Humanize the Earth!

AboutUs.org

A few days ago, I wrote: finally, a use for spam! where I talked about wanting to work and live in a do-ocracy. Today I started reading Naked Conversations, about business blogging, and it occured to me that I haven’t written about my work at AboutUs.  AboutUs is a small company based in Portland, OR, that’s attempting to do it’s work as a do-ocracy, and teach the world that the world wide web is a two-way medium, and even more than that, is a place for collaboration.

Until today, when I had an idea about a way for AboutUs to get better, I’d make a wiki page about it, or talk about it in the company IRC channel, or I’d attempt to make the change myself.  It occurs to me that company employees (I’m a part-time contractor) could be communicating with each other and the public by blog as well.

AboutUs already does a fantastic job and communicating openly with it’s users, fans and critics (see ConcernsPage, for example), and yet the potential is there for much more.

Some things I’d like to see AboutUs doing:

• Publish a feed of some sort about technical changes to the site.  I’m pretty sure page names are no case-insensitive as of last week, but haven’t seen an official (or unofficial) announcement.  Maybe this could be a blog or wikipage with an RSS feed?
• For projects (see OurWork for a list of projects) that can stand to move slower, even just a little bit slower, put less staff resources into them on a weekly basis.  This slower pace, along with a clear list of tasks that staff thinks need to be accomplished on the project, allows visitors to the site to get involved and help.
• Encourage employees to blog, even just once a week or less, about what’s currently exciting them at work, or anything they like.
• I’ll write more when I think of more.

I really love the work that we’re doing and am excited to be working in this kind of an open organization, with such a great culture, and I am excited to see that culture evolve and get even better.

Change?

Joan Ogden interview in the Sun Magazine, August 2007 (not yet online):

When I was a little kid and would visit relatives in Georgia, I saw segregated washrooms and drinking fountains. … And when I was applying to college in the later 1960s, many schools didn’t admit women. … I believe that prejudices about race and sex are more basic to the human psyche than the attachment to driving a large car. So that gives me hope.

finally, a use for spam!

This website is set up so that anytime someone comments for the first time, I get an email asking me to approve posting it. The bulk of these comments are spam, that I mark as such, and you never see them. Annoying, to say the least. And yet today, this spam was actually useful! The spam comment was on this post: response to Tree’s Always in Open Space from October of 2005. Without using the word, in that post, I was talking about do-ocracy.

In my housing co-op, I want those most interested in gardening to do the gardening, and not worry about consulting with those that don’t care so much. Same with creating an organizing scheme for the basement. Hopefully everyone will participate in keeping things organized, but not everyone needs to create the scheme.

This is one of the reasons I feel I need to let go of my day job of 6 years. It’s not a do-ocracy. About two months before I wrote that post, I made my five year plan to leave the job. In June of 2006, I wrote about my five year plan again, though it had changed to a 3-4 year plan (with year 1 nearly finished). Here we are just a little over a year later, so just about to finish year 2, and my current thinking is that I’ll be done before the end of 2007. Anyway, interesting to look back and be reminded. Thanks spammer!

Marshawn is dead because a motorist broke the law

Chicagoland Bicycle Federation:

Marshawn is not dead because he was playing in the street. Like Maya Hirsch, another four-year-old killed last summer in Lincoln Park, Marshawn is dead because a motorist broke the law. This sort of behavior makes streets unsafe for children year round.

Original Research: A delayed WikiWednesday in Portland

Original Research: A delayed WikiWednesday in Portland

I attended a delayed WikiWednesday in Portland

Geoffrey Burling mentions me in: A delayed WikiWednesday in Portland

:-)

one currenct project

One of the projects I’m working on at AboutUs is LASIK Dallas. We’re eventually working on each city.

Marshall Square Parkway Garden Club planting day report

Back in May, I wrote about another planting day in June, on Whipple, in a smaller area. Yesterday was that day, but not on Whipple. Due to some miscommunication, I thought we had the place all lined up, but we didn’t. We ended up playing at 2948 W. 24th St instead. We had 5 adults (Cathy from my C3 class, Joanne, John, Ben and myself from the HUB) and 4 children (ages 8-10) participate. We had to do a lot more work to get into the soil this time than last time, as it was so compacted. But work we did, and we got 2 hostas, 5 coral bells, 4 bleeding hearts and 8 day lillies into the ground, as well as a flat each of prarie grass and echanaicha. Joanne also did a great job building a fence out of sticks and zipties!