Example one: http://dingdong.com/

The Cost of Freedom Voter ID app powered by Twilio seeks to jump start the application process for voters who need to get a voter ID. Launched on April 4, the SMS-based app provides information for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy. At the Hackathon for Social Good held during WebVisions NYC, I met Faye Anderson, Chief Evangelist for the Cost of Freedom Project, a citizen-led initiative that is developing location-based apps to provide voters with information on how to obtain a suitable voter ID.

Read more on the Twilio blog here: http://www.twilio.com/blog/2012/04/sms-for-democracy-cost-of-freedom-voter-id-app.html

I helped make this app happen – a small step forward for democracy!

Neat!

Steve’s Carnegie Mellon classmates Drew Olbrich and Kevin Goldsmith have produced this very educational and entertaining iPhone app that demonstrates how a you can visualize the fourth dimension in just three.

It may just blow your mind!

Read more and get the app here:
http://www.fourthdimensionapp.com/

Aztec

How to Thrive in a Hostile Environment: Leadership Lessons of Hernán Cortés

Tonight, 3/15 @ 7pm at SAO Ignite! Steve Peters expounds on how to take on impossible tasks, such as taking on the New World.

Think you’ve got it tough? 600 men, 15 horses and 13 muskets versus the largest armies of the biggest empire in the Western Hemisphere. Limited supplies. Traitors in his leadership team. Even his boss was trying to fire him. How did this guy become the most successful figure of his generation. Do you have the huevos of Hernán Cortés?

SAO Ignite! is a free event at the Alberta Rose Theater in NE Portland, Oregon.

Click here for more information.

Can’t make the event?  Ignite will be streamed live here http://www.justin.tv/saopdx.

Steve takes the stage at 7pm.

We helped organize the Hackathon for Social Good at WebVisions NYC – http://www.webvisionsevent.com/new-york/session/hackathon-for-social-good/

How did it go?  It went great!  Big Thanks to the Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 team who provided the funding support to make this event possible.

Kin Lane, one of our volunteers provides a good review here: http://www.hackweekends.com/2012/01/27/hackathon-for-social-good-in-new-york-city/

Here’s what people had to say:

I now know all hackathons are not created equal. I appreciate the commitment and expertise of the developers who participated in the first hackathon I attended. But you need more than coders and subject matter experts at the table.

The Hackathon for Social Good brought together a dynamic group of programmers, subject matter experts and designers. The mix of people matters. The progress was incredible. Frankly, I was blown away by how much was accomplished. It’s so refreshing to have access to solution-oriented people who can tackle a problem and tear it apart.

I left New York City with more than a prototype for the Cost of Freedom App. I left with a website, something to which I can point volunteers and potential funders as we solicit resources to develop the app. I also left with a core team of concerned citizens who love democracy. You can’t fake passion. So I want to give a special shout-out to Kin, Jack, Lori and Alexa.

Thanks Microsoft and WebVisions for making it happen. You rock!

– Faye Anderson, Cost of Freedom project

I feel honored to have volunteered for Hackathon for Social Good. How lucky I was to help serve a group supporting military families, a cause close to my heart, and to do this with such a lovely group of strangers-turned-colleagues. The event was very well organized, without being restrictive. I made friends, learned tons, and, I hope, helped a group I will continue to help in the future. Thanks to WebVisions for organizing this!

– Martha Garvey, volunteer

The WebVisions Mascot

Here’s the official tweet text:

Calling all devs and designers: Put your skills to good use & help #military families @ the #Hackathon for Social Good http://t.co/z8Cm81Hj

At WebVisions NYC on Jan 19th our friends on the Internet Explorer 9 team at Microsoft are helping us hold a Hackathon for Social Good.

Help us help the National Military Family Association, New York Cares and other worthwhile causes.

We’ll also be playing a quick game of MapAttack!

Tell your friends and sign up today!

If you care about mobile devices, which you do if you work in the industry you probably should… this is interesting information.

There’s been a lot of buzz around Google’s Android, and for good reason – it’s a good product and it’s making it’s way into the hands of a lot of people.  But there’s a catch.  Maybe Android doesn’t love you as much as you love it.  Based on this research there appears to be a pump-and-dump approach to Android phones.  This data suggests the game is to get the phone in a customer’s hands and then move on to finding the next customer.

This isn’t good news for many Android phone owners.  This chart suggests that if you want the new features Google has been working on, or at least security patches and fixes to what you have now, quite likely you’re out of luck.

No data on Windows Phone 7, possibly because it’s too new.

Read more here:

Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

I went back and found every Android phone shipped in the United States¹ up through the middle of last year. I then tracked down every update that was released for each device – be it a major OS upgrade or a minor support patch – as well as prices and release & discontinuation dates. I compared these dates & versions to the currently shipping version of Android at the time. The resulting picture isn’t pretty – well, not for Android users.

Lifehacker recently released the results of their Web browser speed tests.

The results, fastest to slowest:

1. Opera 11.51
2. Firefox 7
3. Internet Explorer 9
4. Chrome 14

Read the full results here.

Sometimes an update pushed from the Apple mothership will break something.  Recently the OS X 10.6.8 update broke printing for many people, including me.  You have this problem if your previously works-fine printer is perpetually “paused” and won’t go un-paused.

There’s an easy fix, however:

Reset your print subsystem

1. Open system preferences
2. Right-click the printer list
3. Select the option to reset the printing system
4. This will trash all your currently setup printers
5. Add them back in

If that doesn’t work you can also download and install the OS X 10.6.8 Combo Updater.

You can read more about this printing issue here:

• http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20074154-263/inability-to-print-after-installing-os-x-10.6.8/#ixzz1QW1kiZW0
• https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3137602?start=15&tstart=0

Up until recently it took some Jedi skills to pull passwords and things off an unencrypted network, like the kind you find at your average coffeeshop, airport or buddy’s house.

Not anymore.

You’ll want to go to BoingBoing if you want the whole story, but the short story is a Firefox extension called Firesheep can capture passwords to many of the sites you use, no Jedi skills required.  Your banking account is most probably secure, but sniffing out your Facebook account is quite simple.

To learn more: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/27/sheep.html