What a week for StatusNet, the open-source, microblogging service that serves as the foundation for identi.ca, one of the first services to emerge as a focal player in the movement around the real-time Web.
We will return with gratitude and relief to the topics that actually count.
The global survey found that 86% of non-governmental organization (NGO) employees use mobile technology in their work, and 25% believe it has revolutionized the way their organization or project works. While the most common uses of mobile technology by NGO workers are voice calls (90%) and text messaging (83%), more sophisticated uses, such as mapping (10%), data analysis (8%) and inventory management (8%) also were reported.
Portable: 33% of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.
Personalized: 28% of internet users have customized their home page to include news from sources and on topics that particularly interest them.
Participatory: 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.
Newer information and communication technologies provide new settings and a means of communication that independently contribute to the diversity of people’s social networks.
Ory Okolloh (24) doesn’t just use Google Maps to find a restaurant, she harnesses it to track atrocities and human rights violations. Derek Lomoas (26) doesn’t see business as evil; he sees it as a tool to distribute interactive games for children in Africa. Mark Rembert (23) doesn’t use his mechanical engineering degree to build bigger buildings; he’s using it to repower his city with renewable energy.
These platforms are more than just ways to make money — they’re affecting the lives of people for better or for worse,” Mr. Cohen said. “As that realization takes hold, it’s just a natural human thing. People want to steer it toward the good rather than the negative.
