Blog wrap-up: Giving thanks for moments passed and speculating on what's to come

Posted in The Gnovis Blog

In the spirit of holiday decompression, here are a few tidbits to mull over as you recover from turkey food coma and awkward moments with extended family.

On gnovis

Building on lessons learned from the medical reform movement, Lauren Alfrey (yes, that’s me) posits that Obama’s insider appointments may be part of a winning formula for institutional change.

Around CCT and the Blogosphere
I. Giving Thanks

On her personal blog, Ashley Bowen takes pause and gives thanks for first-wave feminists whose fearless ambitions paved the way for today’s young women.

New York Times blogger Virginia Heffernan muses over the blurring of offline and online geek phenomena in her post about YouTube Live, a recent San Francisco event in which YouTube stars (like that guy who plays guitar hero disturbingly well) came together for an offline performance that would put Axl Rose to shame.

BoingBoing posted photos of winners in its turkey-shaped jell-o mold contest, worthy of review once you’ve finished digesting your holiday feast.

II. Reflections on Technology and the Future

In the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Laura Kahn offers us hope that the Obama administration will consider reinstating the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), a once cherished research entity that demands a comeback in our increasingly networked society (thanks, Dr. Garcia for the tip!)

In 505 last week, Carlos Martinez and his team presented their research plan for investigating how blogs influence consumer and voter behavior. You can view their oh-so-sleekly designed pdf here.

In her post, Living and Learning with New Media: Findings from a 3-year Ethnographic Study of Digital Youth, Danah Boyd presented her research team’s findings on youth practices with new media technologies.