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Don’t Believe the Hype: Your Cable and Satellite Bills August 12, 2009

Posted by MelissaHK in media.
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The CRTC announced the creation of a Local Program Improvement Fund (LPIF) in October 2008 (starting at paragraph 355) to help support local television programming in small/rural/remote areas. This summer, the CRTC also announced that it was increasing that funding. To help support the increase, an on a temporary basis, cable and satellite companies will be paying a small percentage of their revenues into the LPIF (1.5%).

However, these cable and satellite companies are imposing an increase on everyone’s bill. I would like to think that was not the CRTC’s intention.

CTV, one of the largest private broadcasters in Canada, is calling for regulation of billing practices. They will be bringing this issue up during CRTC hearings this fall. If you want to pass along your comments to them, then visit savelocaltv.ctv.ca. I’m not entirely sure, but I think the public hearing that CTV is referring may be Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2009-411. I believe the deadline for comments has now passed (August 10), so getting your comments in to CTV may be a good way for you to be heard.

TweetCommons: Connecting You to Canadian Politicians August 12, 2009

Posted by MelissaHK in government.
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If you Twitter, you might be interested in this. I came across this thanks to Steve Anderson (@steveinfos) at the Campaign for Democratic Media. They have a fantastic site and are a great resource for media democracy. They always have something to take action on that affects the lives of everyday people, and they make it pretty easy. So check them out. In the meantime, here is their TweetCommons post.

(By the way, you can follow me on Twitter too: @melissahk)

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Media, Re-invented

A new website called TweetCommons has just launched.

“TweetCommons is a new web-based initiative to connect Canadians with their elected representatives in government using Twitter.“

The TweetCommons press release notes that a similar initiative in the US helped push more government officials to Tweet more often. Perhaps more importantly, TweetCommons will facilitate a more multi-directional relationship between people and government. In the press release, TweetCommons stated:

“We are also focused on smoothly expanding functionality so Canadians can look forward to interacting with their government in new ways.“

In my most recent Column, I discuss how the division between government and people is breaking down and how online social media tools are enabling this process.

The most exciting section of the TweetCommons website is “The People”, although the tag line “talk back” seems like it might miss the point. This section, and Twitter conversations in general, are more about new forms of networked, widely distributed discussions, rather than about “talking back” to politicians. Online participatory media practices differ from traditional media relations in that they produce a citizen-powered dialogue that includes, but is not driven by, those in government, or the select few working for big media outlets.

Exciting projects like this reinforce the importance of the Open Internet.

TweetCommons is an entry point for people to join in on conversations about key issues and create a path forward that benefits all Canadians – yet another example of how media is being reinvented before our eyes.

http://www.tweetcommons.com/

Ottawa and Green Bins Will Meet this Fall August 7, 2009

Posted by MelissaHK in environment.
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I was wondering when this might happen, and it looks as though this is year.

The City of Ottawa is going to start distributing green bins to 22,000 households this fall and winter. They will start Green Bin pick ups next January (2010) — bi-weekly pickups in winter with weekly pickups the rest of the year. According to the City, there is a “state-of-the-art indoor composting facility” where the waste will be turned into compost.

You can read the full press release from the City of Ottawa here. More information on the City’s Green Bin program is at ottawa.ca/greenbin.

July 31st Edition of GroundWire Now Available August 7, 2009

Posted by MelissaHK in radio.
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The July 31-August 13 2009 Edition of GroundWire is available for listening online! Visit groundwire.ncra.ca.

GroundWire is a twice-monthly dose of grassroots, independent journalism from the campus-community radio sector of Canada. It is a project of the National Campus and Community Radio Association. This is edition of GroundWire was supported by a grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Would you like to be added to the GroundWire mailing list? You will receive one email per month when the new edition of GroundWire is released. You can sign up online at groundwire.ncra.ca in the right hand column, or send an email to groundwireprod[at]gmail.com.

*Presenting the July 31-August 13, 2009 Headlines*

  • Winnipeg worried over Privatized Water| Michael Elves UMFM
  • Defining Sexual Assault in Winnipeg| Michael Elves UMFM

*Presenting the July 31-August 13, 2009 Features:*

  • Mohammad Mahjoub’s Hunger Strike at Kingston Penitentiary | Usman Mushtaak CFRC
  • Olympic Update: Charter Battles for Women’s Ski Jumpers | Sam Krevia CJSR
  • Simon Fraser University Funding Mircomanaged by Government| Nina Halliday-Thompson CJSF

The July 31-August 13, 2009 edition of GroundWire was produced by UMFM in Winnipeg.

Software and Online Resources for Nonprofits August 7, 2009

Posted by MelissaHK in nonprofit.
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After enjoying a lovely off-the-grid July vacation in New Brunswick, I came back to a manageable amount of email and work, and some lovely little resource gems like this one.

Wild Apricot Non-profit technology blog
“This blog is for volunteers, webmasters and administrators of associations and nonprofits. We discuss issues and trends in web technologies that help your organization do more with less.”

They have a number of suggestions under each of the following headings. Some things are free, but those that are not seem fairly reasonable. Wild Apricot is a company that creates web-based applications for nonprofits. So it is cool that they have compiled this list of potential competitors. :-)

  • Accounting, Time-Tracking, Invoicing, Billing
  • Fundraising Software, Online Payments, Donor Management
  • Document Editing, Sharing, Collaboration Tools
  • Mailing List Management, Email Marketing, Newsletters
  • Events Management, Registration, Scheduling
  • Membership Management, Contact Management (CRM)
  • Discussion Forums, Online Communities
  • Website Builders, Blogs, Content Management (CMS)
  • Website Analytics, Data Collection, Tracking Tools
  • All-In-One Solutions for Non-Profits