http://www.changesforgood.org A repository of ideas for making the world a better place, contributed by creative-thinking, solution-oriented bloggers who care, from all over the world Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:05:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Wouldn't it be a beautiful thing if the Charter for Compassion spread like wildfire. TED Prize winner Karen Armstrong did an amazing thing, bringing together religious leaders from across the globe. Input for the Charter came from thousands of people in more than 100 countries, then the Council of Conscience ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2009/11/14/affirm-the-charter-for-compassion/ Electric cars don't have to be boxy, ugly little tin cans. They can be sporty. And responsive. Like 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds. Without the hassle of having to wait until the battery is depleted before charging it further. And with the ability to charge it anywhere there's a ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2008/07/25/buy-an-electric-car/ Many people are concerned with the plight of the Tibetan people, particularly now that Tibet's level of protest has risen dramatically during the Beijing Olympic games. The problem is the Chinese government's manufactured illusion of freedom and acceptable level of human rights, and is compounded by its relentless anti-Tibet PR ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2008/05/15/seos-for-tibet/ Have you heard of the new trend in conferences called unconferences? An unconference has a loose agenda, no set speakers, no canned Powerpoint presentations - just a bunch of attendees who really want to get the most out of the conference as they can, so they participate in the planning ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2007/08/11/unconference-on-making-the-world-a-better-place/ Why can't every company offer to "plant a tree for me" along with each purchase like Dell is doing? (Way to go, Dell!) At a minimum, it would make for a great gift to give to clients at Christmastime. http://www.changesforgood.org/2007/01/30/plant-a-tree-on-behalf-of-your-customer/ I would love to see an "Instruction Book for Saving the Planet" wiki where visitors could share ideas, tips, concerns, etc. on the wiki in a structured sort of way. Somebody should (The Google Foundation perhaps?) commission some of the smartest minds to seed the wiki with some initial content, because ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/08/31/an-instruction-book-for-saving-the-planet/ You have probably seen fundraising campaigns like "Race for the Cure" or similar, and the cure is for a cure to cancer or AIDS or any number of diseases. I think bloggers would be a great group of people for a charity to target. And there's no marathon to run, just ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/08/08/blog-for-a-cure/ Not long ago I read the book The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. It really got me thinking about the future of profound changes we are going to see in our lifetime through impending advances in nanotechnology. The virtual world of Second Life is hugely popular with gamers. It would ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/08/02/a-virtual-world-of-our-future/ It would be fascinating to get a conversation going between President Jimmy Carter and the head of the Google Foundation, Larry Brilliant. President Carter has some amazing ideas for making the world a better place and Google Foundation has the means to achieve it with the funding from Google Inc. I ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/07/31/jimmy-carter-and-larry-brilliant/ There are some do-gooder websites out there that have signed up for a number of affiliate programs and when you go to their website first then click through on one of their affiliate links to make your purchase, they give the lion's share of the affiliate commission to charity. iGive ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/07/23/an-affiliate-network-for-charity/ Children of this world are our future. There are some wonderful kids out there; smart innovative children who are just looking for the opportunity to show off their ingenuity and creativity. Wouldn't it be great to have a contest for child inventors to submit their inventions to, in the hopes of ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/07/21/contest-to-inspire-child-inventors/ The Indigo Evolution documentary, which I found really interesting and well done, is now available on DVD. Included in the special features on the DVD over 3 hours of additional footage and interviews that didn't make it into the final movie. There is some great content in those interviews. It ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/07/21/indigo-evolution-blog-blog-about-indigo-children/ Google Inc. has quite a number of corporate blogs focused around particular products and services they offer and a number of Googlers (that is what Google employees call themselves) have personal blogs with tips, recommendations, ruminations and so forth around Google, but I have yet to see Googlers start a ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/07/19/how-google-could-save-our-planet-blog/ Government and university websites are not very keen to post Google ads, for obvious reasons. They are not looking to make a few bucks off advertising to help cover their operating costs. That's what taxpayers are for! ;-) Plus it would erode their credibility to do so. However, a number ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/07/15/adsense-for-govs-and-edus/ There are services out there like the really cool Hipcast service (previously named Audioblog.com) where you can call a phone number and record a voice message which then gets converted into an MP3 audio podcast. Perhaps as a way to make it easier for non-bloggers who want to share ideas ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/07/14/leave-your-ideas-after-the-beep/ The Dalai Lama says that "Generosity creates wealth". I believe that. And here's an idea that you can apply to prove it to yourself. Give generously to a charity that you believe in. Then place a seal or sticker stating that you support that charity on your website. For example, ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/07/04/how-generosity-creates-wealth/ Social networks like Friendster and Orkut, if they are popular enough and have a large enough base of users, could be a mechanism for the President and law-makers to gauge public opinion on a particular issue. How much more of a democracy would we live in if the people we have ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/06/27/a-way-for-the-president-and-law-makers-to-gauge-public-opinion/ In addition to Google's AdSense network there are a number of other competing networks, including Yahoo Publisher Network, Kanoodle BrightAds, etc. It would be great to see a competitor to AdSense where all of the proceeds went to charity. I'm imagining a network called AdsForGood or something like that. The ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/06/27/a-contextual-advertising-network-for-charity/ Some years ago my wife submitted an editorial to our local newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal. It spoke out against the plan for a company headquarters building to be erected in our neighborhood right along the lake which would have necessitated the demolition of the neighborhood of houses, including the ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/06/25/write-editorials/ I would like to see all the contextual advertising networks like Google AdSense, YPN (Yahoo Publishing Network), Chitika, etc. have an option where, instead of getting a check or electronic payment to your bank account, you could donate your revenue earnings directly to a charity of your choice. Does anybody know ... http://www.changesforgood.org/2006/06/20/donating-your-ad-revenue-to-charity/