Why do We Need to Study Literature?

                 This post is a summary of three articles. The first was  published at  http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/AP_CM_Eng_Lit_differential_instruction.pdf    The second with the title above was published in 2009 at                                                             http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/why-do-we-need-study-literature- The third was published at http://writingcommons.org/open-text/genres/academic-writing/literary-criticism/28-literary-criticism

                 iPods, Play Stations, YouTube, TV, Cable TV, Tweeting, Facebook or a good Book? Increasingly books face more and more competition for people's attention. Even who likes to read finds the onslaught of alternative media hard to ignore. Furthermore, if family members do not read at home, then it is likely that, reading literature (or reading at all) may not be modeled at home, a key element to encouraging reading. At the same time, the ENEM Exam is, among other things, a test of how well reader a student is. A well-read student is more likely to have a large vocabulary, respond more quickly to texts and with more eloquence, and have greater familiarity with the various motifs in the poetry and prose passages. This is such an important factor that planning for the ENEM exam must include a reading program for the two or three years of high school. Yet no amount of assigned reading in and out of class necessarily overcome the noise of the distractions seducing the students away from good authors. The exam rewards the well-read booklovers. Yet a love of literature is more likely to happen in the first 17 years of a student's life than in the months they have before the exam. Thus, the teacher has to prepare students for the rigorous reading expectations of university and to turn them on to reading during their months in the preparatory course.

               Literature is part of our cultural heritage which is freely available to everyone, and which can enrich our lives in all kinds of ways. Once we have broken the barriers that make studying literature seem daunting, we find that literary works can be entertaining, beautiful, funny, or tragic. They can convey profundity of thought, richness of emotion, and insight into character. They take us beyond our limited experience of life to show us the lives of other people at other times. They stir us intellectually and emotionally, and deepen our understanding of our history, our society, and our own individual lives. In great writing from the past we find the country of our ancestors, and we not only see the country and the people as they were, but we also soak up the climate of the times through the language itself, its vocabulary, grammar, and tone. Literature unlocks the culture of the time period, and in a way can give wisdom to the modern society about life. Literature allows us to interpret our own life and emotions and finds ways to relate to the story so we in turn can reflect. It is also a form of entertainment and allows people to use their imagination to visualize the story within their own mind. But the real point of literature is the story of life, and all people want to do is to connect to other human beings so they find meaning in their own life. Literature allows personal interpretation that reading a newspaper or most magazine do not allow. In literature, there are aspects like metaphors, weaving narratives, character points of view and irony that we have to actively sort through in order to truly understand the text. In essence, literature makes us smarter. Not only do we learn about the subjects that an author is writing about, but we make our mind stronger by putting the puzzle of words into coherent images in our mind. It also expand our vocabulary.

                 By reading and discussing literature, we expand our imagination, our sense of what is possible, and our ability to emphathize with others. Improve our ability to read critically and interpret texts while gaining appreciation for different literary genres and theories of interpretation. Texts that interpret literary works are usually persuasive texts. Literary critics may conduct a close reading of a literary work, critique a literary work from the stance of a particular literary theory, or debate the soundness of other critics' interpretations. The work of literary critics is similar to the work of authors writing evaluative texts. For example, the skills required to critique films, interpret laws, or evaluate artistic trends are similar to those skills required by literary critics. The genre of literary interpretation is more specialized than most of the genres addressed in this section, as suggeste below. People may discuss their reactions to literary works informally but literary criticism takes place more formally: in universities, academic magazines and websites. Below is a summary  of some of the more popular literary theories. Because it is a summary, the following tends to oversimplify the theories. Schools of Literary Criticism: New Criticism - Focuses on "objectively" evaluating the text, identifying its underlying form. May study, for example, a text's use of imagery, metaphor, or symbolism. It is not concerned with matters outside the text, such as contextual information. Feminism: Focused on understanding ways gender roles are reflected or contradicted by texts, how dominance and submission play out in texts, and how gender roles evolve in texts.Psychoanalytical: Focuses on psychological dimensions of the work. Postcolonial: Focuses on how Western culture's (mis)representation of third-world countries and peoples in stories, myths, and stereotypical images encourages repression and domination. Marxist: Focuses on ways texts reflect, reinforce, or challenge the effects of class, power relations and social roles.                                                                                                                   

International Privacy Day

                 Last week on Wednesday, Europe and U.S celebrated the Privacy online, so let is hope  this good idea to spread to rest of the world. This is so important right that there are many NGOs exclusively to protect it. This post is a summary of four articles. The first was published at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Privacy_Day. The second with the incomplete title above was published at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stewart-wolpin/internationalprivacyday. The third was published at https://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/get-involved/. The fourth was published at https://www.priv.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2015/nr-c_150128_e.asp

               Also known as Data Privacy Day, Occurs every January 28. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices. It is currently 'celebrated' in the U.S., Canada, and 27 European countries. In Europe it is referred to as Data Protection Day. Privacy Day's educational initiative originally focused on raising awareness among users about the importance of protecting the privacy of their personal information online. In addition to its educational initiative, Privacy Day promotes events and activities that stimulate the development of tech tools that promote individual control over personal information, encourage compliance with privacy laws, and create dialogues among stakeholders interested in advancing data protecting and privacy. The day was initiated by the Council of Europe to be first held in 2007. Two years later, The U.S. House of Representatives declared January 28 National Data Privacy Day.

               You probably know data is collected about you every time you visit a website, shop online, engage in social sharing, enable location services or send digital messages and email. But according to a recent global study by Microsoft, most cybers users still do not feel they are aware of the information that is being collected about them. So how do you protect yourself from undesired data collection, and your collected data from misuse or misappropriation? So it is up to us to understand our own privacy rights and how best to protect what is ours in cyberspace. If you are concerned about your data privacy, be willing to adjust your online habits. Sure, it is inconvenient having to lock all your house or car every time you leave it, but it is better than being robbed. Your personal data is just as if not more valuable, so it is worth giving up a little convenience to protect it.

                 Privacy Day is an international effort centered on respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust. Privacy Day's goals are to: raise awareness and educate consumers how their information may be collected and the benefits and risks of sharing personal data. Empower consumers to express their expectations for the use, protection and management of their data. Inspire through simple and actionable tips to more actively manage their online lives. Encourage and motivate users to consider the privacy implications of their online actions for themselves and others. Encourage businesses to be data stewards by being open and honest about how they collect, use and share personal information and clearly communicating any available privacy and security controls. Does the protection of data and privacy matter to you? If so, join us in raising awareness of Privacy. You have all the tools to be an effective advocate for protecting data and privacy online! Here are some of the things you can do : Be a leader on social media. Post privacy tips, or create your own messages. Get all your social media resources on this site. Attend a Privacy Day event. Networking events for privacy professionals. Share privacy resources. Print privacy tips sheets to display around the home computer or office, and other public gathering places like libraries and community centers. Discuss privacy with your family and friends. Have a "privacy talk" with your family and friends, reminding everyone not to overshare personal information online. Discuss other tips for using mobile devices and social networks responsibly. Use Privacy Day resources to guide the conversation.

               A growing number of Canadians say they are concerned about privacy, according to a nw survey commissioned by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. The poll found that nine in ten Canadians were concerned about privacy. One in three (34%) said they are extremely concerned, up from 25% in 2012. "Canadians are telling us they are concerned about many privacy issues, for example, data breaches, identity theft, digital privacy and warrantless access to personal data held by tele companies," says Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien. He adds, "Canadians deeply value privacy, but fear they are losing the control they have over their personal information. It is imperative we find ways to enhance that sense of control so that people feel their privacy rights are being respected." While they expressed concerns about many issues, roughly half of Canadians said they do not have a good understand of what businesses and government will do with their personal information. "There are lessons to draw from those findings," says Commissioner Therrien. "Government departments and agencies need to respond to citizens expectations that they be transparent about how they collect and use personal information."

          

Defining a 21st Century Education

                       This post is a summary of the part 1 of the book with the title above published at http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Learn-About/21st-Century/Defining-a-21st-Century-Education-Full-Report-PDF.pdf

                      Technology has been transforming human life in one way or another for thousands of years. But in the computer age, the pace of tech change is very rapid. Many experts say that since the 1970s, new tech, combined with demographic, political and economic trends, have altered work and social lives in ways that have significant consequences for today's young people. Those trends have prompted some education reformers to argue that the traditional curriculum is not enough: schools must provide students with a broader set of 21st century skills to thrive in a rapidly evolving, tech-saturated world. But defining what that term actually means can be daunting. Leaders should dig deeper than the flashy phrases and poorly defined buzzwords that tend to characterize the 21st century skills movement. They should make a serious effort to understand the best empirical evidence on what skills will be necessary for students. This book represent an initial attempt to lay the groundwork for such effort. Examining trends that have change the demands of work and life in the recent past and continue to do so today. The most important are automation, globalization, workplace change and policies increasing personal responsibility. Automation: Anybody who has visited a factory recently understand the impact of the use of computers and computer-driven machinery to replace human labor, has been significant. But automation means more than just replacing human limbs with computerized machinery on assembly lines. Today, computers also increasingly accomplishes a wide range of work-related thinking tasks once performed by humans. Economist Richard Murnane of Harvard have documented how computerization is increasing the demand for some kinds of skills even as it erases many jobs. That is because computers are good at information processing, and every job requires information processing of some sort. Computers can perform a task if the information involved can be digitized and presented in a suitable form, one the computer can understand and process. In addition, now computers can perform some simple kinds of pattern recognition, they are taking over other formerly human tasks, for example, recognizing and acting on words spoken into a telephone. To summarize, computers are substituting for humans in performing "routine" work tasks that require the rote following of rule or directions. At the same time, people are increasingly being called on to perform more complex thinking tasks that computers still can not perform, such as those that involve complex interactions with other humans or that require soving unexpected problems using expert thinking. Strong math and reading skills are essential, too, since they form the foundation for complex communication and expert thinking. Globalization: Another major trend shaping future skill demands is "globalization," the breaking down of economic, social, and intellectual borders between nations. Globalization has not taken place independently of technological change. Advances in ICTs have acted as "flatteners," leveling the playing field so that workers no longer enjoy a home court advantage and face increasing competition for skilled jobs. Work-flow software and common tech standards allowed disparate software packages to talk to each other, which in turn enabled work projects to be carved up into parts, sent out to whomever could perform them best and cheapest, and then reassembled into a final product. The result was new platform for conducting business, one that allowed much more collaboration across much greater distances. Eventually, a whole new set of business practices evolved to take advantage of this new platform: offshoring, outsourcing, supply-chaining, signaling a shift from "vertical" production to "horizontal" collaboration. One thing economists agree on is that the jobs lost to automation and offshoring are unlikely to return. They also increasingly agree that whether schools can adapt will not only have an impact on opportunities for individuals workers, but also on the country economies. Now that economists have access to several decades' worth of educational and economic data, they are able to analyze the relationship between a nation's skills and its economic prosperity in more sophisticated ways. Several recent studies have found that cognitive skills as measured by international assessments of math, science, and reading are powerful predictors not only of individual earnings but also the countries' economic growth. According to one set of studies led by Stanford economist Eric Hanushek, as the world becomes increasingly interdependent, enhancing human capital will become increasingly critical. And it is not just about cultivating the talent of gifted students. The researchers also investigated the question, "Which is more important for growth, having a substantial cadre of high performers or bringing everyone up to a basic level of performance? The scientists in a society may contribute to the creation of new tech, but in order to fully realize the potential of such innovations to boost overall productivity, members of the workforce have to be skilled enough to learn how to apply them in their jobs. Many countries are developing strong skills. China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan adopted in 2006 focused on tech innovation and the need for a rich talent base, calling government to cultivate talents and improve the capacity of universities in China will become an important force for the establishment of an innovation nation. A 2008 study revealed that big pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Johnson & Jonhson are beginning to offshore some of their advanced research work to China and India. Globalization is clearly influencing skill demands in several ways. First, because they will face a job market in which workers no longer have such a large "home court" job advantage, students will need to ensure that they have sufficient skills and enough education to compete for jobs in a truly global economy. Lower skilled jobs are the first to be outsourced, but higher skilled work is vulnerable. Globalization also is affecting the types of knowledge and skills students will need to thrive. Since they will be collaboration with people around the world, they will need to have greater "global literacy," knowledge about languages, people, and cultures outside their own countries. Workplace change: Many companies have realized that in a "global knowledge economy," human capital is their most important resource. And they are using their human capital in very different ways than they did 30 years ago. In globally competitive firms, jobs have changed in a number of ways. Less hierarchy and supervision, more autonomy and responsibility, more collaboration, less predictability and stability. How will workplaces and business practices change in the future? In new books like Wikinomics and Crowdsourcing journalists have described innovations collaboratively on the internet. So far, according to writer Jeff How, the impact on skill demands seems to mirror the impact of automation and globalization: "Crowdsourcing accelerates the globalization of labor and the economic dislocation. Like the internet through which it operates, crowdsourcing recognizes no boundaries. "The network does not care where you are, if you can perform the serice, design the product, or solve the problem, you have got the job." Personal responsibility: Clearly, the world in which people live is becoming both more complex and more demanding. That is not a bad thing. Jobs that are more challenging also tend to be more satisfying. At the same time, however, because of changes in corporate and government policies, individuals now shoulder a greater burden of risk and responsibility for their personal well-being. Three intersecting spheres illustrate the trend: job security, health care and financial planning. Taken together, all these trends have created twin forces that are changing what it takes to thrive in the world: First, the environment that people live in is becoming more complex and demanding, while, second, individuals are being asked to take on greater responsibility in their work and personal lives. As economist Anthony Carnevale frame the challenge in a recent article on math education, "It appears that the requirement for mathematical literacy is one of an ascending ability to use math operations with increasing independence and in situations of increasing complexity. This suggest that the way we teach math may not be aligned with the use in most jobs." Students will need strong skills to navigate a world where personal choice are fraught with greater risk. At least, they will need strong math and reading skills to understand the information necessary to understand their choices. And they will need to be able to use what they learn to understand critical information, including health and financial information, in order to make sound decisions that ensure their well-being.

ICTs in Support of Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance - Part II

              This post is a summary of a report published with the title above, it is the second part of the summary of last week, and published at http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/wsis-themes/humanrights/ICTs%20and%20HR.pdf

              There is little utility in analyzing the relationships between ICTs and human rights if the key topics of democracy and good governance are not concomitantly addressed, for before one can help to propagate the other, both must be contextualized as the by-products of the same system. The main impact of ICTs and the internet on democratic life concerns their ability to strengthen the public sphere by expanding the information resources, channels of communication and the networking capacity for many organized interest groups, social movements, NGOs, and political parties with the technical know-how and organizational flexibility to adapt to the new medium. The role of communication systems is vital to the shaping, structuring or 'framing' of relations, examining the role of ICTs must precede any analysis of democracy and good governance. Indeed, rights associated with communication have often been viewed as among as the primary gauges of democracies. While ICTs are touted as the tools of bottom-up empowerment and democratization that actively thwart the ability of centralized dictatorial governments to take form, it is important to bear in mind the contradictory danger of facilitating a "tyranny of the majority." Moreover, the capacity for ICTs to mobilize mass segments of a population and to empower all the various players of civil society should not predispose one from recognizing that the pendulum does not always swing towards democracy as a model of governance. Historical references to the various uses of audio/video tech in  various countries can be easily made to reflect this point. According to Aldous Huxley, "mass communication, in a word, is neither good nor bad; it is simply a force and, like any other force, it can be used either well or ill. Used in one way, the press, the radio and the cinema are indispensable to the survival of democracy. used in another way, they are among the most powerful weapons in the dictator`s armory." Nevertheless, there has been a increase in the emergence of democracies over the past 20 years, supported by the Commission on Human Rights' articulation of a number of elements for their promotion and consolidation, including fair and periodic elections, an independent judiciary, a transparent government and a vibrant civil society. Countries that respect the rights of all their citizens and allow them all a say in decisions that affect their lives are likely to benefit from their creative energies and to provide the kind of economic and social environment that promote sustainable development. The nature of political interaction between representatives and their constituents changes through the empowerment of citizens with access to information at ever-decreasing costs. Increasingly, ICTs are playing an important role in facilitating information sharing. As the number of people with the capacity to have their voices 'heard' gradually increases, so too does the range of considerations for their representatives, who must to a certain extent find balance between their jobs as decision-makers, and their role as active proxies for public opinion. E-government, and specifically the enhanced ability to collect and share information is revolutionizing the way we look at traditional concepts of political legitimacy, representation and ministerial accountability. According to the OECD, the key issues include the necessity of addressing the needs of the policy as a whole, of facilitating the use of e-channels by disadvantage groups early in the implementation process, and of building trust and confidence in e-services. While ICTs provide obvious access to information about various topics (including justice and human rights), they also touch upon crucial interfaces vis-á-vis the direct participating of voters, thereby contributing to significant changes in electoral systems digital advocacy and lobbying, and online consultation are all part and parcel of the transformations of governance shaped by ICTs. That said, however, it is important to note that these observations are themselves not yet established facts. An OECD study of e-governance, based on a series of interviews with information specialists, public officials and the policymaking community in 8 countries, presented evidence that overall impact of the internet has failed. A key problem is the fact that oportunities for 'bottom-up' interactivity in communication with offcial government departments are far fewer than the opportunities to read 'top down' information. Government websites rarely facilitate public feedback, for example few published public reactions to policy proposals, or used discussion forums, and bulletin boards, although there have been occasional experiments with interactive formats. Any discussion on democracy invariably leads to the broader issue of governance, incorporating the dynamic of the institutions, the people, and the various types of agency they wield in the process of governing a nation. As ICTs propagate, the power to influence is more increasingly widely distributed, and hence the tasks of governance, on both national and international levels, become progressively more complex and challenging. A wide variety of modern trends are affecting the state-centric system of governance from all angles: these include international organizations like the UN and the EU, multinational organizations like  General Motors, and NGOs. Those that distinguish themselves from the rest are groups like those espousing 'critical social movements'. These types of entities are unique because they are  geared toward the. "... general transformation of public consciousness, which in turn affects the parameters of legitimacy within which traditional institutions must operate." Some believe that the information revolution is threatening to existing power structure in the international system because the nature and powers of the sovereign state are being challenged. The governments have been challenged by the demands of increasingly well-defined ethnic and other subgroups, confrontations to traditional borders created by ICTs, and the globalization. As power increasingly resides in the people, the world will become more complex, and we will live 'in a kind of international democracy.' On the other hand, others believe that the state retain its power and the main trend has been the growth of regional blocks. In any case, the more information is disseminated in the direction of those who have not been privy to it in the past, the more of a challenge there will be to political 'incumbents', escalating pressures on governments for attention to freedom and human rights are a case in point. Legitimacy is a cornerstone of good governance, and to a very large extent, civil society and the tools they use to heighten global awareness and public sensitivities are indispensable to the solid construction of that legitimacy. Citizens express more confidence in the system of government where, there are widespread opportunities for civic participation and protection of human rights.

ICTs in Support of Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance

               This post is a summary of a report with the title above published at  http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/wsis-themes/humanrights/ICTs%20and%20HR.pdf 

         The common ground upon which Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be analyzed was forged two years ago at the U.N. Millennium Summit, in a declaration the world's leaders resolved to "spare no effort to promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms." The goal of such analysis is to adopt a rights-based perspective on major development goals, specifically the protection of human rights. The convergence between telecommunications, broadcasting multimedia and ICT that is driving the developmentof the 'Information Society' is responsible for the transformation of a variety of economic and political sectors, as well as the socio-cultural strata of nations around the world. The benefits of ICTs lie not purely in the range of their functionality but in the variety and versatility of their application. Much has been written about the potential of ICTs to 'revolutionaze' society, particularly in the context of their role as catalysts of the information. Much work remains to be done in analyzing and understanding how these technologies are utilized and applied to bring about expected societal and economic changes and improvements. Among the most important areas affected by ICTs are those of human rights and governance. The subject of how modern communications alter the way in which various entities of the private sector, the public sector and civil society interact has spurred much debate. In light of this generalization, it seems that where the lines of the dissemination of information, the diffusion of culture and activism, and access provision to new markets. It is vital that 'information society' imperatives are treated with diplomacy. ICTs facilitate the broadening of scope and perspective in a way that empower all those who utilize them, and a realistic discussion of the information society must be inclusive of this phenomena. In the human rights arena, there has been a clear shift in attitudes towards human rights protection. Once considered to be the sole territory of sovereign states, the protection of human rights is now viewed as a universal concern. The rise in transnational human rights networks has been referred to by some as the "third globalization," and has helped to developed a global civil society capable of working with governments, international institutions, and multinational corporations to promote accepted standards of human rights and democracy. They often represent the social interest of individuals and the protection of basic human rights, and are usually not motivated by profit or power. Civil society uses the same tools that commercial organisations and mass media institutions use to influence their audience. Examining the resonance of such voices in global fora is vital to the appraisal of shifting power dynamics in the international system. "The emergence of an international civil society seems to be taking place due to the so-labeled 'democratization' movements in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia and ICTs seem to be giving the promotion of these ideas more force than might have been the case 50 years previously." All human rights: civil, political,economic,social and cultural are universal and interdependent, they comprise the foundations of human dignity. Human rights are a central part of U.N. reform, which emphasizes the centrality of human rights in all activities of the system. Where there are violations of human rights, there is also often a lack of democracy, poor governance, negligible rule of law, as well as general conflict and injustice. Pervasive poverty and broad disparities in the distribution of power also often go hand in hand with human rights violations. It has become evident over the past several decades how mechanisms of supranational governance collaboration have facilitated progress towards a universal system of human rights. The recent adoption of the International criminal court in June 1998 is an important step in the direction of enforcing and promotion the values agreed upon by the member nations. International organizations and committees are responsible for using the implementation of the international system for the protection of human rights, it is through them that it is possible to invoke a state's obligations under international law in order to obtain a formal or official response to allegations and obtain some form of remedy. Individuals, NGOs, governments, and supranational institutions have all been empowered insofar as they have the means to effectively communicate their stories, agendas, laws and agreements. Indeed, the ICTs facilitate the mobilizing functionsof many NGOs working across national borders, and may be even more effective as a force for human rights, providing a global platform for opposition movements challenging autocratic regimes and  military dictatorships, despite government attempts to restrict access in certain countries. While ICTs have contributed greatly to the enhanced transparency and accessibility of information from the 'top', particularly as legal and administrative information is concerned, they have done even more to improve  the organizational and management skills of the 'bottom', and thus to tip the scales of power slightly back toward an equilibrium. The growth of new, internet-based media did help facilitate public access to a wide range of information, but some governments continued to develop means to monitor internet use and restrict access to controversial, political, and human rights web sites. Other governments have chosen to prohibit internet access or limit it to political elites. 

Ways Social Media Can Improve Engagement and Reinvigorate Democracy

                This post is a summary of two articles. The first with the incomplete title above was published at http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2011/06/28-social-media-west. The second was published at http://www.vic.gov.au/blog/research-reports/web-2-0-new-tools-democratic-conversations-snapshot-initiatives-government/

                 Social media are the ultimate in disruptive technology. They change information delivery, business organization, online content, news coverage, and the manner in which individuals process new developments. These digital tools represents a example of voter mobilization and electoral impact. They are, in the words of Mindy Finn, founding partner of Engage, an online media strategy company, "the central nervous system of campaign organizations." Despite social networking`s track record for generating democratic engagement, though, it has proven difficult to sustain political interest and activism online over time and move eletronic engagement from campaigns to governance. Faced with a polarized political environment and arcane debates over legislative provisions, many people have opted out of the civic participation. The Brooking Center for Technology (BCT) Innovation convened a distinguished set of experts to offer advice on using social networking and digital tools to reinvigorate democracy and extend electronic engagement from campaigns and grassroots activism to governance. BCT also heard advice and commentary from hundreds of activists. Topics for discussion included strategies for voter empowerment, citizen engagemnet. and governance transformation. Specifically, The BCT discussed: What tools do government and campaigners use to engage the people? How does social networking improve participation, engagement, and collaboration? And how will social media be used in the next elections? Based on this discussion, BCT identified  suggestions for using social media to improve campaign engagement and reinvigorate democracy. 1) Future Political Effectiveness is Going to Be Based on Social Networks Because that is Where "Trust Filters" Operate. Politicians often disagree not just on interpretations, but on the facts. Increasingly, people are using their personal networks to fact-checks claims, evaluate the quality of information, and alert them to what is important in the world. As pointed out by Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Research Center, these developments allow individuals to "act like broadcasters and publishers." Those seeking to engage citizens must win the trust to be influential. Future political influence is going to be network based because those are the filters used to access and evaluate political information. Unless you can get past those trust filters, you will not be able to influence the course of electoral events. 2) Recognize that Campaign Organizations No Longer Control Electoral Discussions. Electoral campaigns will be more decentralized in terms of a politician's control over debate topics and more focused around social media. One of the news ways social media will affect tje elction is that people are organizing their own networks and candidates will be forced to answer questions they may not wish to answer. 3) Create Virtual Opportunities for Citizen Feedback and Deliberation. By asking their views and giving them a chance to provide feedback, this approach engages citizens with government and allows them to help shape the output. 4) Use Social Media for Direct Persuasion. With the help of social media, ordinary citizens can become agents of persuasion and leverage their personal network for whatever values, issue positions, or ideological stances that they cherish. 5) Improve the Diversity of Information and Exposure Through Social Media. No longer does politics have to be an echo chamber where people of like-mindedness listen to one another, but digital tech enriches political conversation and allows people to get the kind of information that helps them evaluate candidates and policy ideas.     

            Web 2.0 enables and accelerates the transition to a more connected world in which open, user-centred and self-organising networks create value. As governments and the public sector start to do the same, they will encounter the same challenge, which is that these new tools do not just change structures and processes, they change behaviour as well. This is the big challenge for governments to make the most of this way of working. If they want to use them to improve the design of public services, to empower citizens to use information to create new services or to harness more powerful combinations of knowledge for better policy, then they have to embrace the consequent shift of culture and behaviour too. Governments need to consider implementing Web 2.0 tech as a way of becoming relevant to citizens. This is especially compelling in recognition of the view that many democracies are experiencing what has been termed a 'democratic deficit' with a declining trust in governments and an accompanying retreat from civic engagement. Today's digital revolution has, and is continuing to create new ways for the further empowerment of citizens. The Government 2.0 proposition, involves a cultural shift towards a recognition of this and a willingness in government to encourage engagement, partnership, and collaboration. It is important to remember that although Web 2.0 offers exciting new tech tools, the tools themselves are not what matter so much as the potential that they bring for the improvement to services, the strengthening of the democratic contract and the creation of collaboration within and among agencies as well as fostering greater community participation. Ultimately, Web 2.0 is part of a cultural process towards a more open and inclusive model for government, that enables citizens. By actively inviting a partnership with citizens, government decision-making process is strengthened and endowed with authenticity and transparency. Use of Web tools by government may help to craft amore deliberative dialogue with citizens to better meet their needs.

Public Domain Day

                 Last Thursday, January 1st 2015, all the world celebrated the Public Domain Day, it is important to reveal what works could be bought now cheaper and used for almost any purpose.  In most countries author's works become public domain 50 or 70 years after the author's death. This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Domain_Da. The second was published at http://www.publicdomainday.org/. The third was published at  http://creativecommons.org/tag/public-domain-day

               The observance of a "Public Domain Day" was initially informal, the earliest known mention was in 2004 by Wallace Mclean, a Canadian activist, with support for the idea by Lawrence Lessig, Professor at Harvard Law School. Copyright protection terms are typically described as the life of the author plus a certain number of years after his or her death. In many jurisdictions, this usually means that 70 years have passed since the day of author's death. After that period, the works of those authors become fully available. In recent years this day has been mentioned by Project Gutemberg and has been promoted by Creative Commons. In 2012, celebration was announced in Poland, where for several years on that day various activities have been organized by free culture NGOs and other supporters.                                                                                                                        On this day, 1st January, of great celebrations worldwide, we also invite you to celebrate the impressive wealth of knowledge, information and beauty that today, like every year on this day, becomes freely available to humankind. Every year on New Year's Day, in fact, due to the expiration of copyright protection terms on works produced by authors who died several decades earlier, thousands of works enter the public domain, that is their content is no longer owned or controlled by anyone, but it rather becomes a common treasure, available for anyone to freely use for any purpose.

              Each year on January 1st, copyright protection expires for millions of creative works, allowing those works to be used by anyone without restriction or need for permission. On this Public Domain day, we celebrate the rich creative works that have risen into the public domain, and mourn the massive number of works that could have been in the public domain but which are not due to unreasonable copyright extension or the chilling effects created by Byzantine copyright term schemes. While copyright terms continue to be extended and policymakers support a detrimental enforcement agenda, there has been no shortage of encouraging work in support of a robust and expanded public domain: 1) The Internet Archive announced this year a massive trove of over 1,000,0000 mostly public domain content available for download. 2) Musopen continues to be a promising project dedicated to providing free music content. 3) There is ongoing efforts to educate the public about the public domain. The Public Domain Review published the Guide to Finding Interesting Public Domain Works online. 4) At the international policy arena, the public domain continues to be a topic on the agenda at venues like WIPO.The Communia Association has been at the forefront in championing support for broad access to public domain materials. and has been urging policymakers around the world to adopt liberal policies promoting wide access to public domain. As you can see, there is a ton of positive work being done to help increase our access to creative content in the public domain. But the work is not done: the longer we do not have access to these works the less rich our culture will be moving ahead. Let is keep working on it and demanding access to content that could and should be available to all