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While I'll think I'm probably on your side... You have to be aware that it's not always that simple. Donations come with stops attached and/or legitimises the donor.

For example, MSF recently had to reject 1 million vaccines, on principal: http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

It's unfortunate that Americans have to choose between trump and Clinton. But it's obvious they have to choose Clinton.

Show me ONE doctor who doesn't adhere to the concept of I don't give a fuck unless I'm making money.

Ask and ye shall receive: http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

You are confusing altruistic people with your own personal selfishness, my dear Coward.

The efficiency of the US military's checking of information is well reported. http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

Oh, and to correct:

""The bombing continued for more than 30 minutes after American and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington were first informed,” the organization said in a statement."

No, they actually said:

The bombing in Kunduz continued for more than 30 minutes after American and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington were first informed

The deletion of "in Kunduz" was clearly done to make it sound like the US kept hitting the hospital again and again; there is no other reason someone would have removed that from the sentence.

Funny, I had come across that a couple days ago and was about to post it.

At least they're ahead of Doctors Without Borders, I hear they didn't build any permanent residences in Haiti. Where does all the money go?

Medical treatment.
http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

Haiti had a massive cholera problem (as a result of cholera being introduced to the island by UN workers).

MSF had a detailed report on what they did with the money.

Emergency Response After the Haiti Earthquake: Choices, Obstacles, Activities and Finance
Six months after the earthquake
Six months after Haiti’s January 12 earthquake, MSF describes the organization’s largest ever emergency response.
http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

Funny, I had come across that a couple days ago and was about to post it.

At least they're ahead of Doctors Without Borders, I hear they didn't build any permanent residences in Haiti. Where does all the money go?

Medical treatment.
http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

Haiti had a massive cholera problem (as a result of cholera being introduced to the island by UN workers).

MSF had a detailed report on what they did with the money.

Emergency Response After the Haiti Earthquake: Choices, Obstacles, Activities and Finance
Six months after the earthquake
Six months after Haiti’s January 12 earthquake, MSF describes the organization’s largest ever emergency response.
http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

Another good one is MSF (Doctors Without Borders).

http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

Yes, and as the original Pro Publica article said, MSF collected money for Haitian operations, and then told people not to send any more money because they had enough money. They don't need money. Their main need is for competent personnel. When a crisis hits, MSF is swamped with volunteers, and they have to separate the competent volunteers with experience in crisis work, from the well-meaning inexperienced volunteers who will just create more problems.

When's the last time you heard a charity say they had enough money?

The Red Cross OTOH had meetings where the executives referred to it as a great fund-raising opportunity.

The Red Cross is a parking lot for incompetent, ideologically biased political appointees, like Elizabeth Dole, who among other things edited the AIDS education manuals to eliminate anything that would offend the Christian right, like homosexuality. http://www.thenation.com/artic... http://www.nytimes.com/1996/05...

OTOH, the staff below them includes a lot of dedicated, competent people, which is why they're always blowing the whistle to the press.

Another good one is MSF (Doctors Without Borders).

http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

If Slashdot's editorial duty is to emphasize news items based on their humanitarian importance, it fails with every article that isn't about death, poverty, slavery, etc. Of course, then it wouldn't be a tech website and we probably wouldn't visit it, so that all is fairly moot. This is about Dan Fredinburg because he was relevant to tech and known in our community (and he's certainly worth remembering as a person as well, regardless of what else is in the news). It's not here because it was the most important thing to happen in the past week.

I think it's on us to give the events in Nepal their due emphasis. Personally, I have donated to Doctors Without Borders, which is sending medical aid. I invite anyone else to do the same, and maybe to bring up the topic with family, friends, and coworkers.

But I am very glad and thank you for remembering the other Nepali. Maybe if we let the editors know that we would like them to setup a donation button or organize something in that vein so we can help out as a community, they would oblige.

What sources are those? The lady inside the tent says it's set up as a ward adjacent to the building and is unheated: http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

There was a piece on NPR a few days ago that said that the Doctors Without Borders people use a buddy system like this - and despite having hundreds of people on the ground in Africa for a month or more, have only had three staff infections.

I heard that too, so I went looking for more information.

October 04, 2014: Since March 2014, 16 MSF staff members contracted the virus; nine of them have died.

The "three" that NPR reported is probably Doctors Without Borders international staff, with the other infections being local staff.

https://donate.doctorswithoutb...

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF)
http://www.doctorswithoutborde...

Effective, sustainable anti-poverty measures begin here.

Poverty-stricken countries remain poor because they cannot produce enough to sustain themselves. They cannot produce enough because their workforce is sick. Give them medicine and you break that cycle without putting local farmers or manufacturers out of business. Doctors without borders is a good start.

Don't try to trump your profession up like you're better than anyone else. You weren't volunteering. You were doing it for the paycheck, just like everyone else. And despite your claim that you don't judge people, you did it all over your post.

If you want to pat your own back, do a few years with some real heroes and get back to me.

Doctors without borders does a lot of work all over the world to deliver medicines and necessities to people in need. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Yeah yeah, tinfoil hat "Big Pharma is evil!" conspiracies.

Yeah, yeah, call something a "conspiracy" an we're all right again!

At least they can provide paid reviewed "studies" and clinical trials regarding their treatments, which is a fuckload more than these quack assholes can do.

http://www.naturalnews.com/028194_Scott_Reuben_research_fraud.html
http://blog.bioethics.net/2009/05/merck-makes-phony-peerreview-journal/
http://classic.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55671/
http://classic.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55679/
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Drugs/story?id=7577646&page=1#.TtV4Xzg6e-M
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=2066
http://www.medcitynews.com/2011/07/fda-says-cro-cetero-faked-trial-data-pharmas-may-need-to-redo-tests/
http://jeps.efpsa.org/blog/2011/11/01/lessons-from-a-fake-study/
http://www.rense.com/general66/newhigh.htm

In short - "clinical trials" and "peer-reviewed" in pharmacology are mainly just buzzwords to make shit look legit.

We're talking about their money and of course it's their choice how to spend it, but everyone please remember that the "catastrophe-struck country" is the fourth richest country in the world (even the third one, if we count individual EU states separately).

They don't need money, much less having stuff physically delivered there. If you really want hundreds of Geiger counters in Japan, don't buy them in the US and have them delivered to Japan, just send the money there and buy the thingy things directly in Japan (hint: they're probably manufactured in China anyway, think about the two alternatives on a world map).

And to the people that donated to this cause: that's your money but I assure you that there are way better ways to donate it. Like letting people that are actually experts on the subject decide which part(s) of the world need it more at any given time.

'Doctors Without Borders' is going to be giving up their domain sooner than they anticipated...

"[Doctors Without Borders] has already treated more than 1,000 people on the ground in Haiti following Tuesday's earthquake, but the needs are huge. An inflatable hospital with operating theatres is expected to arrive in the next 24 hours." https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Take a look at Doctors without borders. They have got a new york field office. More info here
I offered to volunteer for web-design work and I got a mail stating that they will get in touch with me if they require one in the future.

Actually many doctors (for instance) work for free or at least very little money.

I write free software but I'm not paid for writing software in general, I have another, academic job. I would not work for a software company anymore: I have done it in the beginning of my career and it would pain me to recall the experience.

The software I wrote is useful to a small subset of people, who would probably not pay (much) for what I did, but I know my software is used a little over the place and I'm happy with this.

Writing it was fun, even writing the documentation. I spend on it the time I can afford, which is not much these days with family obligations.

Many people in F/OSS are like me. They contribute to the level of their talent, time and commitment, mostly for fun, but every little bit helps.

conspicuous consumption

FTFA:

"Caputo: Here we are, a company founded on improving the quality of the experience of the internet and trying to make the world a better place."

Come on... The company is founded on maximizing revenue for ISPs. Who does he think his audience is? Oh, and I didn't realize bandwidth throttling was improving everyone's quality of life! And here I thought others were doing this. Congratulations on finding a way to make the world a better place and line your pockets at the same time!

Hey I am glad you mentioned doctorswithoutborders...

Did you know...
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/volunteer/field/personnel.cfm?id=2531
*************
Benefits Offered to MSF Field Staff
Accommodation in New York City and Europe during briefings and debriefings

Starting monthly salary of $1300 gross

Comprehensive medical, disability and life insurance coverage

Round-trip transportation

Room and board in project country

Per diem during assignment in local currency

Reimbursement of mission-specific vaccinations

Letter of support for student loan deferment

Payment of interest on student loans after first field assignment and for six months thereafter
*************

Did you happen to read the bit about the money? Or how about the bit where you get room and board, and insurance, and a host of other benefits.

Gee does that mean Open Source and its problems were accurately pinpointed by Bill Gates... Hmmm...

You can't just hire a bunch of folks who spent 10 years going to school and ask them to produce something for "free".

You can't? What are these people doing then?

Ok, let's push the analogy a little more.

Also, that electron microscope or that gene sequencer does not grow on a tree.

This is an interesting argument, but really -- what are you getting with that over-the-top equipment? Bizarre drugs with side effects that kill you. A lot can be achieved without that fancy gear.

Remember... you can't expect a Finnish undergrad to invent an OS that takes over the world either. Quality people do find a way to express themselves.

What measures should be taken to prevent the 15-30 dead school children and whose fault is it that the kid took a black market AK-47 to school?

The first should lie with the parents who allowed the kid access to the black market while he was having difficulties. The second, though, lies with the school social structure that creates the difficulties.

I don't think the schools should replace the ATF. Sometimes a fucking crazy lunatic will snap and go on a rampage. An incredibly small amount of bullied kids turn into homicidal lunatics, while majority do not. Let's skip the arguments about slippery slopes in security vs. freedom.

I was the kid who snapped- though my weapon of choice was gasoline-soaked notepaper and hitting a locker, but it's really the same thing. ANY human being will, when pushed over the edge, react. I guarantee that if I had you in my control I could reapeatedly verbally attack you until you reacted- and all that is needed is for you to be forced to be in my presence for a few hours a day. The Internet just expands that capability a little bit.

15-30 kids is a very small amount of people. An unfortunate tragedy that is the price of living the way we do. There are a vast number of ways we can reduce the number of deaths in the world, and they all bear their costs. Thus, a reasonable accounting of return on investment must be made. A human life has a price and we make that decision constantly.

True enough- so why jump on the school for making a policy that costs them next to nothing, yet could catch these situations early enough so that the victim isn't pushed beyond the breaking point?

For example, the computers we're posting on slashdot with could have saved an african kid from death. But we don't care. We like our computers. It takes about $200 bucks to fix a cleft palate so that a kid can live a normal life instead of being ostracized, maybe murdered for not having a minor surgery that would leave them looking completely normal except for a small scar on their lip.

True enough- though I do both (part of my charitable giving is to Doctors Without Borders who do such surgeries. However, I'd point out, that you're missing something: those 15-20 lives might not mean very much to you, but they can result in a lawsuit that takes the next year's operating budget from a school that is charged with protecting those lives.

That's the cost of a human life. Some human lives cost more than others, proximity is a huge factor in the value of a life. 15-30 dead kids vs. inconveniecing many many millions of kids.

You'd have a bigger inconvience if your school board had to shut down early for the year, depriving you of an education, because a lawsuit took away the operating budget. Or if you ended up losing your computer anyway because your parents had to pay an extra $1000 a year in property taxes for added liability insurance for the schools.

Buying our way out of inconveniences with human lives isn't a new decision to be made, it's one that we've already made by living our lifestyle. Even living as a hermit in the woods has an economic cost of the lives that could have been saved by volunteer work.

The problem is, you're not talking about mere inconviences, or mere human lives- there's a whole other level you're not understanding in the responsibilities of a school board.

Ok, I'll bite: Every non-profit organization that depends on private contributions does that, and to a much larger extent. Think of the annoying pledge drives on NPR, and how much time, money, and effort is spent on keeping normal operations running during a pledge drive. Or if you check Doctors Without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate), you'll see that they spend about 13% of their budget on fund-raising.

Why would a community collaborative project such as Wikipedia even need sponsorship, other than bandwidth fees? (And they don't go through $750K a year in bandwidth fees). There should be little or no administrative overhead, and I've never seen an advertisement for Wikipedia (and don't know a reason why I should expect to).

While freedom of information is a great goal, it's on of the few that I feel doesn't require large monetary contributions, but rather large intellectual contributions.

I'll keep giving my money to Child's Play, The Red Cross, and Doctors without Borders.

Doctors Without Borders usually gets a good chunk of my donations. I think they do great work all over the world, with little overhead...

Let me second this. Médecins Sans Frontières staff routinely work under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions, sometimes harassed by contending governments, warlords, and bandits. This is an organization made up of heroes.

They were also the only (at least the only that I heard of) charity that publicly announced when they had received enough for the Tsunami effort. Though they took a lot of heat for this announcement from other charities, their spokesman indicated that people had to be confident that the organization's integrity was beyond reproach.

I found this very impressive and it encouraged me to donate to them for other causes.

As to the wisdom of spending $50k on a cat - any cat - I'd say that it depends a lot on your overall financial picture.

Put a needy kid through college...or get a kitten.
Supply starving villagers with a herd of cattle...or get a kitten
Save a child from starving to death...or get a kitten

Regardless of how much you earn, I don't see how blowing money of a frivoulous project like this could ever be called wise.

Doctors Without Borders.

What are you talking about? I'm not talking about Tickenest, or anyone, taking independent action in the name of the U.S., or in my name.

I'm talking about him, personally, taking action to solve a problem that he, personally, perceives -- on his own terms and with his own resources, representing himself, taking responsibility for his actions.

And yes, it most definitely *is* in the interest of Americans to act based on their own conceptions. That's what people do.

I'd much rather have that than a group of people implementing foreign policy based on the conceptions of a right-wing nutjob with a messianic complex -- in my name, no less. I'd feel much better if the people of Iraq knew that the occupation of Iraq was not being in my name.

People should be able to act on their own, and face the consequences of their own actions -- not force other people to act in their stead and die for it.

These efforts can and are being done both collectively and voluntarily through organizations like The Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, International Crisis Group, and scores of others if you care too look. I don't know of any armed groups that act in defense of helpless people, but there should be. I'd much rather support that than what happened at Abu Ghraib.

The point is that there is a bulk of organizations with history and a wealth of experience that works with volunteers and donations that practice what what you call "foreign policy" -- not in the name of government, but just because they want to do good in the world, and care enough to do something about it. It *could* be done. The infrastructre and experience is there.

I think it's a good thing. I'd like to see more of it.

And we also sit around talking about technology being developed to help the disabled. This article is one such example. The first paragraph of cyberkinetics' website specifically addresses treating nervous system disorders.

You seem to be really caught up on your idea of "everyone is selfish". My comment about selfishness was addressing your argument about economic motivation. Could I have possibly been saying that just because there isn't a profit to be made (and for sure there is in this) doesn't mean people won't do something to help others? Ever hear of doctors without borders?

To address the other type of selfishness that you digress into, apparently there are people who will give more than just a finger for people they dont' know. They're called the armed forces.

Funny, I stumbled on the same paragraph but for different reasons.

I agree with the author that little hard science is being done on the shuttle or ISS that can't be handled with automation; this recommends cutting funding, yet the author turns around and proposes spending money to put man in space for its own sake -- what happened to the interest in science? Science aimed at keeping man is space is unnecessary if having man is space is unnecessary.

I find, "Such an adventure would resonate with a world beset by wars and woes" deadly condescending. You know what would resonate with the world? Getting rid of some of those "wars and woes." Think a cure for AIDS, or even malaria. New infrastructure for transportation and commerce. Or universal drinkable water, not to mention food. Or a thousand other challenges that we can do, with enough money and labor and, yes, science/technology, and which we really should tidy up before we reach for the stars -- by "reach" I mean pursue projects that are about entertainment more than science or commerce.

The thing is, we really do care about helping mankind more than distracting it, if the problem is in front of us (e.g., Nobel Peace Prize winner Doctors Without Borders). Space travel only wins when everything in the abstract.

Apollo stands as one of mankind's greatest achievements. There's no need to one-up it, and there's no need to live in space. We haven't conquered living on Earth.

There's more than enough injustice in real life, and you're wasting your time whining about this?!?!

• Amnesty International
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• American Civil Liberties Union
• Oxfam International
• Doctors Without Borders
• Habitat for Humanity International

The company I work for donated money in my name for charity.
I suggest you donate to a good cause too.
Here are some links with information:
American red cross
Doctors without borders

Merry Christmas.

There are a number of groups working against government terrorism and torture and trying to stop the damage from wars.
Medecins sans Frontieres, aka Doctors Without Borders" is an international medical relief group. The Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines is a related organization.

You could use these to establish a massive network of weather monitoring stations. Put one station in the center of each 10,000 square mile grid and get constant updates for an array of environmental data:
temperature, windspeed, CO2 concentration, Ozone level, humidity, precipitation, pH of precipitation, barometric pressure, seismic activity, InfraRed radiation, etc.

Feed the data collected over the remaining life of the satellites into NOAA's new supercomputer and maybe we could develop a weather model that predicts hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, (maybe even earth quakes and volcanoes) etc. weeks, or even months in advance. This would help prevent the loss of tons of crops and thousands of lives a year. And perhaps indentify potentially harmful longterm trends (like global warming or ozone depletion) in time for corrective action to be taken. The large re-insurance companies like Lloyds of London would likely provide a substantial amount of funding for such a venture.

All this could be done with very little bandwidth. Just because you can't stream video, or play Quake over an data connection doesn't mean its worthless. NASA is still getting data back from satellites it launched in the 70's that only transmit at around 2400 bps, it doesn't mean they no longer bother to listen.

----

Another idea would be to give free phones to UN and NGO workers (For example, Doctors without Borders (MSF), or Oxfam) in isolated locations. They could then request supplies specific to a given crises based on what they find in the field like the need for seeds of a specific crop, or vaccines for a specific disease.