Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world

Ideas for Haiti’s Internet In the nearly ten months since the Haiti earthquake, Google has engaged with and learned a lot about the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. When we looked at our internal data a few months ago we were particularly saddened, although not entirely surprised, to find that the country’s Internet bandwidth -- a critical component of any modern economy -- was radically lower than that of its close neighbors. At the request of the Clinton Foundation, and with some input from external experts like Inveneo, we recently came up with some ideas for improving access to the Internet in Haiti and wrote them up in this paper (.pdf). They include opening TV or other appropriate spectrum for use, as the FCC recently approved in the United States, and different possibilities for connecting to undersea cables that would help make easy, cheap broadband connectivity a reality for Haitians. These are some ideas to start the discussion.

World Game In the 1960's Buckminster Fuller proposed a “great logistics game” and “world peace game” (later shortened to simply, the “World Game”) that was intended to be a tool that would facilitate a comprehensive, anticipatory, design science approach to the problems of the world. The use of “world” in the title obviously refers to Fuller's global perspective and his contention that we now need a systems approach that deals with the world as a whole, and not a piece meal approach that tackles our problems in what he called a “local focus hocus pocus” manner. The entire world is now the relevant unit of analysis, not the city, state or nation. For this reason, World Game programming generally used Fuller's Dymaxion Map for the plotting of resources, trends, and scenarios essential for playing. The logic for the use of the word “game” in the title is even more instructive.

Sloan School of Management | 15.561 Information Technology Essentials, Spring 2005 What is the Internet Doing to our Brains? 4th Jul 2011; 18:00 Listen to the audio (full recording including audience Q&A) Please right-click link and choose "Save Link As..." to download audio file onto your computer. Watch the video (edited highlights) RSA Nominet Trust Lecture With the internet now an integral part of everyday life for many people, what does the latest research reveal about the impact on our well-being? Leading expert in neuroscience and education Dr Paul Howard-Jones delivers the Annual Nominet Trust Lecture at the RSA, assessing the extent to which the scientific findings support popular fears and anxieties about what technology is doing to us. The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception where some of Nominet Trust’s latest work will be showcased. Speaker: Dr Paul Howard-Jones, Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol’s Graduate School of Education and author of Nominet Trust’s new State of the Art Review on the subject of 'The Internet and the Brain'. Suggested hashtag for Twitter users: #RSAnominet

Sloan School of Management | 15.564 Information Technology I, Spring 2003 Urban Studies and Planning | 11.948 Power of Place: Media Technology, Youth, and City Design and Development, Spring 2001 Net Neutrality 101 When we log onto the Internet, we take lots of things for granted. We assume that we'll be able to access whatever Web site we want, whenever we want to go there. We assume that we can use any feature we like -- watching online video, listening to podcasts, searching, e-mailing and instant messaging -- anytime we choose. What makes all these assumptions possible is "Network Neutrality," the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet. The biggest cable and telephone companies would like to charge money for smooth access to Web sites, speed to run applications, and permission to plug in devices. The network owners say they want a "tiered" Internet. What's the Problem Here? Discrimination: The Internet was designed as an open medium. Double-dipping: Traditionally, network owners have built a business model by charging consumers for Internet access. The End of the Internet? Make no mistake: The free-flowing Internet as we know it could very well become history.

effect Internet computer technology third world differs places France Japan essay - 34075 Paper Topic: The effect of the Internet computer technology on the third world , and how that differs from places like the US , France and Japan The Internet is a network of networks , linking computers to computers sharing the TCP /IP protocols . Each runs software to provide or serve information and /or to access and view information . The Internet is the transport vehicle for the information stored in s or documents on another computer Since the end of the 1980s a new era of possibilities concerning information and communication technologies (ICTs ) begun in the third br world . Use of the Internet , at first mainly confined to the aid agencies researchers and some NGOs , rapidly spread to a growing number of users among the general public . The Internet has created access to good libraries and new books , to journals and scientific articles the creation of virtual classrooms is becoming widespread In terms of investment , a number of third world countries now have stock exchanges .

Mobile internet access in developing countries « Conversations for a Better World Monday, May 17th, 2010 - 2 comments Is mobile internet access in the developing world a viable option? It’s time to explore new avenues of technology. I have been leery of getting behind web-based applications for social marketing in developing countries – designing elaborate health information systems, using information and communication technologies to improve heathcare, mobilizing social networks. Broadband connectivity for internet access is spotty at best, and the promise of the internet for billions is still a few years away (2015?) In a report in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Tom Wright pulls together a set of facts and practices that has me thinking that maybe it is time to start considering mobile web for social change in emerging markets. Wright points to decreasing costs, increased bandwidths (faster connection speeds) and improvements in browser technology (easier navigation and file compression) as factors in the growth of mobile access.

Mobile Internet Access In Developing Countries I have been leery of getting behind web-based applications for social marketing in developing countries – designing elaborate health information systems, using information and communication technologies to improve heathcare, mobilizing social networks. Broadband connectivity for internet access is spotty at best, and the promise of the internet for billions is still a few years away (2015?) if projects like the Connect Africa Initiative, Connect the Caribbean and other projects to connect the unconnected fulfill their mission to make affordable connectivity accessible to all. In a report in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Tom Wright pulls together a set of facts and practices that has me thinking that maybe it is time to start considering mobile web for social change in emerging markets. It is not time to move away from SMS as a critical feature of social marketing efforts that want to achieve behavior change at scale.

Flowing Media: Your Data Has Something To Say Many Eyes The first web site to put sophisticated visualization techniques in everybody's hands. Upload and visualize your data for free. Web Seer A visualization that lets you compare two Google Suggest queries. As seen on the New York Times and Boston Globe New York Times Visualization Lab Specifically designed for The New York Times, this version of Many Eyes lets readers visualize and comment on information and data sets presented by Times editors. NameVoyager Explore historical name trends letter by letter. Map of the Market A quick answer to the question "what's happening in the market?" Flickr Flow The seasonal ebb and flow of colors in Boston. history flow Visualizing editing activity on Wikpedia; from edit wars to vandalism and the healing process. Chromogram Learn how different people contribute to Wikipedia. Phrase Net Visualizing the relationships between different words used in a text. Themail Visualizing email conversations over time.