A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. Economy got you down? You need the live puppy cam!
2. Ushahidi gathers crisis reports from mobile sources, then maps the data. After you look at the sobering visualization of incidents in the Congo (DRC), you may need another dose of puppies.
3. Wired stakeholders. IBM's going to bring broadband to rural areas over power lines.
4. NTEN Member Beth J. Bates has a primer for nonprofits interested in Second Life. Just remember that actions in SL can affect your life in the really real world. But does it seem like World of Warcraft would be a better place to find a partner? Really?
5. PE Obama's promise to hire the nation's first CTO.
6. If people keep falling asleep during your slideshows, you could try tossing ping-pong balls into their gaping, snoring mouths -- or turn to Animoto, a service that creates video slideshows that play like Ken Burns after too much Jolt Cola. Best of all, you can set them to your favorite MC Frontalot track.
7. Walk Score rates your neighborhood's walkability and maps just about everything of interest near you, from bookstores to bars.
8. You know how it's hard to get that last bit of peanut butter past the rounded edge of the jar? This guy decided to do something about it . (Hey, things we like don't need to relate to NPTech when they're this revolutionary.)
9. YouTube as a political tool.
10. Google.org has developed a way to track flu outbreaks based on aggregated search data. Now, will somebody please mash-up a system that sends us alerts when people nearby start to get phlegmy?

A monthly roundup of our favorite (zombie-related) nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. Zombie Harmony: For all your zombie dating needs.
2. Wait, there's an election going on? Don't know how we missed that. Good thing the Twitter Vote Report didn't: tweet your voting experience to help others avoid problems.
3. If you watch Colbert, you've probably already been to FiveThirtyEight, an in-depth poll aggregation site. Along with RealClearPolitics, it keeps political junkies better fed than a zombie in WalMart's brains aisle.
4. Pumpkin cookies!
5. Play2Cures, from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Pledge money to purchase online game tokens, which you can send to anybody. The mini-golf game nearly derailed this newsletter.
6. The New York Times has a cool visualization of how people around the world spend their money. You know, back when people were still spending money. Altruism gets nary a mention.
7. Mercy Corps' Action Center to End World Hunger.
8. Wow, some people take this zombie thing a little too seriously.
9. Google Labs is now available to Google Apps users. Now your entire org can benefit from tools like "Mail Goggles", which promises to stop you from sending regrettable e-mails after a couple of drinks.
10. Also, you can apparently use your Gmail account with OpenID.
11. The We Are Media Wiki. Yes, we helped make it. That doesn't mean we can't like it!
12. Sorry, no velociraptor-related items this month, but: would you survive a zombie invasion?

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. Ah, Fall in an election year, when young partisans' fancies turn to how to craft the most deceitful email. If an acquaintance forwards you some digital BS, look it up on Snopes.com, where the editors pick apart the truthiness of almost every junk email. Then, "Reply to All", paste in the Snopes debunking URL, and expect never to hear from that acquaintance again. To maintain our nonpartisan stance, here's an example from a search on "Bill Gates": did he really pose for Teen Beat magazine?
2. The Talking Book from Literacy Bridge.
3. Proof that a single blog post can make a difference. Heidi Swanson, creator of recipe site 101 Cookbooks, turned her increasing web traffic into near-instant success as a Kiva Lending Team.
4. UsableLogin's single password for multiple websites: better than OpenID? Vidoop?
5. One NTEN staffer could survive for 1 minute, 35 seconds chained to bunk bed with a velociraptor. You? This is a great example of how to build a simple, interactive web application.
6. The Publius Project from the Berkman Center aims to create a record of how the rules of the Internet -- in relation to constitutional law -- are formed over time. We're glad that references to the Federalist Papers are good for more than just justifying a history major at trivia night.
7. Delicious pie charts!
8. An Italian town is going to create a database of dog DNA so they can test abandoned excrement and fine the offending owners. Said the mayor, "If signs and invitations aren't enough, we'll try genetics. I want a clean city."
9. Does your audience like you? REALLY like you? Calculate your NetPromoter Score.
10. Network for Good's partnership with Capital One. Now nonprofits can receive the full amount of a donation, without credit card processing fees -- and we can contemplate the differences between marketing for charity and selling a credit card. Yep: children, puppies, and the environment vs. a Visigoth attack.
11. Ever wanted to write your own bill? Now you can, sort of. The Public Markup Project from the Sunlight Foundation lets you comment on legislation. Now that's a participatory democracy!
12. DonorsResource.org hopes to become the Craigslist of nonprofit giving (presumably without the personals).

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. Need a metaphor for the power of aggregation? The Japanese practice of uchimizu calls for people to sprinkle water on the street in front of their houses when it's really hot out.
2. Using Twitter for something other than letting people know what you had for breakfast: NTEN Member David Neff's video about the Tweet Up Blood Drive in Austin is a great example of social media in action.
3. Poll Everywhere lets you ask your audience a question, collect responses via text message, and update the results in real time. Just don't ask, "How many of you are critiquing my session on Twitter right now?"
4. Free T-shirts! Oh, and the guide to permissible voter engagement activities for 501(c)(3)s that comes with them. That's cool, too. (And, of course, you saw our webinar on the subject, right?)
5. The "Possibly Related Classroom Projects" plug-in for WordPress from Social Action Labs. They may hedge their bets when they name things, but they're doing excellent work.
6. Speaking of education, Stargazer offers tech-based services that improve school safety. They also inspired us to learn a new word: omphaloskepsis, the opposite of stargazing.
7. charity:water is asking everybody born in September to forgo birthday presents and help fund wells in Ethiopia, with support from a very well-designed website.
8. Free kittens! Everybody loves kitties. But, as Michelle Murrain points out, you should be careful when using them metaphorically.
9. Apparently, Canada has faster broadband than the U.S. Sheesh. Robin Williams, take it away...
10. The City Of Boston has a nifty map showing the locations of alternative energy sources in the area.
11. Portland-based Shizzow hopes to underline the social in social media by leveraging tech to help people stage improptu face-to-face gatherings.
12. Free markets! How can you not like the fact that faith-based dating site BigChurch is owned by Penthouse? (Yes, the link is safe for work.)

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. Can a techie win political office? He can if he keeps running a campaign this smart. Donate enough and you'll get "... a DVD video from [his] mom telling you how wonderful you are, because you are."
2. Thank you notes to blood donors attached to giant renderings of red blood cells. All that's missing is Raquel Welch floating past in a miniscule submarine.
3. Idealware's new CRM case studies article.
4. If you convert your unused laptop into one of those old glass-top Pac-Man machines -- you know, the kind you can set a beer on while you chase Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde -- be sure to invite us over to play.
5. Can a solar farm in the Sahara power all of Europe? Or possibly, the world? Will Africa see any of the revenue?
6. The "Lil Green Patch" application on Facebook. Everyone at NTEN's doing it, so it, um, must be cool. Friend us and click your way to a greener world.
7. Find your perfect genetic match for only $199! This is destined to show up as a late-night cable infomercial pretty soon. "How'd I meet my wife? Oh, you know -- buccal swab."
8. The 13 new experimental features in Gmail: pretty much ensuring it will remain in Beta for the next 37 years. Look for the "Labs" tab under "Settings".
9. World Taximeter lets you estimate taxi fares before you arrive in a city. Wonder why they don't include, say, Bamako or Agadez?
10. Ever been locked out of the Internet by a faulty DNS server? Yeah, it kinda sucks. OpenDNS could make that a thing of the past.
11. Call the Future.org lets you schedule phone calls. You could send reminders to clients (or yourself) or program an escape clause into a blind date. Just don't use it for things "...that common sense tells you not to do."

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. Campaign Monitor's "Guide to CSS Support in E-mail Clients". Brilliant! If NTEN Connect looks bad on your screen, we'd like to blame the engineers who coded your e-mail client, please.
2. The Mobile Marketing Association has a code of conduct, which helps prevent mobile junk messages. Is it too late to hit the reset button on e-mail?
3. What exactly would one charge with a solar power bra?
4. A much cooler use of solar cells is Australia's solar updraft tower, capable of powering 200,000 homes, emission free. Oh, and Portugal's building a wave farm.
5. NTEN's book club. Read a book, discuss it with other nptechies, "meet" the author.
6. Cubans can now buy cell phones. Trips to the mall to find custom Che Guevara skins can't be far behind.
7. mGive: Affordable text-to-give campaigns for nonprofits. That's it. No joke.
8. e.Politics "Online Politics 101" is a great read! Sample: "Let’s change the world! But how? Robot/kung fu army? Too expensive. Zombies? Too messy. Online politics? A wise choice."
9. Wired thinks Google's Android platform will free the wireless web. Maybe it will make robot armies more affordable, too.
10. We've plugged them before, but the Center for Biological Diversity's RareEarthtones project still rocks harder than Dave Grohl after 5 Red Bulls. Recently added ringtones: alligator, bald eagle, and baby emperor penguin.
11. Another reason to visit Japan: the C-shirt. See a shirt you like, scan its code with your mobile, remix it Creative Commons style, have it shipped to your door.

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. Who knew? You can download the full help files for almost every Google service.
2. Why would someone want to fly over the Alps on homemade jet wings? "That was to impress the girls." We hear that was Neil Armstrong's fall-back phrase.
3. Collactive's report on social media marketing. They found that orgs with "a successful social media strategy performed 27% better in achieving their business goals than those with poor social media strategy". Go on.
4. Food hacking. Our overclocked blender totally rocks.
5. Zazengo finally goes Beta with MalariaEngage: make micro-donations directly to researchers in Africa.
6. Wired tells you how to get ahead on LinkedIn. You can also get a head on eBay.
7. Is Windows Solitaire actually good for society? Whatever you do, don't let your boss find your name on the International Solitaire Rankings.
8. The Way Back Machine. Be sure to check out NTEN's web presence, circa 2000 A.D. We looked so young!
9. Because of a fuel shortage, leftover oil from street food vendors is powering vehicles in the Gaza strip. Apparently, the used oil works better, but "It makes the cars smell like a kitchen -- you feel like falafel is following you".
10. Still not Twitterpated? Get a bigger head start than Jerry with the Nonprofit Twitter Pack.
11. Reusable coffee mugs. They had us at "if you want to keep your reproductive organs functioning..."

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. 42 Ways Not To Make Trash. We believe No Impact Man may be the reincarnation of Too Much Coffee Man.
2. Soocial promises to manage your address book across your computers, mobile phones, even Gmail. Their demo movie uses vintage Knight Rider clips. What is it with Europeans and David Hasselhoff?
3. Facebook's new "Insider's Guide to Viral Marketing". As one wag puts it, "First they ban you from spamming your friends, then they tell you how to do it."
4. WaterSaver Technology's AQUS: Flush your toilet with waste water from your sink! Without using a bucket!
5. Blog It promises to update all your blogs from within Facebook.
6. TeachStreet. We like the concept of linking students to teachers. The Beta is limited to Seattle, which explains the beer making and How to Use Microsoft classes.
7. The Sea Level Rise Explorer uses the Google Maps terrain feature. Looks like Portland won't get too wet...
8. Salesforgle. OK, we made that up, but the integration between Salesforce.com and Google Apps shows great promise.
9. Tired of wearing the same clothes everyday? Use Rehash to swap with others -- everything from "Cute Black Top" to "Faux Snakeskin Eyeglass Case" -- rather than buying new.
10. "Rebooting America: Democracy in the 21st Century". There's still time to submit your own work for inclusion in the anthology.

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts in our blog.

1. The "Wi-Fi Detector Shirt". They claim it displays wireless signal strength with glowing, animated bars, right there on the shirt. If this actually works, it's the Coolest Thing Ever we've seen this week.
2. Sprout. Maybe you saw our Love Your Techie widget? Sprout has the potential to change the game.
3. Heather Goes Bonkers when her organization wins $1000 from America's Giving Challenge. You've got to love the enthusiasm: if they had hit for $50k, this may have been inappropriate for the office.
4. Is Obama a Mac and Clinton a PC? Does that make McCain a Xerox Alto
5. Visualizing Information: An Introduction to Information Design. It's well designed!
6. Miriam Engelberg lost her battle with cancer, but her comics live on.
7. Seesmic. YouTube meets Twitter, eh? The company's founder describes himself as a "serial entrepreneur".
8. DeviantArt. Never mind the name -- there are only a few furries. Social networking built around art is an interesting idea, if not original: Photo.net has allowed member interaction for years.
9. Wired Magazine's infographic "The Life Cycle of a Blog Post", as featured in our blog.
10. 5min's video tutorials, including "How to Rock", and the indispensable "How to Ignore Facebook App Invites".

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. The CTC Vista Program, now matching volunteers with nonprofits. We liked Karl so much, we kept him!
2. Qiq. Stream live video from your cell phone to your friends on Twitter or Facebook. But shouldn't it be pronounced "kick"?
3. You can also personalize your cell with free endangered species ringtones from RareEarthTones. The Mexican gray wolf on my wife's phone never fails to freak out our cat.
4. <horntoot>The free API Framework Report from Idealware and NTEN.</horntoot>
5. Household Hacker. Turn your old PC into a space heater or charge your iPod with an onion and some sports drink. You know, for when you're lost in the desert with nothing but your iPod, Gatorade, and, um, an onion.
6. Scrabulous. And not just because Hasbro's trying to shut them down.
7. Sling Media. Rumor has it they're about to release an application to connect your home TV with your iPhone/iPod touch.
8. Planet Hazard. Well done, but scary. Very scary.