Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett - a Tribute

In memory of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, and in honor of the recent Go Skateboarding Day I share these great photos of the King of Pop and Charlie's Angel doing a little sidewalk surfing:

San Francisco Neighborhood Maps

When we first moved to San Francisco, I struggled to find a good map that outlined the many neighborhoods of the city to help with apartment searching and just getting to know the area.

Sure there are static versions (e.g. this one and that one) but you can't do much with them. And there is a decent dynamic one using google maps with markers to give you a sense of where the neighborhoods are... but I was surprised how hard it was to find one that is dynamic and had the boundries to clearly show the neighborhoods. Back when Google Launched Neighborhood Search that's what I thought was coming soon... but that's not quite what neighborhood search did.

Then, buried as a user-generated map within GoogleMaps I came across this version by a guy named Craig that is great! It hasn't gotten much attention (only 405 views to date and one rating). You should check it out and rate it up!

For some reason it is broken up into two maps (both embedded below) so you can't see it all on one, but you can also check it out directly on Google Maps for more functionality at Dynamic Map of San Francisco Neighborhoods.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

SF Bay Area Sun Finder

Ever since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, I have been wishing there was a site where I could go to easily figure out where around here it's sunny right now... well today I found that site: Weather Bonk!

Not only does it have a great map of all the local weather cams, it has the option to turn on a cloud layer which shows where it's cloudy (see image below).

Today it looks like we would have to drive to San Jose, or Mt. Diablo State Park to find some sun and avoid the fog... ah, San Francisco!

What are my congresswomen up to?

With the help of MegaVote, presented by Congress.org, I now have an easy way to find out how my congresswomen are voting. I signed up for this email alert recently when I was writing my representatives about the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. It's a good example of how technology can actually provide more insight into democracy!

Each week (that Congress is in session) you will receive:

• Key votes by your two Senators and U.S. Representative.
  
• Links to send e-mail to your members of Congress using pre-addressed forms.
  
• Upcoming votes for your review and a chance to offer e-mail input before they vote.
  
• Use this weekly vote monitor to track the decisions made by your elected officials on key issues.
  

Signup at: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/

Check out my latest report:

presented by: Congress.org

April 6, 2009 In this MegaVote for California's 12th Congressional District: Recent Congressional Votes - Senate: Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for FY 2010 House: Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act House: To amend the executive compensation provisions of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 House: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act House: Congressional Budget for Fiscal Year 2010 Editor's Note: Congress is on a two week recess. The Senate will return on Monday, April 20 and the House will return on Tuesday, April 21. Recent Senate Votes Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for FY 2010 - Vote Agreed to (55-43, 1 Not Voting) The Senate passed their version of the national budget for fiscal year 2010. Sen. Dianne Feinstein voted YES......send e-mail or see bio Sen. Barbara Boxer voted YES......send e-mail or see bio Recent House Votes Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act - Vote Passed (274-149, 8 Not Voting) The House agreed to the Senate amendments to this national service bill, sending it to the president. Rep. Jackie Speier voted YES......send e-mail or see bio To amend the executive compensation provisions of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 - Vote Passed (247-171, 1 Present, 12 Not Voting) On Wednesday, the House passed this bill intended to curb bonuses of executives at financial institutions that receive Troubled Asset Relief Program money. Rep. Jackie Speier voted YES......send e-mail or see bio Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - Vote Passed (298-112, 21 Not Voting) The House passed this bill that would give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco, but would not allow the agency to ban cigarettes or other tobacco products. Rep. Jackie Speier voted YES......send e-mail or see bio Congressional Budget for Fiscal Year 2010 - Vote Passed (233-196, 3 Not Voting) The House passed their version of the national budget for fiscal year 2010. Rep. Jackie Speier voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Valentine's Day & Freedom to Marry Week 2009

In honor of Valentine's Day & Freedom to Marry Week 2009, please consider supporting the rights of everyone to be with the one they love. 

Tell the Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, and let loving, committed couples marry: Join the Courage Campaign and Sign the Marriage Resolution!

"Because marriage is a basic human right and an individual personal choice, RESOLVED, the State should not interfere with same-gender couples who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities, and commitment of civil marriage." 

 "Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Martin Luther King Day of Service

MLK Day of Service is one of my favorite holidays.

Back when I worked at City Year New Hampshire I helped organized a March of Justice and Volunteer Fair, and it's great to see they are both still going strong after 8 years!

This MLK day, I wasn't out marching or volunteering, I was on a plane flying back from St. Louis where we were celebrating Grandpa's 90th birthday. But in honor of MLK day, I did some e-advocacy this year:

1. Helped enable and encourage employees to volunteer at work
2. Set up a Facebook "Cause" to Support Young Heroes (City Year's Middle School Service Learning Program) that now has over 200 members.
3. Created this Wordle from a portion of the 'I Have a Dream' speech to share with you:

Next year I am hoping to be out doing some more traditional service (e.g. painting a mural) and for inspiration, here's one of the best murals I have seen in a long time, by Dan of dstrbo.com:

I love the colors and detail and I have had this image set as my desktop background for about a month now. I like to think of it as MLK reminding me to get out there and do something that matters!

Hey look, it's my thesis!

Wow, it's been a while since I have blogged! What can I say? Life comes at you fast once you have a baby, and everything else takes a back seat for a bit. 

Speaking of things I haven't thought about in a while, here's something that was incredibly gruelling and personally fulfilling.... my college thesis! 

Researching and writing my thesis was way harder for me than running an actual marathon, but since I am still planning to go to grad school one day, I'll consider this my "academic half marathon."

Here it is, in all its glory:

A Sea Change in the Social Sector: Examining Earned-Income Ventures and Entrepreneurial Nonprofits in Rhode Island

By Seth J. Marbin

Brown University, May 2005

In case you are working on your own life goals, and don't have time for 104 pages of pleasure reading right now, here's the two-page Executive Summary.

And to wet your appetites, here's the abstract:

Nonprofits across the nation are increasingly launching earned-income ventures to support their social missions. Even though this is not a new strategy for many nonprofits, for the sector as a whole it is a fundamental shift from traditional sources of revenue. This study identifies and evaluates significant factors associated with nonprofits operating earned-income ventures in Rhode Island and compares these results to data collected for a recently published national study. New data collected from a web-based survey of over 325 Rhode Island nonprofits is analyzed along with data from over 375 nonprofits in a national sample. This study also examines the types of earned-income ventures organizations are operating, the perceived impact, how nonprofits define themselves as “entrepreneurial,” and the reasons why some organizations have never operated ventures. Insights from Rhode Island nonprofit leaders, academics, and funders are also included in this mixed-methods approach, to help understand the motivations of nonprofits launching and operating earned-income ventures. The findings suggest that Rhode Island organizations are operating earned-income ventures at a rate of three times the comparable national sample. Additionally the majority of ventures are related to the organizations’ social missions, and the impacts are overwhelmingly positive.

An extra special shout out to: Ann Dill, Debbie Schimberg, Cynthia Massarsky, Samantha Beinhacker, Social Venture Partners of Rhode Island, The Rhode Island Foundation, and my lovely wife Jyothi Marbin - without whom I would have never finished this silly thing.