Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 19, 2009

What happens when the most talented and innovative women in technology who work with non-profit organizations and political campaigns get together for the day to discuss the most relevant issues ranging from the Women in Open Source to Fighting Sexism in the Tech Sector? Details: Date: May 12, 2009. Why Women Who Tech?

Tech 100

Tech Blogher Registration Delicious 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 26, 2008

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology How to choose a CRM March 26, 2008 I’ll be doing a webinar on open source CRMs tomorrow. Be Helpful. One of the fascinating things to me is how quickly the CRM space is evolving.

Open Source 111

Open Source Mashup Open RSS 111

Amy Sample Ward

JANUARY 20, 2011

I describe Social Actions as an aggregation of actions people can take on any issue that’s built to be highly distributable across the social web. We pull in donation opportunities, volunteer positions, petitions, event, and other actions from 60+ different sources. Earlier this week, I got ahold of Peter to get the full scoop!

API 186

API Action Open Data 186

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 5, 2008

I’ve been helping a client hire a temporary project manager, and so in the interview process one of the questions I ask is how people keep up with change in the field. And, in a bigger picture way, how important do you think it is for people who work with nonprofit organizations on technology issues to keep up?

Open Source 124

Open Source RSS Journal Tech 124

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 30, 2007

There are issues that relate to encoding, fonts, and character sets, machine translation, interfaces to facilitate human translation, issues of workflow, volunteer and project management, and a whole host of other issues. It’s also really interesting to see how free and open source fits into all of this.

Bhutan 100

Bhutan Learning Open Source Open 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JULY 30, 2008

David Geilhufe ponders how technology solutions split communities, and issues of a lack of strategic vision. David is always a great source for thoughtful insights about open source. Be Helpful. I trust Allan’s gut instincts about CRM technology. It’s a great, thoughtful post.

Technology 100

Technology Open Source Sample Nonprofit 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 11, 2008

August 11, 2008 You’ve likely heard a lot about “ cloud computing “ And what’s true is that the sales-talk about computing in the cloud certainly makes the conceptual issues behind it, honestly, well, cloudy. Be Helpful. We’re really behind the concepts of cloud computing and Web 2.0.

AJAX 134

AJAX Application Open Source Plugin 134

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 13, 2008

I “live the open source lifestyle.&# And why is this in “social issues&# and not “technology&# ? Be Helpful. I was profiled on Linux.com. That’s kinda fun! That must have been before the iPhone. This blog is rated 8.2 very good, they say) on Blogged.com. I suspect it’s their default rating.

Open Source 100

Open Source Hype Badge RSS 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 19, 2007

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology The scarcity mentality March 19, 2007 Kudos to Michele Martin who brings up a sticky issue: the scarcity mentality. No web development help. So, guess what? But that’s scarcity thinking for you.

Open Source 100

Open Source Captivate Collaboration Technorati 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MAY 18, 2007

Microsoft this week has started saber-rattling against Linux and other open source projects, by suggesting that they infringe on 235 patents that they hold. Just threatening to sue, threatening to get license fees (which, for some open source projects would be a major problem) is enough to make people doubt the future of open source.

Open Source 100

Open Source Open Software RSS 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 19, 2008

But in the nonprofit realm, my perspective on helping nonprofit organizations with technology issues has a lot to do with client empowerment, learning based on what’s needed at the moment, and active collaboration. Be Helpful. Sounds a lot like Edupunk, doesn’t it?

Nptech 100

Nptech Unconference Open Source Model 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 9, 2008

Of course with my mac, I opened up the system preferences, checked a button, and, voila! I have outstanding issues or decisions to make with my kernel not seeing all the memory I’ve given it (therefore requiring a recompile, which I have been postponing for weeks) sound, a webcam, a scanner, and accounting software.

Open Source 111

Open Source Ubuntu Music Course 111

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 17, 2008

They are starting with a “charter&# program – a few nonprofit organizations, to iron out all of the varied issues, both technical and logistical, I imagine. It may, depending on pricing, even give the open source CiviCRM a bit of competition. Be Helpful. Haven’t heard about it!

Open Source 100

Open Source Convio Database Headline 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 5, 2007

I linked to a great thought piece a while back on opening up the social graph (that is, your network of friends.) Jon Stahl pointed me to a great article , also about opening up the social graph. There is a Google group (called Social Network Portability), that you should definitely join if you are at all interested in these issues.

Social Network 100

Social Network Open Network Social 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

FEBRUARY 6, 2008

tools, they need to understand the implications of what they do, and demand that the tools use open standards. { tools, they need to understand the implications of what they do, and demand that the tools use open standards. { Be Helpful. I think as nonprofit organizations begin to work more and more using Web 2.0

Data 100

Data Open Source Industry RSS 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 15, 2007

One of the biggest issues for nonprofits in terms of adoption of Linux has been the lack of availability of ready-for-primetime applications like accounting. at 7:28 am There is now an open source competitor to Quickbooks. Be Helpful. 1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 jrogelstad 08.27.07

Open Source 100

Open Source RSS Tech Journal 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JANUARY 19, 2007

I can’t help it.) But I do want to spend more time thinking about this issue. One of the things that I have tried to do with this blog, and will continue to, is to get underneath the surface issues. I don’t think I live up to that quite as well as I’d like, given my preference for open source solutions.

Technology 100

Technology Open Source Massachusetts Issue 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 7, 2007

The topic is “Nonprofit Data Management: from slips of paper to CRM&# As you all know, I’ve been thinking about data management issues for years, and it would be great for people to share their ideas and knowledge. Be Helpful. March 7, 2007 Next Monday, I’m hosting the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants.

Hosting 100

Hosting Open Source Technorati RSS 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 13, 2007

Release Candidate to help with QA, which has been fun (and 2.3 In talking with organizations that are using it – adoption issues for staff seem to be fairly minimal (my partner, a non-techie writer, uses it everyday, with no complaints.) IBM’s reputation is bound to help increase adoption of OpenOffice.org.

Open Source 100

Open Source License Adopt Database 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

DECEMBER 1, 2007

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Open content business models December 1, 2007 I’m at the Open Translation event, and we’ve just had a great session on open content business models. Be Helpful.

Model 100

Model Content Open Business 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JANUARY 29, 2008

The other 1/2 of my time I’m doing consulting work , focusing exclusively on helping organizations without a lot of technical expertise navigate their way through the maze of creating and getting through technology projects. Be Helpful. I love this work.

Open Source 100

Open Source RSS Education Consultant 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 13, 2007

One of the big beginning issues was that if a fan page was public, and it can have URLs, then that must be great for SEO , right? Of course, there are huge privacy issues, here, and one law professor thinks the ads are illegal. That, of course, can spread virally. Facebook pages have huge page rank. Ads can be targeted by profile data.

Platform 100

Platform Facebook Open Source Movie 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

FEBRUARY 8, 2008

On one hand, I’m excited to announce that my article “Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck: Exposure, Invasion, and Social Convergence&# has been published in Convergence 14(1) (special issue edited by Henry Jenkins and Mark Deuze). Open-access is right. That’s super depressing. It’s time for change to happen!

Journal 100

Journal Open Source RSS Tech 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 3, 2009

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Drupal security, and other CMS Report comments April 3, 2009 Now that the Idealware CMS report is out, I get to have my say about it. Now the security issue. More on that in a bit.

Drupal 100

Drupal Comment Report Metrics 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 9, 2006

I’ve been learning about some interesting examples of the use of APIs in nonprofit organizations, as well as learning what vendors (both proprietary and open source) are thinking about the issue. Be Helpful. I’m looking forward to getting into the meat of the writing. That’s a good thing.

API 100

API Open Source NTEN Technorati 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 30, 2007

It’s new and updated for the realities of the nonprofit technology and free and open source worlds of 2007. The primer, which will show up in just electronic form, also has a very cool implementation of a great open API that we’ll be crowing about soon (my lips are sealed right now.) Be Helpful.

Mediawiki 100

Mediawiki Open Source RSS Tech 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JANUARY 31, 2008

WebHuddle is free, and open source. But interestingly, Yugma is now integrated with Skype, which totally changes the whole audio on a separate channel issue. It does mean that everyone who is involved in a webinar needs to install Skype – but that seems to be a minor issue, to my mind. That would be the holy grail.

Search 100

Search Skype Web Open Source 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 8, 2007

TechCrunch suggests the issue is in the business model: Unfortunately, the business models have not been worked out yet to accommodate such mixing of data. Be Helpful. But it provides little incremental value to the user, the real target. We don’t want to have the same application on multiple social networks.

Open 100

Open Data Social Mashup 100

Tech Soup

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Each year, the Tides Foundation awards a $10,000 cash grant to an individual or group who has created an open-source software project that benefits nonprofits and movements of social change. The Pizzigati Prize is named for Antonio Pizzigati, an MIT graduate, early web author, and leading advocate for open-source computing.

Open Source 40

Open Source Tanzania Rwanda Open 40

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 7, 2007

Although I’m sure that we differ in our perspectives on some issues, I very much look forward to working with the rest of the board to keep NTEN the vibrant organization that it has developed into, and to continue to speak to, listen to, and provide for its constituencies. { Be Helpful. at 3:50 pm That seem like a great match.

NTEN 100

NTEN Open Source RSS Director 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 24, 2008

I have had varied problems , from issues of software integration, video problems, wireless issues … The list is getting very long. On the Windows side the hardware manufacturers make proprietary drivers for Windows, and very few make drivers for Linux, or open source their drivers so that Linux developers can use them.

Ubuntu 100

Ubuntu Open Source Software Laptop 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 10, 2008

I realized that one of the most important things that we can do is educate the organizations we work with (as well as individuals) about privacy issues and data. Be Helpful. But that’s not the point of this post. When is data public? When is it private? How do we know? How can we assure privacy?

Public 100

Public Widget Open Source Demographics 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

It’s a lucky thing my partner has a laptop I can beg and borrow (stealing might cause issues.) Be Helpful. Work doesn’t get done. Blog entries don’t get written. Emails don’t get returned. My practice in patience only goes so far. It might even arrive before the laptop gets out of the shop. 2 Pamela 02.27.07

Laptop 100

Laptop Open Source RSS Tech 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 1, 2007

Things “just work&# (for the most part – apparently Leopard has been having issues.) There are a number of reasons for my deciding to slowly leave the Macintosh platform: I want to focus more energy and time on free and open source platforms – I might donate what I would have spent on Leopard to some deserving projects.

Ubuntu 100

Ubuntu Open Source Music Ipod 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 12, 2007

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants: Nonprofit Data Management March 12, 2007 As you know, nonprofit data management has been a really important issue for me for a long time. Be Helpful.

Consultant 100

Consultant Data Management Open Source 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 12, 2007

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants: Nonprofit Data Management March 12, 2007 As you know, nonprofit data management has been a really important issue for me for a long time. Be Helpful.

Consultant 100

Consultant Data Management Open Source 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 30, 2007

The move of Apple to use software update to break hacked and unlocked phones is somewhat ironic, given the attitude of Jobs toward DRM , and the open source basis for OS X. Jobs understands that DRM doesn’t work, and doesn’t help sell music. Be Helpful. The good news is that eventually, hackers always win.

Ipod 100

Ipod Open Source Music Phone 100