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Current News

Britain Will be First Country to Monitor Every Car Journey

In 2006, Great Britain will be the first country to monitor, record, and store every car journey in the country. Thousands of existing traffic cameras will be enabled with license plate recognition software, the data will be collected in a central database and stored there for two years. Just as with the U.S. no-fly list and other databases, the information will be redistributed to various national and local authorities. The article is almost entirely boosterism, with the exception of one off-handed mention of civil liberties issues. I wonder: How this will affect the comfort that citizens have in attending meetings? What will happen when the data finds its way into political or commercial hands? Posted: 12/21/05; 11:35:53 PM #

How to be an Activist

It's been around for years, but I just came across Elizabeth May's article on How to be an Activist. It's a simple introduction to lobbying, press relations, grassroots campaign tactics, and some of the philosophical, social, and emotional basics of what it means to be an activist. I would give this to any new volunteer in an advocacy organization. The fundraising advice is weak and caters to some of the classic weaknesses of many organizations, such as an unfortunate predilection for raising money from events. But there is plenty of practical wisdom in this short piece to make up for that. Posted: 12/21/05; 11:17:29 PM #

eRider Starter Kit

In the process of researching an article for a forthcoming publication from N-TEN, I found myself lingering over Tactical Tech's free ebook called the eRider Starter Kit (92 page PDF). In essence, it's a basic guide to nonprofit technology consulting and it shows the maturity of the field and the accumulated wisdom of Theresa Crawford and her colleagues. For example, it goes further than most such guides in developing some opening inquiries that are not too technocentric. It's packed with checklists and other forms that would provide solid support for the integrity of any consultant. It's published under a Creative Commons license, for the widest possible distribution. And it's prominently labeled version 1.0, so I would encourage every user to offer their feedback for future editions. Posted: 12/21/05; 11:09:16 PM #