Walden University held it’s fifth annual Social Change Conference, Social Entrepreneurship: Taking Action, Leading Change, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.  The conference focused on the success stories of social innovators and the new partnerships springing up to lead change in our country and around the world. Noted speakers included Cheryl Dorsey, President, Echoing Green, and Michele Jolin, Senior Advisor for Social Innovation for the Domestic Policy Council, The White House.  A replay is available online.

Below are my live tweets.  There are some gems here.

• koa: En route to Walden Univ’s social change conference.
  2009-09-30 12:30:57
• koa: I will be live tweeting from the Walden University “Social Entreprenuership: Taking Action, Leading Change” this morning. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:30:55
• koa: Photo: http://bkite.com/0coJS from National Press Club: Getting started #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:33:49
• koa: Walden President Jonathan Kaplan: goal of the conference is to prepare each one of you to take action and lead change. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:35:59
• koa: Social entrepreneurship is about more than individual actions. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:37:45
• koa: RT @rosettathurman: You can watch the live webcast of #waldenscc NOW http://ow.ly/rPMQ
  2009-09-30 13:38:17
• koa: Cheryl Dorsey of Echoing Green up first. Provides seed money and advice to social entrepreneurs. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:39:22
• koa: Echoing Green was started 20 years ago by a private equity firm. They adapt business principles to the social sector. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:45:19
• koa: Echoing Green invests in 40 countries around the world – they are program agnostic and geographic agnostic. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:48:14
• koa: Echoing Green has a 67% rate of success for social “businesses” in which they’ve invested. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:50:24
• koa: If you are watching live at http://bit.ly/43WLDl, we can take your questions via Twitter. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:51:59
• koa: RT @rosettathurman: Cheryl: Momentum of idea that “citizens can do it better than gov’t” spurred on fld of social entrepreneurshp #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:57:23
• koa: Millennials are shaking up the way we think about social entrepreneurship. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 13:58:51
• koa: Dorsey does not advocate creating new organizations instead she champions new ideas, more hands on deck. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:00:52
• koa: It’s important to have an asset based world view. We must see problems as opportunities. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:03:31
• koa: Are the walls between for profit and non profit crumbling? New approaches are less siloed and use every tool at their disposal. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:07:01
• koa: Are you a social entrpreneur? Check out @echoinggreen #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:08:56
• koa: A new trend is double and triple bottoms lines focusing on profit, social, and environmental. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:11:55
• koa: RT @rosettathurman: Cheryl: Book recommendations! Megacommunities http://bit.ly/JBcjZ, Age of the Unthinkable http://bit.ly/LYyjR #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:16:37
• koa: Michelle Obama came to Echoing Green 20 years ago to get money to start Public Allies. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:19:49
• koa: Did you know that you can micro-volunteer via the web or an iPhone app? http://bit.ly/2t4fPz #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:28:21
• koa: Dorsey They take a social justice stance on social entrepreneurship. Asked if they focus more on social or entrepreneurship. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:35:05
• koa: RT @jaywalk1: Dorsey – If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes several to raise a soc. entrepreneur #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:35:23
• koa: Second speaker is Michelle Jolin (senior advisor for Social Innovation for the White House’s Domestic Policy Council). #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:39:05
• koa: Jolin also served in the Clinton White House. She was also with the Center for American Progress. @AmProg #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:41:46
• koa: Watch live at http://twurl.nl/a64z52 #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:44:56
• koa: Looking for my buddy @thestemadvocate . Are you in the building? #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:46:16
• koa: The Domestic Policy Council is looking for new ways to get people engaged in social change including use of technology. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:48:09
• koa: Jolin: Government action alone is not going to make the difference. Needs partnerships btw profit, nonprofit, gov’t. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:50:04
• koa: Jolin: Looking at things the government can do as well as things they can stop doing. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:52:16
• koa: Jolin is now taking questions. Have any? Tweet them now. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 14:56:04
• koa: RT @rosettathurman: Jolin: … With technology there are new ways to involve communities. We’re using more online chats, etc #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:07:33
• koa: Aside: Obviously many are left out because they don’t have access to these technologies. #waldenscc #digitaldivide
  2009-09-30 15:09:05
• koa: @ajlovesya You can watch at http://twurl.nl/a64z52 #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:32:29
• koa: Next up Peter Kannam executive directory of New Leaders for New Schools. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:34:35
• koa: Kannam introducing panelists; Dr. Kathia Lazlo, David Bostein, Anthony Jewett, and Dr. John Nirenburg. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:37:03
• koa: Bornstein is author of How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:39:00
• koa: Jewett founded Bardoli Global to provide opportunities for outstanding minority youth through study abroad and service-learning. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:41:17
• koa: RT @rosettathurman: Panelist bios here: http://ow.ly/rVKO #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:41:43
• koa: Lazlo is a mentor for MBA students studying green sustainable enterprise at the Dominican University of California. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:43:45
• koa: Niremberg has done a lot of work in organizational development and is a faculty member at Walden. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:45:13
• koa: Bornstein: The biggest challenge is getting people to overcome their internal resistance to change. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:49:52
• koa: Lazlo: It’s all about human capital. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 15:58:02
• koa: Nirenberg: Social entrepreneurs solve problems that industry alone and government alone are not able to fix. #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 16:02:01
• koa: Nirenberg: What looks like social entrepreneurship today will be a necessity tomorrow (if we don’t change on a national scale). #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 16:03:19
• koa: RT @rosettathurman: Jewett: president of Bardoli Global, http://www.bardoliglobalfoundation.org, Teach for America alum #waldenscc
  2009-09-30 16:06:02

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March 22-28 is World Water Week.  Locally the TapDC project is looking to raise money to support UNICEF’s efforts to bring clean and accessible water to millions of children around the world.  The concept is simple: restaurants would ask their patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free and the funds directly support UNICEF’s clean water project.  For every dollar raised, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days.

There are several activities around this year’s project including the “Turn a Glass of Water into Something Beautiful” art submission.  The image to the left is Roque‘s (BF) submission; it has been selected to appear in the PEPCO’s Edison Place Gallery during World Water Week.

Make a reservation online through OpenTable or view the list of participating restaurants at TapProject.org.  Several other ways to donate are also listed on the site.

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I’m seeing a lot of articles about Koobface, trojan horse malicious software that was designed to travel from user to user via Facebook. You’d get a message from one of your Facebook friends mentioning a video allegedly starring you. When you click on the link, you are taken to a site that gives a message saying that you need an updated Flash player and asks you to upgrade. That upgrade is the trojan. I’m guessing that this targeted Windows users but I haven’t seen any confirmation of that because coverage of these kinds of issues tends to be lacking.

Back in August, I reported several messages to Facebook regarding this but their response was just to tell me that my friends had a virus and to contact the friends about it.  It would have been more effective if Facebook had dealt with this given how widespread it was. (I saw mention of it on Twitter too). They would have known which users were infected by pattern of the messages. They also could have let those users know that they were infected and deleted some of the offending messages before others were infected.  It could have been an automated type of process that most likely would have saved tech support hours on this issue. Given that these kinds of incidents have been happening on MySpace forever, Facebook should have been more prepared to handle this situation.

While I think Facebook could have been more helpful in curbing, the “outbreak” it is ultimately up to computer users to be more aware of the sites they go to and what they are installing on their PCs. While some trojans are relatively harmless, there are others out to steal information about your identity and financial accounts. Installing some seemingly harmless application could leave you with an empty bank account.

Photo by Frank K.

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Dear Credit Card Companies,

Why are you raising the annual percentage rates on the accounts of your paying customers?  I find it strange that in the midst of this failing economy where customers are suffering probably more so than you are, that you would do such a thing.  Has not the Federal Reserve Bank lowered the prime rate?  Why is that not passed on to your customers?  Oh I get it: you want the customers who are already paying you to also pay for your mistakes in lending to folks with shaky credit histories.  Are you not already standing in the corporate bread line looking for taxpayer handouts?  Oh yeah, you want us to pay twice for your mistakes.

That’s right.  Credit is not overly abundant these days so we will accept anything from you at this point.  We have no other options.  Well, I have a surprise for you: I don’t have to pay your higher APRs and won’t.  Don’t be surprised if you get a Dear John letter from me soon.

KTHXBAI.

XOXOXO

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According to this robocall, early voting (via voting machines) is available in Fairfax County if the voter meets Virginia’s absentee ballot requirements.

Download MP3

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Today is Blog Action Day and this year’s topic is poverty. An estimated 1.4 billion people in the developing world are in poverty while 36.5 million people are in poverty in the United States. I am no means an expert on poverty but I have certainly lived there.

Many people equate poverty to hunger but poverty to me is not only the lack of access to food. I would say it’s the lack of access to healthy food, clean water, adequate housing, health care and a safe environment among other things. Simply providing these things is not the answer. Providing aid is noble but making people dependent on that aid does more harm than good. It’s only part of the solution; education and training is also needed. One way that education can improve one’s life is the obvious – college or vocational school will improve one’s ability to have better employment choices. Another aspect of education and training is in the area of skills needed to live. This would include such topics as how to replenish the soil when growing crops, how to properly clean water for drinking and medical training. Self-sufficiency is key.

Some organizations that focus on education are:

• UNICEF
• Save the Children
• One Laptop Per Child

In the DC area, the following organizations are always looking for volunteers and/or donations:

• Coaching for College
• Capitol Hill Computer Corner

VolunteerMatch should be able to direct you to organizations in your locality.

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7-Eleven is trying to make money off of this election … err, allow folks to show their support for the candidate of their choosing. I saw this abandoned coffee cup in Microcenter. I almost never get coffee from 7-Eleven so I haven’t seen it in the store but I’m guessing there’s a red counterpart cup for McCain. I will have to stop by to confirm.

Has this election reached sporting event proportions yet? Are happy meal toys soon to follow?

Update: 7-Eleven has done election polls for the past two presidential elections.  That shows how much I buy coffee at 7-Eleven.

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• September 28, 2008 -- Politics at Baltimore Comic-Con
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I accompanied the BF to the Baltimore Comic-Con yesterday. Admittedly I know nothing about comics. Only recently have I learned what cover artists and inkers are. I’ve only learned in recent years that many of Hollywood’s blockbusters, outside of the obvious Spiderman, Batman, etc., originated as comics.

I was a bit surprised to see this Super Obama T-Shirt designed by Alex Ross.

I was also surprised to see these cards designed by Eric Powell.

I have never seen a political candidate made into a superhero nor have I ever seen folks interested in comics also interested in politics.  This election, in general, and Barack Obama, in particular, have brought out folks not normally interested in politics.  That is one reason I don’t trust the polls.  We have no way of knowing how first time voters are going to vote.

The Baltimore Comic-Con was in no way a Obama-fest.  I overheard one attendee say “I would rather have ‘I can see Russia from my house’ than ‘Karl Marx had some good ideas’” in response to something on CNN while sitting at an eatery in the convention center.

Either way, I’m glad more people are getting involved in the political process.  I’d love to see folks get more involved in local politics as well.

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It’s annoying when drivers don’t pay attention to the road and their surroundings.

Download MP3

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I had been a customer of Sprint for 6 years when I switched to T-Mobile in 2006.  I switched for several reasons – the main one being as a result of a customer service incident.  The fact that Sprint had limited the functionality on the phone I had, pretty much rendering the internet option on my plan useless, also influenced my decision.

I had heard good things about T-Mobile and when I crunched the numbers I was getting a better deal.  The fact that I could swap out the SIM card was also a draw as I have been known to take several international trips in the same year.  At that time I signed up for the $39.99 plan that came with 600 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, and free mobile-to-mobile minutes.  I also added T-Zones and a modest text messaging plan (200 I think).  And we lived happily ever after, right?  Not quite.

My contract expired a year and a half ago. I enjoyed the service but as of late have been having problems.

Internet

T-Mobile allowed you to set up POP3 email accounts to be read on the phone.  I also found that I could run the GMail java application on my phone.  Well apparently T-Mobile didn’t want users to be able to run their own apps to access the internet without having you sign up for a plan that costs 4 times as much and they blocked port 80 on the phones (or on their network?).  I’m not sure exactly when this happened but doing so also blocks their own email application which I had been experiencing but only recently found out the reason.

Mobile-to-Mobile

A few months ago I was surprised to find that I my bill was $40 more than normal.  I had no idea why.  After taking a good look at the bill I found that they were charging me for calls I was placing to other T-Mobile subscribers.  That particular month I had had a long conversation with a cousin who talks quite a bit.  That call in addition to calls to the BF that I thought were free had eaten up my included minutes so all subsequent calls during peak hours were charged.  One of the reasons the BF and I both got phones on T-Mobile is because calls to each other would be free – apparently not anymore.  I have no way to even tell when they removed this from my plan since I don’t get paper bills (this is exactly what I was afraid of in doing electronic bills only).  At the time I thought maybe I had misunderstood what was included in my plan rather than the plan had changed.

Phantom Text Messages

This one beats all.  I was in the Dominican Republic in May.  I made a few calls and sent a few text messages – being careful not to do too many as I knew I would be charged.  I got a bill for that include $22.35 in “Usage Charges” ($16.39 for calls and $5.95 for text messages) that I thought included all the international calling, etc.  The next month my bill included $39.29 of “Usage Charges”.  These usage charges included one call for $1.49 and 108 international text messages for $37.80 sent to 206-313-0004 which I understand is the T-Mobile SMS service center.  First of all, I don’t text like that normally so I definitely would not be sending that many text messages knowing that I would be charged for every one of them.  The ironic thing is that text messages tend to be free with international carriers but that’s beside the point.

I called T-Mobile and was told that they have no way of knowing if I really sent those messages or not and that there is no way to check the content of those messages.  How convenient.  They expect me to pay the bill though, right.  The customer service representative annoyed me because 1) she did not know that 206-313-0004 is the T-Mobile SMS service center and suggested that I call it to find out who received the texts from me and 2) she insinuated that I may have been able to send multiple messages within a minutes time.  She did nothing to look into the situation.  I have contacted T-Mobile in writing as well and received the same response that they can’t give me detail regarding the messages.

I did notice that I have have 400 included text messages in my plan.  I have no idea when that was bumped up from 200.

I had been a big cheerleader for T-Mobile when people asked me about cell phone plans.  I won’t suggest it again unless they show some effort to resolve my issue.  I had been agonizing over having to switch to AT&T for the iPhone because I thought that T-Mobile offered such good service but I think that loyalty was misplaced.  This is completely my opinion but I think cell phone providers don’t care anything about you unless you have a lot of services on your phone.  They don’t bat at eye at frugal little me who gets a cheap plan and likes to be without contract.  Oh well – it’s their loss.

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