Movin' on out...

See the new post at my WordPress blog... I'm movin' on out to another site, with a brand new URL: http://rachelmmurray.wordpress.com/ There's a bit of an explanation there on why I'm moving; these archives will remain until my hosting service sets up MySQL and I can import them over on WordPress, and of course until I get it the new blog to display correctly with my Dreamweaver template ;). Ideally the final resting place for the blog will be at my actual domain, but for the time being, a nice WordPressified blog addy is something I'll have with pride, thank you very much.

So, a year and a half on Blogger. It's been fun, but it's time to move on. Thanks for the memories, Google, but I am outta here...

The big get bigger.

I'm still figuring out what I think of the whole "Yahoo Acquires del.icio.us" thing. It's the latest piece of news to get the people with blogs all a twitter - that and some silly flairup between people at "Les Blogs" in Paris. I have a bad habit of immediately reading about such things on Rich's blog and of course commenting on his blog instead of my own - sorry Rich, you know I'm trying to stop doing that, honest!
So the big get bigger, and the rich get richer. I've read some good analysis from folks - including the ever wise Dan, something a little different from Trebor, and of course a prophetic lesson on what's happenned before from David. I'm probably in closest agreement to Trebor's point of view - kind of a disgusted resigned feeling of sadness (not to put words in Trebor's mouth - just speaking for myself here). I know this is how the world works (with twitters on Technorati - if that's a bang or a whimper, well, you decide) but I still don't like it. I don't like it when the Fortune 500 do it, and I don't like it when megacorporations in my industry do it either. The antiglobalization movement has made valid points on how corporations work; corporations in the technology sector should not be exempt from that analysis as well.

I don't expect the technology business sector (open 2.0 technologies or not) to operate in a bubble away from other industries, but every time a large corporation like Yahoo buys out a smaller company that's created a great tool that people love and feel ownership of, well, it makes me feel like nothing's changed - that it's all just business, money and acquisition, and has nothing to do with using technology to solve a problem. I feel the same way about Google doing it - I feel the same way when any company does it. Innovation comes from creating a solution that fulfill's a user/customer/person's need; acquisition of a company that makes a tool is not a substitute for making better products. If I at least bought into the branding myth of Yahoo, if I at least felt like they cared about me as a user, that I wasn't just a nameless schlub with a ID, well, perhaps this would sit well with me. But that's all I am. A Yahoo ID to them.

Here's a lesson in branding. My allegiance to the Apple brand is simple, really - they create a product that doesn't make me sick to my stomach to use - that it's about creating an insanely great product superior to what's created by Microsoft. It has nothing to do with which company they've bought out - if Apple's bought anyone out in the name of 'innovating', please educate me if I'm wrong here. It's not about creating a 360 portal or city wide Wifi - it's just about creating something that works well, that keeps people happy, that fulfills a need and does it well. I don't see many large corporations doing that, because I suppose that's not what they're there for or how they operate. Sure, I'll continue to use del.icio.us - for now - and yes, I'll use Yahoo Groups because everyone still does so - just don't expect me to feel much good from them, their way of business, or their ultimate plans. Yes, my analysis at this point is naive and simplistic, but I'm frustrated - frustrated that this tired old paradigm of acquisition rather than development. In the end I suppose it all works out, but it doesn't stop me from having a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach - that whoever dies with the most toys has won.

There's got to be some other way. I don't expect socialism in this industry, but I do expect something other than the 20th century paradigm of smaller fish getting eaten up by bigger fish. I don't think any of these larger tech companies are necessarily entirely Evil with a Capital E, but you can forgive me if I'm a little suspicious of companies when their actions look more like a giant game of chess (Rushing towards the checkmate of beating Microsoft and Google) than creating great products. I'm tired of the old ways the world has worked - surely to God there's got to be a better way...

Je me souviens...

I will remember. It's a phrase fraight with some peril within Canadian history since it's associated with Quebecois sovereignty movement, but I'm going to use it - appropriate it, if you will - today because it fits, and because some issues transcend two sides of an issue - Anglophone or francophone, man versus woman.

Je me souviens... I remember. In my mind, I change it to 'I will remember' - an imperative, a demand of myself and others not to forget history, both near and far away.

Je me souviens le 6e decembre, 1989.

Whenever I see that today's date is December 6th, a little part of me does die inside. A part of me that remembers where I was - coming home from school, to see the CBCannouncer (Bill Cameron, most likely - RIP, Bill - you are missed) telling me a man had started shooting in a school in Montreal. You remember the moments of history as you live them - seeing the paper with the headline about John Lennon, watching the television when space shuttles explode. And then watching the stretchers being pulled out of a school.

I had just come from school.

"On December 6, 1989, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, ammunition and knives, an enraged lone gunman walked through the Engineering Building of the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, and shot and killed 14 women, wounded 13 others, mostly women, and then killed himself...."

I was just starting to be a woman.

"As he killed the 14 women and wounded 13 others, the deranged gunman was making anti-woman statements and blaming feminists for ruining his life. The letter that he left behind detailed his hatred towards women. He had failed as a military candidate; he had applied for admission into engineering, and was rejected. In his twisted and cowardly mind, he did not accept responsibility for his failures, but held women responsible for them. He acted upon this cowardice and hatred in the most violent way possible. He carefully and systematically separated the women from the men in the classrooms of Ecole Polytechnique, and then he killed the 14 women, for no other reason, but singularly and only because they
were women." (from the University of Victoria page on equity)

was being a woman going to school an act that qualified one as a feminist now?

Was it so very long ago? It could have been just yesterday. It was just one of many separate events and histories that introduced me to feminism, of which I am a very proud member.

So much has changed, yet so little, when considering the state of women in the world. Progress can be made in the fight against sexism - it has to. Can we afford not to progress, to evolve? For every moment which has me wondering if we've progressed, a review of the enlighted men out there does give me hope that perhaps progress is possible, that society can change.

I do look forward to the day when a date will not live in infamy - when we no longer dread dates for what the past has given us, and what we must inherit for the future.

I picked up a poster from a memorial the U of T was having a few years. It had a great slogan that is burned into my mind: "First mourn, then work for change". It's a call to action on this and every other day. If we do not help our fellow humanity, then what are we here for, and can we dare to call ourselves human?

Je me souviens...
Je me souviens...
Je me souviens...

technorati tags: dec6 montrealmassacre

Brainjammed out...

So the Brainjams event was a rousing success - I do believe a good, informative time was had by all. It was an interesting experience working as one of the organizers/volunteers/what have you - in a more democratic view of the world, when does one 'role' end and another begin? Thoughts about democracy have been on my mind as a result of the event; I'll have more to say on the actual details of the event in a future post after I've caught up with non-Brainjam activities and have unpacked the experience fully.

But hearing a room of over 50 people sharing their knowledge and their passions made me hope that this is the beginning of something, and not just another another Bay Area 2.0 digerati-and-brat-pack networking event. It's no secret that I've been itching to see this event become part of a movement - or rather, to plug into an existing movement which discusses and acts upon the intersection of culture, technology and democracy. Only time and the Bay Area digerati community's desire for something more will tell if this becomes something greater. The need is there - we'll see if we connect with the excellent existing initiatives and ones starting up that need our support (like NetSquared - which is a far worthier cause than anything involving 'web', '2.0', 'digerati' or 'technology', for that matter.)

I watched Brian Sullivan's excellent recap of the day over on his blog, and was startled to see the reaction of one of KRON's news anchors after she came back on the air. Her reaction to the idea behind the event was 'far out' - not, 'wow, far out - neat stuff going on...looks like the future of media to me...', but 'far out', in that dismissive, corporate, 'you're a bunch of hippies, aren't you?' tone of voice. It reminds me of how far along we need to come to change everyone's minds - and not just our own.

technorati tag: brainjams

Post-holiday clean up - and good news

I'm in the midst of the post-holiday clean up, both figuratively (email, spam, blogs, more spam) and literally (unpacking after a week away out East), came across a golden nugget of personal information - two new friends are getting married. Chris and Kristie, the main organizers behind the upcoming Brainjams event on Dec.3, just announced the news via separate blog entries - (here's Chris' and here's Kristie's. I especially like their clarifications section :) So in his spare time when not organizing events Chris plans things like proposing to his girlfriend - a busy man indeed!

Happy news from a passionate and cool couple. If you come to the event on Sat. (!), hoist a glass to them during the after party.

tags:

Brainjams,
BrainJams3Dec2005