Brokekid.net

You can download the file here.

Did you know?

Not sure if a specific Google App is working or not, like Gmail’s failure earlier this week?

You can check the status Google’s major applications with the Apps Status Dashboard.

Did you know? Many of you have multiple Gmail accounts and you can now keep track of those accounts using Gmail’s Multiple Inbox feature.

1. Turn on Multiple Inboxes from the Labs tab under Settings.
2. Set up a filter to auto-archive all mail sent to your work or school address.
3. Customize one of your multiple inboxes to show mail sent to your other address. To do this, go to the Multiple Inboxes tab under Settings and set up one of the panes to search for mail sent to your other address.
4. (Optional) Use a "custom from" address so that replies will be sent from Gmail but as if they’re from your other account. This way, your coworkers or classmates won’t know the difference.

Timelining Followup

Last August I wrote about how timelining could prove to be a useful tool for nonprofits -

Timelines are definitely interesting for summarizing the importance of an event but are also useful for tracking the growth and evolution of a story in real time, picking out patterns and predicting future results based on past occurrences.

One of the timeline tools I had highlighted was MITs SIMILE Timeline software, “an open source project that lets users develop timelines and host them on their own sites.”

There’s been an important development related to the implementation of SIMILE Timeline in a very prominent project. The White House has launched Recovery.org, the Obama Administration’s approach to transparency regarding the recently passed economic recovery package. Recovery.org addresses three concerns -

• Education: Explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act;
• Transparency: Show how, when, and where the money is spent;
• Accountability: Provide data that will allow citizens to evaluate the Act’s progress and provide feedback.

Take a look below at how SIMILE Timeline is used to help clarify how the legislation will work.

Recovery.org’s use of the timeline brings credibility to MITs software, the opensource movement and to the importance of timelines.

Did you know? You can now verify the data in your spreadsheets by selecting Tools > Data Validation. This will help to keep your data clean, below is an example -

Say you’re hosting a party, you’ve invited your friends, and want them to fill out a spreadsheet to indicate the best way to contact them, how many guests they’re planning to bring… First, select a range of cells and use Tools > Data Validation to set up the rules. You can set up a rule to make sure that only valid email addresses are allowed so you know the best way to contact your friends. Next, you may want to suggest that your friends don’t invite more than two additional guests, each. Another rule will prompt this suggestion for a different range of cells. Notice that the spreadsheet prevents you from entering a number greater than 2:

Very useful!

Did you know?

A few new features have been added to Google Spreadsheets -

• A mobile-friendly view with filtering, sorting and row-by-row editing
• The ability to define attributes of a cell and require that input meets those data validation rules
• A form summary page with information about completed responses

RFID and the Internet of Things

RFID is a term you’re going to start hearing a lot more about, if you aren’t already familiar with it. What is RFID?

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. The technology requires some extent of cooperation of an RFID reader and an RFID tag.

RFID tags have little bits of data encoded into an integrated circuit and are usually placed on something in need of auditing, like goods at Wal-Mart or more recently US passports. An RFID reader then sends a signal which is picked up by the RFID tag’s antennae and sends back the data that it picks up.

Make sense?

Here’s another example of what they can do: You’re off to the grocery store to pick up some milk, bread, cheese and a bottle of wine. Each item of these items has an RFID tag and when you go to check out you won’t need to scan each item, the cashier will already know the cost. All you have to do is bag your stuff and pay for it.

If your credit card has an RFID chip, you won’t need to take the card out of your wallet, just authorize the purchase with a thumb scan or a signature.

When you arrive home and unpack all your items, putting everything into the fridge, which also has an RFID reader, you refridgerator can tell you which items are about to expire and put in an order for more eggs and yogurt. Your fridge can also tell you what you can make with what you have.

This is happening now.

A company called ZeroG Wireless is producing low-power wireless chips that can be embedded “into any system including consumer electronics, smart energy devices, home and building controls, portable medical sensors, and sensor networks.”

Tikitag is another company that offers a home starter kit with custom software that you can use to program your own RFID chips. These tags are compatible with many third-party scanners like “NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled mobile phones.”

What does this mean to the nonprofit sector?

Imagine having instant auditing capabilities to all the food stored at your foodbank? Or the items for sale at Goodwill? What else could you monitor with these tags? Like the health of rivers or the quality of air? And then having this information accessible from anywhere in the world? And being able to compare this data with other nonprofits?

What do you think?

(Hat tip to Read/Write Web)

Did you know?

Gmail has roled out a slew of new features to help you manage your account.

Under your contacts, you’ll find the option to merge multiple contacts into one. This is useful is you have contacts with more than one email address.

Google has teamed up with TrueSwitch to create a migration tool to move your contact list to your account. You might not see this screen but you should shortly. The migration tool makes it simple to import your contacts from email clients like Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL.

Google has released a tool called Sync that enables you to easily sync your Google Contacts and Calendar with your iPhone, Blackberry or other mobile device.

Gmail Labs has a new option that adds your physical location to your email signature.

To try it, turn on Location in Signature from the Labs tab under Settings, then go to your signature preferences and check the box next to “Append your location to the signature.”

It’ll use your public IP address to determine your location, so it may not always be that accurate. For example, if you’re at Heathrow airport, IP detection may put you in Germany. If you want more accurate location detection, make sure your browser has a version of Gears that supports the location module. That way, Gears can make use of wi-fi access point signals to recognize that you’re actually in London.