Hblog

ccSalon San Francisco

I'm in San Francisco for a CC all staff meeting this week. Last night I spoke along with John Wilbanks, Executive Director, Science Commons, Joi Ito, Chairman of Creative Commons Board and  Jim Sowers, Calabash Music. It was a great event at a really cool venue in the Mission.

Joi said that it may seem sexy to have CC as an 'underground' movement, but that its important for CC to become mainstream if we are to succeed in our goals of making openness ubiquitous on the net. John, who said that it was the first time he'd spoken about science in a bar, talked about neurocommons, Science Commons' newest project and Jim played some highly cool music.

Thanks, Laughing Squid, for the great image (CC BY-NC-ND). Go to Flickr to see more.

Appeal to the SABC

Support the FXI's (Freedom of Expression Institute's) appeal against the blacklist at the SABC. Read more about the basics of the complaint here and read the full report here.

Basically, the SABC's head of news, Snuki Zikalala is alleged to have created a blacklist of commentators to exclude certain opinions from being represented by the broadcaster. The worst thing about it is that John Perlman has resigned as a result. Perlman, probably one of the best journalists I have ever heard on SA radio, confronted SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago on the air earlier this year, saying that he, Perlman, knew there was a blacklist - something Kganyago had denied. Wikipedia has a great article on the incident.

According to FXI: 'Letters of support should be directed to Lindisa Mabulu, Complaints Officer, Icasa, at [email protected], or faxed to (011) 444-1461. We would appreciate receiving copies of these letters for our records. These can be directed to Pinky Magau at (011) 339-4109, or [email protected].'

I will try and write a sample letter over the next few days.

Pic: from fxi.org.za

Frightening

I went gingerly to Wynberg to try and look for fabrics for the headboard in my bedroom that I've been wanting to cover. I'm not much of an interior decorator but I like to sew and I'm not completely brain dead when it comes to colour, so I thought I would investigate. Wynberg in Johannesburg, for those of you who don't know, is an "industrial" area close to Sandton where the interior decorators go to buy fabrics direct. They also allow the great unwashed to visit, but I have a feeling that they do so under duress.

First stop: St leger and viney. When no one helped me as I wandered aimlessly about the room, trying to catch someone's attention, I approached a woman with big hair, a faded black striped pant and a floral top. I asked whether they had swatches. She barely looked at me as she waved her hand and said that someone on the floor could help me. She didn't "do" swatches. Harold did. I should go and find him.

I was flabbergasted. When she didn't indicate who this person Harold was, I asked desperately: I don't know who Harold is! I think there was a hint of distress in my voice because people stared. Anyway, I got my stupid sample and got out of that stupid place as quickly as my legs could carry me!

In order to obtain a larger sample of fabric-shop-people (I wanted to be proved wrong!) I traipsed through a few other sacred spots with similar effects. When someone at Home Fabrics actually asked me whether they could help me, I nearly leapt into their arms!

So: duck egg blue? Or dusty pink?