That's great - Homeless Daniel Morales finds daughter by Twitter - BBC

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They had been apart for a decade, but in the end all it took to reunite a homeless father and his daughter was a few 140-character messages on the social networking site, Twitter.

Daniel Morales, 58, was taking part in a New York project in which homeless people are given a prepaid mobile phone to keep a record of their lives.

He had been updating his 3,000-odd followers with regular Twitter updates.

Three weeks into the scheme, he decided to use it to track down his daughter.

"Hi thi is to let yo people know that in lookin eoq my daughter her name is sarah m rivera," he tweeted on Thursday.

He followed the message up with others posting his mobile number and a photo of his daughter, Sarah, 27.....

read the full story on the BBC

Crowdfunded Canadian Documentary: The Secret Trial 5

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The Secret Trial 5 is a new crowdfunded documentary that examines the human impact of Canada’s “war on terror”; specifically the use of security certificates, a tool that allows for indefinite detention, with no charges, and secret evidence. Over the last decade, 5 men have been held under security certificates in Canada. They spent between 2 and 7 years in prison each. None of them was ever charged with a crime...

Worth the read: Paul Krugman dissects Wisconsin's Scott Walker: Shock Doctrine, U.S.A.

As many readers may recall, the results were spectacular — in a bad way. Instead of focusing on the urgent problems of a shattered economy and society, which would soon descend into a murderous civil war, those Bush appointees were obsessed with imposing a conservative ideological vision. Indeed, with looters still prowling the streets of Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer, the American viceroy, told a Washington Post reporter that one of his top priorities was to “corporatize and privatize state-owned enterprises” — Mr. Bremer’s words, not the reporter’s — and to “wean people from the idea the state supports everything.”

The story of the privatization-obsessed Coalition Provisional Authority was the centerpiece of Naomi Klein’s best-selling book “The Shock Doctrine,” which argued that it was part of a broader pattern. From Chile in the 1970s onward, she suggested, right-wing ideologues have exploited crises to push through an agenda that has nothing to do with resolving those crises, and everything to do with imposing their vision of a harsher, more unequal, less democratic society.

Which brings us to Wisconsin 2011, where the shock doctrine is on full display.

In recent weeks, Madison has been the scene of large demonstrations against the governor’s budget bill, which would deny collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. Gov. Scott Walker claims that he needs to pass his bill to deal with the state’s fiscal problems. But his attack on unions has nothing to do with the budget. In fact, those unions have already indicated their willingness to make substantial financial concessions — an offer the governor has rejected.

What’s happening in Wisconsin is, instead, a power grab — an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy. And the power grab goes beyond union-busting. The bill in question is 144 pages long, and there are some extraordinary things hidden deep inside.

For example, the bill includes language that would allow officials appointed by the governor to make sweeping cuts in health coverage for low-income families without having to go through the normal legislative process.

And then there’s this: “Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state-owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).”

What’s that about? The state of Wisconsin owns a number of plants supplying heating, cooling, and electricity to state-run facilities (like the University of Wisconsin). The language in the budget bill would, in effect, let the governor privatize any or all of these facilities at whim. Not only that, he could sell them, without taking bids, to anyone he chooses. And note that any such sale would, by definition, be “considered to be in the public interest.”

If this sounds to you like a perfect setup for cronyism and profiteering — remember those missing billions in Iraq? — you’re not alone. Indeed, there are enough suspicious minds out there that Koch Industries, owned by the billionaire brothers who are playing such a large role in Mr. Walker’s anti-union push, felt compelled to issue a denial that it’s interested in purchasing any of those power plants. Are you reassured?

The good news from Wisconsin is that the upsurge of public outrage — aided by the maneuvering of Democrats in the State Senate, who absented themselves to deny Republicans a quorum — has slowed the bum’s rush. If Mr. Walker’s plan was to push his bill through before anyone had a chance to realize his true goals, that plan has been foiled. And events in Wisconsin may have given pause to other Republican governors, who seem to be backing off similar moves.

But don’t expect either Mr. Walker or the rest of his party to change those goals. Union-busting and privatization remain G.O.P. priorities, and the party will continue its efforts to smuggle those priorities through in the name of balanced budgets.

We Live in Amazing Times: Crowdsourced Documentary 'One Day on Earth' Yields Footage Out of Libya

“One Day On Earth,” an online project designed to capture video footage of life around the world on a single day — October 10, 2010 — is now turning into a host for videos and photos documenting current events in Libya. The country, which has become a hotbed of violence amidst a revolt against leader Muammar Gaddafi, is largely closed off from foreign media outlets, meaning submissions from Libyan members of the “One Day On Earth” community provide unique perspectives of what’s taking place within the country’s borders.

Executive producer Brandon Litman says those behind “One Day On Earth” reached out a couple of weeks ago to community members in areas of conflict, asking them to report back with any information they could provide.

“Literally within 30 minutes of engaging the community, we heard back,” Litman says. “And we started getting information in within a couple of hours.”

Litman has blogged some of the footage that has come out of Libya so far. This includes a conversation between those organizing the Libyan uprising, images and video (embedded below) of a mass burial in the nation’s capital, Tripoli, and additional images of violence. The “One Day On Earth” team has used its media connections to its advantage, feeding some of the videos and images it receives to various outlets.

“We were in touch with a number of news sources as we were producing the 10-10-10 event,” Litman says, adding that the crew had contacts at the likes of Reuters, the BBC, CNN and more. “I actually saw the [Tripoli mass burial] clip on CNN’s [Anderson Cooper 360°].”

In fact, Litman says the burial footage has received the most traction out of the photos and clips “One Day On Earth” has sent to the media — based on the number of hits the blog post received, it seems that people in at least 93 countries have viewed the clip. And now, more people are signing up to join the site. In a February 24 e-mail, Litman said, “In the past 24 hours, we have had people from over 30 countries sign up to the ‘One Day On Earth’ community.” He feels this is a sign that the platform is going to evolve into a community where people share perspectives and stories on a more regular basis — not just stories that take place within the same 24-hour period.

Litman and his team are staying in touch with Libyan contributors through a variety of means, including via telephone and the Internet. They’re also trying to get satellite connections.

“I would say that the success ratio is about 50 to 1 for every attempt to actually get through. But we’re staying vigilant in making sure we’re in touch every single day in getting information about what’s happening,” Litman says, adding that they’re expecting more uploads and encouraging Libyan community members to continue feeding information and videos as long as they can do so safely. He also says it’s interesting that social media is usually first to knock down the walls placed in front of traditional media outlets.

“Social media, local filmmakers and citizens armed with cameras are a key source of information in today’s media, especially in situations like what is happening in Libya and the Middle East,” Litman says. “With filmmakers and video enthusiasts in every country in the world, we are uniquely positioned to help break that wall down when it comes up.”

Image courtesy of One Day On Earth

Kidlandia Raises $2.5 Million To Create Personalized Fantasy Maps For Kids via TechCrunch

Kidlandia, the awesome site that lets you create your own personalized fantasy maps for your kids, has raised $2.5 million led by Alsop Louie Partners with GRP, Net Discovery, Ivan Sutherland and Jim Sandler participating. This brings the startup’s total funding to $3.5 million.

As we’ve reported in the past, Kidlandia lets parents and kids create maps of a fantasy land, where the child is King or Queen of their own eponymous fantasy kingdom. You can insert family members or friends names into the map, so other areas of the land incorporate family members’ names. The map also features whimsical characters from Kidlandia’s brand Kreechurs.

Shortly after launching in 2009, Kidlandia signed a deal with Pottery Barn to feature the maps in its catalog, its website, and its retail stores. Since that time, Kidlandia’s reach has grown to a number of other well-known retailers including Snapfish, FAO.com, DisneyStore.com, and NickShop. The startup will actually launch a mini-store at FAO Schwarz’s flagship store in New York City in the next few weeks.

And, Kidlandia has also started to create branded maps for kids toy and entertainment companies, and are currently producing products for Disney, Nickelodeon, Lego, and Marvel.

Kidlandia image

 

Website: kidlandia.com
Funding: $725k

Kidlandia is a new web destination where parents and kids can spend time online together creating a fantasyland populated by fanciful characters and the people and places that trace a family’s story. Learn More

Information provided by CrunchBase

 

 

Gorgeous animated short: The Thomas Beale Cipher by Andrew S Allen

From the site:

Professor White, cryptographer extraordinaire, is on the trail of the notoriously uncrackable Thomas Beale cipher—a century-old riddle hiding the location of a fortune in gold that has tormented its pursuers since inception. But White is not alone—shadowy forces are tight on his tail.

Learn more at thomasbealecipher.com.

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Watch/Play! this one: ARG The Black Helix as crowd-sourced authorship - 4D Fiction

Excerpt:

"...But what if the creators of an ARG, without the agenda of having it promote a brand or product for an existing IP, actually intend to package the resulting story as a product itself? In a sense, the final product would have a distributed authorship.

A new project called The Black Helix, which began today from The Design Zoo, intends to do just that. Their project, funded by the Northern Ireland Arts Council, asks players to “become part of an unwritten story”....

read the full post:

http://4dfiction.com/2011/02/the-black-helix-as-crowd-sourced-authorship/

Toronto is highlighted in John M. Eger's HuffPost piece on: Arts Integration in Canada: America's Wake Up Call

All the action integrating the arts into the K-12 curriculum is already well underway, in Canada.

Yes, in good old Toronto, the place Peter Ustinov once called "New York run by the Swiss", meaning that Toronto is a big city (like New York City), but that it's cleaner and more efficient (as if run by the Swiss). But of course, Canadians -- who clearly deserve our admiration -- actually run it.

There are of course a lot of other reasons to admire this city which is the cultural, entertainment and financial capital of Canada, and home to more than 2.7 million people, but now another accolade can be added: It has one of the most comprehensive art integration efforts reinventing education in the world.

The Royal Conservatory of Music based in Toronto, launched "Learning Through the Arts" (LTTA), almost 20 years ago, and they can claim the high ground when talking about preparing the workforce of the future.

According to Donna Takacs, Managing Director of LTTA, "programs are being implemented across Canada, in (a few places) the US and in about a dozen other countries... LTTA is one of the most extensive differentiated instruction programs in the world."

While the term art integration, often referred to as art infusion, is not well known or accepted, it is really about an interdisciplinary education using the tools of the arts.

As a unique consortium of arts organizations expressed it in a report called "Authentic Connections," www.menc.org/documents/onlinepublications/INTERart.pdf such interdisciplinary work in the arts enabled students to "identify and apply authentic connections, promote learning by providing students with opportunities between disciplines and/or to understand, solve problems and make meaningful connections within the arts across disciplines on essential concepts that transcend individual disciplines."

According to the Arts Education Partnership in Washington, D.C., the concept "has evolved over the past 15 years as school districts, state arts councils, and arts organizations have experimented with various models of implementation." Yet as the Partnership noted, "Some programs and schools have chosen not to use the term at all, although descriptions of the curriculum appear to belong in this domain. Much work in the arts professional journals that could be termed integrative is labeled interdisciplinary, perhaps because, as noted in a review of the practice, "the term evokes less controversy and challenge from within the arts professions."

This is sad. Because arts integration works and the LTTA program proves it. All LTTA's programs are underpinned by academic research, which show that LATT students score considerably higher in math tests than non-LATT students. Literacy tests also improved, student engagement increased and dropout rates declined.

LTTA has done a lot of work rethinking the curriculum, and now includes lesson plans for:

· History Through Role Playing
· Multiplication Through Songwriting
· Math/Geometry lesson plans Through Visual Arts
· Social Studies lesson plans Through Storytelling
· Social Studies lesson plans Through In-Role Writing
· Science lesson plans Through Dance
· History Through Documentary Photography and Video
· Structures and Mechanisms Through Building Scale Models
· Language Arts lesson plans Through Global Percussion

The message for America is clear.

Without arts integration, America, like most developed nations, will not succeed nor survive in the new global Innovative Economy, an economy that demands creativity and innovation in the workplace.

As demand for a new workforce to meet the challenges of a global knowledge economy rapidly increase few things could be as important in this period of our nation's history--or Canada's -- than art and art-infused education.


Follow John M. Eger on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeger62

little whoot! for Toronto!