are scrambling to have their say and get their piece of the economic stimulus action – a few billion dollars – to expand broadband networks AND create more content and […]

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A Pandemic of Bad News

The Swine Flu is big news… and for good reason.  This potentially deadly strain – a mix of pig, bird, and human viruses – is spreading across the globe.  More cases are being reported every hour it seems.  Health experts don’t seem to have much to offer in terms of definite information.  Fear and uncertainty […]

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How Much Change Can We Expect in Washington?

The White House announced today that the Cyberspace Review that President Obama ordered has been completed.  Here is the statement from the Press Secretary: On February 9, the President directed a 60-day review of the plans, programs and activities underway throughout the government that address our communications and information infrastructure (i.e., cyberspace). The purpose of […]

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Sunlight’s apps challenge for open government

The entry deadline has passed, but the gallery of entries to The Sunlight Foundation’s annual apps competition is worth a look. The foundation supports projects that use technology to make government more transparent – meaning more open, more visible and more subject to public scrutiny. The foundation’s focus is strictly on U.S. policy and government, […]

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The cigarette tax and human behavior

According to the CDC, roughly 20% of the American population, some 43 million people, smoke (and within that group 80% smoke every day).  That number is down significantly from just a few decades ago, but the rate of decline has leveled off in recent years.  Some attribute the slow-down to creative marketing tactics by the […]

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My Challenge to Google Ventures

Google announced this week that they were creating a venture capital arm whose main objective will be to turn a profit.  The group, called Google Ventures, is expected to invest up to $100 million in the next 12 months. The New York Times article on the announcement notes that “Google will tap the connections of […]

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