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News for March 2001

28 March 2001

Microsoft storm warning
	In Microsoft storm warning, Scott Rosenburg takes another look at centralized computing, trust in vendors, and how users need to really own their own data. Posted: 3/28/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Critical Thinking in Web and Interface Design
	Scott Burkun of Microsoft looks at Critical Thinking in Web and Interface Design. Given how many infrastructure decisions seem to come down to "wow" or "everyone is doing it", I feel like we could certainly use a dose of reality. Posted: 3/28/01; 9:00:00 AM #

George Soros
	Salon profiles George Soros. Posted: 3/28/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Various resources
	Various resources from the recent "High Performing Nonprofit" conference will be posted over the coming days. Posted: 3/28/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Spring 2001 Grant Pool
	The Progressive Technology Project's Spring 2001 Grant Pool is open. Guidelines for application are available. Posted: 3/28/01; 9:00:00 AM #

27 March 2001

estimates for year 2000 foundation giving
	The Foundation Center has announced its estimates for year 2000 foundation giving. Posted: 3/27/01; 9:00:00 AM #

ready to use training materials for mentoring programs
	The Northwest Regional Educational Library has ready to use training materials for mentoring programs. Thanks to Jayne Cravens for the link. Posted: 3/27/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Leadership Summit in Education Technology
	On March 31, 2001 NetDay will host the national (U.S.) Leadership Summit in Education Technology. Posted: 3/27/01; 9:00:00 AM #

nonprofit venture forums
	I love the spirit and vision of Craigslist. Now they are organizing nonprofit venture forums where nonprofits and philanthropists mingle. Quite the opposite of the usual arms length relationships that many events try to ensure. Posted: 3/27/01; 9:00:00 AM #

26 March 2001

Coming of Age in the Information Age
	I highly recommend Coming of Age in the Information Age, a report by Jacqueline Dugery and Carole Hamner of the Pew Partnership. Posted: 3/26/01; 9:00:00 AM #

23 March 2001

first thoughts on Hailstorm

Craig Burton gives his first thoughts on Hailstorm, which are some of the most important words to date. Although Microsoft may have its proprietary spin on this, their move has proven that the Internet Services Model is here to stay. Recent collapses of various ASPs are more a symptom of bad investments and the financial markets than of the basic trend toward network computing. Posted: 3/23/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Scary Geeks Bearing Gifts
	I'm still recovering from reading this one. Deborah Branscum is a contributing editor to Newsweek and a new contributor to Fortune.com's Valley Talk column. She has reported or edited for InfoWorld, Macworld, The New York Times, Fortune Small Business, Wired, and PC World. In Scary Geeks Bearing Gifts, she rips into Microsoft's Hailstorm. Posted: 3/23/01; 9:00:00 AM #

When Linking Isn't Better Business
	In When Linking Isn't Better Business, Carl S. Kaplan explores the Better Business Bureau anti-linking effort. Personally, I have a concern with framing other people's content. I think there are very few ways to do it respectfully. But links are just addresses and they are the essence of the web. Posted: 3/23/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Charitableway’s Demise Means Trouble for Online Giving
	I point people to the Industry Standard a lot, but this time they just don't get it. In Charitableway’s Demise Means Trouble for Online Giving, they confuse the entire field of online giving with the demise of a few dotcoms with bad business models, shaky financing, and a weak relationship to their market. Posted: 3/23/01; 9:00:00 AM #

22 March 2001

what humans do well and what machines do well
	The Magazine on Information Impacts interviews David Winter. They explore the tension between what humans do well and what machines do well. Sadly, many nonprofit technology initiatives get this division of labor backwards. I think this is often the result of technology planning being focused on hardware and software, rather than on people and purpose. Posted: 3/22/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Federal Commons
	The Federal Commons is a project of the Inter-Agency Electronic Grants Committee and is intended to streamline the process of U.S. federal grants searches and applications. Posted: 3/22/01; 9:00:00 AM #

21 March 2001

Hailstorm or Firestorm?
	More Hailstorm concerns emerge: In Hailstorm or Firestorm?, Andy Patrizio of Wired wonders, in essence, if this isn't just Microsoft continuing to execute on it's famous "embrace and extend" strategy for leveraging their monopolies into new markets. Posted: 3/21/01; 9:00:00 AM #

20 March 2001

Plugged In, Tuning Up
	OMBWatch is one of my favorite organizations. In Plugged In, Tuning Up, they have issued an informal report on the web sites of the fifty U. S. state legislatures. Posted: 3/20/01; 9:00:00 AM #

congress is inundated with email that is ignored
	I'm a big proponent of email campaigns, but do email advocacy campaigns to congress work? Looks like congress is inundated with email that is ignored. Posted: 3/20/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Microsoft's version of the Internet

Lots of alarming conversation about Microsoft's "Hailstorm" intiative to promote their web services: Dan Gilmore reported directly from Redmond on Microsoft's version of the Internet. Joel Spolsky is concerned about the privacy implications of Microsoft Passport. The Washington Post explores how Microsoft’s Strategy Shift Creates New Antitrust Concerns and how it seems to tie a vast quantity of Internet services to Microsoft's Office and Windows monopolies. The Standard also looks at the Legal Storm Brewing Over Microsoft Hailstorm. But Doc Searls, one of the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto, has hope that the Internet will prevail. Posted: 3/20/01; 9:00:00 AM #

High Performing Nonprofit
	The High Performing Nonprofit looks like a great little one day conference. One of the few that I've seen include topics like "Creating a Great Place to Work". I hope to be there. Posted: 3/20/01; 9:00:00 AM #

19 March 2001

Internet Honeymoon Is Over
	In Internet Honeymoon Is Over, Jeff Fischer explains very clearly why the days of free services are over. Now if we can only get nonprofits to catch up and realize how much cheaper it is to pay for something, even if it's underwritten by a sponsor. Posted: 3/19/01; 9:00:00 AM #

exploring the connections between the Internet and the 2000 Presidential election
	TechRocks has published an editorial exploring the connections between the Internet and the 2000 Presidential election. Posted: 3/19/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Social Return on Investment (SROI)
	As some of you probably know, I'm an admirer of Jed Emerson and the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund. They have just published their Social Return on Investment (SROI) reports on each of the organizations they support. Posted: 3/19/01; 9:00:00 AM #

16 March 2001

Free Marketing Tips for Nonprofit Managers
	Gerald Bartlett and the GB3 Group offer Free Marketing Tips for Nonprofit Managers. It's a very nice collection. Posted: 3/16/01; 9:00:00 AM #

The Fuzzy World of Sponsored Content
	Online Journalism Review looks at the tension between revenue and journalism in content oriented web sites in The Fuzzy World of Sponsored Content and in Behind Closed Dot-com Doors. These same forces are at work in nonprofit web sites (and conferences, for that matter), but sometimes without the traditions of journalism to help watchdog the problems. Posted: 3/16/01; 9:00:00 AM #

as dot-coms crash, dot-orgs are paradigms of stability
	Jim Carlton looks at how as dot-coms crash, dot-orgs are paradigms of stability. I'm not sure this is entirely true, but he makes some very important points. These are things that some of us felt were true, even all through the dotcom boom. The road to maturity for the online nonprofit is now becoming much more clear. Posted: 3/16/01; 9:00:00 AM #

15 March 2001

Clay Shirky Explains Internet Evolution
	On Slashdot, Clay Shirky Explains Internet Evolution. Great quote: "What do you mean I can't send a message to my mother because she has a Sony Interactive TV and I have a Panasonic?!" Another vote for openess and interoperability. Posted: 3/15/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Philanthropic Advisory Service Reports
	I understand that the Better Business Bureau is pursuing a misguided and destructive effort to discourage inbound hyperlinks. So I figure I'll just send traffic to their Philanthropic Advisory Service Reports and see if they ask me to cease and desist. Posted: 3/15/01; 9:00:00 AM #

14 March 2001

QuitNet Profile
	The Benton Foundation profiles QuitNet, a virtual support group model for people quitting smoking. Posted: 3/14/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Digital Divide Network database
	The Digital Divide Network database list over 20,000 organizations and programs working on the issue. Posted: 3/14/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Unskilled and Unaware of It
	One of my favorite studies ever is remarkably applicable to online nonprofit communities: Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments, by Kruger and Dunning, at Cornell University. (14 page PDF) Posted: 3/14/01; 9:00:00 AM #

9 March 2001

Ars Portalis
	Ars Portalis is a site seeking comments on five civic networking projects. Posted: 3/9/01; 9:00:00 AM #

For-Profit Consulting in Volunteerism
	Susan Ellis has some things to say about For-Profit Consulting in Volunteerism. Posted: 3/9/01; 9:00:00 AM #

8 March 2001

Forget Net Taxes. Forget Sales Taxes Altogether
	A little off topic, but interesting: Hal Varian, a very thoughtful author, says Forget Net Taxes. Forget Sales Taxes Altogether. Posted: 3/8/01; 9:00:00 AM #

A Series of Articles on Technology Planning
	TechSoup says its mantra is "do a technology plan". To support that message, they have prepared an entire series of articles on technology planning. My one quibble: Why is the first step for so many planners to start with an assessment of technology systems, rather than an assessment of communication and information flow? Posted: 3/8/01; 9:00:00 AM #

More Online Vendors to Nonprofits Cease Operations
	In More Online Vendors to Nonprofits Cease Operations, Rick Christ weighs in on how nonprofits might want to respond to this instability. Posted: 3/8/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Online Giving Suffers Setback with Charitableway's Demise
	John Budreau is the philanthropy reporter for the San Jose Mercury News. He talked to a lot of people in preparing his report entitled Online Giving Suffers Setback with Charitableway's Demise. Posted: 3/8/01; 9:00:00 AM #

the nonprofit workplace
	Third Sector New England is doing a bang up job with the new Nonprofit Quarterly. The latest issue focuses on the nonprofit workplace. Posted: 3/8/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Playing the Links: Interactivity and Stickiness in .Com and "Not.Com" Web Sites
	In Playing the Links: Interactivity and Stickiness in .Com and "Not.Com" Web Sites, Debora Shaw looks at the ways commercial sites keep visitors on site longer than nonprofits do. Another great First Monday piece. Posted: 3/8/01; 9:00:00 AM #

3 March 2001

HotBraille.com
	This is great: HotBraille.com, free web-based braille transcription. Posted: 3/3/01; 9:00:00 AM #

the 2001 Conference on Nonprofits and Technology
	I'll probably be here, third year running: the 2001 Conference on Nonprofits and Technology. This year it is hosted by Netpoint, a joint project of Compasspoint and Handsnet. Posted: 3/3/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Dot Org
	Marc Osten and Michael Stein have launched Dot Org, a new Internet publishing venture. They have started with a list of 23 ASPs that are serving the nonprofit sector. Posted: 3/3/01; 9:00:00 AM #

Strategic Technology
	Marc Osten is doing some really great work. Strategic Technology is his peer learning framework for technology planning. I'm deeply impressed by both his vision and his method. Posted: 3/3/01; 9:00:00 AM #

1 March 2001

Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network hires Edward Batista as Executive Director
	An important milestone: the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network hires Edward Batista as Executive Director. Posted: 3/1/01; 9:00:00 AM #