OpenSocial apps now available to Orkut users in India | The Social - CNET News.com

OpenSocial apps now available to Orkut users in India | The Social - CNET News.com: "And now, the latest in social network developer platform announcements: Orkut, the community site owned by Google, has rolled out a directory of applications to its users in India and will continue to expand geographically over the next few weeks.

India, along with Brazil, is one of Orkut's main hubs of popularity; in Brazil, it faces many of the same issues that massive social networks like Facebook and MySpace do in the U.S. Despite having been developer in-house in Google's Mountain View, Calif.-based headquarters, the site has never really taken off stateside. Meanwhile, rival MySpace is currently launching an India-centric portal that will compete with Orkut."

Jon Stewart's Education About Charities and Second Life - Philanthropy.com

From the Chronicle of Philanthropy

Jon Stewart's Education About Charities and Second Life - Philanthropy.com: "Nonprofit fans of Second Life, an Internet game, are seeking to educate Jon Stewart about their online activism after the comedian made fun of one of them.

Susan Tenby, senior manager of TechSoup, a nonprofit technology group, appeared before a Congressional panel this month to discuss how Second Life and other virtual worlds can lead to real-world social improvement."

Finance and Commerce

Finance and Commerce: "Tough sell in tough times

Technology can be an especially tough sell right now, with the economic downturn. Nationally, donations to charity slowed in 2007 over the previous year, according to a recent study from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Even in good economic times — when the stock market is up, homes are selling and consumers are not reining in their spending — technology isn’t the easiest sell in the nonprofit sector."

Nonprofits find profits in mobile - RCR Wireless News

Nonprofits find profits in mobile - RCR Wireless News: "Nonprofit agencies have long rejected text-to-donate campaigns as too expensive. Traditional revenue-share models forced them to sacrifice 50% or more of contributions, and nickel-and-dime fees for short codes and other mobile must-haves left them with precious little to show for their efforts."

When technology has a social mission - International Herald Tribune

When technology has a social mission - International Herald Tribune: "The best-known examples are efforts like Mozilla, which maintains and develops the Firefox Web browser, and TechSoup, an organization that was started two decades ago to connect technology experts with nonprofit groups. It now distributes commercial software to nonprofit groups in 14 countries. (Mozilla's mission is to preserve choice and innovation on the Internet, which it considers a social good.)"

Interest Groups, Carriers Spar Over Text Messaging - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

Interest Groups, Carriers Spar Over Text Messaging - News and Analysis by PC Magazine: "nterest Groups, Carriers Spar Over Text Messaging

04.14.08

by Chloe Albanesius

Technology interest groups on Monday renewed their call for FCC oversight of text message practices. Providers like Verizon and AT&T shot back, and accused the groups of not understanding the technology."