Week 494 - Interesting links

Upstream Podcast

I enjoyed listening to this two part podcast on worker co-operatives. The first part gives an overview of what worker co-ops are and how they run and then interviews some members of various co-ops, mostly in the US, including a bicycle shop and bakery. The second part is a history of the Mondragon co-operative in the Basque region of Spain. — CL

OpenPlotter

I’m really pleased to see the continuing development of open-source software and hardware for marine leisure use. Amongst other things, this software builds on the excellent OpenCPN chart plotter application and the SignalK standard and specifically targets the Raspberry Pi.

It incorporates lots of other useful things, e.g. an autopilot, multiplexing of NMEA and other sensor data, a WiFi access point, etc. It’s also interesting to see that the development of OpenPlotter has inspired the development of open-source hardware like the cutely named Moitessier HAT. — JM

Tech co-operatives are leaving the startup rat race behind

Our very own Chris Lowis features in this Wired article about CoTech. I’m proud to be part of this growing network of organisations that are doing things a bit differently. — CR