This is a video made about free and open web access as a right for all people, with all interests, of all backgrounds -- it's for all of us. Enjoy - Jesse Dylan, FreeForm
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
140 Character Conference presents Dave Winer: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Fail Whale
A littel bit slow, but the last part is so true. Dave Winer, entrepreneur, software developer and writer discusses his relationship with the infamous Twitter Fail Whale.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
POWER STATION SEIGE AS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS SHUT DOWN N-POWER'S FLAGSHIP COAL PLANT
Monday 26th October 2009
POWER STATION SEIGE AS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS SHUT DOWN N-POWER'S FLAGSHIP
COAL PLANT
Protesters scale chimney and have supplies to last weeks
Climate campaigners have this morning shut down N-Power's flagship coal
plant at Didcot in Oxforshire.
The twenty peaceful protesters rode their push-bikes past security
guards at 4.30am this morning before splitting into two groups. One team
has shut down the giant coal conveyors which feed the boilers at the
plant, while a second group of nine men and women has climbed the inside
of the iconic 200m-high chimney and reached the top. They say they have
enough food and water to stay in place for 'weeks, not days' - during
which time the plant will be unable to operate. Already the activists in
the chimney are securing the route behind them to ensure they can't be
reached by police and security guards.
The huge coal plant in Oxfordshire is owned and operated by German
utility company N-Power, which is building new coal plants across Europe
and wants to build the first new coal-fired power stations in Britain in
30 years.
A small amount of coal was in the boilers as the invasion occurred. That
will last for several hours, after which the protesters will scale the
flues at the very top of the chimney (which would normally emit 1000
tonnes of CO2 an hour) and abseil into them, with some of the activists
then living inside the chimney for the duration of their occupation.
Activists will remain in the flues until their food and water runs out,
preventing the station from re-opening.
"We're a bunch of ordinary people who met at the Climate Camp this
summer and were inspired to actually do something about climate change,"
said Amy Johnson, 20, one of the protesters at the summit of the huge
200m chimney. "We rode our bikes into the power station this morning and
now we're on the top of the chimney. To be honest we're quite surprised
at how easy it all was. I didn't quite expect to be here."
She continued:
"Since E-ON shelved their plans to build a new coal plant at Kingsnorth
this month, we realised N-Power is the new frontline. They haven't
dropped their plans to build the dirtiest new power stations in Britain
for thirty years, and they're constructing new coal plants right across
Europe. We're going to stay here until they say they'll stop building
new coal plants. We know that might take a while but we're patient and
we've got plenty of supplies to stay up here. We're talking weeks, not
days."
Amy Johnson added:
"We decided the most powerful place we could set up a Climate Camp would
be at the top of N-Power's most iconic chimney, and that's what we've
done. I'd be a liar if said I wasn't scared climbing up this smokestack,
but climate change scares me a lot more. We've got people locked on to
the coal conveyors and people are going over the top and inside the
actual chimney. There's no way we can be reached, we're in control of
this power plant and we're not moving any time soon."
The protesters researched today's action carefully, putting the safety
of N-Power staff and the activists first. The climbers preparing to
abseil into the chimney are fully trained and highly experienced. The
activists only shut down Didcot after confirming that their actions
would not cause power cuts - there is always slack in the National Grid
to cope with generating outages, forced or otherwise. If there is a
displacement of emissions from coal to gas (or no generation) it will
reduce net CO2 emissions in the course of the occupation by tens of
thousands of tonnes.
Amy Johnson said:
"In every country CO2 emissions are linked to economic growth, so in
countries like the UK our insatiable hunger for more and more products
and consumer goods is driving climate change. The world's finite
resources need to be shared more fairly, and the richest countries which
got us into this mess need to take the lead in reducing emissions. We're
on this chimney to demand climate justice as the world prepares to meet
in Copenhagen. We're defending human life and people's property around
the world that's in immediate need of protection from the ravages of
rising temperatures."
While N-Power claims that new coal is necessary to 'keep the lights on',
in reality its push for new coal plants at Tilbury and Hunterston is
motivated by profit, with coal-burning being cheaper than other fuels
despite its enormous climate impact. Consultants at Poyry - Europe's
leading independent energy experts - found that Britain could easily
meet its energy demands without resorting to new coal as long as the
country hits its renewable and energy efficiency targets.
Why coal, why Didcot?
* The single greatest threat to the climate comes from burning coal.
Coal-fired generation is historically responsible for most of the
fossil-fuel CO2 in the air today, about half of all fossil-fuel carbon
dioxide emissions globally.
* Coal-fired power generation is the most environmentally damaging means
of generating electricity yet devised. In fact, in carbon terms, coal is
the dirtiest fuel known to man.
* Ed Miliband recently announced plans to allow the construction of four
new coal plants that would emit about 80% of their emissions into the
atmosphere. That would make them the most carbon-polluting new coal
plants built in Britain for 30 years. N-Power is behind 2 possible
plants, at Tilbury and Hunterston
* As we close old coal-fired and nuclear power stations in the next
decade we will lose capacity currently providing around a quarter of our
electricity output. But Gordon Brown recently committed to targets which
will require us to generate about 35-40% of our electricity from
renewables alone by 2020, and the UK also has fairly ambitious energy
efficiency targets. According to Europe's leading independent energy
experts, Poyry, if the UK was to hit these existing renewables and
efficiency targets, there will be no 'energy gap.' We can keep the
lights on and cut emissions, and in the long run bring down fuel bills
too - all without new coal-fired plants like Kingsnorth.
* The world's most respected climate scientist, Dr. Jim Hansen, director
of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, is so concerned about
plans for new coal plants in Britain that he took the unprecedented step
of writing to the Prime Minister to say that with the decision over
whether or not to allow Kingsnorth, Brown has the potential to influence
"the future of the planet"
* Coal-fired power generation really is an outdated technology for a
21st century, climate changing world. Even today, Britain's centralised,
inefficient coal-fired power stations waste over two-thirds of the
energy they generate. The proposed new coal plant at Kingsnorth,
although more efficient than the old one, would still use old-style
conventional technology that would waste (as heat) over half of all the
energy the power station creates. Compare that with the state-of-the-art
power plants they use in Scandinavia which run at up to 94% efficiency.
* Burning coal in the UK has already halted the decline in emissions
seen in the 1990s following the 'dash for gas' and has undermined
progress from other sectors in cutting emissions. Since Labour came to
power, carbon dioxide emissions have actually increased and this can be
attributed in large part due to 'the roll to coal' as well as increased
aviation emissions.
* Dr. Jim Hansen, one of the first climate scientists to warn of global
warming, says: "The only practical way to prevent CO2 levels from going
far into the dangerous range, with disastrous effects for humanity and
other inhabitants of the planet, is to phase out use of coal except at
power plants where the CO2 is captured and sequestered."
* Equally, Sir Martin Rees, President of the prestigious Royal Society,
wrote to the Government saying, "Allowing any new coal-fired power
station, such as Kingsnorth, to go ahead without a clear strategy and
incentives for the development and deployment of carbon capture and
storage (CCS) technology would send the wrong message about the UK's
commitment to address climate change, both globally and to the energy
sector."
"I therefore suggest that the government only gives consent to any new
coal- fired power station, such as Kingsnorth, on condition that the
operating permits are withdrawn if the plant fails to capture 90% of its
carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. This would send a clear policy signal
to industry of the need to develop and deploy CCS as quickly as
possible."
* Lord Adair Turner's inaugural report from the Committee on Climate
Change sets out that achieving an 80% domestic reduction in emissions by
2050 means the decarbonisation of the UK power sector must start now and
continue through the 2020s, so that we can secure the "almost total
decarbonisation of electricity generation by 2030".
Sunday, October 25, 2009
How to do open video - part 3 of 3
Great advice from people who did open video already. visionOntv's 1st report from the Open Video Conference in New York 19-20 June. http://visionon.tv http://openvideoconference.org
How to do open video - part 2 of 3
Great advice from people who did open video already. visionOntv's 1st report from the Open Video Conference in New York 19-20 June. http://visionon.tv http://openvideoconference.org
How to do open video part 1of 3 - how NOT to
Great advice from people who did open video already. visionOntv's 1st report from the Open Video Conference in New York 19-20 June. http://visionon.tv http://openvideoconference.org
H2Oil - trailer
In the vast, pristine forests of Western Canada, the war for water has already begun
Thanks to Albertas Athabasca oil sands, Canada is now the biggest oil supplier to the United States. A controversial billion-dollar industry is heavily invested in extracting crude from the tarry sands through a process so toxic it has become an international cause for concern. Four barrels of glacier-fed spring water are used to process each barrel of oil, then are dumped, laden with carcinogens, into leaky tailings ponds so huge they can be seen from space. Downstream, the people of Fort Chipewyan are already paying the price for what will be one of the largest industrial projects in history. When a local doctor raises the alarm about clusters of rare cancers, evidence mounts for industry and government cover-ups. In a time when wars are fought over oil and a crisis looms over access to clean fresh water, which resource is more precious? And what price are we willing to pay? — Gisèle Gordon.
http://h2oildoc.com
Friday, October 23, 2009
UNDERCOVER WITH THE BNP
http://www.dontpaniconline.com/magazine/
We noticed while producing our recent films highlighting MPs expenses claims how the BNP were trying to hijack the issue for their own gain.
Clearly there is a lot of anger over all sorts of things the bank bailout, expenses, Iraq etc etc. But voting in a bunch of fascists is definitely not the answer. Nevertheless the BNP have been worryingly effective to this end, taking advantage of peoples disillusionment with the mainstream parties. The European elections take place this Thursday and its possible that the BNP could return up to four seats.
The reason this is a possibility is because, under the watchful eye of their leader Nick Griffin, they have carefully rebranded themselves so it looks like their not racists, when really theyre racists.
We contacted the BNP, pretending to be sympathetic media students that wanted to make a film showing the positive side of the party after the slating they have been getting in the press. They seemed a little suspicious, but we rocked up with the camera anyway and spent the day filming them canvassing various areas around Essex. The BNP dont really seem to understand how camera equipment works and when they thought we werent filming, they would show their true colours.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Direct action: how to get started
Tim Gee gives us the latest news from the Great Climate Swoop and sets out how people can start to do direct action. http://climatecamp.tv
"Concerted Disorder"
According to the police and Sky News, not only were protesters disorderly, but they did it TOGETHER! A survey of the Climate Swoop news by Tim Gee. http://climatecamp.tv
Climate Camp: Police casualty lies
I'm reminded of the 70 police officers with possible wasp stings etc. previously.
There is history in this.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
News flash - first video in from Great Climate Swoop
Climate Camp activists approach Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station from the woods. http://climatecamp.tv
How to join the swoop online
Hamish and Tim introduce the show, bringing you hot reports from daring social media embedded on the front line at the Great Climate Swoop, Nottinghamshire. http://climatecamp.tv
Friday, October 16, 2009
Direct Action on Climate Change Works! Where Next?
ACTION: 2007 Heathrow RESULT: Oct 2009 3rd runway halted. ACTION: 2008 Kingsnorth RESULT: Oct 2009 Coal-fired power station put on hold! Where next? You decide!
http://climatecamp.tv
http://visionon.tv
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Nasty Old People - Feature Film
This is the story of Mette Member of a neo-Nazi gang, her day job is to take care of four crazy old people that all are just waiting to die. Her life becomes a journey into a burlesque fairytale, where the rules of the game are created by Mette herself. Mette is indifferent about her way of life, until she one night assaults a man, kicking him senseless. Waking up the day after, she realizes that something is wrong, and in company with the her crazy oldies she longs for respect and love. She can tell that the old folks are marginalized by the modern society, but together they create a world and a voice of their own.
http://nastyoldpeople.org/
http://nastyoldpeople.org/
How Actavist's can use youtube to talk to corporations
It can get realy messy when engaging corporations in there own media - lets look at a corporate youtube debate.
The normal outcome is that the the deabe page (the corpurtes controlled account) page gets LOTS of Google juice and links for every mainstream story that the activist group push. Ie. the media activist make the PR green wash site much more visible and relevant.
This can be avoided by posting to one of there own active sites and using video reponses to do the conversation and using the a youtube groups as the viercal for disscuern – then the majority of media links (and googal juice) would flowed there – and correspondently the greenwash site would benefited much less for the exposher generated.
Its key to never uploded the videos directly to the greenwash site were they will be hosted on there account and out of activists hands.
If this happens you end up with splitting the comments between actavist site and greenwash site – ie. all the comments on grresite will be slaging off the videos and all the comments on our site will be supporting the videos. And the mainstream will link to there site so will look bad for us.
* At this stage probably better to let it go, but feel we need to make a decision weather we whont to continue to empower there site as the center of discussion thus increasing what was an irrelevant voice into a real tool for them.
Hard to know what to its best not to feed the enemy.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Nasty Old People - Trailer
The first creative commons film from Sweden - come soon on http://visionon.tv
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
Democracy 101: Pittsburgh G20 Protests and the Police Occupation of Pitt University
Documentary about the recent Pittsburgh G20 Protests, and the Police Occupation of the University of Pittsburgh. This film is a collaboration between Pittsburgh Indymedia, Chicago Indymedia, Twin Cities Indymedia, and the Glass Bead Collective.
This is so true - Religion!
Get Religion For Your Brain Today! You'll Be Believing Stuff In No Time!
Post-Medium Publishing
Now that the medium is evaporating, publishers have nothing left to sell. Some seem to think they’re going to sell content—that they were always in the content business, really. But they weren’t, and it’s unclear whether anyone could be.
Post-Medium Publishing
Police porn at G20 in Pittsburgh
If you thought the policing of the G20 in London was bad, "cop a look" at the tools police are using against peaceful demonstrators in "what we once knew as America."
Saturday, October 03, 2009
The Social Media Guru
Message from producer Nolan Markham: Sit on my Facebook and I'll whack you up the Twitter. Financially. A lot of people claim that they know this guy. There is no actual guy, hes an amalgam of a hundred different half-assed guru-wannabes Ive encountered online and in real life. For every one good guy, there seems to be ten cowboys. http://visionon.tv http://expad.ie http://xtranormal.com
Your Phone Can Make a Change - Be A CJ
As a tribute to the Brave Video Journalists that risk imprisoned I have teamed up with DogWoof & The Co-Operative to produce a series of videos that teach people how to Be A VJ. The more video journalists there are the less effective it is to arrest and imprison them all. You can make a difference in the world by being part of the mirror that allows humanity to look at it's self. You probably already have technology in your pocket that can empower you to start to participate in citizen video journalism today. Learn more at http://beavj.com. There is also something very important you should do right now which is sign the petition to help free the VJs that are currently in prison in Burma. These five VJs footage has aired internationally on CNN, BBC and many other networks and was the foundation for the film 'Burma VJ'. In order for us to maintain the strengths of our collective voice we must not allow the silencing of individuals. Every signature counts so please take a minute to visit this site and contribute your name. http://burmavjmovie.com/take_action/free_the_vjs And thank you for being a part of my video channel more of my videos and a virtual film school are available at: http://arincrumley.com
Last Televangelist #7 - Tear Down the Wall
Televangelist and radical anti-consumption activist hits the airwaves with messages of hope, revolution, and humor.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Fences
Fences can't keep people out. A call to shut down Ratcliff-on-Soar coal power station this Oct 17th.
Post G20 Press Conference Part 1
Press conference regarding the violation of the rights of Journalists and activists during and before the G20 summit in Pittsburgh.
G20 2009: Police Attack Students at University of Pittsburgh
Police used teargas pepper spray and rubber bullets against University of Pittsburgh students during the Pittsburgh G20 Summit. Many of the students were not part of any demonstration but bystanders, curious to find a mass of armed riot police on their campus. For more information and videos visit http://indypgh.org/g20
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