Nokia’s Calling All Innovators contest is a global developer competition that challenges developers to create applications and services that will enhance the use of mobile devices in real-world scenarios.

The competition is open in the following three categories:

 

Nokia’s Calling All Innovators contest is a global developer competition that challenges developers to create applications and services that will enhance the use of mobile devices in real-world scenarios.

The competition is open in the following three categories:

While doing some consulting for Social Actions as a "Community Interpreter," I recently tried out their Social Actions Alerts that notifies you of actions (ie. volunteer opportunities, events, petitions) that interest you via email and cell. I set up a search for actions related to Darfur and have been getting 1-3 notices/week.

I thought I'd share the opportunity I got today with y'all in case who can help.  An organization called the Book Wish Foundation is looking for someone to create a widget, like Sprout, to help get the word out about their project with Darfur refugees.

Here is the listing from Idealist.org:

Flash Widget: Reading Relief for Darfur
Organization: Book Wish Foundation 

Create a flash widget (e.g., Sprout) our supporters can spread around the web, highlighting our reading relief project for Darfur refugees in eastern Chad.

Hi guys,

I work at a national non-profit organization called Do Something,
(dosomething.org) and we support kids empowering themselves and their
community by giving them $500 grants after approving their proposals for
the betterment of the community. We have created a game that involves
making the world a better place. Rather than killing people or trying to
make a million dollars, Karma Tycoon lets you run not-for-profit
organizations in 11 cities across the US while achieving the goal of
helping as many people as possible. Since we have just started it recently, I would love to hear your feedback on the game.  Check it out for yourself, www.karmatycoon.com

Last night, Matt showed me the build for our autocomplete search. When a user wants to find a charity, the form will suggest what they're looking for. Now, for any veteran programmer, this would qualify as Ajax 101. Still, it was nice to see some of the tools we enjoy on other sites making a cameo on our own.

It made me think though- how much do these Web 2.0 Bells and Whistles help non-profits and for-profit businesses get heard? Now, I know that programming tricks definitely help usability- anything that makes a webpage more like a desktop is a great functionality to have. But do the aesthetic details (the bells and whistles) drive people to your cause?

Take, for example, a site called Dogster. Found at Dogster.com, it's got "Web 2.0" functionality, but the look of the site is more 1.0. There's no tag clouds, typical fonts, or tiny flourishes. Yet the site is a huge success.

I'd love to find out what you think- do the little things help a site reach its audience (profit or non-profit)? Does it matter if a site uses an autocomplete form instead of a simple list?

 

Hello Net2 blog readers!

I'm back from my 2-week trip to Peru which was awesome.

Before I left, I did an interview for my Big Vision Podcast with Jonah Sachs, the Principal of Free Range Studios, an advertising and marketing firm with offices in Washington DC and Berkeley, California that specializes in non-profits and socially responsible businesses. They created the award-winning film, The Meatrix, about factory farming, and the hilarious film, Store Wars, about the importance of organic farming.