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Charity doing car donation and repair; local.
ASIDE: PLEASE DO NOT HYPERLINK TO WORD DOCUMENTS, PEOPLE!!! Can somebody please please revolutionize Nonprofit web design, soon?
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"One we realize that that’s not the case, that there’s no “magic” at work in the financial field and people are just mucking around I think that has quite radical implications. If nothing the CEOs and top fund managers are doing makes them worthy of taking the blame when the crash hits, then they also don’t deserve nearly the share of the credit — and money — that they got while things were going up."
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"We are at the beginning of what I call The Industrial Revolution of Data. We're not quite there yet, since most of the digital information available today is still individually "handmade": prose on web pages, data entered into forms, videos and music edited and uploaded to servers. But we are starting to see the rise of automatic data generation "factories" such as software logs, UPC scanners, RFID, GPS transceivers, video and audio feeds. These automated processes can stamp out data at volumes that will quickly dwarf the collective productivity of content authors worldwide. Meanwhile, disk capacities are growing exponentially, so the cost of archiving this data remains modest. And there are plenty of reasons to believe that this data has value in a wide variety of settings. The last step of the revolution is the commoditization of data analysis software, to serve a broad class of users."
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"Of course it’s crazy to imagine retargeting our industrial capacity in such dramatic fashion, and turning it on a dime, isn’t it?
Not necessarily. For months I’ve been meaning to blog a segment from a Lester Brown podcast, which I can’t find now, but here’s the same point from his book Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization:…"
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"The Mechanics’ Institute sprang up in 19th century England for the ostensible purpose of imparting upon the working class mechanic knowledge of the sciences, literature, and arts. In actuality, a myriad of purposes shrouded the creation of these institutes, which were ultimately appropriated by the middle class when it became apparent that the working class was not as receptive as had been anticipated. … As the middle class began to move in, the working class retreated to the Institute’s libraries and reading rooms, where they were free to discuss topics that interested them. One of the unintended consequences of the failed Mechanics’ Institutes was the aiding in the creation of a democratic infrastructure for working class access to printed materials…. In short, despite being borne from a desire to regulate, they were an important precursor to the establishment of public libraries and a liberated mass reading public."
links for 2008-12-15
Laura said,
>> Can somebody please please revolutionize Nonprofit web design, soon?
No. No one can revolutionize anything non-profit, because the non-profit sector attracts megalomaniacs who value power over profit, both on a personal and institutional front. The non-profit sector is a fertile hunting ground for those who love wielding unfettered control over others and a universe of petty fiefdoms.
Think about it: it’s the nature of the entire sector. If you run a non-profit, your only ‘customers’ are people who must kowtow to you, lest they be cut off from your funding if they ‘misbehave.’ It’s a tyrant’s wet dream, especially in a small organization. At least with the big ones, ones that attract large donors, some actual oversight, whether through boards or audits or whatnot, occurs. Can you imagine what would happen if some of these smaller non-profit executives actually had to be held to a standard of behavior?
No, no innovation for you. The tyrants won’t allow it because it would mean giving up control. Never gonna happen.
Tozier said,
Lady knows exactly what buttons to push, don’t she?
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