Gaia Community: alina's Blog

To paradise.

http://alina.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 05:47:30 GMT

Here's a little help for those who are in Alabama and want to get to that treasure called Bankhead in the Sipsey Wilderness Area.

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Little seeds popping up everywhere...

http://alina.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 04:20:04 GMT

In Ontario, Matt and Karen Caruana left their dayjobs in Toronto, bought some acreage, and started their own tea and herb farm. Now their business has broadened to include body care products. Buy your values at Porcupine Creek Farm. Nursing mothers note- they have a great nursing tea.

Al Dunford is a barn visionary. Where others see junk, he sees the future in its most enviro-friendly forms. Learn more about Al, the Ontario Sustainable Energy Commission, and take a tour of the barn itself at BarnRevival.com.

Tags: barn revival, al dunford, porcupine creek farm, canada

"IGeneration"?

http://alina.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 03:57:35 GMT

Jason Logan, author of the new book which attempts to explain or verbalize the mental meanderings of my generation, chats with the staff of the Toronto Star about iGeneration. I'm not sure I've recovered from the last such book which attempted to categorize or describe the diversity and wealth of human behavior and habit we see in my demographic age group... Maybe next year. But let me know if you've read it and have reason to recommend it.

Tags: igeneration, interview, jason logan, monikers

Right on.

http://alina.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 03:42:53 GMT

It's a simple poster, but it certainly expresses part of the core mission for the Kentuck Arts Festival, coming this weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Tags: art, poster, communities, nonprofit, kentuck

Building and celebrating peace through the US Peace Registry.

http://alina.gaia.com — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 03:14:41 GMT

Tipping our hats to winners need not assume a militaristic ethos- one which rewards and encourages the winner of a physical battle instead of the winner of the peace, or the peacemakers. Let's celebrate those silent and often anonymous peacemakers who work for peace in our own neighborhoods and across the globe.

Michael D. Knox created the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation, Inc. to shine a light on the many individuals who actively celebrate peace and discourage violent resolutions to conflict by memorializing these groups and individuals. Before the monument, however, comes the registry.

The US Peace Registry recognizes role models for a broad range of peace and antiwar activities. Individuals who have written an antiwar letter to their representatives in Congress or to a newspaper are included, along with Americans who have devoted their lives to peace and opposing war. Organizations ranging from groups such as the Quakers, who have opposed war for centuries, to the hundreds of new peace-related websites will be recognized. If you would like to make sure someone is recognized, take a few seconds to submit their name online here. I've already added a few veterans I met at the protests in Washington, DC.

The Foundation is currently attempting to develop a strong grassroots organization and treasury before approaching the media. Please help to spread the word. And, hence, the love.

Note: Thanks to Sergei for sharing the photo and inspiring yours truly.

Tags: us peace memorial, peacemakers, memorial, nonprofit, antiwar, quakers, us peace registry

Kentuck Arts Festival.

http://alina.gaia.com — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:18:39 GMT

For fans of naive art, southern culture, southern culture on the rocks, and just plain fall festival fun, plan a road trip down to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on the weekend of October 21-22 for the Kentuck Arts Festival. You can learn more about the festival and its inspiring background from the media kit, purchase tickets online, or visit the stories of various artists who will be exhibiting their work at Kentuck this year.

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A song to make you smile..

http://alina.gaia.com — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:19:11 GMT

Looking for free mp3s for my son when I stumbled across Davy Jones (of the Monkees) singing "Your Personal Penguin" based on the children's book by Sandra Boynton.

Thought I'd share the smile and perhaps inspire your own little nutmegs to dance as mine did when he first heard it.

Tags: personal penguin, sandra boynton, music, mp3s

A few neat events to inspire and refresh.

http://alina.gaia.com — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 17:44:08 GMT

2006 Oct 1st - Sun at 11:00 AM
DANIEL GREENBERG, Ph.D. - Sustainability Education, by the director of Living Routes – How to Study Abroad in Ecovillages.
Potluck brunch & presentation by the creator of the most successful college-level educational program based in ecovillages around the world that are striving to model cooperative, sustainable lifestyles.
Location: Jean Harris residence - 1944 Meadow Road, Walnut Creek, CA
www.LivingRoutes.org

2006 Oct 6th - Fri at 6:00 PM
MICHAEL H. SHUMAN - Author of Going Local and The Small-Mart Revolution, How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition
Potluck dinner & presentation by one of our best economists, showing us how simple and sensible actions – by consumers, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers and organizers – can make a new era of localization possible.
Location: Arturo Maimoni residence - 134 Crestview Dr., Orinda, CA
www.livingeconomies.org

2006 Oct 12th - Thu at 6:00 PM
JARED ROSEN & DAVID RIPPE Authors of The Flip - Turn your world around.
Potluck dinner and presentation by the authors of The Flip, the book Patricia Aburdene called: “A blueprint for living a meaningful life in the 21st Century”.
Location: Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) - 101 San Antonio Rd. - Petaluma, CA
www.theflip.net

2006 Oct 17th - Tue at 6:00 PM
DECLAN KENNEDY - Designing eco-villages around the world
Potluck dinner, presentation and discussion with the founder of the European Permaculture Institute and one of the most enthusiastic promoters of sustainable living.
Location: At the Swatts - 1234 Cambridge Dr, Lafayette, CA - 925-323-8531
www.declan.de/Englische/index_en.htm

2006 Oct 28th - Sat at 8:00 AM
PanTerra Gallery - Meet the Artists Gathering, hosted by Maralyce Ferree & Chuck Feil
Reception and informal presentations by the artists represented by PanTerra
Location: PanTerra Gallery - 54 Brewery Avenue - Bisbee, Arizona 85603
www.panterragallery.com

2006 Nov 2nd - Thu at 6:00 PM
MARK S. ALBION, Ph.D. - Author of the New York Times Best Seller: Making a Life, Making a Living®, and True to Yourself: Leading a Values Based Business
Potluck dinner & presentation by the co-founder of seven organizations, including Net Impact, a global organization of 13,000 MBAs. An evening to help individuals build more meaningful careers and more sustainable organization.
Location: At the Dakins, 3456 Jackson St., San Francisco, CA - 415-346-0666
www.makingalife.com

2006 Nov 13th - Mon at 12:00 PM (noon)
DAVID KORTEN - Chair of the Positive Futures Network and author of: When Corporations Rule the World; The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism; and his newest: The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community
Bring your own brown bag lunch so you can nourish your body as well as your intellect.
Location: Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) - 101 San Antonio Rd. - Petaluma, CA
www.greatturning.org

2006 Nov 13th - Mon at 6:00 PM
DANIEL PINCHBECK, author of Breaking Open the Head, how shamanism can help the process of discovery, and produce a paradigm shift
Potluck dinner and presentation by one of our most adventurous journalists and explorer of the limits of our prevailing orthodoxies.
Location: Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) - 101 San Antonio Rd. - Petaluma, CA
www.breakingopenthehead.com

2006 Nov 16th - Thu at 6:00 PM
BHAVIA CAROL WAGNER - Founder of Friendship with Cambodia, author of: Soul Survivors - Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia and former director of Mt. Diablo Peace Center
Potluck dinner and slide presentation: Journey Through Cambodia
Location: At the Mt. Diablo Peace Center - 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek, CA
www.friendshipwithcambodia.org

Thanks to Sergio from Favors.org for sharing these events with me and the other subscribers to his newsletter. Send him an email at sergio@sergiolub.com if you would like to get involved with Favors.org.

Tags: favors.org, events, sustainable living, lectures, potlucks, discussion groups, albion

The future of the Internet according to the establishment.

http://alina.gaia.com — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:49:50 GMT

The future's so bright, I'm glad I wear shades. Om Malik blogs about the latest Pew report on the role of the Internet in society, and provides the general consensus I've heard from the techies so far.

As for what the Pew Report actually concludes, here is the synopsis:

A survey of internet leaders, activists, and analysts shows that a majority agree with predictions that by 2020:

A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a “flattening” world.
Humans will remain in charge of technology, even as more activity is automated and “smart agents” proliferate. However, a significant 42% of survey respondents were pessimistic about humans’ ability to control the technology in the future. This significant majority agreed that dangers and dependencies will grow beyond our ability to stay in charge of technology. This was one of the major surprises in the survey.
Virtual reality will be compelling enough to enhance worker productivity and also spawn new addiction problems.
Tech “refuseniks” will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change.
People will wittingly and unwittingly disclose more about themselves, gaining some benefits in the process even as they lose some privacy.
English will be a universal language of global communications, but other languages will not be displaced. Indeed, many felt other languages such as Mandarin, would grow in prominence.

At the same time, there was strong dispute about those futuristic scenarios among notable numbers of 742 respondents to survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University. Those who raised challenges believe that governments and corporations will not necessarily embrace policies that will allow the network to spread to under-served populations; that serious social inequalities will persist; and that “addiction” is an inappropriate notion to attach to people’s interest in virtual environments. The experts and analysts also split evenly on a central question of whether the world will be a better place in 2020 due to the greater transparency of people and institutions afforded by the internet: 46% agreed that the benefits of greater transparency of organizations and individuals would outweigh the privacy costs and 49% disagreed.

You can download your own copy of the Pew Report here.

Tags: pew report, future of the internet, tech, future, flattening

Tap into some memes.

http://alina.gaia.com — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:38:37 GMT

Techmeme is what I would call an "insider aggregator" for tech news and memes. Others have called it "a new kind of advertisement". And it certainly qualifies as a "new sponsorship model".

Gabe Rivera explains his invention as follows:

At this moment, the next big story in technology may reside on a blog you've never heard of or a news site you don't have time to scan. So I built a software agent to surface these links in real time and the result is Techmeme, the site you're visiting now. Coverage is driven by a mix of industry insiders, passionate independents, and established journalists. So Techmeme gets the story no matter where it appears, and often days before it hits major sites.

If you have questions or suggestions or links for Gabe and his crew, send them along in an email to dotell@memeorandum.com.

Tags: techmeme, memeorandum, aggregators, tech, gabe rivera

E-motions for corporations?

http://alina.gaia.com — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:30:53 GMT

Director Tom wants to help companies and businesses tell their stories- a habit I think would greatly benefit the white-collar class. Hats off to the Director for his creative construction.

Tags: spiral stories, director tom, business

There is an old Italian proverb...

http://alina.gaia.com — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:03:59 GMT

Since the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves.

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Work conversations.

http://alina.gaia.com — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:53:59 GMT

For the business-minded, Juanita Brown and David Isaacs share their research and theories in "Conversation As A Business Practice".

Tags: business, conversation, management

Entrepreneurs, web 2.0, and new media.

http://alina.gaia.com — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:09:34 GMT

If you would like to see some inspiring videos about young entrepreneurs across America, take a peek at the Entrepreneurship USA Week website, which hosts stories, profiles, resources, activities, and encouragement for young entrepreneurs in this country. Taking a more global approach, the FLOW project will be hosting a Peace Through Commerce event, building on their broader strategy of encouraging and assisting entrepreneurs everywhere to make the world a better place.

If you are looking for a defining theme in this blog post, I am about to disappoint you, since there is only your imagination to connect the topic of entrepreneurship to web 2.0 and new media. If, however, you imagination is 2.0, then you've probably already realized that the web and new media is one of the great frontiers of entrepreneurship right now.

Andrew P. McAfee's article, "Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration", offers insight on the new marketing and media frontier of emergent collaboration. How much more Hayekian and humble can we get? It's quite beautiful.
Bill Ives blogs regularly about portals and knowledge management at his appropriately-titled blog, portals and km. Much food for the thought-inclined there.
UnManagement shares resources and tools with organizations interested in engaging decentralized, network-based ( as opposed to hierarchical) management models.

Tags: unmanagement, enterprise 2.0, entrepreneurs, emergent collaboration, hayek, bill ives, portals

amazon lists worth perusing

http://alina.gaia.com — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 03:47:56 GMT

Amazon's listmania has become my own. A few of my own...

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In and around Alabama.

http://alina.gaia.com — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 17:04:06 GMT

Having just washed my hands of the moving truck, I scoured the local papers and web for events and activities in Alabama where my 20-month son might also have a little fun. My findings:

Ole Timey Craft and Bluegrass Festival in Estillfork, AL from September 15-16. Friday from 5-10 pm and Saturday from 9 in the morning to 6 pm at the Paint Rock Valley Lodge. For more info, contact Vivan Prince at 334-756-9676.
6th Annual Gospel Bluegrass Festival in Red Level, AL on September 16th. Starts at 5:30 pm in Crystal Springs Park. Free admission. Bring lawn chairs. Contact 334-469-5677 for details.
8th Annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival on September 22-24 in downtown Birmingham.
Our Town will be playing at the Gallaway Theatre in Tuscaloosa from Sept. 25 through October 1.
The Pillowman will be playing at the Gallaway Theatre from October 10-15. A dark yet comedic look at the politics of murder in a totalitarian state.
No matter the season, everyone should spend at least one weekend or week hiking around Bankhead and enjoying the Bankhead Lake. I'll post about my favorite Alabama hiking escapades in the near future...

More events, including gourd festivals, pecan festivals, syrup-sopping festivals, and other special events peculiar to the state of Alabama can be discovered here.

Tags: alabama, events, film festival, bluegrass, gospel

the better world network

http://alina.gaia.com — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:34:32 GMT

Speaking of networks, they wouldn't matter so much to me if they didn't often act as a social market for pushing the most positive ideas to the forefront. Unlike the political process, which rewards those who game the system most effectively (think the lobbyist swarm), networks reward more than one person (i.e. the pie is not zero-sum) while allowing a large number of people (not just a political elite, namely those wishing to participate in the political system) to present, build upon, and develop their ideas or products.

Case in point: The Better World Network, sponsored by the Uplift Academy, shares videos and podcasts of their workshops, as well as interviews with luminaries like John Francis, author of Planetwalker. Enjoy Tom Munnecke's video interview with John Francis, or take the time to savor a little ditty "The Output Outcome Downstream Impact Blues" written and performed by Terry Smutylo. Let the networks flourish.

Tags: uplift academy, better world network, john francis, smutylo, songs, networks, podcast

the value of social networks in hiring

http://alina.gaia.com — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:19:19 GMT

Networks are replacing resumes on the conventional career path, which increasingly resembles a "career exploration". In my former job, I had the opportunity to witness this tension between the value of knowledge captured by resumes and the knowledge capture by social networks. Usually, the resumes win with senior managers, business school graduates, and others who have a vested interest in hiring someone who can speak manage-ease. On the other hand, the idea diffusers tend to brush through the resume and then devote hours to google searches-- their interest is in how to hire an individual with the skills required for innovation.

Happily, web-based professional networking services like LinkedIn.com manage to combine resume services with information about a person's social capital. I love LinkediN and look forward to seeing how it evolves as the new group accounts take off. Word from sources in California that LinkedIn will not be allowing photo or personal information uploads at any point in the future as part of their strategy to stay true to the professional audience. Early adopters, if you haven't already joined LinkedIn, you might have to settle for being part of the early majority on this one...

More butterflies to chase on this topic:

MeshForum, connecting networks
Apophenia's current research on social networking sites and experts
The gentlemen at the Virtual Handshake blog take another look at Granovetter's weak ties
"What Can Social Networking Do For Your Organization?" / Brian Satterfield offers tips and tricks for your nonprofit.
The Start-Up Exchange
The Networking Pipeline Newsletter

Tags: networking, linkedin, early adopters, early majority, hiring, resumes, social capital, meshforum, apophenia, start-up, granovetter

where you might find me

http://alina.gaia.com — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 21:58:42 GMT

I confess to being a junkie of this world wide web that keeps my assumptions from growing too comfortable or hardened. You can find me blogging about politics, life, literature, and butterflies sometimes at totalitarianism today.

MySpace profile
Friendster profile
Okrut profile
LinkedIn profile
Flickr photos

Tags: linkedin, friendster, myspace, blogs