5 years today, the world lost Aaron Swartz. A death motivated by the judicial extremism of our government, and indirectly caused by prosecutors who only cared about advancing their own careers, at any cost. Aaron was only 26, but already had an extensive list of contributions to society, internet, freedom of expression, and more. We can only imagine how much more he would have accomplished by now, particularly in the current political environment. ...
You have to check out Patreon. Do it now. I’ll wait. It’s such a simple and clever concept. It gets the best of Kickstarter, but eliminates the burden of creating a project. Kickstarter works well for large and well defined projects - a game, a movie, a new gadget. But it doesn’t work for small, frequent, content-based efforts. This includes the work done by musicians, writers, photographers, bloggers, youtubers, and artists in general. ...
A month later, and this still hurts. Last week, I awoke to find Aaron with me. He was sitting next to my bed, grinning his cheekiest grin, holding my hand. For a few minutes, I savored a sweet uncertainty: Were the last few weeks all a nightmare, and Aaron was still with me? Or was I awaking inside a dream state, and in the real… continue reading: TarenSK: Why Aaron died ...
(Some will say this is not the time. I disagree. This is the time when every mixed emotion needs to find voice.) Since his arrest in January, 2011, I have known more about the events that began this spiral than I have wanted to know. Aaron consulted me as a friend and lawyer. He… Continue reading: Lessig Blog, v2: Prosecutor as Bully Photo credit: Boston Wiki Meetup, by ragesoss on Flickr ...