RIP Krie

Krie, from Perth Australia, tragically took his own life this week. My sympathy and condolences go out to his friends and family.

I don't know what took Krie to that irrevocable decision, but I do know that life is very hard at times and many of us have days that don't seem worth going through. It's important to remember then that life can also become good again, even suddenly good. We all need someone to talk to at those desperate times.

http://www.kidshelp.com.au (Australia)
http://www.childline.org.uk (UK)
http://www.covenanthouse.org (USA)
http://www.standupforkids.org (USA homeless kid outreach)
http://suicidehotlines.com (who to call - all kinds of helpful info)
http://www.hopeline.com (all kinds of suicide prevention info and resources)
and 1-800-SUICIDE is a phone number in the USA that provides help also.

Thanks to Rumpuncher for posting this info on 12-o.

Depression is contageous and often fatal. Treat it agressively in yourself and your friends. Change is a good place to start. Don't let situations around you make your decisions for you, ever. You always have choices, so make some. You're worth it.

RIP New Orleans

Spend a moment today to be glad for whatever you have.

Send blood and money to relief agencies, not stuff that they have to move, sort, and distribute.

Let this be a lesson to us all about:

hurricanes
flood plains
mandatory evacuations
how fast people get crazy
taking care of ourselves and our families by being prepared
communications
the value and purpose of the national guard
presidents who cut funding for levees and army corps of engineers projects
guarding hospitals
what emergency shelters need

What Business Can Learn from Open Source

This is one of the more interesting things I've read lately.

Excerpts:

"Another thing blogs and open source software have in common is that they're often made by people working at home. That may not seem surprising. But it should be. It's the architectural equivalent of a home-made aircraft shooting down an F-18. Companies spend millions to build office buildings for a single purpose: to be a place to work. And yet people working in their own homes, which aren't even designed to be workplaces, end up being more productive.

This proves something a lot of us have suspected. The average office is a miserable place to get work done. And a lot of what makes offices bad are the very qualities we associate with professionalism. The sterility of offices is supposed to suggest efficiency. But suggesting efficiency is a different thing from actually being efficient.

The atmosphere of the average workplace is to productivity what flames painted on the side of a car are to speed. And it's not just the way offices look that's bleak. The way people act is just as bad.

Things are different in a startup. Often as not a startup begins in an apartment. Instead of matching beige cubicles they have an assortment of furniture they bought used. They work odd hours, wearing the most casual of clothing. They look at whatever they want online without worrying whether it's "work safe." The cheery, bland language of the office is replaced by wicked humor. And you know what? The company at this stage is probably the most productive it's ever going to be."

[...]

"So am I claiming that no one is going to be an employee anymore-- that everyone should go and start a startup? Of course not. But more people could do it than do it now. At the moment, even the smartest students leave school thinking they have to get a job. Actually what they need to do is make something valuable. A job is one way to do that, but the more ambitious ones will ordinarily be better off taking money from an investor than an employer."

Brooklyn NYC seminar on tradition of memorial art

Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. (BAC), in conjunction with The Brooklyn Historical Society, presents a seminar on the tradition of memorial arts in Brooklyn including the recently dedicated Beacon, commemorating Brooklyn residents who died on September 11.

Participants include:
Kay Turner, BAC folklorist and moderator
Robert Ressler, Beacon artist
Francis Morrone, historian and Brooklyn architecture scholar
Steve Zeitlin, Director of City Lore, and curator of Missing, an exhibition about 9/11
Franchot Lee, Photographer

Amy Gerber, (FlatCoatFilms, LLC) Director of the film ?Public Memory,? a film about American memorials, which will be shown immediately following the symposium

This event will take place at The Brooklyn Historical Society on 128 Pierrepont Street, between Clinton and Henry Sts. in Brooklyn Heights. This event is FREE and is from noon-2:00p.m. on Saturday, September 10, 2005.

Audience members are encouraged to participate in this important dialogue as we reflect on the history and meaning of the "art of memory" in Brooklyn and observe the fourth anniversary of September 11.

For more information and to RSVP, contact Kay Turner, kturner@brooklynartscouncil.org, or Teresa Gonzalez, tgonzalez@brooklynartscouncil.org, 718-625-0080.

Art Activist conference in Montreal Canada

English and French info about this important event ... and they are looking for sponsors.

"Artivistic /05 is a transdisciplinary event on the interplay between art, information and activism from September 22 to 24, 2005. The unique, bilingual and international event will bring together diverse practitioners and theorists of activist art and communication through performances, exhibitions, interventions, workshops and panels."

free internet phone calls with Gizmo

Check it out. Mac and PC with Linux version on the way. Free software phone and you can call other Gizmo users for free. the only way for it to cost you money is if you call a land line or a mobile phone.

Ecko fights for your right to party, and wins

See, you can fight city hall.

DESIGNER MARC ECKO WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST NEW YORK CITY; GRAFFITI ART EXHIBITION TO TAKE PLACE AS PLANNED

- Federal Court Orders Immediate Reinstatement of Street Permit for August 24th Block Party -
(New York, NY), August 22, 2005 - Fashion designer and entrepreneur Marc Ecko, on behalf of his company *ecko unltd., today announced a favorable decision in a lawsuit the Company filed against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City of New York in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, on Friday, August 19.

As a result, the first-of-its-kind street festival, free and open to the public, will be held as originally scheduled on August 24th on 22nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues from 12:00PM - Dusk. The event will feature ten 48-foot-long by 8-foot-high replicas of the legendary NYC transit blue-bird subway cars, which will be transformed into contemporary urban works of art by 20 renowned graffiti writers.

Commenting on the court's decision, Mr. Ecko stated, "Today is further affirmation that graffiti is without question the most powerful art movement in recent history. This event was conceived as a tribute to the roots of graffiti culture, a time in New York City's history that I chose to believe was worth fighting to preserve. I never envisioned having to go to Court when we started working with the City on this event 10 months ago, but was left with no other choice when the City asked us to change our chosen art canvas and, as such, tried to censor my first amendment rights and those of these great artists by attempting to dictate how we express ourselves.

"Graffiti is an art form without borders, one which touches people of every gender, age, race, income class and political affiliation on a daily basis and today's decision is further affirmation that it is here to stay. Graffiti does not, as some in city hall have claimed, have to be a gateway to crime. It can also be a gateway to opportunity and success when channeled properly, and I hope that the Mayor accepts my offer to join me on Wednesday as we channel our creative energies together."

Gregg Donnenfeld, Assistant General Counsel for *ecko unltd. added, "We are extremely pleased, though not surprised, by Judge Rakoff's recognition that graffiti is indeed a legitimate form of art, and that the City has no right to dictate how that art is expressed. Marc Ecko's block party will therefore proceed as planned, with a live graffiti art demonstration open to the public at no charge, with the world's top graffiti artists using mock subway trains as their art canvases."

"Should the City attempt to appeal the Judge's decision, we will continue to fight for our First Amendment rights, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. However, at this point we do not anticipate any appeals, and instead just look forward to what will be a spectacular art event for all of the public and New York's art community to celebrate.," Donnenfeld continued.

*ecko unltd. thanks attorney Dan Perez of the Kuby & Perez law firm for his great work on this case, proving again that he's one of the top First Amendment lawyers in all of New York, if not the country, and also the New York Civil Liberties Union for its continued support in this effort.

Flu pandemic + our governments, killers of millions?

The US government is doing nothing about the potential avian flu pandemic that may almost be upon us. Doing nothing is the same as condemning millions, if not billions to death. We need a worldwide coordinated response to Avian Flu and any pandemic. We're overdue for one and still the world leaders are not acting.

Wake some politicians up; your life may depend on it. Ask your representatives what they are doing to stave off economic collapse in the event of a flu pandemic that kills a substantial proportion of your area's citizens, since the national government isn't planning a credible national vaccination effort.

We need vaccine-making infrastructure and megabucks from the rich countries to fund it. Big pharma doesn't care because they can't make a killing on vaccines. So last year, there was not enough flu vaccine for those who wanted it. Imagine how many of us will want vaccine when a flu strain goes pandemic again. It takes a couple of years to make enough vaccine to make a difference, so the time to start demanding action is immediately.

Educate, activate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic
The most previous flu pandemic killed 50m people worldwide, in 1918-19. Usually they kill 25% of the population apparently. So far this candidate bird flu has killed 60% of the people who've caught it from birds.

Jesus gets up with projected graffiti

Personally, I think "Jesus Saves" graffiti's been done to death, but at least this version of the old standby xtian assertion is BIG

Borf spotting pool

DC's recently most wanted writer, Borf was allegedly arrested the other week, revealing an underlying fan club of ridiculous proportions.

Ribs gets 4 years jail in the UK, banned from train stations

Graffiti tagger jailed for 48 months

Jul 19 2005

South London Press
 

HE LEFT his "tags" on more than 200 trains and hoardings across our transport network.

But from today, Robert Lee is behind bars. Operating under the tag "Ribs", 23-year-old Lee left his mark on buildings and carriages at stations across South London - causing £250,000 of damage in four years.

He was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court on Friday. Lee, of Fitzallyen Street, Kennington, was also handed a five-year Asbo [anti social behavior order] barring him from train depots and Underground stations.

He was also banned from carrying felt-tips and spray cans

Battle Royal from Kings of New York

Text games

Back in the day when the Internet was text, we used to call them "games" but now they are called "interactive fiction". You interact by typing your actions or directions (like "north" or "open door" or "look") To find out which commands you can use, type "about". Press Enter to see the next page whenever you see "more". If you like this one, there are a bunch more linked to it.

Borf

Borf Lives!

Zedz opens shop

Zedz.INC from Amsterdam now has his own store.

The Empty Show

Banksy does Palestine

Illegal wall gets illegal paint, by UK's own Banksy. More Banks on his home page

Freeway Blogger: Guerrilla Signz

Freeway speech against Bush's war.