Elliot Harmon

Writing

editorial

Software patents are the loading screen of the intellectual property world. They add nothing of value to the game. They just force everyone to sit and wait before we can do anything.

If it sounds like we’re holding Facebook to a high standard; well, Facebook holds itself to a high standard.

Over the past 18 months or so, the antennas have been appearing around Jalalabad, a former Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan. Of the ways in which they differ from traditional wireless access points, the most profound is that they lack an electronics company logo.

It’s not enough to promise not to join the trolls. It’s time to take back the bridge.

“The nurses know the patients much better,” he said. “They’re better at counseling patients than doctors are.” Legally, they can’t counsel patients, but he laughed, “When you get into the rural villages, the law doesn’t matter as much.”

At its heart, Creative Commons is a simple idea. It’s the idea that when people share their creativity and knowledge with each other, amazing things can happen.

interview

Jonathan’s just-do-it approach to creativity is contagious: “A lot of my YouTube followers are teenage songwriters,” he says with obvious pride. But his music is contagious too.

According to Dr. Maria Droujkova, anyone can learn calculus, even five-year-old children. How do people respond when she tells them that? She laughs at the question: “How do you think people respond?”

Why public domain? In Thomas’ words, “You either go all the way or you don’t do it. Kimiko wanted her work to be used by a lot of artists. And yeah, mission accomplished.”

With new technologies in collaboration and data-sharing, it’s possible for those communities to transcend geography while maintaining that same sense of commitment and shared responsibility. But before that sort of change can take place, Mario says, it’s essential for organizations to think critically about the goals they’re working toward.

instructional

At least in the nonprofit world, it’s a lot harder to be a Mighty Putty than an Apple.

fundraising

Something funny happens when people see the effects of open in their lives. They begin to demand it. We start expecting open policies and practices from our governments, our universities, and our employers. Today, people notice when those in power choose closed.

Thousands of creators started using CC licenses to share their works, everything from film to educational resources to science research. And sometime between then and now, the world changed a little.

culture

What I find most remarkable about The League of Automatic Music Composers 1978-1983 is, despite its conceptual loftiness, how utterly listenable the thing is.

humor

And when you get the choice to leave after Il Deserto Rosso or stay for the entire Antonioni festival, I hope you stay for the entire Antonioni festival.