Cross-posted from www.phillipadsmith.com

I'm about a month late on this, but I still think it's more than worthy of a quick post. Jim Gilliam worked with Jesse Haff from Brave New Films to create an impressive new tool for online activism called act.ly.

As you might note from the cute Web address, act.ly is kind of a mashup of a URL-shortening service with Twitter integration, but the beauty is in its reinvention of the traditional (aka boring) online petition.

Have a cause to promote online? Why not try act.ly and see if your targets have their heads around social media yet. Kudos to Jim, Jesse, and the act.ly team for innovating online activism.

I first heard of the Guerrillagirls and their creative culture jamming through Andrew Boyd, and learned a bit more when I found myself delivering a workshop for Greenpeace with Frida Kahlo here in Toronto. The power of their work continues to be a lace-lined and guerrilla-masked battle cry for what’s right:

Web of Change alumnus and friend to all freedom fighters — Matt Thompson — was nominated for a Webby award yesterday for his fantastic work on the SavetheInternet.com viral video (The Webby awards are like the Oscars of the Internet). He’s a super-deserving and hardworking producer and you should really consider taking 10 minutes right now to support him: go register and then go vote here and here.

Matt says “We never would have been nominated if it weren’t for the efforts of Internet activists, bloggers, videomakers and citizens across the country. Winning a Webby would be a great recognition for those efforts – and help drive new traffic and media attention to our campaign. So please cast your vote – and ask friends to vote as well!”

Matt’s also trying to lure Melanie and I up to Montreal for some birding this spring, and no one can wax poetic about Montreal like Matt can:

The weather is FINALLY getting nice. Soon the streets will be alive with sexy French girls and boys, drinking frivolously on patios scented with the air of maple-dripped swallows and hummingbirds! And the rare triple-toed horndecker is native to Parc Lafontaine, near our apartment! You guys will have to come and bring your binoculars! We’ll pack a picnic full of figs and Cheval Blanc with lemon! What say ye?

Don’t you just want to power up the eco-car and head right on up there?

I sure do!