Berkman Buzz: January 24, 2014

The US federal government has a new set of OA mandates. They were adopted as part of the new Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 (HR 3547), which was introduced in Congress two days ago, passed by the House the same day, passed by the Senate the next day, and signed by President Obama today, less than one hour ago.

Deadline for applying to BEAUTIFUL DATA: TELLING STORIES ABOUT ART WITH OPEN COLLECTIONS is March 1, 2014. Apply at http://metalab.harvard.edu/apply/
—metaLAB (at) Harvard (@metalabharvard)

Days were fun but intense. I worked concurrently on several initiatives. One project was a video that used previous Youth and Media focus group interview quotes to drive a narrative regarding youth negotiating privacy issues with their parents online. It was comedic and a lot of fun.

Another project was a set of infographics regarding bullying and cyberbullying. I helped direct a couple of other Berkterns to create compelling graphics that demonstrate various academic ideas but in a more digestible form.

Compared to the “normal” internet — which is based on a few centralized access points or internet service providers (ISPs) — mesh networks have many benefits, from architectural to political. Yet they haven’t really taken off, even though they have been around for some time. I believe it’s time to reconsider their potential, and make mesh networking a reality. Not just because of its obvious benefits, but also because it provides an internet-native model for building community and governance.

The best foundations and philanthropies exist to address market failure, working to solve problems that business and government ignore or make worse. Andrew Carnegie funded public libraries in America. Bill and Melinda Gates are working to save lives in the developing world. The Ford Foundation puts social justice at the core of its programs.

Now it's time for our major foundations and philanthropists to address an impending new failure. They can help save the kinds of open, decentralized systems that gave us personal computing and the internet.

Gmail down around the world? http://t.co/Or4mQ0tDDO Report on Herdict: http://t.co/b7cJm7T8R1
—Herdict (@herdict)

In this special edition of GV Face, GV veterans and colleagues join us live from Amman, Jordan, where nearly 80 bloggers and activists from throughout the Arab region came together this week for the Fourth Arab Bloggers Meeting. After four days of training and discussion between bloggers, activists, musicians, rappers, teachers and scholars from across the region, there's plenty to talk about.

GVers Advox Director Hisham Almiraat, GV MENA Region Editor Amira Al Hussaini, SMEX Co-Director Mohammed Najem and Berkman Fellow Dalia Othman share with us their insights from this remarkable event.