

How can programmers help the Occupy movement? - program4change

What sorts of tools/services could software engineers build to help the Occupy movement?
======
02f39nrca
I write code on Wall St. I don't make millions. Am I part of the greedy 1%?
The world is not as black and white as you think.

------
dcatalyst
When doing community work, I created a system to graphically represent asset
maps. Learn more here: <http://bit.ly/pz5WfI> If this could be standardized
with dropdown menus and connected to Google Docs, people could create asset
maps that communicate a lot of info in a small space that can be easily
understood. I got a start, but didn't have the technical know-how to make it
simpler. The details are here: <http://bit.ly/q5sGrK>

TL;DR: A picture could quickly demonstrate a person's assets, needs, contact
info, and an image to quickly identify with that person (like a photo, logo or
spirit animal or whatever) and these could be filled out on blackboard or
paper or online and then translated into a database.

contact me for more info: realistic.optimist@gmail.com

------
webXL
What's the "Occupy movement", exactly? Is it really a protest against the
wealthiest 1 percent? That seems really counterproductive, since most of the
wealth possessed by that group was created by that group, i.e. it didn't exist
50 years ago. Unless you can prove they stole that wealth, or you can prove
that government policies had nothing to do with our current economic
condition, helping this "movement" is a complete waste of time.

Malaria and hunger kill millions annually. Education in the U.S. continues to
decline. Cancer, obesity, drugs, crime, etc. Why don't you take a stab at
those problems first? Or get rich people to be more like Bill Gates rather
than have a statist thug _force_ them to fork over _more of_ their legally and
peacefully obtained property?

~~~
garethsprice
"What's the "Occupy movement", exactly? Is it really a protest against the
wealthiest 1 percent?"

It's not a protest against wealth, it's a protest against how:

* Deregulation allowed the financial sector to run wild, then

* get bailed out by the taxpayer when it all blew up in their face, then

* continuing the party as if nothing had happened (record bonuses paid from taxpayer bailout money)

* while their customers (from individual families to those families' pension funds) got screwed in ways that are demonstrably fraudulent on a massive scale

* while no-one in the industry gets punished

* while regular people continue to get screwed, even if they did everything right (get a degree, no jobs - save up a down payment, still can't get a mortgage - need business capital, still can't get a bank loan)

These guys on the left are angry at Wall Street in the same way that the right
is angry at the Government. Their lives have become massively worse since the
crash, while they see the people they perceive to have caused the mess
continuing to party on taxpayer money.

Regular people in this country are pissed at the ruling classes in a way they
haven't been for generations, the only difference is in who they're blaming.

Should both movements cross paths, it will be our Arab Spring/French
Revolution.

Turbulent times ahead.

~~~
tzs
It's also a protest against animal abuse, and a protest against paper money,
and a protest against the death penalty, and a protest against the military.

That's the big problem with it--it is way too defocused.

~~~
webXL
You forgot fur, whaling, and the Judean People's Front.

------
MarkDilley
I had a programmer friend of mine help build <http://OccupyCalendar.org> \- it
is a first start, if it catches on, could use help in developing it.

Also - IT on the ground is helpful and people who understand electrical needs.

------
scottmcleod
I've been looking for some developers interested in building an application to
assist them in their process. Centralized messaging, city based messages,
support requests, and an unfiltered news source etc. Mostly just RSS
Aggregates, Push Messaging notifications. Rails / HTML / jQuery / Java

I've spoke to 4 or 5 head Occupy Leaders about this idea and they are
interested as could bring some real-time centralization of the movement. This
would be a profitless project, donations past server costs would go back into
occupy movements. Contact me me@scott-mcleod.com

------
rrgg
Please go to the OWS website and read their stated goals. Then ask yourself if
you really support them. I think a lot of people are just projecting their own
anger and ideas and don't understand OWS at all.

~~~
hcack
I've decided against supporting the movement. I like what they ostensibly
stand for. Corporate influence in politics is a tricky thing. There is
palpable dissonance between deregulation in good times and bailouts in bad.
Protesting that is all well and good.

But, as you say, many supporters are projecting their own views onto the self-
proclaimed 99%. I'm worried about supporting a the misguided, vocal,
projecting crowd rather than the stated goals. To some degree, political
movements always suffers from this. OWS more than others.

On a side note, "the Occupy Movement" has a funny ring to it. Has occupation
and liberation become synonymous at last?

------
dcatalyst
Aviary's feather application uses HTML5 to allow embedded image editing. This
is a good visioning tool whereby people can draw out their visions and submit
them. The tool is very simple and easy to use, even by those who are not at
all tech savvy, and it requires no download of software.

possible applications: proposing camp layout design ideas proposing march
routes proposing flyer and poster ideas showing where cops are gathering
during a protest (map overlay) showing where people are hurt during a protest
(map overlay)

------
dasht
How about participating in the movement and guiding folks towards using RSS
for distributed and decentralized news suggestion?

Dave Winer:

occupyweb.org

[http://scripting.com/stories/2011/10/03/relyingOnFacebookTwi...](http://scripting.com/stories/2011/10/03/relyingOnFacebookTwitterAn.html)

[http://scripting.com/stories/2011/10/09/bootsOnTheGround.htm...](http://scripting.com/stories/2011/10/09/bootsOnTheGround.html)

------
p0ss
Honestly, if you could write a web app to allow for scalable online General
Assemblies, that would be awesome. I'm thinking IRC with upvotes and all the
key GA actions as contextual menu items.

------
lurch00
A facial recognition app to sound a siren when Tony Bologna is near.

------
Kim_Tim_Jim
enable all protests to publish a live stream -- without commercials.

------
rsanchez1
"How can programmers help the Occupy movement?"

Found start-ups and give them all jobs.

