GoodGNUs

To Liverpool Wednesday, for an enjoyable afternoon interviewing Aidan McGuire and Francis Irving of ScraperWiki, then an evening at Liverpool’s Social Media Café event.

ScraperWiki is a code wiki that provides you with a maintained scraper to extract data from any public source on teh InterWebs, for any purpose. A great example is the map showing oil drilling around UK shores at the same depth as the Gulf of Mexico Disaster. Thanks to Aidan and Francis for lots of info about what ScraperWiki is up to, and where it’s going - if I can’t find a publisher for the interview (my usual outlet can’t fit it in), I might post more here.

Talks at #smcLiv were given by Mike Nolan, on coping with social media overload, and Jon Bloor, on Publish & (Don’t) be damned. Social Media & the Law. Mike is certainly tapping a rich vein, given the number of information channels we’re all hooked into, and talk around the tables afterwards ranged from GTD through #inboxZero to using the good old-fashioned telephone to cut down on e-mail.

Social Media Café at Static Liverpool, 25 August 2010, pic by Mike Nolan

There was also a talk given by myself, on Open Social Networks - or what to do about FaceBook being Evil. I’ll be writing here soon about GNU social, Diaspora*, and other ways of taking back control of your social media use, but for now please see the article at LinuxUser magazine - and the extracted interview with Evan Prodromou.

Saturday saw the annual Chorlton Big Green Festival, one of the country’s largest Green Fairs, and this year blessed with a stall from Manchester Free Software (MFS).

Those of us volunteering to staff the MFS Stall had a great time - not just enjoying the vegan food and drink of the Fair, and catching up with old friends from Manchester’s numerous environmental groups in attendance, but from several hours of talking to the general public about software freedom.

While MFS membership is heavy in Unix admins and programmers, the group is about the philosophy of software freedom, not playing with technology - thus we all enjoyed engaging with the public on why freedom matters in software. Passers by ranged from committed Ubuntu users to those without a computer at home, yet nearly all were responsive to the principle of software built on values of community, education, and sharing knowledge.

Freedom in the 3rd Sector

Indeed, it continues to remain a puzzle why so many in the charity sector actively campaign against Free Software solutions, and promote the sector’s continued reliance on an unsustainable model of dependence on a few tax-subsidised, private companies.

These are issues I hope to tease out a little in my talk on Free Software in the UK Voluntary Sector, and why you should care, at MFS’s 20th April meeting. I’d welcome people with a wide range of views to come along and debate the issue afterwards.

At recent events, when I meet new people, we naturally ask each other “What do you do?”. I’m failing quite badly at summarising my activities, so thought I’d briefly list current projects here, for reference:

1. Gaia University - IT strategy, project management, & SysAdmin, in a programme to gradually upgrade every online aspect of this international sustainability university over the next few years.
2. Social Media & the Accessible Web - the Profitable Conversations courses highlighted on the courses page. Got off to a good start last year, now lining up a number of courses around the North West for the Spring.
3. Hackspace North West - 10 months ago I started bringing people together whom I thought would be interested in getting spaces off the ground. I have done very little on this as fortunately it turned out there were plenty of people also wanting local hackspaces, and they’ve gone on to work towards getting them going. Latest steps in Shropshire & Staffordshire.
4. Credit Unions - Free Software solutions
   Should have been going a long time ago, but a key personnel hiccough has delayed things. Now we’re on the move again, and I’ll be posting announcements on the project here very soon.
5. Other financial software & local currencies…
   Next step is looking for partners to take the core of the Credit Union software, and adapt it for 3rd Sector book-keeping needs. This is something VCOs have been crying out for.
   We’re also talking to those involved with Complementary Currencies in a number of countries - something just beginning to gain ground in the UK after a brief flurry of LETS in the 80s.
6. Cloud Computing for the 3rd Sector.
   Voluntary Groups can’t host sensitive data in the USA, and don’t want to be advertised at by Google. Hoping to work with Fossbox on this, and looking for a sponsor to host the 1U server I have that was donated to the project by Blue Fountain.
7. Permaculture
   I studied for my Permaculture Designers’ Certificate in 1993-94, while also studying for the Royal Botanic Gardens’ diploma at Kew. It was the wrong time, and once back home in Montgomeryshire there was little or no work. Now I find a resurgent interest in sustainable design, and am following recent speaking engagements with more practical work.
8. IT Recycling
   M6-IT cic had a great success here, with Richard Rothwell’s Supported Family Computing project reaching dozens of families with recycled hardware, Free Software, family training, and local support, as well as broadband for people previously blacklisted by the ‘phone companies.
   Search for partners to replicate this has been unsuccessful, but it’s been a privilege to lead workshops on community recycling with ArcSpace in Hulme, Manchester, with an interesting and enthusiastic crowd of local activists.
9. Web
   Preparing new sites for local sustainability groups, campaigns, and VCOs: some Wordpress, blog-based, mostly Drupal CMS. I miss Plone, but it’s unsuitable for the quick and low-resourced sites I’m doing now.
   When a few more get finished I’ll put up some portfolio pages.
10. Blogging?
    I’m developing a horicultural/ethnobotany blog I started designing some time ago, and a *nix introductory blog for NetBook users. Once I can get a 30 hour day I’ll push these through to publication. :^)
11. Journalism - Linux User & Developer magazine recently commissioned me for a few articles. The first of these, on Arduino boards and open hardware hacking, hit the shelves a few days ago.
12. In Transition - the two towns nearest to our village are both in possession of new groups moving towards Transition Town Status. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some very interesting people, and get a chance to begin to investigate local food and power solutions.
    It’s certainly easier to work totally locally, than try to bring people together at a distance as I did at FACT’s Small Steps to Sustainability workshops. More soon here, and on Twitter.

Hope that helps fill a gap until I renew my calls-for-collaboration posts, too. As to Networking events, maybe I should print this list on a postcard?

(It’s more than just blogging)

There’s been a lot of great buzz about hyperlocal sites as the new local press, with added community cohesion. Indeed I posted a couple of months ago about #tal09, the Talk-about-Local unconference for hyperlocal bloggers. Action within and for the local community is essential if we are to fix what the Tories somewhat pessimistically call the Broken Society. Nevertheless there are important issues in the wider world which can also be well addressed locally, so on Day 1 of Copenhagen let’s take a look at “Think Global, Act Local”.

Town in Transition

Last week my eldest two children played with the Lions Youth Brass Band at the Congleton Christmas Lights switch-on. What was different about this switch on was a street full of local stalls, mostly from community groups. One of them was the recently-formed Congleton Sustainability Group (CSG), selling locally-grown apple juice[1] to raise both awareness and funds.

Following this, I spent this morning at CSG’s monthly meeting, and was pleased to see representatives of local businesses and groups, together with a few individuals, getting together to plan practical changes to make their community more sustainable. Hydro power, energy advice, seed swaps, and, closest to my heart, beginning to look at Community Supported Agriculture and local food production.

The aim of the CSG is to prepare for Transition Town status. A refreshing contrast to places that just declare they are transition towns without actually having community buy-in or any practical results - CSG hopes to bring in more local people and organisations, and get real change in motion before declaring Transition Town Congleton.

[1] 450lbs (210kg) of unwanted apples were collected from local trees and
    juiced and bottles at Eddisbury Fruit Farm, producing 106 bottles.
    Next year the group aims to at least quadruple the amount of apples
    it collects.

• Digital inclusion, disabled audiences and web accessibility through personalisation
  “Government Digital Inclusion Champion Martha Lane Fox was the Big Thinker at COI last week. She announced the launch of her campaign to Race Online for 2012, which aims to get more people online particularly from socially excluded groups.”
  (tags: inclusion digitaldivide community excluded cohesion accessibility bbc web government disability disadvantage)
• Words & Eggs
  (tags: vintage retro typography illustration graphics blog resources art design)
• grain edit · modern graphic design inspiration blog + vintage graphics …
  “Grain edit is focused on classic design work from the 1950s-1970s and contemporary designers that draw inspiration from that time period.
  “Site content includes interviews, articles, designers’ libraries as well as examples of rare design annuals, type specimens, Ephemera, posters and vintage kids books from our bookshelves.”
  (tags: design art graphics blog advertising typography vintage posters graphicdesign retro illustration)
• SoyPrint Toner Cartridges
  “For every SoyPrint toner used, you save 2-3 litres of petroleum, and you keep 6 pounds of heavy plastic and a pound of metal out of landfills. This environmentally friendly SoyPrint black laser toner cartridge replaces HP item number 92274A and is compatible with HP 4L, 4P, and 4MP machines.”
  (tags: ecofriendly biodegradable printer peakoil officesupplies soya)
• Natural Economy - Resources - Reports
  “A suite of reports on Green Infrastructure looking at a number of issues; Green Infrastructure development based on the need expressed within the Region, the opportunities for GI to deliver sub-regional economic plans, an assessment of the CITYgreen computer model for estimating economic benefit, an outline strategy for linking green and grey infrastructure, and a collection of pioneering work on the economic benefits of Green Infrastructure”
  (tags: green eco reports economy northwest environment habitat naturaltourism)
• The 7 Harsh Realities of Social Media Marketing | Copyblogger
  “Harsh Reality #2: You’ve got to give (some of) your best stuff away”
  (tags: socialmedia marketing tips blogging strategy advertising advice)
• 7 Mantras For Maverick Entrepreneurs | Sterling Performance | BNET
  “Throw out your business plan.” Like it :-)
  (tags: business advice entrepreneur socialenterprise marketing mentoring)
• BE LEGAL: Six things a hyperlocal blogger really should know about the …
  “…the potential for danger in the ice field of libel law is terrifying”
  (tags: hyperlocal blogging journalism law legal libel media socialmedia defamation advice)
• Geek Hub
  The Hub for UK Tech Events & Groups
  Born from ‘Wheres The Geek’, we decided on a brand change partly because we’ve shifted focus a little and partly because people kept moaning about the grammar!
  (tags: tech events geek geekup hub portal)
• Bespoke: Tailor-made local news
  “THE Bespoke project is an innovative collaboration between a number of different academic and commercial bodies around the UK, including the universities of Central Lancashire, Surrey, Newcastle, Falmouth and Dundee, the Lancashire Evening Post and Nokia Research.
  “Highly skilled Bespoke project members work across a number of different disciplines, and include anthropologists, product designers, engineers and mobile applications developers – as well as experienced multi-media journalists.

  “We are currently arranging a series of digital storytelling workshops with members, users and clients of groups and organisations as diverse as the Ablaze Youth Group, Callon Kids Community Club, Contour Housing, Fishwick Rangers Youth Development Scheme, Preston FM and Preston College’s Elev8 initiative, as well as individual members of the public”

  (tags: digitalstorytelling community hyperlocal collaboration journalism radio media film)
• #ECOSYS
  “demonstrate that virtual collaboration can drive social innovation, adapting our collaboration process for improved results as experience is gained”
  (tags: socialmedia collaborative socialaction innovation socialenterprise)
• Winston Churchill’s Short Guide to Life: 6 Essential Fundamentals
  “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” “I never worry about action, but only about inaction”
  (tags: inspiration advice churchill life positivity positivethinking lifehacks)
• Same ol’ g? Think again: A visual study of the lowercase g
  lowercase “g”
  (tags: fonts typeface typography design art)
• Recycling Lives; the recycling charity (Reg. No. 1116562)
  “In a purpose built facility Recycling Lives provides a multi-agency approach to addressing the causes of worklessness and homelessness through the provision of employment opportunities and skills-training, opportunities for new business incubation, and a strategy for reducing landfill waste”
  (tags: recycling socialenterprise homelessness community regeneration training NEET unemployment)
• A climate deal is like trying to halt the rains in Cumbria | Paul …
  There is some hope, but not much. The depressing reality of “An economy predicated on constant growth cannot be the engine of a change that urgently demands less of it”
  (tags: climatechange consumption capitalism peakoil sustainability future)
• Monbiot.com - The Population Myth
  Population Control / Reduction = “Way too many of you, just enough of me”. The world can support a huge population, just not on a European/US consumption pattern
  (tags: environment climatechange sustainability development poverty monbiot consumption hypocrisy noborders malthus overpopulation)

There’s been a lot of coverage of the death of local papers, but does this have to be the end of local reporting? Recently hyperlocal blogs have arisen everywhere from villages to inner-city postcodes to plug the gaps in local coverage.

Sticky notes on the white board describe the session you'd like. Similar sessions are grouped together & given a room & timeslot. Unconference sorted :-)

These aren’t just replacements for local freesheets, but use social media (blogs, & micro-blogs like Twitter) to harness the power of community reporting. Refrigerators dumped on the pavement, dog mess, lack of facilities, secret council decisions - all are aired in public & councils are having to take action. Not all councils are happy about this grassroots-driven transparency, & many are not giving hyperlocal blogs the same access as print journalists.

Against this background comes Talk About Local, an Unconference held last Saturday in Stoke-on-Trent that brought together 88 community bloggers & other hyperlocal activists.

An unconference is built on coffee-break networking

In informal sessions participants shared lessons learned - such as using short interviews & live cameras to get blog posts from those who had much to say but, often thanks to our lamentable education system, were unable to articulate it at the keyboard.
One thread I noted was how online activity drove more meeting & co-operation in the real world, and many successful projects combined these with drop-in centres giving access to computers and training in social media.
I attended not with my community training hat on, but as someone looking at launching a local site this autumn, & went away inspired, and carrying several pages of tips, contacts, & practical suggestions. Best thing about the event? The wonderful diversity of people there - not self-identified social media gurus, but people dedicated to improving their communities by linking up local people and giving them a platform.
Thanks to Will, Nicky, Clare & Mike for organising such a serendipitous event - despite the hiccough with the vegan food, and the train problems, I got so much from the day that I’m still digesting my notes. Watch out for more activity from Talk About Local. If you missed the event but want to get involved, join the mailing list.
Want to see some of these great community blogs? They’re linked from the social bookmarks of the ‘tal09 event (which saves me the invidious task of choosing which to single out). Videos are listed on this YouTube playlist.

• The Hedon Blog
  Another of the remarkable hyperlocal blogs at #TAL09 - wish I had time to bookmark them all!
  (tags: blog local hyperlocal socialmedia tal09)
• Talk About Local » Un-Conference
  Great event yesterday, will blog tomorrow :)
  (tags: TAL09 conference events local hyperlocal socialmedia blog socialnetworking unconference)
• Pits’n’Pots – The Radical Press
  “For the news that matters in Stoke-on-Trent”
  (tags: blog hyperlocal tal09 potteries midlands)
• Pesky People
  “Pesky People is also going to be a campaigning website being developed to highlight how to complain about terrible access to websites. It will inform people of their rights, giving creative means to complain. It will cause trouble, it will change habits, it will empower. It will be fun. It’s totally run by Deaf and Disabled people.”
  It was my pleasure to meet PP’s Alison Smith at #TAL09
  (tags: tal09 blog accessibility webstandards webdesign web)
• Blog Local - lifting the lid on your local community
  Blog Local aims to lift the lid on your local community. Our sites act as a hub of local information, views, events, reviews and loads of other good stuff that comes bubbling up from under the surface. We open up local information and put it in your hands. To see an example of what we do, check out http://www.blogpreston.co.uk/
  (tags: blog local hyperlocal tal09 web2.0 socialmedia socialaction)
• Democracy Club: Transparency through volunteering
  Democracy Club is a new, independent network of volunteers who want to help internet-savvy transparency groups like mySociety and The Straight Choice to hold election candidates and representatives to account. Constituency volunteers wanted!
  (tags: democracy mp parliament westminster accountability sousveillance web2.0 socialmedia politics tal09)