The Google Buzz presenter right now is trying so hard to be Steve Jobs, but is lacking both the iconic black turtleneck as well as the excessive superlatives.
The Google Buzz presenter right now is trying so hard to be Steve Jobs, but is lacking both the iconic black turtleneck as well as the excessive superlatives.
On this week’s episode of the AshokaTECH Podcast, host Alex Budak interviews the founder of Build Change, Elizabeth Hausler, an expert on sustainable building practices to prevent earthquake damage. Alex asks her for her thoughts on the recent tragedy in Haiti, and how similar catastrophies might be avoided in the future. Elizabeth has faced similar challenges following earthquakes in India, China and Indonesia, and provides poignant commentary on the challenges that now face Haiti, as well as advice on engaging the community.
To subscribe to the podcast, please visit the AshokaTECH Podcast Page in iTunes.
To listen to the podcast stream online, please visit the AshokaTECH Audioroom.
To see the official release from Ashoka, visit the blog.
Have feedback on the podcast, or a guest you’d like to see interviewed? Get in touch! Enjoy the podcast? Consider leaving a comment and a rating on iTunes to spread the word to other changemakers around the world.
#ThisIsEmbarrassing
So, Twitter just put out “Local Trending Topics,” so that you can see what people in your area are Tweeting about. I set my location to DC, expecting District-centric trends like #ReyburnBuilding, #HappyHour, or #JCrew. Instead, here are the top 3 hits: #nowthatsghetto, #thoughtsduringmyfirsttime, and #shouldbeasin. Ugh.
Thomas Friedman, “More (Steve) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs,” New York Times, 1/23/2010.
At the risk of being “that guy who quotes Tom Friedman,” his column this week is the most poignant I’ve read lately. Innovation and entrepreneurship are what made America great, and it’s time to renew our focus around them. I support Friedman’s call for making 2010 the year of the start-up.
The group I worked with this summer, The Extraordinaries, is taking their ground-breaking micro-volunteering program and applying it to help in Haiti. Check out their Haiti Earthquake Support page, and see how you can use your mobile phone to help tag photos — allowing people around the world to track down their loved ones on the devastated island.
On this week’s episode of the AshokaTECH Podcast, host Alex Budak interviews social entrepreneur Howard Weinstein, who is giving the gift of hearing to thousands in the developing world.
But the social change doesn’t stop there. Weinstein has created a sustainable business model in which hard-of-hearing kids from Botswana and Brazil train others in how to use and tune the devices — creating jobs and long-lasting impact in communities around the world.
Alex and Howard discuss the motivation behind social enterprise, tips for engaging a community, and how to take an idea and make it replicable across Geographies.
Click the logo above to visit the AshokaTECH Podcast’s iTunes page, and subscribe!
To listen to the podcast stream online, follow this link to the AshokaTECH Audioroom.
Flying over the Rockies right now, and thanks to on-board wifi, I can share the view in real-time!
Yes, it’s nerdy, but we went to check out the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. There’s lots of cool stuff there, but mostly I came away very thankful that we’ve moved away from the punch-card, huge computer world, to the “web 2.0” and mobile computing world. It’s crazy how far we’ve come in just a few decades! Some photos:
An impressive collection of pre-1990 computers.
Old skool Tetris
So nerdy-chic!
I’m so glad my macbook doesn’t look like this…
The coolest thing in the museum: an Apple I signed by Steve Wozniak!
Looking for a quick but elegant way to make a personal splash / lifestreaming page, I checked out a number of different sites, but all either required (way) too much html knowledge, didn’t look hip, or pigenholed me into a very specific set-up. Wanting more freedom, but with html knowledge that doesn’t extend far beyond “a href =” I was thrilled to come across flavors.me.
It’s still in private beta, but I got a code, and have been playing around with it for a while now. The first thing I noticed is that it’s drop-dead simple. The first tab asks for basic info — perfect for a quick bio and some links. The second tab lets you add services — facebook, tumblr, twitter, last.fm, among others. What I really like about it is that you can give each feed a name, and — crucially — you can add any RSS feed that you like. This gives the site lifestreaming capability with content from different sites updated constantly. The only downside is that they currently only offer nine sites, but I trust that when they move out of beta others — notably YouTube, Picasa, and LinkedIn — will be added.
Now that you’ve added your information and links, the fun part starts: designing your page. The design is broken down into four parts: layouts, background, fonts and colors. The layout tab lets you choose from 3 different displays, including one with all of your links at the top of the page, and also lets you choose whether it’s centered or right/left-aligned. Background — the most addictive part — lets you upload an image which can then be moved to a side of the page, stretched full screen, or tiled. The options here are literally limitless. Fonts provde the basic selection and sizing of text, and colors provides a few ready-made pallets from which to choose, as well as complete customization. I really appreciate that unlike most sites, they don’t have themes to choose from. This allows way more flexibility, and makes each page more unique. If you want some inspiration, take a look at the directory to see what others have done with their flavors.
Aside from the lack of integration with some key services, I’m really impressed with flavors.me. If you’re looking for an easy way to get a nice web-presence, and want to look like you know html even if you don’t, give flavors.me a try.
