mozilla – Amy Sample Ward

Great reads from around the web on August 23rd

Amy Sample Ward — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:00:23 +0000

I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources all over the web every day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of August 23rd). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying.

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

Introducing WebAPI ✩ Mozilla Hacks – the Web developer blog – Really excited by projects that help close gaps, provide accessibility, and increase portability of all things webby. Check this out: "WebAPI is an effort by Mozilla to bridge together the gap, and have consistent APIs that will work in all web browsers, no matter the operating system. Specification drafts and implementation prototypes will be available, and it will be submitted to W3C for standardization. Security is a very important factor here, and it will be a mix of existing security measurements (e.g. asking the user for permission, like Geolocation) or coming up with new alternatives to ensure this."
How to collect email subscribers on your Facebook Page – Have you added a custom welcome page and/or email sign up form to your Facebook Page? If you haven't, John Haydon will tell you how: "From what I’ve seen, most nonprofits have no idea that you can add to your list — that precious database of your supporters, donors or newsletter subscribers — by strategically using a customized Facebook Welcome Page or custom tab. Notice the word “strategically.” Collecting email subscribers on your Facebook Page takes a lot more than simply adding an opt-in form to a tab — you’ll learn how to do that in just a moment."
Google+ vs. Facebook vs. Twitter vs. … Part 1: T… – Lithosphere Community – "Michael was voted a 2010 Influential Leader by CRM Magazine for his work on predictive social analytics and its application to Social CRM. He's a regular blogger on the Lithosphere's Building Community blog and previously wrote in the Analytic Science blog. 'What I’m going to talk about today, are some of the network properties and social principles behind some popular social platforms. Of course, I will compare and contrast them to the new kids on the block (i.e. Google+), and talk about their behavioral implications.'"
Grants Maps – I'm a huge fan of maps and I love social impact – check this out: "The Skillman Foundation has partnered with the New York City-based Foundation Center to provide Skillman Foundation website visitors with a custom version of the Foundation Center’s Philanthropy In/Sight data visualization platform, which utilizes Google maps to show the scope and reach of the Skillman Foundation’s work in Detroit."
Library Value Calculator | Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library – I love this! What a terrific way to help tell the story of your impact in the community – I can see something similar working for all kinds of organizations, schools, and more. "The Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator determines the value of library services in Topeka and Shawnee County based on per capita spending of local and state funding. For every tax dollar you pay, the library returns several to you in reading, research, programs and other services. Here's an opportunity to see your tax dollars at work."

Mozilla Service Week Starts Today!

Amy Sample Ward — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:01:37 +0000

That’s right: Today is the first day of Mozilla Service Week! This week, thousands of volunteers have signed up and over 10,000 hours have been pledged to make a difference in our communities, our world, our Web. This week is about using the Internet to make life better, and its not too late to get involved!

Learn more about Mozilla Service Week and get involved!

What is Mozilla Service Week?

This week – September 14-21, 2009 – we’ve asked individuals to step up and make a difference by using the Web to better their community. We’ve looked for people who want to share, give, engage, create, and collaborate by offering their time and talent to local organizations and people who need their help, and its not too late to get involved.

Mozilla believes everyone should know how to use the Internet, have easy access to it, and have a good experience when they’re online. By utilizing our community’s talents for writing, designing, programming, developing, and all-around technical know-how, we believe we can make the Web a better place for everyone.

Get involved!

There are many ways you can get involved with the Mozilla Service week, whether you are a techie or not, have a project or want to join one. There are two main ways to dive in:

Find a Project
You may already have an idea of how you want to help, and that’s great. If you are looking for inspiration, search for opportunities on Idealist, the partner site for Mozilla Serive Week. You might find a local opportunity, or you could also find a way to help across the miles by simply helping out with a tutorial or offering advice.

You can also visit other volunteer sites to search for your special project: View other Partners.

Learn more about finding a project, here.

Create a Project
The Mozilla community has a history of changing the world – and the Web – in all kinds of amazing ways. Now’s your chance to take action! If you have something in mind, go for it! Here are some ideas to get you started:

Teach senior citizens how to use the Web.
Show a non-profit how to use social networking to grow its base of supporters.
Help install a wireless network at a school.
Create Web how-to materials for a library’s computer cluster.
Refurbish hardware for a local computer center.
Update a non-profit organization’s website.
Teach the values of the open Web to other public benefit organizations.

Learn more about creating a project, here.

Wanna chat about the Web? Join Social Actions’ chat series!

Amy Sample Ward — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:21:00 +0000

Social Actions, a nonprofit organizaiton designed to make it easy for you to make a difference by connecting you with actions and opportunities from across the world and across the web. The Change the Web Challenge is open for submissions now at NetSquared. The Challenge is about building innovative tools to help people find and share opportunities to take action on the Web sites, blogs, and social networks that we all visit everyday.

In conjunction with the Change the Web Challenge, Social Actions has put together a Conversation Series to get you thinking and talking about how might want to change the web. Today’s chat is How Can Mozilla Empower Movements & Nonprofits.

Details:

Time: 11 am – 12 pm PST
Where: You can access the chat room here
What: How Can Mozilla Empower Movements & Nonprofits
Who: You can see who is attending in the Facebook Event or the Social Actions Event page

Featured Guests:

Zak Greant , Mozilla Foundation
Suneel Gupta, Mozilla Corporation
Elijah van der Giessen, David Suzuki Foundation
Moderator: Joe Solomon

If you can’t make it to the online chat today, don’t worry! There are plenty more coming up: Check out the Social Actions Change the Web Conversation Series to see them all (upcoming and archived).