Thought Maybe: a video resource to inform and inspire action
"This is a website that aims to provoke your thoughts not only about these important issues, but many other pertinent topics relevant to modern society, industrial civilisation and globalised dominant culture.
There's already a lot of information on the Internet, so our goal is to cut through the noise and garbage, to present credible information in a clear way, so it's accessible, useful and easily digested. This still may not be an easy undertaking though, and we can understand that - especially considering the complexity and interconnectedness of the topics, as well as the crossing over of sources; but also for the fact that the information here can be incomplete, sometimes contradictory or even controversial. But this is the point. It's all part of what we're trying to do: provoke critical thinking, questioning... and doing.
We've fundamentally built this resource to inform and inspire action - and no, we're not talking about clicking the stupid 'Like' button on Facebook, signing online petitions or letter writing - we mean informing and inspiring real-world action; taking this information away from the computer to rejuvenate the strong networks with the people around you in the real world, to discuss, plan, act. This is not a symbolic action or clicktivism website, it's a resource to inform, inspire and provoke.
We aim to generate a multitude of responses, reactions and methods to the work we're doing, because that's what is needed to solve the plethora of puzzles and problems addressed in the information we publish. Some of these puzzles are big, some are small, but everywhere you look, there's good work to be done."
(Thought Maybe)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
What is WorldCat?
"WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their resources on the Web, where most people start their search for information."
(OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Cyberpunk: the future has already happened
"Cyberpunk' is a 60-minute documentary, the ad for which states: 'What started as a book became a literary movement. What was a literary movement became a subculture'.
And that's one of the major flaws of this film. It perpetuates the general myth that everything 'cyberpunk' expanded out of 'Neuromancer' and Gibson's vision. In truth, most of the stuff covered here (virtual reality, hacking, industrial music, cybernetics, designer drugs, anarchy) was already developing quite nicely before Lord Gibson, Chairman Bruce, and the rest (Shirley, Rucker, Shiner) were kind enough to provide a fictional universe in which to fuse these disparate explorations.
The production of 'Cyberpunk' is very inconsistent, too -- some parts are professional documentary, while other parts have the odor of quick-cash opportunism. The breathy women narrator is ultimately aggravating, oh-ing and ah-ing over all this stuff.
But there is some good material here, including interviews with Gibson, Leary, Scott Fisher (of NASA/Ames), Brenda Laurel, Vernon Reed (Living Color), Bill Leeb (Front Line Assembly) and others. There's also some cool computer graphics (circa 1989) and an industrial soundtrack with Front Line Assembly, Ministry, and Severed Heads.
'Cyberpunk' is still a must-see since it's the only documentary about cyberpunk that we have."
(G. Branwyn)
Fig.1 Produced and Directed by Marianne Trench and Peter von Brandenberg, Intercon Productions, 1990.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Every click you make, Facebook tracker will be watching you
"Facebook also introduced new features aimed at marketing companies that let users monitor what their fellow members are watching and listening to online instantly. ...
'Retention of information online has always been a problem. If information comes and goes fleetingly there's less likelihood it will be used other than for the purpose you put it up, which is just to keep people in touch with what you're doing,' Mr Vaile said.
'This is in line with my concern about Facebook trying to change how people think and encourage them to normalise over-sharing and abandon any restraint on storage and use and exposure of private information.'"
(Andrew Colley, 24 September 2011, The Australian)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Unistats: UK university comparison site
"Unistats lets you search, review and compare official information about universities and colleges in the UK, and the subjects they offer. It includes results from the National Student Survey – where more than 220,000 students give their views about the quality of their higher education experience. ...
HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England)¹ owns the Unistats websites and has contracted UCAS to manage the delivery and maintenance of these websites on its behalf."
(Unistats, UK)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
