FRESH returns to Minneapolis just in time for EARTH DAY!  FRESH is celebrating their theatrical release with showings this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night @ 7pm at the Riverview Theater. 

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/d/freshthemovie/event/display-theater-event.sjs?event_KEY=19557
Advance tickets can also be purchased through the link above, at the Birchwood Counter and at the Riverview the night of each show.

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Court Says F.C.C. Cannot Require ‘Net Neutrality’By EDWARD WYATTPublished: April 6, 2010WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday dealt a sharp blow to the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission to set the rules of the road for the Internet, ruling that the agency lacks the authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks.

via NY Times

The bad news is that according to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the FCC has little clout in regulating net neutrality.

The good news is:

1. Congress may want to look even more closely at the Comcast acquisition of NBC Universal. If we don't have a neutral net, Comcast can slow access to competitors' content and favor NBC and...
2. Our legislative branch may finally decide to put a Net Neutrality law on the books.

Posted via web from Peter's posterous

Posted via web from Peter's posterous

I did send along a note to Ms. Jenkins informing her of the issue.

Ms. Jenkins apologized and explained that it was a last minute item written under deadline and she simply forgot. Thank you, Kathie.

Accidents will happen. For me, I still have this lingering doubt that not sourcing the Star Tribune or New York Times would have triggered an alarm along the way. Somebody must look over the content besides the writer. Of course if I'm a copy editor and I see "neighborhood blog" I have no idea what blog she is talking about. It would seem a good starting point to refer to the name of the blog in full (in this case Seward Profile). Then if you forget the link, someone would have a clue as to where to look. I'm realizing I should have asked for naming the blog in my email. Darn. A name without a link is arguably better than a link without a name.

Erica at fresh.mn was kind enough to retweet and link here. I'll close with her (re)tweet as I think she makes a good point.

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I've contacted the Pioneer Press via email about republishing the Birchwood story from the Seward Profile (see last post). I sent the email to Kathie Jenkins and Life editor Heidi Raschke.

In the email, I pointed out the Creative Commons license I publish under prohibits commercial use of the content and it requires attribution. Given "fair use" under copyright, I don't really have a problem with summarizing and quoting a portion of the content even in a commercial venue. But not attributing and linking to the source is not OK and it's not something I expect to see in the twenty-first century from a major daily.

I've asked for the link and suggested an apology might be in order. I'll keep you posted.

We are all vying for attention on the web. Still we need to play by some basic rules and I don't think the size of your operation should make it OK to steal content from any of the many excellent local blogs that are providing relevant content to neighborhoods. I doubt if the Pioneer Press would appreciate my republishing its content and attributing it to "a local newspaper."

from my email to Pioneer Press

Posted via email from Peter's posterous

Kathie Jenkins at Pioneer Press read the Seward Profile story on the Birchwood Cafe expansion and then wrote about it in her Restaurant News column ("A Tree Grows in Seward"). She sourced a "neighborhood blog" and didn't provide a link.

Profile is one of my projects and Kathie, I'm happy to provide you with easy-to-serve copy-and-paste material but how about at least linking back to the source? Hey this is the web! You can still fix it! Just send folks to: http://sewardprofile.posterous.com/birchwood-expansion-plans-update-from-tracy. Thanks.

All will be forgiven.

Posted via email from Peter's posterous

In the 2006 negotiations with US Internet (USI) to implement a mesh wireless (802.11) network over Minneapolis, the City was able to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement that included $500,000 in payments to a Digital Inclusion Fund (along with 5% of pre-tax income after the network was up and running). (See page C-1 of the contract.) The money is granted to support non-profit digital inclusion projects in Minneapolis.

So far the Minneapolis Digital Inclusion Fund Advisory Committee (DIFAC) has disbursed $400,000 of that $500,000—$200,000 over 2007 and another $200,000 in 2008. We (I am a member of DIFAC) plan on requesting proposals this year and disbursing at least some of the remaining $100,000.

During 2009, DIFAC finally drafted its rules for governance which includes terms for advisors and a plan to rotate off the current advisors over the next few years. Two advisers will be finishing their terms this year. (I'm one of them.)

We are beginning the application process for new advisors.

If you are interested in forwarding the cause of digital inclusion in Minneapolis, consider applying and download the description and application and send them in by June 1. Details are in the documents.

DIF Advisors Description
DIF Advisor Application (PDF)
DIF Advisor Application (MS Word)

Update: The application doesn't include contact information. You can send your completed application to Valerie Lee or contact her if you have questions:

Valerie C. Lee
Community Philanthropy Officer
The Minneapolis Foundation
800 IDS Center
80 South Eighth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402
tel: (612) 672-3849
fax: (612) 672-3846
vlee@mplsfoundation.org
www.MinneapolisFoundation.org

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Posted via web from Peter's posterous

Posted via email from Peter's posterous