one day, guys. ONE DAY i will put up some pictures from my weekend in williamsburg, find my pictures from new orleans (!!! i downloaded them! somewhere! WHERE??), and show you some of this year's ridiculousity from the scavenger hunt. but surprise, today is still not that day! because i am THE WORST at getting photos online. maybe that should have been my stupid 2010 resolution: stop sucking so hard at managing your photos so you can sometimes blog about things vaguely soon after they happen.
but! my ACTUAL resolution, you may recall, was to donate to a new charity every month. in keeping with my "maybe it can be somewhat relevant to something in my life" theme, this month i've tried to focus on something interwebs related, since this month is the 25th anniversary of the birth of .com.
as someone who works in the tech sector, spends actual hours a day online, has a blog, twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc etc etc etc accounts, it's safe to say that the internet has quite literally changed my life. i think all of us are straddling a pretty fascinating place in information history: most of us grew up using card catalogues, researching our papers by tracking down real books and trudging through pages and pages until we found usable quotes (or, for those of us with fancy technology at hand, using microfiche!), and using the actual physical yellow pages. growing up at my house, we had one of those blue-screen apple computers that could.. well.. word process. and that was it. getting hooked up to American Online in highschool was EXCITING STUFF. i could talk to people?! on the INTERNET? (using dial-up, of course..)
it blows my mind a little to think of the generation growing up now who won't know what the dewey decimal system is good for, or who have always been able to just "google it." the kids who have had smart phones since they were old enough to text. writing papers these days must be a vastly different experience. the way businesses market themselves, brands develop, and people interact.. i mean, i had a pen pal when i was little. a little girl in colorado i had never met, and we wrote actual letters back and forth for several years, sending school photos each year and telling each other what was going on in our lives. today, i imagine those 2 girls just friend each other on facebook.
ANYWAY. my point is that i thought it would be neat to commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Internet As We Know It, so this month i found a charity called inveneo that brings information communication technology to rural and remote communities around the world. (this actually made me think of lisa and her experience last summer in africa, where they would *carry* the one desktop computer in the village between buildings when they needed to use it....)
so! that was a long way of saying: inveneo is my march charity, and if you'd like to donate as well, you can do so here.
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in other news, apparently my donation karma is paying off, because i won the giveaway nilsa had last week on her blog!! i got to pick from the three pieces of jewelry from the bead up store (which i LOVE and have purchased from in the past). i'm going with the blackbird necklace, hooray!
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previous charities, if you're interested in donating:
the red cross
planned parenthood
providence house (via cleveland's a plum)
but! my ACTUAL resolution, you may recall, was to donate to a new charity every month. in keeping with my "maybe it can be somewhat relevant to something in my life" theme, this month i've tried to focus on something interwebs related, since this month is the 25th anniversary of the birth of .com.
as someone who works in the tech sector, spends actual hours a day online, has a blog, twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc etc etc etc accounts, it's safe to say that the internet has quite literally changed my life. i think all of us are straddling a pretty fascinating place in information history: most of us grew up using card catalogues, researching our papers by tracking down real books and trudging through pages and pages until we found usable quotes (or, for those of us with fancy technology at hand, using microfiche!), and using the actual physical yellow pages. growing up at my house, we had one of those blue-screen apple computers that could.. well.. word process. and that was it. getting hooked up to American Online in highschool was EXCITING STUFF. i could talk to people?! on the INTERNET? (using dial-up, of course..)
it blows my mind a little to think of the generation growing up now who won't know what the dewey decimal system is good for, or who have always been able to just "google it." the kids who have had smart phones since they were old enough to text. writing papers these days must be a vastly different experience. the way businesses market themselves, brands develop, and people interact.. i mean, i had a pen pal when i was little. a little girl in colorado i had never met, and we wrote actual letters back and forth for several years, sending school photos each year and telling each other what was going on in our lives. today, i imagine those 2 girls just friend each other on facebook.
ANYWAY. my point is that i thought it would be neat to commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Internet As We Know It, so this month i found a charity called inveneo that brings information communication technology to rural and remote communities around the world. (this actually made me think of lisa and her experience last summer in africa, where they would *carry* the one desktop computer in the village between buildings when they needed to use it....)
so! that was a long way of saying: inveneo is my march charity, and if you'd like to donate as well, you can do so here.
****************************************************
in other news, apparently my donation karma is paying off, because i won the giveaway nilsa had last week on her blog!! i got to pick from the three pieces of jewelry from the bead up store (which i LOVE and have purchased from in the past). i'm going with the blackbird necklace, hooray!
****************************************************
previous charities, if you're interested in donating:
the red cross
planned parenthood
providence house (via cleveland's a plum)
I love this idea of giving back to the internet. I mean, if it weren't for the internet, you likely wouldn't have met a slew of fascinating friends. And I wouldn't have met my husband.
ReplyDeleteNeat! And that is a gorgeous necklace!
ReplyDeleteI am BITTER about that giveaway. I was only a few comments before you! And that necklace is so awesome!
ReplyDeleteOooh I like that necklace A LOT.
ReplyDeleteYou know what. I've been donating a lot this past year and we got some really good news today after months full of stinkers. Maybe karma IS paying off. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteLove the necklace. It's so true about the Internet. My kids are so used to digital cameras, cell phones, email, Internet, that it's just normal to them. I remember doing my research papers in the library and they may not have experiences like that. It's crazy to think about.
ReplyDeleteSweet necklace!
ReplyDeleteI not only knew the Dewey Decimal system, I learned to type on a real typewriter (the kind without a correction ribbon) and the few minutes of computer instruction I received (because I was an awesome typist at 65wpm) included how to turn on the IBM computer -- one of 3 that the brand new computer lab at my high school! Being old is so cool. (Not)
I finally put up an online sideshow of my snow pictures for family across the country. E-mail me if you want a peek! (Yes, we still have some snow, but it should be gone by the end of the week.)
I hope we get to see a pic of you with the necklace when you receive it! Of course, that would require you to not "suck so hard" at putting pics online as you said ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat charity idea! I was just thinking about this as I turned my computer on. Where would I be without email? What would entertain me during the day?! Would I actually have to get up and TALK to my coworkers? *shudder*
One of Elliott's favorite phrases these days is "Click it." The only thing I was clicking at his age was my seat belt, and not even that because it WASN'T THE LAW. Ahhh, progress.
ReplyDeleteThe necklace is booootiful... I'm sure it is lovely on you :)
nice score on the giveaway win - HOT!
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting about your winning from my and Nilsa's giveaway! I just scored another Bead Up order based on your post - thanks for spreading the love! Your necklace is in the mail!
~Christyn of Bead Up
That necklace is seriously gorj. Well done, karma!
ReplyDelete