Ravenweb Blog

Have you ever had to work around a company rule or policy that prevented you from doing your job effectively? Ever used non-company software and tools to get things done? Or reached out to a co-worker to skirt a dumb work process? If so, than Hacking Work is your kind of book. Hacking Work is all about the rising tide of benevolent hacking at work and the people who bypass corporate-centered systems in favor of efficient, user-centered approaches. The text is not anti-work or anti-business. On the contrary, it's about saving business from itself and reintroducing effeciency and human innovation back into the workplace. Because, ultimately, if your organization is not as effective and flexible as it can be, a competitor down the street or across the world will be. Fortunately, the maturation of available software today, including loads of free, open-source options and the proliferation of social media, make it easier than ever to introduce hacks that create efficiencies and be...

Earlier this year, I blogged about Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn . I mentioned that the text effectively revealed the widespread plight of women in the developing world, and issued a clear call for change through awareness and action. Meg Wirth is one of those people who's responded to the call and is helping save lives. When Meg learned that pregnancy is a leading cause of death among women of childbearing age in the developing world (because so many women, quite simply, bleed to death), she took action and founded Maternova , an online marketplace for safe and simple birthing technologies. Conceived as a media platform, Maternova is now focusing on core questions of supply and distribution. What effective, low-cost tools (in development or on the market) can save mothers' and newborns' lives in low-resource settings? How and where should global health innovators direct their efforts? In low-resource areas, where do the facilities exist that ca...

I previously mentioned that I'd be blogging about many of the fascinating speakers and innovative organizations I was exposed to at BIF6 . SeeClickFix advances a civic Internet through progressive technology and social media. Basically, SeeClickFix allows anyone to report and track local community problems to government officials and the media via the internet. Think about it. You're driving through your downtown and see a pothole. You take a picture with your cell phone and use a mobile phone app to send the picture through SeeClickFix. The picture and issue is logged on the site, and the governing (transportation or city works) agency receives an alert about the problem. I'm fascinated by the concept and eager to hear from others if they've used the service and if it's been effective in their communities.