Group items tagged

Speech by Steven R. Chabinsky, Deputy Assistant Director, Cyber Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation  - delivered March 23, 2010 "...to talk with you about the cyber threat, why it's important, and how you can help your organizations-and in doing so, help our country-rise to this enormous challenge. Some of you no doubt are on the front lines of the cyber security problem and are quite familiar with it, while others of you may only have passing familiarity with this growing problem. First, let me share with you the importance of the cyber security problem from the lens of the FBI. As you know, the FBI is a law enforcement agency that investigates hundreds of federal crimes as well as a domestic national security agency that combats terrorism, espionage, treason, and sabotage.

Using new technology poses problems for nonprofits such as limited budgets and financial restirictions. To help these nonprofits companies like JCA design and manage computer systems to help nonprofts become more efficient so they can accomplish their goals.

This article talks about a recently legalized alternative business structure for nonprofits to consider. Establishing an L3C instead of a nonprofit seems a better title. This is similar to considering if you want to be LLC or corporation from the nonprofit standpoint. If you are allowed to make a little more profit it seems to be a good choice. The lack of a long track record could make it risky.

A nonprofit business structure you should know about

"Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder, announcing tonight that he is joining forces with a nonprofit technology group to start ConvergeUS, a charity that sees to combat social problems with new technology."

"In an effort to crack down on child pornography, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the seizure of 10 domains as a part of a new initiative called "Operation Protect Our Children" but they also shut down 84,000 seemingly innocent sites in the process."   A clear example of how attempting to exercise government control over the Internet in the United States on a even a small scale can present problems that were not the intent of the US gov. officials & decision makers!!!!!

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.

A website, www.protectyourtexasborder.com, launched March 3rd, which was originally intended to be a forum for farmers, ranchers, and other border dwellers to discuss border violence spawned by illegal immigrants and drug smugglers, has "turned into a political hot potato". It has spawned some senators to call for its removal because it "exaggerates the problem" faced on the borders. U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, has spearheaded the campaign for its removal, citing it as a waste of tax payer dollars as well as breeding hate speech and other such things.

Food shortages and distribution issues have become a major problem in the aftermath of the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. In many areas, supermarket shelves are empty, particularly as people stock up on food and other items as they face uncertainty around the nuclear situation in the country.

This article talks about the consequences of hoarding digital data. These consequences seem to not be known by a lot of people including IT experts.

The Michigan State Police have a handful of portable machines called "extraction devices" that have the potential to download personal information from motorists they pull over, and the ACLU would like to know more about them. "The problem, as the ACLU sees it, is that accessing a citizen's private phone information when there's 'no probable cause could create a violation of the Constitution's 4th Amendment', which protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures."

MSP Statement in response to news stories on April 20, 2011 The implication by the ACLU that the MSP uses these devices "quietly to bypass Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches" is untrue, and this divisive tactic unjustly harms police and community relations.

Clarification - the description is an excerpt beginning with the 4th paragraph of the article. Not my words. "My problem is that for as long as I have tried to figure out, Dropbox made some bold claims about how your files were encrypted and how nobody had access to them, with statements like: All transmission of file data occurs over an encrypted channel (SSL). All files stored on Dropbox servers are encrypted (AES-256) Dropbox employees aren't able to access user files, and when troubleshooting an account they only have access to file metadata (filenames, file sizes, etc., not the file contents)."

This report from a Californian NPO resource company indictes some of the problem hindering board efficacy. Of note: Half of questioned board members are uncomfortable soliciting donations for their NPO. Can online giving help?

This article reiterates the fact that social media does not magically solve all NPO problems...

The shared IP is a good affordable choice... Nexcess.net was mentioned but there certainly others that would offer a comparable cost of 135.00 per year. You do have to shop wisely and avoid pitfalls in certain offers. Typically there is cost overruns when a certain amount of traffic is achieved. It would be imperative to understand what your anticipated traffic is and exactly how much you could afford. Some of these plans are designed to pigeon-hole the consumer. It would be considered a good problem to need a higher traffic plan at 270.00 because the investment should return much more than cost.

In an attempt to improve health care and reduce long-term expenses, the U.S. government is in the process of digitalizing patient medical records. There are arguments on both sides of the aisle with obviously complications for smaller physician practices. Even though this new system is working for the Mayo Clinic and other large health organizations, I'm skeptical that smaller non-profits will have the resources and correct strategies to make this transition with limited help from the government.

At first I had no intentions of using this article as a bookmark, however, after I got to reading it I realized the implications it has in regards to public administration. As technology advances and becomes more prominent within society people are finding more uses for it for personal and emotional gains. As more technology is available, it is more likely that children will have access to these also. This article describes the schools and law enforcemenets efforts to combat the problems that technology can bring to our society. This article also suggests public policy involved in these types of cases and can also spark ideas into ways that policy can become better and more fine tuned to fit the needs of our society today.