Concerned Connections

Change is bound to happen…one way or another. As the world changes and as you/we get older, how, why, and where do you want to live?

OhNoOhYes is a reaction and an answer to the question collapse, or sustainable? It is sustainability that requires changing the way we, as individuals and communities, live.

Our mission is to encourage established groups to collaborate in ways that extend the reach or impact of their message, in this case, helping to protect the health and life of the oceans. RFWR is an experiment of sorts – showing which fish are healthy to eat and sustainable and which are not – selectively and clearly presenting information from two distinctly separate (and leading) groups, on the same site.

We list certain Website spaces based on what we think is a unifying thread – efforts to bring different kinds of people together, so they can trade information and utilize resources, so they can accomplish a range of goals. The sites we show represent either economic resources, or functions that enable people to come together with the intent to promote, in many different ways, purposeful actions.

The purpose of this exercise is to draw attention to the need for organizations that address serious problems in the world, to function more efficiently (collaboratively?) in solving problems.

If it were not for the pending collapse of sustainable resources or global warming doing us in, it would be the blind, mindlessly following technology wherever it leads us. Or so this text claims.

The premise – fewer engineers of the mechanical pre-electronic age, made tools (technology) that was relevant to the human needs of the moment, while current engineers are stamped out cookie-cutter style in order to satisfy the whims of marketing departments engineering the desire of masses who then follow their new toys wherever they may lead. In other words, technology is no longer directly connected to either the people who make it, nor to those who ultimately use it.

News about, and from, interest groups and organizations – determined by those groups. Presented without editorial control or comment – without preference as to left, right, black, white, “right” or “wrong.” Organizations and groups will post notices concerning what they perceive to be news-worthy events, and/or issues that relate to their work. Imagine juxtaposing news from a wide range of groups, searchable, categorized, and sorted by issue and date.

Projectmart, or P-Mart, presents an easy way for customers making a purchase to also make a contribution to specific projects, organizations, or large scale efforts, that help people and the planet. It also makes it easier for any commercial entity to associate themselves with a wide range of issues as well as specific projects.

Consider an organization whose purpose is to promote and educate for peace using standard marketing tools. In other words, a marketing group that promotes an image, a focus – that becomes as much a part of the culture as fashion jeans or cigarettes. If advertisers can sell anything, why not peace?

A notice posting service assisting people in locating basic needs such as housing, jobs, and social activities, as it provides information on a wide range of social and environmental issues. The service will bring people into closer contact with different issues, and the organizations working in these areas.

Goals for individuals: fulfill personal needs such as housing, jobs, interests, hobbies, social activities, dating, economic and support functions. Provide comprehensive listings of organization meetings, local support groups, events, and media.

Goals for organizations: Assist organizations in gaining greater exposure, and developing closer relationships with the public and their members – bringing resource-oriented material together with personal issues, and assisting organizations in increasing a level of interaction amongst their membership.

“News is entertainment, and entertainment is news.” How can we expose a new generation to the significant issues affecting our lives and the life of the planet – when we must compete with the likes of youtube, myspace-styled networks, and gaming? INAGG supports the use of computer gaming for the purpose of educating people and funding projects and organizations.

“Being green” is now a familiar notion – replace your light bulbs with fluorescents, and recycle – with familiar practical activities we can participate in. As issues of global non-sustainability impact our environment, it may become desirable or necessary to alter our lifestyles in other ways.

The mission of Treetop Library Resources is to increase interest in libraries, reading, and in a wider range of reading material, than is generally found in local libraries.

Added to the more traditional review sources librarians rely on to select reading material, Treetop Library Resources would provide reviews and distribution information regarding a wider range of material including non-traditional items such as zines, self-published books, and minor or independent publishers.

Facilitate local communities in bringing older and younger people together in a variety of social and educational settings.

Age Without Borders will address: isolation of both youth and elderly; generation gaps and misunderstandings; social skills and experiences; education programs and tutoring

Challenging news organizations to add a segment to their reporting, standardizing the presentation of issues important in a given election.

This is not a “fairness in media” effort, but the promotion of a specific format in a news segment, by which news organizations–whether print, radio, or video–would display and compare a given set of issues.

The purpose of this format would be to enable better tracking and comparison of relevant issues, day to day, over the course of an election. The point of doing that would be to offer an alternative to image oriented news, and spin, or sound-bite clichés and jargon by the various candidates and parties.

The purpose is to promote–not directly implement–the use of standard formats, unique to each media. The purpose is not to tell news organizations how they must present the news, but to encourage a shift that offers an alternative to reporting that is manipulated by spin masters.