Jing is free and easily installed. When its running, a little sun appears in the top right of your screen. You can click it to get a capture widget up, and then easily create a screencast. You can also upload the screencasts you create to screencast.com. I also grabbed a bookmarklet from vodpod.com which allows me to easily post any video to a wordpress blog (this is how I got this screencast posted).

Paul sent me the link because at a recent Google workshop we’d brainstormed about an app. for creating ‘custom tours’ where GPS or barcodes are used to give the user info about objects and places around them.

It’s basically a block language like Scratch for the Mobile Phone. One cool aspect, which I learned at a Google Workshop, is the way you use a barcode scanner on your phone to download a newly developed app. to the phone. Very cool.

The idea behind the class was this: computer students typically don’t get to write web software and other cool stuff until they’ve learned the basics for a year or more. This can lead to a lack of motivation and students not continuing as CS majors, even though they are really excited about the web and computing.

This summer I learned about Google’s App Engine and was pretty wowed. It eliminates some of the barriers to web programming for beginners: you don’t have to setup a database or server as its all setup for you and housed within the greatest computing infrastructure ever created. Could this technology, combined with the wonderful Python programming language, allow beginners to learn web software in one semester?

As we near the end of this experiment, I believe the answer is a profound ‘YES’. The students have been extremely motivated, working harder than perhaps any other class I have taught. I think they’re pretty excited to have written a social network as opposed to just using one!

If you’re interested in learning to build dynamic web applications using Python and Google App Engine, check out these  notes.

To explore this idea, I performed a bit of research using Google and opencampaigns.com. One money chain I found was this:

protectmarriage.com <– FIELDSTEAD & CO (Ahmasons) –> Robert Huff, CA assembly

Protectmarriage.com has raised nearly a million dollars for Prop. 8. One of their donors is FIELDSTEAD & CO, a group that was cited as one of the most influential evangelicals by Time.

Here is an excerpt of the Time article about influential Evangelicals:

Howard Ahmanson is an heir to the Home Savings Bank.

Fieldstead & CO. also funded politicians:

They didn’t directly fund Prop. 8, but they’re taking money from those that did.

This little bit of research is just a sample of what could be done. With collaborative software, this could be a joint effort, and the various funding chains could all be followed. Can such research help? Can we build a database where people can view businesses, politicians, etc. who are behind this discrimination? The SF Chronicle put a searchable database up prior to the election and the site was heavily used. It only showed direct funders, however. Many of the people funding yes on 8 are proud of it, but there is also that quiet segment who would rather their neighbors and friends not know. And perhaps more important, others who have indirectly funded 8 without even knowing it. Those are the folks who might apply persuasion and/or pressure with the greatest gains.

If you’re interested in such a project, email me at wolber at usfca dot edu.

Unfortunately, with any civil rights victory, one is forced to immediately ponder the consequences. The fear of a violent backlash. The fear that such a historic victory could lead to a political backlash that could effect the upcoming election so critical to our very existence.

There are certainly parallels to February 2004, when the Massachussets Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, arguably helping Bush win states like Ohio in November. Could this ruling have a similar catastrophic effect? Or are things different in 2008? SF Mayor Gavin Newsom thinks so. He called it, “a golden oldie for the Republicans, and I think they’ve played it one too many times” (chronicle) Gavin may be right, but gay rights were indeed a huge issue in 2004 and many Democrats feel the fires were stoked both by the timing of the Massachussets ruling as well as Gavin’s city hall matrimonial actions in 2004. One could certainly argue that homophobia will play as well today in Ohio as four years ago.

So should we celebrate this victory quietly until November? Should gay people not hold hands or kiss in public until McCain is defeated? Or should they do the exact opposite and follow Harvey’s call to come out like never before?

Barrack Obama has a similar dilemma. Does he come out in full support of gay marriage? This would bring a smile to my lips, and further ingratiate him with his base, but would it help him get elected? Does he stick with his “civil unions” stance? Or is there an alternative in which the government treats all people the same– with civil unions– while “marriage” becomes a strictly religious institution (such has been proscribed by the authors of “Nudge”)?

Its an age old dilemma, one that leads to angry debate  (witness the criticism Barney Frank has taken for his compromises). But this is one that must be considered with utmost care as the lives of millions are at stake.

“My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.”

Negotiators have agreed on a farm bill, the antiquated one that pays subsidies to rich farmers and will almost certainly add to the world’s rapidly deteriorating hunger crisis. Pelosi and friends are arguing to limit subsidies to those poor folk making somewhere around a million a year. George Bush– yes, our president– has called for a much more reasonable limit of $200,000, and a call to help feed the world with food bought in other countries, not just the US. Amazing! SF Chronicle’s Carolyn Lochhead’s article discusses it in her article Farm bill upends normal political order

Where do our presidential candidates stand?

Clinton said this: “Rural America is struggling in the face of skyrocketing energy prices, an economic downturn and rising food prices,” Clinton said. “Saying no to the farm bill would be saying no to rural America.” swampland

McCain: “I do not support it. I would veto it. I would do that because I believe that these subsidies, the subsidies are unnecessary.” desmoinesregister

Obama (in November in response to filibuster of farm bill):”I was disappointed to see that important improvements and solutions for our family farmers in this bill fell victim to partisan politics and obstructionism. Those who stood in the way of this bill stood against our farmers and a clean energy future. While the bill that passed committee didn’t include everything I would have liked, including specific reforms to help family farmers instead of big agribusiness, it did take much-needed steps to invest in conservation, nutrition, specialty crops and rural development. It provided funding for renewable energy and recognized farmers who are working to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. And it included a packer ban, which is so important for market transparency.” obama

The problem, of course, is systematic: our capitalism and laws that allow lobbyist money to stranglehold our politicians. Though I don’t like what Obama says above (bolding is mine), I still think that he, after being elected, will do the most to work against such a system (his small donation campaign is a great start).

J.P. Allen teaches information technology in USF’s Business School. Next Wednesday, April 30th, he’s facilitating a panel with some Web 2.0 bigshots from LinkedIn, Meebo, and WordPress. Very cool!