Musings on law, tech, chess & other topics by a geek

Boing Boing has a great post on board game:

If you asked people in the street to name three new books, films, TV shows or music they’ve enjoyed in the past 20 years, you’ll soon have hundreds of different answers. Ask them to name three boardgames, and you will likely only hear “Monopoly, Scrabble & Cluedo” (aka Clue)*. Not an exaggeration, most people have no idea how far boardgame design has progressed recently. Modern boardgames compare to Monopoly like a BMW compares to a Model T Ford. It’s that different.   I was shown Settlers Of Catan in 1996, just after it was first published and it changed my life**. The epitome of modern German game design, Settlers is totally engaging. You have to think, make decisions, barter, trade and influence the other players. You don’t attack people, but you can block them. You don’t get eliminated and the game takes about two hours tops. Settlers does use dice, but you win by being smart, not lucky. The ‘board’ is modular, large hex tiles, so every game is different and fresh.

Read the rest at BoingBoing

I completely agree, Settlers Rocks. It is collaborative, social, strategic and ever a little competitive while still having an amazing replay value. Our 9 year old loves it and just won her first game of knights and cities this past weekend.  This was a big accomplishment for her, she learned a lot about planning and implementing a strategy to get there. Board games were a staple for my family growing up but they were nothing like this.  Board games have gotten so much better in the last 15 years.

Board games really took off when I was managing a WOTC store.  We had a game night where employees would get together and play new games.  We also had a policy where employees could check out any game in the store to take home for a week and learn.  I miss working somewhere that people get together to play games .

Image CC BY SA Marcaunon wikipedia

Closing comment: This is not about wikileaks this is about access to information and the term information war is very relevant.  This is very similar to the p2p file sharing conflict.  The answer is not to play wake-a-mole it is to come up with a new way to create real government accountability.

Please do not pass an anti-wikileaks law we will get a new information age Patriot Act that will be abused against others.

Here is the total live stream it contains several useful links, my favorite is The Washington Coalition for Open Government a group fighting to expand shield laws to you and me to bloggers:

joey_mornin: next prediction: hanson will be charismatic and give warm praise to each panelist
kirkland: interestingly we fight for ourprivacy rights on fb -but can states ask for privacy?:)
EastCoast: what about Bradley Manning
joey_mornin: Wikileaks has only released 1,000 cables so far. The New York Times knows more than the public. How is this different than the Pentagon Papers? Has the Internet caused any fundamental changes here?
joey_mornin: (That was my question for the panel.)
joey_mornin: (Thanks!)
paul: I think she has been drinking a little too much of Julian’s kool aid.
rriski: Pentagon Papers were published by NYT for 3 days before court injuncttion shut down NYT. That can NOT be done now because of the Web. Wikileaks has the benefit of multiple Web sites and mirror sites a
kirkland: I am all up for transparent information but the recipient needs to be ready and able to process the info …
rriski: …(sorry) across the globe. So Assange and his cyber team can publish info and hold large institutions accountable from “a distance” without legal restraints. Thanks.
joey_mornin: rriski: but is there a fundamental change? in both cases, the NYT knows more than the public.
kirkland: What is greatt with WL is that it is raw information and we dont have to try read between lines or opinions.
paul: without legal restraints, without accountability to voters
rriski: The NYT and WaPost have legal, military and gov. experts who can take the WL raw info and put it into context. Raw info is exacting but can be difficult to put into context without expertise.
rriski: Mr. Fancher is exactly right.
EastCoast: my point
joey_mornin: @panelist then why publish through 5 newpsapers, instead of publish the whole set of cables?
joey_mornin: Here’s a cleaner question:
joey_mornin: Why does Wikileaks choose not to publish all 250,000 of the cables? What does that decision say about the differences between the Net and traditional media, and the relationship between the two?
rriski: Suggest Julian Assange gave it to NYT, UK Guardian and other leading papers for the purpose of allowing them lead time in order to create news stories that provide context and meaning.
Brian Rowe UW iSchool: wikileaks is not the issue here if the state department stops wikileaks 10 more sites will crop up in thier place
cw: @Brian: I’m not sure I agree. with that much data, it may help to have a savvy organizations to protect the data nad make that spread happen
Seattlite: @Joey – do you think the cables should be released without anything redacted?
rriski: Daniel Ellsberg met Julian Assange in London only a few weeks ago in London. You can see the video footage of that at www.judithehrlich.com . Judith Ehrlich is the co-producer of “The World’s Most Dan
rriski: “The World’s Most Dangerous Man, Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” the Oscar-nominated documentary movie. Thanks.
deskartez: wikileaks has exposed what mainstream media in the USA would never report
joey_mornin: @Seattlite not at all. That’s why I think we need to take a closer, more critical look at the net’s role here. It doesn’t enable full transparency, nor is that what we want.
joey_mornin: (I LOVE the internet, by the way)
EastCoast: are there any actions of the state that should be keep from the public discourse, if only in the short term?
joey_mornin: @deskartez but the mainstream media IS reporting it–that’s how it was made available to the public
joey_mornin: not directly from wikileaks
joey_mornin: and still, wikileaks only releases what they first vet with major news orgs
Seattlite: I wonder how many people have actually been to wikileaks, and not just read what has been digested for them.
cw: @Eastcoast: That’s a great question; the other half is, can we trust the govt to decide when that is the case?
deskartez: exactly govenments espescially democratic govenments need to have transparency – all wistleblowers are important they are the checks and balances on our governments
rriski: Yes, EastCoast, read Near v. Minnesota from SCOTUS, the departure times of soldiers and battle info are not protected info for endangering soldiers and nat’l security.
joey_mornin: @EastCoast yes, definitely. states need secrets.
deskartez: only repressive states need secrecy
paul: Who is speaking now?
cw: Brett Horvath
paul: thanks
joey_mornin: deskartez can the state give me your SSN, DOB, and your financial history, then?
joey_mornin: that’s “personal” data but, in fact, it’s owned and maintained by the government
ladunkin: Question to panel: What are your thoughts on universities telling their students not to go to the wikileaks site, post articles, etc b/c it will affect possible future job opptys with the fed gov’t?
rriski: Yes, EastCoast, read Near v. Minnesota from SCOTUS, the departure times of soldiers and battle info are IS SECRET info for endangering soldiers and nat’l security. Sorry for awkward first description.
joey_mornin: @ladunkin Great Q. Here’s context: it was Columbia who asked their students to keep quiet. Here’s a post from a former student from Columbia in the program that was asked to keep silent:
joey_mornin: http://jackfruity.com/2010/12/sipa-shushing-students-over-cablegate-update/
joey_mornin: (and friend/coworker)
joey_mornin: Question for the panel: will we start seeing fake/fraudulent cables pretending to be part of the cablegate leaks?
moniguzman: Has OpenLeaks come up yet? It’s a spinoff of WikiLeaks launching soon … http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/12/09/how-openleaks-the-first-wikileaks-spinoff-will-work/
joey_mornin: …and what are the implications?
deskartez: that is different joey what is at issue is exposing torture murder and What the wikileaks show is a flagrant disregard for the democratic rights of foreign citizens by American Officials
DerrickMah: a
deskartez: this type of stuff needs to be exposed so that poepl know what is going on
kirkland: scary about SIPA…
rriski: Fancher right on again. Context is king and MSM verify raw data for quality and truthfullness.
paul: Q to panel: To what extent do proponents of public release support protection of identifiable inforamtion about dissidents in, say, North Korea? Who should decide?
DerrickMah: @joey_morning: There is already a known incidence of fraudulent cables: See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/09/pakistani-newspaper-fake-leaks-india
DerrickMah: well at least one known example
joey_mornin: @DerrickMah: also this: http://www.ding.net/wikileaks/234867.txt
joey_mornin: btw, columbia has retracted after pressure from students and the MSM
rriski: Some Columbia profs would suggest exactly the opposite. If students do n-o-t explore Wikileaks docs, it shows a lack of curiosity, inquisitiveness and topical interest in current events.
joey_mornin: @rriski Which profs? Source?
richjensen: “War” is  a very clumsy  and pernicious description of what WIKILEAKS is doing.  The term justifies a viloent reaction to their work.  Shouldn’t all fair-minded commenters reject the term “WAR”?
paul: I love the phrase “insane transparency”
richjensen: as in “cyberwar”…
joey_mornin: richjensen yes yes yes yes.
joey_mornin: richjensen: thank you.
Brian Rowe UW iSchool: it was, SIPA’s Office of Career Services warned students in an email last week that tweeting or posting about WikiLeaks on Facebook could endanger their job prospects with the federal government …
Brian Rowe UW iSchool: quote from huffington post
richjensen: WIKILEAKS is not, nor does it represent a warring state or enemy.
Eastsider: @richjensen “infotech intrusion”?
joey_mornin: @brain rowe: see above: http://jackfruity.com/2010/12/sipa-shushing-students-over-cablegate-update/
joey_mornin: (from a just-graduated SIPA student)
richjensen: Apparently it represents dissidents within the organs of the US Government.
joey_mornin: EthanZ is right. The Internet is a “public sphere” that’s controlled by profit-driven corporations.
richjensen: @Eastsider “truth break”?
richjensen: truth burst
yawn: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/6498
Brian Rowe UW iSchool: @joey_morin thx, the school still appears involed in redistribution but it was not an offical policy statement merely advice
Brian Rowe UW iSchool: the net neutrality is being brought up now is huge
EastCoast: anybody heard of the DOD
rriski: Yep, Ethan hits on a tough nut. FB has censored/edited its site when the Iranian protests produced graphic images of protests, including the death of Neda (sp?) and that viral video of her death, …
rriski: …later covered by The New York Times.
yawn: to the panel: Could this all lead to the adoption of laws like those in the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative? and how could that happen?
Brian Rowe UW iSchool: is there anyone fighting to expand the shield law in washington state to everyone?
rriski: Yes, Washington Coalition for Open Government. URL may be WashCOG.org.
yawn: washingtoncog.org
rriski: Also NICAR Nat’l Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting is an advocate of national shield law.
yawn: http://72.18.130.116/~publicey/
rriski: Love this dialogue. Fareed Zakaria’s GPS has diplomats on its CNN site and have discussed on how more diplomatic cables and matters will go to paper and non-electronic cables. Irony is abundant.
richjensen: Daniel Ellsberg: Hero or villian?
kirkland: for panel: do you think it will change diplomats’objectives and procedures? (ex: it was not really cost efficient to report on Sarkozy running after his son’s dog and rabbit)
paul: did I just hear sexual assault charges described as a game?
Seattlite: The details certainly raise some questions
rriski: Read the New Yorker profile on Assange: http://nyr.kr/93vPpw for some insights into background, values and methods of Wikileaks founder.
sasasa: Just saying hello in the name of 1 million dead irakis
Morgan: Sorry, who is on the panel?
yawn: but he’s not the founder. you already have bad facts
rriski: Read http://nyr.kr/93vPpw
paul: oh the puns
uwdigital: panelists: Mike Fancher, Editor at Large of The Seattle TimesBrett Horvath, Director of The Leaders NetworkSarah van Gelder, Editor-in-Chief, Yes! MagazineHosted by Hanson Hosein, Director MCDM
Morgan: Thx
sasasa: athenian decmocracy
paul: Great discussion and online experience–many thanks to all involved.
Morgan: So where is the question, “If this leak is ok, what about when Wikileaks posts millions of credit card numbers rather than diplomatic cables?”
yawn: are you joking
Russell: yea really
Morgan: Or the question, “Why are US military and diplomatic messages being leaked, but not Russian, North Korean, Iranian, Yemeni, etc”
sasasa: no military cables where leaked
Morgan: I was thinking of the last leak re: military info
sasasa: the video where we see the apache gunning down some people and joking about it?
MrSpetsnaz: Because countries listed havent got such lax security as US ?
sasasa: dotn you think these murderers need to be accountable?
Morgan: I am not saying that cables and credit card numbers are the same, I’d just like a conversation about how they are different.
Brian Rowe UW iSchool: wikileaks started as a wiki where anyone could post anything and failed, the current proccess is trying to vet the information and prevent fraud
yawn: @Morgan this is what you want to read pretaining to other countries: http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/11/29/an-interview-with-wikileaks-julian-assange/
Morgan: Thx
sasasa: plusgood
RainbowBrite: i
yawn: what ws that upcoming talk?
Brian Rowe UW iSchool: /agree information use ethis needs to be a core subject as part of civics.
Morgan: Authors of Blur
yawn: when who?
Russell: talk on the age of overlaoded info
sasasa: 404?
sasasa: owww.. using german in debate
yawn: ?? http://www.amazon.com/Blur-Speed-Change-Connected-Economy/dp/0446675334
sasasa: get off your behinds and do something lol
rriski: Hanson Hosein, Director MCDM, did a great job and a plea, thanks to audience, for media literacy.
Morgan: Yes, the host was very good.

I want to Applaud UW’s MCDM program for running a great event!

Q: Why does wikileaks matter?

A:  Brett Horvath, Director of The Leaders Network: This is about freedom of the press. This is about the tension between traditional institutions of power (governments, banks, companies) and distributed networks.  This is also about the backroom deals that happen between traditional power structures.

A: Sarah van Gelder, Editor-in-Chief, Yes! Magazine:  Serious journalist are failing us, wikileaks is disrupting the illusion that traditional media is propagating.

A:  Mike Fancher, Retired Executive Editor at The Seattle Times: Information was scare, that has changed in today’s media.  What is it that distinguishes professional  journalist from all other .values of the press: truth, minimize harm, be accountable.

privacy is dead the the NSA is watching me, I should able watch what the government is doing.   -Mike Fancher

Comment from the Audience: Good government can not be done totally open…

Sarah van Gelder: personal privacy /= government privacy.  Large institutions are held to a different standard a higher standard.  There should be a bias for governments and corporations to be open.

Mike Fancher: We need radical openness not insane openness. We do not want everything online but we want a lot more then what we have now.

Comment from the audience: a lot of people are mad, V for vendetta and 1984 is how the world feels to people and it is hard for us to give governments trust.

The Live stream: I am moving my comments over the the MCDM live stream. http://www.livestream.com/mcdm

This event will be live streamed at: http://www.livestream.com/mcdm

I will be attending in person.  I will either be live blogging or in the MCDM chat.

The UW’s Master of Communication in Digital Media (MCDM), in collaboration with the Seattle Public Library and City Club present:

Open Secrets: An Open Conversation about Wikileaks and Information Transparency in America

Seattle Public Library  – Microsoft Auditorium (1000 4th Ave, Seattle, WA)

5:00-7:00 p.m., Friday, December 10, 2010

Admission free, register here:  http://wikileaks.eventbrite.com
Subject Matter Experts

Mike Fancher, Retired Executive Editor at The Seattle Times
Brett Horvath, Director of The Leaders Network
Sarah van Gelder, Editor-in-Chief, Yes! Magazine

Hosted by Hanson Hosein, Director MCDM and Host of Media Space on UWTV
Produced by Scott Macklin, Associate Director MCDM

Description: With the explosion of digital and social media platforms over the past decade, we celebrate the idea of an openness and transparency – especially online.  Is Wikileaks just another platform within this new “open” environment?  Or has the past week’s events provided a harsh lesson in our need to retain control over certain forms of information?  We’ll engage the public in a conversation about the nature of Wikileaks and its impact on our understanding of the Internet.

The UW iSchool is expanding short movie contest which was extremely popular last year:

The iSight Short Film Festival is back! Last year was an unqualified success, with submissions from then-current students and alumni, including the Librarians Do Gaga video (as seen on Perez Hilton, Huffington Post, King5.com, NPR, etc.). Will your submission be the next to go viral?

Emboldened by last year’s success, we’ve expanded the event slightly. Last year, iArts, iWrite and iSchool Communications were able to fill Allen Auditorium. This year, plans are to hold the screening in the Henry Art Gallery’s auditorium, with a companion reception and art show in the Student Tech Lounge. The screening will be held in late May and promoted across campus, showcasing the terrific creativity of the iSchool community to the entire university.

Submissions can range from parody to comedy to video projects created for Capstone and other class projects. If you have questions feel free to email David at shepard1@uw.edu.

You can find the Facebook group for the festival here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=200726899704

Rules:
1. All submissions will due by May 17 at 11:59pm
2. All videos should be posted on YouTube, and the link included in an email message to: shepard1@uw.edu by the deadline
3. You grant the iSchool rights to post your video on our website and YouTube channel
4. You will also need to provide us with a master copy of your video (AVI, MOV, or Flash video file)

Prizes:
- $50 gift card to the UW Bookstore
- SIFF Cinematic Six-pack
- SIFF Cinematic Six-pack
- Two-year (12 issue) subscription to Script magazine
- Flip UltraHD Video Camera
- SIFF Film Buff 20-pack

Categories:
- “I Love Short-shorts” Award (less than 3 minutes)
- Spirit Award (best embodiment of iSchool spirit)
- iOpener Award (best film with a “social responsibility” theme)
- Best Screenplay
- Best Picture (as chosen by judges)
- Audience Favorite (as chosen by festival viewers)

Cameras/editing software:
If you need to borrow a video camera, UW Classroom Support services has them for checkout.
https://www.css.washington.edu/STFEquipment

We also have one or two in the iSchool equipment checkout system:
http://ischool.uw.edu/technology/checkouts.aspx

To edit your video, on Windows you can use the free Windows Live Movie Maker:
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker

On Mac there is iMovie.

Note Rowe: What about linux?

Good Luck all, *looks over at the LIS 550 syllabus* and wonders how to work this in.

This is the future of psychology and economics:

http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain.html

I have spoken with a few nonprofits lately that were not aware that the city of Seattle has a cable contract that enables free high speed internet access through community computing. Please check it out and help spread the word:

The City of Seattle, in cooperation with Comcast and Broadstripe, is providing free high speed Internet connections to organizations in Seattle providing community computer access and to a limited number of other non-profit organizations. This is part of the City’s effort to ensure technology literacy and access for all.

If you are interested in participating or have questions,contact Derrick Hall at derrick.hall@seattle.gov or (206) 233-5061. To apply for a connection, fill out our Internet service application form and email it to us. If you want a hard copy or need help, let us know.

Please know that completing the form does not promise service. Each site must be approved by the City of Seattle Department of Information Technology. The sites must also be in a location that the companies are able to provide service to. They will check this after an application is submitted.

Download the application form

The premier research center for online maters, Berkman, is accepting applicants for the next academic year.  Projects from Berkamn include the Digital Natives research project the Citizen Media Law Project.  One of my favorite ideas FriendlyTOS is also housed at Berkman (although it needs an Evangelist/leader).

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is now accepting applications for fellowships for the 2011-2012 academic year.

We are currently accepting applications through two distinct channels:

• First, we are accepting applications for a specific fellowship opportunity: our academic fellowship for rising early-to-mid career academics.
• Second, we are accepting applications for fellowships through our annual open call.

The academic fellowship is intended for a rising scholar who will use the period of the fellowship to develop his/her teaching and research career and produce compelling, potentially paradigm-shifting contributions to our understanding of cyberspace.  It is a stipended fellowship and residency in Cambridge, MA is required.  The deadline for applications for the academic fellowship is 11:59 p.m. ET on November 15, 2010.

Our annual open call for fellowship applications is an opportunity for academics and practitioners working on issues related to Internet and society to apply to be part of the Berkman fellows community.  Stipends and administrative determinations are made on a case-by-case basis, and residency in Cambridge, MA is preferred, though in lieu of residency, routine visits to Cambridge are required.  The deadline for applications through our open call is 11:59 p.m. ET on December 15, 2010.

More information about the academic fellowship can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships/academic20112012.

More information about our annual open call for fellowship applications can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships/opencall20112012.

Much more information about the Berkman Center Fellowship Program can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships.

A Fellowship Program FAQ can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships/faq.

Good Luck, if any one reading this is interested in applying, please let me know I am willing to help however I can.

I have been playing with a new plug in that creates polls.  Here is my first hack at it, have fun sharing your thoughts on privacy v. free speech.

Ezra Klein has a great piece up at the Washington Post on innovation Facebook: Where genius was 1% inspiration, 99% timeliness

Here is my favorite part:

Human beings are more comfortable thinking in terms of people than in terms of technology. And a movie about a socially inept genius is certainly more interesting than a film about conferences where programmers present advances in social network software. But the focus on people leads us to overinvest in the rewards for individual innovation and underinvest in the intellectual commons that make those innovations possible.

‎/
agree with Ezra Klein, we need more investment in the intellectual commons not in the rewards for innovation. Especially when the rewards, ie patents, prevent others from innovating.