Socialtext offering laid-off networks for free - Susan Mernit's Blog

Socialtext News - Susan Mernit's Blog: “As we all know, alumni networks frm opast companies ate great ways to get jobs, Ross Mayfield's Socialtext is going to be right there helping those folks out.

Ross writes: "Today, Socialtext is meeting this latent need with a free Corporate Social Network offer for the 2009 Recession. Any former employee and HR director of a company that reduced its workforce by 5% or more in the last year can create a private Corporate Social Network for free by applying here. Please note that this offer does not include free ”

-- Nice find Susan!!! I just wonder, considering the digital divide, how many companies will actually make the leap.

Renetto v. YouTube - Renetto's In YouTube's House

YouTube star Renetto's been at odds with the YouTube execs of late, so I thought I'd chime in with my take on his problem. Basically, he wants to be able to say what he wants when he wants. I'm explaining that YouTube and digital media is too monetized with corporate sponsors who are sensitive to their image, so much so they are fearful of comments left that could lead to embarrassment. Renetto can play their game, what would it harm?

1100 Broadway Downtown Oakland Mural Finished: Rocky Rische-Baird

 

After several months of work, the mural at 1100 Broadway in downtown Oakland is finished. 

The work of Oakland artist Rocky Rische-Baird, it is a step back in time as much as it is a celebration of downtown Oakland and a landmark for 1100 Broadway itself. I talked to Rocky Rische-Baird about his new classic work.

Republicans in Congress have a lower approval rating than President Bush

Republicans tanking ratings - Real Clear Politics: “Republicans in Congress have a lower approval rating than President Bush, according to the latest Gallup survey (Dec. 12-14, 1008 A).

Just 25% of U.S. adults approve of the job Republicans are doing in Congress, 4 points lower than Bush's 29%. It is the lowest mark for either party since Gallup began polling the approval ratings of Congressional parties in 1999.

Congressional Democrats received a 37% approval rating -- still low, but a 7-point increase from their all-time low at the end of last year.”

"Liza The Wine Chic" Liza Zimmerman On SF "View From The Bay" 1/9/2009

Liza Zimmerman, my friend who's based in San Francisco and locally 
known as "Liza The WIne Chic" just sent this email:

Dear All,

Please join me for my Bay Area TV debut! I was on Captain Kangaroo many years ago, but this will be more fun. The show tapes live on Friday January 9th from 3pm to 4pm, so members of the audience will need to be there by between 2:15 and 2:30pm. Tickets are free and it's going to be fun! Here are the RSVP directions:

Please direct people to our website www.viewfromthebay.com and click on "be in our audience" and fill out a ticket request form. In the request form they would request the date that you will be on the show and under comments they can comment that they are a friend or family member of "Liza who will be on the show that day" or something along those lines. Or they can also call me at 415-954-7733 to request tickets. After requesting tickets, information and tickets will be emailed to your guest.

Thanks and I hope to see you there,

-- 

Code Pink activists march in Berkeley to support Iraq shoe-throwing - Inside Bay Area

Iraq shoe-throwing supporters unite Worldwide - Inside Bay Area: “Anti-war activists from the group Code Pink marched at a Marine recruiting station in Berkeley this morning to show solidarity with an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush on Sunday.
Members of the group and others marched around the recruiting station holding shoes in the air to show support for Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who hurled two shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad.
In many Arab countries, showing the sole of one's shoes, much less throwing shoes at another person, is considered a sign of extreme disrespect.”

-- I wonder if this will become a new cultural movement beyond Iraq?

Larry Lessig's Not Shifting On Net Neutrality, But Jaunt To Harvard Is Bothersome

Back when I had more time on my hands I was a daily consumer of the blog of law professor Larry Lessig. Lessig's known for his path-breaking takes, ideas, and legal research and expert testimony on something called "net neutrality" and the development of the Creative Commons. But since he was at Stanford, I always saw him as a part of the San Francisco Bay Area's unique culture.

See, unlike other parts of America, "town" and "gown" in the Bay Area mix well. There are so many smart, almost smart, and people who think they're smart, and some mix of the three (those who venture into areas not of their expertise), that it keeps the mind active and constantly challenged. There's no other place in America like this region. It's for that reason I can't imagine why Larry would take off for Harvard.

Now, in his blog he mentions a scholarly shift from "culture" to what I would simply call "power" or what elected officials and institutions do that's "subverted" by money. At a time when our very way of life is still being rocked by technological change and specifically the Internet, I can't at all see the value of such a shift. Especially by someone in Lessig who's helped shape how we protect creatives in a time when the law seems to want to stifle us.

I've always associated Harvard with money, not intellect. Berkeley, and to a bit of a lesser degree, Stanford, I associate with intellect. When I read Larry's blog, my first thought was "Harvard bought him off." So it's interesting that Professor Lessig would leave for the moneyed institution to study about, well, how money's corrupting areas of public trust.

In any case, I wish him well, but I also wish he'd reconsider his decision.