Watch: Us Now

27 05 2009

I’m two days into my new internship at the Center for American Progress and I’m excited to be working here at this time – i.e. at the beginning of the Obama administration and helping to build CAP’s social network engagement. Working full time from 9-6 means a “real world” kind of summer. As for my previous Debbie Downer post, I’m okay now and adjusting much better. I feel oriented in DC and have begun to make some friends.

I’ve also been trying to get a start on my rationale/colloquium topic for graduation (trust me, it’s still in its convoluted/overbroad stage). Trying to find some inspiration, I watched this documentary that was recently launched online (May 12) by London-based Banyak Films – it’s titled Us Now. The documentary helped me formulate some key ideas on the topic of “mass collaboration, government, and the internet.” It takes a look at collaborative websites such as CouchSurfing.org, Mumsnet.com, and MyFootballClub.co.uk.  The case study of MyFootballClub.co.uk is particularly intriguing – the club is the first web community to own a football (read: U.S. soccer) team, Ebbsfleet United, while also deciding how the team plays by vote (e.g. player positions, budget, etc.); not to mention Ebbsfleet United went on to win the FA trophy at Wembley in 2008.

Us Now examines these sites’ successes as precursors to new forms of participatory government. The video below is only a teaser clip of some especially insightful parts of the documentary.

You can watch the hour-long documentary online in its entirety HERE.


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Categories : NY in DC, social media

(Rough) Beginnings of a DC Summer

19 05 2009

Admittedly I am writing this blog post so I can feel like I’m talking to someone (as opposed to no one). I made the move to DC on Sunday.  After undergoing brief paralysis from sudden change, I spent the day unpacking and the night roaming DC.  I managed to pick up a late dinner at the only open place – none other than Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli (I ordered a Nathan’s hot dog and Manhattan clam chowder, haha).  On Monday I found my way to Trader Joe’s and somehow managed to lug back two 20 lb bags of food. I spent today (Tuesday) with my aunt, uncle, and little cousin – they live nearby in Virginia so it was easy to reach them by Metro. We went to Target, got ice cream, and food. They dropped me off at my apartment around 8 and I’ve since been wasting away my night (as I’m now accustomed to doing) by watching TV shows online.

The reason this post reads like a diary entry is because that’s basically what it is. I am in DC on my own and for the first time, I have to be completely independent and self-sufficient. This situation is not my forte. My Twitter bio says I “thrive when with loved ones” for a reason (okay, sorry, that was a bad example).  

To be honest, I’m struggling with how to spend my free time, how to be productive, and how not to feel lonely.  At times like these I normally call my mom, but she’s in Thailand for the next three weeks and not always available. I don’t want to cling to my aunt/uncle/cousin too much because I want to make it through this next week as an adult (I mean, by myself). Mallika (my roommate) and Max move to DC at the end of next week and I start work next Tuesday after Memorial Day. I know my new move isn’t a big deal but regardless, I get upset every time I confront the prospect of a full day/week with no set plans. I don’t know what to do with myself. At this point, I’m going to suck it up, pretend I didn’t just emo-word-vomit a blog post, take a shower, and go to sleep.


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Categories : Everyday/Life, NY in DC

InSTEDD Interview Recap

14 05 2009

Sorry for not updating in a while. Last week I was busy finishing up the semester and moving back to NJ, and now I’m preparing to move to DC this weekend. With my downtime at home, I’ve been finalizing this ICT for Disaster Response project and writing up my DigiActive post on InSTEDD’s Mekong Collaboration Program. Which reminds me, I have yet to blog about my experience with interviewing InSTEDD’s team members.

So close to submitting the post for review!

So close to submitting the post for review!

Two Sundays ago, I Skype-chatted with Ed Jezierski (VP of Engineering) and Shannon Oliver (Director of Communication, Mekong Region) for about an hour each. Ed had recently flown to Seattle from InSTEDD’s center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, whereas Shannon was still stationed in the region. I spoke with Ed first, whose technological expertise provided a detailed explanation of how InSTEDD uses its collaboration tools (GeoChat, Mesh4X, Evolve). The bandwidth in Cambodia wasn’t cooperating at first, so Shannon and I had to wait a few hours before reconnecting (Ed said the slow connection presents an everyday problem to communication between team members). When we were finally able to connect, Shannon presented a thorough overview of InSTEDD’s background, mission, and projects in the Mekong region; he helped me understand the recent successes of the organization and nicely complemented what I had learned from Ed. Both men were very enthusiastic about answering my questions and I felt like I came away with a lot of information (read: I recorded over two hours of conversation). They thanked me for the interview and encouraged me to Skype them if I had further questions.

I’ve spent the past couple days listening to the two interviews and jotting down important features to discuss. I just finished the draft of my DigiActive post an hour or so ago. Though it seemed pretty daunting to synthesize all the interview information into a blog post, I somehow managed to do so (not gonna lie, the post is rather long). Given all of the success InSTEDD has had with its innovative technology, I’m glad I have the opportunity to give their work more much-deserved attention (no pressure, right?). I’ll link to my post once it’s up on DigiActive’s site :)

UPDATE: The post is up, you can read it here.


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Categories : ICT for Disaster Response

Swine Flu and Twitter

2 05 2009

Since it’s finals week, I’m going to keep this post short and to the point. Conveniently enough, that’s exactly what Twitter is made for.  

  • The CDC’s emergency Twitter feed (@CDCemergency) JUST announced that they have isolated the H1N1 virus that causes swine flu – this is great news because it means we should have a vaccine ready by next winter, when flu season starts up again and we’re more at risk of a pandemic (it’s warming up now so it’s harder for flu viruses to spread).
Good news.

Good news.

  • Another great Twitter account to follow is @Veratect – professionals in the field have been following it for a steady stream of the latest reported cases of swine flu around the world.

Of course, in the case of emergencies and the Internet (and Twitter, especially), there’s always the problem of separating valid information from rampant speculation and plain misinformation. My response to the argument that Twitter only serves as a medium for noise: the fact that Twitter functions as a community where people can @reply others and link to trusted news sources allows for a self-policing of information.  If someone says something false or misleading, there’s a strong chance that another Twitter user will address this person and provide accurate information.  Twitter by itself is never the best source for news – it’s the best source for linking to other sources and for facilitating conversation.

Hm, did I say this was going to be a short post?  This InSTEDD resource, Trackernews.net,  is also amazing – aggregates lots of different articles/sites for swine flu information


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Categories : ICT for Disaster Response