This may be small but it’s pretty cool, too. After some heaver, more function-oriented, posts about things like designing interactivity for people who are illiterate in developing countries and after reading this recent report on how mobile phones are used in Africa, why not post about something that allows people to be creative, too? So, go check out Ivan Poupyrev’s 12Pixels project. 12Pixels’ interface lets people with regular mobile phones (ie. with just a numeric…
 
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The use of technology, especially mobile phones, in poor and developing countries presents huge opportunities for designers. Mobile banking and microfinancing, as just two examples, can help the poor and unbanked with financial services and business support. But it was only after seeing the work by Indrani Medhi that it I grasped one of the deepest underlying design challenges: many of these people are illiterate. In fact there are over two billion people, worldwide, who…
 
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I’ve been thinking a lot about giving, charity and philanthropy lately. Maybe it was realizing that the time I was spending playing We Rule wasn’t really helping anyone. I know there are plenty of great websites for all sorts of great causes – but was there a way that I could help others when I was out and about? Was there something I could do, periodically via my phone, that could help others? So, I…
 
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In the latest issue of Fast Company magazine there’s a fascinating article, ‘A’ Is for App, on how technology may unleash childhood creativity and transform education.  The article begins with the usual stories about how children, often just a year old, are naturals with the iPhone. Simple yet playful apps help them build vocabulary and learn basic concepts. For example, First Words lets kids move tiles on the screen to spell words, and touch crayons to…
 
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The recent earthquake in Haiti is devastation beyond belief. But it’s been so encouraging to see how interactive technologies are playing a part to help those in need. The American Red Cross’ mobile giving program, where anyone can txt “Haiti” to 90999 and automatically donate $10 to Haiti relief, has been a big success. [You may want to pause and do this yourself right now.] They’ve posted information on how much has been given ($3…
 
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