Unpacking Development

A guest post by Jessica Rust-Smith, reviewing Dead Aid, a year after it was published. “One year later, does Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo’s call for the end of aid to Africa still hold sway when the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa is declaring Africa’s Successes?…..Among her many criticisms of aid are its resulting distortions in African markets, its ability to prop up weak and ineffective governments, and most importantly, its perpetuation of a vicious cycle of aid dependency. She calls for an end to the crippling practice of aid to Africa.”

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]