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"As cell phones become more ubiquitous, it's becoming increasingly easy to use them for positive action. We've been talking about that quite a bit lately here on Planet Green, and one of the organizations whose name keeps popping up is Mobile Active. They're a great group, and deserve a highlight. Mobile Active, as they succinctly state, is "a global network of people using mobile technology for social impact." The group recognizes that there are billions of phones across the world being used by people in even the most unlikely of places. More are entering the consumer stream on a daily basis. Therefore, a cell phone is the perfect tool with which to engage people for activism. The group works to help organizations understand how they can use mobile phones to get people involved in social change or improve their organization, reduce the costs of getting mobile phones into the hands of people who need them, speed up the adoption of mobile phones as a tool among non-profits, and facilitate the implementation of mobile phone projects and campaigns. Mobile Active takes part in issues ranging from health to environment to disaster relief. You can search through all the many projects they're involved in with their mDirectory. As you look through, there's no doubt you'll be inspired and think about your cell phone in a whole new way - as a tool for changing the world. Check out the Good Call feature here on Planet Green for great information about cell phones and activism. More on Changing the World with Cell Phones How Cell Phones Are Changing the Face of Green Activism Good Call! Using Your Mobile Phone for Green Activism We Have Green Phone Apps Galore...But Are They Doing Any Good?"

This is a great column that involves mobile and ubiquitous computing. This column is about mobile devices helping to save the earth.

"Workflow is concerned with the application-specific sequencing of activities via predefined instruction sets, involving either or both automated procedures (software-based) and manual activities (people work)…BPM is concerned with the definition, execution and management of business processes defined independently of any single application. BPM is a superset of workflow, further differentiated by the ability to coordinate activities across multiple applications with fine grain control."

At the core of FreshBrain is an open and free web site freshbrain.org that provides teens with the opportunity to explore, engage, and create through activities and projects. FreshBrain takes advantage of the latest technologies, such as web conferencing and social networking, to provide a very progressive environment where teens can complete activities and work together on projects. This experience is enhanced with Advisors, available to support and mentor teens who are working on projects, with the intention of increasing the likelihood of success. In addition, FreshBrain provides teens with tools and training in the latest technologies to complete these projects. Providing the latest tools in technology, and a social interactive networking environment, has enabled teens to explore, create, and share with others. A result of pulling these two key online arenas together into one solution has enabled FreshBrain to attract teens comfortable with technology and communicating online. Creations from FreshBrain users range from music videos to logo designs.

As of October 20,2011 Facebook says: they have more than 800 million active users more than 50% of the active users have at least 130 friends more than 900 million interact with pages,groups,events,and community pages; average users is connected to 80 community pages,groups,and events more than 250million photos are uploaded daily they have more than70 languages and over 300,000 use translating applications 75% or more people using Facebook is out of the United States more than 500 million people use an app on Facebook or experience Facebook Platform on other websites More than 7 million apps and websites are integrated with Facebook more than 350 million users have and use Facebook on a cell phone or mobile device

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the use of an object (typically referred to as an RFID tag) applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader. Radio-frequency identification involves interrogators (also known as readers), and tags (also known as labels). Most RFID tags contain at least two parts. One is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency (RF) signal, and other specialized functions. The second is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal. There are generally three types of RFID tags: active RFID tags, which contain a battery and can transmit signals autonomously, passive RFID tags, which have no battery and require an external source to provoke signal transmission, and battery assisted passive (BAP) RFID tags, which require an external source to wake up but have significant higher forward link capability providing greater range. There are a variety of groups defining standards and regulating the use of RFID, including: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), ASTM International, DASH7 Alliance, EPCglobal. (Refer to Regulation and standardization below.) RFID has many applications; for example, it is used in enterprise supply chain management to improve the efficiency of inventory tracking and management.

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New technology at the Vail Mountain skiing lodge allows for people to share almost everything they do onto the Internet. Equipped with Wi-Fi access, Vail photographers ready to take pictures, and a tiny camera attached to helmets, people skiing or snowboarding at Vail can upload nearly all the activities they do during the day.

Information on International children's day which began in Turkey. Here's some information on this event. "Every year, the children in Turkey celebrate this "Sovereignty and Children's Day" as a national holiday. Schools participate in week-long ceremonies marked by performances in all fields in large stadiums watched by the entire nation. Among the activities on this day, the children send their representatives to replace state officials and high ranking bureaucrats in their offices. The President, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers, provincial governors all turn over their positions to children's representatives. These children, in turn, sign executive orders relating to educational and environmental policies. On this day, the children also replace the parliamentarians in the Grand National Assembly and hold a special session to discuss matters concerning children's issues. Over the last two decades, the Turkish officials have been working hard to internationalize this important day. Their efforts resulted in large number of world states' sending groups of children to Turkey to participate in the above stated festivities. During their stay in Turkey, the foreign children are housed in Turkish homes and find an important opportunity to interact with the Turkish kids and learn about each other's countries and cultures. The foreign children groups also participate in the special session of the Grand National Assembly. This results in a truly international Assembly where children pledge their commitment to international peace and brotherhood.

Interesting analysis on why some social games (Zynga in this case study) are having problems online. I think the "friend spam" approach is something for many of us to learn as we join spaces. This is an interesting article for FlatClassroom students to read as they analyze game based activities.

I used this image in my project.

Environmental activists are using mobile technology to show the importance of protecting the environment and how much of an impact making smarter environmental decisions can make.

"This weekend saw a number of prominent technology observers questioning the value of social networks, including This Week in Tech host Leo Laporte, who penned a thoughtful post on why he's leaving Google Buzz behind. Laporte said he feels that his last four years of social networking use have been an "an immense waste of time," but I think he and others are missing the larger point. Too many people seem to be trying to use social networks for media and marketing activities instead of the core reason such networks exist: namely, to connect people."

Explore flu trends around the world. Great for class discussions. You can also download world flu activity data.

iTrail application for the iPhone.

iTrail lets the iphone track your gps coordinates while doing physical activity. Still not entirely accurate, this runs best on the iPhone 3G, one of those things that will "get there" eventually.

This presentation contains data about how Baby Boomers use the internet. It charts the rise of broadband, wireless connections, and a variety of internet activities, including e-commerce.

Google sites is the best thing to hit the web since Google Apps. For a long time I'd been wanting a way to have a more private area, where others could still contribute without having to give them full administrative privileges to my domain - and Sites fits the bill and then some. I've used it to support many varied activities including private notes and conversations with clients, keeping track of my home schooled children's assignments and homework, letting them create their own web pages, collaborating with others on content for books and engineering designs, and even sharing pictures of our new dog with my family. It's easier and faster than a wiki, I can control who can see or contribute to a given site, and it's just downright fun to use!

I have only just became aware of this Google service. Apparently it is very easy to exchange data from one google application to another google application. Levels of control can be given. I saw this used extensively for curriculum co-ordination in a failing Bronx school in New York by an Australian who now is back in Australia and continuing the co-ordination. The world is surely getting flatter?

"Professors who wish to engage students during large lectures face an uphill battle. Not only is it a logistical impossibility for 200+ students to actively participate in a 90 minute lecture, but the downward sloping cone-shape of a lecture hall induces a one-to-many conversation........."