Organizing

The New Organizing Institute has just announced its Summer 2007 Bootcamp early admission application process. NOI trains political organizers to use the new tools of the trade: the internet, blogs, social networking sites, and the like.... The Summer Bootcamp is an all expenses paid opportunity to get up to speed with these tools and get ready for the 2008 political season. CivicActions co-sponsored RootsCampNYC with the NOI back in November.

Evolve Strategies has developed a Web-based “widget� to collect and report election incidents that may require voter protection intervention. VoterStory.org is an open-source utility that can be placed on any website to feed data into a central database, which in turn alerts voter protection groups each time a new incident is reported in their district.

• Continue reading

Free Range Graphics (makers of 'The Meatrix') have produced another great video about the dangers of PVC (aka Vinyl) in the home. Did you know that PVC, the material used in shower curtains and kids’ toys, is dangerous to our health and our environment? Free Range produced the video for the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ). This new movie is part of a national campaign asking Target Stores to phase out the poison plastic and switch to safer, cost effective alternatives, as other retailers have done.

Continue reading

Like to count cards in Vegas? Double your coupons? Digg new stories? Then you'll love to Spike the Vote.

Today MAPLight.org unveiled a pioneering database that lays bare the connection between money and votes in California politics. http://www.maplight.org The MAPLight.org website combines information from the Official California Legislative Information website, which contains the official text of each bill and how each legislator voted, and the Institute on Money in State Politics, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to accurate, comprehensive and unbiased documentation and research on campaign finance. MAPLight.org allows journalists and citizens to answer questions such as:

• Continue reading

At first glance, the PEW report on the Future of the Internet seemed a bit juvenile. Then jumping in to it, I realized those surveyed included Internet luminaries Esther Dyson and Howard Rheingold (among others), and should be taken seriously... From the report summary: "A survey of internet leaders, activists, and analysts shows that a majority agree with predictions that by 2020: * A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a “flattening� world. * Humans will remain in charge of technology, even as more activity is automated and “smart agents� proliferate. However, a significant 42% of survey respondents were pessimistic about humans’ ability to control the technology in the future. This significant majority agreed that dangers and dependencies will grow beyond our ability to stay in charge of technology. This was one of the major surprises in the survey. * Virtual reality will be compelling enough to enhance worker productivity and also spawn new addiction problems. * Tech “refuseniks� will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change. * People will wittingly and unwittingly disclose more about themselves, gaining some benefits in the process even as they lose some privacy. * English will be a universal language of global communications, but other languages will not be displaced. Indeed, many felt other languages such as Mandarin, would grow in prominence." Read the full PDF report.

A brief look at YouTube's most popular videos of the day, and what do you find? Cingular with the #1 video?! (391,397 views today alone!) Yep, the name of the video is "Cingular presents: YouTube Underground!" Cingular nabs the "Viral Day Action" award (VD Action) with this clever bit of marketing... a video announcing a YouTube contest for the best band, video or song on the hugely popular video social networking site. And, only a day after Warner Music signed a deal with YouTube - agreeing to a new royalty-tracking system... A good week for the 'Tube.

Mobile Voter has just launched TxtVoter. The new free system allows individuals and organizations to use texting (SMS) to conduct their own voter registration campaigns. Users can define their own text-in keywords, print out customized postcards, track respondents, and win prizes. For example using your phone, you can text "civicactions" (no quotes) to 75444 and register to vote! Sweet!

CivicActions launched HightowerLowdown.org on Monday. This site follows on our launch, earlier this year, of JimHightower.com and last year's Hightower Roadmap, our first project with Hightower's team.

• Continue reading

If you use MySpace, you probably aren't old enough to remember the rise of Friendster way back in 2003 as one of the first social networks. Well, it turns out the US Patent Office just awarded Friendster the patent on social networking. i.e. a “system, method, and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks.� After burning through $15 million in venture capital and yet to make a profit (despite 9 or 10 million users) Friendster is still in the shadows of the $500 million dollar MySpace purchase.

• Continue reading