Casa Robino

See original: IsumaTV 2.0 | IsumaTV

See original: Dante’s Blog

This unprecedented gathering of young people is often considered to have been a social experiment, because of alternative lifestyles that became common, both during the summer itself and during subsequent years. These lifestyles included communal living; the free and communal sharing of resources, often among strangers; and free love

See original: Summer of Love - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The ‘and them some’ is what causes the trouble. Complex societies collapse because, when some stress comes, those societies have become too inflexible to respond. In retrospect, this can seem mystifying. Why didn’t these societies just re-tool in less complex ways? The answer Tainter gives is the simplest one: When societies fail to respond to reduced circumstances through orderly downsizing, it isn’t because they don’t want to, it’s because they can’t.<br />
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In such systems, there is no way to make things a little bit simpler – the whole edifice becomes a huge, interlocking system not readily amenable to change. Tainter doesn’t regard the sudden decoherence of these societies as either a tragedy or a mistake—”[U]nder a situation of declining marginal returns collapse may be the most appropriate response”, to use his pitiless phrase. Furthermore, even when moderate adjustments could be made, they tend to be resisted, because any simplification discomfits elites.

See original: The Collapse of Complex Business Models « Clay Shirky

Since December 2009, CIS has been coordinating and nurturing the Maps for Making Change project, or gan ised in collaboration with Tactical Tech.

See original: Home Page — Centre for Internet and Society

See original: Reporters Sans Frontières

The makers of The Story of Stuff have a new video about the "manufactured demand" of expensive bottled water. (Xeni posted a teaser a couple of weeks ago.)

When Fiji water launched an ad campaign that made fun of Cleveland tap water, the city of Cleveland ran tests comparing its water to Fiji water. "These tests showed a glass of Fiji water is lower quality, it loses taste tests against Cleveland tap water, and costs thousands of times more. This story is typical of what happens when you bottled tap water against tap water."

Personally, I filter my Los Angeles tap water because I don't like the chlorinated taste.

The Story of Bottled Water

See original: The Story of Bottled Water

Computer Engineer Barbie via Gizmodo...

This is actually wonderful. Barbie's had 124 careers since 1959, ranging from Stewardess to Paratrooper. Today she gets her 125th: computer engineer. You can tell she's smart 'cause she's got glasses, and reads nothing but binary.Barbie's latest career move is also significant for being the first decided entirely by online vote. Though maybe it's not so surprising that the internet community was especially inclined to see a Bluetooth-rocking geektastic Barbie.

"All the girls who imagine their futures through Barbie will learn that engineers - like girls - are free to explore infinite possibilities, limited only by their imagination," says Nora Lin, President, Society of Women Engineers. "As a computer engineer, Barbie will show girls that women can turn their ideas into realities that have a direct and positive impact on people's everyday lives in this exciting and rewarding career."

Thoughts? What Barbie would you like to see for kids to celebrate?

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See original: Next Barbie is an engineer