I’ll post more details later, but I want all 3 of you who read this blog to be the among first to know that I have accepted a full-time job with Aspiration! I’ll start officially in September, but I’ll be in San Francisco most of next week for my first official work event: Extreme Usability. I expect it to be “extreme” for me in both the fun and education departments. (How fun? This is my new boss.)
Here’s a description of my position. I am now soliciting proposals for a better job title. 😉
I’ve finally relented and started using Skype for “Internet telephony” or VoIP. I enjoyed using Gizmo, but no-one else seems to be on that system. Skype has more critical mass, but unfortunately doesn’t support open standards like SIP. Nonprofits should really look into Internet telephone technology, which provides free and cheap phone service around the world, for not much hassle. I know Brian has more to say about this, so please visit him to learn more about VoIP’s potential.
In addition to Skype, I have added yet another protocol to the many ways you can contact me. I now have an official i-name. There is a growing movement of people and organizations concerned with how we control and manage our own identities online. This goes way beyond issues of identity theft, although that’s a part of it. One of the more interesting outgrowths of this that I’ve seen is the Attention Trust, who published this manifesto:
Continue reading “Reach out and touch someone”
Some folks are proposing a Nonprofit Blog Exchange where people working in or with nonprofits will trade blogs for a day (or something).
Everyone in the nonprofit sector is unique. Some are from different countries or cultures. Some have different areas of expertise.
Each organization is different. They have different missions. They have different strengths and weaknesses.
By pairing up nonprofit bloggers with different backgrounds, they will be able to help each other out.
It sounds kind of interesting, but I think they need to do a better job articulating the value of this exercise to organizations’ missions and causes.
Yesterday Brian came home from work with a movie his coworker loaned him. Brian loves movies, but this was not his usual fare. We were looking forward to something different, and we got it.
What the #$*! do We Know? starts out explaining the mystery of quantum physics. It alternates between talking scientist heads, and a narrative starring Marlee Matlin. I always love her acting. She is especially expressive I think because she doesn’t rely on just words to convey her feelings.
![[What's your addiction?]](http://bleepstore.com/Images/WYAsticker-250.jpg)
The movie turned out to be more about brain chemistry than physics. In addition to the narrative, they used cute animations to show how the body generates different enzymes corresponding to different emotions and how this affects the brain in the short term as well as long term.
Remember fiscal conservatives? Today’s Republicans don’t seem to.
Legislation passed by Congress this year will add $35 billion to next year’s budget deficit and $115 billion through 2010, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan watchdog group.
– USATODAY.com, 8/5/2005
Remember tax-and-spend liberals like Bill Clinton? I don’t think Republicans remember him either.
President Clinton announced Wednesday that the federal budget surplus for fiscal year 2000 amounted to at least $230 billion, making it the largest in U.S. history and topping last year’s record surplus of $122.7 billion.
– CNN, 9/27/2000
Sometimes when you piss off certain people, you know you’re doing something right. In response to one of my posts on the ACLU blog, one such genius* had this to say:
let me mention also that i find this ruby blogging most odiferous. it smells like a bucket of dung and none can abide by its most fowl smell. it is bad blogging at its best.
What a trip! All the way back to third grade.
* By the way, I know exactly who this loser is. He’s from Chapel Hill!
Enjoying friends at Crook’s Corner.
Local 506 (an excellent bar with live music) now has a weekly podcast previewing upcoming shows with audio clips of the bands. Click here to subscribe to the RSS podcast feed. This makes so much sense – what the bands sound like is probably the most important factor in deciding whether to go to a show, and I can’t get that as effectively from music reviews, best bets, the radio, or other online or offline listings.
One big suggestion, though: they need to post entries on a blog instead of as RSS-only so that anyone can visit their website and listen to a show in the web browser without having to “subscribe” and have an MP3 player (or iTunes).
Thanks to Tim Ross, one of my favorite DJs for the tip on the 506 podcast.
In his latest State of the Blogosphere, Dave Sifry says a new blog is born every second!
No wonder Technorati can’t keep up. To be fair, it seems like none of the competing blog/feed search engines can.
I am trying to use this trendy, new-ish organizational methodology called Getting Things Done (GTD). It’s been growing in popularity among geeks that I respect. I first discovered it through 43 Folders, a really great site for Macintosh and GTD geeks.
For the past 6 months, I have also been using a web-based tool called Basecamp that is pretty good for organizing projects and group communication. (And it’s free for very small accounts.) I really like Basecamp, and it has been especially helpful for tracking information so that my clients and I can both see it.
Continue reading “GTD + Basecamp = ???”