A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.
- We have so many data-themed links this month, you should probably take a moment to consider what all this information may be doing to your brain. According to the NYTimes, it's not good. Can somebody make a PSA-style poster to illustrate this? Yes, they can!
- The problem may have to do with a lack of feedback. A land line phone plays back your own voice at low levels. The feedback keeps you from shouting. Cell phones -- and social media sites, and your in-box -- don't offer much in the way of feedback. No, angry responses to your opinions don't count, but if computers beeped every time somebody used ALL CAPS or TMEM (Too Many Exclamation Marks!!!!) to make a point, we'd likely have fewer flaming trolls.
- Oof, that was kind of a long rant. Puppy break!
- Google's new Fusion Tables lets you import, mash-up, share, and visualize your own and others' data.
- Of course, there are so many visualization tools out there now, you almost need a guide. Idealware to the rescue: "A Consumer's Guide to Low-Cost Data Visualization Tools".
- Data aggregation is good, too. Box office trackers have started counting Twitter mentions to help predict movie openings. The adage holds true for Hollywood: no news is bad news, even in the form of 140 character body slams. But we bet that's not true for your organization. Are you tracking negative mentions? Do they correlate to anything?
- Yeah, that last one tired us on data, too. Thank goodness for Charlene Li's "Oreo Effect". No, it has nothing to do with a Duoseptuagenuple Stuf...
- Speaking of delicious, we love us some sushi, so we're not happy to hear about the impending collapse of the Atlantic bluefin tuna population. Even more reason to carry the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch guides wherever you go.
- Have we been a little heavy this month? Let's take another puppy break. And maybe a hedgehog break. (Also, if there's an ad for "Robot Unicorn Attack" at the top of the page, you won't be disappointed.)
- Ah, much better. Now, if you haven't read the just-released book, "The Networked Nonprofit", by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine, why the heck not? Oh, because it was just released? Fine. Just don't let it happen again.
- Finally, if you saw Landon Donovan's game winning goal against Algeria, you know his reaction left a little to be desired, so we leave you with some of the best goal-scoring celebrations of all time. Try breaking some of these out at your next staff meeting when you report back on all the amazing work you've done. (Oh, and you might want to check out the longest tennis match in the history of the Universe -- at Wimbledon, no less).