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Kevin Champion

Kiva.org - Loans that change lives - 0 views

www.kiva.org/app.php

anthro health tech webdesign

shared by Kevin Champion on 16 Sep 07 - Cached
  • Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.
  • Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified borrowers. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva.org, our partners upload their borrower profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them.
  • Kiva provides a data-rich, transparent lending platform for the poor. We are constantly working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle. The below diagram shows briefly how money gets from you to a third-world borrower, and back!
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Kiva is using the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Child sponsorship has always been a high overhead business. Kiva creates a similar interpersonal connection at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery. The individuals featured on our website are real people who need a loan and are waiting for socially-minded individuals like you to lend them money.
Kevin Champion

Brad's Thoughts on the Social Graph - 0 views

bradfitz.com/social-graph-problem

webdesign

shared by Kevin Champion on 21 Aug 07 - Cached
  • Ultimately make the social graph a community asset, utilizing the data from all the different sites, but not depending on any company or organization as "the" central graph owner.
  • A user should then be able to log into a social application (e.g. dopplr.com) for the first time, ideally but not necessarily with OpenID, and be presented with a dialog like, "Hey, we see from public information elsewhere that you already have 28 friends already using dopplr, shown below with rationale about why we're recommending them (what usernames they are on other sites). Which do you want to be friends with here? Or click 'select-all'."
  • Establish a non-profit and open source software (with copyrights held by the non-profit) which collects, merges, and redistributes the graphs from all other social network sites into one global aggregated graph.
Adam Bohannon

Ideas for research? - 103 views

started by Adam Bohannon on 17 Aug 07 2 follow-ups, last by Kevin Champion on 28 Aug 07
  • Kevin Champion
    #2 Kevin Champion on 17 Aug 07
     
    I think you should start by reading both Wikinomics and Everything Is MIscellaneous, then go from there. Obviously it´s impossible to know what your project will look like at the end, or even a month from now. I am assuming you will be working with some deadlines, but that doesn´t mean the project can´t evolve. If I were you I would look into the fragmentation of the internet. I would look into identity, identity 2.0, open id efforts etc. as a means to combat fragmentation. I would look into the semantic web and the efforts being made toward that end. I would look into hierarchical tagging. I would look into the widgetization of the web, and by that I specifically mean the interoperability and interconnectedness of services and tools via open APIs and user creativity. The fact that we are increasingly able to build on existing platforms to create new platforms and new services. Just as all this is building on ones and zeros.

    Of course all this is dependent upon use. Who is using what? Is the web that important? Quite frankly, I think this issue is up in the air. When I look around the world I see millions using this stuff, but when I look around Manhattan, KS, I see just a handful. Perhaps there are more important things to be doing with our time? (that could be a research project in itself)

    Just as your focus was on YouTube, I think there is a whole project to be done on Facebook as one web service that has seen widespread use and popularity (specifically in Manhattan, KS). Why do people use it? What sorts of good and bad things is it producing?




    abo46n2 wrote:
    > I'm doing an independent study this semester and am looking for ideas for a research topic. I'd like to focus on something that others could benefit from, so is there anything that anyone has been dying to know more about? Maybe I'd be interested too.
    >
    > I've thought about researching ajax and the web 2.0 environment since I seem to talk about it a lot but I still don't have an absolutely precise idea what it is. I figure, since I have to apply some sort of anthropological theory to my research, that the web 2.0 environment (whatever that is) is a social phenomenon created for whatever reason that has the ability to transform culture in a variety of ways. I could explore ideas of identity, diversity, homogenization, globalization, cosmopolitanism, the list goes on. Broad, I know. Any ideas?
  • Kevin Champion
    #4 Kevin Champion on 18 Aug 07
     
    Library:

    https://catalog.lib.ksu.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&SL=none&Search_Arg=wikinomics&SL=None&Search_Code=TALL&CNT=50
    https://catalog.lib.ksu.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&SL=none&Search_Arg=everything+is+miscellaneous&SL=None&Search_Code=TALL&CNT=50

    abo46n2 wrote:
    > Did you purchase those books or are they from the library? I think I'd like to read wikinomics first.
    >
    >
    >
    > kjc6688 wrote:
    > > I think you should start by reading both Wikinomics and Everything Is MIscellaneous, then go from there. Obviously it´s impossible to know what your project will look like at the end, or even a month from now. I am assuming you will be working with some deadlines, but that doesn´t mean the project can´t evolve. If I were you I would look into the fragmentation of the internet. I would look into identity, identity 2.0, open id efforts etc. as a means to combat fragmentation. I would look into the semantic web and the efforts being made toward that end. I would look into hierarchical tagging. I would look into the widgetization of the web, and by that I specifically mean the interoperability and interconnectedness of services and tools via open APIs and user creativity. The fact that we are increasingly able to build on existing platforms to create new platforms and new services. Just as all this is building on ones and zeros.
    > >
    > > Of course all this is dependent upon use. Who is using what? Is the web that important? Quite frankly, I think this issue is up in the air. When I look around the world I see millions using this stuff, but when I look around Manhattan, KS, I see just a handful. Perhaps there are more important things to be doing with our time? (that could be a research project in itself)
    > >
    > > Just as your focus was on YouTube, I think there is a whole project to be done on Facebook as one web service that has seen widespread use and popularity (specifically in Manhattan, KS). Why do people use it? What sorts of good and bad things is it producing?
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > > abo46n2 wrote:
    > > > I'm doing an independent study this semester and am looking for ideas for a research topic. I'd like to focus on something that others could benefit from, so is there anything that anyone has been dying to know more about? Maybe I'd be interested too.
    > > >
    > > > I've thought about researching ajax and the web 2.0 environment since I seem to talk about it a lot but I still don't have an absolutely precise idea what it is. I figure, since I have to apply some sort of anthropological theory to my research, that the web 2.0 environment (whatever that is) is a social phenomenon created for whatever reason that has the ability to transform culture in a variety of ways. I could explore ideas of identity, diversity, homogenization, globalization, cosmopolitanism, the list goes on. Broad, I know. Any ideas?
  • Kevin Champion
    #6 Kevin Champion on 28 Aug 07
     
    Yeah, I don´t like that either. I think partially it is designed that way so that you can reply to any post on in the thread of the forum, rather than just being able to reply to the most recent. This way each thread could potentially have multiple conversations going on in a non-linear weblike way. I think they could do a lot better on the aesthetics of this forum.

    As with anything though, you can just hack it. When replying you have the option to modify the existing text. As you will notice, this post has no back-posts.

    One of my big gripes is that they don´t have feeds for each thread. This means that the only way I know conversations are going on is by checking the actual forum or getting emails. Neither options I particularly like.
Kevin Champion

Top 10 Tips for Renters : ENERGY STAR - 0 views

www.energystar.gov/index.cfm

environment

shared by Kevin Champion on 14 Aug 07 - Cached
    • Kevin Champion
      Kevin Champion on 14 Aug 07
       
      My question is, why don´t we as renters have rights to request greater energy efficiency from our landlords? Especially for students in Manhattan, KS, of whom a large number rent old, outdated homes that have had little or no repairs in 30 years. I have been following each of these tips at least to the extent they recommend, if not more so, and I still pay out the ass in utilities. At what point do we, as a society, deem energy inefficiency to violate safety and thus to be against code? Could there be government subsidies allocated for this purpose? Especially since those worse off economically are going to be stuck in the least energy efficient homes, thus furthering their financial burden. Wes Jackson once outlined that efficiency actually increases usage. By this account, it is easy to see why. Those who have, get more efficient, so they can have more.
  • Don't over dry your clothes. If your dryer has a moisture sensor that will automatically turn the machine off when clothes are done, use it to avoid over drying. Remember to clean the lint trap before every load. Dry full loads, or reduce drying time for partial loads.
  • Considering purchasing a room air conditioner? Consider an ENERGY STAR qualified model. They use at least 10 percent less energy than standard models.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Lighting is one of the easiest places to start saving energy. Replacing your five most frequently used light fixtures or the bulbs in them with ENERGY STAR qualified lights can save more than $60 a year in energy costs. ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) provide high-quality light output, use less energy, and last 6–10 times longer than standard incandescent light bulbs, saving money on energy bills and replacement costs.
  • Top 10 Tips for Renters!
  • If possible, install a programmable thermostat to automatically adjust your home's temperature settings when you're away or sleeping.
  • Wash your laundry with cold water whenever possible. To save water, try to wash full loads or, if you must wash a partial load, reduce the level of water appropriately.
  • Consumer electronics play an increasingly larger role in your home's energy consumption, accounting for 15 percent of household electricity use. Many consumer electronics products use energy even when switched off. Electronics equipment that has earned the ENERGY STAR helps save energy when off, while maintaining features like clock displays, channel settings, and remote-control functions.
  • Make sure all air registers are clear of furniture so that air can circulate freely. If your home has radiators, place heat-resistant reflectors between radiators and walls. In the winter, this will help heat the room instead of the wall.
  • A ten minute shower can use less water than a full bath.
  • Save water by scraping dishes instead of rinsing them before loading in the dishwasher. Run your dishwasher with a full load and use the air-dry option if available.
  • During cold weather, take advantage of the sun's warmth by keeping drapes open during daylight hours. To keep out the heat of the summer sun, close window shades and drapes in warm weather.
Kevin Champion

Slap in the Facebook: It's Time for Social Networks to Open Up - 0 views

www.wired.com/...open_social_net

quorum webdesign

shared by Kevin Champion on 06 Aug 07 - Cached
  • Therein lies the rub. When entering data into Facebook, you're sending it on a one-way trip. Want to show somebody a video or a picture you posted to your profile? Unless they also have an account, they can't see it. Your pictures, videos and everything else is stranded in a walled garden, cut off from the rest of the web.
  • Like locked cell phones and copy-protected music, Facebook is on the wrong side of the open-network debate. Facebook is a sealed bubble. Facebook users are locked into Facebook, just as iTunes locks music fans to Apple's iPod.
    • Kevin Champion
      Kevin Champion on 06 Aug 07
       
      This is exactly why I have always been reluctant to use Facebook. It´s the same reason I don´t have an ipod. I cannot stand the thought that my content or media will be confined to one place. It seems Facebook starts closed and is slowly opening, whereas this article suggests starting open and then slowly closing might be better (perhaps not closing at all). The one thing Facebook has been successful with is getting people to use it. However, I submit there is something wrong when it´s most discerning users still are not comfortable with it.
  • We would like to place an open call to the web-programming community to solve this problem. We need a new framework based on open standards. Think of it as a structure that links individual sites and makes explicit social relationships, a way of defining micro social networks within the larger network of the web.
    • Kevin Champion
      Kevin Champion on 06 Aug 07
       
      This is very similar to the ideas I have been having about what the quorum online would look like. All of these services suffer the fate of trying to be the end-all service. The one and only greatest. This is fragmenting us and keeping us from meeting up online. I want to collaborate with people but it seems like most of the time I first have to convince them to use the tool/service I am using to collaborate with, or I have to submit and use theirs. Our conversations can´t even begin until we´ve hashed out these meta-conversations (conversations about how best to have conversations). It all becomes incredibly taxing, and so we are just left fragmented.
Kevin Champion

Membership - 25 views

quorum
started by Kevin Champion on 05 Aug 07 no follow-up yet
  • Kevin Champion
    #1 Kevin Champion on 05 Aug 07
     
    If you know of anyone else who should be invited to this group, respond here.
Kevin Champion

Platform Wars: Netvibes Launches Facebook Widget - 0 views

www.readwriteweb.com/...s_launches_facebook_widget.php

tech webdesign

shared by Kevin Champion on 02 Aug 07 - Cached
  • Kevin Champion on 02 Aug 07
     
    This is something I have been waiting for for a long time.  Now I might actually use Facebook.
Kevin Champion

Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology - A Group Blog » Are our best... - 0 views

savageminds.org/...our-best-students-dropping-out

anthro education

shared by Kevin Champion on 20 Jul 07 - Cached
    • Kevin Champion
      Kevin Champion on 20 Jul 07
       
      While I have not gone to grad school, and thus I am not an authority on the matter, one very large motivation for not going is something like this fear. I do not want to put myself in a situation where I am forced to study, read, and write about things that are of little importance to me. I would much rather pursue my own interests. Thus far, I have found this approach to be rather prolific, reading a book a week and working on numerous projects. I also find it very interesting how defensive these people are in the comments to this post. They seem to disagree whole-heartedly. This raises flags for me, flags of ignorance. Perhaps they are purposefully looking the other way. What do you think?
  • It seems that while most faculty (and, I would add, many students) assume that people drop out because they aren’t up to snuff, it may in fact be that the best students are finding that it is graduate school which isn’t up to snuff. Especially women.
Kevin Champion

YouTube - Do you have Facebook? - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

tech

shared by Kevin Champion on 11 Jul 07 - Cached
    • Kevin Champion
      Kevin Champion on 11 Jul 07
       
      Is this just the reality of the web now, in a positive sense that we control what image and information we put out there? Or, is this really something to worry about?
Kevin Champion

Community - 100 views

community integral
started by Kevin Champion on 11 Jul 07 4 follow-ups, last by Kevin Champion on 28 Aug 07
  • Kevin Champion
    #1 Kevin Champion on 11 Jul 07
     
    This is really a test to check out the forum and get it started.

    However, I have spent the last two years of my life thinking about community, so I might as well offer up some thoughts.

    So... community

    I think we lack it
    I think what we do have of it is incredibly fragmented
    I think the web offers very intriguing examples of it
    but those examples are modeled after the "real" world
    in the "real" world I think it is incredibly fragmented
    everywhere I find it, everywhere it is specialized
    I want less specialization, less fragmentation, more meaning
    I think I need community
    I think the internet can help
    if we/it do it right
    I get online to commune with people
    with people I know
    with people I can meet and talk to face to face also

    Why do you get online? (not so different from why do youtube?)
    What do you think of community?
    What is community?
  • ...2 more comments...
  • Kevin Champion
    #3 Kevin Champion on 05 Aug 07
     
    The man, the legend, is back!



    abo46n2 wrote:
    > My reasons aren't much different then the ones you listed for yourself.
    >
    > But I must add that I think the web has tremendous potential for creating community... and it gives me goosebumps thinking about it!
    >
    > Oh, and I love getting online because, if you're clever enough, you have access to almost limitless information... woohoo!
    >
    >
    >
    > kjc6688 wrote:
    > > This is really a test to check out the forum and get it started.
    > >
    > > However, I have spent the last two years of my life thinking about community, so I might as well offer up some thoughts.
    > >
    > > So... community
    > >
    > > I think we lack it
    > > I think what we do have of it is incredibly fragmented
    > > I think the web offers very intriguing examples of it
    > > but those examples are modeled after the "real" world
    > > in the "real" world I think it is incredibly fragmented
    > > everywhere I find it, everywhere it is specialized
    > > I want less specialization, less fragmentation, more meaning
    > > I think I need community
    > > I think the internet can help
    > > if we/it do it right
    > > I get online to commune with people
    > > with people I know
    > > with people I can meet and talk to face to face also
    > >
    > > Why do you get online? (not so different from why do youtube?)
    > > What do you think of community?
    > > What is community?
  • Kevin Champion
    #5 Kevin Champion on 15 Aug 07
     
    Yeah, we definitely should brainstorm then. I haven't even begun to think about what I would want to say/present. Are there any other cool people doing tech bytes soon?

  • Kevin Champion
    #6 Kevin Champion on 15 Aug 07
     
    BTW, we may end up renaming the Quorum online to, "Adam and Kevin talking online cause they're the ones who will actually use the stuff"

  • Kevin Champion
    #8 Kevin Champion on 28 Aug 07
     
    The idea would be to Create community. Not community online. The online part is just a potential enhancement. One that does not currently exist here, and perhaps in very few places. The online part can be a lubricant keeping the community machine running. My idea of community online and in the real world has one strong delimiting factor, physical location. To extend real life conversations in an online environment holds real potential in my mind. It extends the possibilities to a new medium, and thus a transformation of message, not too dissimilar from the difference between talking to someone on the phone and writing them a letter. Different medium, different message, both with benefits and both with drawbacks.

    The whole idea is to make online much less about information and much more about connection. About using the information to get more connected. Inherent to getting more connected is the constant dialectic and fluidity of the question of identity and search for identity. There is no greater or more primary concern to us than identity. The possibilities of the online environment allow for an intense experience of the quest for identity.

    The key to all my thoughts are not now, in the future. Not what is going on now, but possibilities for what could be going on. Not what we can think of, but what we have not yet thought of. I currently don´t find any sense of community online, but I imagine the potential. All my attempts are to try to inspire myself and others to create it. All my attempts are failures in that regard. The internet, like identity, like the world, are what we create it to be. Why not take this opportunity that no one has every had before in the annals of history to try to take it in some amazing direction? The tools are here, and simultaneously are coming; are you up for the challenge? We didn´t choose where we live or what we have available to us. Afro Reggae is not talking about internet movements and enhancing online interfaces. But put them in our shoes, and maybe they would be.
Kevin Champion

Advertising Age - Digital - 23-Year-Old Mark Zuckerberg Has Google Sweating - 0 views

adage.com/...article

bloghacks tech webdesign

shared by Kevin Champion on 11 Jul 07 - Cached
  • Owen Van Natta, Facebook's chief operating officer, said a visit to Amazon.com will uncover all the product recommendations one might want but the value can be limited in the anonymity of the people posting the reviews. On the other hand, if you take your online activities and put them through the filter of the people you know well, those actions take on greater meaning.
    • Kevin Champion
      Kevin Champion on 11 Jul 07
       
      This is exactly what I have been saying about the web for a long time, and especially recently. We need intersection of real and virtual worlds. I use the internet to connect with people I know. Connecting with random people is only marginally useful and usually novelty. Facebook, however, has a long way to be what it could be... or rather what I want from the web. An extension of, and motivation force for, community. Connections with people I know.
  • All of this works, Mr. Van Natta said, because Facebook inhabits the intersection of the web and real life, and its connections are between real people who know each other.
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