Revolution Technology

Don't let technology ruin your Valentine's Day - Love in the Digital Age- msnbc.com

2010-02-14T12:43:00.000-05:00

Don't let technology ruin your Valentine's Day - Love in the Digital Age- msnbc.com: "Don't text on dates. That should be really simple, but some of you whack jobs need more explicit detail.

Most people think of dates like interviews. You try to be on your best behavior in the hopes of tricking someone into 'hiring' you. It's ironic that often both people want to impress, rather than vet, their opposite. But it's also sort of nice, in the modern world, to see people try to be endearing and sweet."

Apple iPad is 'an incredible experience'

2010-01-27T14:39:00.001-05:00

Steve Jobs has announced the news everybody was expecting. Apple launch their tablet computer iPad

Apple announces ‘iPad’ touchscreen tablet - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

2010-01-27T14:29:00.000-05:00

Apple announces ‘iPad’ touchscreen tablet - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com: "After months of rampant speculation, Apple Wednesday announced a touchscreen tablet computer, the 'iPad' for consumers who want to take their movies, TV shows, music, games and reading with them, be it around the house or on the go. Pricing starts at $499, and it should be available in 60 to 90 days.

'We want to kick off 2010 with a truly revolutionary and magical product,' CEO Steve Jobs told a packed audience at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco on Wednesday."

Jerry achens world: Swapping the immediate for the mediated

2009-12-15T17:02:00.000-05:00

Jerry achens world: Swapping the immediate for the mediated: "It is not unnatural these days to do online counselling and priests need to be prepared to sometimes even go the extra mile as that would provide extreme relief to someone and also be a learning process for the priest himself. But is it really possible to talk to someone who is at a distance and make sense of what they are telling you? Can this be termed counselling in the strict sense of the word? How do I know who I am talking (chatting) with? What if someone is fooling me or checking me out?"

Branson unviels civilain spacecraft

2009-12-08T14:04:00.000-05:00

It's one small step for billionaire businessman Richard Branson ... and one giant leap for people who have always dreamed of travelling into space.

Virgin Galactic has unveiled the world's first commercial space-craft.

But if you're hoping for an economy class flight to the final frontier, you're going to be disappointed. Tickets are expected to cost $200,000.

Adobe Edge: December 2009: Featured video

2009-12-08T13:40:00.000-05:00

Adobe Edge: December 2009: Featured video: "Onsite at the Missouri School of Journalism, Edge Managing Editor Julie Campagna interviews faculty and students about the ever increasing role of technology in the field of journalism, and also explores a student design competition that centers around Adobe Flash Catalyst. Transcript."

Scientists, lawyers mull effects of home robots - Innovation- msnbc.com

2009-12-06T19:53:00.000-05:00

Scientists, lawyers mull effects of home robots - Innovation- msnbc.com: "Eric Horvitz illustrates the potential dilemmas of living with robots by telling the story of how he once got stuck in an elevator at Stanford Hospital with a droid the size of a washing machine."

Search for aliens costs school employee his job - Science- msnbc.com

2009-12-02T14:21:00.001-05:00

Search for aliens costs school employee his job - Science- msnbc.com: "A former school district employee is accused of using school computers in an experiment to find space aliens, costing the worker his job and the district more than $1 million."

Search for aliens costs school employee his job - Science- msnbc.com

2009-12-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

‘Black screen of death’ for some Windows users - Security- msnbc.com

2009-12-01T13:14:00.000-05:00

‘Black screen of death’ for some Windows users - Security- msnbc.com: "A Microsoft security update for its new computer operating system, Windows 7 as well as older versions of Windows, is resulting in some users getting a 'black screen of death' on their machines, according to reports. The problem may be tied to security updates recently released by the software maker."

Internet censorship limits could be set by WTO - Security- msnbc.com

2009-11-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

Internet censorship limits could be set by WTO - Security- msnbc.com: "Censorship of the Internet is open to challenge at the World Trade Organization as it can restrict trade in services delivered online, a forthcoming study says."

Security center opens to battle computer attacks - Security- msnbc.com

2009-10-30T21:31:00.000-04:00

Security center opens to battle computer attacks - Security- msnbc.com: "The United States is well behind the curve in the fight against computer criminals, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Friday, as Homeland Security officials opened a $9 million operations center to better coordinate the government's response to cyberattacks."

Get ready for non-Latin letter domain names - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-10-27T12:25:00.000-04:00

Get ready for non-Latin letter domain names - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com: "The Internet is set to undergo one of the biggest changes in its four-decade history with the expected approval this week of international domain names — or addresses — that can be written in non-Latin script, an official said Monday."

Are retailers going too far tracking our Web habits? - USATODAY.com

2009-10-26T10:41:00.000-04:00

Are retailers going too far tracking our Web habits? - USATODAY.com: "Companies have been monitoring our online behavior for almost as long as there's been an Internet, often using our online footsteps (cookies) whenever we search, browse or buy online. Tracking technology has advanced so much that everything from how long we linger over a product description to whether we are searching for sexual-dysfunction drugs can be collected and stored on individual profiles. Our profiles are numeric descriptions, not our real names, but in some cases, it's not hard to determine personal information behind the numbers."

Will Web 2.0 over take email?

2009-10-26T09:29:00.000-04:00

Is e-mail going by the wayside?

Rob Preston at InformationWeek says no. And he makes a good argument.

Preston was responding to a WSJ article analyzing why e-mail's reign has ended. The story, by Jessica E. Vascellaro, pointed to the rise of social media tools that increase speed and collaboration. Preston counters that while tools like Twitter, Facebook and others offer gains over traditional e-mail, they're still impersonal and limited in functionality.

Harvard professor Andy McAfee has been talking about Web 2.0 tools for a few years, since he coined the phrase "Enterprise 2.0" in a Sloan Management Review article (subscription required to read full article).

He spoke with me last week--ahead of the release of his long-awaited book, Enterprise 2.0--and brought up another reason why e-mail is lacking.

McAfee told me about a conversation he had with a CIO from an investment bank. The CIO said Web 2.0 technologies were, in fact, a great defense.

"He said all these Web 2.0 technologies were his best defense, because all the contributions to them are very widely visible, essentially public, and attributed back to the people that made them. That means that the instant there's any flavor of infraction, the community will help him figure out what happened, how bad it is, who did it, and then he can show any regulator or authority when the problem occurred, when his company became aware of it, what action it took and how quickly it was removed."

As McAfee notes, businesses typically don't get in trouble for isolated incidents, but instead for extended periods or patterns of misbehavior. And e-mail, he says, can be a catalyst for that misbehavior.

"These technologies and platforms are great for making sure incidents don't turn into patterns, whereas e-mail--which is a fantastic technology because it happens via private channels--is a great technology for allowing abuses to continue and flourish for a long time."

We'll have more from McAfee in the November issue of CIO Insight, and I'll post more here before then.

In the meantime, two things. First, can you see a time where Web 2.0/collaborative tools will actually replace e-mail at your company? What will it take for that to happen?

And check out this package from award-winning writer Deb Gage on why traditional software might be on the way out. In it, Sunoco CIO Peter Whatnell explains his thinking in evaluating a move to Web-based e-mail at his company.

source: http://blogs.cioinsight.com/biztech30/content/web_20/post_2.html

Social Networking Without Tears - Careers

2009-10-26T09:26:00.000-04:00

Social Networking Without Tears - Careers: "A recent survey conducted by Robert Half Technology found that many businesses ban sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the workplace. Seen as a distraction by some, these sites do have potential value to IT employees who use them appropriately."

Fake security software in millions of computers - Security- msnbc.com

2009-10-19T15:16:00.000-04:00

Fake security software in millions of computers - Security- msnbc.com: "Tens of millions of U.S. computers are loaded with scam security software that their owners may have paid for but which only makes the machines more vulnerable, according to a new Symantec report on cybercrime."

Walk through of All For Good Softwar

2009-10-08T11:28:00.001-04:00

Adam Sah, a lead engineer on All for Good, walks through the platform and explains how the site and API can be used.

The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers - CNN.com

2009-10-07T11:33:00.000-04:00

The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers - CNN.com: "Facebook, for better or worse, is like being at a big party with all your friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers."

AT&T says Google Voice blocks calls it can't - Wireless- msnbc.com

2009-09-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

AT&T says Google Voice blocks calls it can't - Wireless- msnbc.com: "AT&T said Friday that Google's Internet phone program gets an unfair advantage from blocking calls to rural communities where local carriers charge high connection fees."

Bad behavior? Blame the Internet! - Technotica- msnbc.com

2009-09-18T11:34:00.000-04:00

Bad behavior? Blame the Internet! - Technotica- msnbc.com: "The Internet, with its Twitter and Facebook and Craigslist, et al, is destroying society; surely you’ve heard. Even before Civility’s lonesome death at the hands of three completely unrelated incidents, various surveys and studies of specious methodology “proved” that our increasing time in cyberspace is making us stupid, porn-addicted, socially isolated, anonymous sexting bullies with Attention Deficit Disorder."

Get a Linux!

2009-09-17T10:58:00.001-04:00

Hi I'm a Linux

2009-09-17T10:55:00.001-04:00

Share photos of your favorite geeky shirts - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-09-14T07:04:00.000-04:00

Share photos of your favorite geeky shirts - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

Is the president a video game hater? - Citizen Gamer- msnbc.com

2009-09-13T14:49:00.000-04:00

Is the president a video game hater? - Citizen Gamer- msnbc.com: "For a guy who once said he hadn’t played a video game since “Pong,” President Barack Obama sure has a lot to say about video games these days.

Or at least, he has a lot to say ... for a commander-in-chief."

Muhammad Ali IBM commercial

2009-09-12T17:55:00.001-04:00

First Church of Internet SEO: is it time?

2009-09-12T17:23:00.000-04:00

First Church of Internet SEO: is it time?: "Second Life and other virtual realms are establishing places of worship. Is it time to create a legitimate, practicing Virtual Church? Can we? Should we?"

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC. (Mac PC Parody) #1

2009-09-12T16:34:00.001-04:00

Net's plagiarism 'cops' are on patrol - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-09-10T12:13:00.000-04:00

Net's plagiarism 'cops' are on patrol - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com: "They scour the Web in search of stolen phrases, dig through documents looking for evidence of looting. They can’t issue citations, but they can certainly let you know if you’ve failed to include one.

Yes, the plagiarism police are on the job."

Apple Mac Ad: "Out of the Box"

2009-09-09T15:08:00.001-04:00

TheUNreleasedMacAd

2009-09-08T14:46:00.001-04:00

Ultimate Mafia Wars Guide: How To Win, Strategy, Tips, Money

2009-09-07T15:40:00.000-04:00

Ultimate Mafia Wars Guide: How To Win, Strategy, Tips, Money: "Given that Mafia Wars is such a popular Facebook app game, I thought it only made sense to create a Mafia Wars guide. I’ve only recently started playing but I’ve successfully grown my mafia family to over 250 in just a few days. Mafia Wars is a highly addictive Facebook game but it’s also a great place to meet and add Facebook friends too. Everyone I’ve met in Mafia Wars has not only been friendly but supportive and ready to go to war in a moments notice for his/her own Mafia Wars family. Through the help of some Mafia Wars members, I’ve come up with some great Mafia Wars tips on how to play the game:"

NBR | Outsourcing Animation to India | PBS

2009-09-03T12:44:00.001-04:00

Walt Disney, Sony Entertainment and Warner Brothers are doing business with India. In order to save money these Hollywood studios are having their animations made overseas. Sapna Bhatia reports on how this money-saving move is giving life to India's growing computer graphics industry.

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids

2009-09-01T10:55:00.001-04:00

'E-Mom' Gloria Bianco shows Jim and Tracy how geographical distance is no longer a roadblock to shamelessly interfering with the lives of your children.

As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten growth - Internet- msnbc.com

2009-08-31T11:36:00.000-04:00

As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten growth - Internet- msnbc.com: "Goofy videos weren't on the minds of Len Kleinrock and his team at UCLA when they began tests 40 years ago on what would become the Internet. Neither was social networking, for that matter, nor were most of the other easy-to-use applications that have drawn more than a billion people online.

Instead the researchers sought to create an open network for freely exchanging information, an openness that ultimately spurred the innovation that would later spawn the likes of YouTube, Facebook and the World Wide Web."

More marketers use social networking to reach customers - USATODAY.com

2009-08-29T18:49:00.000-04:00

More marketers use social networking to reach customers - USATODAY.com: "Social-media services, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and countless other websites, have had a profound effect on how millions of Americans — especially those under 35 — interact with others (or don't), shop and view brands. It's a real-time digital lifestyle, powered by smartphones and netbooks, that often colors what products they purchase, how they view brands and where they spend most of their waking hours."

How Facebook Can Ruin Your Friendships - WSJ.com

2009-08-25T16:29:00.000-04:00

How Facebook Can Ruin Your Friendships - WSJ.com: "Notice to my friends: I love you all dearly.

But I don't give a hoot that you are 'having a busy Monday,' your child 'took 30 minutes to brush his teeth,' your dog 'just ate an ant trap' or you want to 'save the piglets.' And I really, really don't care which Addams Family member you most resemble. (I could have told you the answer before you took the quiz on Facebook.)

Here's where you and I went wrong: We took our friendship online. First we began communicating more by email than by phone. Then we switched to 'instant messaging' or 'texting.' We 'friended' each other on Facebook, and began communicating by 'tweeting' our thoughts—in 140 characters or less—via Twitter."

The Wired Campus - How Students, Professors, and Colleges Are, and Should Be, Using Social Media - The Chronicle of Higher Education

2009-08-25T14:05:00.000-04:00

The Wired Campus - How Students, Professors, and Colleges Are, and Should Be, Using Social Media - The Chronicle of Higher Education: "The Chronicle spoke with S. Craig Watkins, an associate professor of radio, TV, and film at the University of Texas at Austin, about the new age of social networking and media, and what it means for the classroom of the future. His soon-to-be-published book, The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future, touches on those ideas."

The ULTIMATE Mafia Wars Guide on Facebook

2009-08-23T21:35:00.001-04:00

This Mafia Wars group is ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN playing Mafia Wars on Facebook. It doesn't matter if you are an absolute noob or a high level player - joining our group means you will have MORE FUN playing the game than any other group in Mafia Wars!

This game is all about building alliances and HAVING FUN! By joining us, you will join a community that not only has high level players, and lots of great tips, tricks, cheats, info and guides, but has laughs everyday having so much fun playing the game and helping each other out.

To be a member of this Group - you need to have purchased The ULTIMATE Guide to Mafia Wars, and then we will grant you access to this group and the videos, content and benefits that are within - Capeesh?

Inside we have tons of funny Mafia videos and our own home made Mafia Wars instructional videos that will crack you up while you learn to be a Master of the game! We also have killer cheats, tips and will introduce you to some of the best players in the game and teach you how to grow your Mafia SUPER FAST and how to get the TOP - HIGH LEVEL PLAYERS in the game to join YOUR Mafia. And that, is all I am going to say about that.

Want to buy the guide and join? Visit our website - or find us on eBay, we'll hook you up. For about the cost of buying us a cup of coffee we will make sure you are plugged into the funniest wiseguys in the game! We have tons more funny Mafia Wars videos and players inside that will crack you up and pulverize your enemies.

Serious mugs and overly sensitive puss'es - keep on walkin, there's nothin for you to see here....

Mar Cassian's Columbus Ministry

2009-08-23T16:27:00.001-04:00

A video story which appeared on the online edition of the Columbus Dispatch about the neighborhood served by Mar Cassian and about his ministry there.

HOW TO: Use Facebook for Professional Networking

2009-08-22T10:45:00.000-04:00

HOW TO: Use Facebook for Professional Networking: "Ask anybody why they use Facebook, and most people will respond with reasons like staying in touch with friends, or being able to share pictures. Rarely does one’s professional life ever get mentioned when describing the social network. When it comes to business networking, LinkedIn (LinkedIn) tends to take all the thunder, and Facebook (Facebook) is generally written off as a place just for fun. Yet, perhaps that’s a mistake.

Facebook, after all, has 250 million active users compared to about 44 million for LinkedIn, and even though the atmosphere is clearly not as focused on business, there are still a ton of opportunities for professional networking that business users would be remiss to pass up. Once you look beyond the obvious social features like sharing pictures and poking friends, there are plenty of ways to tap into the professional community on the world’s largest social network.

In this post we’ll talk about how to setup your Facebook for professional use, how to find others to network with, Facebook features that work for professional networking, and ways to maximize the value from those features."

Indiana Health Information Exchange

2009-08-21T10:56:00.000-04:00

Indiana Health Information Exchange: "The Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) is the nation’s most respected health information exchange organization and one of the nation's only health information exchange organizations providing chronic disease and preventive health services. IHIE provides services that streamline the healthcare industry by delivering information at the most critical time: the point-of-care. Our goal is to support value-driven healthcare and to transform the healthcare industry with realistic solutions to help improve quality and lower costs."

Feds to Spend $19 Billion on Health IT

2009-08-21T10:54:00.001-04:00

By: Nancy P. Johnson | Source: AARP Bulletin Today | July 1, 2009

Scott Eshowsky, M.D., switched his family practice to electronic medical records in 2006 and says “I would never go back” to paper files. Photo by Matthew Gilson

Summary:
• One-third of Indiana’s patients have electronic medical records
• U.S. earmarks $19 billion for health IT
• One doctor says he’d never go back to paper records

On a Friday afternoon in 2006, a medical computer network linking 6 million patients noted a surge in cases of an intestinal bug causing nausea and vomiting. Within 24 hours, it was traced to an Indianapolis grocery selling tainted custard-filled doughnuts.

The quick detective work is just one example of the efficiency of the Indiana Health Information Exchange. Launched five years ago, IHIE connects 39 hospitals, 10,600 doctors and millions of patients in a secure computerized network. Medical professionals, wherever they happen to be, can instantly download lab reports and treatment histories. They say the system saves money and helps doctors deliver better care to patients.

IHIE could serve as a model as the federal government infuses $19 billion in stimulus money into health IT infrastructure.

• Only 17 percent of doctors and 10 percent of hospitals nationwide have electronic systems.

• In Indiana, one-third of all Hoosiers’ medical records are computerized—and the number is growing.

“We started down the road earlier than some others,” said J. Marc Overhage, M.D., president and CEO of IHIE. He said IHIE is talking with the new federal health IT agency. “I hope they are incorporating some of what we do in their plans.”

IHIE, a nonprofit based in Indianapolis, got its start as a research project funded by the philanthropic Regenstrief Institute. The institute sought a solution to the problem created by patients moving from doctor to doctor without their records following them.

Advantages of electronic medical records

With electronic messaging, a lab report can be delivered in near real time to a physician’s computer for one-fourth the cost of a paper report. Using patient data trends, health officials have the tools to quickly spot disease outbreaks and pinpoint the source. Physicians can view a patient’s complete medical report, including recent tests, thus reducing errors and test duplication.

It also helps doctors contact patients who should come in for care—for example, by creating a list of patients older than 50 who haven’t had a colonoscopy or women over 40 who haven’t had a mammogram recently.

And it can be a lifesaver for older people, who see an average of six doctors a year and may not be able to recall what year they had surgery or which drug made them sick.

“We think health information technology is a great step in the right direction,” said June Lyle, AARP Indiana state director. “Hopefully it will be a jump-start to a better and less expensive health care system.”

The Obama administration estimates such a system would save more than $12 billion a year and reduce medical errors.

One doctor's testimonial

One believer is Scott Eshowsky, a family practice physician in Granger. His group switched to an electronic system in 2006.

Eshowsky said a patient visit now starts with a nurse asking questions and entering the answers into a laptop with custom software rather than onto a paper chart. The software presents a template of questions for the condition, such as a sore throat. The program then creates a well-organized report that the nurse e-mails to the doctor. After the doctor examines the patient, a test may be ordered. The nurse enters the test results into the program and e-mails the report to the doctor’s laptop. If the test is positive, the doctor chooses a medication and dosage and e-mails the prescription to the pharmacy. The pharmacist doesn’t have to decipher illegible writing, thus decreasing errors.

An electronic system is the way to go, Eshowsky said. “I would never go back. It is light-years better than the old way.”

Nancy P. Johnson is a freelance writer based in South Bend, Ind.

source: http://bulletin.aarp.org/states/in/articles/indiana_health_it.html

I'm a Linux

2009-08-19T10:57:00.001-04:00

Spoof on the 'I'm a Mac, I'm a PC (Windows)' original advert. There is a third option!

Apple: Think Different

2009-08-18T14:02:00.001-04:00

Apple's original "Think Different" ad from 1997: "Heres to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. Theyre not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you cant do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Order of appearance: Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon (with Yoko Ono), R. Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog), Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Picasso, and Shaan Sahota (young girl).

A Day in the Life of an IT Department

2009-08-18T11:40:00.001-04:00

Judge orders Microsoft to stop selling Word - Technology Live - USATODAY.com

2009-08-12T18:03:00.000-04:00

Judge orders Microsoft to stop selling Word - Technology Live - USATODAY.com: "An obscure patent dispute has prompted a Texas District Court judge to order Microsoft to stop selling Word.

I4i, a software company based in Toronto, has been squabbling with Microsoft over a patent related to XML, or Extensible Markup Language. XML is a key software component of many websites as well as Word and other programs."

10 smartphone tips for dumb people - Computers- msnbc.com

2009-08-12T12:32:00.000-04:00

10 smartphone tips for dumb people - Computers- msnbc.com: "Cell phones have been annoying folks for ages, but a journalist recently got around punking the president of United States when his phone began quacking during a White House briefing while Barack Obama was speaking.

You could chalk it up to an isolated case of forgetfulness. But seriously, now that these gizmos do so much more than just calls, it's a red-letter day if someone doesn't do something annoying with a smartphone.

Since smartphones facilitate so many potentially rude behaviors, we need to get on the same page about what nonsense is okay and what nonsense isn't."

What Twitter outage means for you - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com

2009-08-10T15:07:00.000-04:00

What Twitter outage means for you - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com: "Thursday’s Twitter denial-of-service hack certainly grabbed everyone's attention. Nothing like a total shutdown to make people sit up and take notice. But relatively speaking, denialof-service attacks are harmless. Everyone's been through it - CNN, Yahoo, Microsoft. Heck, Facebook and LiveJournal were hit Thursday, too, by the social media bandwidth bandit. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

But Twitter's been hit by far more serious security issues in the recent past.. Just last month, a hacker wormed his way through Twitter and into personal documents of a company executive. Earlier this year, a hacker managed to impersonate several high-profile public figures (including President Barack Obama and CNN's Rick Sanchez) by hijacking their Twitter accounts. Not to mention all the spam, viruses, and malicious links that are finding their way around the microblogging site these days."

What knocked out Twitter? Attacks on blogger - Security- msnbc.com

2009-08-10T15:06:00.000-04:00

What knocked out Twitter? Attacks on blogger - Security- msnbc.com: "The outage that knocked Twitter offline for hours was traced to an attack on a lone blogger in the former Soviet republic of Georgia — but the collateral damage that left millions around the world tweetless showed just how much havoc an isolated cyberdispute can cause.

'It told us how quickly many people really took Twitter into their hearts,' Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, said Friday."

Let's hear it for Microsoft tech support

2009-08-09T14:12:00.001-04:00

I never have any problems wit my MAC. But unfortunately I also have some PC's. And this past week one of them had some problems. The final problem was that the screen said that I had not yet activated windows. Troed the internet way. Then I tried the telephone way. After a 30 minute wait, I got to talk to some one. After 45 minutes I asked to make sure I had a legal copy of windows and after I gave in the product kep again, he told me yes...but he could not help me. I would have to call back the next day. On my call the next day, I was first told my copy of windows was not legal, than that is was, and later that it was legal but they could not help me. Will three days later, the computer still does not work. So much for Microsoft.

Now I hear that Microsoft is opening stores across from Apple stores. It is perhaps a way for Microsoft to help build even more business of Apple. Or is perhaps the best by for Microsoft to get the best customer and tech support people close at hand. Perhaps they are going to route their calls through the Apples Stores.

Too bad I did not get this tech support person, at least I could have been entertained.

Apple "Get a Mac" ad: "Angel/Devil"

2009-08-09T13:59:00.001-04:00

There is even a MAC commercial for Sundays. Windows PC fights his inner demon upon being presented an iPhoto book created on a Mac.

The Future of Communication

2009-08-05T13:53:00.001-04:00

Mike Wesch, a 2009 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, talks about the future of communication and education.

New phone apps seek to 'augment' reality - CNN.com

2009-08-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

New phone apps seek to 'augment' reality - CNN.com: "Advancements in mobile phone technology have cleared the way for a coming wave of 'augmented reality' applications that merge the physical world with information compiled about people and places on the Internet.

'When the technology gets there, this stuff could be amazingly useful and mildly terrifying in some ways,' said MacIntyre, an associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology who has taught classes in augmented reality for a decade.

The idea of pairing digital information with our real, 3-D environments is not especially new -- think robot-human vision in the 'Terminator' movies. MacIntyre even plodded about college campuses in the 1990s wearing a 40-pound backpack and nerdy goggles, trying to make something similar happen.

But as mobile phones become better equipped with GPS systems, which use satellites to locate the phones; compasses, which tell the direction the phone faces; and accelerometers, which relay the device's tilt; the once-lofty idea of augmented reality is being put into the hands of consumers."

iLove/iHate my iPhone - Wireless- msnbc.com

2009-08-05T11:45:00.000-04:00

iLove/iHate my iPhone - Wireless- msnbc.com: "When I first got my iPhone 3G in that trendy Apple store in New York City's West Village, I was as entranced as anyone.

It was as if I'd wandered into an exclusive Meatpacking District bar and successfully picked up an attractive model. And not the congenitally insecure type with crushing daddy issues, but the hip, sly, beautiful sort who knows cool places to go and incites envy among my associates."

Hanging with hackers can make you paranoid - CNN.com

2009-08-05T07:31:00.000-04:00

Hanging with hackers can make you paranoid - CNN.com: "The evolving demographic of Defcon attendees shows that the hacker community, like all of us, is aging. But it's also a reflection of how the threat landscape has changed. Web site defacements have given way to much more serious risks like financial fraud and unaddressed critical infrastructure weaknesses.

It's a cornucopia of phishing e-mails, cross-site scripting attacks that poke holes in trusted Web sites, and criminals harvesting credit card numbers and selling them on the underground equivalent of eBay with guarantees of service and support."

Microsoft to hire 400 Yahoo employees as part of ad plan - Aug. 5, 2009

2009-08-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

Microsoft to hire 400 Yahoo employees as part of ad plan - Aug. 5, 2009: "Microsoft has agreed to hire at least 400 Yahoo employees as part of the companies' new plan to share revenue on Internet search advertising, a regulatory filing showed Wednesday.

The software maker also agreed to pay the Internet search engine $150 million over three years to help implement the new partnership, Yahoo said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing"

Facebook A Security Risk? Pentagon Orders Review : NPR

2009-08-04T15:54:00.000-04:00

Facebook A Security Risk? Pentagon Orders Review : NPR: "The Pentagon is reviewing the use of Facebook and other social networking sites on its computers with an eye toward setting rules on how to protect against possible security risks.

The Marine Corps on Monday issued an administrative directive saying it was banning the use of Marine network for accessing such sites as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. The order doesn't affect Marines' private use of such networks on personal computers outside of their jobs.

However, the service's computer network already effectively blocks users from reaching social networks, officials said. Marine officials said part of the reason for the new ban was to set up a special waiver system that govern access for Marines who need to reach the sites as part of their duties.

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, meanwhile, ordered a review of both the threats and benefits of using emerging Internet capabilities, which the military has widely used for recruiting, public relations and sharing information with allies and military families, officials said Tuesday."

Microsoft's Bing gains another 1 percent of U.S. search - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-08-03T15:20:00.000-04:00

Microsoft's Bing gains another 1 percent of U.S. search - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com: "Microsoft increased its share of the Internet search market in the United States by another 1 percentage point in July, taking its combined share with new search partner Yahoo to 20.36 percent, according to data released on Monday. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Internet data firm StatCounter said Microsoft's new Bing search engine had 9.41 percent of the U.S. market in July, up from 8.23 percent in June. Google's share slipped to 77.54 percent from 78.48 percent."

South Bend Tribune: Recordable DVDs not best solution for backup

2009-08-03T12:21:00.000-04:00

South Bend Tribune: Recordable DVDs not best solution for backup: "Q. I heard from a friend that recordable DVDs degrade over time. I use DVDs for backups. Should I worry about this?

A. I don't like recordable DVDs for storing data. They do deteriorate. Data is burned to a layer inside the disc. This material degrades over time. I've had discs deteriorate after only a few years. Try an external hard drive or online backup service. Or, use both. Redundancy is important. With a second backup, you'll know your data is secure."

New feature for campaigns: Call to Action

2009-08-03T11:32:00.001-04:00

There's a new feature on YouTube that allows you to drive clicks from your videos on youtube.com off to other web destinations. It's called "Call to Action", and we think it's perfect for campaigns who are looking to drive users to sign petitions, donate money, or learn more about their cause.

FCC seeks data on iPhone Google app rejection - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-08-02T10:14:00.000-04:00

FCC seeks data on iPhone Google app rejection - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com: "The Federal Communications Commission is seeking additional information about Apple Inc.'s decision to reject Google Inc's voice application for the iPhone.

The Google application is seen by some as a competitive threat to the voice services that come with the iPhone, which is carried exclusively in the United States by AT&T Inc.

The FCC sent letters of inquiry to Apple, Google and AT&T on Friday after Apple failed to approve the Google Voice app and removed a similar application from the App Store. Copies of the letters were posted on the FCC's Web site."

WP: With Twitter, NFL loses control of image game - Washington Post- nbcsports.msnbc.com

2009-08-02T10:13:00.000-04:00

WP: With Twitter, NFL loses control of image game - Washington Post- nbcsports.msnbc.com: "Thousands of fans gathered in Ashburn last week for the opening of Redskins training camp, separated from their oversize heroes by a long barricade. But when the players left the field and returned to the locker room, fans suddenly had unprecedented access to the players' thoughts and whims through their laptops and mobile devices.

For the first time, fans aren't dependent on media reports for training camp updates. Players themselves are divulging certain details, from the humorous to the inconsequential, using Twitter feeds."

How Google and Social Entrepreneurs Perpetuate the Digital Divide Among Nonprofits

2009-07-30T13:53:00.001-04:00

In the past 10 years, I have been working to address the digital divide, which is the gap between those who have access to and training with technology. I serve as the Executive Director of TechMission, which runs the largest association of Black and Latino led nonprofits addressing the digital divide and manages UrbanMinistry.org, which is one of the most visited web portals of Black and Latino nonprofit leaders. During that time, I have seen many effective initiatives in addressing the digital divide. At the same time, I’ve seen many efforts that have been very well-intentioned, but in the end may have only made matters worse.

I grew up in the inner-city, but later went to MIT and co-founded the Internet Telecoms Consortium with one of the fathers of the Internet (David Clark) to study the social and business implications of the Internet. The most important thing I learned while studying complex systems at MIT is that often you make a change to the system and the result is exactly the opposite of what you were expecting.

Case in point: my wife and I went to Woodstock ’99—a complex system of people, alcohol, drugs, bands and unusually hot weather. At the concert, there was a nonprofit group wanting to promote peace, and it gave out thousands of “peace candles.” The result was the opposite of what they had intended because they had not thought through the consequences of giving candles to thousands of people who were inebriated and enraged from the extreme heat and exploitive prices at the concert. The result was that people used the candles to start hundreds of fires and burn everything in sight. A group wanting to promote peace at Woodstock unintentionally became a catalyst for riots, and in the worst circumstances, this is how complex systems work.

Addressing the digital divide and trying to help under-resourced communities is an extremely complex system. My assessment is that some of the largest efforts to address the digital divide by social entrepreneurs, including those at Google, may have unintentionally made matters worse among nonprofits.

Is Google Grants Hurting Black and Latino-Led Nonprofits?

In the past few years, Google has “given away” $300 million worth of free advertising to nonprofit organizations through Google Grants. Following Google’s value of employee input, Google leaves most of the grantmaking decisions to regular employees. In the United States, Google’s employees are disproportionately White and Asian and from elite schools. These employees then give grants to organizations with interest like theirs and people they know, which most often are also White or Asian and from elite schools.

This creates a bias in the process, but that is common in the nonprofit world. In fact, according to a report from the Greenlining Institute, foundations only give 3.6% of their funds to organizations led by people of color although people of color make up 52.4% of poverty in the USA. This bias is shown graphically in the adjacent diagram.

If that bias were the only effect Google Grants were having, then they would be no different than most foundations. The problem is how Google Grants works, by giving away “virtual money” that people can then bid on ads, they have essentially flooded the market for nonprofit ads with $300 million in virtual money.

Economists would say that this acts as a “tax” on other users, so that only $150 million is donated by Google, but the other $150 million comes from the increased bid cost for other advertisers, which are primarily nonprofits. Let’s say that in the USA, Google gives 95% of its grants to White and Asian led nonprofits, while only 5% to Black and Latino (or other) nonprofits (which is a reasonable projection based on the research we compiled). Ideally, grants would be distributed to more closely reflect the demographics of need, and 52.4% of grants in the USA would go to Black and Latino-led nonprofits since they represent 52.4% of poverty in the nation.

The end result of this bias is that Google Grants, rather than helping Black and Latino led nonprofits, is actually taxing them to give discounts primarily to White nonprofits. The model I’ve generated shows that the effect of Google Grants on Black and Latino-led nonprofits is that they are “taxed” by about $7.3 million by paying increased advertising fees to provide a subsidy to White-led nonprofits.

Google Grants is not the only example of starting with good intentions to change a system, but having unintended effects, as many tech-focused nonprofits serve as other examples.

Our organization did some research on the board and staff demographics of the leading technology-focused nonprofits, and found that on average about 80% of their staff are White (and often from elite schools). These organizations develop strategies, policies and values that reflect their staffing and boards. Our staff have gone to several of these conferences led by these organizations, and the conference attendees are also more than 90% White. We have followed their grantmaking processes and seen that more than 80% of their grants go to White-led organizations. These demographics of technology focused nonprofits based on our research are shown in the diagram below. The significant factor is that in every category, there is dramatically lower percentage of people of color as compared to the demographics of the low-income communities they are serving. The result is that most technology focused nonprofits are more reflecting the digital divide rather than transforming it. To really transform the digital divide, it requires representation of those on the other side of the divide at every level in the organization.

The same pattern applies to much of the new social entrepreneurship movement. Most the emerging social entrepreneurs that are getting funded are led by White people from elite schools. They are establishing a culture and values in the social philanthropy sector that largely reflects White cultural values from elite business schools. The end result is that these social ventures get all the funding, squeezing out more grass-roots Black and Latino led organizations. This means that too often social ventures are perpetuating the same divides that they are supposedly addressing.

How Social Entrepreneurs Can Avoid Doing More Harm than Good

No one wants to try to do good, and then have the results only cause more harm than good. So what are social entrepreneurs to do? Am I promoting a Malcolm X philosophy that says that White people should just go home?

Of course not. The fact that I am White, and leading a nonprofit, shows that I believe that there is another way.

The reason why social entrepreneurs are encountering unintended consequences in bringing change to complex systems is that many do not understand one of the most important aspects of the system—the culture of at-risk communities. Social entrepreneurs need to strive to reflect the culture and diversity of those we are serving at all levels in nonprofits. At TechMission, the people of color are the majority at almost every level of our organization (board, senior staff, etc.). The result is that when you look at the demographics of those using our websites like UrbanMinistry.org, we have almost twice the percentage of people of color represented as our nonprofit counterparts (as shown above).

We have researched and written extensively on how nonprofits and funders can avoid this bias (see additional resources below). Based on that research and experience, we provide the following recommendations to social entrepreneurs:

1. Be intentional about reaching out to faith-based organizations doing social services.

Why? Our research indicates that about two-thirds of Black and Latino-led nonprofits are in churches or other faith-based organizations. Comparitively, about two-thirds of White-led nonprofits are secular. This means that on average, faith-based organizations are about twice as likely to be Black or Latino-led. This has important implications for funders, because if they will not fund faith-based organizations, then they are cutting their chances of funding a Black or Latino-led nonprofit by 50%. Most funders will support faith-based organizations if their focus is on social services and they do not discriminate in who they serve. Of more than 50 other tech companies that we have identified, Google Grants has, in effect, the most restrictive policy toward faith-based social service organizations. The faith-based social services sector represents about one-third of the total social services sector, but appears to only be less than 1% of Google Grant awardees. In the 1950’s there were literacy tests for voting that excluded a large number of Black voters. Today this has been replaced with religious tests for funding that is excluding the majority of Black and Latino-led nonprofits. Restrictions to not support faith-based organizations can communicate a paternalistic attitude that secularization is advancing the cause of good by “educating superstitious natives” to believe in the doctrines of elite academia. It is just the “bad missionary model” but with a new name. They fail to recognize that globally, 97.5% of people profess some faith. Often by having restrictions on faith, these organizations think that they are blocking right-wing religious groups like Jerry Fallwell, but in reality they are usually blocking Black and Latino religious leaders that could become the next Martin Luther King, Jr.

2. Have diversity measurements and affirmative action at every level in the organization.

Why? Values and culture are set by those in power in an organization. If a nonprofit has a significantly different set of values than the community it is serving, then that community will need to assimilate those values to get support. Religious missionaries in the 20^th century have been replaced with nonprofit missionaries in the 21^st century. If a nonprofit does not reflect the culture and values of the community it is serving, then it cannot help but be like the “missionaries” that teach the “natives” how to talk White, dress White, and respond to outcome measures reflecting values of the White community. The only solution is to have diversity measurements and affirmative action at every level. This enables diversity at every level (constituents, entry level staff, middle management, senior management, board and grantees) needed for a leadership pipeline.

3. Immerse yourself in the community you are serving and learn from it.

Why? The difference between strong faith-based leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Theresa and “bad missionaries” is that the former immersed themselves in the communities they were serving. At TechMission nearly all of our staff and board live in at-risk communities, and the majority come from low-income backgrounds. It is only when you “go native” to the point where at-risk communities become “your people” that you are not acting as a nonprofit missionary. Immersion means not only your geographic location, but also your friendships and community.

Changing the Culture of Social Entrepreneurship Programs

Social entrepreneurs are often trying to change complex systems, but unfortunately, without understanding those systems they can often do more harm than good. The primary element of understanding that is missing here is an understanding of the culture of those being served by social entrepreneurs. For the social entrepreneurship movement to be successful, it must change its culture.

Currently the culture of the social entrepreneurship movement primarily reflects that of elite schools which have social entrepreneurship programs. This culture is extremely antagonistic to the cultures in most at-risk communities.

Organizations like Google and other social philanthropists need to make sure that those in their grantmaking process reflect the demographics and culture of those they are trying to reach. They also should consider eliminating restrictions that will not fund social service organizations if they are faith-based, while being intentional about creating a culture that welcomes religious organizations, where the majority of Black and Latino nonprofit leaders are.

Because Google Grants makes up about one-third of the traffic most of the tech nonprofits, the increased traffic (and resulting links from visitors) from that visibility increases their web search rankings. The end result is that the Google Grants process is that White nonprofits receive significantly higher search rankings than Black and Latino nonprofits. Given Google’s market share, overall this has a very significant affect of "Whitening" Google’s search rankings within the nonprofit sector. If Google does not bring its policies more in line with that of its peer technology companies, then it risk facing a public relations issues of being perceived as having an racial bias compare to other technology companies by "Whitening" its search rankings among nonprofits.

People of color already represent the majority globally, the majority of poverty in the USA, and the majority in many major US cities. Soon they will represent the majority in the nation as a whole. As these demographic shifts happen, if the social entrepreneurship movement does not shift its culture to more closely reflect the cultures of those it is serving, then it risks becoming relegated to the sidelines of history.

Sources:

http://www.aecf.org/upload/publicationfiles/executive_transition_survey_report2004.pdf
http://greenlining.org/publications/index.php?initiative=democratizing-philanthropy
http://www.slideshare.net/rosettathurman/race-matters-in-nonprofits-promoting-diversity-in-our-profession
http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/Charitable_Fact_Sheet.pdf
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=96516
http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html
http://www.techsoup.org/stock/restrictions.asp

Additional Resources

http://www.urbanministry.org/foundationdiversity
http://www.urbanministry.org/fundingbias
http://www.urbanministry.org/onlinesegregation
http://www.urbanministry.org/reconciliation-across-social-class

About Andrew Sears

Andrew has been working to address the digital divide since 1998 and is the founder and executive Director of TechMission. He grew up in an inner-city environment, and later received his MS in Technology and Policy and MS in Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT, he co-founded the Internet and Telecoms consortium, a multi-million dollar research group focused on determining the social and business implications of the Internet. He has also worked as an independent consultant on technology strategy with clients including St. Paul Venture Capital, Sprint and several Boston startups.

Special thanks to Natalie Parrague who provided research and editing support for this project.

Background on TechMission and this Issue

TechMission's national partners represent over 30,000 local organizations, 4 million volunteers serving over 40 million low-income individuals in the USA. TechMission ranks among the top 10 organizations focused on nonprofit technology, and among this group we have the highest representation from Black and Hispanic communities. Our websites received over 1.15 million unique visitors in the first half of 2009. We started doing this research because we saw that with the current economic crisis, the Black and Latino led nonprofits were the first to see a loss of funds, so we started investigating why that was. The first area we saw was the religious bias. Given that Google has 75% market share of search, and they have the most hostile attitudes towards faith-based organizations, we wrote Google letters (sent to Sadie Ferguson, Alana Karen, Larry Brilliant, Gregory Miller and the Google Grants office) on July 17, 2008, Feb. 11, 2009 and March 19, 2009. We never heard a response. As we continued our research, we realized that the issue was most common among most social entreprenuers in the tech sector and foundations, and that there was also a significant bias across race. Since then, we have written a series of articles and presentations (listed above) to raise awareness to this issue.

E-mail from "a Google spokesperson."

Submitted by Andrew Sears on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 14:56.

Just to give an update, I received this E-mail from Google in response. It sounds like a fairly standard PR department response...

"The Google Grants program provides free, AdWords advertising to non-profit charitable organizations around the world. Launched in 2003, the program is designed to help non-profit groups reach a global audience online and increase awareness, visibility and website traffic of their various causes. To date, Google Grants has awarded free, in-kind advertising to thousands of non-profit groups whose areas of focus range from science and technology to the environment and the arts.

In accordance with legal requirements, U.S. organizations must have current 501(c)(3) status, as assigned by the Internal Revenue Service, to be considered for a Google Grant. We also employ a strict set of guidelines when reviewing applications to ensure that the process is consistent and objective. Factors such as the ethnicity, education, or any other demographic information about an organization’s ownership and staff are neither collected nor considered when reviewing applications.

For more information about our eligibility criteria, please visit http://www.google.com/grants/details.html#eligibility.

Clarifications

Submitted by plamb on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 11:32.

Andrew: You make some really important and valuable points in your post and study. There is no doubt that the tech world lacks the presence and active participation of a more diverse community. And I too often notice the lack of diversity at tech events and among social enterprise organizations "representing" poor and underserved communities - both on a local, national, and global scale. It's a REAL problem that needs to be addressed. but I would take issue on a couple of points relative to your Google study.

First, I know one of the people that started the Google Grants program and they are highly ethical. that's not to say that what your report indicates is not true, but have you given Google a chance to explain their decision making process and/or respond to your points directly?

Second, does Google know the color/ethnicity of Google Grant applicants? My understanding is that it is a fairly anonymous process where grants are approved to an organization without knowledge of the racial/ethnic composition of applicants?

Third, in my experience just having a more diverse community and better representation from underrepresented groups does not always guarantee that those most in need and the "unvoiced" are truly heard and benefited. It's important to move toward full representation, as heroic programs like Affirmative Action have taught us so well. But we also need to imbue organizations with an open, representative, and responsive consciousness - not just fill seats for the sake of appearances and a false sense of diversity.

Complex problems, another perspective

Submitted by tutormentor on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 11:28.

Andrew, with your MIT background you've provided a thorough analytical overview of this problem. However, I would invite you to look at this issue using a couple of tools I've been working with. I use maps, created with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases, to show where poverty is concentrated in Chicago, where poorly performing schools are located, and where non-school tutor/mentor programs are located in the Chicago area. We launched an interactive version of this in March, which allows users to zoom into different parts of the region and build their own map analysis. You can view this at http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net. Using a tool like this, leaders could determine if a needed service is even available in a particular zip code. If a program is in a neighborhood, all sorts of people could be using their networking and marketing to help those programs get the consistent flow of volunteers and donors it takes to build a constatnly improving organization. If there neighborhood does not have a needed service, the maps will show this void. A set of asset maps, can then be used to identify businesses, faith groups, colleges, hospitals and others who might help fill these voids with new programs. Using Geographic maps could help build a better distribution of resources, and needed services. However, another type of mapping should be developed to help service providers, and donors, begin to follow "blueprints" that would show actions needed to repeat over many years to achieve a desired result. I've been using a free CMAP tool to build blueprints of my ideas. If you visit the strategy map at http://tinyurl.com/tmc-strategy-map you can see that my map shows the ultimate aim of a tutor/mentor program ought to be that a youth is in a job/starting a career by age 25. If the kids in an existing program are only in elementary school, funding and volunteering would need to be provided for another 10-15 years for those kids to be age 25 and working instead of in prison, or worse. These strategy maps show a role that business should be taking to help make this happen. In this type of analysis I'm not talking about the race or mix of people in the organizations who do this work. I'm talking about a creating a system that makes a distribution of needed services, such as volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs, available in more places where they are needed. I think such tools might do a lot more to convince decision makers at Google and other places to provide time, talent and resources into poverty neighborhoods, and might even be used to connect faith communities from affluent parts of a region, with faith communities and non profits working in the high poverty areas of the same region. I write about this on my http://tutormentor.blogspot.com blog and hope we can exchange ideas in ways that increase the number of people who use these discussions to decide where and how to be involved.

Whose judgment do we trust?

Submitted by carrieb on Mon, 07/27/2009 - 12:29.

So many good issues raised! * Our church's youth just returned from a short-term mission to a different city's inner city, where they happily followed the neighborhood's guidance, pulled tree-size "crack weeds" (so called because they're where the dealers hide) and created a community garden. Would they have taken direction to create such an admittedly short-term solution in our own city, I wondered -- or would their parents have helped them "understand" that focusing on such short-term perspectives were part of the problem in "these" neighborhoods, and scotched the effort? * I work in a neighborhood that's up for a Neighborhoods of Promise grant. The people driving the plan, whether black or white, are sufficiently unfamiliar with the neighborhood that they can report, straightfaced, that in a community meeting one of the assets this community said the community would like is a dry cleaner. This in a neighborhood where the AMI is under $30K, fewer than half the students are at grade level in any subject, and two-thirds of the African American males don't graduate from high school. They aren't talking to the community; they're talking to the people beginning to gentrify the neighborhood who are comfortable talking with them. * In this county and state, we have invested huge amounts of money since 1994 in quality preschool education for 4 and 5 year olds -- allegedly to make sure that all children are "ready for and succeeding in school." But by grade 3, any gains demonstrated at kindegarten are lost. Completely. So is this really a program to help poor children succeed in school ... or is it to make sure that university educated women know that their children will be in quality day care centers when they go to their professional jobs? I could go on ... Thanks for the email, Andrew.

source: http://www.urbanministry.org/nonprofitdiversity

destinationCRM.com: Taking the Measure of Social Media

2009-07-30T11:21:00.000-04:00

destinationCRM.com: Taking the Measure of Social Media: "Measurementcamp Wiki calls itself an “open-source movement to make sense of social media measurement.” There’s certainly enough chaos to warrant an effort at sense-making. The impact of social media, according to the wiki, can be categorized under one of three general headers: behavior, feelings, and financial impact. That may not seem all that different from a traditional marketing campaign, but with social media you have the added advantage—or burden—of monitoring and responding to what people are saying in real time."

Marketers have long been aware that the tables were turning from the “push” model they controlled to a “pull” model controlled by the public—a model that social media has finally made a reality. Today’s consumers have not only learned to block out marketing overload, they’re making their own voices heard loud and clear. That’s the dirty little secret of the new “pull” model: Now it’s marketers who have to find value in the noise.

Microsoft to open stores in Arizona, California - Retail - msnbc.com

2009-07-29T09:45:00.000-04:00

Microsoft to open stores in Arizona, California - Retail - msnbc.com: "Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it is planning to open its first two retail stores in Arizona and California this fall.

The software maker said Tuesday it signed leases at shopping centers in Mission Viejo, Calif. and Scottsdale, Ariz. The Shops at Mission Viejo is already home to an Apple store. The other location, Scottsdale Fashion Square, does not have a competing Apple shop. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)"

Microsoft, Yahoo announce search deal - U.S. business- msnbc.com

2009-07-29T09:42:00.000-04:00

Microsoft, Yahoo announce search deal - U.S. business- msnbc.com: "Microsoft Corp. has finally roped Yahoo Inc. into an Internet search partnership, capping a convoluted pursuit that dragged on for years and finally setting the stage for the rivals to make an all-out assault against the dominance of Google Inc.

The 10-year deal announced Wednesday gives Microsoft access to the Internet’s second-largest search engine audience, adding a potentially potent weapon to the software maker’s Internet arsenal as it tries to better confront Google, the leader in online search and advertising."

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Together: Part 1

2009-07-29T00:09:00.001-04:00

In their rare joint appearance at All Things Digital 5, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates discuss their contributions to the technology industry, the qualities they most respect in one another. D/All Things Digital text.

Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs

2009-07-29T00:05:00.001-04:00

Just some fun as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates go head to head.

Internet helpdesk

2009-07-28T23:58:00.001-04:00

The hold button is the most important tool for those who work the internet help desk.

How to Use Visible Vote on Facebook To Advise Congress

2009-07-28T23:55:00.001-04:00

This is a brief explanation of how to use Visible Vote on Facebook to advise your legislators on how to vote for you. Visible Vote lets you advise congress on how to vote on the major upcoming legislation, follow current events, understand your legislators voting records and compare your voting preference to your legislators voting history!

Five jobs for Facebook addicts - CNN.com

2009-07-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

Five jobs for Facebook addicts - CNN.com: "'With social media becoming a major player in how people communicate and interact with each other, it's natural that this industry needs a marketplace,' says Jim Durbin, vice president of social media at Durbin Media, an interactive marketing firm. 'A lot of jobs in online marketing are all now requiring some level of social media expertise. The real question is whether the jobs coalesce into new departments and position, or if they become skill sets under old departments.'"

Pakistani cyber crimes law is 'no joke' - 26 Jul 09

2009-07-26T10:08:00.001-04:00

Making a bad joke can be embarrassing at the best of times but in Pakistan it can now get you thrown into prison.

Security services have been asked to monitor text and e-mail traffic for what are being called "ill-motivated messages".

Convictions could bring sentences of up to 14 years in jail - the same as being convicted for murder.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan reports from the capital, Islamabad.

Iran activists work to elude Internet crackdown - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-07-26T06:20:00.000-04:00

Iran activists work to elude Internet crackdown - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com: "Authorities appear to be intensifying their campaign to block Web sites and chase down the opposition online, and the activists search for new ways to elude them.

Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube remain blocked, as they have been since Iran's political turmoil began following the disputed June 12 presidential election. Internet experts believe the government is going further — including tracking down computers from which images and videos of Iran's protests are sent out to the rest of the world. Activists fear their every move online is watched."

Microsoft finalizes Windows 7 - CNN.com

2009-07-23T21:47:00.000-04:00

Microsoft finalizes Windows 7 - CNN.com: "The software maker is hoping the response to the new operating system differs from the lukewarm reviews and compatibility challenges that marked the release of Windows Vista, which hit the market in January 2007.

In contrast to Vista, Windows 7 has been marked by the company consistently hitting its deadlines and receiving largely positive feedback along the way."

Q&A: The Evolution of Blogging - TIME

2009-07-23T08:39:00.000-04:00

Q&A: The Evolution of Blogging - TIME: "In less than 15 years, blogging has exploded. Once a raft of small projects started by a few pioneering individuals, it has grown into a massive communication tool used by casual hobbyists and media behemoths alike. Blogs have evolved so much that the word has all but lost its meaning, serving as a catch-all for nearly any online communication."

Breaking the Chains That Bind: Today's hardest to fill jobs

2009-07-23T08:19:00.000-04:00

Breaking the Chains That Bind: Today's hardest to fill jobs: "All of us are talented in our own ways - musically, academically, socially, and even physically. The question is, are you talented professionally?

According to a recent survey by recruitment firm Manpower Inc., the answer is no. The survey says 41 percent of U.S. employers are struggling to find qualified job candidates because of a lack of available talent. This is a slight dip from the 2006 study, when 44 percent of employers reported challenges filling open positions."

Yahoo launching front page open to others' content - CNN.com

2009-07-22T08:14:00.000-04:00

Yahoo launching front page open to others' content - CNN.com: "Yahoo plans to let people in the United States start selecting a new, more personalized version of the home page beginning Tuesday afternoon.

The revamp lets people select basic applications to use not just Yahoo sites, but also others' such as eBay, Facebook, and Twitter, said Tapan Bhat, Yahoo's senior vice president for consumer experiences."

Internet Help Desk - Helping dumb people

2009-07-21T14:42:00.001-04:00

Any one heard about customer service?

Making effcetive PowerPoint presentations

2009-07-17T08:37:00.001-04:00

Want to make your PowerPoint presentations more effective? This video has some suggestions.

Videos - Free video downloads and streaming video - CNET TV

2009-07-17T08:35:00.000-04:00

Videos - Free video downloads and streaming video - CNET TV
Looking to make your PowerPoint presentations more effective? This video has some suggestions for you.

10 Reasons We Are Excited About Google Chrome OS

2009-07-15T07:39:00.000-04:00

10 Reasons We Are Excited About Google Chrome OS: "Google announced July 8 that the company is entering the operating system market with its Chrome OS. This will be a lightweight operating system with a GUI consisting of the Chrome browser. With the release of Chrome OS, Google is clearly challenging Microsoft Windows. Why do we welcome a new Web-ready OS? eWEEK Labs Analyst Jeff Cogswell ponders the possibilities."

With what I have read so far, I am not sure how exciting I am about Chrome OS. Any readers have any opinions they want to share?

Διδαξον με τα δικαιωματα σου - 10 Golden Rules of Web Writing

2009-07-15T05:38:00.000-04:00

Διδαξον με τα δικαιωματα σου - 10 Golden Rules of Web Writing: "Question: Which Golden Rule is hardest for you to follow?"

How to Build Your Audience on YouTube

2009-07-14T20:45:00.001-04:00

Here are some tips for optimizing your news videos so they can be found easily found on YouTube and shared around the world. For more tips on reporting the news, visit the YouTube Reporters' Center - http://youtube.com/reporterscenter

Cybercriminals attacking MS Office users - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-07-14T18:32:00.000-04:00

Cybercriminals attacking MS Office users - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com: "Microsoft Corp. warned that cybercriminals have attacked users of its Office software for Windows PCs, exploiting a programing flaw that the software giant has yet to repair.

The world's largest software maker issued the warning on Tuesday as it released patches to address nine other security holes in its software.

'Despite today's fixes, Windows users continue to be under attack. Microsoft is taking two steps forward, while attackers are putting it one step back,' said Dave Marcus, McAfee Inc's Avert Labs director of security research.

Cybercriminals target Microsoft programs because they are so widely used, allowing them to go after the largest number of potential victims with one set of code. (Windows runs more than 90 percent of the world's PCs. Office has some 500 million users).

Hackers take advantage of the Office vulnerability by booby-trapping Web sites with malicious code that loads onto computers running Office software. Infected PCs are commandeered into a botnet, a network of hijacked computers. They are used for identity theft, spamming and other cybercrimes."

Microsoft CEO laughs off Google OS challenge - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-07-14T18:31:00.000-04:00

Microsoft CEO laughs off Google OS challenge - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com: "Microsoft Corp.'s chief executive attempted to laugh off the challenge of Google Inc.'s planned computer operating system on Tuesday, conceding only that it was 'interesting.'

'I will be respectful,' Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said to laughs from the audience at a conference for the company's technology partners in New Orleans, which was broadcast over the Internet.

'Who knows what this thing is? To me, the Chrome OS thing is highly interesting,' said Ballmer, choosing his words carefully and drawing more amusement from the largely pro-Microsoft crowd."

Visible Vote Blog Feature Explanation

2009-07-14T00:26:00.001-04:00

Visible Vote has added a feature for people to put their blogs directly into the application. Users of Visible Vote can then browse your blogs and subscribe to them in order to find them easier in the future. This feature is very basic but we do plan to expand on it.

Egyptian bloggers face risks and repression - 06 Apr 09

2009-07-13T23:02:00.001-04:00

Egyptian officials have arrested at least 30 people for online activism over the build-up of a nationwide general strike planned for Monday.

The movement gained more than 70,000 supporters for industrial action through internet networking sites.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh reports from Cairo on the risks Egypt's bloggers take in publishing their views online.

Foreign Policy: Iran's Terrifying Facebook Police : NPR

2009-07-13T19:04:00.000-04:00

Foreign Policy: Iran's Terrifying Facebook Police : NPR: "A scary anecdote from Iran. A trusted colleague - who is married to an Iranian-American and would thus prefer to stay anonymous - has told me of a very disturbing episode that happened to her friend, another Iranian-American, as she was flying to Iran last week. On passing through the immigration control at the airport in Tehran, she was asked by the officers if she has a Facebook account. When she said 'no', the officers pulled up a laptop and searched for her name on Facebook. They found her account and noted down the names of her Facebook friends."

Microsoft Office to go online — for free - Big Tech

2009-07-13T18:15:00.000-04:00

Microsoft Office to go online — for free - Big Tech: "t’s too early to say Microsoft has checkmated Google in online documents – the latest version of Office hasn’t shipped yet. But the sleeping giant in Redmond has clearly woken up to the Internet threat.

Get this: Microsoft – the king of paid software – will announce today that it is going to give a version of Office away for free online. Both the online and desktop versions are scheduled to arrive in the first half of next year. Yes, you read that right. The latest version of its ubiquitous productivity software, dubbed Office 2010, will come as both a piece of software you can buy for your computer, and as a service you can access in your browser. [UPDATE: Microsoft says it will support the Firefox and Safari browsers as well as IE.]"

Laptop Buying Guide - MSN Tech & Gadgets - How To

2009-07-13T12:23:00.000-04:00

Laptop Buying Guide - MSN Tech & Gadgets - How To: "You can find a laptop that’s right for you -- whether you're a business traveler, a jet-setter, a student, a gamer on the go, or just an average Joe.

From petite netbooks to massive desktop replacements, laptops are made for different needs. Follow the tips in this buying guide, and you can meet the notebook of your dreams.

Of course, to find your ideal travel companion, you have to be honest about your personality. So here's a little quiz -- what kind of laptop user are you?"

S. Korea's spy agency lowers cyberattack alert - Security- msnbc.com

2009-07-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

S. Korea's spy agency lowers cyberattack alert - Security- msnbc.com: "South Korea's spy agency lowered the country's cyberattack alert Monday as affected Web sites returned to normal after suffering outages in a series of assaults that have cast suspicion on North Korea.

Dozens of South Korean and U.S. Web sites, including those of the White House and South Korea's presidential Blue House, were targeted in the so-called denial of service attacks, in which floods of computers try to connect to a single site at the same time to overwhelm the server."

Microsoft opens early testing on Office 2010 - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com

2009-07-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

Microsoft opens early testing on Office 2010 - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com: "Microsoft is giving a select group of technology-savvy testers an early peek at Office 2010, but it is still keeping Web-based versions of Word, Excel and its other go-to programs under wraps.

Office 2010 is due out in the early part of next year. Microsoft is adding more ways for people to work simultaneously on documents, organize their e-mail and edit videos and photos, among other changes. (Msnbc.com is a Microsoft-NBC Universal joint venture.)

Microsoft Office is by far the most popular software package for making presentations, spreadsheets and other documents. But the company has been slow to offer programs that run online and are accessible in Web browsers. Meanwhile Google has been pushing its own free versions for more than two years."

South Bend Tribune: Online isn’t out of line

2009-07-13T12:18:00.000-04:00

South Bend Tribune: Online isn’t out of line: "Ryan Tracy thought he’d entered the Dark Ages when he graduated college and arrived in the working world.

His employer blocked access to Facebook, Gmail and other popular Internet sites. He had no wireless access for his laptop and often ran to a nearby café on work time so he could use its Wi-Fi connection to send large files.

Sure, the barriers did what his employer intended: They stopped him and his colleagues from using work time to goof around online. But Tracy says the rules also got in the way of legitimate work he needed to do as a scientific analyst for a health care services company."

The Rebellion Network - Iran

2009-07-13T08:10:00.001-04:00

PCs could be hit next in Web attack - Security- msnbc.com

2009-07-10T11:40:00.000-04:00

PCs could be hit next in Web attack - Security- msnbc.com: "Cyber attacks slowing U.S. and South Korean Web sites could enter a new phase on Friday by attacking personal computers and wiping out hard disks, a South Korean government agency and Web security firm said."

S. Korea says attackers used IP address in 5 nations - USATODAY.com

2009-07-10T10:17:00.000-04:00

S. Korea says attackers used IP address in 5 nations - USATODAY.com: "South Korea said Friday it had identified and blocked five IP addresses used to distribute computer viruses that caused a wave of website outages in the United States and South Korea.

South Korean and American officials have said they believe North Korea was behind the attacks, but none of the blocked Internet Protocol addresses — the Web equivalent of a street address or phone number — were for computers in North Korea."

Greening the Internet: How much CO2 does this article produce? - CNN.com

2009-07-10T10:14:00.000-04:00

Greening the Internet: How much CO2 does this article produce? - CNN.com: "Now, depending on how quickly you read, around 80, perhaps even 100 milligrams of C02 have been released. And in the several minutes it will take you to get to the end of this story, the number of milligrams of greenhouse gas emitted could be several thousand, if not more.

This may not seem like a lot: 'But in aggregate, if you consider all the people visiting a web site and then all the seconds that each of them spends on it, it turns out to be a large number,' says Dr. Alexander Wissner-Gross, an Environmental Fellow at Harvard University who studies the environmental impact of computing.

Wissner-Gross estimates every second someone spends browsing a simple web site generates roughly 20 milligrams of C02. Whether downloading a song, sending an email or streaming a video, almost every single activity that takes place in the virtual environment has an impact on the real one."

YouTube's best viral mashups - Video 2.0- msnbc.com

2009-07-10T10:10:00.000-04:00

YouTube's best viral mashups - Video 2.0- msnbc.com: "Marketers. Media. We need to talk. We’re like � what? Ten years into Web 2.0 and y’all still haven’t figured out that: 1. CGI-manipulated babies performing unnatural skill sets are creepy and B. Calling a commercially produced video “viral” doesn’t make it so."

Revolution Technology

Don't let technology ruin your Valentine's Day - Love in the Digital Age- msnbc.com

Apple iPad is 'an incredible experience'

Apple announces ‘iPad’ touchscreen tablet - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

Jerry achens world: Swapping the immediate for the mediated

Branson unviels civilain spacecraft

Adobe Edge: December 2009: Featured video

Scientists, lawyers mull effects of home robots - Innovation- msnbc.com

Search for aliens costs school employee his job - Science- msnbc.com

Search for aliens costs school employee his job - Science- msnbc.com

‘Black screen of death’ for some Windows users - Security- msnbc.com

Internet censorship limits could be set by WTO - Security- msnbc.com

Security center opens to battle computer attacks - Security- msnbc.com

Get ready for non-Latin letter domain names - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

Are retailers going too far tracking our Web habits? - USATODAY.com

Will Web 2.0 over take email?

Social Networking Without Tears - Careers

More CIOs Block Social Networks - Slideshows

Fake security software in millions of computers - Security- msnbc.com

Walk through of All For Good Softwar

The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers - CNN.com

AT&T says Google Voice blocks calls it can't - Wireless- msnbc.com

Bad behavior? Blame the Internet! - Technotica- msnbc.com

Get a Linux!

Hi I'm a Linux

Share photos of your favorite geeky shirts - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

Is the president a video game hater? - Citizen Gamer- msnbc.com

Muhammad Ali IBM commercial

First Church of Internet SEO: is it time?

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC. (Mac PC Parody) #1

Net's plagiarism 'cops' are on patrol - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

Apple Mac Ad: "Out of the Box"

TheUNreleasedMacAd

Ultimate Mafia Wars Guide: How To Win, Strategy, Tips, Money

NBR | Outsourcing Animation to India | PBS

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids

As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten growth - Internet- msnbc.com

More marketers use social networking to reach customers - USATODAY.com

How Facebook Can Ruin Your Friendships - WSJ.com

The Wired Campus - How Students, Professors, and Colleges Are, and Should Be, Using Social Media - The Chronicle of Higher Education

The ULTIMATE Mafia Wars Guide on Facebook

Mar Cassian's Columbus Ministry

HOW TO: Use Facebook for Professional Networking

Indiana Health Information Exchange

Feds to Spend $19 Billion on Health IT

Summary:• One-third of Indiana’s patients have electronic medical records• U.S. earmarks $19 billion for health IT• One doctor says he’d never go back to paper records

I'm a Linux

Apple: Think Different

A Day in the Life of an IT Department

Judge orders Microsoft to stop selling Word - Technology Live - USATODAY.com

10 smartphone tips for dumb people - Computers- msnbc.com

What Twitter outage means for you - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com

What knocked out Twitter? Attacks on blogger - Security- msnbc.com

Let's hear it for Microsoft tech support

Apple "Get a Mac" ad: "Angel/Devil"

The Future of Communication

New phone apps seek to 'augment' reality - CNN.com

iLove/iHate my iPhone - Wireless- msnbc.com

Hanging with hackers can make you paranoid - CNN.com

Microsoft to hire 400 Yahoo employees as part of ad plan - Aug. 5, 2009

Facebook A Security Risk? Pentagon Orders Review : NPR

Microsoft's Bing gains another 1 percent of U.S. search - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

South Bend Tribune: Recordable DVDs not best solution for backup

New feature for campaigns: Call to Action

FCC seeks data on iPhone Google app rejection - Tech & gadgets- msnbc.com

WP: With Twitter, NFL loses control of image game - Washington Post- nbcsports.msnbc.com

How Google and Social Entrepreneurs Perpetuate the Digital Divide Among Nonprofits

Is Google Grants Hurting Black and Latino-Led Nonprofits?

How Social Entrepreneurs Can Avoid Doing More Harm than Good

Changing the Culture of Social Entrepreneurship Programs

Sources:

E-mail from "a Google spokesperson."

Clarifications

Complex problems, another perspective

Whose judgment do we trust?

destinationCRM.com: Taking the Measure of Social Media

Microsoft to open stores in Arizona, California - Retail - msnbc.com

Microsoft, Yahoo announce search deal - U.S. business- msnbc.com

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Together: Part 1

Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs

Summary:
• One-third of Indiana’s patients have electronic medical records
• U.S. earmarks $19 billion for health IT
• One doctor says he’d never go back to paper records