AbbeNormal

Prisoner exchanges are likely soon, and SriLanka's ban on the LiberationTigersOfTamilEelam will be lifted on September 6, paving the way for peace talks in Thailand now scheduled to start September 16. Some parties will surely protest the lifting of the ban on the LTTE. Last time we were in Lanka we heard from some NGOs? interested in sending people trained in nonviolence to go and really listen to such protestors. I'll be better able to report on such activities once i'm in Lanka, probably mid-October. The latest FPSL peace bulletin reports that the LTTE has begun a Sinhala-language newspaper in Jaffna. (More LankaLinks) Wed Aug 28 13:03:11 2002

Lanka News Update

I caught my cat today singing: Love to eat them mousies... Mousies what I love to eat! Bite they little heads off, Nibble on they tiny feet! Don't be too amazed. Sluggo didn't write that himself, it's a B. Kliban 'tune. Wed Aug 28 00:15:22 2002

Sluggo The Mouser

Jeyanthy and i, and a significant bunch of others, are organizing a fundraising and community-/network-building event for our upcoming trip to SriLanka. For legal purposes it's a project of a friend's non-profit, with a name & idea we developed with another friend about five years ago -- the Sandhi Institute. The tag line: "we learn about, practice and bring into the world a spirit of consensus and community". We came up with that before any of us had gotten into NonviolentCommunication, so it's cool to look at the language we worked out then and think about how we might update it now. The intent was an organization with humility, and mindfulness to personal and interpersonal dynamics, both inside and in its work in the world (all three of use were and are into a variety of communication practices). I see the work in Lanka, and bridge-building between there and here (SanFranciscoBayArea), as one project of the SandhiInstitute?. CreationMatters?, and my work exploring the intersection of WikiWiki, WebLog, PersonalInformationManagers?, etc. will likely emerge as another. We're putting a lot of effort into making sure that the spirit of giving (in money and/or time) is one in which someone's giving is as much a gift for them as it is for us. That means trying to get to a place where i can request, happy to hear either way, whether the person i'm asking would like to contribute. It not about not caring whether they will -- It's about finding a way to be: present with my passion for this work -- working with Jeyanthy directly and indirectly to contribute to the people of the land she grew up in; listening &learning; and building bridges (the social kind) and as focused on the connection between me and the person i'm asking for help as i am on getting the logistical result i want. Hard work! Right now, i'm doing something much easier -- filling out some unrelated, unpleasant legal paperwork. Um, actually, as i write this, i'm avoiding doing the paperwork by doing something even easier -- blogging! Okay, back to work... Tue Aug 27 20:58:58 2002

Sandhi Institute Reborn

Sanjiva Weerawarana is the first Sri Lankan weblogger i know of. His first post is about advocating open source development on the island. Tara Sue Grubb is the first U.S. Congressional candidate weblogger i know of. "We have to be more involved. We have to get our ideas out there and change this mess." Those comments catch my interest, for sure. Learned of both through the ever-vigilant Dave Winer. Sun Aug 25 03:18:56 2002

New Webloggers In Lanka And Us Politics

In response to the loss of free e-mail and other Net services as Apple starts charging for them, a great MacInTouch thread covers free and inexpensive Net services. Tue Aug 20 17:00:19 2002

Cheap Or Free Email Etc

Dates have been set for peace talks in Thailand between the SriLanka government and the LiberationTigersOfTamilEelam. September 12-17, in Thailand. The government is expected to lift the banning of the militant group 10 days before the talks begin. Sat Aug 17 02:16:22 2002

Dates Set For Lankan Peace Talks

diveintomark explains exactly what RssReaders could do to make it easier for users to subscribe to RSS feeds. Sat Aug 17 00:53:23 2002

How Rss Readers Could Ease Subscribing

I'm leaving soon for the Bay Area Futurists Salon. We'll be talking about Sharif Abdullah's Creating A World That Works For All. I'll be summarizing; basically, it reviews The Mess we're in, pins it on the social stories we live by and our spiritual deficit, and puts you in the driver's seat to make a difference. Looking forward to a great salon! Fri Aug 16 16:58:32 2002

You Are The Future

I'm a little late, but the more postcards the better, so... Several people/groups are circulating this call for action: ACTION: Send President Bush a postcard on THURSDAY, AUGUST 15th, asking him NOT to start another war. It is said that the White House routinely ignores emails & calls, and that regular letters often don't get through in a timely manner because they are still being screened for anthrax, but post cards are not suspect for terrorist activity. Therefore, if millions of Americans mail postcards on the same day, August 15th, it will have maximum impact. The important thing is to get the word out about the project. So, PLEASE forward this to all your friends and associates and perhaps we can reach millions of people within the next few days. (If the post cards are mailed on Friday the 16th, that's OK, too... the message will be delivered within the same window of a few days!) If we each spend 23 cents and take a few minutes of our time to write a postcard and forward this to friends, perhaps we can HELP STOP A WAR! Mail your postcard to: President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500 Be sure to include your name, city and state. Fri Aug 16 16:31:33 2002

Say No To War

I've been using NetNewsWire Lite a bit, and it gets better faster than i can write a review about it. I recommend that you download it, use it, and subscribe to the mailing list. Brent Simmons seems dedicated to making it the best of the RssReaders for MacOsx, intently listening to and acting on user input. Thu Aug 15 17:38:59 2002

Fast Moving Rss Reader

After two days (one day more than planned) of selling our stuff (and that of those who donated -- thanks are on the MovingSale page) -- i learned a few things: Sunburn (if it's sunny) -- my hands hurt! After this issue became obvious, i grabbed a hat, and made sure to wear a long-sleeved shirt, but i recommend sunscreen. Leftovers -- you won't sell it all. I was under some delusion that a much more significant fraction of it would be gone at the end of the day. (actually two days, as we decided to haul the leftovers from Saturday's MovingSale to the Ashby Flea Market on Sunday) Friends -- if you're lucky, they'll show up to help, like our friends did. We never would have made it without more than a dozen people who put in major time &/or donated their stuff. Thanks especially to John and Maja, and Deva for at the last minute offering to take a whole truckload of the aforementioned leftovers to goodwill. (well, tips pages did mention the value of having lots of help, but it bears repeating.) All in all, a great learning experience. Never again will i own this much crap! Wed Aug 14 01:47:21 2002

Things They Dont Tell You About Yard Sales

One item likely* to be at our MovingSale is a PC that has never seen any Microsoft software. I bought it from The Computer Underground a few years ago, when they were selling computers. It's an AMD 333MHz, came with Red Hat Linux. I learned a little more Unix playing with it, played with all that Ximian goodness, and i booted up and got online with a QNX disk a few times. Of course since MacOsx, it hardly seems worth it, besides we're getting rid of everything. Speaking of which, if you see me writing again here (or anywhere) before Saturday, tell me to STOP! I should be getting ready for the aforementioned MovingSale... * unless you snap it up first -- contact me if interested, especially if you wish to continue the MS-free tradition. Please note, i'm more amused than anal on this point. Thu Aug 8 08:41:46 2002

Microsoft Free Machine For Sale

In the middle of the column to the right you'll see the obligatory blogroll, only i can't really call it that because (of course) i point to wikis as well. I recently added John Burkhardt's weblog. We met in our early/pre-teens, because we took the same two public buses home from school. Somebody once told us that Ferris Bueller looked like a cross between us. We haven't seen each other in many years, and live on opposite coasts, but through the magic of weblogs (thanks Dave), we have been reconnected, and are happily catching up on e-mail. I'm working for the New Media at the juncture of wiki, weblog and more, with an emphasis on free software. He's also working (doing actual coding) for the New Media, working at Groove. Beautiful. You may also notice the new link to Gary Turner's Momentary Lapses of Dilution. Normally i stay away from things full of such empty, meaningless cruft, but i was laughing so hard my hands slipped on the keyboard and i pasted it in by accident. Thu Aug 8 08:18:12 2002

Adding To The Roll

I've added AbbeNormal to BlogTree?, a new meta-weblog site that lets you look at the genealogy of weblogs -- the "parent" weblogs they drew their inspiration from, and the "child" weblogs they in turn have inspired. Of course i included the OriginalWiki even though it's not a weblog, because AbbeNormal's genealogy would be radically incomplete without it. Another non-weblog parent was FAQ-O-Matic. See my full pedigree. Thu Aug 8 07:51:18 2002

Abbe Normal Pedigree At Blog Tree

IndyMedia has a wiki. Tue Aug 6 01:42:13 2002

Indy Media Wiki

Four geeks were driving two cars to a conference together. They wanted to stay in touch all the way. Witness, the first wireless network at 65mph (or so). (by way of Thomas Lockney) Sun Aug 4 23:36:50 2002

Hopelessly Geeky

Jef Raskin, one of the original Macintosh developers, has released his Humane Environment, some alpha software that puts his interface philosophy into practice. I've just started reading the manual. I really appreciate the quote there on natural vs. habitual, a point which i understand MohandasGandhi also often made. I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed with cool software to explore (this Humane Environment, TinderBox, Radio's InstantOutlining?...), and this week at least i would really like to get things organized for our MovingSale next weekend. I fantasize that when i get to SriLanka in October things will slow down and i'll be more willing and able to spend time on this sort of thing. Paapum. Sun Aug 4 12:32:31 2002

Humane Environment Released

...many militiamen imagine that when the big showdown with the federal government comes, their all-white rural armies will join forces with Jewish "patriots" and black militants as angry as they are at a government they think cares more for international corporations than people. From Drunk on the American Dream, an insightful review of Lone Patriot over at Killing the Buddha. Sun Aug 4 10:24:24 2002

We Are All Potential Allies

I'm considering putting off going back to SriLanka until October, so that i can go to the first National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, a coming-together of a broad array of people involved in deep dialogue -- the kind where people get past their surface strategies, and see each other's deeper motivations in a way that moves them to want to find solutions that work for all. Found out about it from TomAtlee of the Co-Intelligence Institute. Wed Jul 31 22:14:13 2002

Dialogue And Deliberation Conference In October

mediAgora is an attempt to develop licensing that works for creators, promoters and customers of content. Wed Jul 31 22:13:11 2002

New Content License Atmedi Agora

I got hits from more than 15 Google searches for TouchGraph today, mostly between 5pm and 8pm. Anyone know what that was about? Wed Jul 31 22:12:12 2002

Touch Graph Searches Galore

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