News from the NTEN Connect Blog

Where Vendors Are Moving with APIs

Submitted by Bonnie on Wed, 10/18/2006 - 5:55am

This Friday's debate on open APIs and what they mean for nonprofits will give several major nonprofit software companies the chance to share where they're moving and how that can help you. Some of our panelists are already giving their two cents. Read what they're saying and don't miss the live debate.

David Crooke from Convio said,

"Nonprofits are far from rich in IT resources, and they don't just need vendors to offer APIs to give them the ability to write software, they need vendors to implement support for those APIs in each other's products, and

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Open APIs: What are they and who are they for?

Submitted by Bonnie on Tue, 10/17/2006 - 11:33am

Our Open API Debate doesn't officially start until Friday but our panelists are already getting into it over email. One point they're nailing down is what are APIs and who is meant to use them. You can read some of their points below, but to kick this off I want to share with you an example of what can be done with open APIs.

Steve Wright from Salesforce gave this example as one way that open APIs led to the creation of a new entity, well a mash-up really. It's one many of you might be familiar with - HousingMaps.com. It's a mash-up of Google Maps and

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The Great Open API Debate

Submitted by Bonnie on Mon, 10/16/2006 - 11:56am

Have an opinion on the state of APIs - application programming interfaces - or just want to know what the heck all the discussion is about? Then join us this Friday for a live debate between the major players in nonprofit software and find out what's going on with APIs and what it means for nonprofits.

You'll hear where vendors on the panel are moving and what the tangible benefits will be for nonprofits. The speakers will also give their opinions on why openness matters and what open APIs mean for the open source movement.

Mark Bolgiano from the Council on Foundations will moderate the debate and our panelists will include

Tom

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No, thank you...

Submitted by Holly on Mon, 10/16/2006 - 11:55am

I sent Beth Kanter a little thank you card the other day for being the awesomely helpful NTEN community member that she is (don't worry, I think YOU are awesome too, and your thank you is the mail....). Look what she did:

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Mobile Phones Move Votes Around the World

Submitted by Bonnie on Mon, 10/16/2006 - 3:06am

With close to 2.5 billion phones in circulation around the world, in many countries mobile phones are the easiest and least expensive way to communicate and are far more pervasive than the Internet. Because of this, mobile phones have enormous potential to be used by organizations as a tool to engage and interact with people.

The MobileActive Strategy Guide series, a joint project of NTEN, Green Media Toolshed, and MobileActive, looks at how mobile phones can be used to increase civic participation and engagement. The first guide in this series was released today and examines how mobile phones can be used in electoral and voter registration campaigns.

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If You Want Peace, End Poverty

Submitted by Bonnie on Fri, 10/13/2006 - 5:50am

In very exciting news, microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunas and the Grameen Bank he founded have won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for their work bringing people out of poverty in Bangladesh. This is a great win for everyone who believes that the path to peace is through ending poverty and that technology can help achieve this.

Yunas came up with the concept of

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The Long Tail of Online Giving

Submitted by Holly on Thu, 10/12/2006 - 1:05pm

I've been staring at a lot of graphs and charts lately as I work more on the NTC agenda. I'm trying to lay my hands on whatever data I can about how nonprofits and their stakeholders are engaging online. The type of graph that comes back again and again? The Long Tail kind (from Network for Good's report: The Young and the Generous):

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A little help from your friends...

Submitted by Holly on Thu, 10/12/2006 - 12:11pm

Are you charged with making technology decisions for your organization? Looking for a little help? Then the NTEN Leadership webinars are for you! This fall we're offering several webinars designed to give you the tools you need to make confident technology decisions. NTEN and TechFoundation are partnering to bring you:

> Connecting the Dots Between Measurement and Mission: IT Evaluation: Thursday, October 19, 11:00 am Pacific.

> IT Budgets that Don't Bite: A Template for IT Budgeting: Thursday, October 26, 11:00 am Pacific.

> Mission Sells Technology: How to Fund Technology in Your Organization: Thursday, November 2, 11:00 am Pacific.

Learn more and register at

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Web 2.0 Defined, Sort Of

Submitted by Bonnie on Thu, 10/12/2006 - 9:29am

Sure you know about blogs, wikis, tagging, and of course MySpace, but can you explain what exactly Web 2.0 means? Where is the line between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, and how will we know when the next version emerges?

The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently released an article that explains the fuzzy definition of Web 2.0, the history of the term and the phenomenon, and what the buzz really means. The article does an excellent job of putting the term and the applications that fall under it into perspective and shows how Web 2.0 tools are different from their very similar predecessors. You can read the article here.

If you

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A Haiku for Wednesday

Submitted by Holly on Wed, 10/11/2006 - 10:40am

On the virtues of the lowly data entry:

Open fields reflect
Destiny unfulfilled, 'til
Data completes them

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