NEW LOCATION

this site has migrated to www.justinmassa.com and will no longer be updated as of 6/29/09. Please update your feed settings to http://www.justinmassa.com/feed and http://www.justinmassa.com/feed/atom.

 

N2Y4 Mobile Challenge and Conference

Save Your Seat: N2Y4 Mobile Challenge Conference is almost here!

The organizers of this year’s N2Y4 Mobile Challenge & Conference tell us there are still a few seats left for the 2-day event convening the best and brightest from an inter-disciplinary field of hackers, entrepreneurs, activists and philanthropists.  Be sure to get your seat today if you want to be part of this unique conference!

This year’s event convenes world-class speakers and (15) “Featured Projects” focused on innovations happening  in mobile field competing for $50k in cash-prizes.  Winners will be crowd-sourced from conference participants and receive cash-awards on day 2 of the event.

REGISTER here!

Still unsure? Here’s 3 ways participants dive into the mix with the N2Y4 Conference structure:

1. Tinkerers.  Are you challenged by lecture-formats?  No worries, share your expertise, or get involved in a hands-on session happening in the NetSquared Garage.

2. Kick the tires.  Do you need real-world case studies to help inform the way you think and develop your mobile projects?  Learn more about the technology, business plans and social-impact of (15) Projects who will be engaging with Funders and Entrepreneurs to defend their work’s potential and compete for ~$100k in cash-prizes.

3. Blow your mind.  +2billion people are carrying mobile phones every day.  The “State of Mobile” topical sessions will be facilitated by leaders in both the NGO and private-sector-sphere.  Sessions promise to cover leading theories and practices.
Hear from session-leaders share  use studies of mobile-technologies and projects that are solving real-world problems, and discuss the possibilities of what an increasingly ubiquitous mobile network means to the future of business and 21st century activism.

Conference Details:

Date:  Tuesday, May 26 & Wednesday, May 27
Location: Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA
Hotel: Visit N2Y4 for more info
Registration: REGISTER here!

See you in San Jose!

 

How to Violate a Federal Civil Rights Law and Get Away With It

I’ve written before about the absurdities of “government speak” before, but a new memo from HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity takes things to a whole new level.

Since its passage in 1968, the Federal Fair Housing Act has prohibited landlords from making discriminatory statements in housing advertisements. (Note: It also applies liability to everyone involved in the process of publishing the ad, but that’s another post for another time.) Just as classified ads have moved from the printed newspaper to the online classified website, so too have landlords’ discriminatory statements. This prohibition is unique in federal law, one of the only limitations on speech rooted in civil rights’ protections.

And HUD has now published clear instructions on how to violate it and avoid prosecution.

 

new post: “Missing Priorities…”

A new post up at Rooflines.org on the missing priorities of the new HUD/DOT Sustainable Comunities Initiative:

At a US House of Representatives hearing last week on “Livable Communities, Transit Oriented Development, and Incorporating Green Building Practices into Federal Housing and Transportation,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced an new partnership. A joint task force, the “Sustainable Communities Initiative,” will address the intersection of transportation and housing affordability.

While any genuine effort to address housing affordability is welcome, this new HUD/DOT task force is particularly exciting because it reflects a new understanding of the complex issues that confront metropolitan regions and the sometimes surprising ways they intersect. Encouraging smarter planning, expanding the definition of affordability, and researching the livability of communities work in tandem to increase the use of public transportation, decrease our carbon footprint, reduce urban sprawl, enable the smarter use of regional resources, and improve affordable housing options for families. In short, this is one of those rare initiatives that seem to naturally align a multitude of interests.

Read the full post…

 

new post: “It’s a Dirty Job…”

From Rooflines.org:

For the first 38 minutes, it almost sounded like the Senators pitied him.

The Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs spent nearly 40 minutes of the two-hour confirmation hearing warning President-elect Obama’s HUD secretary nominee Shaun Donovan that he would be taking over a neglected, under-funded agency rife with problems that has been relegated to the second tier of the federal bureaucracy and is facing a housing crisis of unknown proportions. Republicans and democrats alike praised Donovan for his “willingness” to take on this challenge and at times seemed genuinely surprised that someone of his experience and expertise would take such a challenging job. As many of the Senators noted, barring some startling revelation his confirmation is virtually assured.

Read the full post…