Paper Dolls, Minus the Paper

September 23rd, 2011 houndsgood Posted in Internet and Web Tools, entertainment 1 Comment »

Little girls at the dawn of the 20th century played with paper dolls. Throughout the century, celebrity faces and cartoon characters were transferred to the two-dimensional play thing. For one, they can keep a child quiet on a car trip when markers inevitably end up marking up the seats, an MP3 player prevents conversations with their family. It’s not all about fashion – paper dolls help a child develop fine motor skills as well as lend to a sense of “make believe.” ** They make a good donations for family shelters because of that. They are easy to pack up and take with them. **

Paper dolls, except the few directed at adults, don’t exist in the numbers they once did. Now there are a variety of flash-based games that create a similar experience with a mouse click on the internet.  While the online dolls skip some motor skills, young kids flex their decision making muscles and adults have fun creating some pretty oddball combos.  I know I did.

There’s even a Selena Gomez dress up game. You can dress Selena or Selena and Justin Bieber.  I got a kick out of the part where you choose an Oscars or shopping scenario with Justin, but then the third option is “I don’t like Justin!” and a solo Selena appears. A bit celebrity driven, but then again the young Queen Elizabeth, the original Charlie’s Angels and Martha Washington have all have had lives held at the fate of the fashion sense of small hands over the years.

It is hard to say if online paper dolls are more “green.” After all, energy is used to play them on the computer, and I do know that every paper doll my friends had were far from treated as disposable until they were beheaded by a sibling or disintegrated into nothing. Then again, there is less junk around the house if someone plays online paper dolls and loses interest versus stacks of paper and cut out books.

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Invite Your Supporters With a Text

March 4th, 2011 houndsgood Posted in Internet and Web Tools, running a charity No Comments »

dogiphone.gifSocial media has revolutionized the way non-profit organizations, from large charities to small, grass roots raise funds and spread their messages, and how new supporters discover them. First, there was Myspace, and then Facebook has grown by leaps and bounds in popularly. Other sites such as Razoo and Twitter provide an online presence. You can syndicate some of your feeds to type once, and appear on multiple platforms. However, since not everyone is using just one site anymore, one-time stalwarts and core groups get splintered because they may not always be receiving the message. Sure, some folks receive Facebook updates and e-mails on their phones, but not instantly, or they may forget to check in during a busy time in their lives.

The way to cut to the chase is to rely on the old concept of personally addressing each subscriber or supporter with modern technology. Instead of sending out a Tweet or a mass e-mail, you can use an SMS Gateway to send a short text message to their phones, whether they have a “smart phone” or a “dumb phone.” It goes straight to the intended recipient without the middle man.

The possibilities include automatic messages as appointment reminders, alerts to attend a charity fundraiser on a specific date, or an alert to letting them know that the latest donation campaign has kicked off. The recipient may text back an RSVP or forward it on to friends. The cell phone company has used the feature for sales pitches, why not put the technology to good use? Of course, you will only want to send messages to subscribers who have opted in to contact or have expressed interested in receiving them. The exception might be a personal appointment to meet with the chairs of the organization, which would more likely be considered personal contact.

The possibilities for the technology are extensive. I would love to receive reminders from the vet clinic about an appointment. It is great to get the call, but not so great when I’m driving. Maybe principals should text parents when their child doesn’t show. Better yet, maybe text the actual kid and warn them that you’ll text mom and dad next if they don’t put one foot in front of the other. For the non-profit sector, maybe separate messages could go out as an exciting countdown to the Christmas Ball with trivia questions. Supporters could text back their answers or suggestions and be rewarded with special mention or a drawing to bring other companions at no cost.

On the Cdyne website, it looks like you can get going for .09 per text, and the cost reduces based on volume, down to .03 per text. A $9.99 monthly fee is also assessed.

Have you tried out this idea for your organization, or have you received such messages? If so, tell me what you think.

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Sticking My Hand in the Computer Pit of Doom

January 28th, 2011 houndsgood Posted in Internet and Web Tools No Comments »

hal-9000.jpgMy dad works for a non profit organization, and often they are lucky to have very knowledgeable volunteers who have retired. They now have time for some honest to goodness brainpicking. However, sometimes, in order to pick a brain, he needs to describe what is occurring. He is really at a loss at how to describe something to those giving him tech support. That is when my phone rings. It usually would involve me saying, “No, your computer didn’t develop a mind of its own like Hal 9000. I can probably help, but I would really need to sit in front of the computer and see what you mean.”

Free Pictures | acobox.comremote computer access software, where I could literally take a look at his work computer from my home, through the internet. I could not just access, but control his PC in order to set things right. In that sense, it is much more complex than merely sharing a file. On a larger scale, IT departments of companies sometimes have capability to do this. Of course, Proxynetworks.com has software that is set up for one computer to act as the master with many host computers. Of course you could also purchase software for a peer to peer situation, a master with many host computer, or more than one master computer.

I could sign up for a free trial, and later on, purchase the software. It may seem steep to someone to think about purchasing this sort of software it for personal use. However, I have considered the amount of money through the year normally spent on doodads for my dad, and have also weighed the number of hours of work he loses from describing a “thingamabob.” It is probably the best investment I can make. After all, there was also a “crunching noise” that is equally as nebulous. Since, I have come to find out that the “crunching noise” was just the computer loading and is nothing to fear. No rodents have taken residence.

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