Wired News reports on a new program that could be very attractive to some nonprofit orgs.

In a move with potentially far-reaching implications for the search market, Alexa Internet is opening up its huge web crawler to any programmer who wants paid access to its rich trove of internet data.

Alexa, a subsidiary of Amazon.com that is best known for its traffic rankings, on Monday unveiled Alexa Web Search Platform, a set of online tools for searching, indexing, computing, storing and publishing vast quantities of net data. READ MORE

I just sent an email introducing two organizations that I think ought to know about each other.

GhostCycle gathers information about bike accidents in the Seattle area, makes that info available to site visitors (including a very interesting GoogleMap) and uses public art to draw attention to particularly unsafe intersections. GhostCycle is profiled in the Net Squared in Action section of this site.

BikeTalk Radio is a radio show and podcast about bicycling that's recorded in Davis, CA.  The podcast can be listened to anywhere in the world online or by download.  Listeners can subscribe to receive new episodes automatically by RSS.  Recent topics include mountain biking, winter riding tips and California legislation concerning bikes. READ MORE

One of the issues I am encountering lately is how do I interact with some of the sites which offer me personal blog space? Over at the Digital Divide network I can pull from the blog I maintain with most frequency and not have to craft seperate entries into that system. That seem like a winning approach because, as it is, time is somewhat precious and it's hard enough to create the content I need to create as part of my work life.

http://treadwell.cce.cornell.edu/elearn/

 Is my main blog, the one I maintain to document current work and thoughts.

  READ MORE

Technology and seniors is topic of the newest blog at the White House Conference on Aging portal. The author, SeniorNet's director Kristin Fabos, recounts her experiences last week in Seoul speaking at the 2005 International Conference for Bridging the Digital Divide. She also paints a picture that's closer to home:

<blockquote>According to the 2004 PEW Internet and American Life Project research, only 25% of adults 65+ have Internet access… Medicare Part D, which goes into effect on January 1, 2006, requires online registration. For something as important as Medicare benefits, to require online registration for a population where only 25% is online…What about the other 75%?</blockquote> READ MORE

Good visualizations of data probably light up entirely different synapses in the brain than almost anything else.  I have long wondered just how truly useful they are, though.  Over the past few weeks, I've been convinced that online maps in particular are a very important development.

GoogleMaps is a powerful new tool that people all around the world are utilizing for a wide variety of projects.  The system is highly functional, integrates data and imagery beautifully and is very nice to look at at the same time.  It is also very welcoming for people who want to manipulate maps to visualize their data.  READ MORE