In response to New York City’s ‘If you see something, say something‘ campaign for mass hysteria, Alyssa Wright has made hero reports, a site where you can say something about all the good deeds that are passing unseen. Right now it only works inside the Medialab building, but she hopes to expand it to Boston, New York and all terrorized lands.
dopplr is a social network for keeping track of you and your friends’ trips – and making sure you see each other when you get a chance. saul griffith talks about making sure you combine business and pleasure on trips to reduce your carbon footprint – so sign up and make your travels known!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Clay Ward, founder of thoughtandmemory.org, an on-line resource for tracking supply chains and developing user-generated ratings of companies based on social and environmental performance. The site is built off a hefty back-end where anyone can contribute reviews of companies big and small, and the reviews get ranked by visitors to develop aggregate scores for each subsidiary and major corporation. ThoughtandMemory hopes to develop software so that shoppers can snap a digital picture of a product with their cell phone and receive a customized rating based on individual criteria. They are in the midst of grass-roots development and eager to involve as many readers and contributors to expand their database. The current campaign seeks to evaluate chocolate manufacturers, so if you can help in any way please contribute.
Inspired by the OLPC’s ‘Give one, Get one‘ campaign and Product (RED), brandnext‘s THE STORE FOR TOMORROW is an exploration of how consumerism could be transformed into a meaningful activity. The store’s only currency is time, which can be exchanged for products ranging from gadgets to travel or an ISBN number. Some examples of trades are below:
The brilliant Mike Lee invented a viewfinder for the OLPC‘s built-in digital camera (a perfect example of futurecraft) and has already made rapid prototypes – check them out below:
Saul Griffith has made available his notes and slides for a powerpoint entitled ‘The Game Plan‘ detailing the necessary steps to be taken as individuals and society to reverse climate change. He begins with a logical framework (including an introduction to energy measurement) to talk about climate change based on the temperature increase we are willing to accept, then he proposes personal steps that can be taken. This part was the most provocative for me: he details his own personal footprint and the changes he is implementing to live a ‘2,000 Watt’ life. He thens continues with an evaluation of solutions, detailing the relative potential impact of various energy strategies. I recommend reading it, and if you’re in a position to, giving the talk as well.
in 2005 filmmaker bilge sehir presented a hoax thought experiment called ‘vases sonores‘ (sonorous vases) which hypothesized that the sounds occurring during the etching of ancient pottery were recorded by the ceramic itself as it spun on the wheel, and they could be played back to hear – albeit faintly – the voices of the ancient potters. the mockumentary may have been ingenuous, but the idea that a material can record ambient phenomena is well-established, from ice cores and tree rings to carbon dating and photographic film. maybe one day it will be possible not only to hear what was said around a material being formed, but to know where it was made and by whom.
It’s a rainy first day of Spring here in Boston, a good time to watch Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior’s video on working conditions in the Hung Hing factory in Shenzhen.