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News for August 2003

29 August 2003

Do-not-fax rule and nonprofits
	In the first issue of Observing Nonprofits, Put Barber takes on the issue of the do not fax rule and nonprofits. I agree with his conclusion that a blanket exemption for nonprofits is a bad idea for the sector. Posted: 8/29/03; 12:47:03 PM #

Software patents killing GIMP

The Gnu Image Manipulation Program is a free, open source competitor to high end software such as Photoshop. If your work involves the power of a picture, then this is exactly the kind of nonprofit spirited software that you need. Except for one thing: It looks like software patents could kill this very successful open source project. And what's worse, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Posted: 8/29/03; 12:46:51 PM #

Rapid Knowledge Formation Project
	The goal of the Rapid Knowledge Formation project is to allow subject matter experts to quickly build and revise a base of knowledge. I'm fascinated by the application of these concepts to philanthropy. Posted: 8/29/03; 12:46:26 PM #

24 August 2003

Controversial database of the homeless proposed
	Privacy organizations and advocates for the homeless are expressing concern about a national database for tracking homeless people. Posted: 8/24/03; 10:37:38 PM #

Open Content and Value Creation
	In Open Content and Value Creation, Magnus Cedergren looks at the economic forces and other factors at play in the free sharing of content. Posted: 8/24/03; 10:36:38 PM #

18 August 2003

Japan's "Culture of Giving" and Nonprofit Organizations
	The Coalition for Legislation to Support Citizens' Organizations has published a report on Japan's "Culture of Giving" and Nonprofit Organizations. People in the United States tend to project their idea of the nonprofit sector on to the rest of the world. This excellent report is an antidote to that. Posted: 8/18/03; 1:34:10 PM #

A look at "venture" philanthropy and its maturation
	Ben Gose looks back at the "venture philanthropy" phenomenon and its post crash maturation. It's a thoughtful piece. Posted: 8/18/03; 1:34:00 PM #

15 August 2003

Why Save $100 Billion, When You Can Save $500 Billion
	Sometimes we are a humorless sector, as I've noticed when I've received outraged responses after publishing parodies. But we need the humor more than ever, don't we? That's why I'm grateful for articles like Why Save $100 Billion, When You Can Save $500 Billion, by Phil Anthrop of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Posted: 8/15/03; 5:21:22 PM #

Extraverts, Weak Ties & Social Software
	In Extraverts, Weak Ties & Social Software, Gideon Rosenblatt (the Executive Director of ONE Northwest) explores some of the downsides of the current crop of social networking software. Posted: 8/15/03; 5:17:23 PM #

Muffling Progressive Nonprofits
	If your nonprofit organization disagrees with a position of the Bush administration, you might be interested in this article. The Village Voice explores some of the examples documented in the OMBWatch report I pointed to recently. If you're looking for something short and accessible on the subject, this is worth reading. Posted: 8/15/03; 5:16:38 PM #

12 August 2003

Call for Stories in Support of a Robust Public Domain

Public Knowledge, Creative Commons, and The Center for the Study of the Public Domain have issued a call for stories in support of a robust public domain. They want to hear from you if you have a story of copyright, trademark or patent laws needlessly hindering your work and ideas or if your work has benefited from the availability of art and information in the public domain. Posted: 8/12/03; 11:01:36 AM #

What is Participatory Journalism
	In What is Participatory Journalism, J. D. Lasica explores the range of forms available, including weblogs, personal broadcasting, and community and independent media web sites. I advise any organization trying to build community around information to explore these ideas. Posted: 8/12/03; 11:00:58 AM #

10 August 2003

Dave Averill's list of web based resources for nonprofits
	David Averill has compiled a list of his favorite web based resources for nonprofits. It's impossible for this to be anything other than a murky snapshot, but for all that it's a nice list. He gets the name of this publication wrong, but that's ok. Posted: 8/10/03; 10:48:39 PM #

More than Standards
	In More than Standards, Stephen Taylor makes a case for consolidation of efforts around various open source Content Management System efforts. I don't agree. I think there is a lot to be said for common data standards, but vibrant competition on features. Of course, the standards have to keep up. Posted: 8/10/03; 10:48:27 PM #

6 August 2003

2003 Norbert Weiner Award goes to Mitch Kapor
	Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility has awarded their 2003 Norbert Weiner Award to Mitch Kapor. The award honors his commitment to understanding the social and political consequences of computing technology. Posted: 8/6/03; 11:39:17 AM #

Tool for Assessing Startup Nonprofits
	David LaPiana has written a Tool for Assessing Startup Nonprofits (PDF). It's described as a "due dilligence" guide for grantmakers, but upon first reading I would find this a superb checklist for social entrepreneurs. Posted: 8/6/03; 11:39:07 AM #

3 August 2003

An Attack on Nonprofit Speech
	OMBWatch has published a report entitled An Attack on Nonprofit Speech: Death By a Thousand Cuts, covering the extensive restrictions on advocacy and other speech by nonprofit organizations whose views differ from those of the current U.S. government. Posted: 8/3/03; 10:24:18 PM #

A Social Ecology of Wireless Technology
	From First Monday comes A Social Ecology of Wireless Technology, by an informal group called Critical Friends of Technology. With a title like that, I have to point you to it. Plus, it's a smart piece that takes a holistic approach and emphasizes the impacts and opportunities for developing countries. Posted: 8/3/03; 10:24:02 PM #