Went for the upgrade on Friday night ..
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Conferences are typically hosted by big business, commercial organizations, etc. but this is different in that it’s the actual participants are responsible for setting the agenda, giving the talks, participating fully and actively in the event. If they don’t, there will be no event!

I heard a story on NPR just today where they were talking about events just like this, and they’ve coined a term to describe them.. “un-conference”.

There’s one happening tomorrow called BarCamp.

More info at the BarCamp wiki, wikipedia, BarCamp Los Angeles meet March 2008,

This is very cool. If this proves to be true it’ll terrify the record companies as their cover has been blown on what they’ve been getting away with for years.

Last week, Radiohead released their latest album, In Rainbows, for free, asking fans to pay whatever they liked for the full length downloadable work. To me, the writing on the wall was clear. Radiohead wasn’t the first to give away their music, and they won’t be the last. I declared the era of free music to be upon us and the album as a saleable item dead. Many thought I was right.

A week later, the “sales” numbers for In Rainbows are starting to leak. By my calculations, Radiohead made out with a ton of money.

According to a source close to the band, In Rainbows has “sold” approximately 1.2 million copies as of October 12th. In comparison, that’s more albums sold in the first week than Radioheads’ last three releases combined. According to an Internet poll of 3,000 people, the average price paid for In Rainbows was $8. If these numbers are accurate, Radiohead has made close to $10 million in one week on this album alone.

I *love* this. It’s all about passion, and this guy has it. Money, status, even having a roof over his head doesn’t matter. And he cares a little too much about beer, like the Irish

Stolen from:
AFP: Homeless man is chess king of Washington

WASHINGTON (AFP) — He sleeps on a bench, but he is king of chess during the day at Washington’s Dupont Circle, where he dazzles beginners and masters alike with his winning moves on the park’s stone chessboards.

Tom Murphy, 49, makes what little money he has from teaching his prodigious knowledge of the game to passersby for a few dollars.

“He has the title of expert in chess. This is the second highest American title; above him are master. So it means he is quite good,” said Washington’s Chess Center director David Mehler.

A former math and science major and a celebrity among amateurs, Murphy has made the Dupont Circle public square America’s most prestigious chess park after New York’s fabled Washington Square, according to some chess lovers.

“The mathematical equation has always been fascinating to me, then when you add the camaraderie, the ambiance, the open air, it’s almost irresistible,” said Murphy, peering over a park chessboard that draws players from all walks of life — students, doctors, lawyers, drunkards.

Garrulous and brilliant, Murphy, grew up in North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, two well known chess centers, and specializes in a lightning version of chess known as “blitz.”

In this accelerated version of the ancient game, players are allowed five minutes for all their moves, and the game ends within 10 minutes.

“The appeal of blitz is that, maybe in two or five minutes, I may put together a work of art that might last a life time,” Murphy said in his inimitable style of explaining chess basics.

The game, he said consists of “few guiding principles: king safety, fight for the center, give every piece a job.”

“At blitz he is a very strong player. He has a very fast mind and he sees combinations very quickly. He calculates very quickly,” said Mehler, who has been teaching the board game to underprivileged children for 15 years.

Murphy has won several chess tournaments and finished 15th in the 2005 world blitz championship.

He’s not always down and out, but his addiction to booze often lands him on the street.

“The pursuit of the ego versus the pursuit of the spirit are in conflict sometimes,” he explained. “I enjoy alcohol a little too much.”

He attends Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and admits, “when I don’t drink my chess is better.”

Murphy aims to get better at chess and rise to the title of master.

“I would dearly love to go on and make my master’s rating because through that I get a credibility to increase my teaching fee,” he said.

“There is an upcoming tournament on Thanskgiving (November 22) in Philadelphia. That’s looking promising,” he added.

For now, the homeless chess teacher charges 20 to 30 dollars an hour and will match his wits with any rival for two to five dollars per game.

“Grand masters are teaching 100 or 200 bucks (dollars) an hour, masters can get at least 50, that’s not bad,” he said.

More info follows ..

Daily Kos: MoveOn Condemns Congress With Second New York Times AD
MoveOn Condemns Congress With Second New York Times AD
by Dood Abides
Fri Sep 21, 2007 at 08:55:15 AM PDT

New MoveOn.Org Ad which will appear in the Sunday edition of the New York Times

New York, NY (Rotters)- In a vote of 3,100,000 to 100,000 yesterday, the members of MoveOn.org voted overwhelmingly to place a second ad in the New York Times this weekend condemning the U.S. Congress for wasting time condemning them over their previous ad condemning General David Petraeus as “General Betray us”. The ad implies that both houses of Congress, in particular the leadership, are “Ass-kissing little chickenshits”, a term which has been used to refer to General Petraeus by his superiors in the past.

The text of the full page advertisement in it’s entirety stated:

Congress is a group of elected officials constantly at war with the electorate. In 2006 they continually insisted that if elected they would bring an end to the disastrous war and ongoing occupation of Iraq. Last week the leaders of both branches said, “We have achieved progress, and we are obviously going to do everything that we can to build on the progress.”

Yesterday, they had the opportunity to pass two important bills to advance their support for our troops in Iraq and alter the direction of the ongoing catastrophe. Instead they chose to condemn an article we placed in the New York Times. We hear of bruised egos, hurt feelings, and improprieties. But we don’t hear of how many more troops will be hurt or killed because of their willful inaction.

More importantly, Congress cannot admit what everyone knows: Iraq is a bloodbath with or without us. They will not admit that American troops are condemned to remain in Iraq through at least one more election cycle.

CENTCOM Commander Admiral William Fallon has referred to “Surge Architect”
General David Petraeus has an “Ass-kissing little chickenshit”, far worse than the “Betray Us” invective coined by his own troops and pointed out by us. Today, perhaps, it is Congress that has actually betrayed us.

Congress has vowed to convene a special session this weekend to vote on another condemnation of the latest ad. Preliminary polling of the Senate indicates that the condemnation would pass handily with 80 votes for and 20 votes against. This margin guarantees that there would be no veto from the president.

The White House refused to directly comment on either the ad or Congress’s proposed response. “Unlike the blatantly partisan smear directed at General Petraeus, MoveOn may actually have a point here,” stated White House spokesperson Dana Perino. “The President is happy to see the national dialogue gravitate towards these more important and debatable issues, but is clearly disappointed over the language.”

PledgeBank - Tell the world “Ill do it, but only if youll help”
“We all know what it is like to feel powerless, that our own actions cant really change the things that we want to change. PledgeBank is about beating that feeling…”

Billionaires secret philanthropy detailed - Give and Take - MSNBC.com