NOTE: If you’re looking for free money, this is NOT the place to ask for it. If you read this post, you’ll see that it’s actually about an organization making grants to political groups, not to individuals. There’s no point in your posting here about what you personally need money for. Also, please be careful about posting personal information such as where you live or what your phone number is. You shouldn’t be putting that information out on the Internet so casually.

The Sunlight Network, the non-profit behind Congresspedia and other initiatives, has some mini-grants to give out:

Today, the Sunlight Network (the 501(c)(4) affiliate of the Sunlight Foundation) is announcing a series of “mini-grants” of $1,000 to $5,000 for nonprofit organizations and non-affiliated groups who have creative and innovative approaches to strengthening the relationship between Members of Congress and the citizens they represent.

“It’s a critically important time for citizens to engage. The Sunlight Network wants to enable citizens and community groups to implement the most creative of their ideas that relate to our mission,” said Zephyr Teachout, National Director for the Sunlight Network. “We believe there are many would-be incubators for change who just need a little help, and part of our mission is to provide that financial assistance.”

To apply, send mail to zephyrsunlightfoundation.com [Tags: politics sunlight_foundation grants]

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Chinese blogger and film-maker Wu Hao — a US permanent resident — has been released after five months in a Chinese prison. This comes after a blogosphere campaign, Congressional letters, a WSJ editorial, an op-ed by Rebecca MacKinnon in the Washington Post, and more. Who knows what led the Chinese to let him out, or even what led to them imprisoning him?

But Hao Wu is free. It is a good day. [Tags: hao_wu china]

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Microsoft Money for the past month has been refusing to update from my bank accounts. I spent a good long time on the phone with Bank of America, and they finally shunted the blame onto Money. Yeah, sure.

So, today I called Money. (Money offers unlimited free phone support, which is a fantastic policy, and unfortunately necessary; I’ve certainly cost Microsoft more than I paid them.) “Bank of America says it’s your fault, and I’m sure you’re going to say it’s their fault,” I began.

“Nope, it’s our fault,” said the cheerful support rep.

It seems Money’s servers have been down for a month. And, according to the cheerful support rep, there is no estimated time for when they’ll be reliable again. You can, however, manually import your bank statements.

A month and no estimate of when they’ll be up?? Stunning. [Tags: microsoft quicken]

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Can it really be that among the 20 billion pages that Google indexes, not a single one contains the phrase “won’t switch windows”? A search for that phrase, in quotes, yields nuthin’, and I have the screen capture to prove it…

Yahoo turns up a mere 7. Msn turns up 3.

This seems to me to be weird.

(In case you’re wondering, I’m having trouble today switching from one window to another, in XP. Clicking on inactive Windows doesn’t activate them, unless I go to Task Manager first. I don’t have to do anything in Task Manager, just open it via ctl-alt-del. It’s intermittent and annoying. I’m guessing it’s something that’s starting up automatically. I’m working on it…) [Tags: google]

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I saw A Scanner Darkly last night and thought it was worth seeing if only for the hammy delight of Robert Downey, Jr. But, I left wondering why Richard Linklater insisted on “rotoscoping” it, turning live action into animation. It’s a difficult process and not nearly as automated as I’d thought. The effect is definitely cool and trippy, but it sure is distracting: “I wonder how they did the hair?” “Why is the tow truck so realistic when everything else is cartoony?” “Does that really count as a nude scene?” It actually made part of the plot (no spoilers ahead!) harder to follow. Would it have been a better movie if it had been left unpainted? If not, does the paint mask flaws in its construction?

By the way — and this too is not a spoiler — our daughter pointed out that the quote from Philip K. Dick that ends the movie seems at odds with the movie’s thrust. Or maybe the movie is just too far out for a square like me. Daddy-o. [Tags: a_scanner_darkly animation movies philip_k_dick richard_linklater]

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Kayak.com, the cheap tickets site co-founded by my friend Paul English, is starting to run ads on national cable. You can see them all here, or you can submit your own. You can even use an Ad Guru wizard to create one. (At the moment, the wizard isn’t working for me.) Kayak will air the winning one and give the creator a free trip to NYC.

What do I like about this? First, some of the ads are pretty damn funny — I particularly liked the NYC and Amsterdam ones. Second, they don’t aim for “mass penetration” by being totally safe — although they do balance the Cheney ad with a Dean-Gore-Kerry one. Third, they’re letting some bottom-up air into the system. Fourth, they’re upfront about why they’re doing this. [Tags: ads tv kayak paul_english marketing video]

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AKMA writes that Margaret suggests that resumes and their evil academic twins, the cv, ought to begin with blurbs from friends and colleagues. Jeneane thinks it’s a Big Idea.

I think it’s a natural, too, if only because it’s so corruptible. How are you going to say no to a friend even if you don’t feel comfortable endorsing her? All the awkward asymmetries of social relationships will come into play, from “I adore you as a friend, but I’m not sure I can say anything really helpful about you as a tree surgeon” to “You actually think I like you???” Anything as uncomfortable as this is sure to take off.

And then won’t it inevitably spawn a set of people who are looked to for their honesty and incorruptible natures? So, yes, at long last we end up with people who review people for a living. “Roger Ebert gives my life a big thumbs up! ‘A thrill ride,’ says Jeffrey Lyons. ‘Be sure not to miss the surprise ending!'”

Note to self: Must develop a microformat for Life Reviews(tm). [Tags: blurbs marketing reviews]

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I’m posting this not because many of you care but in hopes that it’ll help the topic show up in Google for someone who does.

I’m working on publishing my kids’ novel, My Hundred Million Dollar Secret, at Lulu.com. There’s lots to like about Lulu, but not their instructions for how to use an ISBN number (well, technically “number” is redundant in the phrase “ISBN number) with their Global Distribution package. The problem is that it seems like you have to submit your finished book and cover in order to get an ISBN, which means that you can’t include the ISBN in your finished book and cover. So, I posted on the lulu forums and Elmore Hammes, a Lulu power poster, replied. Here’s what he said:

[NOTE: I just went through the process and have posted my own step-by-step guide – July 27, 2006]

There is quite a bit of information on this in the HELP pages and the Forums, and it can be confusing. Here’s a sort-of-lucid summary for using Global with a wraparound cover:

1. Go through publish process, uploading your interior document and your wraparound cover.
2. After reviewing the press-ready PDFs for the interior and exterior to your satisfaction, go to the PUBLISH tab and click on the Global Distribution link next to your title.
3. Complete check out. Your book should now have an ISBN number assigned to it when you look at it in the project list.
4. Edit your interior document to add the ISBN to the copyright page.
5. Edit your cover art to add an ISBN box.
6. Step back through the publish process for your book (I think you might have to hit the “DENY” button on the first page to put it in a status where you can edit it) and upload the new interior document and the new cover art with ISBN numbers
7. Carefully review the press-ready PDF and Cover art files to your satisfaction.
8. When ready, order a proof copy.
9. Even MORE carefully review proof. If happy, click APPROVE and wait 6-8 weeks for it to get to all the booksellers’ databases. Future changes will cost you a $79 revision fee.

Hope that helps.

It does indeed. Thanks, Elmore!

[Tags: lulu isbn]

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Liz thinks systems that let students rank professors tend to be skewed, unreliable and nasty … and important. An interesting discussion follows.

It’s a problem. There are lots of reasons to be disappointed in a professor, including some that don’t actually reflect on the teacher as a teacher. Some courses that are unpleasant experiences may yet be worthwhile. So what do you do? The systems seemingly have to be anonymous if they’re to work, although one of Liz’s commenters suggests tying them into social networks. Having them structured more like discussion boards so that students can respond to one another’s comments might help. More metadata about the students might enable a system to note that a particular professor is rated low by science majors but high by humanities majors, low by women but high by mean, and maybe even low by C students but high by A students (??).

The truth is, I don’t really know what might help. [Tags: liz_lawley teaching social_software ]

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Bill writes about Counterfeit Chic, a blog by Susan Scafidi that “argues for greater IP protection of cultural products.” Bill says he was skeptical about European extensions of copyright protection to perfumes, but:

After a little reflection, I am not quite so sure. Scafidi (and [Bill’s friend Jessica] Silbey) both anticipate this obvious reaction, and they both point out a few things. One of the most thought-provoking is the observation that the areas they see as potentially under-protected are often those oriented toward or perpetuated by women: fashion, cooking, folklore.

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