http://www.novanda.com a blog at the intersection of activism and technology Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:10:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en TIME magazine recently reported on what happens to consumer electronics when they die, and it's pretty ugly. Read the article, or if you prefer, watch Michael Zhao's YouTube video: In large part, it's up to us to dispose of our e-waste safely, and up to manufacturers to publish instructions for doing ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/07/03/dirty-laptops-a-book-drive-and-kittens/ As a copyleftist, I admire the intent behind the Orphan Works Act of 2008 (H.R. 5889 and S. 2913). At present, as far as today's artists and historians are concerned, orphan works—those for whom the creators, or the creators' beneficiaries, cannot be located—might as well be locked in a vault. ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/06/23/making-the-orphan-works-act-work-for-everyone/ In my previous post, I discussed the workings of PGP e-mail encryption, as well as the rationale behind it. To recap: unencrypted e-mail is like a postcard, viewable to anyone who intercepts it. Encrypted e-mail is in a metaphorical envelope, signed and sealed.  PGP encryption takes a little bit of ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/06/19/take-back-your-e-mail-part-2/ (It's been a while, but I'm back. Thanks to the folks at Brazen Careerist for inviting me aboard; I'm honored to be a part of such an interesting community.) E-mail is not private. Every message you send travels as plain text over the Web, with no safeguards to prevent some malicious person ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/05/27/take-back-your-e-mail-part-1/ One of GOOD magazine's latest "Transparencies" (interesting charts, to the rest of us) is on plants that can neutralize common toxins.  The chart itself is a rather unwieldy graphic - I had to scroll sideways to get the whole thing, and my monitor's set at 1280 x 800 - so ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/05/06/little-green-machines/ Employee Evolution's latest post on Generation Y and activism is really interesting, as is the discussion in the comments. My first thoughts are over there. More later, probably. http://www.novanda.com/2008/05/03/world-changing/ This bill, currently pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, would essentially hold U.S. companies accountable for working with the governments of "Internet-restricting countries" to violate citizens' Internet freedoms. The megacorporations are not happy. The Interactive Advertising Bureau - which counts AOL, AT&T, Fox News, Google, Reuters, Time Inc., and ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/04/28/hr-275-global-online-freedom-act-of-2007/ Last night's Democratic primary in Pennsylvania failed to resolve anything. The horse race will continue, and the media will cover every second of it. I won't be watching. My state's primary took place on Super Tuesday; I've cast my vote. And now the campaign has degenerated into pettiness and sniping. So ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/04/23/i-wasnt-going-to-talk-about-politics-but-this-is-ridiculous/ The captioned version of the Project Blackout pic is apparently catching on.  Practically speaking, I don't expect the presence of a caption to affect how many mosquito nets get over to Africa.  Still, it's a small illustration of the beauty of internet-driven campaigns: anyone can participate at any level.  Anyone ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/04/15/more-thoughts-about-online-anti-malaria-campaigns/ Every year, as many as three million people, most of whom are in Africa, die of malaria. Most of these deaths are preventable. Bed nets, if a family is lucky enough to have them, can protect against infectious mosquito bites. Antimalarial drugs can combat the disease itself, if one lives ... http://www.novanda.com/2008/04/10/malaria-in-africa/