Mar

21

Wrong sprout

March 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The term “sprout” seems to be well-liked among webmasters. Perhaps that is why the guy behind Sprout Software thougt it would be unfair to have all that people on his page just because of his in SEO-sence “strong” domain sprout.com, even though they have been searching for something totally else. So now visitors who have gone astray are welcomed by a smiley to a link page with numerous alternatives. I consider this a fair and sweet gesture.

Mar

20

Yesterday I got a mail from the European Youthpress (a non-profit-organization which is by the way doing quite impressing work) that featured a blogentry on a american Google blog about special tools for non-profits. And indeed on www.google.com/nonprofits/ a new page has been created that shows in detail a list of services which either save time and money or help to find and engage supporters.

Of course something like Gmail, Docs or Calender is known and expected in such a list. But honestly I have to confess that I have never before heard about the Google Grants programme. It offers organizations from the US and 15 other countries (here is a list) a certain amount of free Google Adwords-Ads to gain more visitors for their own webpage. Another nice thing that I have never heard of seems to be Google Checkout (Wikipedia, official page). It is a online payment system that under certain circumstances can be used by non-profits without a fee until 2009. (Just a side information: The German GoogleWatchBlog criticized in november that the system could only be used with credit cards: link.)

Those guys from Google are really amazing, aren`t they. Regulary they start something new that is so practical and simple that everyone uses it. Just look at the list of tools, they already offer. Of course I like the possibilities they are giving to non-profit organizations to work more efficient. Unfortunately in the cold light of the day maybe the company gives things away for free, but the more people use their services, the bigger is their monopoly.

Sad but true: Even though I think of myself as beeing aware of the dangers and risks, such a monopoly can bring to us and our digital society in the future, I still use a lot of this stuff myself. Maybe I am just to lazy to look out for alternatives, maybe there are in most cases no appropriate alternatives or maybe I am just a big optimist. Anyway: If you run an NGO, a club or any other institution that meets the requirements, why don`t you try the Google Grants programme as the testimonials on their page do really sound promising.

Mar

17

I have never really been - and probably never will be - a fan of “Buffy“, but nevertheless I want to recommend a link to the New York Times, where you can download a whole Buffy-comic for free. Watch out, the pdf-file has a size of 100 MB!

Via Jackpot Baby (german)

Mar

14

Reporters without Borders have published a new edition of the “Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents�. The date was choosen to mark the Online Free Expression Day.

As it says on the RwB-Page:

The handbook offers practical advice and techniques on how to create a blog, make entries and get the blog to show up in search engine results. It gives clear explanations about blogging for all those whose online freedom of expression is subject to restrictions, and it shows how to sidestep the censorship measures imposed by certain governments, with a practical example that demonstrates the use of the censorship circumvention software Tor.

The leaders of authoritarian countries are becoming more and suspicious of bloggers, these men and women who, although not journalists, publish news and information online and who, worse still, often tackle subjects the so-called traditional media dare not cover. In some countries, blogs have become an important new source of news. It is to protect this source that Reporters Without Borders has updated its handbook

Via netzpolitik.org (german)

Mar

10

Those subjective toplists are always good for criticism, but can serve as well as excellent basis for discussion. Like yesterday’s story from the Guardian: “The world’s most powerful blogs”

Thanks to Daniel for the hint!

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