This looks promising!

From their website:

"What is psiphon?

psiphon is a censorship circumvention solution that allows users to access blocked sites in countries where the Internet is censored. psiphon turns a regular home computer into a personal, encrypted server capable of retrieving and displaying web pages anywhere

Who will use psiphon?

psiphon operates through networks of trust. There are psiphon providers who install and administer a psiphon server (psiphonode) in an uncensored country, and psiphon users (psiphonites) who login and access the server from a country that censors the Internet."

Here's a very cool use of all these advanced online tools:

EXCERPT: "Deep in the most remote jungles of South America, Amazon Indians (Amerindians) are using Google Earth, Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping, and other technologies to protect their fast-dwindling home. Tribes in Suriname, Brazil, and Colombia are combining their traditional knowledge of the rainforest with Western technology to conserve forests and maintain ties to their history and cultural traditions, which include profound knowledge of the forest ecosystem and medicinal plants.  "

What can I say... I'm super excited that we're at the point of the conference.. Seems like much of my life has been leading up to something like this.

Back in the good old modem days I used to write BBS software, spent loads of time building online communities on CompuServe, AOL, etc, for the likes of Macromedia in the 90s.. no, really, I'm pretty young still..

Now here at CompuMentor I get to leverage all these online community building skills assisting non-profits and community organizations in leveraging the latest evolution of online tools. 

I'm presently launching a new project with public libraries designed to expose, develop, and evangelize the best practices from around the country that are being employed to support public access computing.   We will be leveraging the experience of Net2 and our background supporting non-profit and CTC infrastructures.   I also co-host the TechSoup Open Source and Emerging Technologies forums (shameless plug).

This is a great article discussing some of the pitfalls that I often site for groups overusing Listservs for group work.

The Bad In Email (or Why We Need Collaboration Software)

EXCERPT: "Email is Silo'ed
The single worst trait of email is that it’s silo’ed.

What I mean by silo’ed is that email traps information into personalized, unsharable, unsearchable vacuums where no one else can access it - the Email Inbox. Think of your Email Inbox as a heavily fortified walled garden. Not mentioning the difficulties many have accessing their Email Inbox outside the corporate firewall, the Email Inbox contains a hodgepodge of business, personal and private information that most people do not want to share with others.  "

Learn about the unknown hazards around you - the toxins you may be breathing. PlanetHazard uses information from the EPA to map over 86,000 companies throughout the United States that emit hazardous air pollutants.

Go to PlanetHazard for an amazing look at whose polluting in your neighborhood.. be sure to click on the name of the polluter to see the nearby population, school, and other overlays.

This is amazing!

John Lorance

CompuMentor 

Try Delicious Director... its a full AJAX GUI that operates right in your web browser allowing you to easily navigate your Delicious links.

Here's an article which demonstrates the impact of the read/write web.... 

EXCERPT: "“Reporters Without Borders has obtained a copy of the verdict in the case of Jiang Lijun, sentenced to four years in prison in November 2003 for his online pro-democracy articles, showing that Yahoo ! helped Chinese police to identify him.

It is the third such case, following those of Shi Tao and Li Zhi, proving the implication of the American Internet company.

The verdict, made available and translated into English by the human rights group, the Dui Hua Foundation, can be downloaded below.

From: High-tech management solution for non-profit sector

EXCERPT: "Bangalore, April 12 (IANS) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is no longer a prerogative of the business world. Now a free software has been developed for the use of the non-profit sector.

Called CivicCRM, it is designed to enable the non-profit sector to keep in touch with their contacts and manage information about donors, donations, employees, volunteers and beneficiaries of their services."

Ok, so this isn't exactly web 2.0; but if we are considering ways for organizations to spread information and ideas and possible make some $$ along the way, I encourage you all to check out BookSense.com which has an Amazon-like affiliate program where you can put something on your website, blog, etc, like "Books we like and think you should read" and get a commission if someone buys.... here's the kicker... you're actually supporting local independent booksellers.  One area where this can really be handy is around environmental education.

Here's an interesting mainstream article which illustrates the rapid rise of blogging, podcasting, etc, over traditional media. 

EXCERPT: "While growth is slowing at most top Internet sites, it is skyrocketing at sites focused on social networking, blogging and local information."....

"The growth in blogging reminds us the Internet is fulfilling its original promise about participation," said Gary Arlen, a research analyst and president of Arlen Communications Inc. "This medium empowers users in such a way that they can do what they want and be heard."