Where Most Needed

Boring Bus Ride Nets over $20,000 for Video Game Charity

A marathon online event using a mind-numbing simulation of a bus driving across the desert gets enough buzz to fuel four days of fundraising.  But your results may vary. 

Discounting Social Capital

Robert Putnam's latest research begins to show the limits of the social capital concept, to put it kindly. 

Big Churches, Small Groups

Mega churches concentrate efforts on developing small group leadership skills to keep their members engaged on a personal level.  Perhaps secular nonprofits need to pay attention. 

Kitchen Democracy Turns into Online Oligarchy

A tiny nonprofit operates a web site that allows citizens to weigh in on local issues like zoning changes without attending city council meeings.  But there are complaints of ballot stuffing in online polls, which a little analysis shows is a credible claim.   

Beware the $100 Laptop

What some propose as the solution to the digital divide just may be the twenty-first century version of "let them eat cake" from the young and wealthy digital elite in the US, described in a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. 

Using Information Technology for Social Change? Insert Coins Here

A new technology journal relies heavily on old closed technologies, to the dismay of those who want to see real change to open models.  And I make a modest suggestion. 

Professors Making Little Progress against Institutional Censorship

Dissatisfaction with the involvement of Institutional Review Boards in social science research has yet to generate movement toward reform. 

Museum Event Planner Packs the House with Retro Icons

Legendary parties put Vanessa Gonzalez of LA's Museum of Contemporary Art in the featured position on the LA Times web site (and we supply some numbers that back up the hype).   

Plain Sorority Sisters Sent Packing

The national office of the Delta Zeta sorority kicks out 23 of 35 members in the chapter at DePauw University in the week before fall final exams, including all the overweight ones.  The sorority's leadership claims there was a miscommunication. 

Wikipedia Reinforces Digital Divide

Blogger points out that the coding required for Wikipedia entries has the effect of excluding all but the most technically literate and wonders whether it's deliberate.