Category Archives: Politics

Revolution 2.0 is coming soon to a store near you

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Check out this event at the journo-driven Frontline Club on the 1st of Feb:

“Named one of Time magazine’s top 100 most influential people, Wael Ghonim, is credited with having sparked Egypt’s revolution with a Facebook page he dedicated to a victim of the regime’s violence.

“The ‘We are all Khaled Said’ Facebook page that he created after the young man’s brutal murder and torture by police in Alexandria became such a focal point of the uprising that Ghonim was imprisoned for 11 days. The former Google executive will be talking to Ben Hammersley, Wired UK’s, editor at large about the revolution and the role of technology in mobilising people to take to the streets.

“He will also be bringing us up to date with what’s been happening since the jubilant celebrations a year ago and his work since he left Google in April this year. Wael Ghonim’s new book Revolution 2.0 is published by Fourth Estate on 17 January.”

As side note I saw someone tweet that the 2011 crop of revolutions were not especially significant, or words to that effect. However, political changes in the Middle East over the ages can be disproportionately influential, imho.

 

Digital Economy Act reply from Stephen Timms MP

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Reply below from Stephen Timms office on what is now the Digital Economy Act; shame I missed asking him about it the day before yesterday when he had a stall outside Primark on the fine Edwardian style High Street North in East Ham but I was busy preparing for a meeting with an agency who’s clients include Sony Pictures (Sony Pictures maybe one of the first customers for Twitter’s new resonance advertising called ‘Promoted Tweets’ I understand from yesterday’s BBC news piece – hence the mention:-).

Anyhow, pardon the digression the reason for which may become evident shortly – for your kind consideration the letter published below. Any comments?

14 April 2010

Dear Mr Hall,

Thank you for your email of 7 April to Stephen Timms, about the Parliamentary scrutiny of the Digital Economy Act.

The Minister receives a large amount of correspondence every day and is unable to respond to each one personally.  I have been asked to reply.

The Act received extensive scrutiny during its passage through the House of Lords and was considered and approved by the House of Commons before it gained Royal Assent.  In addition the Act was also widely considered by a number of Parliamentary Committees.

A full Commons scrutiny process would have been everyone’s preference, but the calling of the election meant there was insufficient time.  I heard very little suggestion from parliamentarians that the Act should have been abandoned.  Rather, all Parliamentary stages were completed during the wash-up, an agreed process undertaken by the government of the day to conclude Parliamentary business before prorogation.

Yours sincerely,
Picture (Metafile)
Johanna Walsh
BIS MINISTERIAL CORRESPONDENCE UNIT

The Conservatives go viral

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The invitation from David Cameron backing up today’s manifesto launch to “join the government of Britain” has a link to an email form where you can include up to 10 people, including friends and family. It’s an example of a viral campaign.

Next month, you’ll get to choose a new government. But don’t just choose it, be a part of it. I mean it. We’ve got big problems in this country and the truth is politicians can’t do everything on their own. We need your energy, your ideas, your passion to get this country moving.

That’s why this email is an invitation to you to join the government of Britain. It might not be embossed on a thick white card, but it’s still heartfelt. If we win this election, we’re going to give you more control over your life, more power to make a difference to your neighbourhood, more opportunities to change our country for the better.

WATCH: An invitation to join the government of Britain

Watch this video to find out how you can help build the Big Society

Just imagine: a country working together to dig ourselves out of this debt and get our economy moving. A country working together to protect our NHS and improve it for all of us. A country working together to mend our broken society. A country working together to make politics and politicians work better.

So come on then, get involved. The more people join, the stronger the force for change will be. I want millions to be inspired and mobilised to play their part – and that movement starts here. So please, spread the word. I’m asking you to send this invitation on to just three friends, workmates or family members. Get them involved too. Extend the invitation. Together we can build the future.

David Cameron (signature)

The cost of policing the Digital Economy Bill for schools

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My letter to Stephen Timms MP (via WriteTo Them) highlighting the cost of policing the Digital Econmy Bill to schools.

Exactly how expensive would it be to enforce this law in schools?

Solitaire, social media and consumer action

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How do you get action over poor property management service? Use social media tools of course. Want an example where this has worked? Sure, go to TheTruthAbout: Solitaire & Peverel Property Management where people are using online tools from a purpose built website, presence on Facebook, and communication through RSS feeds, through to a No 10 Downing Street petition to publicise the belief that “companies like Peverel / Solitaire / County Estate Management should be held accountable for poor service, shoddy workmanship and overcharging”.

It appears they did see some improvement in service when it appeared the BBC TV consumer programme Watchdog was about to take the company to task, though recent posts on the website suggest the improvements are not consistently applied.

Interesting as the Shadow Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, started following me on Twitter today, he’s at @grantshapps btw. I wonder if he’d be interested in delving deeper into this sense of grievance, as I suspect that many leaseholders happen to be (a) In marginal constituencies (b) compose of a large proportion of swing votes.

Anyhow just a thought.

Disclaimer: Solitaire owns Freehold Managers PLC, with has yet to sort out my ground rent properly after two years since purchase of my property at the Cotton Mill in Leicester. Luckily my other (converted maltings) property in Bristol is rented off a v. friendly commercial lawyer!

Grant Shapps

Startups and amplified individuals

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Looking forward to We20 in Leicester on Saturday, meeting people who want to make the city a better place to live and work!

I’m taking this great BusinessWeek piece about creating jobs by supporting start-ups in the US to the meeting in the town hall, and hope to get the chance to discuss  its relevance to Leicester in beating the recession.

Video from NESTA We20 event above also sets the scene.  Note the connection with NESTA’s Amplied City Leicester in creating a network of amplified individuals who might benefit from such entreprenurial support?

Labour Party supporters ethic of progressive blogging

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Interesting statement of ethics by pro-Labour bloggers setting out their ethic which informs their blogging. It includes this call to Government to see online engagement as a cultural change worth engaging with. Maybe a little blogging training would go along way in providing Ministers with the tools for the job?

We believe that attempts to transfer ‘command and control’ models to online politics will inevitably fail. Labour must show that it gets that – in practice as well as theory – if we are make our contribution to the progressive movements on which our causes depend.

The government and the political parties should use their official spaces to contribute to and enable these conversations. We also want to see Ministers and MPs having the confidence to engage in political debate and argument elsewhere, while being clear that there is no value for anybody in seeking to control independent spaces for discussion.

On Facebook, People Own and Control Their Information?

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I saw this today:

“Zuckerberg is saying, “Trust us.” But it is difficult to trust a company that is stripping users of rights they’ve become accustomed to, even if hardly any of them ever actually asserted those rights in practice”. And did this:

I've deactivated my Facebook account

I've deactivated my Facebook account

Not surprising in one way as their backed by some big money that need a return on their investment. Nice acid test for Mr Zuckerberg. Here’s his response on Facebook. I guess the pressure’s on.

Hmm, Perez Hilton doesn’t like Facebook either so I’m in good company:

logo_facebook__opt1.jpg

We’re so glad we’ve never uploaded any of our stuff onto Facebook!

You Facebook users are SCREWED.

Did you know that everything you’ve loaded up into your profile (personal pictures, etc.) belongs to Facebook, even after you’ve closed your account?

That’s what it says in the Terms of Service you agreed to when you opened your account, apparently.

The Consumerist recently uncovered this disturbing info and it’s causing quite a stir.

So, what does this mean?

Basically, Facebook can do whatever the hell they want with YOUR STUFF.

And, they can do so WITHOUT your permission.

For example, they can license your personal pictures out to companies, make a shizzle of money and don’t have to give you a dime.

Sounds really, really shitty and sooo shady!!!!!

How to write a killer report

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PDF of the rogue UK housing minister document, in the process detailing how to best write a killer report from Jon Moon, reproduced in all its ‘bouncy’ bullet-point glory:

In May 2008, Gordon Brown’s housing minister, Caroline Flint, exposed the Government’s fears over the poor state of the housing market when she accidentally let photographers glimpse a ‘top-secret’ report as she walked into No 10.

Page 2 looks at some of the many things the note got wrong (and it’s laid out as a WiT, needless to say). And on page 3 I’ve transformed it by doing it as a WiT. WiT is my seriously better alternative to bullets that triples impact. It transforms all types of documents – slides, reports, notes, CVs, meeting minutes, KPI packs and more. Visit www.jmoon.co.uk for more.