Our Strength is Our Common Purpose

In need of a little inspiration?

2007-07-23T13:35:00.001-07:00

I meant to send this sooner, but if you are in need of a little inspiration there are two sites you must put in your daily viewing or listening bookmarks:

TED Talks
Renown scientist, musicians, creative types discuss their ideas and thoughts. Many are on video and range from 5 - 20 minutes long.

Hay House Radio
Radio for the Soul. Listen and be uplifted and inspired whether it's angel therapy, the Shamanic hotline, or inspiration from the likes of Dr. Wayne Dyer. Episodes available as iTune downloads or listen live.

Enjoy.

Only 5 more months until Christmas

2007-07-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a really quiet group in terms of posting I see. Let me catch you guys up on what I've been up to and hopefully it will spark some discussions.

At work, we really kicked the podcasting into high gear. If interested you can check them out at podcasts.northharriscollege.com (sorry if it is shameless self-promotion, but if I don't .. who will right?).

I've also been experimenting with mobile blogging (blogging via mobile device, in my case a cell phone) and it is hit or miss. On my blog, you can see a service that I use called Mojungle that allows you to embed a snippet of code into your website or blog and then upload images to it. Those images will appear in a window and users can click through all the pictures. Several other companies offer free services similar to this, but strangely the mobile blogging tool for/by Blogger doesn't work.

Go figure.

Anyhow, hope everyone is having a great summer and don't forget... there are only 5 more months until Christmas.

The Internet Society (ISOC)

2006-12-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

The Internet SOCiety (ISOC) is a professional membership society with more than 100 organization and over 20,000 individual members in over 180 countries. It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organization home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).

See The Internet Society (ISOC) and The Internet Society and Developing Countries for more insights into how thiscollaboration works.

blogger beta

2006-12-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

has anyone been using the new beta version of blogger? i ask because i tried to move my personal blog over to it, but it is not allowing me to do so. wonder if it is because i am also an editor on this blog?

digg.com ... you dig!

2006-12-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

okay, so i am jumping on the bandwagon a little late here, but this is one really cool site. first off it allows you to participate in what you think are relevant, newsworthy media stories by 'digging' them. upon entering the site, you are presented with a list of stories that are rising up through the ranks ... and you 'digg' the ones you read and like. this moves them up the list according to how many people digg (vote for) them ... Note: others can undigg them, which moves them down the list. it's all very egalitarian. you don't like the ones that have been digged, or think there are others that should be there? well, there is a simple tool that allows you to add news stories. there are even tools that allow you to digg stories directly from within firefox and also add them to your blog entries. talk about automation!

there is one other feature that i really like about the site and is featured on the sidebar. it is called 'spy: watch in real-time' and when you click on it, you get a moving list of digged (dugged?) articles moving up and down in real time. it is showing you what stories are rising and falling in popularity. neat!

you gotta check it out. digg.com

Al-Qaeda threatens to blow up the White House

2006-11-12T02:55:00.000-08:00

Al-Qaeda's Iraq chief threatened in an audio message posted on the Internet that the terror network will blow up the White House: "We swear we will not rest from our jihad... before blowing up the filthiest house, dubbed the White House."

**
i wonder if they have the skills to actually carry this out? if so, we need to really get involved to make sure it doesn't happen.

read more | digg story

a word on podcasting

2006-01-21T05:29:00.000-08:00

i really like this move to podcasting (and not just because apple and apple hardware has had such an impact on its growth as a medium) but because i can listen to hundreds of stations, hundreds of shows, and now even watch some things, via the magic of podcasting.

if you are not familiar with it, it is basically shows (audio mostly, but increasingly video) that you can download into iTunes software (mac or pc). these shows --also known as podcasts-- are largely free, and you simply subscribe to the feed --a link that is updated by the producers that lets you know when a new show is available. when a new show is available, it is automatically downloaded to your computer and you listen to it ... in your leisure. you can even transfer the podcast to your ipod.

i especially like it on days like today (cloudy, wet, cold ... yes, houston is cold right now or soon will be since i have not actually been outside yet) when i have other indoor activities, like cleaning and straightening to do, and would rather LISTEN than WATCH (a television). it also gives me a range of shows to listen to from old favorites from DC and other cities on NPR, ed shultz, music, and TONS of computer shows (mostly mac of course).

but there are shows on just about every imaginably topic and from thousands of small and large broadcasters that podcast and i am known to step out and listen to offbeat and little known podcasts well.

i think discovery of new (and largely commercial free) podcasts is the greatest appeal. real people contributing real ideas (however large or small) to the masses.

updated pics of me

2006-01-01T01:51:00.000-08:00

Peter's Favorite TV Show

2005-12-31T20:59:00.000-08:00

is also my daily obsession-- though I'm as likely to catch it online as through the tv. In my city, Democracy Now airs only by the grace of Public Access Television. I had a fascinating discussion with the former director of the station recently & am curious to know how other communities handle public access airwaves. The small resources available for Community Television pale in comparison to the City Government Cable Channel or School District Cable Channel, but our ctc-net center has made good use of the access in the past -- creating media content with teens & young children working cooperatively on projects. However, our local public access channel cannot escape the perception that it is the niche for "freaks"-- wonderfully diverse programming by the local motorcycle gang, a country-western singer, local orchestras, churches, a vegan who weekly grills meat with no commentary for one hour (just one long steady, gross shot), local rappers, public domain movies, interviews with community members. What does your local community access channel feel like?

December 1st: Checking In!

2005-12-01T17:58:00.000-08:00

Greetings All ~ Well today is the 1st day of December and a busy day for a lot of people. Please forgive me for not checking in before. I am usually busy on one project or another with lots of work to do both online, offline and inline.
Some time ago Brother Phil S. first invited me onto this Blog after I posted something on the DDN List. I 'met' Brother Phil in the virtual reality of cyberspace via the DDN Group. One link leads to another and it took awhile for me to get the hang of this program. I also dig the Picasa Picture Program.

By way of introduction, my name is Peter S. Lopez {aka Peta de Aztlan} and I am 54-Earth years of Mexican-American-Native ancestry who lives in Sacramento, California. I am the Moderator for the Humane Rights Agenda Yahoo Group, created a related companion Blog and the other day started up a new DDN Community.

Links~ Yahoo Email~ sacranative@yahoo.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Humane-Rights-Agenda/ http://humane-rights-agenda.blogspot.com/ http://www.digitaldivide.net/community/Humane-Rights-Agenda

These times are interesting times, times of global troubles and times of global promises. Usually when I am online I post News about current events from a 'progressive perspective'. I love the Power of the Internet for helping to build bridges between people who come from a wide variety of geo-social situations and know that mass education is a key equalizer.

Today I caught the #38 Regional Transit Bus to go into the downtown area, hopped on and was going to seat up front when I saw a placard by the seat behind the Bus Driver that had a Picture of Sister Rosa Parks on it that said, "This Seat Reserved for Rosa Parks'. I thought that was really cool.

Click~
http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html

I told the ‘White’ Bus Driver that the idea was cool as I took a seat behind ‘Rosa's’ seat. He said that some people just sat there without respecting it. I told him maybe they were just ignorant or wanted to be closer to her memory.

After a couple of bus stops an elderly Black gentleman got on the bus and just sat in 'her' seat. After a minute he looked up and saw the placard, smiled, slowly nodded a his head a few times, then, strained his aging body to get up and take a seat across the aisle.

Then, after a few more stops a Chinese lady got on with her friend and plopped herself down in Rosa’s seat. During a stop downtown by the K Street Mall the bus driver told her that the seat was taken and could she sit elsewhere. The bus had plenty of room, but she was busy gagging in Chinese to her friend. Perplexed, she just moved to another seat.

I love the diversity of America as it is our curse and it is our blessing.

I just thought I would share that with you all and whoever reads these lines. Sharing is caring. In fact, a big part of our problems as an endangered life-species is our not sharing with others out of our greed, even when some of us have so much in great abundance and others have so little that they barely stay alive.

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott sparked by Rosa Parks, the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.

I am watching Democracy Now right now, my Favorite TV Program on the one-eyed cyclops known as the TV.
http://www.democracynow.org/

Tonight is the David Letterman Show with Queen Oprah. Funny how people can hold onto grudges like a pain of old tennis shoes they refuse to give up when they don't even play tennis.

Good Health and Blessings To You All ~ Hermano Peta
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

conversations

2005-11-12T06:29:00.000-08:00

i'm trying to get groups of students from cairo, baghdad, delhi and london talking online about the impact of terrorism and the war on terror on their lives. does anyone have any tips about the best chat / blog facility to use? thanks, chloe

Are we posting any items?

2005-11-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

I am curious to see more additions. Are we going to continue?

Our Common Purpose - ideas to explore

2005-09-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks very much, Phil, for taking this initiative to start this blog. I am sure collectively we will all contribute towards utilizing our strengths, knowledge, expertise and vision to fulfill our common purpose. I was wondering if we all brain storm together to generate some ideas.

I came across this site called Chimpanzee Collaboratory
which is a 'collborative project of attorneys, scientists and public policy experts working to make significant and measurable progress in protecting the lives and establishing the legal rights of chimpanzees and other great apes.'

Similarly, we can try to identify a common cause or causes that we can all work together to achieve.

collective dreaming?

2005-09-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hello people, my name is Chloe, thank you Phil for allowing me into your blog. I'm working at the London school of economics on a 'citizens' campaign against terror' (sounds and is, fairly daunting!). I wanted to talk to you about how we might use collective blogging and other such in the network we are creating. Also I'm involved in various oddball projects and I want to think about how to use technology most creatively. At the moment i'm collecting peoples most memorable dreams from around the world, and am also doing a night-time radio show based on these stories. You can find some of the dreams at http://www.worlddreaming.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to the development of our common purpose, Chloe

team blog continues the conversation of a book

2005-09-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

one interesting use of a team blog would be to continue the conversation started by a book. a team blog could also allow readers of a book to inform the author of a book what the book is about, allowing the author of the book to see his or her ideas thru a wider angled lens.

"Food for Thought"

2005-09-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

"The greatest resource of any community is the collective wisdom, intellect, and creativity of its citizens." (Source - ????)

stephen covey on synergy

2005-09-27T06:18:00.000-07:00

Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people. Stephen Covey

teamwork simply stated

2005-09-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

Teamwork: Simply stated, it is less me and more we.

Teamwork for the Masses

2005-09-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

As we explore the depths of our existence we come across others that share our focus and passion. Let there be blogs to record our journy and provide a venue for sharing it with others.

thanks phil

Moodle can be used for community organizing

2005-09-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Gina Russell Stevens tells me that Moodle works very nicely as a collaborative community organizing tool -- even though it wasn't designed for that purpose.

Why this blog was started

2005-09-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

This team blog was started to share ideas about the power of human beings working together in common purpose. Postings will include personal musings, inspirational quotes, and links to related information on the Internet.

This blog was inspired by the pathbreaking work of the Wikipedia.

After you've created a Blogger.com blog, here is a pdf explaining how you can add a team member.