I've long been a big fan of Douglas Rushkoff. In this keynote "invocation," (courtesy of BlipTV, 8 mins) which opened the second day of the Personal Democracy Forum on June 24, 2008, he argues that there is no such thing as "personal democracy" and genuine democratic discourse can only be participatory and collective. The power to write and publish, he notes, may finally be in the hands of everyone (after centuries of domination by religious and political elites), but real democracy isn't just blogging and commenting, it's treating the entire world as "open source" and remakable by direct participation.

Today's announcment that Verizon and Mozilla are joining the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo) is great news for the advancement of mobile Linux.

Having a major carrier like Verizon announce that they "will encourage its handset partners to use the OS even if it is not a part of LiMo" and that they will "make a big financial commitment by hiring people" signals great confidence in open platforms as the way forward.

Drupal Camp Vancouver is a volunteer-organized, peer taught, multi-track conference focused on the open source content management system. The event will bring experts and rookies alike from all facets of web communications including developers, info architects, designers and themers, as well as entrepreneurs, marketers and non-profit groups. In a collaborative environment, the participants will share knowledge, establish best practices and learn new techniques.

Sponsored by Ubuntu Vancouver, Free Geek
http://freegeekvancouver.org, and VanLUG http://vanlug.bc.ca.


    *When:*

    Friday, April 25, 2008 at 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM


    *Where:*

    Free Geek
    1820 Pandora Street
    Vancouver
    http://freegeekvancouver.org/directions


    *Activities:*

    * Networking with fellow Ubuntu enthusiasts.

The goal of the Open Web conference is to showcase open web technologies, communities and culture, and to evangelize the Open Web to developers, designers, organizers and the community at large.

More info: http://www.openwebvancouver.ca/