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News for March 2003

30 March 2003

Pathways to Collaboration
	I've been saying for some time that the two great challenges to nonprofits in the current era are collaboration and innovation. Pathways to Collaboration is a Kellogg Foundation funded initiative to help learn just what enables powerful collaboration at the community level. They are issuing grants to twelve partnerships. The deadline is May 9, 2003. Posted: 3/30/03; 10:42:38 PM #

Developing microfinance technology
	Hewlett Packard and other major companies are playing a role in developing some nonprofit technology in developing nations, such as microfinance systems, according to this report by Susan Reed. Posted: 3/30/03; 10:42:23 PM #

From Obstacles to Opportunities, v.1.0
	From Obstacles to Opportunities, v.1.0 (PDF file) is a Kellogg funded report by Marc Osten and his colleagues on the subject of nonprofit technology funding. It was in part this report that spurred my recent Open Letter to technology Funders. Posted: 3/30/03; 10:42:04 PM #

28 March 2003

Iraq Body Count
	Iraq Body Count is an example of an online nonprofit tactic that is timely and laser sharp. They provide a regularly updated, objective count of reported civilian deaths in the war. One of the most interesting parts is that they provide a counter that other organizations can put on their web sites, which is automatically updated. Over 200 have done so already. Posted: 3/28/03; 8:34:48 AM #

23 March 2003

Good for Minnesota
	In response to my comment about money for war versus money for human needs, one reader sent me a link to Good for Minnesota, a provocative web site promoting discussion on budget priorities. Posted: 3/23/03; 11:26:39 AM #

How Protesters Use the Internet and Wireless in Real Time
	The Mercury News covers how, drawing on techniques pioneered in Seattle during the WTO meetings, protesters against the war use the internet and wireless in real time. Posted: 3/23/03; 11:26:12 AM #

20 March 2003

United Way's wireless network in poor neighborhoods
	I am very impressed. The United Way will be providing wireless internet access to poor West Philadelphia neighborhoods. This is precisely the kind of bottom up initiative that will nurture many other empowerment efforts. I'll be following this one closely. Posted: 3/20/03; 9:58:50 AM #

Why Am I Getting All This Spam?
	The Center for Democracy and Technology (of which I am a fan) has released a new report entitled Why Am I Getting All This Spam? (PDF). In particular, they look into the techniques for harvesting email addresses. For some reason, I found this to be a fun read. Posted: 3/20/03; 9:58:41 AM #

19 March 2003

Internationalism: The First Casualty of Bush's War on Iraq?

Apropos of my comment yesterday about the erosion of international institutions, I just learned that the Institute for Agrigulture and Trade Policy will do a live broadcast today at 5:30 PM U.S. Central Time, entitled Internationalism: The First Casualty of Bush's War on Iraq? The link is to the Realmedia broadcast URL. You can also learn more at IATP's web site. If you have an interest in international NGOs, this might be worth listening to. Posted: 3/19/03; 1:57:23 PM #

18 March 2003

Waiting for the Bombs to Drop
	The impact of a war with Iraq on civil society will be devastating, but for some reason only activist organizations and individuals are speaking out. Where is the public dialogue on this issue within the sector? Where are the voices of the sector's leaders? Are we content just waiting for the bombs to drop? Posted: 3/18/03; 12:47:49 PM #

The Link Between Play and Peace
	Elizabeth Stutz wrote this piece on the Link Between Play and Peace back in 1998. It seems terrifyingly relevant today. Thank you to Bernie DeKoven for the reference. Posted: 3/18/03; 10:04:33 AM #

17 March 2003

International news making it hard to concentrate on my work

Today we wake to looming international catastrophe. With my country about to wage a war on Iraq, I occasionally find it hard to stay grounded in the importance of my own day to day work. And when I read, in that same international context of insane strife, that an Israeli bulldozer ran over a woman from my neighboring town of Olympia, Washington, I am paralyzed with nausea. Forgive me if you don't get much in the way of nonprofit news right now. Posted: 3/17/03; 9:43:11 AM #

12 March 2003

CTCs as Catalysts for Community Change
	Randall Pinkett and his colleagues have published their report to the Ford Foundation on Community Technology Centers as Catalysts for Community Change (PDF). Posted: 3/12/03; 9:49:20 AM #

California Privacy Measures

I enjoyed Sunday's lunchtime addresses at the ePhilanthropy Conference, by Chris Larson and Jackie Speier, on the subject of California's privacy measures and how they have been repeatedly defeated by banking and marketing interests. The Privacy Knowledge Base has a summary of the situation. Larson mentioned that several companies who were sponsors of the conference were among the oppostion to privacy legislation. During the question period, I asked him to name the companies. It was an awkward moment, but he did at least name Microsoft as one of them. Posted: 3/12/03; 9:49:05 AM #

10 March 2003

Open Letter to Nonprofit Technology Funders
	The TechFunders Summit is meeting over the next three days to discuss what they can do to advance the field of nonprofit technology in these difficult times. In my Open Letter to Nonprofit Technology Funders, I challenge them to think like leaders who live in a networked world. Posted: 3/10/03; 4:09:24 PM #

Coryell-Martin's note on the Rifkin talk
	Carl Coryell-Martin took good notes on yesterday's Rifkin talk. They helped remind me of some of my concerns, such as Rifkin's distinction between Deep Work and Deep Play in life. Why can't we have both at once? Posted: 3/10/03; 7:28:38 AM #

9 March 2003

Notes from Doing Good Online panel
	Lia Bulaong took great notes at a panel entitled Doing Good Online: Innovative Ideas From Non-Profits on the Internet. The interesting thing is that this panel wasn't happening at the NTEN or ePhilanthropy conferences in Oakland. It was at the popular South by Southwest Music and Media Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas. Posted: 3/9/03; 7:47:09 PM #

NTEN 2003 Roundup Newsletter #3
	The third issue (PDF) of the NTEN 2003 Roundup Newsletter covers awards given at last night's reception to several nonprofit technology folks. Posted: 3/9/03; 12:13:05 PM #

Jeremy Rifkin
	We listened to Jeremy Rifkin talk about network economies in this morning's plenary session. I'm still trying to sort out the ideas from the presentation and the packaging of those ideas. He is thought provoking on either level. Posted: 3/9/03; 12:12:56 PM #

NTEN Roundup 2003 Newsletter #2
	The second issue (PDF) of the NTEN Roundup Newsletter starts with a description of the 'Day of Service' achievements. This is an opening activity that brought in some of the conference attendees a day early to do one day of technology projects with local nonprofits here in Oakland. Posted: 3/9/03; 12:12:24 PM #

NTEN 2003 Roundup Newsletter #1
	The NTEN Roundup has a newsletter that is being distributed on paper to attendees in their rooms. The first issue (PDF) highlights arriving in Oakland on Thursday and closes with an article on the extraordinary international presence at the conference. I'll post links to subsequent issues as they become available online. Posted: 3/9/03; 1:57:35 AM #

8 March 2003

Carl Coryell-Martin blogs the Roundup
	Carl Coryell-Martin of Green Media Toolshed is journalling his experience of the NTEN Roundup in weblog fashion. He called me confrontational. I think that's ok. Posted: 3/8/03; 8:39:30 PM #

6 March 2003

Charter of the Advisory Council of Public Interest Registry
	I received notice yesterday that I have been selected to serve on the Advisory Council of Public Interest Registry, so I found myself reviewing its Charter (PDF). If you have advice you would like to offer for me in this role, it would be much appreciated. Posted: 3/6/03; 10:01:06 AM #

5 March 2003

Philanthropy Resources Online
	A project of the Indiana University, Philanthropy Resources Online will be a searchable collection of scanned journals, monographs, and other resources about the nonprofit sector. Right now, it's mostly suitable for browsing, but it looks interesting. Posted: 3/5/03; 9:24:50 AM #

Europe Hacker Laws Could Make Protest a Crime
	A European law against hacking could end up making online protests illegal, such as last weeks "virtual march on Washington" and other such actions. Posted: 3/5/03; 9:24:39 AM #

2 March 2003

The Linux Uprising

While the CIO of Dell is proclaiming that "Unix is Dead" (I won't dignify that bizarre statement with a link), the fact is quite the opposite. In The Linux Uprising, Businessweek looks at one flavor of Unix that's taking the world by storm. I'm writing this on another flavor of Unix (Mac OS X) and chances are this reached you by way of several machines running Unix along the way. In fact, we owe the interoperability and scale of the internet to Unix. Posted: 3/2/03; 5:44:14 PM #