Time for a new idea?

Idea born during the night: http://discussdebatedecide.com (DDD-democracy reinvented for the 21st century) at the moment this links to this current post, the idea is only a few hours old :-)

Embrace the origins of active debate by citizens, powered by the social media technology of today, so citizens can feel empowered not overwhelmed and believe again that their voice matters, discuss important and interesting ideas, actively debate and then decide what to do next.

What needs to be done to get this concept going? Decide on the optimal number for each DDD, based around Dunbar's number of 150 (or Bernard–Killworth median of 231 or council of 500 from ancient Athens), how to pick the participants for each question, how long each debate should occur (a week, a month, a year), how to promote the idea to create a Facebook level of interest not a Reddit level (in the popular consciousness), how to decide which ideas that spin off to choose for the next question for DDD?

According to statista (https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/) we spend 135 minutes a day on social media, what if 10% of this time was spent discussing, debating and deciding the most important ideas that affect us all, rather than just posting pictures of your lunch and watching funny cat videos?

End of winter

Here in the far north of Sweden winter lasts until the beginning of May. One of the signs that winter is over is when the birds here can live without support from us humans. Now the snow has begun to melt we have now put out the last of the seed bags for our feathery friends. The video below is taken from my balcony of my room mate's window, where she hangs her seed bag.

End of a wonderful life

After struggling with a terminal diagnosis of leukaemia for the past 6 months my mother, Elisabeth, died on the 5th of April 2013 in England.

Her funeral was extremely moving for me and Simon, her partner of the past 20 years, as well as all that attended. Everyone said it was the funeral my mother would have herself wanted.

The wake afterward was Irish-style where we celebrated her wonderful life and all the people she touched deeply.

Winter

Temperature here in Umea has just dipped below zero and next week it is forecast to snow. Last night I fitted tires with metal studs to my bicycle. I am still wearing short shorts and short sleeved shirts so it must be summer?!? I only like to switch to long trousers and winter jackets when the weather hits -20 °C, but that is just me. Most people feel as soon as it starts to snow winter is here.

To start the flow ....

As this is the first post, it describes what I am currently doing/thinking. Sitting on a burst resistant stability ball, looking at my bank of three 24" screens (and looking at my Macbook from the corner of my eye), I am creating the start of this website under the 2.5 kilowatt of lighting in my room (it is easy to get depressed in the far north, during the winter).
 
I am thinking about all that I have to do in the next few weeks for my Master's course, also I am concerned about my mother who has terminal leukaemia and is hoping to be accepted onto a phase III trial next week, as no other drugs have had any effect. Tomorrow, hopefully, I will get to meet some experts in industrial design at the Umea Institute of Design. I am also digesting the thoughts generated by the 3 day conference on Cognitive Science I attended last week and deciding if I have time to attend the upcoming 3 days of popular science lectures at Umea university on the 18th - 20th of October. On the 18th and the 19th I will be in Cognitive Science and Tech heaven when I get to see a fMRI machine in action and, perhaps, get my brain scanned.