More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease. As hand-held mobile devises connected to the internet spread to cities, villages, remote communities around the world, we need to continue finding ways to use these tools to make a positive impact.

Here are a few ways you can use technology today to learn more and act for water conservation!

If I'm remembering this correctly, I first heard about Jonathan Gosier from Nathaniel Whittemore, the Social Entrepreneurship blogger at Change.org. Nathaniel and I have known each other forever and ever, and he's the kind of guy who really lets you know about someone when he thinks that someone is awesome, and when he does this, I pay attention.

I was happy to see Change.org get itself into the business of content creation and broadcasting by way of its shift towards blogging last November. Not ony do I think that they're doing a great job, and that the blogs are generating some quality content, but with regard to rallying around Internet organized social change, I feel that it makes more sense to get people to rally around and discuss issues first, and then to organize and mobilize them second (and where they are on the web).

With this week as history-laden as it is, it seems that all bloggers (on the micro and macro scale), are taking time to give props to the rad folks who are keeping the history of all-around do-gooder-ship (you can tellI made that one up, right?) alive. Thus far, Google Reader has delivered to my blog-hungry soul entry after entry covering the extraordinary efforts of this collective, or that activist in order to highlight the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King and the progress illustrated by the dynamic achievements of Barack Obama.

I was fortunate to spend the past week on a guest-couch belonging to Ben Rattray, founder of Change.org. At present, Change is trying to figure out what to do with all of that "now what?" energy that is surrounding post-election excitement. Also - you might have heard of this little site called Change.gov, right?

Get ready for the next San Francisco Net Tuesday—it looks to be a great event! 

Net Tuesdays are free monthly gatherings for social changemakers and web innovators to network, socialize and share ideas about how nonprofits and social benefit organizations can use the social web for social change.

SF Net Tuesday - November

DETAILS:

Date:  Tuesday, November 11th
Time:  6 pm
Location: TechSoup/CompuMentor

A few brief notes to start (or "old business" for all of you Robert's Rules fetishists):

Last month, Change.org launched a new service to allow nonprofits to create their own branded social networks on its platform. This month they've teamed up with Network for Good. The partnership will allow nonprofits that receive donations through Network for Good to create a branded social network on Change.org, and nonprofits that receive donations through Change.org to use Network for Good’s giving system to track donations, email supporters, and manage donor data.

Nice teamwork!

Did you know that as of this writing, Hilary Clinton has raised $63,075,926, Barack Obama has raised $58,913,134 and Mitt Romney has raised $44,432,349? Mike Gravel, on the other hand, has raised $238,744.

You can see and share these astounding figures with MAPLight.org's Presidential Fundraising Widget, which can be placed on your blog or web site.