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In some states, walking, jogging, or riding bicycles while distracted can now take a hit out of your wallet. In New York, a bill that was shot down is now breathing new life again in the state government. The bill proposes fining bicyclists who are multi tasking $20 for each infraction.

In some states, walking, jogging, or riding bicycles while distracted can now take a hit out of your wallet. In New York, a bill that was shot down is now breathing new life again in the state government. The bill proposes fining bicyclists who are multi tasking $20 for each infraction.

The U.S. isn't the only giving nation in North America.

Only 16% of nonprofits expect to be ready for mobile devices in 2011 so there is tremendous opportunity in 84% of nonprofits. Mobile web use increased 230% from 2008 to 2009 which indicates that many more people are impressed with mobile computing devices and it is here to stay for a while. Websites without mobile connectivity are essentially going to be out-of-date now.

This is supplementary to our first reading assignment which outlines where we are are and where we are going in nonprofit technology

Blended Learning, which combines online distance learning and traditional classroom education for K-12 discussed in this article, has potential, but needs help to reach its "full potential".  My favorite quote in the article is: " 'There is a significant risk that the existing education system will co-opt online learning as it blends it into its current flawed model-and just as is the case now, too few students will receive an excellent education,' the report states."

One of the largest App websites available, it is now reaching out to non profits so they can get information on which apps would help at their organization.

Airline passengers in the United States understand they will be treated as suspected terrorists when going through airport security checkpoints. Yet nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, airport security has become a lot more invasive with the rollout of the so-called "advanced imaging technology" scanners, paid for with $1 billion in stimulus funds. The scanners - now deployed at about 78 airports - use either millimeter wave or backscatter technology to create a virtual picture of the traveler's naked body. The image is then viewed by a screener  with the Transportation Security Agency iin a sequestered room away from the checkpoint.

If a nonprofit dabbles in web design this is more specific to design choice for the web creator but it was worth the inquiry for myself. Drupal has been proven to better the better choice for a larger organization that wants more features. Wordpress has held an advantage for the smaller startups for ease of use. There is a convergence between the two that is occurring but Drupal still maintains a lead. The problem with the more complex applications in a site is that it will require more maintenance which a very small nonprofit or company would seek to avoid. I generally consider it very difficult to maintain a mobile web solution and keep a good selection of applications running without some expert support. The old standard of a simple website appears to be waning quickly. The choice now appears to be how much work you want to pay your website manager to do rather than determining if you need one.

Thanks to technology, email accounts, social networking sites, and cell phones are now prime marketing real estate. In order to strike the right balance between marketing to the masses and generating revenue, organizations should do two things right away. First, establish communication guidelines that reflect the organization's vision, mission, short and long-term objectives (collectively, the brand)-not what the business Joneses are doing. Second, ask constituents what matters to them.

How Does Your Nonprofit Measure Up? This was the opening question Jocelyn Harmon (Director of Nonprofit Services for Care2.com) and I posed during our presentation on "The Art and Science of Fundraising Online" for the Association Foundation Group. If your organization's average online gift is lower than you would like or your organization has not developed a well thought out year-end online fundraising campaign in the past, then you need to make changes to your online fundraising program ASAP. > see our Seven Online Fundraising Strategies You Can Do Right Now.

Clearly, social media has emerged as a powerful mobilizing tool, particularly for issues like labor disputes, where political passions run high. Whichever side you're on, labor or management, experiences like the one the DSO and its musicians have faced for the past six months tell us that social media is here to stay and nonprofits have to understand how to manage - no, embrace - the now-dominant form of communication for more and more of their community members.

A merger of two online companies with similar objectives now working together to further their missions. Ad Council promotes advertising and Communispace involves community members with businesses in specific areas. Combined, nonprofit organizations can utilize both to move the community to support their missions.

This is admittedly NOT nonprofit related.  But I thought some of you might be interested to know you can get Windows 7 Professional for just $30 from Microsoft.   If you're running Vista, BUY THIS NOW. Windows 7 runs noticeably faster in my experience than Vista on the same hardware. If you're running Windows 7 Home, it's not as big of a deal (if you're on XP, it can get messy to upgrade. Ask me if you have questions). Andy

California would be leading the charge for individuals online privacy rights, with a bill currently in the house that can be likened to the "no call list". The bill would not allow companies to track your online habits, as most do now, in order to provide web sites with advertisements based on your previous web history. This legislation is mirroring legislation at the federal level, as the Obama Administration has stated its interest in creating a "privacy bill of rights".

A journalist that previously discussed how Obama's use of social media changed the game for political elections now discusses why mobile apps are a key tool to getting the attention of younger generations in new political campaigns.

This is an example of just how easy it is to keep a client base or target population informed of what your organization is doing. When a news story about Friends of Transit aired on the local Fox station, they simply had to go the Fox website, embed the link to the video onto their own website, and now the actual video is available for viewing on the campaign's website.

A link to a weekly quiz to gather opinions about issues going on around the world. A cool example of how easily globalization can happen with the use of the internet. A short time ago people didn't know what was going on around the world, now they can gain information and contribute to discussion!

With the recent news that more e-books were brought than paperbacks in February, its no surprise that Amazon is allowing the Kindle to borrow e-books from more than 11,000 libraries across the U.S. in working with OverDrive, a huge supplier of e-books for public schools and libraries. Students and non-profits will now have greater access to e-books, but the limit on checking out books is a concern with HaperCollins announcing a new policy that requires e-books to expire after being check out only 26 times.

Yet another journalist's/expert's opinion on how to best use facebook for a non-profit, including the importance of goals

Gives good tips on how an organization should use facebook. Some of the good tips promote communicating to the fan-base as well as encourage fan-to-fan communication. One of the most important things about NPOs and Facebook is to have a purpose with your page. This article strongly condemns having a page "just to be on facebook" and says that having a strong purpose makes facebook that much more successful.

"It's important for any digitally-minded non-profit to be on Facebook because of the sheer number of active users. So, great - you set up a Facebook account for your organization. Now what?" Note:  "Eight of the world's top ten brand use the Buddy Media Platform (sponsor of "The Facebook Marketing Series") to power their social marketing on FB."

"Yesterday, we told you how someone was able to steal the tax identity of 2,300-plus small nonprofits due to a hole in a new electronic filing system implemented by the Internal Revenue Service. Every nonprofit in this group, most with religiously themed names, now lists as a principal officer one William Alexander and its address as the same mail-box drop on N. Rainbow Blvd. in Las Vegas. This happened due to a glitch that essentially allows a nonprofit's contact information to be changed online by anyone who registers on an IRS-designated site with a name-which is not verified-and an email address."

This article is too brief for content but the message is that cloud based Microsoft Office is here now. Anyone can try it out supposedly.