It’s NPTech time!

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NTC logo I’m getting ready to head to DC for the 2007 Nonprofit Technology Conference for the rest of this week.  For many of us, this conference is a like an annual reunion of a wonderful group of socially-conscious geeks.  We were there for each other back when the rest of the nonprofit sector thought we were crazy… and look – we're all grown up (and in demand) now! 😉

On Thursday I'll be leading a discussion on "The Future of Online Outreach" along with Carnet Williams, who has been at this even longer than I have.  On Friday I will participate in panels about "The Community Driven Nonprofit: Web 2.0 Applied" and "User-centric web publishing: Using RSS, tags, and microformats to give your stakeholders the content they want."  Somewhere in there is also a meeting at the office, lunch with clients, catching up with old coworkers, and a half a dozen parties around DC!

Let me know if you will be there as well.  I'll be watching the backchannel, especially Twittter.

New Orleans down the memory hole

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Whatever happened to “don’t be evil?” Google maps of New Orleans used to be a great way to actually see the extent of flooding and property destruction, but they have now been replaced with a pre-Katrina version! Wet Bank Guide asks “What might be next: the restoration of the Twin Towers to the New York skyline?”

Via Wonkette – Heckuva Job, Mappie: Google Disappears Post-Katrina Map Pix.

Some people shouldn’t be allowed near a keyboard

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I wanted to blog about this a few days ago when I first read about the vile harassment of Kathy Sierra by a group of childish and “mean” (by their own description) bloggers. The fact that any jerk with a blog can make up personally hurtful and damaging crap isn’t news. Hell – it’s even happened to me. What’s amazing to me is the fact that the people launched these attacks from a group blog which also contained many supposedly-reputable bloggers, and also the extremely violent nature of the words and pictures aimed at Sierra.

Rather than recap the saga, so please just go to Kathy’s blog where she explains why she stayed home from one of the biggest tech conferences of the year as a result of these ridiculous threats. The Scobleizer declared a week without blogging. Sue Mernit offers perspective on people’s reactions. And Andy Carvin write a very thoughtful post about this and suggested that we make March 30 Stop Cyberbullying Day.

Check out http://technorati.com/tag/stopcyberbullying to see all of the posts in support of this effort.

Edwards campaign all over social network sites

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Since you ask… why yes I was quoted in the Washington Post today! 😉

All the presidential hopefuls are online. Everyone’s got a Web site. A few hired full-time bloggers and videographers. Most have MySpace profiles, just a click away from “friending” a supporter. Yet Edwards has taken his Internet presence a step further, fully exploiting the unknown possibilities (and known pitfalls) of the social Web, online strategists say. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), judging by the number of friends on MySpace or number of views of his YouTube videos, may be the most popular online candidate, Republican or Democrat. But Edwards arguably has the most dynamic Web presence — he’s everywhere, doing everything.
[…]
Adds Ruby Sinreich, an online consultant who works with nonprofits and writes the progressive blog OrangePolitics.com, “What you have to remember is that signing up for these social networking sites is free, and it shows that he’s open to new ideas and open to the openness of the Internet. Look, voters are swayed by the people they know. That’s not new. That’s not about technology. But what we have now is a new technology that is all about building relationships.”
– Grass Roots Planted In Cyberspace – washingtonpost.com, 3/30/07

I also pointed the reporter to Valdis Krebs, so I’ll take a little credit the smart stuff he said as well.

To do: send your love to Cleveland

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I am seriously considering the Friday morning event, but I can’t do Sunday night. Given how hard it is for me to just stay awake for these evening games, I’m safer watching them at home. 😉

Women’s Basketball Send-Off from Carmichael! – Friday, March 30th

* Send the UNC Women’s Basketball team off to the Final Four in Cleveland!
* Fans should gather @ 7:30 AM Carmichael Auditorium, Team will be leaving at 8:00am.
* Parking Available in Hwy 54 Lot and Rams Head Deck$1.25 per hour
* Parking available in Cobb Deck and South Road for FREE.


Game Viewing Party! – Sunday, April 1

* Carmichael Auditorium Sunday @ 9:00pm vs. Tennessee
* Doors open @ 8:00pm-FREE admission
* Concessions will be available.
* FREE Parking available at the Cobb Deck, Hwy 54 Lot, Boshamer, and Bell Tower Lots
* Parking in the Rams Head Deck for $1.25/hr
* Disability parking: South Road meters, School of Govt. deck
* Media Parking-School of Govt. Deck
* Enter through the Front Doors of Carmichael
* First 100 fans get a Camille Little Growth Chart!

Both events have been added to Ruby’s Unofficial Basketball Calendar.

Double whammy for Tarheels

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(Cross-posted from OrangePolitics.)

Hours after the men’s basketball team fell to Georgetown in the NCAA tournament, a student who cheers the team as Rameses passed away after being hit by an SUV on Friday. My heart goes out to the family and friends of Jason Ray.

Also, consolations to seniors Rayshawn Terry, Wes Miller, and Biscuits of the men’s basketball team that had a very frustrating end to an exciting season. Fortunately, the women’s team marches on. Don’t miss the last games for super-talented seniors Ivory Latta and Camille Little. Next game is against Purdue in the Elite 8 on Tuesday at 9:30 on ESPN and WCHL.

WTF UNC?

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Carolina is now out of the NCAA tournament after losing to Georgetown 96-84. I believe UNC has had 7 losses this season, but this was by far the most inexplicable. After leading throughout most of the game, Georgetown started to make a scoring run while UNC started to shoot nothing but high-risk 3-point shots, missing every single one until the final seconds of the game.

By the end when they were down by 10 points with a minute left, I could understand putting up 3-pointers. But we were ahead until we started using that strategy. Then the game went into overtime in which we scored no points until last 8 seconds. Roy Williams is a great coach, but I can’t understand what they were thinking with this strategy. Someone needs to explain.

Fortunately, the season is not over for the women, who play in the Sweet 16 against George Washington tonight at 9:30. I expect them to stay in this tournament until the bitter (or sweet) end!

Second Life echos the first one

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I just blogged on techPresident about the Hillary Clinton campaign HQ that some folks have created in Second Life. Short version: it plays into the worst stereotypes of her as an iron maiden and looks like butt to boot. It amazes me that Hillary is portrayed as a clueless authority figure even by her supposed supporters.

Here are my two favorite parts: the stage that looks like it came straight out of the popular “Vote Different” (a.k.a. Hillary 1984) video, and the helipad complete with limousine motorcade and police HUMV for security!

070317 011 stage authority 070317 009 motorcade
(Click for larger versions.)

Please check it out and let me know what you think: http://techpresident.com/node/171
I plan to post pictures and reviews of all of the candidates in SL. Right now there’s only Edwards and Obama, so they will be next.

How do you spell L-I-E?

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I just got the following new alert from CNN.com “The White House will allow key presidential aide Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers to be interviewed by committees probing the firings of U.S. attorneys, but they will not testify under oath, Rep. Chris Cannon says.”

In other words, we don’t want to start a whole ‘nother perjury investigation so we’ll let them lie to you, just not under oath. Does that make you feel better?