To bring people together in CT to explore how best to use the social web to improve our quality of life.
Instigator Spotlight: Matthew Browning (@MatthewBrowning)
Submitted by Andre Yap on 2010, July 24 - 10:00am
Matt is a friend, father (to almost-two @AJBrowning), awe-shucks husband (to the vivacious @FeeBeeLLC), certified genius (he spanks me for letting others on that he's MENSA), fellow Yalie, nurse practitioner, founder & CEO of Intelliblast webware Your Nurse Is On (YNIO), New Haven landlord and neighborhood visionary (at the Hill where he's bought up and redeveloped a row of houses), brewer and part-owner of CT's own Thomas Hooker Beer (@HookerBeer), my co-instigator of #BeerHere. Matt is so many things to so many people in and around New Haven, CT.
JR was innocently demonstrating his awesome thumb drive full of Open Source software that could be inserted into any computer, booted up and used! WOW! Flash! Boom! The ideas were unleashed, and questions followed; could this be used to supplement the “One Laptop Per Child” program to increase functionality?, Could this be used to repurpose older machines?, and wouldn’t New Haven benefit from these machines being used by New Haven Families? After a lively conversation, I threw down the gauntlet and challenged the group to provision 100 contributed computers to be distributed through a conceptualized channel of “someone” who currently teaches kids how to use computers.
Like the heroic knights of old, Ben Berkowitz, JR, Giftflow guy, Ben’s IT, and others rose to the challenge. Computers became available, UberGeeks stepped up to the plate and offered to strip and provision the machines, and Giftflow became envisioned as a possible vehicle to find and allocate computers from larger organizations. Though the pilot program is a very limited 100 computers to 100 kids in 100 days, in keeping with the #GoogleHaven100 theme, It appears that this program could continue for some time and potentially affect thousands of New Haven resident’s live for the better.
The idea is for a person with distribution reach to work with the kids through a checklist of practical functions- can they log onto the web? can they write a paper in Open Office? can the Blog on Blogger? View a video on YouTube? Compose and send an email? Conduct a search on Google?, etc. When this list of tasks can be completed succesfully by the prospective student recipient, then they have earned a place in the digital community and we have begun to erode the “digital divide.” Though the pilot program is a very limited 100 computers to 100 kids in 100 days, in keeping with the #GoogleHaven100 theme, It appears that this program could continue for some time and potentially affect thousands of New Haven resident’s live for the better. With Lee Cruz’s announcement that Curtis Hill, Founder of Concepts for Adaptive Learning who has place over 1600 computers in New Haven homes, has decided to join us, we now have a solid distibution possibility and this project has Gone Live!!
How can you participate and be involved? Easy as 1, 2, 3.
1) Have an older computer/laptop that can reused?
2) Know how to strip old software and reinstall Opensource sofware?
3) Want to help teach, distribute, mentor and/or support local computer recipients?
(actually there is a fourth) Media, Google map mashups, and making Google aware are also important :-)
The Put Up and SHOW UP!!
Where: Ben Berkowitz’s See Click Fix New Haven Office
Address___________________________________________
Who: YOU!! If you are interested, YOU are welcome here!
What: UberGeeks, Old Computers, Hooker Beers :-)
Why: Because if WE DON”T DO IT it doesn’t happen.
When: Saturday August 7, 2010 at ________AM
100 lives changed due to the actions of a small group- beautiful
Repeated 100 times...AWESOME!!
We look forward to changing the world with you, right here in New Haven :-)
#TreeHvn is the Twitter hashtag for TreeHaven100 , a simple idea to find 100 spots in New Haven that need a tree and to reach out to organizations that plant those trees to make it happen. This was posited as an idea after our #SWFORCE meeting at the New Haven Mayor’s office as one my ideas for ACTION not DISCUSSION continuing from #swct . The tree canopy in many urban areas is insufficient for resident quality of life, to support wildlife or to provide much needed shade and oxygen. Several organizations currently strive to successfully identify locations in need of a tree, pair that tree with a “parent” that agrees to water it, and to get that tree in the ground. Frankly, it was a nebulous idea, a simple suggestion, that turned out to be well received.
In an example of “be careful what you wish for,” just days after mentioning and posting this idea, with little support (Thanks Julia!!) a woman named Margaret Carmalt from Urban Resources Initiative was knocking at the door to my home asking “may we plant a tree here? and would you water it?” I responded I’d like to plant 100 in New Haven, to which she replied that she wanted “to plant 500 this season.”
And just like that, #TreeHvn became a reality. Our mutual goal is 50 trees in the Hill and 50 trees in the Fair Haven area, planted and “parented.” On my initial foray into the Hill area, I identified 142 areas that need a tree planted and am curently working on pairing these trees with “parents” that will commit to watering these trees with 25 gallons of water per week for 10 weeks.
We have- Trees, planting teams, concrete cutters and SOME water bags for trees.
That’s right we HAVE trees AND people to plant them, already!!
We need spots identified that need trees in Fair Haven, people who will commit to watering them (preferably resident’s near tree) and people to meet with and encourage the planting teams, thanking them, sharing water, stories, etc. If the Mayor would like to be involved, we could use help watering 100+ trees that are making New Haven a truly “Livable City.” We also need help getting the word out, blogging, recognizing URI, the Planters and Parents, geo-tagging planted trees, etc.
Want to be involved? It is Easy as 1, 2, 3
1) Speak UP!! email, twitter, phone your desire to be involved.
2) Find homes for trees- we can cut concrete, fill existing sidewalk holes, etc.
3) Pair trees with “parents”, get them planted and keep watered
Hey GOOGLE! Your #GoogleHaven should be sustainable and 100 Trees in 100 days is another example of why New Haven is #GoogleHaven’s hom
#DrumHvn is the Twitter hashtag for DrumHaven100. The concept is ancient, traditional and fundamental- there is an underlying rhythm to our entire lives, heartbeat, breath, circadian, etc.. #SWCT and #SWForce and #GoogleHaven have permanently changed the rhythm of New Haven forever and we want to shout it out to the entire city, world and universe. So in recognition of our new found tribalism we’ve gone retro- Drumming.
The sacred voice of Humans has been magnified through drumming since the beginning of history to symbolize and commemorate battles, victories and changing paradigms. Our vision of 100 drummers on the New Haven Green for 100 minutes commemorates, and give voice to, the battles entered by the #GoogleHaven, #swct and #SWForce teams, our victories and the paradigms changed.
Of the people, for the people and by the people- We come, we drum and we have some fun!!
Tentatively planned for the afternoon of September 23, the autumn equinox, 100 minutes before sunset, 10 drummers will begin to express our collective voices, they will be joined by 10 more, then 10 more, then 10 more, etc. until their collective voices become one, a crescendo racing towards climax, celebrating our continuing accomplishments, cementing our coalesced community and welcoming an Autumn of opportunities.
While discussing with the omnipresent Lee Cruz a fallen tree in my neighborhood that would be perfect for making drums, he mentioned Michael Mills of DrumsNoGuns.org .
Michael challenged me to save the tree for him and I challenged him to find 100 drummers for the green. I am pleased to say, both of us rose to our challenges :-)
If you drum, clap, stomp or are into other type of percussion PLEASE come and share your voice. If you are a fan of performance art, have participate in ANY of the #swct, #swforce or #googlehaven events, please come and be celbrated- You ROCK!!
How does this tie into #GoogleHaven? we mix ancient with futuristic- Drumming with YouTube video, Blogging about event and people searching Google for the meaning of cacaphony ;-) 100 powerful voices for the future...Are you listening Google?
How can you participate??
1) bring a drum, percussion instrument, audio recorder, video camera, voice or ears!
2) Celebrate your accomplishments, new friends and community
3) Share it with the community, the world and Google
Matt is a friend, father (to almost-two @AJBrowning), awe-shucks husband (to the vivacious @FeeBeeLLC), certified genius (he spanks me for letting others on that he's MENSA), fellow Yalie, nurse practitioner, founder & CEO of Intelliblast webware Your Nurse Is On (YNIO), New Haven landlord and neighborhood visionary (at the Hill where he's bought up and redeveloped a row of houses), brewer and part-owner of CT's own Thomas Hooker Beer (@HookerBeer), my co-instigator of #BeerHere. Matt is so many things to so many people in and around New Haven, CT.
Lately, however, Matt is probably best known as an Instigator of our Social Web.
This morning Matt sent me 3 of his instigations via email - I am pasting them verbatim for 3 reasons:- they're great projects, worthy of our support, or at least awareness;
- they grew organically from idea to conversation to connection to collaboration - in days!
- they're crying out for a social web platform (read: tech and community enabled) that will allow cities/communities to identify, connect, converse, and collaborate around common vision initiatives - exactly what we're doing in The New Haven Project: 100 Common Visions in 100 Days. You can look at this rather painful writeup as a preview of both the need and the solution we're working towards.
So, without further ado, heeeere's Matt, with 3 of his instigations!
#CompHvn is the twitter hashtag for Computer Haven, a plan to refurbish 100 older computers with full suites of Open Source software and distribute to 100 New Haven kids/families. The origins of the idea are the stuff of legend and folklore. A group of rebels, led this particular night by JR _________ from ______________, call themselves the OpenSource for Good Tweetup group and include such innovators as Ben Berkowitz, Giftflow guys, Mark and others. ON this particular night they included participants in Connecticut’s #SWCT or Social Web Connecticut’s week of events. Some of these folks included: Andre Yap and Amy Desmaris from Ripple100, New Haven community organizer Lee Cruz, and myself, along with several others.JR was innocently demonstrating his awesome thumb drive full of Open Source software that could be inserted into any computer, booted up and used! WOW! Flash! Boom! The ideas were unleashed, and questions followed; could this be used to supplement the “One Laptop Per Child” program to increase functionality?, Could this be used to repurpose older machines?, and wouldn’t New Haven benefit from these machines being used by New Haven Families? After a lively conversation, I threw down the gauntlet and challenged the group to provision 100 contributed computers to be distributed through a conceptualized channel of “someone” who currently teaches kids how to use computers.
Like the heroic knights of old, Ben Berkowitz, JR, Giftflow guy, Ben’s IT, and others rose to the challenge. Computers became available, UberGeeks stepped up to the plate and offered to strip and provision the machines, and Giftflow became envisioned as a possible vehicle to find and allocate computers from larger organizations. Though the pilot program is a very limited 100 computers to 100 kids in 100 days, in keeping with the #GoogleHaven100 theme, It appears that this program could continue for some time and potentially affect thousands of New Haven resident’s live for the better.
The idea is for a person with distribution reach to work with the kids through a checklist of practical functions- can they log onto the web? can they write a paper in Open Office? can the Blog on Blogger? View a video on YouTube? Compose and send an email? Conduct a search on Google?, etc. When this list of tasks can be completed succesfully by the prospective student recipient, then they have earned a place in the digital community and we have begun to erode the “digital divide.” Though the pilot program is a very limited 100 computers to 100 kids in 100 days, in keeping with the #GoogleHaven100 theme, It appears that this program could continue for some time and potentially affect thousands of New Haven resident’s live for the better. With Lee Cruz’s announcement that Curtis Hill, Founder of Concepts for Adaptive Learning who has place over 1600 computers in New Haven homes, has decided to join us, we now have a solid distibution possibility and this project has Gone Live!!
How can you participate and be involved? Easy as 1, 2, 3.
1) Have an older computer/laptop that can reused?
2) Know how to strip old software and reinstall Opensource sofware?
3) Want to help teach, distribute, mentor and/or support local computer recipients?
(actually there is a fourth) Media, Google map mashups, and making Google aware are also important :-)
The Put Up and SHOW UP!!
Where: Ben Berkowitz’s See Click Fix New Haven Office
Address___________________________________________
Who: YOU!! If you are interested, YOU are welcome here!
What: UberGeeks, Old Computers, Hooker Beers :-)
Why: Because if WE DON”T DO IT it doesn’t happen.
When: Saturday August 7, 2010 at ________AM
100 lives changed due to the actions of a small group- beautiful
Repeated 100 times...AWESOME!!
We look forward to changing the world with you, right here in New Haven :-)
#TreeHvn is the Twitter hashtag for TreeHaven100 , a simple idea to find 100 spots in New Haven that need a tree and to reach out to organizations that plant those trees to make it happen. This was posited as an idea after our #SWFORCE meeting at the New Haven Mayor’s office as one my ideas for ACTION not DISCUSSION continuing from #swct . The tree canopy in many urban areas is insufficient for resident quality of life, to support wildlife or to provide much needed shade and oxygen. Several organizations currently strive to successfully identify locations in need of a tree, pair that tree with a “parent” that agrees to water it, and to get that tree in the ground. Frankly, it was a nebulous idea, a simple suggestion, that turned out to be well received.
In an example of “be careful what you wish for,” just days after mentioning and posting this idea, with little support (Thanks Julia!!) a woman named Margaret Carmalt from Urban Resources Initiative was knocking at the door to my home asking “may we plant a tree here? and would you water it?” I responded I’d like to plant 100 in New Haven, to which she replied that she wanted “to plant 500 this season.”
And just like that, #TreeHvn became a reality. Our mutual goal is 50 trees in the Hill and 50 trees in the Fair Haven area, planted and “parented.” On my initial foray into the Hill area, I identified 142 areas that need a tree planted and am curently working on pairing these trees with “parents” that will commit to watering these trees with 25 gallons of water per week for 10 weeks.
We have- Trees, planting teams, concrete cutters and SOME water bags for trees.
That’s right we HAVE trees AND people to plant them, already!!
We need spots identified that need trees in Fair Haven, people who will commit to watering them (preferably resident’s near tree) and people to meet with and encourage the planting teams, thanking them, sharing water, stories, etc. If the Mayor would like to be involved, we could use help watering 100+ trees that are making New Haven a truly “Livable City.” We also need help getting the word out, blogging, recognizing URI, the Planters and Parents, geo-tagging planted trees, etc.
Want to be involved? It is Easy as 1, 2, 3
1) Speak UP!! email, twitter, phone your desire to be involved.
2) Find homes for trees- we can cut concrete, fill existing sidewalk holes, etc.
3) Pair trees with “parents”, get them planted and keep watered
Hey GOOGLE! Your #GoogleHaven should be sustainable and 100 Trees in 100 days is another example of why New Haven is #GoogleHaven’s hom
#DrumHvn is the Twitter hashtag for DrumHaven100. The concept is ancient, traditional and fundamental- there is an underlying rhythm to our entire lives, heartbeat, breath, circadian, etc.. #SWCT and #SWForce and #GoogleHaven have permanently changed the rhythm of New Haven forever and we want to shout it out to the entire city, world and universe. So in recognition of our new found tribalism we’ve gone retro- Drumming.
The sacred voice of Humans has been magnified through drumming since the beginning of history to symbolize and commemorate battles, victories and changing paradigms. Our vision of 100 drummers on the New Haven Green for 100 minutes commemorates, and give voice to, the battles entered by the #GoogleHaven, #swct and #SWForce teams, our victories and the paradigms changed.
Of the people, for the people and by the people- We come, we drum and we have some fun!!
Tentatively planned for the afternoon of September 23, the autumn equinox, 100 minutes before sunset, 10 drummers will begin to express our collective voices, they will be joined by 10 more, then 10 more, then 10 more, etc. until their collective voices become one, a crescendo racing towards climax, celebrating our continuing accomplishments, cementing our coalesced community and welcoming an Autumn of opportunities.
While discussing with the omnipresent Lee Cruz a fallen tree in my neighborhood that would be perfect for making drums, he mentioned Michael Mills of DrumsNoGuns.org .
Michael challenged me to save the tree for him and I challenged him to find 100 drummers for the green. I am pleased to say, both of us rose to our challenges :-)
If you drum, clap, stomp or are into other type of percussion PLEASE come and share your voice. If you are a fan of performance art, have participate in ANY of the #swct, #swforce or #googlehaven events, please come and be celbrated- You ROCK!!
How does this tie into #GoogleHaven? we mix ancient with futuristic- Drumming with YouTube video, Blogging about event and people searching Google for the meaning of cacaphony ;-) 100 powerful voices for the future...Are you listening Google?
How can you participate??
1) bring a drum, percussion instrument, audio recorder, video camera, voice or ears!
2) Celebrate your accomplishments, new friends and community
3) Share it with the community, the world and Google
- Andre Yap's blog
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@KariDiMarzio I know I love drita. But Karens brown lipstick .. #swct
Dancers