One of the greatest challenges in choosing a place to work is performing an accurate survey of what life is like inside the company.

Glassdoor.com alleviates that problem by letting its members view company reviews and salary charts submitted by current and former employees.

The site is free to use but does require new members to submit either a company review or salary information (which is kept anonymous) in order to view the same.

Link to [ Glassdoor.com ]

Attention spans are increasingly shorter as a result of the accelerated technologies, market-driven economics, and multi-tasking common in our current civilization. Statements like win this election, sell this merchandise, or finish by this date are focused on the “now,” which is relegated to days, years and at most decades. A group of forward looking technologists - including Chris Anderson, Brian Eno, and Kevin Kelly - created The Long Now Foundation in response to the emphasis on near-term goals.

Rather than planning for “now” or “nowadays,” the foundation seeds thought processes for a span of 20,000 years labeled as “The Long Now.” The Long Now currently hosts a series of seminars aimed toward making long-term thinking automatic. Other projects include collecting linguistic data, ensuring conversion and protection of data formats, and also a clock monument dedicated to long term thinking.

Link to [The Long Now Foundation]

An industry in decline is often well positioned for innovation. With the well-publicized crumbling of traditional media, journalists worldwide have an opportunity to use the web to redefine the practice of creating news. Here are a few recent examples of the bubbling entrepreneurial community in journalism.

Spot.us is a new project from journalist David Cohn - a veteran of numerous NewAssignment experiments. Aimed to fuel local investigative reporting, Spot.us is an example of crowdfunding. Similar to crowdsourcing, this methodology allows a large group of donors to collectively raise money through micro-payments. Independent journalists propose stories to Spot.us and rely upon a community to fund the investigation. The platform offers both an alternative revenue model for journalism and also pre-validation for topics.

Another new tool for the journalism industry is Help A Reporter from entrepreneur Peter Shankman. As a self-proclaimed connector, Shankman wanted to streamline the introduction process between journalists and reliable sources. Questions submitted from journalists are collected into several daily email blasts to a growing list of Shankman qualified experts. Good will can go a long way.

Link to [Spot.us]

Link to [Help A Reporter]

Chicago based company The Point is dedicated to organizing people to solve a problem. The Point is not unique in using the web to rally around activism or fundraising, but the company’s campaigns are differentiated by their reliance on the “tipping point” model. As popularized by author Malcolm Gladwell, the “tipping point” refers to the “levels at which momentum for change becomes unstoppable.” Apply this notion to The Point and members of campaigns are not required to take action until a critical mass of supporters is reached.

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Crowdsourcing, a term coined by Jeff Howe in a June 2006 issue of Wired magazine, is a model of labor that has been fully embraced on the Internet over the past couple of years. Crowdsourcing takes tasks traditionally done by a single person or small groups of people, and farms them out to a global workforce. The large-scale committee approach is powerful because it leans on the concept of the “wisdom of crowds” (to a certain extent) which says basically that the more input, the better the output.

The term has become popular with business authors and journalists as shorthand for the trend of leveraging the mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. However, both the term and its underlying business models have attracted controversy and criticism.

Here is a look at some of the tools used to help you crowdsource.

Link to [ ReadWriteWeb on Crowdsourcing ]

“How would you mashup the Network for Good donation processing service with other services to make it easier for nonprofits to raise money online? We’re working with Network for Good, the Case Foundation, and the NetSquared community to enhance the online donation process.

There are two categories to enter:

1. Build a mashup using Network for Good’s donation API, with a particular focus on enhancing the donor experience.
2. Build a mashup using Network for Good’s donation API,with a particular focus on improving or revolutionizing a nonprofit organization’s ability to fundraise.

Winners in the each category will be awarded a $10,000 prize by a panel of judges present at the N2Y3 Conference.

In addition, each winner will be granted a one-year license for the Network for Good API to be donated to an organization of their choice (if the winner is an organization, it can choose to donate the API to itself).”

Link to [ NetSquared ]

With 1.5 million registered users, VolunteerMatch strives to connect volunteers with non-profit organizations. Currently, the network boasts over 52,000 opportunities for prospective volunteers and has provided participating organizations with over 3 million referrals.

The linking process is reliant on a number of user generated data sets including location, skills, interests, availability, etc. Trust is the primary hurdle in selecting candidates virtually and VolunteerMatch does not appear to have a built in ranking system. However, users are reminded to adhere to the following principles: Be Professional, Honor your volunteer commitments, and Extend gratitude to any organization for training and professional development gained during volunteering.

Link to [VolunteerMatch]

SuggestionBox.com is the exciting new way to send suggestions and watch ideas turn into action. We’ve created one place where individuals can share ideas with every company, group, organization, and product on the planet. The best part of a free individual membership is that it’s interactive. People can stay in the loop by tracking their ideas, connecting with people, and improving the things around them.

• Is a concept that everyone already understands
• Fills a universal need
• Built using technology that users are comfortable with, similar to email
• Has tracking through dashboards and folders
• Standardizes feedback into one place for people to reach any company worldwide
• Allows a community to grow and interact around any brand

Link to [ SuggestionBox ]

Shared across more than 1,000 events and parties, Pangea Day was a remarkable event that taps into the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting millions of people to build a better future.

“Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting millions of people to build a better future.

In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it’s easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that — to help people see themselves in others — through the power of film.

On May 10, 2008 — Pangea Day — sites in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked live to produce a program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.

The program will be broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones.

Of course, movies alone can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can. So following May 10, 2008, Pangea Day organizers will facilitate community-building activities around the world by connecting inspired viewers with numerous organizations that are already doing groundbreaking work.”

Link to [ Pangea Day ]

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project in which people mail their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

You are invited to anonymously contribute your secrets to PostSecret. Each secret can be a hope, regret, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before.

Create your 4-by-6-inch postcards out of any mailable material. If you want to share two or more secrets, use multiple postcards. Put your complete secret and image on one side of the postcard.

PostSecret has spun off into various projects for creator Frank Warren including lectures, national newscoverage, videos and books. Some of the best outcomes has been Frank’s contributions to national suicide hotlines and the PostSecret Community.

Link to [ PostSecret ]