I was thrilled to meet a young man by the name of Zack Rosen at SXSW this year, and more thrilled
when he told me that his reading of Smart Mobs was a key inspiration
behind his effort to create the infrastructure for Deanspace. He's been working on a
toolkit for community organizing of the kind that drove the Dean
campaign. Based on Drupal, the
civic organizing toolkit was designed to be easy to use and cost less
than $50/month. It's called CivicSpace. Check it out. It
should be available soon.
CivicSpace is being built with the needs of
distributed organizations in mind. It will give you and the supporters
within your community a solid framework for organizing and engaging
those around you in action. But it also will allow you to plug your
community into a network of other communities where you can share your
ideas, knowledge, relationships, and organizational information. Here
are some things it will enable you to do:
Create a customizable community driven website with Blogs, Photo
Galleries, User Profiles, Friend / Buddy Tracking, Polls, and File
Storage more…
An Interview with Zack Urlocker, MySQL05/03/2004 06:13 PM OrangeCrate is pleased to present an interview with Zack Urlocker,
Vice President, Marketing for MySQL AB:
Zack Urlocker: They are separate technologies. MaxDB is a great
database for SAP R/3 applications. There are a couple of thousand
companies running it today. It has its own replication fail over. The
MySQL Cluster technology works at the storage engine level for our
flagship MySQL database server. But MaxDB and MySQL are really two
different code bases and we won't try to merge t
Interview - Zack Urlocker of MySQL
Interview - Zack Urlocker of MySQL12/17/2004 06:35 PM MySQL is the database solution of choice for countless sites around
the world. How did MySQL get so big? Who's behind it? How is the
product developed? And what's in store for future releases? Zack
Urlocker, Vice President for Marketing at MySQL, reveals all in this
detailed interview...
Zack Rosen: My Advice for the News & Record
Zack Rosen: My Advice for the News & Record12/28/2004 01:21 PM "Look to Kos. He has a real community. 10,000+ active particpants
regularly participate in his space. They converse, peer-moderate,
scheme, and organize day in and day out on his site. They come up with
incredible ideas, rally their fellow 'kossacks' around them, and
galvanize them into action..."
Zack Rusin to Finish Integrating Mozilla Firefox with KDE
Virgin President Zack Zalon on Digital Music04/14/2005 02:07 AM INTERVIEW As record labels warm up to the idea of legitimate
online music stores, questions about what pricing models are most
appropriate for customers and what constitutes fair use remain
unanswered. BetaNews took the opportunity to sit down with Virgin
Digital president Zack Zalon to discuss these issues and more.
Poll: Bush Leads Kerry; Kerry Backed on Jobs (Reuters)
Poll: Bush Leads Kerry; Kerry Backed on Jobs (Reuters)09/23/2004 12:52 PM Reuters - President Bush has a small lead over
Sen. John Kerry six weeks before the presidential election, but
voters favor the Democratic candidate on jobs and unemployment,
a new poll showed on Thursday.
Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / john kerry / Healey calls for Kerry to resign
People in Cambridge and Berkeley should be happier for the next
four years than if Kerry had won because whenever anything bad happens
they can blame George W. Contrast with Nice Guy Jimmy Carter's
administration. Things were going horribly for
Americans with 18% inflation, high
unemployment, our embassy staff taken hostage by Iranians,
and the Soviets crushing our Muslim allies in Afghanistan.
Amidst all of this depressing news there was seemingly no one to blame
and therefore people could only get depressed. I've met quite a
few Cantabrigians who seem to have enjoyed their anger at W. for the
last four years. For most people it would appear that anger
is preferable to despair.
"*** KERRY FORGERY CONNECTION: At The Behest Of CBS, An Adviser To John Kerry, Joe Lockhart, Said He Talked To Bill Burkett At The Suggestion Of CBS Producer Mary Mapes ***"
Fired for backing Kerry, hired by Kerry himself!09/14/2004 08:28 PM Perhaps that's the latest addition to wronged Alabama worker Lynne
Gobbell's bumper sticker collection? The former employee of the
company Enviromate, who, as War Room noted yesterday, was fired
by her Bush-loving boss Phil Geddes for refusing to remove a
pro-Kerry bumper sticker from her car, has been offered a new gig by
none other than John Kerry himself.
"President Bush Said On Thursday That He Did Not Believe Senator John Kerry Lied About His War Record, But He Declined To Condemn The Television Commercial Paid For By A Veterans Group Alleging That Mr. Kerry Came By His War Medals Dishonestly (Free New..."
"But the bond between veterans has to be tempered in light of the individual's record. Just as Mr. Kerry threw away medals only to claim them back again, Sen. Kerry voted to take action against Iraq, but claims to take that vote back by voting against..."
Although I still have two and a half months to wait until I get to
cast my vote, today I took the AOL
Presidential Match quiz thingy to see where Kerry lies in line
with my beliefs. So far, I haven't been impressed by him, but I know
little about him. On the surface (from a scant few minutes of campaign
stops I caught on CSPAN a couple weeks ago), I like Edwards more. He
sounds like Bill Clinton and seems like a guy with common sense views
I can't find fault with, and Kerry comes off as just another
plain-vanilla politician to me.
Much to my surprise though, after clicking off my answers, Kerry
ended up 100% inline with my beliefs. Among democrats, Edwards came in
last, behind Sharpton, Kucinich, and Dean, at 85% with Bush being only
22% inline with my views after Edwards.
I'll probably still vote for Edwards vote for Kucinich (if
the rumors of Edwards quitting are true) come primary time, regardless
of who has the vote sewn up because I trust my gut reactions. I
remember using this presidental thing in 2000 and seeing that McCain
was farther from my beliefs than Bush, even though I love the guy.
Heck, if McCain were running this year instead of Bush I'd probably
vote for him and enjoy it, even though he's quite a bit more
conservative on some views than I am.
Then again, before the primaries started, I thought Clark was a
lock so what do I know.
Does Kerry Get It?
Does Kerry Get It?07/29/2004 08:07 AM Is convention emotion
news? Not really. I am looking for signs that Kerry
"gets it" about global guerrillas. I am
not sure his team does. Who's running Kerry's defense
policy?Who is in Kerry's defense policy "brain trust?"
Kerry vs. Kerry
Kerry vs. Kerry09/08/2004 11:05 AM John Kerry's devastating criticism of John Kerry? .. William Kristol
.. shifting sands .. I agree ..
[LINK]
weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/587jxo
cg.asp track this
site | 7 links
Jerry for Kerry07/29/2004 01:37 PM Ohio delegate and TV cult sensation Jerry Springer talks about Kerry's
chances in the crucial Midwestern swing state, his own aspirations for
office -- and what he would do with Bush on his show.
Kerry prospect
Kerry prospect07/29/2004 10:05 AM Beyond convincing us that he's a sincere, good, strong, caring, brave
person whom we actually like — which is purely a technical
problem that his Media Engineers undoubtedly have prototyped
successfully — I want Kerry tonight to put some substance into
the phrases we've had drummed into us for three days. For example, I
want him to list ten things that his administration will do to make us
safer. And after each one, I want him to leave four seconds of silence
so we can think to ourselves, "Holy cow! You mean we're not doing that
already? What's wrong...
Wishing Kerry well09/01/2004 11:50 AM Is the British government secretly hoping for a Democratic victory in
November?
Kerry On Iraq
Kerry On Iraq08/29/2004 12:08 AM this 12 minute assembly .. Then watch this video .. very convincing
case .. enough Kerry already .. manipulative editing .. RNC web-video
.. Kerry on Iraq
Kerry on Lehman09/23/2004 05:23 PM So as I reported earlier,
two people whose integrity I would not question told me that Bruce Lehman had told
them that he, Lehman, was now advising the Kerry Campaign on IP
policy. Now two people, whose integrity I would not question and who
have direct connections to the campaign, tell me that is not correct.
Let's hope.
Kerry on non-discrimination02/10/2004 02:53 AM So Ted Hearn has a piece suggesting Kerry would be a big plus for big cable. I'm
skeptical. Indeed, I'm positively encouraged by two facts friends have
helped me see: (1) despite the pressure of his best buddy, Senator
Hollings, Kerry did not support the Fritz chip, and (2) this
letter to the FCC pushing the FCC to insist upon non-discrmination in
the context of the AOL merger, long long before non-discrimination was
the way others were framing the question.
The Kerry Wars
The Kerry Wars08/21/2004 10:39 AM Weekly Standard cover story .. "The Kerry
wars."
weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/481yyf
vo.asp track this
site | 2 links
the fear about Kerry04/09/2004 04:06 PM I've received literally 30 requests from people I know to contribute
to the Kerry campaign. That must mean something good about the
campaign's organization. But I remain skeptical about whether the
Senator can muster the message.
Obvious disclaimer: I know nothing about how elections are won, and
I'm sure Kerry's got the very best in the world helping him build the
strategy that defeats amazingly powerful politics on the other side.
But as I watch Kerry (as opposed, e.g., to MoveOn) define the issues in this
campaign, he still feels inside-the-beltway-tone-deaf. One by one we
get "new initiatives," Christmas tree lists of things Kerry will do
when president, much like Clinton would rattle off lists of gifts in
his State of the Union Addresses (for hours and hours and hours). Each
new initiative gets a flurry of attention, some praise, some
criticism, and then disappears. The result is at best a slight
good-idea victory, but more likely a draw. But people, the
professional pols say, care about the economy, or their jobs, or
taxes, or education. So a campaign must stick to addressing those
issues.
Maybe. And of course, Clinton won largely because he kept on message
(It's the economy, stupid.)
But to this know-nothing writer, this election seems different. The
Clinton/Gore days felt very different. It was a time when Nader could
say that there "was no difference" between Bush and Gore -- and of
course, with respect to many issues, there was no real difference
apparent.
Yet I can't believe anyone is going to get excited about this election
by being given a list of policy initiatives. I have views about
policies, but I don't keep a checklist to decide who I'm going to vote
for. Instead, the passion and anger that bubbled Dean to the top was
focused on something much more fundamental: a basic corruption of
government. Not corruption in the banana republic sense -- money to
politicians. But a corruption of basic integrity. Deception about the
war. Obstruction of access to information about influence (e.g.,
Cheney and the oil companies). Coddling to corporate criminals. (Yea,
I know, you'll whine about that, but it sounds so good). And
persistent Nixonian attacks on critics.
This is the basic, apple-pie message that I would bet would win. That
we have gone back on basic American values -- or those values we
believe we believe. "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" was not
meant to distinguish "Truth and Justice" from the "American Way." And
I would think a constant beat reasking the same question -- Who have
we become? -- would slowly erode any passion for reelecting this
President.
Or alternatively, focus on kids. Look at the first three winning
entries from the Bush-in-30-seconds ad campaign.
These "conservative" policies will have one single consequence: to
burden our children. With debt -- as Bush races us to the largest
deficits ever. With insecurity -- as another generation of fanatics
focuses on just one idea: kill Americans. With corruption of our basic
values -- as the two americas reality becomes clearer and clearer.
Something like this would have been Dean's message, though he was
weakened for other reasons. It would have been close to the clear
message Edwards had refined. But it's not yet been the message that
has come across from this candidate.
Please stop trying to win the upcoming election and focus on making
Bush lose instead.
Stop trying to tell me what I want to hear. Saying what you
believe in
will make it much easier to appear consistent. My primary
reason for voting
for you is Bush. IMHO, no one could possibly screw up this
nation worse than
Bush did regardless of political beliefs.
I want Bush out and someone else in. That means you but you
are not making it
easy. If there is anything I hate more than an idiot with
power to affect my
life, it is a two faced snake. Don't screw up by trying to
say what your political
consultants think I want to hear this week. Go watch the
movie High Noon and
do what Gary Cooper did in the movie. That's exactly what I
want, a lone
stoic man with a mission from us all.
Sincerely,
Don Park
How Kerry wins
How Kerry wins04/13/2004 08:48 AM John Kerry's former media advisor recalls how the Democrat has already
faced every smear the Bush campaign will try against him -- and has
prevailed.
