Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 18, 2012

Write technical descriptions of HRP methods and projects at many levels of detail for academic publications, white papers, grant applications, grant reports, and internal documentation. Perform a little bit of GNU/Linux system administration. Automate generation of publications based on data using LaTeX and Sweave.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 27, 2011

The remainder of our funding comes from grants and donations. Benetech gets the majority of its funding from revenues: from product and services sales paid for by our users (or third-party payers who buy our services for our users). But, that remainder is incredibly important.

Open 140

Open Articulate Instruction Instructional 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 7, 2012

I mentioned a mini-grant program that my organization, Benetech, had for a while (and which I would love to have again if I had more innovation funding), where any staff member could propose to spend $25,000 or less on an exciting opportunity.

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Fund Social Liberia Money 154

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

million grant from the U.S. This grant will allow us to deliver a set of major enhancements and new language translations for Martus, as well as expanded development and broad deployment of Mobile Martus , our brand new Android-based mobile documentation app. We also received our largest-ever award for human rights, a two-year, $2.2

India 142

India Literacy Global Accessibility 142

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 8, 2009

We just announced: Encyclopaedia Britannica Grants Digital Rights to Bookshare -- Major Reference Collections Now Accessible for Individuals with Print Disabilities Worldwide. The news is excellent. Although it was possible, we never seriously thought about scanning the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

Our new announcement about the Department granting Bookshare supplemental funding to convert open content textbooks to accessible formats went over very well. She and her senior policy adviser, Hal Plotkin, are huge fans of Open Educational Resources (OERs), having been involved in starting that movement in community colleges.

Accessibility 150

Accessibility Content Open Copyright 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 20, 2015

Carol shared that they had received an Impact Sourcing grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and scaled up their capacity. They recruited their staff from Nairobi slums as well as students from poor rural backgrounds who had made it to Nairobi universities. Carol Wanjiku Daproim went on to great success.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 15, 2010

But, Rebecca passionately explained that this means that people die in the developing world all of the time from lack of medical gear (and medicine) that we take for granted in the rich world. And, through the lens of a successful company, that rebuff makes perfect financial sense.

Global 178

Global Technology Marketing Kenya 178

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 17, 2014

Such action, the Court decided, didn’t constitute copyright infringement because it was fair use , that is, a limitation and exception to the exclusive rights granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. This ruling by the Supreme Court in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.,

Copyright 196

Copyright Law Library Accessibility 196

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 10, 2011

First, last June, the HRP received a generous multi-year grant from The John D. Moreover, in September, our Martus project received a 2-year grant from the U.S. Looking ahead to 2012, training NGOs in collection and effective use of data, and developing new technology tools to enable these efforts will be core components of our agenda.

International 150

International Guatemala Colombia Analysis 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 20, 2008

George felt that Nukuoro needed on the order of $100,000, but that he thought that a grant would make more sense. I actually agree with him: a social loan is a high-cost transaction for an amount that size and a grant would probably be a more sensible option.

Guam 142

Guam Social Grant Instruction 142

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 19, 2013

Granted, this is an audacious goal, but Majora’s unique approach to urban renewal has already led to successful revitalization initiatives in her native South Bronx, N.Y., Majora Carter is on a quest to save the world one community at a time. and she’s well underway bringing positive change to many more communities.

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Local Culture New York Open Source 129

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 11, 2010

Thanks to a generous grant from the Lavelle Foundation, Bookshare has been able to work with Worth Trust, a nonprofit with offices in Chennai, India. The proud bride to be is full of smiles and happy that the Worth Trust- Bookshare partnership has given a new meaning to her life, she is full of confidence ready to face the world.

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Skype India California Chart 168

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 5, 2007

Google Grants (Google.org) also did a lot of work on our Google Adwords, and searching for "Miradi" on Google brings up our ad, too. Miradi (the new name of what we used to call the e-Adaptive Management software) has been in beta test for a while and we've gotten great feedback from all over the world from environmental practitioners.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 5, 2010

Old Clearinghouses rapidly became out of date, especially after the initial grant expired. Consider Google and other search engine advertising (or see if Google will partner on a Google Grant). If the FCC is to succeed with a new clearinghouse, it needs to avoid the mistakes of the past. • The FCC should embrace a more Web 2.0

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Accessibility Award Proposal Phase 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

I could request books not already in the collection, and sometimes my wish would be granted. “Suddenly I had thousands upon thousands of books available to me,” he says, “at a price I could afford, in a format I could read independently. And the best part? I began a reading binge.

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Life Gift eBook France 147

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 26, 2005

Benetech has really had capacity building grants until this year, when Skoll Foundation made a $75,000 grant just for this. We're especially excited about the commitment to capacity building, a topic for which Kibbe has been a major advocate and leader.

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Grant Reflection Foundation Model 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 8, 2010

There aren't many philanthropists that explicitly endorse a strategy where the majority of their grants are likely to not be successful. But, that means you have to bet on a lot of unusual, "weird" ideas, to see one or two that have that kind of revolutionary impact. But, if you have a heightened appetite for risk, the frame changes.

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Philanthropy Foundation San Jose Studies 206

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 6, 2006

Groups in India start providing English language books for inclusion in Bookshare.org for global distribution, for those books that are freely distributable (especially textbooks from India) and those where permissions have been granted. We believe that there is tremendous value in accessing content from India.

India 100

India Tunisia Language Phase 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 18, 2006

Our other main funder is the Special Hope Foundation , which just surprised us with a follow-on grant for Route 66 this month! We appreciate this as the beginning of our comarketing push with the Route 66 highway! I think they knew we needed funding for the next phase of Route 66, now that we are spooling up our efforts.

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San Jose News Phase Teach 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 2, 2012

Bookshare was one of the early recipients of a Google Grant of online advertising, which continues to this day. noted that Bookshare pioneered the delivery of low cost, accessible books for people with disabilities, and he looked forward to Bookshare’s 20th anniversary party when we would be demoing the next generation of this technology.

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Celebrate Google Literacy eBook 145

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

The follow-on funding we have to raise comes from philanthropic donations or grants. Rather, Benetech operates the technology-for-good enterprises originated in the Labs and takes them to scale to create the positive impact on society that our mission requires. We find and build the teams around the enterprises.

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Technology Profit Application Method 163

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 3, 2006

I want to specifically thank the Skoll Foundation for providing the capacity building grant that made it possible for us to get the help we needed to make this happen! We look forward to hearing your feedback, so we can build and improve on this new foundation for Benetech's web face!

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Articulate Foundation Reflection Grant 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 1, 2008

I think that sums up the Skoll Foundation's approach to grant-making. I think it's quite atypical for a founder of a major foundation to spend time allowing his grantees to ask him questions! One of his favorite quotes is from John Gardner: "Bet on good people doing good things."

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Movie Sound Award Foundation 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 22, 2010

When we received a grant from the Bernard Newcomb Foundation in 2007 to take Bookshare international, I asked Viji to become Bookshare’s International Program Coordinator. Even as a volunteer, Viji began bugging me about the need to expand Bookshare’s collection of accessible books and magazines to readers around the world.

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San Jose Profile India United Kingdom 109

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 29, 2007

(building playgrounds in poorer communities).

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Business Social Lecture Case Study 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 29, 2010

That shortchanges Larry’s background: he was the key leader in the campaign to eliminate smallpox in India, cofounded the Seva Foundation and a couple of high tech companies, and was most recently running Google.org.

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Conversation Bangladesh Iraq Mentoring 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 15, 2005

CTFC's grant to us is enabling us to add more than 1,000 books in Spanish to Bookshare.org, and we were able to announce this (in English and Spanish) at last month's CSUN conference on adaptive technology. We had a session on the applications of information technology to helping communities of color.

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San Diego California Grant Application 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 11, 2015

Granted, there is no such thing as perfect security. Bear in mind that a good safe design allows the user to choose their own combination at random. Knowing the design should not at all help an attacker in guessing the random combination of a specific safe using that design.

Open Source 100

Open Source Open Software License 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 1, 2005

The Foundation has been a steady supporter of our work in the human rights field, and recently renewed that commitment with a three year, $800,000 grant to Benetech. The MacArthur Foundation just published a nice article on Benetech's human rights program in their latest newsletter.

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Newsletter Grant Foundation Global 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 18, 2006

Carl Schramm of Kauffman Foundation has joked to me that many traditional nonprofit organizations have rebranded as social entrepreneurs in their grant applications. Because of number 2 above, there is a strong incentive to self-identify as a social entrepreneur. Well, it depends on your objectives.

Social 100

Social Application Analysis Foundation 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 23, 2014

The Oak Foundation just awarded us a grant to provide accessible content to people with qualifying learning differences (like dyslexia) in Brazil, India, and the United Kingdom. The next 10X opportunity is to go global, by ramping up Bookshare International to serve the millions of people with print disabilities worldwide.

Literacy 158

Literacy eBook United Kingdom Accessibility 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 3, 2013

Granted, due to the limitations of fully automated conversion, this is not perfect braille, and we continuously work with experts to improve the quality of our Braille Ready Files (in the BRF format).

Literacy 208

Literacy eBook Images Accessibility 208

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 20, 2007

Of course, there an awful lot of charities who end up using the term social entrepreneur as a hook to ask for grants, so I understand why Carl could be critical of the concept. Most social entrepreneurs don't think of themselves as charities.

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Blogger Create America Articulate 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 27, 2008

Aravind doesn't like to borrow money, and start-up costs are either drawn from earnings or grants. The first thing I noticed was that the start-up costs had been supported by Lavelle Fund, which is also funding our first major project in India (more on that later).

India 100

India Hype United States Europe 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 26, 2004

I checked back and was granted permission to quote this! As some of you know, we started providing newspapers and magazines through Bookshare.org as a prototype project with NFB's Newline project. I just received a user email that made me excited. This morning I downloaded The New York Times.

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Atlanta New York Public Grant 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 22, 2013

million grant from the U.S. Here’s why this grant is so important to us: Gathering the stories of victims and witnesses puts human rights fieldworkers and their sources at grave risk. Guardian Project digital security DRL Mobile Martus Department of State Martus human rights grants Internews'

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Tools Program Thailand Fund 158