Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

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Cell Phone Literacy Ideas in China

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

I just had a great meeting with Jenny Zhao where we talked about the cell phone industry in China. Jenny manages the China operations for a global cell phone technology company. One of our dreams for the Route 66 technology is that it could be used to teach reading to people all over the world, in English as well as other languages.

China 100
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M-Pesa is our hippo!

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

we get to hear the story of a cell phone banking service that gives the poor effective banking services in Kenya when the country's banks have declined to serve them. The Philippines has had cell phone banking for years. You load up your phone with minutes with money. In M-Pesa is our hippo!

Kenya 100
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The Tech Awards - Technology Benefiting Humanity

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

I learned that in some parts of India everyone has a cell phone but few have indoor plumbing or access to clean water – change is happening.

Award 145
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A Bookshare Valentine’s Day Love Story

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

They exchanged more and longer phone calls and emails. One night they listened to the Fellowship of the Ring movie on the phone until 4 in the morning. A week after one of his best friends died, feeling lonely, and bolstered by how well they worked together and their mutual interest in Bookshare and Tolkien, he impulsively called her.

Story 123
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Human Rights at the Benetech Board Meeting

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

He talked about the opportunities and challenges he sees ahead, especially as technology tools continue to be adopted by more of the human rights community, from cell phones to Facebook. You might think that the amount of traffic corresponds to the places that would have the most damage.

Literacy 150
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New Ideas at TED2014

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Could you add an attachment to the phone that could sense the pollution? This fellow had relearned to walk and talk, but was frustrated by the loss of a specific cognitive skill: the ability to listen to numbers (like a phone number) and transcribe them. Will such an app work?

Ideas 223
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Issues with Crowdsourced Data Part 2

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

In these contexts, the perpetrators will be actively trying to suppress reporting, and so the SMS streams will not just measure where the cell phones are, they'll measure where the cell phones that perpetrators can't suppress are. The problems will be much worse if SMS streams are used to try to measure public violence.

Issue 160