Gaming for Good:
“Online game seeks to empower Africa. Some people think of online gamers and see gaunt loners huddled in dark rooms, the sad blue glow of the computer screen on their faces as their lives pass them by. Game designer Jane McGonigal sees “superheroes” with untapped potential that can be used to fix vexing real-world problems…”
Extreme philanthropy
“Brian Jones has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, walked across the Sahara Desert and skied to the North Pole, all to raise money for needy groups in Fredericton. But this winter, he simply …

This World AIDS Day I was stuck at home writing a paper for one of my classes, which meant that I missed out on all the World AIDS Day events happening around the city :(.  At least my paper was an evaluation of meal delivery programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, so it was certainly relevant to the day!
I decided that during my breaks I would try to take action online and in my neighbourhood.  These are the results of my “virtual” World AIDS Day recognition - it worked out …

This week’s Featured Event is Dream Now’s Bar Philanthropy.  Don’t miss it - they’re piloting crowdsourced fundraising offline and in the flesh.  2.0 meets real life.  Here’s the premise…
Step One:
Register at the door, pay $30 ($25 event token + $5 donation to the Millennium Network), and receive a $25 token and a token worth 3 hours of your time.
Step Two:
Have a drink and talk to people while you find, create or pitch an idea.

Step Three:
Give tokens to ideas you like and collect tokens from people who like your idea.
Step Four:
At …

LECTURE:  From Margin to Mainstream: Refashioning women’s ‘informal’ sector work in the Philippines
November 4, 2009. 5:30PM - 6:30PM. Ontario College of Art and Design Auditorium. 100 McCaul St. http://apache.ocad.ca/events_calendar/eventdetail.php?id=1782
LECTURE: Citizenship and Immigration: Toward a Liberal Model
Thursday November 05. 4-6 pm. Combination Room, Trinity College, 6 Hoskin Avenue. http://webapp.mcis.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?eventId=7935

LECTURE: Securing The Future Of Great Apes In The Congo Basin
Lecture by primatologist Crickette Sanz. Thursday, November 5. 6-8 pm. $10, stu pwyc. Northern District Library, 40 Orchard View. 416-462-1039.
FILM SCREENING: The War On Democracy
Toronto-Danforth NDP film screening and discussion. Thursday, November 5. …

Last month I attended Case Camp, a social media “unconference” in Toronto. A meet up of social media professionals who heard talks from internet experts and enthusiasts speaking about the internet today and a bit about tomorrow. I’m bringing this up on Blog Action Day on Climate Change because I had a discussion with Trevor from EarthRangers about this blog and I mentioned that neither Kate or I feel that we are experts on environmental issues and so it hasn’t been a focus in a lot of our blog posts. …

If you’re anything like me, your wallet is full of points cards.  The creepy big-brother side of these cards is that they collect all sorts of data on your shopping habits, but on the other side, many of them have partnered with local charities to allow individuals to donate their points to a good cause.
Shoppers Drug Mart has a list of charities, including the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation here in Vancouver, that use donated shoppers points for lots of different things.  The Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation uses the points to …