Underheard in NY is a project that gave voice to four men living on the streets of New York City. Using a mobile phone and a Twitter account, people who have grown accustomed to being ignored, shunned and marginalized had the ability to offer insight into their world. The project is currently on hiatus as the team tries to develop a larger framework allowing the idea to be transplanted to other urban centres.

Whilst the initial concept is interesting and has undoubtedly broadened the reach of these individuals, it seems to open up broader possibilities linked to individuals helping individuals. One of the stumbling blocks for not for profits is their need to connect with donors and express the tangible impact their activities have on individuals, as opposed to the abstract notion of “helping”, “doing good” or “making a difference”.

If the power of Twitter—where conversations and relationships take place between individuals—can be harnessed to connect the haves with the have nots, there is no middleman.

I wish the Underheard crew the best in their efforts to develop the idea into a project that has even greater reach and impact so the homeless in our streets can be heard and seen once again.

Occupy Design is a grassroots project connecting designers with on-the-ground demonstrators in the Occupy Together movement. The project’s goal is to create freely available visual tools around a common graphic language to unite the 99%. The project places an emphasis on producing infographics and icons to improve the communication of the movement’s messages and the data surrounding them across the world.

The site aims to connect designers with occupiers and, whilst this is a laudable goal, one nagging issue becomes painfully obvious when you access the—wait for it—Google doc page.

The world is inadequate in many ways. Poverty is pervasive. Wealth disparities abound. Agreed. There even seems to be consensus that many of the world’s woes stem from the unhealthy mingling of commercial and political interests. So, if the goal of the Occupy movement is to somehow influence how the financial system is run, shouldn’t the focus remain on that issue? Isn’t it enough?

Don’t get me wrong, the efforts of the designers are good, very good in some cases, but will graphic representations of various, disparate issues, help the movement become more unified? If it did, we could design a brand for it. And by brand I mean a recognisable, understandable symbol.

We could design a brand right now for Occupy but not one that could ever serve it as it should. Ideally, a brand should reflect the culture, values and essence of an entity. Without clarity into what those might be, any effort at expressing it visually will fall short of the mark. At best it will be what designers routinely call “an empty vessel”: a graphic symbol waiting to be filled with meaning.

Form is inextricably tied to function and content. If Occupy continues to struggle with its identity and offer dissonant messages, its voice will remain garbled and, in the end, easier to ignore.

Surviving Progress explores, amongst other things, the distinction between good and bad progress. Inspired by Ronald Wright’s bestseller A Short History of Progress, this thoughtful, dense documentary is calling upon us to not only revisit the priorities we set for technological development but also to reset our moral compasses. That humans fail to learn from their past is obvious and should lead us to realise that, if left unchecked, our current behaviours will lead to our own demise.

The film explores Wright’s premise whereas “Things are moving so fast that inaction itself is one of the biggest mistakes. The 10,000-year experiment of the settled life will stand or fall by what we do, and don’t do, now. The reform that is needed is not anti-capitalist, anti-American, or even deep environmentalist; it is simply the transition from short-term to long-term thinking. From recklessness and excess to moderation and the precautionary principle.”

But this rational approach is being blocked by vested interests: financial and energy lobbies, so-called special interests group that are so powerful, wealthy and diverse that they have the ability to paralyze governments, countries and halt—or at least hinder—progress of the good kind.

If the Occupy movement stands for anything, it seems to me to be about exactly this: trying to find a new way to loosen the deadly grip of the greedy on our institutions and leaders.

After its successful festival run, Surviving Progress is being released in Québec on 4 November with Canada-wide dates to be announced soon.

It screens Friday 2 December at 7pm at the Rio in Vancouver.

“We are awakening from the false dream we have been relentlessly sold, and have relentlessly bought. It is, in fact, a nightmare paradigm of a commodified world, a lifeless world of objects, separation and scarcity. We are awakening to a new possibility, where the true abundance of this Earth is no longer hoarded. Where relationships are not transactions. Where your well being is my well being is the planet’s well being. That old dog eat dog eat dog story is a myth. We are celebrating a new story that is as old as life.

Collaboration is where it’s at. Co-operation has created this incredible complex ecosystem called Earth that sustains and delights us. The competitive aspect of evolution is for the juvenile species. It’s time we grew up. It’s time we learned to share. From rainforests to coral reefs to human communities, we are inextricably intertwined in gorgeous webs of interdependence. This is what democracy looks like; planet to person, person to planet.
—Velcrow Ripper

Here’s an explanatory video on the nature of this particular tax.

The website created to outline the details of the tax and its real effects on business, households and the economy as a whole is worth looking at.

Giving to (a different) charity every week for an entire year. Seems like a big commitment but also a big opportunity for massive investment. Think of it as a Groupon for good. The more people sign up, the more money is raised, just like that.

52×52 is “a group of people committed to helping others. Every week, 52×52.org will highlight a different charity and call on you, those willing and happy to help others, to donate directly to that charity.”

You can choose $52, $25 or $10 as pledge amounts and you can start now, along with the site’s charity features, or you can start when you’re good and ready. Alternatively, I’m thinking you could give that to someone for Christmas (if you celebrate it). 52 weeks of a gift that keeps on giving.

TakePart: Participant Media – Waiting For ‘Superman’ – Infographic from Jr.canest on Vimeo.

I am reading Eli Pariser’s The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You.

It’s a compelling read for anyone active on the Internet and, perhaps, a little complacent about the increasing personalization that’s occurring in that realm.

We all know ads are tailored to our interests and previous clicks, but did you know that Google’s search results will differ wildly from one person to the next? If searching for Egypt, I might get vacation spots and quaint fauna; you might get civil unrest and business opportunities. The so called-personalized algorithmic filters that make this discrepancy possible are in effect deciding for you what you might be interested in seeing.

Even when you’re logged out, Google uses 57 signals—such as browser, device or location—to decide things about you. What’s more, the opacity of this practice has many of us mistakenly believing we have access to a common Internet.

Let’s bring this back to a simpler context. What happens when you spend prolonged amounts of time by yourself, with no one to contradict you or challenge your beliefs, knowledge or habits? You get set in your ways. You become a little self-righteous and a little inflexible. You become leery of otherness because you are rarely asked to exercise your ability for tolerance, understanding and learning.

Eli Pariser contends that what he terms the You spiral—the potentially ever-narrowing circle of personal biases—is a threat to democracy. I agree. Code should not decide what each individual needs to know. I’m not opposed to personalization if I am included in its control but filters to information must be visible. Anything else is censorship disguised as convenience.

In a world where democracy is eroding and the notion of Welfare State an anachronism, it is crucial for us all to better understand or at least acknowledge one another. This requires being exposed to conflicting points of view because it is that constant challenge to our propensity for certainty that makes being human worthwhile.

Is this an over-reaction in your view?
Here is an introduction to Pariser’s stance.