When I began this blog in 2001, I was appalled by President Bush's headlong rush to an illegal war (we were not in fact under attack). As time wore on and Bush began his assault on the Constitution and any people bold enough to criticize, I believed that "the republic is endangered more by actions of our own government than by those of any terrorist." With the election of a high-minded, compassionate, intelligent man like Barack Obama, my fears have ceased.
"Honor them with peace, not war"
United for Peace
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
A new trend that has interesting possibiities is the flash mob, also called email mob.
Howard Rheingold wrote a book called Smart Mobs: the Next Social Revolution. It says at his website that the broadcast era is waning as the consumers of technology get to create as well as consume, and the broadcast media are fighting back -- they don't want to lose control.
Back to the smart mobs; there have been public mob events in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Seattle but the New York version, where attendance is by email invitation only, is the invention of a NYC man named Bill. At least that's what it says in this June 19 article at Wired News:
Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
Performance art mobs
A new trend that has interesting possibiities is the flash mob, also called email mob.
Flash mobs are performance art projects involving large groups of people. Mobilized by e-mail, a mob suddenly materializes in a public place, acts out according to some loose instructions, and then melts away as quickly as it formed.
Howard Rheingold wrote a book called Smart Mobs: the Next Social Revolution. It says at his website that the broadcast era is waning as the consumers of technology get to create as well as consume, and the broadcast media are fighting back -- they don't want to lose control.
Media cartels and government agencies are seeking to reimpose the regime of the broadcast era in which the customers of technology will be deprived of the power to create and left only with the power to consume. That power struggle is what the battles over file-sharing, copy-protection, regulation of the radio spectrum are about. Are the populations of tomorrow going to be users, like the PC owners and website creators who turned technology to widespread innovation? Or will they be consumers, constrained from innovation and locked into the technology and business models of the most powerful entrenched interests?Sounds like an interesting book! I like anything that helps explain what the heck is going on.
Back to the smart mobs; there have been public mob events in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Seattle but the New York version, where attendance is by email invitation only, is the invention of a NYC man named Bill. At least that's what it says in this June 19 article at Wired News:
Bill has become more secretive about Mob Project plans since the first mob event was held in May.
That event drew six police officers and one paddy wagon, after one of the e-mail recipients (now officially known to the mob as "Squealy") alerted authorities to the impending arrival of the mob.
Due to that unwanted attention from law enforcement officials, Bill opted to keep the details of the second mob action a secret until the very last possible moment.
Palema
6:24 AM
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Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
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