I'll be present at media conferences in 08, to listen and speak, but more importantly to connect with open minded people. Also in this years lineup are renovations within mosaicmotion, including a move to wordpress, and last but not least an idea that is taking shape. And I hope to filter as much as I can from past concepts and experiences and transfer the knowledge towards mokono.

This year will be decisive for politics. Obama, a visionary of hope and change will become the next president of the United States. In comparison, a rudderless Merkel is the epidome of grey control and German politics today appears as minimalist peacekeeping. We can only hope that this will change in 08.

Personally, I hope to stay healthy this year and continue to be a Berliner who connects with people from all walks of life. To grow with the city and its creative spirit. I will need to improve my meditation skills and take better notice of the world around me and learn how to focus on the big goals. This could be a daily thought.

Privacy ist the next big challenge on the web. It's part of an identity shift in the digital era where communication is transparent and more trackable than ever before. We're seeing context and highly relevant advertising in your face; it's stored and thrown back at you in hope that you'll take notice. Since next gen destinations like Facebook are making money solely with advertising, they want to make sure their clients bills are invested properly.

At the end of the day, the routers, cables and most underestimated cost of all - the world's servers - need to get paid. Yet we need open source destinations that enhance our communication experience and protect from commercial exploitation. So self-organization in lieu of Free Speech TV is important, because without critical reflection from us, technology can steal our ability to differentiate between freedom and privacy.

“Increasingly, if you’re not LinkedIn, you’re left out.” —Business 2.0

© 2007, LinkedIn Corporation

This morning in the footer of an E-Mail. To link up with the present, they might have to update their claim when their recommendation source actually ceased operations - tip for Steve Patrizi. I am avid Xing user, and have been using it for two years now; building up an entire new network on LinkedIn doesn’t make that much sense, since Xing is quite advanced.

Oh, there is another fair I nearly missed: Popkomm. At least I am heading out to Tape where Jazzanova is playing. Actually it's a 10 year celebration of their label Sonar Kollektiv.

This is scary display of police brutality, attack on freedom of speech and political persecution. The University of Florida student did push the envelope in terms of his delivery in communication, but had a point about the 2004 election, Kerry's membership in a secret society together with Bush and the impeach comparison of Bush and Clinton, what's worse: lying about a war or blowjob, take your pick? The sad part is that no one in the crowd stands up and helps fight the arrest, as if they're watching a movie. I wonder what Thoreau would say.

Globally, the report showed a generally bullish posture: $464.2 million was invested in 101 deals in the first half of 2007, a 7 percent increase in dollars and a 14 percent increase in deals, compared with the first half of 2006.

All of the growth was attributable to Europe and Israel, while activity in China slipped slightly. The overall investment within the United States was “virtually unchanged,” with $357 million invested in 67 deals.

via Mercury News

Read more at Think Progress or Public Knowledge. The question is whether bad news is good news for AT&T or whether it shows their weakness towards lobbyists, government aides or self-censorship for business sake. Commenter dlet thinks,

Censorship…brought to you by the same company that helps the government to illegally eavesdrop on you. AT&T. Reach out and spy on someone.

Update: I added the LiveLeak video, which has the edited and unedited version. The lyrics censored were,

George Bush, leave this world alone.(the second time it was sung)

George Bush find yourself another home.

Trying to pin one of her husband’s controversial policies on Al Gore—the antiwar, green, tech-savvy hero of the blogosphere—at a netroots convention is probably the single most tone-deaf thing Clinton has done this year, but few attendees appeared to dwell on it.

It’s twisted when Hillary disses Gore for the Telecommunications Act 1996, which he oversaw in the White House. From the breakout Q&A session at YearlyKos.

Election Day was shot in one day, yup that illustrious November 2, 2004, by camera crews in the States. And shows how citizens take their voting rights serious. The only question is why this movie comes out almost 3 years later - just in time for the election campaign '08? More about the film.

First we took the "Kollektivtransport" from the Soria Moria downtown after my first Norwegian wedding. We ate reindeer meat and paid 8 Euros for one beer. Everyone sang and prepared sketches or speeches for the bride and groom. All was planned and organised by the family - respect. There was an authentic social vibe. Almost everyone owns a house and car.

I was even able to read the newspaper on the balcony at 2 am without artificial lighting. One of the biggest issues worrying politicians is how much percentage of the oil money will be spent each year. And that there aren't enough kindergardens. Very sad indeed. Norwegians are friendly and forthcoming people.

I did wonder about the abundance of McDonalds and Burger King in downtown Oslo. Otherwise the capital offers closeby nature: parks, the ocean, lakes and streams. Then there is low unemployment and a booming economy. I was a bit suprised at how many Norwegians spoke German. The munitions ad in the newspaper is targeted towards reindeer hunters, I guess.