jopauca

The Pirate Bay Party #SOPABLACKOUT in Australia has begun

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:18:03 -0500

The Pirate Bay Party #SOPABLACKOUT in Australia has begun

brokensidewalkfarm: Changing the bit

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:27:34 -0500

brokensidewalkfarm:

Changing the bit

Sometimes I feel like I’m at war with everybody. I’m grateful for my allies.

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:22:00 -0500

Sometimes I feel like I’m at war with everybody. I’m grateful for my allies.

An Occupied Experience (created with HTML5 and Final Cut)

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:11:30 -0500

An Occupied Experience (created with HTML5 and Final Cut)

Until the very end of me. Until the very end of you.

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:38:21 -0500

Until the very end of me. Until the very end of you.

Watch this with the song below http://hypem.com/item/12vk3/Goldfrapp+-+Alive+(Arno+Cost+Remix)

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:22:00 -0500

Watch this with the song below

http://hypem.com/item/12vk3/Goldfrapp+-+Alive+(Arno+Cost+Remix)

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:55:00 -0500

http://hypem.com/item/12vk3/Goldfrapp+-+Alive+(Arno+Cost+Remix)

http://www.spyfiles.org/

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:54:20 -0500

http://www.spyfiles.org/

http://wikileaks.org/the-spyfiles.html

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:53:19 -0500

http://wikileaks.org/the-spyfiles.html

Occupy LA has been given 5 minutes to vacate. Watch.

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:40:28 -0500

Occupy LA has been given 5 minutes to vacate. Watch.

Gamifying 21st Century Civil Disobedience

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:59:00 -0500

This week, our class was assigned the following readings by Steinkuehler, Williams, and an article from Wired on griefing. Given my current experiences with Occupy Wall Street and taking the ideas of third places and griefing, the following question was evoked.

How do we apply what we know about collective action in MMOs and video games to civil disobedience in virtual and physical spaces?

Although it is argued ethnographic studies measure unquantifiable variables, the consequences and implications these variables have are quite visible. Synergy in WoW guilds (Williams et.al, 2006), morale in EVE (Dibbell, 2008), and spiritual regeneration in Lineage II (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006) are all examples of people experiencing cognitive and emotional responses within virtual platforms that consequently affect guild strength, mission critical objectives, and gameplay.

If gameplay relies on mission critical objectives; and mision critical objectives rely on guild strength; and guild strength relies on sociological ties that rely, in part, on strong, positive communities and individuals with leadership like qualities, then how different is gameplay from the communities participating in civil disobedience in virtual & physical spaces?

The answer is, it is not that different at all. What differs are the history of are our information communication tools and our applications of social and gaming layers.

Unlike today’s virtual spaces, civil disobedience organization and mobilization have primarily operated through networks where communication suffered from a wide time cushion. Information traveled slower, however, this does not mean positive cognitive and emotional responses to strong, positive communities were absent. On the contrary, these responses created solidarity which in turn helped the Civil Rights movement shut down the streets of Washington D.C. in the 1960’s and eventually led to legal reform. Similarly, in spite of the wide time cushion, Russian samizdat provided dissidents information from sources they may never have encountered also fostering community strength. In other words, despite the time it may have taken for information to travel between the source(s) to the receiver(s), synergy, morale, and spiritual regeneration were still present. And while Putnam provided insight on the increasing dissolution of communities, the scenario today is vastly different. Virtual platforms have not only recreated civic spaces for community gathering; they have narrowed the time cushion while also providing new spaces for civil disobedience. Already, we are witnessing their first stage effects.

Hacktivists are part of the same Internet communities that share a similar virtual ethos by gamers. While the virtual space may be different, overarching parallels exist and if we consider these parallels (eg - sense of community; the DIY ethic; performance over race, creed, and religion; synergy; motivation; and collective intelligence) in combination with the narrow time cushion, then is it beneficial for 21st century dissidents to strengthen their efforts by modeling their actions around the gamer ethic and virtual world ethos and what would this model look like?

Modeling real world initiatives around gaming is nothing new. Seth Priebatsch and Jane McGonigal have given public and private institutions detailed reasons for adopting game-like frameworks and infrastructures. While the social layer provides rich networks of connections, the game layer will provide stronger networks of influences. Network influence, whether in the form of alpha pups or mavens, has been largely discussed by Rogers, Zipf, and Gladwell. But unlike hierarchal networks, gaming (specifically leveling up) requires collective participation to acquire success; a motivation absent from the 80/20 rule.

Now imagine the possibilites when the social and gaming layer are combined with real world networks. Although Priebatsch and McGonigal are exploring its potential application in education and healthcare, how would the gamification of 21st century civil disobedience affect organizing and mobilization? Will it ever happen and what would it look like?

As international uprisings continue to form and evolve, the answers may appear sooner than later.

occupyonline: In Portland, Oregon: A ‘Bat Signal’ was projected...

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:24:46 -0500

occupyonline:

In Portland, Oregon:

A ‘Bat Signal’ was projected on a building in the area of 4th Avenue and Columbia Street Monday night that included statements such as “We are the 99%,” “Free Speech.” and “Prosecute Wall Street.”

The signal also reportedly appeared Friday on the Justice Center building on Southwest 3rd Avenue.

An Occupy Portland protest is scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 29th at noon outside the Justice Center called “We Know Our Rights”.

On Saturday, December 3rd, Occupy Portland will march from the Salmon Springs Fountain to Occupy another park.

WikiLeaks wins major journalism award in Australia

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:45:21 -0500

WikiLeaks wins major journalism award in Australia:

kwikset:

“The Walkley Awards are the Australian equivalent of the Pulitzers: that nation’s most prestigious award for excellence in journalism. Last night, the Walkley Foundation awarded its highest distinction — for “Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism” — to WikiLeaks, whose leader, Julian Assange, is an Australian citizen. The panel cited the group’s “courageous and controversial commitment to the finest traditions of journalism: justice through transparency,” and hailed it for having “applied new technology to penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup.” As I’ve noted before, WikiLeaks easily produced more newsworthy scoops over the last year than every other media outlet combined, and the Foundation observed: “so many eagerly took advantage of the secret cables to create more scoops in a year than most journalists could imagine in a lifetime.” In sum: “by designing and constructing a means to encourage whistleblowers, WikiLeaks and its editor-in-chief Julian Assange took a brave, determined and independent stand for freedom of speech and transparency that has empowered people all over the world.”~Read More: Salon

Mercer's Poems: On the Contrary

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:37:01 -0500

Mercer's Poems: On the Contrary :

mercerspoems:

With spongy ears wide open I absorb your inanity.
Each droplet of your mediocrity merely feeding my insanity.
Yet, still I listen carefully, it is the path I choose to walk.
I say, “I am always here if you ever need to talk.”
Words said with sincerity but also deep regret,
because while I’m…

poptech: subtilitas: Henning Larson - Harpa concert hall and...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:53:42 -0500

poptech:

subtilitas:

Henning Larson - Harpa concert hall and conference center, Reykjavik 2011.

This where we’re having our conference in Iceland!

Mercer's Poems: The (mis)Direction of the Occupy Movement?

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:43:39 -0500

Mercer's Poems: The (mis)Direction of the Occupy Movement? :

mercerspoems:

Without your help, this could well be the very end of the humanistic approach to the Occupy movement. If you believe in doing right by your fellow human being, and standing up for fairness and equality for all, then you have probably been pleased with the fact that the Occupy movement was…

via The Activists

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:34:37 -0500

via The Activists

youthiswasted: So, Herman Cain basically just said things would...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:43:59 -0500

youthiswasted:

So, Herman Cain basically just said things would remain the same, except that he created a new word (“targeted identification”) to replace “racial profiling.” In other words, he would institute policies which treat muslim-americans travelling into or around the United States in the same manner that latinos and immigrants have been treated in the deep southern states such as Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Cain, you’re a complete fucking idiot. I understand that most of the presidential debate (and electoral process) is political theater, and what you’re giving is the classic “bad behavior makes good television” approach. But I have stepped in piles of dog shit with more intelligence and compassion than you show in this video clip.

istellar:

ayooooya:

Herman Cain on profiling Muslim Americans

I just… I can’t.

How is Herman Cain a real person? How does he stand up there and say all that crap that comes out of his mouth?

You can call a donkey a unicorn but it’s still a fucking donkey you Islamaphobic fuck.

What did I just watch? Why? What is going on………..

Herman Cain you are a fucking pizza shop owner who has probably never met a Muslim person in your entire life. Go screw yourself Islamaphobic idiot!

This heffer…

Whaaat… was that?! These candidates need to come with a disclaimer saying “Warning. Your IQ may drop once I open my mouth.”

anarmyofancients: A protester handed President Barack Obama a...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:55:02 -0500

anarmyofancients:

A protester handed President Barack Obama a note while shaking hands along a rope line in New Hampshire today. Photographer Charlie Dharapak smartly zoomed in so you can read the note for yourself.

And that was after Obama got a less-than-friendly Occupy Wall St. welcome.

kwikset: Protests against military power continue in #Cairo...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:54:15 -0500

kwikset:

Protests against military power continue in #Cairo #Egypt

“Security forces fired tear gas and clashed with several thousand protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in continued violence that has turned into the most sustained challenge yet to the rule of Egypt’s military.”~Yahoo Photo credit: Reuters