The Engadget Guide to the Republican National Convention protests
posted August 30th 2004 12:41PM
This year's Republican National Convention is expected to attract over a quarter of a million protesters, with some
estimates as high as 400,000. So far there've been a few notable arrests, including that
bicycling SMS guy.
In the age of a cellphone in every hand, and either a cameraphone or digital camera in every pocket, we're bound to
get some amazing coverage of this historic event. That said, we've rounded up some of the links and going ons for the
folks out there who either plan to get involved or just watch from the comfort and safety of their protective cubicles.
Feel free to add your own links to additional sites and resources in the comments.
Looking up who gives what..
Before we start, it’s a good idea to know who your boss or muckity-mucks where you work support. Over on Fundrace.org there’s a database of all the contributers to based on records filed with the FEC of contributions by all individuals totalling more than $200 to a Republican or Democratic between January 1, 2003 and July 31, 2004. For example, Bill Gates gave Bush $2,000, along with what a few other Microsoft folks gave...
Lastly, check out the money map.
Protest Guides
The day by day happenings and event coordination can be found at RNCNotWelcome.org and CounterConvention.org.
http://www.rncnotwelcome.org/
http://www.counterconvention.org/
http://www.rncprotestrights.org/
SMSing at the RNC
One of the main tools of protesters will be the humble cell phone, being able to message thousands of people
instantly and coordinate demonstrations has certainly changed the landscape for protests. Unlike our
poster-hanging hippie forefathers, flashmobs can instantly appear and new directives given out with the punch of a few
buttons.
From what we’ve been able to grok from various protest sites, the service of choice for mass SMSing during the protest
is TXTMob.com.
Also, MoPort is quickly becoming the repository for a
minute-by-minute pictorial record of the protests.
RNC-Redux
Each night of the RNC, Screensavers, in association with the Thing, will present the
RNC Redux Open Doc Tour, a real-time performance created
by pulling a broad selection of the day’s blog text, photos, audio, and video to mix it into a narrative of the day’s
events. Live video can be viewed here (QuickTime).
Still and Streaming Video Cameras
From the safety of your cubicle or home you can peer in to the many traffic
cameras throughout New York City to assertion levels of protest or all out pandemonium. The close circuit
television cameras update every one to three seconds and are capable of being repositioned while the wireless web
cameras refresh every 15 to 30 seconds and do not change position.
More photos…
Flicker offers up all photos tagged with “RNC” in one spot
here.
Your rights…
Lastly, if you plan to go to any of these protests, here’s
a handy guide on what to do, and how to stay out of trouble. And, if you’re in town, new to NYC,
here’s a good run down of what to expect and where the
bathrooms are at.
If you happen to spot some gadgets or tech being used in interesting ways during the next few days of the RNC, drop us
a line or post up in the comments.
The protesters are just making the Dems look foolish. Cuban & Palestinian flags? Give me a break. These people just don't like America.
I'll respond. Look, we keep things pretty non-political here at Engadget, and had we been around four years ago we almost certainly wouldn't have mentioned a protest march or a politicial convention at all. However these days people are using a lot of interesting new technologies to organize themselves and cover the protests, so we believe that this alone makes the RNC protest worth covering. We did a post last week on some wireless head-mounted cams police are using this week here in New York; if we're going to mention the technologies that the police are using to help maintain security during the protests, why shouldn't we also mention the technologies that protesters are using to organize? It might not suit your personal political leanings, but we can guarantee that if conservative protesters had been using WiFi-enabled bikes to protest the Democratic National Convention we would have written about that too.
If we have missed any interesting uses of technology by pro-Bush/anti-Kerry protesters, by all means contact us and we'll be sure to do a write up.
Thanks,
Peter Rojas
Editor
Engadget
I'm surprised I have not heard from anyone else using one of the best low-tech ways to keep on top of the protest, mainly scanner radios tuned to NYPD's frequencies. I kept a scanner running for some of the weekend, and it was far more informative than any web site or network news program. Of course, it also quickly shows you how hard-working and prepared the NYPD is in controlling the crowds, so maybe that's why I haven't heard much about it from the largely anti-NYPD indy media point of view.
Thank You for the protest coverage!
I don't know who the above posters are
but most of NY wants the RNC out!
You don't need to be apologetic about it.
If you're still thinking of voting republican
you're NOT thinking.
I feel all dirty and violated that they are here!
I echo Peter's words about using technology for this type of function. As someone who is both techie and politically active, it's exciting to see the two merge and Engadget covering it. The sites, details and how all sorts of devices work to help bring the activity to those of us who can't be/wish we there.... I know I would love to be in the crowds with my dig cam, PDA and WiFi ftp app to capture and post the ongoing rants and chants.
There's a search box to cover the data set as well.
http://politics.feedster.com