Trying out democracy: The first days of Occupy Boston

I've been spending a lot of time at Occupy Boston. I am very enthusiastic about this movement and hoping to do what I can to support it and keep its energy up.

Here is a podcast in which 3 participants of the Occupy movement give eloquent explanations of their involvement in the movement:

NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook on the Occupy movement

Some photos I took at Occupy Boston during the first days of the movement in Boston:

Marching outside of Bank of America

Marching outside Bank of America

One protester, Nikki Sauber

Inside the spirituality tent

A view of the occupation, located outside of South Station

A general assembly meeting at the tent city

Many occupiers find these numbers very concerning

Humane bug catcher

As someone who is very afraid of bugs (though I'm working to change that) and very uncomfortable with killing things, a problem arises every time I find a bug in my house. I've recently been trapping them under cups for my dad or Nate to bring them outside, but I don't like walking around with bug/cup sets all over my floor and counters (there can be a lot of bugs in my house) and I feel like I'm kind of torturing the bugs.

Solution: For a while I've been envisioning a fly swatter that captures flies, and all kinds of bugs, instead of squashing them. Today I finally googled it--and it exists! PETA has them for $12.

Also, apparently President Obama killed a fly during an interview a couple of years ago and PETA sent him one of these.

Critic 'jimspar' says, "if you love bugs so much why don't you marry them." Hmm.

On the other hand, Stephen Colbert and friend contend that "There can never be enough apologies."




More humane animal control products: DIY humane fruit fly trap, frog saver lily pad for pools, humane mousetrap, and animal rescue car kit



My next invention idea: Filters that go inside your nostrils to protect you from secondhand smoke.

Luckily, BSU became a smoke-free campus this year, so I am less worried about my exposure to smoke than I was last year.


*Update: Nose filters (aka nasal filters) exist!

Escaping Advertisements

[This post is part of Bridgewater State University's Blogfest for Social Media Week. Today's theme: technology]

I just found this awesome add-on for Firefox that replaces internet ads with art! It's called Add-Art and it's free.

I just downloaded it, and this is how it looks:

The picture of the kids is where the ad would have been--poetry websites have the worst ads. They often have sound, but it seems that Add-Art eliminates the sound, too.

So far, most of the art consists of surprisingly un-arty photos, because the current installation, See Space, was created by children ages 6-15 at an after school program. But it's still fun, and the collection changes periodically.

(From adbusters.org)

(From adbusters.org)

The average United Statesian sees thousands of advertisements each day. In Europe, there is a ban on advertisements that 'exhort children to purchase or to ask their parents or others to make inquiries or purchases' and in Sweden all advertisements aimed at children under 12 are banned.

In 2007, Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, banned all outdoor advertisements, including pamphlets, in an attempt to reduce "visual pollution."

Sao Paulo before and after the advertising ban

Once the billboards were all taken down, there was a lot of waste, which Brazilian designers TOUCH and StraaT made tote bags out of.

Some ideas on how to combat advertisements:

1. Try a Buy Nothing Day, and maybe even invite others to do it with you. It might be harder than you'd expect.

2. Avoid buying from big companies:
       For clothes, try thrift shops
       For food, try farm stands and small grocery stores (especially ones that offer local food)
       For gifts, make something by hand
       For hygiene products, make them yourself (from items bought at small grocery stores)
       For gas... bike? Take the train? When you do need gas, it's probably better to buy from an independently-owned gas station, like Easton Gas

3. Download Add-Art so at least you won't have to look at ads when you're on the computer.


Any other ideas?

Military advertising

Air force billboard I've seen all over the place recently:

How I read it:

I really think advertising should be strictly informational, not persuasive. But everyone tells me that will never happen. Also, why is the air force reserve's domain name .com, not .gov or .mil?