Up since September, I am glad that the “central node” of Toronto’s (and Ontario’s) research, innovation and commercialization ecosystem is using social media tools. Add it to your newsreader if you’re interested in what’s going on in the city in science, commercialization, entrepreneurship and related topics.
Technorati Tags: Innovation, Toronto
One of the most interesting avenues for economics research today is in the area of environmental economics. From Mancur’s classic “The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups” to today, we are still struggling with the economics of collective action and the tragedy of the commons. Our political paralysis over climate change and other environmental issues illustrates the need for new economic theory, policy mechanisms and political practice.
So I read with great interest the news of a report from the UK that attempts to take the climate change debate from the world of climate science to that of economics. The “Stern Report” was written by a former World Bank chief economist, Sir Nicholas Stern.
“Our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century,” Sir Nicholas writes.
The report suggests that 1 per cent of global domestic product be spent immediately on dealing with climate change, to avoid higher costs later. Failure to act would lead to a drop of 5 to 20 per cent of global GDP and make large swaths of the Earth’s surface uninhabitable.
Tony Blair is positioning the UK as a global leader in the efforts to deal with climate change, and has signed on Al Gore as a special advisor to the government.
[youtube]bvnMKBDjhnU[/youtube]
The latest from Garth Turner:
The digital generation, in real time, is instantly informed and ready to react. They don’t need to be told by MSM reporters and columnists what to think. They don’t wait twelve hours for stories to be written, turned into page layouts, put on presses, and then be delivered on paper by 12-year-olds. They’re beyond being told by TV talking heads what matters and what doesn’t. They are their own media. We’re all media.
The implications for political leaders are profound. The fact no other MP that I know of has an interactive web site is a worry. The fact most MPs rely on brochures sent to homes as unaddressed admail underscores the digital divide being created. This will change, of course. But as it does, there will be a grinding between the 19th Century form of representation we have now – the PM as president, not elected directly by the people and demanding unanimity of thought – and the 21st Century political reality in which democracy gets messy again, people have far more access and control, and the top guy will be, by necessity, a broker and an inspirational leader.
This excites the digital crowd. Excites me. One thing about the future – it’s coming.
Technorati Tags: blogging, Canada, digitalboy, garthturner, politics
Via Rob Hyndman, news of a massive public-private funded project to develop a tech cluster in upstate New York:
Rob attended the recent meeting with ICT Toronto and registers his skepticism:
I’m a sceptic – I’m dubious that government can achieve anything of the sort – and my scepticism deepened considerably when I learned recently that the program has effectively no budget. Be that as it may, it’s a noble goal, and you can’t help but wish such well-meaning efforts well…
Again, I’m dubious, and the article quickly summarizes some of the reasons why scepticism may well be due, but in any event – $1 billion!! I’m not sure which effort I admire more – the ICT shoestring effort or the New York state deep pockets effort.
[via BoingBoing]
YouTube Takes Down Comedy Central Clips Based on DMCA Claims
I received a couple of emails from YouTube this afternoon (see below) notifying me that a third party (probably attorneys for Comedy Central) had made a DMCA request to take down Colbert Report and Daily Show clips. If you visit YouTube, all Daily Show, Colbert Report and South Park clips now show “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.�
For a long time, Comedy Central has passively allowed the sharing of online clips of its shows—because let’s face it, it’s helped them generate the kind of water cooler talk that has made them a ton of money.
Mathew Ingram’s been all over this and the whole issue about whether Google’s takeover of YouTube was smart business.
The cultural and social importance of Daily Show clips as part of the political blogosphere can’t be understated. Without Jon Stewart’s recontextualizing political figures’ propaganda, public discourse would suffer. Yes, I’m serious. Clearly there is a public interest in fair use.
But apparently, all good things come to an end when there is money and attorneys involved. I assume the only online clips that will remain will have to qualify under fair use – probably short clips, with social or political importance.
More…
Technorati Tags: copyright, dailyshow, fairuse, jonstewart, youtube