What a difference a year can make – not always for the better, mind you. But in today’s post we see grounds for optimism when it comes to the development of social networks and of social movements through those networks as they force political and economic change. Last fall we wrote about the incisive and […]
#Tech: Near-Field Communication Now Allows Two-Way Exchanges Of Information
The NFC Forum announced last week a technology protocol that allows NFC to be able to work in two directions synchronously. The press release touted the flexibility of two-way communication and the standards established at the outset to ensure universal access: The extension of the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) to peer-to-peer use in SNEP […]
#ProAging: iPad Technology Can Draw Out Memories And Skills For Elderly
One stereotype of the elderly and long retired is that they fear new technology. Yet many of the GI Generation and Silent Generation were, in fact, the ones who started the phenomenal research and development in the middle of the twentieth century that give us our hybrid cars and smart phones today. A recent report […]
#Tech: Cloud Computing Campaign Highlights Benefits To And Concerns For Nonprofits
In technology terms, ‘the cloud’ is the internet used as storage space (space traditionally taken up on a hard drive in a computer) and as software server (software traditionally installed on that hard drive to run applications). The internet is not new, but using it in this way is because storing gigabytes of information for […]
#SocialNetworks: Is Facebook Too D@%n Complicated? Depends On What You Want To Share.
We got the notion for this story from Chris Taylor at Mashable.com, who argues that the geeks at Facebook are so excited about adding and tweaking their platform that they are leaving befuddled an ever growing section of their membership. The latest changes have driven him to distraction: Take the Ticker, for example, that real-time stream […]
#SocialNetworks: Facebook Updates User Experience With Focus on Timelines
Last week Facebook presented its latest iteration and updates with fanfare unusual even for Facebook. The changes were announced just as Google+ wanted to open its services to everyone who wanted to subscribe, so clearly the two wanted to land some PR punches against each other. Now that Google+ has been out long enough for […]
#Interview: Rob Wu, Founder of CauseVox, On Building Online Tools For Nonprofits (Part 2 of 2)
Last week, we introduced one of the founders of CauseVox, Rob Wu, who told us about the integrated platform he and Jefferson Chang developed after their experience working with nonprofits in Uganda in 2008. The young men saw the need to bring together online tools like website customization, social-media outreach, and donor tracking for smaller […]
#Tech: Pew Internet Project Breaks Down Use Of Communications Tech Across Generations
The contours of the findings of the Pew Internet and American Life Project report on ‘Generations and their Gadgets’ you probably already know: Younger Americans use more mobile devices than older Americans. Older Americans generally access the internet from a desktop computer, whereas those under 35 tend to do so with a laptop/netbook. Etc. But […]