... and things + Kitty diary

Saturday, January 24, 2009

On the fourth day of office, Obama gave to me....

1640 EST Obama lifts abortion funding ban

Max Deveson

Max Deveson: In a much-trailed, but significant move, President Obama has signed an executive order overturning the so-called "Mexico City Rule" - the ban on federal funding for NGOs that perform abortions or offer abortion counselling.

The order - which comes the day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalised abortion in America - is likely to be seized on by anti-abortion activists as evidence that President Obama intends to push a radical pro-choice agenda.

In fact, Mr Obama's move takes America back to the status quo that existed eight years ago. The ban was originally put in place by Ronald Reagan, but was lifted by Bill Clinton. George W Bush reinstated it in 2001.

Both Mr Obama and the Secretary of State who will implement the policy - Hillary Clinton - pledged during the election campaign that they would repeal the ban.

Would this be an eight year victory streak for the so-called Pro-Choicers?

via: Obama diary: Days 1-10

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Akoha: a game or a social experiment?

The social game Akoha is finally open for beta. I promptly ordered a VIP starter kit. In huge contrast to my Titan pre-order, I got my decks in around 2 weeks' time.

So how do you play this game? You can start by purchasing a deck (the ones pictured on the right) from the Akoha Store and creating an account at their web site. Then you would want to be nice to your friends. (You are always nice to your friends, aren't you?) Buy them a cup of coffee. Make them smile. Give them a small surprise gift. Once you accomplished that, you need to give them the card that described your missions. They will be able to create Akoha accounts like you did (no purchase necessary) and confirm that your mission was a success. Now, the mission is theirs...

As your cards passed from networks to networks, you will be able to view their trails on Akoha's mission logs and see how you have made this world a (slightly) better place. Once you used up your mission cards, you will also be able to print and play new missions from their website. If you are creative, you can also create new missions.

Will this project be killed by the Credit Crunch? I sincerely hope this social experiment will be a success.

Friday, September 12, 2008

"A game that benefits real world people"

CEO Austin Hill presents Akoha, a game based on the (quite interesting) movie Pay it forward

It seems like one of the most interesting startups featured in TC50.