Google Chrome – The Aid Worker’s New Best Friend

by Jon Thompson on December 23, 2009

I have been using Mozilla’s Firefox as my main browser for many years. It used to be quite fast but recent updates have killed its performance. The main reason I stuck with it is that it supported the Adblock Plus extension that conveniently stripped out all ads and saved me both bandwidth and money. At $8/MB even the smallest ads can drain your donor cash.

For some time Google’s Chrome has been a viable option for Windows users but it was only recently that they opened an extension page and released a version for Mac. If you want to use extensions you will (for some silly reason) need to install the Beta version and extensions do not yet work with the Mac version. Once the extensions are available my conversion will be complete for one simple reason: AdThwart.

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Map Kibera – The First Useful Humanitarian (Tech) Thing To Be Done In A While

by Jon Thompson on November 30, 2009

Screen shot 2009-12-01 at 5.50.33 AM

That may sound a little harsh but let’s face it – there are not a lot of people doing really original things out there these days.

After my rant about how the only thing (tech) anyone should be doing is building a cache box OR helping Mikel map stuff, it is not surprising to find that the only really super cool/useful thing that has been done recently is the Map Kibera project by Mikel and his team.


View Larger Map

If you are in Nairobi be sure to stop by the mapping party that Mikel is throwing at UNICEF.

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Interlude: I Gotta Feeling

September 21, 2009

Until someone does something truly impressive in the humanitarian field y’all are going to have to settle for a little Black Eyed Peas:

Mazel tov!

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Do We Need To ‘Save MSF’?

September 6, 2009

I really cannot let this one go. It is an issue that has been bothering me for some time and the recent flap over the MSF ‘Boy’ video was the icing in the cake.
I fear the radicals have taken the helm of over at MSF and are steering our beloved organization into the breakers. I [...]

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Pine Ridge Pow Wow

September 4, 2009

Pine Ridge Pow Wow from American Festivals Project on Vimeo.

Given the awful taste left in my mouth from this past week of trying to tamp down the fringe elements of the aid community with appeals to logic, I think it best that I offer up some strong medicine to counteract their poison.
I attended my first [...]

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In The Field Brand Is Everything

September 2, 2009

Reader:

I am not appalled or incensed, and really struggle to think why you would be.
A boy is in pain. He is being treated by doctors. They are not “fabricating suffering”. This is the reality of MSF, and represents what they do in a completely honest fashion.
MSF UK:
To answer your first three questions, the audio is [...]

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MSF UK – Your Silence Is Deafening

August 31, 2009

I have been trying to sit this one out. I really did not want to write about the new MSF Boy video but I feel I have to now that the people who made it have disappeared from the online discussion. By not continuing the comment threads on various blogs the Comms team at MSF [...]

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Rails Rumble – Vote Now!

August 30, 2009

Rails Rumble is currently underway and you’ve got about 7hrs 20min left to vote. Please head over to the Rails Rumble site and check out the projects.
Rabble, who has left us numerous useful comments and tips, has a project in the running called How’s My Code. Rabble, who’s real name is Evan Henshaw-Plath was one [...]

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Apture Test – Hurricane Bill

August 19, 2009

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Move over, Charity: Water; here comes Love, Light and Melody.

August 17, 2009

I was scrolling through the videos over on my new favorite site Virb when I came across this one with an opening shot of a guy standing in a trash dump in Managua, Nicaragua:

On The Ground from Love Light & Melody on Vimeo.
As you can see from the titles his name is Daniel Bain and [...]

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