Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability
“Intangible feelings of community do not excite venture capitalists as much as profitable enterprises such as AirBnB, but that does not mean they lack value.” What if the sharing economy was really about sharing, and not at all about profit? And to that end…do you have a fruit tree in your neighborhood that always produces more fruit than anyone can use? Why not tag it on this site?
What do workers in the sharing economy have in common with domestic workers? They’re both on the cutting edge of defining what it means to work in the 21st century.
Looking for some ways that your city can promote local job growth through sharing economy solutions? It’s not all through the AirBnB model…
Journalists-do you have a story idea you want to pitch, but you’re not sure who to pitch to? Why not join Contributoria, and pitch for votes (and eventually, money), in this cooperatively organized online community.
Ed Mayo, the Secretary General for Coop UK, has some New Year’s resolutions for the co-op movement.
From Partners
The Sidney Hillman Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2014 Canadian Hillman Prize, for journalism in service to the common good.
Reputation, Reputation, Reputation
Imagine that you’re a union organizer who works with retail or fast food employees (for many of you, this won’t take much imagination). Now imagine that Wal-Mart or McDonald’s gets to have a giant database of recognized faces, and they use it to keep you out of their stores. I’m guessing that, if they get to write the rules on acceptable uses of facial recognition, this is going to end up as an acceptable use.
So you signed up for that OKCupid account, and then had regrets. This site will tell you how difficult it is to delete your online profile from just about any web service, and tell you how to diminish yourself online. (PS—this is what anonymous email accounts are for, kids.)
And by the way—you’re not worried about NSA spying because they’re only collecting metadata? These researchers figured out the owners of 73 of 100 random phone numbers by googling, or matching them through Facebook.
Geeking Out
Do you want to mix the concept of basic income with a digital currency? Check out this beta test of an app that does just that. Sorry Androiders, it’s iOS only as of now.
You probably know that Wal-Mart lets RV owners park in their lots overnight. But have you seen who actually stays?
What’s Going On in the Workforce?
Imagine every company had a formula for figuring out salaries for everyone who worked there—and published that on their website? The social media company Buffer just did it—the comments on this post are not to be missed.
The theories about why Google is investing in robotics companies are flying fast & furious—here’s one that seems highly credible to me. “They’re working on the last mile problem. I’m working on the last inch.”
More robot restaurants—this time, in New Zealand. Get your hamburgers via pneumatic tube.
You may have read that Zappos (the online shoe seller) recently decided to adopt a flat internal structure. Here’s another look at a way to run a company without titles.
Organizing Theory
Here’s another take on “The Unbundled Union,” this one by labor policy PhD student & blogger Doug Williams.
Final Thoughts
No big thoughts for this week…just a video. Made by a Safeway employee, who was losing his job, and thought, “what would it be like if Safeway was blown up by aliens? Or monsters? Or other random action movie special effects?”