【おすすめ本】前川貴行『ボノボ 最後の類人猿 』―コンゴ川流域の熱帯雨林で 出会ったボノボの生態=土居 秀夫(元「アニマ」編集長)<br />

8 hours 33 minutes ago
 ボノボはチンパンジーに似ており、かつては動物学の世界でも、ピグミーチンパンジーと称されていたことがある。20世紀に新種として認知されたゆえに、「最後の類人猿」とされる。 しかし、チンパンジーとボノボの生態は真逆といっていい。個体や群れの間で攻撃的な行動を、しばしば見せるチンパンジーにくらべ、擬人的過ぎるかもしれないが、ボノボは融和とか寛容という表現がふさわしい動物であり、自分たちの間で激しい闘争を行うことはほとんどないという。 異性や同性の間で、交尾あるいはそれに近いしぐさ..
JCJ

[B] 日本とイタリアの教育事情~ チャオ!イタリア通信(サトウノリコ)

19 hours 46 minutes ago
筆者は、ただいま恒例の夏休み里帰りで日本にいます。日本に帰ってくると、必ず会う友達が二人いるんです。付き合う中で、皆結婚、出産を経験し、今一人は高校受験、もう一人は中学受験の真っ只中。去年辺りから会うと、二人は受験の話なのですが、私はポカンと聞いてるだけ。イタリアには、日本のような受験がないので、イタリアにいる日本の友達も私と同じ状況です。(サトウノリコ=イタリア在住)
日刊ベリタ

Open Austin: Reimagining Civic Engagement and Digital Equity in Texas

1 day 1 hour ago

The Electronic Frontier Alliance is growing and this year we’ve been honored to welcome Open Austin into the EFA. Open Austin began in 2009 as a meetup that successfully advocated for a city-run open data portal, and relaunched as a 501(c)3 in 2018 dedicated to reimagining civic engagement and digital equity by building volunteer open source projects for local social organizations.

As Central Texas’ oldest and largest grassroots civic tech organization, their work has provided hands-on training for over 1,500 members in the hard and soft skills needed to build digital society, not just scroll through it. Recently, I got the chance to speak with Liani Lye, Executive Director of Open Austin, about the organization, its work, and what lies ahead:

There’s so many exciting things happening with Open Austin. Can you tell us about your Civic Digital Lab and your Data Research Hub?

Open Austin's Civic Digital Lab reimagines civic engagement by training central Texans to build technology for the public good. We build freely, openly, and alongside a local community stakeholder to represent community needs. Our lab currently supports 5 products:

  • Data Research Hub: Answering residents' questions with detailed information about our city
  • Streamlining Austin Public Library’s “book a study room” UX and code
  • Mapping landlords and rental properties to support local tenant rights organizing
  • Promoting public transit by highlighting points of interest along bus routes
  • Creating an interactive exploration of police bodycam data

We’re actively scaling up our Data Research Hub, which started in January 2025 and was inspired by 9b Corp’s Neighborhood Explorer. Through community outreach, we gather residents’ questions about our region and connect the questions with Open Austin’s data analysts. Each answered question adds to a pool of knowledge that equips communities to address local issues. Crucially, the organizing team at EFF, through the EFA, have connected us to local organizations to generate these questions.

Can you discuss your new Civic Data Fellowship cohort and Communities of Civic Practice? 

Launched in 2024, Open Austin’s Civic Data Fellowship trains the next generation of technologically savvy community leaders by pairing aspiring women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ data analysts with mentors to explore Austin’s challenges. These culminate in data projects and talks to advocates and policymakers, which double as powerful portfolio pieces.  While we weren’t able to fully fund Fellow stipends through grants this year, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we successfully raised 25% through grassroots efforts.

Along with our fellowship and lab, we host monthly Communities of Civic Practice peer-learning circles that build skills for employability and practical civic engagement. Recent sessions include a speaker on service design in healthcare, and co-creating a data visualization on broadband adoption presented to local government staff. Our in-person communities are a great way to learn and build local public interest tech without becoming a full-on Labs contributor.

For those in Austin and Central Texas that want to get involved in-person, how can they plug-in?

If you can only come to one event for the rest of the year, come to our Open Austin’s 2025 Year-End Celebration. Open Austin members plus our freshly graduated Civic Data Fellow cohort will give lightning talks to share how they’ve supported local social advocacy through open source software and open data work. Otherwise, come to a monthly remote volunteer orientation call. There, we'll share how to get involved in our in-person Communities of Civic Practice and our remote Civic Digital Labs (aka, building open source software).

Open Austin welcomes volunteers from all backgrounds, including those with skills in marketing, fundraising, communications, and operations - not just technologists. You can make a difference in various ways. Come to a remote volunteer orientation call to learn more. And, as always, donate. Running multiple open source projects for structured workforce development is expensive, and your contributions help sustain Open Austin's work in the community. Please visit our donation page for ways to give; thanks EFF!

Christopher Vines

[B] 「パレスチナ同様、国連事務総長頼りの西サハラ」【西サハラ最新情報】  平田伊都子

1 day 7 hours ago
「今回はとても残念ではありましたが、平田さん、ベイサットさんが謝る必要は全くありません。、、」と、JNPC日本記者クラブからのメールをいただいた時、ホッとし心から感謝の思いがこみ上げてきました。 8月25日に予定していたJNPC日本記者クラブ でのベイサット西サハラ外相記者会見が、前々日の23日に心ならずも強制出国させられ、中止せざるをえなかったからです。 そして、同じく25日に予定していた面談に関しては、福島瑞穂・社民党党首殿と山添拓・共産党参議院議員殿に平田の代行を許していただき、西サハラの現状を僅かながらもお伝えすることができました。 日本人の優しさに触れた面談でした。
日刊ベリタ

【お知らせ】「生成AI問題と著作権」についての勉強会=出版ネッツ

1 day 8 hours ago
 近年、生成AIへの関心が高まっています。便利である反面、様々な危険性もあわせもつ生成AIについて、まずは基礎知識や、海外の動きなどを学ぼうと、勉強会を企画しました。 連続講座にしたいと考えており、第1回では、「生成AI問題と著作権」をテーマにします。 クリエイターの皆様のご参加をお待ちしております。日時:9月4日(木) 19時~21時開催方法:オンライン(Zoom)のみ料金:1,000円(Peatixで申し込み=https://x.gd/lxy4x)※出版ネッツ組合員は無料..
JCJ