Emory University Tracks Slave Origins Via Online Database, Crowdsourcing
Yesterday, Emory University launched a new website designed to bridge the gap between past and present. Using information from the Courts of Mixed Commission African Origins has created an online database of stolen Africans forced into the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The names, gender, and port of departure of 9,453 liberated Africans were uploaded onto the website [...]
Read MoreNew Crowdfunder 33 Needs Looks to Engage Businesses, Investors Worldwide
A new crowdfunding outfit launched last week is connecting social entrepreneurs seeking to do good with investors hoping to generate a return on their socially-responsible investments. New York-based company 33 Needs, works by creating a space for social entrepreneurs to post a profile of their business, set a funding goal, and disclose a percentage of [...]
Read MoreCan the Wikipedia of Search, Blekko, Challenge Google?
Today, Blekko opens up to the public. They’ve been in private beta since July and are finally opening the doors to the masses. Of course, just because Blekko is a search engine, comparisons are immediately being drawn with Google. In reality, it’s like comparing apples to oranges. blekko is a better way to search the [...]
Read MoreKibera, Kenya Gains “Voice” Through Crowdsourcing
Social Media is causing change throughout the entire world. This story takes us over to Africa, the country of Kenya and the small town of Kibera. Kibera is located on the outskirts of the capital of Kenya (Nairobi), and is home to thousands of people. Beginning in November of 2009, thirty of the residents used global positioning software to establish the location of such landmarks as roads and health clinics and uploaded the resulting map onto the Open Street Map website where anyone can update a map. Read inside to find out how this country mapped itself from a thick forest to an actual city.
Read MoreUser-Created Maps? AOL Bets $1 Million on Mapquest
Mapquest (a subsidiary of AOL) has a new product in the works. This time the product is focused on user created maps within a project known as OpenStreetMap. OpenStreetMap is becoming more popular in Europe and AOL has contributed $1 Million for the development of open-source mapping in the United States. Mapquest will continue to have the standard maps in which they pay licensing fees to provide online. The goal would be to get even more detailed maps, focused especially on local communities through open source mapping. Find out more details inside.
Read MoreWhat SalesForce.com’s Purchase of Jigsaw Means to You
Salesforce.com has taken a definitive step to becoming the “business web” with their recent purchase of Jigsaw. Chairman and CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, had this to say about the acquisition – “With Jigsaw, we’ll make it as easy as Wikipedia to source data, as easy as iTunes to buy data and as easy as Facebook to stay updated as the data changes.” Check out the specific details inside.
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