Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 17, 2012

It's not a general problem with RSA, and there's no current risk to Martus users. What exactly is the problem? Acknowledgements What exactly is the problem? The problem comes back to the selection of p and q , and it involves how computers choose random numbers. In short, this problem does not affect Martus.

Public 150

Public Generation Problem Analysis 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Problems with the Treaty as is If the Treaty were passed as is, with all bracketed materials dropped, we see only two painful omissions. This is especially a problem as the world moves to electronic books, which have license agreements (contracts, that are rarely looked at by consumers) that almost always prohibit making them accessible.

eBook 193

eBook Library Alternative Authoring 193

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 8, 2011

The world’s problems are many, and we keep seeing opportunities for technologists to address those problems effectively. We believe that having more minds working simultaneously on a problem increases the odds of solving that problem well and quickly.

Guatemala 159

Guatemala Literacy Qatar Open Source 159

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 16, 2011

This is becoming crucially important as the problem of delivering access to text is increasingly solved by the move to ebook publishing and solutions like our Bookshare library. Of course, just as we're solving the text problem, more and more content is moving to richer, more visual forms like graphics, simulations and flash!

Images 194

Images Alternative Student Accessibility 194

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 22, 2013

Caltech feeds an intense curiosity, a burning desire to understand, to grapple with hard problems and to own them! The thrill of solving problems, of figuring something out, and bringing that understanding into the service of humanity.

Syria 196

Syria Guatemala Open Source Lecture 196

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

Three of my peers had really great ideas for software for solving significant problems in their work, and I’m still excited about these possibilities for collaboration. We hope it will inspire viewers like you to take action on this or another social problem, in whatever way you can.

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Global India Mobile Impact 134

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 8, 2017

Facebook has a handy way of reporting this exact problem and the fake account was suspended within minutes. I quickly checked, and found that (of course) I already was Facebook friends with my old friend. Someone had borrowed her picture and name and was starting to ply the scam trade.

Facebook 186

Facebook Nigeria Amazon Government 186

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 28, 2014

Cooking a meal shouldn’t be fatal: clean-burning stoves, as well as clean fuels and energy all help combat this problem. Since I’m a software guy, I asked about what software could do to help with these two real-world problems. Improving childhood nutrition. The lifelong impact of significant malnutrition on a child can be devastating.

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Ideas Kenya Brain Software 223

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

However, there is a problem with this: market failure. I ran into this problem with my venture capitalists 25 years ago. So, a key action to improve this market failure problem is to be open to licensing technology to social entrepreneurs. What if an innovation could be of great benefit to society, but doesn't make enough money?

License 100

License Hints University Research 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

We’re honored to be included in this elite group of nonprofits known for their innovative approaches to tackling social problems. All the organizations participating in the Challenge are recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

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Support United States Literacy Brain 179

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 14, 2010

Rich's problem is that he can get his first foot onto the pedal and strapped in, but that he can't get his second foot in. It's fun to help solve problems, even if the help is mainly connecting the right people together! They are going to need access to exercise equipment they can use independently to ensure their long term help.

Exercise 133

Exercise Accessibility Problem Fun 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 10, 2009

There's so much to talk about here with Amazon, so let me focus on just a few key points: The Closed Platform problem. The Textbook problem. The Closed Platform problem. The Textbook problem. Unfortunately, when they turn it off on the Kindle, they are turning it off for everybody including people with disabilities.

Amazon 100

Amazon Accessibility eBook Problem 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 28, 2011

Misunderstanding relationships in data is a problem because it can lead to choosing less effective, more expensive data instead of choosing obvious, more accurate starting points. The problems will be much worse if SMS streams are used to try to measure public violence. And, that the correlation they found was useful.

Issue 160

Issue Data Haiti Stream 160

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’re thrilled that today’s rapid changes in technology are opening up tremendous new ways to address the problems they face. We want students like Brennan—and disadvantaged people everywhere—to have equal opportunities to make their lives better. To do so, we definitely need your help.

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Open Source Africa Zimbabwe Malawi 183

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 17, 2011

One problem with this conclusion is that there are important areas of building damage where very few text messages were recorded, such as the neighborhood of Saint Antoine, east of the National Palace.

Statistics 263

Statistics Data Haiti Stream 263

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 13, 2016

Toyama offers up strong criticisms as well as constructive advice about how to best apply technology to social problems. He broadens this to tackling what he labels “the packaged intervention,” the neatly wrapped solution that will solve a social problem.

Laptop 100

Laptop Hype Ghana Phase 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

When I first started pursuing the idea of using technology to solve challenging social problems, it was a pretty radical idea. In the case of Bookshare, we’ve gone from solving a sliver of the problem to most of it, while hitting more than an order of magnitude reduction in cost.

Develop 144

Develop Social Library eBook 144

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 17, 2014

Imagine the benefit to society when we go from solving less than five percent of a social problem to most of it, while using less money! Challenges and Opportunities I am highly optimistic about the opportunity to solve the accessibility problem through innovative applications of technology. In the U.S.,

Copyright 196

Copyright Law Accessibility Library 196

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 24, 2011

The need to requalify for dyslexia services over and over again at great expense (thousands of dollars each time) to get accommodations in school and for testing came across as a huge problem. This seems to be an even bigger problem than I recognized.

Rhode Island 145

Rhode Island Learning Roles Course 145

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 3, 2011

A longtime venture capitalist with his DEFTA Partners firm , he wants to help solve social problems using hybrid capital structures that meld nonprofit and for-profit partners. George is a financial mastermind with one foot in Asia and the other in California. Public Interest Capitalism is his personal brand of social change.

Public 140

Public Bangladesh San Francisco Asia 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 27, 2014

Zach has Cerebral Palsy , which causes movement and coordination problems, and which keeps him from speaking and walking. Zach Bryant loves reading non-fiction. This wasn’t always the case, though. To communicate his thoughts, he uses an alternative augmentative communication device.

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Challenge eBook Social Ohio 144

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 19, 2008

There is a strong interest in having access to information about how other groups addressed similar problems in conservation (failures being at least as valuable as success stories). Still, the problem looked very similar to the one Benetech often sees in the human rights field.

Conservancy 100

Conservancy Classes Problem Demonstration 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 9, 2014

With today’s rapid technology and industry shifts, I believe that investments in innovations can open up new frontiers for tackling society’s toughest problems, including the education gap. This is a hopeful time in the long arc of inclusive education.

Education 164

Education Philanthropy Africa Foundation 164

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 14, 2009

We’ve got a lot of problems. We all know the limitations of the different traditional approaches to solving problems. These are the same people who said that the market would solve all problems and that more deregulation would be better. We know that government is rightly tackling many problems for our common good.

Business 100

Business Government North Carolina Chapter 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 20, 2012

Benetech’s rigorous and comprehensive entrepreneurial problem solving approach aligns with the Arnolds’ giving philosophy, and we were thrilled to be included in the first round of participating nonprofits. The Arnolds invited vetted nonprofits to participate in the Giving Library, and quickly filled the initial 250 slots.

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Library Giving Camera Interview 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 21, 2010

Hot issue this week are the now four proposals on solving the problem of access to print by people with print disabilities globally: The TVI: the treaty sponsored originally by the World Blind Union and supported at WIPO by Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Mexico.

Copyright 100

Copyright Paraguay Ecuador Brazil 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 9, 2009

I'm always interested in fresh approaches to social problems. One of the problems we've seen is the unfortunate feedback loop of loss of polar ice packs , which leads to more open ocean instead of ice cover which leads to more heat absorbed from the sun, which results in more loss of polar ice cover.

Global 100

Global Problem Reflection Ideas 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

We think the best long-term way to solve this equal access problem is, well, equal access. Our primary goal is to ensure that people with disabilities get equal access to the books and content they need for education, employment, leisure and social inclusion.

Accessibility 133

Accessibility Amazon Library eBook 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 4, 2009

FreshBrain is focused on an important problem - filling the gap in the education that our teens receive, specifically in the area of 21st Century Skills. Just had a chance to meet Dale Ferrario, the founder and President of an innovative nonprofit social enterprise called FreshBrain.

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Utah Teen Skills Mobile 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 18, 2008

Since the web is now used for much more complicated things than simple static web pages, there have been many accessibility problems. So, the problem is more similar to accessing applications on the desktop than static webpages. They are tackling the challenge of making the richer Web more accessible.

Google 100

Google gMail Open Source Application 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

And then they go into the modern workplace, which is frequently as stultifying as these virtual worlds are thrilling. Read and Reeves are convinced that at least some smart workplaces of the future are going to adapt some of the ways of the games to more fully engage their employees and become more effective as economic organizations.

Game 150

Game Roles Virtual Skills 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

As the most internationally engaged library for people with disabilities, we’re trying to find funding and partnerships to help bring both Bookshare’s collection and technology to bear on this problem. My biggest argument was the “library with holes” problem.

Accessibility 247

Accessibility License Copyright Library 247

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

They include struggling readers whose learning problems have never been fully diagnosed. The International Dyslexia Association calls these students “SEEDS kids,” for “struggling readers, English language learners, economically disadvantaged youth, dyslexia students and specific learning disability students.”

Student 173

Student Accessibility Copyright Library 173

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 13, 2010

At my nonprofit tech company Benetech, our team applies successful models from Silicon Valley to better solve really important social problems. Social services that were innovative thirty years ago now need to be rebuilt to better meet the needs of today.

Work 162

Work Hunger Amazon Government 162

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2015

You are the leader we are looking for if you see the combination of social good and businesslike management as the answer to pressing problems throughout the world. Benetech is hiring new Vice Presidents for our Global Literacy and Human Rights programs.

Technology 100

Technology Literacy Social Uganda 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 30, 2013

The Problem with Traditional DRM Traditional “strong” Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions have traditionally been the most common way to control access to online books. You can read much more about this in Jim Fruchterman’s blog post, “Upholding the Social Bargain: Bookshare and Copyright Compliance.”

Accessibility 171

Accessibility eBook New York City Social 171

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 14, 2011

The world has big problems. [Note: this is part one of seven posts on the Benetech Truths.] We need fresh, original solutions that are better than the status quo. Technology has revolutionized business, but bringing those breakthrough developments to government, education and the nonprofit sectors can take 5, 10, even 15 years.

Technology 150

Technology Change Social Literacy 150