Everyday Heroes Project: Jeff Pulver

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Announcing "The Everyday Heroes" Project: (A Summer Project for New Media Enthusiasts)

NBC's epic drama "Heroes" chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities. I believe this concept can be extended outside of the realm of science-fiction and into our daily lives. During the course of the summer of 2007, help us tell the stories of everyday people who are "Everyday Heroes."

Think about a typical day, all the people you pass by in the course of doing what you do, those to whom you might say "Good Morning;" the people who work in your favorite eating establishments, the people who you see in the bank, the gym, people you pass by on the street, people who attend your school, people who you work with, the people in your car pool, the people around you who just fade to black when you are engaged in your daily lives. Yes, those people.


My belief is that everyone has a story.

Some of them are amazing people with amazing stories. Some people have overcome some great odds before the point where they got to be standing there to speak with you. Some of these people have taken on major challenges and overcame them. Some of these people inspire others. Some are people who challenge the status quo, who make a difference.

Every one has a story to tell. But you need to be there to listen to it. One cool aspect is that once you hear these stories, you will never look at that person the same way ever again.

So go outside and take your video cameras and your microphones with you. Join our "Everyday Heroes Project" and help provide a voice to the people who are part of your everyday lives, but until now have been silent. Post these stories to the web, to Blip.tv or YouTube or Brightcove or wherever you post your videos. Tag them "everydayheroes" and share them.

Help people tell their stories.

In the process you would have helped make the world a better place, you would have gotten to know some more people, and you would have discovered a few Everyday Heroes. There could be worse ways to spend the summer.

And PLEASE help spread the word about "The EveryDay Heros" Project.

Visit The Jeff Pulver Blog for the latest on this project: http://pulverblog.pulver.com/

To see Dan Mosqueda's "Hero Story" visit http://danmosqueda.blogspot.com/2007/06/whats-it-like-to-be-shot.html to read about how Second Lieutenant John Allamani is my hero!

To see Twitter Friend "DAYNGR"'s hero post visit: http://dayngrzone.blogspot.com/2006/09/911-my-personal-impact-story-1.html

Crushed in spirit, struggling to survive, a mother battles on for her children.

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Note from Dan: This is an all-too common example of what "every day living" is for many people around the world and could be for us with easy access to the internet. Read on and take some action.

By Gary Martyn, with Edwin Estioko in the Philippines


Marnie Calibujo pretends not to notice, but it always hurts — the passing whispers, the muffled laughs, the stares. She knows she can't help her slow speech, the way her mouth hangs partly open, or the way her eyes are drooped and unfocused. As a baby, when she desperately needed a mother and father to wrap their loving arms around her, Marnie's parents abandoned her, leaving her grandparents to raise her.

As a young girl, words like "stupid" and "retarded" defined Marnie's self-image and destroyed her sense of self-worth. Marnie never went to a doctor to find out why she had special needs, much less to get help. Instead she dropped out of school after the fourth grade and started washing clothes to earn a fewpennies. In the poor Philippine town of Cabacungan, Marnie worked hard year after year, scrubbing and struggling, barely making enough to scrape by.Amid her loneliness, Marnie thought she found caring neighbors when a man and his son started paying special attention to her as she washed clothes outside her home. In her childlike innocence she misunderstood their intentions and a relationship developed that quickly went wrong. Her new "friends" began paying her a dollar for sex.

Before long — when caring for another person was the last thing she was prepared to do — Marnie had her first baby. She did not have help or support to know how to make her life better, so she gave up the girl for adoption.But Marnie's neighbors didn't stay away for long, and Marnie now has two small boys, 3-year-old Jonnifer and 10-month-old Japhet, children for whom these men take no responsibility. Marnie depends on friends for help and still makes a little moneywashing clothes, but it's never enough."I gave birth to Japhet on a Saturday," Marnie explains. "On Monday I started washing clothes. I need to wash clothes to earn money. I don't really ask for pay. It depends on how much they want to give me. I'm ashamed to ask. I just get what they give me.

"For Marnie, "what they give me" could never begin to provide what Jonnifer and Japhet need as a toddler and infant. But Compassion's Child Survival Program filled a crucial gap for her — physically and emotionally."I wasn't expecting to be accepted," Marnie says with excitement. "I am very happy. It is for my baby. I am ready to be a good mother."

Marnie, Japhet and Jonnifer now benefit from a different kind of home visit than she was used to receiving. Child Survival Program Coordinator Rosemarie Demafelis and other project workers visit regularly to teach Marnie how to care for her children, monitor their health and provide them with nutritional supplements. They also encourage Marnie to attend church. Rosemarie explains, "We can give what the government cannot give — like immunizations. We give vitamins to mothers andchildren and partner with doctors from the municipal health center an hour away. We provide medicines for cough, fever, diarrhea, gastritis and sinusitis. We also overcome nutritional deficiency by scheduling feeding for children and teaching mothers food planning."

Many children who receive critically needed assistance through the Child Survival Program transition into Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program. Marnie is hopeful that Japhet will follow that path. "The CSP will help me take care of my child," Marnie says. "I want to see him go to school and have a better future."

Visit http://www.compassion.com/ to find out how you can help make these types of programs possible and for them to continue.

How to Speed Test Safari

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A short concise blog explaining Safari's performance vs Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox.

"If you are looking for the fastest browser on the block, then despite what Mr. Jobs might tell you, Safari 3 might not be your best option. Not only did the browser get cracked faster than a casino safe in Ocean’s Eleven, but it also preforms slower than both IE7 and Firefox, especially in AJAX intensive operations."

Visit http://howtosplitanatom.com/news/how-to-speed-test-safari/ for the whole story.

read more digg story

USAF: Buys Environmentally Friendly Energy/Active in Conservation

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6/13/2007 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- The Air Force continues to set the example as the nation's top customer for buying energy that comes from environmentally-friendly sources. Airmen should always look for ways they can reduce the amount of energy they use. A few energy saving examples are carpooling when available, turning off lights when not in use and turning off computer monitors when leaving for the day.

Due to innovative thinking, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, and Fairchild AFB, Wash., now receive 100 percent of their energy from wind or other renewable energy power sources. And by the end of next year, the Air Force will operate the largest solar farm in the world at Nellis AFB, Nev.

6/5/2007 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- With an energy efficiency commitment, Air Force officials pursue leading-edge technologies for energy efficient lighting as part of its energy strategy for the 21st century. The Air Force spends about $1 billion annually for the 77 trillion British thermal units of energy required to run more than 700 million square feet of facilities at 166 sites worldwide, with 20 percent of the cost for lighting.

"The Air Force's innovation and energy conservation efforts have been successful for many years, from retrofitting inefficient hangar lighting with upgraded compact fluorescent lighting to replacing thousands of fixtures and installing wireless controlled ramp lighting," said William C. Anderson, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, logistics and environment.

Today, the Air Force continues its forward-looking pursuit of efficient lighting alternatives, integrating the use of compact fluorescents with daylight controls wherever possible. Compact fluorescent bulbs produce about one-fourth of the energy of incandescent bulbs, contributing to the fight against climate change.

Bases such as Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., are leveraging light emanating device technology by installing LED airfield lighting, expected to reduce the energy load and maintenance requirements with projected savings of more than $600,000 annually. At Dyess AFB, Texas, hundreds of installed solar day lighting units use the power of the sun to light hangars and engine shops. Because of Dyess AFB's pioneering lighting initiative, many other Air Force and Army installations now are investing in the same units, with the Department of Energy's support. The Air Force is also studying the benefits of using compact fluorescent lights and LED technology for tent lighting in deployed locations. Possible benefits are reduced heat and increased safety.

"When fully implemented across the Air Force, the execution of energy innovation can help to mitigate some of the significant resource constraints the Air Force faces and enhance Air Force safety, while at the same time serve as an energy model and leader for the Department of Defense and the United States," Mr. Anderson said.

Witnessing a Miracle

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Brandy Campbell
June 4, 2007


Caroline Juma had rarely spoken with her husband, John, about her pregnancies. It isn't proper, she told herself. But with each pregnancy, things became more difficult. Each child meant less food for the others.

Each time she gave birth in her family's small home, with a neighbor holding her hand, it took longer for her body to recover. And now, she was pregnant again. She refused to tell John about her hunger or about the weight loss and exhaustion.


When Caroline was eight months pregnant, a stranger broke their silence. This woman shared with Caroline and John about the Compassion-assisted Buyondo Child Survival Program in Uganda. As she told Caroline about the importance of medical care and nutritious foods, John shook his head in shame. Couldn't this woman see his family couldn't afford those things? But their visitor went on the explain that there was no cost to John and Caroline — that people thousands of miles away sent money to care for families just like theirs. John couldn't understand why these strangers wanted to help his family, but Caroline seemed so excited that he agreed.


If John had doubts about the program, they vanished the day his daughter, Esther, was born. But the celebration of new life was quickly overshadowed by the threat of death. Caroline and Esther were both ill. They were told that without a blood transfusion, Caroline would die. But John had no money for the procedure. He ran to the Buyondo Child Survival Program and breathlessly explained to them what was going on.


CSP workers quickly wrote a letter and told John to take it back to the hospital. He glanced at the words as he ran through the dusty streets, and he was surprised to see that the program was going to pay for Caroline and Esther's medical bills. They were saving the lives of his wife and newborn child.


"God heard my prayers and cries, and Compassion chose to help my child and wife," says John. "I had no money for my wife, but Compassion provided everything that we needed."


Esther and Caroline have both recovered, and Esther is now growing into a strong, healthy child. As Caroline rocks her daughter to sleep, John can't help but stop and watch for a moment. He knows he is witnessing a miracle.



How can you be involved? Visit www.compassion.com to find out more.

Blog Traffic

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Blogging is new to me. I tried to do one prior to a deployment to Southwest Asia, but I just didn't have time while I was there to mess with it. So, I figured I'd try again. It's been very interesting.

I think the best reason for doing a blog is to improve my writing. I will publish a post and than go back again and again to fix the errors. It's also been interesting to see the feedback. Most of it has been good. I've rejected one response because it was fairly rude and illustrates some of the problems with the blogosphere: a loss of decorum and polite consideration.

I setup Google Analytics to track the progress of my blog. Zero, nothing, nada. Is anyone out there? I went and researched on how to drive traffic to my blog and found several great ideas. I think the main one has been to read other blogs and post. Reference the article from Ezinearticles.com

"3. Read and comment on other blogs that are in your target niche. Don't write things like "nice blog" or "great post." Write intelligent, useful comments with a link to your blog."



I followed their advice and saw my traffic begin to grow. I did get a note from Ryan Block at Engadget about "gratuitous spamming" of my blog. It never really occurred to me the problem this could present in terms of the potential for shameless self-promotion. In fact, I then noticed the following on every Engadget story:



"Add your comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. . . . . To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Please note that gratuitous links to your site are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments." (My emphasis).



OK, that goes back to my earlier thought about decorum. It would be rude to leave your blog address when it doesn't matter. It would probably just upset others. I have to say I agree with Engadget's policy because it really is better to stick to leaving your opinion, but not your blog/web addresss unless it adds to or complements the story.



This is just one idea to create traffic. Visit ezinearticles.com for more info.



The result? Well, I've had a few hundred unique folks visit my site from five continents:


When you get into the details, some stay for a while others do not. I was pretty surprised about my Asian visitors. I assumed they'd be Japanese, but they're not. They're coming from the Philippines (probably from searches on my last name which is Spanish, but fairly common in the Philippines), Singapore and Hong Kong primarily. I have had one visitor from Japan who spent zero time. I actually posted a Twitter in Japanese seeing if more Japanese would visit. My message went out like this: 私の場所を訪問しなさい。私は日本のスピーカーが訪問するか何知りたいと思う。 Who knows if I got it right? We'll see if it works.

The United Kingdom, Germany and Spain top out my European visitors. Again, I imagine the last name has something to do with Spain. I know Twitter is driving UK readers for a fact, because they've told me so. I have a special place in my heart for the UK. I'm half English from my Mom's side and I participated in a church missions trip to the UK when I was 15. It was great, but that's another story.

North American has been dominated by the United States. But it's pretty interesting to see Brazil, Mexico (last name again? there's actually a town in Mexico named for our family), Jamaica, Guatemala and others.

So far blogging has been rewarding. Some guys I work with think it's a great idea to display your breadth and depth of knowledge on topics, as well as your ability to clearly communicate an idea. Future employers or even friends are certain to google your name. Give them something to look at. My sister googles me to see what I'm up to.

My idea for you is to try it out. Visit http://www.blogger.com/ for a free blogspot site. There are many other sites that offer free and paid blog sites. Leave a comment with your favorite site and I'll publish it and links gladly. If you're rude, I'll reject it :-)

Cheers for now - Dan Mosqueda

Here are some links from Gorileo:

http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/2006/11/how_to_be_inter.html
www.inkbytes.blogspot.com

Managing IT in the Battlefield

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CIO Sessions: Colonel John Hayes of the Air Force Reserve by ZDNet's Dan Farber -- In this CIO sessions interview, Colonel John Hayes, Chief Information Officer of the Air Force Reserve command, talks about the challenges of managing IT in battlefield situations, deployment of wireless technologies, Web 2.0 and about tapping into the technology expertise of its recruits and ‘citizen warriors’ for the development of innovative ideas, like the new [...]

Compassion International's HIV/AIDS Project

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An Interview with Amy Metzger, International Health Program Specialist for Compassion

How is AIDS afecting children around the world?

"Worldwide, more than 2.3* million children are infected with HIV. In 2006, nearly 380,000 children died."Globally, about 1,450 children, mostly newborns, are infected with HIV every day, many because their mothers did not have access to the medicine to prevent transmission."


How is Compassion helping AIDS-affected children ?

"Through our AIDS Initiative, a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, treatment and rehabilitative care. Our church partners implement these activities at the grassroots level."


How does our initiative help prevent the spread of HIV?

"We help prevent transmission of HIV by providing antiretroviral therapy for pregnant mothers, access to medication before and after birth, and education about the risks of breast-feeding."We also organize awareness campaigns, promote voluntary testing and counseling, and teach abstinence through our biblically based curriculum."

How does Compasion treat HIV-positive children?

"Treatment is for HIV-positive children and those with AIDS. This includes visiting homes, monitoring white blood cell counts, and treating opportunistic infections."For those who need antiretroviral therapy, we step in to provide this. This strengthens the immune system and can grant the child decades of a fairly healthy life. This is significant since most people do not have access to the therapy."Our church partners also provide transportation to clinics and hospitals for tests, medicine and checkups. This and the other provisions give great hope to those who are burdened by this disease."

Can we really make a difference?

"Absolutely! Pray about how the Lord can use you. Some are called to share with churches. Some to give generously. We are all called to pray that children will have a better future, one in which they live to see their parents raise them to adulthood — and change our world in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ."

From Dan Mosqueda: Please visit www.compassion.com to find out more about how you can really make a difference in the lives of children around the world. You can also specifically donate to one of the most effective HIV/AIDS projects in the world. Please, do it now.

Some celebrities making a difference:

Michael W. Smith "My family sponsored Gavi Leticia Lopez Ponce since she was a little girl. I've had the privilege of visiting her in Ecuador. Over the years, I've seen the difference our monthly support has made in Gavi's life. She has grown into a beautiful young lady who loves the Lord deeply. Please join me. Sponsor a child who is searching for meaning, for hope … for a place in this world."

Amy Grant "Investing in these kids' lives through Compassion is a wonderful thing. Everybody deserves to have the basics in life. Being a sponsor with Compassion is something I truly believe in."

Rebecca St. James "In my own life I have seen God do total miracles. He truly looks after His children. That is why I am so passionate about the ministry of Compassion. We have the opportunity to practice God's real love to a hurting world and be our brother's keeper. I encourage you to be a part of this incredible ministry. You may be the only Jesus that child may ever see." Rebecca sponsors a child in Rwanda.

* Statistics from UNAIDS and WHO data from 2005 and 2006.

$98 Billion & Counting: Democrats Boost Spending, Taxes, Democrats Break Promises on Fiscal Responsibility, Tax Pledges to Middle-Class Americans

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From: http://republicanleader.house.gov

Washington, Jun 5 -




With House Democrats racing to raid taxpayer wallets, the Washington Post reports this morning on a White House threat to veto any appropriations bills with wasteful and excessive spending. According to the Post, Office of Management and Budget Director Rob Portman said,

“We do have the veto, and we will use a veto when necessary”:

“Portman said the Iraq spending bill signed by Bush last month contained about $20 billion in extra money for domestic programs, most of it non-emergency spending that would normally have been added to the budget bills for fiscal 2008. That should make it easier for lawmakers to live within the president’s request to hold discretionary spending to a 6.9 percent increase, rather than the 9 percent Democrats have proposed.”

House Republicans are also signing on to a letter to President Bush from Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) signaling support for any veto. As House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) told the Post:

“‘Democratic leaders have shown incredible consistency and discipline when it comes to raising taxes and jacking up federal spending, and it represents yet another broken promise at a time when Washington politicians should be tightening their belt and eliminating wasteful earmarks,’ said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).”

In total, House Democrats have authorized $98 billion in new federal spending this year alone. On the appropriations front, the Democrats have:
Added some $6 billion in new spending to the omnibus spending package approved
in January.

• Added more than $20 billion to the FY 2008 budget above and beyond the President’s request.
• Added approximately $17 billion in additional spending to the supplemental.
• Added some $9 billion (and counting) to the first four appropriations bills they’ve marked up at the House Appropriations Committee, with more on the way.
• And approved a massive $392.5 billion tax increase on middle-class families in their budget.
  

This comes as news spreads of the Democratic plan to hide wasteful spending from voters and make the earmark process secret. House Republicans will continue to work to root out wasteful federal spending and balance the federal budget without raising taxes.