The Engadget Guide to the Republican National Convention protests
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.