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Election result maps

I'm not yet ready to comment in any depth on the meaning of the recent election to the sector. But the election does present an opportunity to demonstrate the power of mapping when it comes to describing communication. No doubt you have seen some of the alternatives to the traditional red and blue map of the United States and its electoral votes. Gastner, Shalizi, and Newman of the University of Michigan have prepared one of my favorite visualizations of the election. An election is, after all, an act of mass communication. By doing two things -- showing the election results in gradations of color and changing the size of the sates to reflect their population -- this map achieves a genuinely communication centered, rather than infrastructure centered, presentation. Posted: 11/9/04; 5:05:24 PM #

Asia Source

Mahiti.org and the Tactical Technology Collective are organizing Asia Source, a gathering of nearly 100 NGOs and technology support professionals for a week long workshop to increase the use of free and open source software for use by the voluntary sector in South and Southeast Asia. The event will be held from January 28th - February 4th 2005, in Bangalore, India. I think this could be a very powerful organizing model. Applications are being accepted until November 19. Posted: 11/9/04; 4:44:56 PM #