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Keeping Obama on our side: contribute to MoveOn.org

Tobias Eigen — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:59:14 +0000

We donated to Obama today, but we also donated to MoveOn.org, which provides excellent leadership in keeping Obama on our side. By our side I mean on the side of progressives who really do want to see real change in America, as promised by Obama himself.

February 20, 2008

Dear Tobias Eigen,

Thank you so much for your contribution of $5.00 to MoveOn.org Political Action.

Your contribution will help us make a big difference in this campaign.

Your agreement to support MoveOn.org Political Action on an ongoing basis is greatly appreciated.

You have authorized MoveOn.org Political Action to make 9 more payments of $5.00, once every month from your credit card account.

…MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by hundreds of thousands of our members - we don’t take big checks from corporations. The average contribution is around $50 and we don’t take any contributions larger than $5000. That is why your contribution is even more special. Thank you so much.

–Eli Pariser
Executive Director
MoveOn.org Political Action

Contributions are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes.
PAID FOR BY MoveOn.org Political Action

Yes we can…

Tobias Eigen — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:36:10 +0000

Emily and I made our donation to Barack Obama today. Like the Obama endorsement I made a few weeks back, making political donations is not entirely our cup of tea but this year we feel strongly that it’s important to jump on this particular poltical bandwagon - and the time to do it is now.

It is indeed exciting to have done it and to learn that we are joining nearly a million other Americans who have so far been inspired enough by Barack Obama to join up. Check out the email I got from the Obama campaign this afternoon and go make your donation if you can!

Tobias –

Make a matching donation We learned something extraordinary since I wrote to you last night.

We’ve crunched all the numbers and discovered that we are within striking distance of something historic: one million people donating to this campaign.

Think about that … nearly one million people taking ownership of this movement, five dollars or twenty-five dollars at a time.

We’re already more than 900,000 strong, including over half-a-million donating so far this year. This unprecedented foundation of support has built a campaign that has shaken the status quo and proven that ordinary people can compete in a political process too often dominated by special interests.

Unlike Senator Clinton or Senator McCain, we haven’t taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. Our campaign is responsible to no one but the people.

One million donors would be a remarkable feat — something that’s never been done before in a presidential primary and something no one ever thought would be possible for us. And you still have the opportunity to be a part of it.

If you make a donation right now, one of those 900,000 donors has promised to give again in order to match your first gift. You can double the impact of your first donation — and you can even choose to exchange a note about why you are part of this movement.

Be one of the million who will own a piece of this campaign before the potentially decisive March 4th contests:

https://donate.barackobama.com/match

We started this improbable journey a little over a year ago in Springfield, Illinois.

And because you’ve joined together to make your voices heard, this journey isn’t looking as improbable anymore.

Since our victory on February 5th, we’ve won ten straight contests.

But on March 4th, we face a huge challenge in Texas and Ohio, who will vote along with Rhode Island and Vermont. We are behind in the big states and need as many people involved as possible if we’re going to win.

If we can reach our goal of one million donors by March 4th, we can send a powerful message that the Washington establishment and big-money interests cannot ignore.

As one million people with one voice, we can tell them that their days of dominating Washington are coming to an end — the old politics are crumbling and a new voice is breaking through. Our voice.

Will you make a matching donation now to make it happen?

https://donate.barackobama.com/match

I learned the power of ordinary people coming together as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago.

I worked side-by-side with people who had been laid off from steel plants that were moved overseas. These were people who needed new jobs to rebuild their lives, and their political leaders were ignoring them.

But even though the odds were stacked against them, they discovered that by coming together with one voice, they could no longer be ignored.

When we launched this campaign, we knew we were up against similar odds. We knew we’d be running against a massive political machine with deep ties to the Washington establishment.

We knew it wouldn’t be easy.

But if we can do this, we’re not just going to win an election. We’re going to change our country.

Thank you so much,

Barack

Projects in Kenya and Uganda among winners of nGOmobile competition!

Tobias Eigen — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:44:22 +0000

In September last year, I blogged about the very innovative nGOmobile competition - well, it seems it was a resounding success! I received an email today from Ken announcing that the winners have been chosen and profiled yesterday at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona. (Sokari blogged earlier about Ken’s encounter threre with a $20 screenless mobile phone!).

More info, links and photos to come soon on the nGOmobile website, but in the meantime - congratulations to the winners! According to the website, there were over 70 applications, from which the following four winners were selected by a panel of judges:

Participatory rapid response forest management system (Kenya)
This project is working with local communities to promote the protection and sustainable use of environmental resources. They plan to implement messaging services to help with reporting, field communications and to provide an early warning system to help combat poaching and illegal logging

Ask NETWAS a water, sanitation and hygiene question and get an answer (Uganda)
This NGO plans to launch an SMS-based service for rural communities allowing them to ask a range of water-based questions on topics such as sanitation, hygiene, water harvesting, and water technologies

(more…)

Tobias Eigen endorses Barack Obama

Tobias Eigen — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:37:17 +0000

Dear friends and family,

This isn’t usually my thing, but I wanted to reach out to my friends and family to make sure you know that I think it’s important that Obama be our next president. I want to see a new name and a new face representing the United States in the world, and while I have my issues with all politicians I think Obama can provide that better than Clinton and McCain.

I hope you agree with me. If you are in the US, please take the time to join the process and go to caucuses - they are fun and meaningful, and in many cases actually count more than the primary elections (this is certainly the case in Washington state - on Saturday I will be going to the caucus). Outside the US? Call and email you friends and tell them to take this process seriously. It’s the least we can all do after seven years of horror.

Let’s not be complacent and assume a Democrat will even win in November so let’s start the fight for change now.

Cheers,

Tobias

This email confirms that you have paid OLPC Foundation $847.90 USD using PayPal.

Tobias Eigen — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:17:18 +0000

My kids can’t read, so I can safely share the news here that my father has very generously given me the go ahead to buy them OLPC Laptops for Christmas. Believe you me, they (and I) are going to be very excited to rip open their presents this year. The deadline for participating is November 26th, 2007 - so as of this writing it’s still not too late to order yours!

I complain alot about the OLPC project, but at the end of the day I am excited about the devices and am pleased that my children will finally get to have one - and in the process help to make sure that some kids (hopefully in Africa) also get to have them. I am also pleased at least to perceive that Nicholas Negroponte and his OLPC Foundation appear to be coming back to earth and are developing realistic plans for deploying millions of these laptops in the third world. Perhaps I will even stop calling it a dam project with bunny ears.

Despite my excitement, I can’t help but continue complaining a little. It’s not so much about the devices but the attitude of Negroponte and the appearance of OLPC as traditional, very costly, top-heavy and not especially participative development project.

According to the Terms of “Give One Get One” page on the laptopgiving.org website (reposted below), that $847.90 purchase has involved us irrevocably in a global educational movement - participation may not be cancelled - even though there are no assurances as to when our devices will actually get here. The reason for this is that their priority is not me but the children in poor countries that will get the donated machines. If we decide to change our minds and ask for our money back, we have to act within 30 days, even if the devices are not in our possession and we haven’t decided if the laptops work well for us. And once we have them we will be seeking help using it from friends, family and bloggers. Wow!

I’m a geek and am used to getting help online, and everyone who knows me can attest that I am always eager to join global movements for change, especially when they involve creative uses of computers and the Internet, but these terms are still fairly heavy handed.
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Run, don’t walk to vote for Pambazuka News in Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics

Tobias Eigen — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:34:32 +0000

If you haven’t done so already, go now to vote for Pambazuka News!

It’s easy to do. No login required, just go to http://tinyurl.com/2yo3vy, look for PAMBAZUKA NEWS on the list and click the “Vote” button.

Vote for Pambazuka News!

For the third year running, Pambazuka News has been selected as one of 25 finalists for the Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics.

Pambazuka News is produced by a pan-African community of some 300 citizens and organisations - academics, policy makers, social activists, women’s organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators.

Winning this award would be a tribute to all the many contributors who have made Pambazuka News essential reading for all concerned with the cause of justice and freedom in Africa.

With your help, we could win this award. Please vote for us at: http://tinyurl.com/2yo3vy

NGOs going mobile… join the nGOmobile.org competition for grassroots groups in the third world

Tobias Eigen — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:28:10 +0000

Via the mobileactive mailing list, I learned today about the nGOmobile competition, which is kicking off today! Grassroots groups in the third world seeking the tools and resources to use mobile phones and SMS in pursuit of their missions are invited to participate.

I am particularly excited because I have observed over the last two years, since participating in the first Mobile Active Convergence in Toronto back in 2005, that the opportunities of mobile phones for advocacy in the third world have been out there and available, but not fully exploited. The case studies (what works and what does not work) have not been widely shared and discussed for others around the continent to benefit from. More civil society groups need to see examples of how this technology is empowering others - and can empower them.

This competition will go a long way to remedying that problem - so hats off to kiwanja.net, 160 Characters and the others involved in putting on this competition. Read on to see the announcement, or go straight to ngomobile.org to learn more. Please help spread the word about this terrific initiative. (more…)

Small Price Laptop

Tobias Eigen — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:12:57 +0000

Tope Famayegun, a colleague and Time To Get Online training partner in Lagos, Nigeria, asked a poignant question in an email to our all-trainers mailing list today:

Does anyone know what has happened to Professor
Negroponte and the $100.00 Laptop per Child Project?

I was struck by this since she is in Lagos and probably held the laptop as it made the rounds in the audience during Negroponte’s speach at the Digital World Africa 2006 Conference in Abuja.

Since Nigeria signed up to be in the first round of recipients of the device, I’d be interested in hearing more from our Nigerian colleagues about how the project is unfolding there. (more…)

Images FOR Africa - Flickr group promotes Creative Commons and sharing of Images FOR Africa

Tobias Eigen — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:36:58 +0000

I love Creative Commons. I love pictures. And I love Africa! So I was very pleased to encounter - and promptly join - the Images of Africa - Images FOR Africa group on Flickr. The group gathers images of Africa by people who want to share them with others. The photos shared by the group can be used freely under a generous Creative Commons license, and of course can be browsed, discussed or searched in the usual nifty Flickr ways.

There is even a beautiful Flickr map so you can place your own photos on the map and allow people to browse them by country.

I am enthusiastic about the new channels this provides for building networks of shared interest among likeminded and generous people in Africa.

I would gather that Flickr groups like this with such a clear common benefit for group members will provide a wonderfully gentle route into Creative Commons for people that otherwise are skeptical of the hype surrounding Web 2.0.
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Interview with Walter Turner on Kabissa, Web 2.0, African civil society and more…

Tobias Eigen — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:02:38 +0000

I was pleased to learn from Nunu Kidane (Priority Africa Network) this morning that an interview Kim Lowery and I did with Walter Turner back in May aired on KPFA in Berkeley yesterday and is available online.

The interview came on the heels of the Netsquared conference on “remixing the web for social change”, so Kim and I were very much jazzed up by - and no doubt still processing - the attention our Kabissa 2.0 proposal received at the conference and the many remarkable projects and ideas we were exposed to. We discussed Web 2.0 concepts but Walter Turner also challenged us to go into detail about the history and justification for Kabissa, on what we think civil society is and how we support the important work of organizations in Africa.