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Where Can One Find Computer Related Charity Work?
LS asks: "For a while now, I've been trying to find work that utilizes my programming skills to do more than just help a company win in the market, make me money, and maybe even provide enjoyment. I'd like to contribute to the well-being of humanity and maybe leave a lasting mark as well. I'm working for a start-up that looks like it's about to fold. Can anyone point me to some resources for finding charitable organizations that need computer work, anywhere in the world?" I think that a quite a few of us who wouldn't mind devoting some hackin' time to a good cause. What's the best way to go looking for organizations who need the help? Updated!
Update: 07/15 05:15 PM by C :Miniluv sent in this helpful tidbit on this issue: "In response to the Ask Slashdot article about Charity Work and Technology, I went digging and came up with TechVolunteer. They don't have any searching or volunteer stuff listed yet, but they say the site is under developement. Maybe some encouragement might help them along?"
However, if you're not the type to get off your ass (:-), Habitat for Humanity folks say that it's always easy to get people to show up for the glamorous parts of building a house - there's other hard boring work to be done preparing for it, and there's a lot of need for money. Send them a check, or Donate Online using credit cards.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Hands On San Francisco is an organization that coordinates volunteers for community service projects. There are related organizations in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Washington DC. They're not a place to find a high-computer-skills job, but they do need volunteers, and high-tech companies in the city are welcome.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
I guess this makes senses if you really believe Africa is all the same (ie populated entirely by rat infested grass huts), all over, and needs nothing but tonnes of free food and past-their -sell-by-date medicines.
Its not and it doesn't. Many areas in African states are battling to make a successful transition to a (relatively) modern economy due to lack of skills. The universities are unbelievably under-resourced particularly with technology (many aren't able to even offer CompSci or IT orientated courses). The exception here is South Africa (where I come from) but even here, the best IT skills leave for salaries in strong currencies. The US Peace Corps sent out English and economics teachers and lecturers throughout the 60s and 70s: now I suspect Africa could do with wave of tech teachers.
Sure there are people starving in Africa. But everybody knows that. What you don't get pictures on the cover of Time magazine of is small businesses in tourism, craft manufacturer etc who can't expand beyond occasional passerby tourist trade because there's no way to get the message out that not everyone here lives in rat-infested grass huts.
...weaned, as it were, on the webs of ritual... (Mervyn Peake)
How can people who don't live near a reservation help out through email or IRC?
--
send all spam to theotherwhitemeat@ropine.com
I have an idea too. I think we should fix the f*cking system in the first place. If people are being fed, clothed, and sheltered in this country of enormous wealth, our taxes are being misspent in the first place. It should stop going to corporate subsidies and instead the real people who need it.
I'd rather waste some extra money on lazy slackers, than deprive good people who really DO want to get ahead, any opportunity at all.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
And this is where, after reading all the fucking inane bullshit on slashdot for a year, I totally...
...contribute to it? Nice spew. Feel better now?
Have any of you stopped, EVEN ONCE, and considered what goes on outside the windows of your fucking Lexus?
Why yes, yes indeed. My wife drives it most days so I walk to work instead.
Many developing nations are opting to build universities and educate their people as a means of addressing poverty. I know of someone (a brother of a good friend) who is in Nigeria right now helping a university there set up its computer networks; he began by helping with the building construction, but since he knows a few things about setting up networks he was able to help out here as well.
I suppose you believe that these nations should be growing their economies by waiting for handouts from the West instead? I hate to break it to you, but unless the nation is rich in natural resources such as oil the West would just as soon forget what goes on in a developing country. Case in point: How many Tutsis were slaughtered in Rwanda in 1994? 800,000? IIRC, your "goddamned news" gave it scant coverage after the first week or so. The last time I checked this is on par with estimates for some famous Western genocides (such as the million or so who perished in the Armenian genocide), however suprisingly little effort was made on the part of the West to try to pacify the situation. We seem not to care much about people with brown or black skin who have no resources to peddle.
Opposition to technological investment by developing nations because "people are suffering" is silly and paternalistic. People are starving in the United States too, but we allow the tech industries to thrive--we even prefer "computers in the classroom" over investing in social programs to address these problems.
You could do what I do - volunteer at a local nursing home and help with their
"IT" needs. Of course, it's often not brain-salad work by any means. I'm
helping out at a Good Samaritan nursing home here in Minneapolis, and they are
just now putting their mailing list "online" (by which they mean, in a
computer database vs. on typewritten sheets of paper formatted to Xerox onto
mailing labels). The computer I work on is a 286 (probably almost as old as I am) running MS-DOS 5.0; the database is Alpha Three! Their mailing list is running about 1500 addresses which is more than twice the number of residents in the nursing home...kinda bizarre
-JD
Almost all free software is of use to charities. Linux, GnuCash, Apache, GIMP, Gnome, KDE, Resin, etc etc etc. Commercial versions of these packages would cost a charity upwards of $2000 or more. I suggest working on worthwhile free software projects and preaching free software to your local charities, and even offer to install it for them. Everyone who works on free software is working towards cheap, high-quality software for everyone.
Often you'll find that your city has a non-profit internet service provider, ie a 'FreeNet'. These are prime targets, and are always looking for sysadmins and people to hack code for them.
The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made.
In the UK, VOIS might be one to investigate, or FHIT, or Oneworld, or even VSO. The Information Works build database solutions for non-profit groups. There is also an Oxford based charity 'dedicated to strengthening the capacity of not-for-profit organisations in the third world through the use of information and communication technologies'.
Thse guys pioneered a 'circuit riders' concept in the US. The Technology Project in the US is 'dedicated to accelerating social and political progress by building technological capacity for community collaboration and citizen engagement'. For current news about technology and non-profits, see here.
There are several organisations working in 'developing' countries, such as this one working to 'accelerate socio-economic development and education through the use of emerging technologies in Ghana and throughout the African continent'.
In Australia, the Computerbank project works in redistributing computer equipment and providing training.
Many charity recruitment pages also list vacancies for IT professionals.
I have a big bunch of more academic links on ICT and non-profit management if anyone's interested.
-Rob
You should consider becoming a school sysadmin. a lot of schools would be more than happy to hire you for free if you can keep their more "adventuring" students from fscking up their win98 boxen. then again this is hitting on another ask slashdot about getting linux in the workplace. just my 2 cents
Can you imagine a MOSIX cluster of these?
I'm a Brit, so our "enclaves of poverty" aren't from quite the same source as yours, but we certainly have them.
You say you've managed to reduce unemployment and improve the local economy, by small-scale e-Commerce. Care to share any advice on how to do this ? I've worked on big over-funded startups that completely failed to make money, so I'm a little wary of suggesting eCommerce as a "guaranteed M M F" strategy.
What's the deal here ? What did you find worked, and what didn't ? What are the important skills to impart to people before they start the business ?
Don't SHOUT, for goodness sake. We can hear you perfectly well. The most important clue to get here is that the developing world is more than one place - it is not all the same, it contains most of the world's people, and most parts of it are neither dangerous nor starving.
Because of the diversity of circumstances in developing countries, different things are appropriate to different people. Just the same applies in the west - in your case a lesson in elementary geography would probably help most, whereas to a teenage gang member in the south bronx, it would be largely irrelevant.
In the same way, there are people in many parts of the developing world whose biggest obstacles to improving themselves are lack of access to communications technology and education. These tend to be people whose elementary needs for food and moderately stable governance are taken care of, but who are excluded from the process of development by distance or by social and economic forces. Some Amerind tribes throughout the Americas fit this bill, as do some people in India and the stabler parts of Africa.
On the other hand, for the people who fit the stereotyped image of third-worlders, and are either starving or in fear for their lives from bandits, terrorists, geurillas or governments (it can be hard to distinguish), teaching then about Linux would indeed be inappropriate.
Mouse is an orgnaization that gets computers into schools in and around New York City.
They need all sorts of people, proprammers, networking people, etc. I'm not sure whether they have operations in other parts of the country as well.
Hotnutz.com - Funny
There was an interview with William Gates Sr (Bill's dad). a front page story in the New York Times some months back. about the management of the big Gates charity umbrella organisation. He told of traveling to an African village with exactly one powerline and one outlet to it's name, essentially the totality of the village's electrical supply being used to run one desktop computer. It convinced him that we need to do more thinking in depth when it comes to working in situations like this.
There is an appropriate time to send the Geeks in. After you've gotten people decently fed, housed, and on the road to feeding or at least taking proper care of themselves. And there is probably at least one or more places in Africa that have reached that stage already and are ready for that next level. That's hopefully where the "Geek Team" are being sent.
What happened to him is that someone befriended him and mentored him. With that person's help he was able to increase both his math skills and his sellf-image to the point where he worked his way through university by tutoring math. He is now a registered engineer.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
Check out:
Geeks Into The Streets
and
The GITS Agape House Project
To see what you can do in your own neighborhood.
GITS was started by Jeff Covey (of freshmeat fame) and is currently supported by the UMBC-LUG. This is something that you can do in your own neighborhood with very little assistance.
-p.
I am an international development professional by trade. I am currently living and working in Egypt on a project not related to information technology.
While I understand that things like Internet access for developing countries may seem frivolous in the face of other very real and very pressing needs, there is sound theory behind it and I believe it is a critical piece of the international development puzzle today.
First of all, nobody is suggesting that we wire developing countries to the exclusion of other interventions. Geekcorps and similar initiatives do not exist in a development/aid vacuum; there are many other organizations working on other worthy projects in a wide variety of areas.
While starvation must of course be addressed when it occurs, it is not sufficient to simply hand out bags of food. Over the last several decades we have seen repeated cycles of starvation in the Horn of Africa which have not been alleviated in the long term - many argue they have been exacerbated - by the mass distribution of food and seeds. We need to look at what causes famine in order to end the cycle. And we can trace many of the complex, intertwined causes of famine back to general poor economic health.
Similarly, we see war and civil instability in many developing countries, and we really have no proven methodologies to end such conflicts once they have started. If we are to prevent them in the first place, we must look to their root causes, and again economics is high on the list.
It's early days yet, but the way that commerce is conducted has already been turned upside-down by information technology and other recent developments in globalization. This trend offers both great perils and great opportunities for the developing world. Developing countries shut out of the IT revolution risk falling even further by the wayside of the global economy. Not only will non-wired countries be locked out of the new economy, but they risk having their old standby exports priced out of the market by more efficient, wired producers. At the same time, this technology twists comparative advantage into new and exciting shapes, and developing countries with even a modest information infrastructure may be able to broaden the base of their economies and compete worldwide in sectors and geographical areas that were completely closed to them before.
Is IT a magic bullet that will end starvation and war? Of course not - there's no such thing. But it is a very important part of a larger equation of economic development that is our best hope of alleviating these and many of the other problems that face developing countries.
These initiatives are serious, they are very badly needed, and they deserve to be supported.
- Rob
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Give me liberty or give me something of equal or lesser value from your glossy 32-page catalog.
God only knows, the best thing we could do is leave this flaming wreck of a planet for somewhere else.
OTOH, local charities use computers as much as everyone else. They might need software installation, database management, custom software, spreadsheet gurus, or people to help out with their internet presence. Give them a call.
Try volunteering at a shelter or public job training center, teaching basic computer skills so that people can re-enter the modern workforce in a more meaningful position than hamburger flipper.
I've got a very simple answer for you: you don't. Or, if you want to, start one yourself. Computer users are just another section of today's unprecedentedly selfish upper and middle classes.
Think about this: last year alone, 15% of United States charities failed. That's a pretty amazing number. And when you think about how the economy was doing in that same period of time, that's pretty scary. Or how about the Silicon Valley area United Way chapter that almost failed until the Gates foundation stepped in at the last minute with the saving donation? Where are you going to find a richer group of people in the entire USA? You won't.
As far as I can tell, Bill Gates is the only computer user in this entire country who's done anything, and even he's still got billions and billions to spare. Hopefully he'll keep it up.
So, what can you do? Talk to Bill Gates or start your own effort, because you won't find any other help in this self-centered crowd.
If you do start your own project, please let us know. Hopefully you'll inspire at least another person or two to look beyond their own petty little world and do something useful.
The question, IMHO, is probably more one of which groups are going to have a positive impact, rather than just add to the problem. (A -lot- of aid to African nations, especially by rich nations and large organisations, has been designed to leave Africa deeper in debt, with even worse environmental chaos, and less ability to independently resolve it's own problems.)
If you want to make a positive difference in the lives of others, ask yourself what the difference will be like in 20, 30 or 40 years time. Will it still be a blessing, for having been, or a curse?
The danger a lot of well-meaning but totally brain-dead organisations pose can be worse than the original problem. Pest control, through the introduction of non-native animals, accounts for a significant percentage of animal extinctions in recent times, never mind the devastation to the local plant-life.
Computing hasn't (yet) caused the total destruction of an ecosystem, the obliteration of native life, or the extinction of a society. But shoddy products, hostile attitudes, stupidly high maintenance costs and corruption amongst more than a few companies that shall remain nameless does not fill me with hope that this situation will last long. Just because someone means well does NOT mean they'll do good.
This isn't meant to dissuade. It's simply a caution. You don't run programs off the Internet blind, so don't walk into a charity blinkered.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
I have some fair skill when it comes to Perl/CGI development, and would also like
:)
to do some work for charitable organisations, to see them get online and helping people on the net...
Perhaps there is a need for a bulletin board of some kind for this
- I wonder if Slashdot might be able to host this kind of forum out of the kindness in their blessed penguin hearts
Seriously, a moderated roster of some sort would be ideal - sort of like matching up a
jobsearch site with an employment wanted column... You could even have jobs
that fit a certain criteria emailed to you - each one with an ID number or something along those lines...
Anyone else think this could make more people sympathetic to the open source movement?
HelpGeeks - don't bother visiting, it's not worth it! Really!
You could offer your services as a teacher at a local homeless resource center or women's shelter offering job placement training. Or a youth center looking for volunteers -- help show the way to a new generation of geeks.
- lorie
I would suggest trying your local Goodwill. You probably know them better for having a store where you can buy donated stuff cheap. But, at least in my area, they also have classes in a variety of topics, including computers. If you feel up to it, you can always teach one of these.
And not only that, but you can donate your time in the Goodwill (or other charity) office helping with administrative computer stuff. When I was in college, during the summer when I didn't have classes, I used to work an 8 hour day on Wednesdays for nothing at Goodwill working on their administrative systems. Everything from PC support, to new installs, to supporting their database stuff. Chances are any charity in the area would love to have someone come in and help them out with this stuff for free (since most of the other people in the administrative office are paid).
-Todd
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"The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
Paul
One good place to look would be your local CoC. In most cases, your friendly neighborhood CoC will have a listing of local nonprofit groups, a lot of which probably need skilled folks to help out, or they may need your help themselves.
This is a Chao. A Chao says "Mu."
More than anything, a lot of teenagers just want to learn. Sure, they can get HTML classes somewhere, but that isn't going to help them become reliably employable.
I'd encourage people to find a highschool dropout (or one who is bordering on becoming one) or a teenage mother or just about any other kid who doesn't realize they have a future -- and whom others may think the same of -- and, if they have a desire to learn it, you can turn them from a life of being a couch potatoe earning 5 bucks an hour at the mini-mart into an upper-middle-class person with a career and a cool job title.
I've seen this done. To a degree, I'm that person -- only I had to help myself. But there are some other very talented and intelligent kids out there who have completely given up. I don't see a better way to offer your time and energy, computer-wise.
---
seumas.com
Walk into the office of your favorite local charity, ask them if they want volunteer computer help. If they don't, go to your next favorite. If you get as far as your third favorite local charity, I'd be very surprised.
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Open mind, insert foot.
I wish I had a link to the stats, but usually when the economy is good people in turn give more to charities they feel are worthwhile (it doesn't hurt that sometimes this is tax deductible..why be penalized for doing something good. Now donating just so you can get the deduction is another story). But the key is not forcing people to do it. Normally, that would just make someone not want to contribute and make the people on the receiving end ungrateful because they feel it's a right they deserve. I don't mind donating time/money to something that I feel is worthy. I feel great about doing it. Forced contribution (taxes, corporate United Way drives, etc.), just piss me off.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
BILL G. donated all that charity money about the time the lawsuits started hitting MS for Monopoly. Amazing the timing on that. He doesn't have a track record for prior donations. He also made the donation a huge publicity stunt. So even while donating he was trying to get something for his money. Again not what I'd call charitable intent.
It also doesn't hurt that many of his donations are gifts of software licenses, training, hardware, etc. Now whether it's the Gates Foundation purchasing them from M$ or M$ giving them away, M$ always comes out ahead with either more sales, a tax write off and more people locked into a M$ solution, which will result in more sales in the future.
I believe my employer gives old equipment to a business that refurbishes them for placement in schools, which in turn provides an opportunity for linux/bsd or companies like www.newdealinc.com to provide software on machines that won't run the latest Redmond bloatware.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
I work for a national animal/child protection organization - originally as an IS assistant, and now as an independant contractor for (mostly) database programming duties. I give them discounted rates, partly because I support the cause and partly because I can easily live on even half-rate pay and I want to build up more of a track record before soliciting work from for-profit corporations (and gouging the crap outta 'em!).
While my agency doesn't currently need anyone besides me, there are doubtless MANY charities in your area which are just getting by when it comes to computers. A lot of them are stuck with '486s and are far from fully leveraging their existing software. I bet most could really use a website revamp, or a migration of their donor database to something more robust than Access v2.0, or just a few Word macros to help them save some steps in printing address labels... all of which could be tax-deductible (at your usual rate) if you donate your time.
Look in the phone book, find something you can agree with, and give them a call. You can get more than a tax break - you can get some goodwill, letters of recommendation, broader experience, and some great networking contacts. And in my case, I get to visit an office where they allow pets, so there's lots of fun doggies to play with...
I'm surprised I haven't read more people mentioning something like this. While it's not the normal idea of charity, it's still providing people with information/technology that they might not otherwise be able to acquire. I would consider developing free/open source software donating to charity also. The FSF is technically a charity and they always need good coders and tech writers (the latter being more in demand). Sure, it might not directly help someone, but it can help make free software better and easier to use, which in turn can make it easier for charities or people without lots of funds able to afford the technology.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
You might not have to look farther than ones own church. When I was talking to my Elder's Quorum president tonight, he was talking about how bad of shape the church's computer is in. It got me thinking about what I could do to remedy the problem, either by fixing it, donating some of my computer empire at home, or even setting up a Linux machine for them. I'm doing the same thing for a relative that can't afford a machine either. Most of the time, one doesn't have to look very far to find a need and it's usually appreciated much more.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
I think you are looking at the problem backwards. Rather than look for computer related tasks that will go to charities - look for the charity and see if they have computer related work that needs to be done.
In this day and age, almost every charitable orginization has an online presence. Most use computers in their offices too I'm sure. It seems to me the best thing to do is find a charity that you like/agree with and then go to them asking if they need anything done. That way you know that you are working for a cause that you believe in.
What about setting up an ecommerce package so that they can take donations on the web? Who knows what they need - they do, but chances are that most will gladly take your help and work with you to come up with a good project if they don't have something immediate in mind.
That's what I think . . . of course if your real motivation is to help, it's possible that you could be the most help doing something else. Are you open to that possibility?
Don't you think having a free operating system and applications that don't require one to be on a corporate upgrade death(for your finances) march is a good idea for humanity? Many people here have mentioned setting up linux or using other open source tools to help charities do their jobs. These organizations often don't have the finances to pay for commercial software. They need good free software to do their job. It might not be directly helping the charities, but it will help them eventually. If one has coding talent, then put it to use helping people. Contributing to open source is just one way of doing that.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
Talk about ungrateful! So instead of having 7 people be able to access the web, write letters, etc, they went back to one machine. I'd rather work on a slow machine than have to wait until it's my turn for one that's probably not all that much faster. Even if it didn't have the plug in support that IE has, not every website requires IE or M$ only plugins (Thank God!) and would still be useful for those people who didn't need the plugin.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
It's not exactly charity, but the most fulfilling computer-related not-for-profit work I've done is to create a simple web page on stars and constellations. It started as a hobby, but it turned into a service when I put my email address on the page. For a while I was answering up to 50 email questions per week, mainly from students and curious adults. It had some ego-boo too (I was referenced in a textbook, and my pages are often linked from Astro Pic of the Day) but the best part is the gratitude I get from people whose questions I answered.
Lately, I've had to remove my email address from the page while I am finishing up my thesis (and to avoid spam), but I hope to get back to it soon.
If you have a particular area of knowledge or passion, share it with others online. It's rewarding in both you and your readers. A particular area that seems to be in BIG demand is online lesson plans for elementary school teachers. I used to get constant requests for such tools.
Actually find a couple people to moderate and run the sub-section. Offer a place for legit organizations and groups to ask for help and a place for geeks to over their help. Sort of a MonsterBoard for geek-good-samaritans. A place to talk about things, including special 'articles' that seem intersting. There's no limit to what a small effort Slashdot puts forward could do, considering the massive amount of energy and knowledge it has access to in its hundred thousand members.
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seumas.com
geekcorps is sending a corps of geeks to Africa sometime in the next few months...
2 1337 4 u!
It depends on why you're helping them. Going out and actually seeing people in need face to face and then helping them with things they need is a powerful experience. Sitting in a back office somewhere hacking PERL scripts pretty much isn't. Both have value. I'd suggest that if you're interested, you give both a try and *then* draw some conclusions.
Our foundation-sponsored, nonprofit site matches volunteers with local opportunities for free. We've already matched over 20,000 people with over 4,000 opps listed under "Computers and Technology", and there are over 20,000 others listed just in case you want to work with something else. Of course, if you want to volunteer to help US (Linux/Apache/JSP/MySQL), that would be great, too. ;) patrick(at)vaya.org
Even though I am a programmer by nature I while ago I did some charity as a sysadmin.
One of my family members helps out at a toy library for handicap children (the more young handicap children play the more they develop as they grow) that provides toys for families that have handicap children and little money. They have a computer network that they could never keep running. I started going in once a week and got it stable.
I'm not sure how much programming work there is out there but there is certainly alot of admin and teaching work that can be done.
"Do you think we could wipe out world hunger forever if scientists figured out how to make AOL's Free CD's edible?"-
http://www.wycliffe.org/computer/compjob.htm
--
"How many six year olds does it take to design software?"
dinner: it's what's for beer
Find something people need and do it. I do two websites voluntarily for experience, and they are extremely useful as far as job qualifications go. See my URL for the website in question. I also run a website for my local high school, which started out as an unofficial one (and still is) but is loved by faculty and staff. Do something for the community.
Furthermore, find something that could use your assistance, say a web page needing a better perl script, and offer your assistance there. If it's a small page devoted to a good cause then they'll graciously accept your help.
icqqm [ICQ:11952102]
"I'm working for a start-up that looks like it's about to fold. Can anyone point me to some resources for finding charitable organizations that need computer work, anywhere in the world?"
I'd say that you're doing charitable work right now. After all, isn't charitable work when you work your *** off, and don't get paid anything at the end?
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
One of the things that I have learnt in this role is the power of aspiration.
Most of the students at the hall of residence are from the country. They are from a lower socio-economic background and many are here on scholarships and bursaries. For the most part, they are all very smart and talented - but many have no goals or idea where they want to be.
As a tutor, I have the pleasure of telling these students about myself (it's always fun to talk about yourself :-). I've told them how I started like them with no money and bogged down in my university degree. I have also told them how I found something I loved doing (IT obviously) and how that motivated me. I have also told them how I fought to get into the industry that I wanted to be in (eg changed degrees, moved interstate, did work experience for free) because I believed in my goal.
And you know what, I know that several of the students that I have tutored have started to aspire to bigger things. These students aren't accepting that they are at the bottom of the heap, but that they too can have a goal and control where they go.
So like Seumas said, find a person who is desperate to learn, show them what they can do, encourage them, support them and most of all, show them what they talents could produce and where it could take them.
The reward for them is a whole new way to look at life.
Your reward is to know that you have made a difference to a person - which I think is one of the highest rewards on this planet.
The real problem is to make sure that help is always there for those who need it, while simultaneously instilling in people the notion that they cannot rely on that help.
If people think that they can rely on charity, some of them will, and it drags the system down. Therefore, I move that we set aside a portion of our income taxes for charity, and divide it up as follows: 25% health care, 25% housing assistance, 25% food and 25% for a massive disinformation campaign to convince the general public that the other 3 charities don't exist.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
That's not a reason not to use yer awesome godlike skillz for charitable work. If you don't want to go completely nuts, however, find something you're interested in, something you care about, and find somebody in that interest area that needs you.
The big causes are well served and well funded (and mostly indistinguishable from big business but for selling intangibles), but there's almost certainly some collection of idealists out there who share yourt views who will value and appreciate your contributions. Whatever the cause, from helping educate cute and fuzzy critters to the Toe Jam Liberationist front, there's a protest and/or advocacy group for everything these days. Find one whose rhetoric agrees with you and go to town.
I know whereof I speak; I get paid next to nothing for unholy working hours, and I don't care because I beleive in what I'm doing and I like my work. I can use some help, too. Anybody wanting to donate time, money, hardware, whatever to my cause (which thinks that limited, constitutionally proscribed governemnt, private property rights, and individual freedom are goals worth working for) have a look at our sites, and if you still want to help use the contact info to be found there.
...that needs some help getting spanish language software set up so that the kids can learn to use computers. They also need help setting up the computers in a safe power environment - mexican power isn't very stable. If you're seriously interested, send me email. Please don't just ping me out of curiousity - if everybody does that it'll take more time than me just helping them on my own... :'}
Anyway, look for your neighborhood nonprofits and get hired there and shape the future that way. At least you get paid (not as much as in the private sector, no stock options!!), and you have others that have the same objective.
I know I could be making 3 times what I am right now, but I believe in the work we do. And i'm in college so I can't work 40 hours.
Deepak
2) Hook up with organizations whose goals you support, either local or national. Most seem to be extremely underfunded, so computer expertise is way out of their budget. Attend a meeting or two, then offer your skills and ask if they know how you could help. Be ready for their being unprepared for your offer-- most have adjusted to shoestring computer operations, if any at all, and many can't even think in terms of how computers can help. But computers almost always can! (C'mon, you're a programmer, you can make almost any office run smoother.) So spend time at their office to examine their processes and what you could automate. Many of these places run more on individual initiative than on strong management. Be sure you make things easier, more than you get in the way.
My own choices would be organizations helping children, the homeless, housing (I'm in San Francisco), environmental causes, media awareness/empowerment groups, certain causes and political groups, and many others. But I'm not proselytizing here (beyond encouraging volunteerism in general); choose organizations you want to help, according to your own values. If the first ones you choose are so lucky as to already have enough help, don't stop looking.
Hey, if you're not satisfied with this, you could set up an operation that helps programmers get in touch with those who need them! Don't forget to account for those who aren't tech-savvy-- you may need to do some active outreach, since they won't find your Web site on their own.
They are sending 6 people to africa in a few months. While I find GeekCorps a fine endeavor, we have enough people here who need help. For those in the SW, why not contact your local Reservation and offer to mentor. With a mean 75% unemployment rate you could be helping a new generation move forward as a society. The Hopi average 85% unemployment, with only 25% of working adults making over $7,000 per year.
Sorry, I just realized that if you have a job, you probably live nowhere near a reservation...
(For those of you who do, please help.)
I have been working with my own reservation for only 2 years, and have watched the unemployment rate drop to 25% with the mean income raised by $15,000 a year for adults. Much of this has come from setting up el cheapo .coms and e-commerce. (Yea Linux...) As an Amerind I can tell you that we'd prefer not to be casino employess and the like. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, the Casinos generally benefit the money men from outside the Res. and do only harm to the residents. (The Pequots being the noted exception and therefore the ones you'll see on 60 minutes.) They are a wasteland of broken promises and corrupt swindlers. (Not that I would mention Kevin Costner by name.)
There are people starving next door. Let's stop giving them fish and start teaching them how to fish.
One option is to work for a university - they need people to both sysadmin and write software which enhances the learning environment, but they can't pay huge salaries or offer stock options so have a hard time with recruiting. On the other hand, they tend to have great benefit and retirement packages and are not as insanely-paced as many startups.
<plug>For example, I work for Highwire Press, a division of the Stanford libraries which puts scientific journals like Science magazine online. By helping scientific societies to publish online, we make scientists' jobs a lot easier.
And yes, we have jobs open if you are interested :)
</plug>
2 1337 4 u!
Your stock options are just as likely to turn to wallpaper as in the computer industry, of course, but you get to feel extremely self-satisfied if it pays off....
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks