Some cool things for Friday:

1. Did you miss the live webinar yesterday on Using Social Media to Support, Involve and Recruit Volunteers? Then enjoy this recording of the event (slides and audio). And continue the questions and discussion at the TechSoup Online Discussion Forum re: Volunteers and Technology.
2. Japan crisis showcases social media’s muscle – not the usual social-media-can-do-anything article; it stresses the human expertise that is needed to make it worthwhile in a crisis.
3. Press Release: Virtual Volunteering – Google Earth’s 3D Geo-Modeling Community Lends a Helping Hand. Great example of online volunteering / virtual volunteering!
4. News video and article: Upgrade Your Life: Amazing free software – so rare that the mainstream media talks about the excellent, robust tech tools out there that are free and/or open source and will provide people, nonprofits and governments the resources they need for word processing, spread sheets, accounting, database management, presentations and more. Since January 2008, I have used FOSS software for my office software needs (word-processing, slide show/presentation development, spreadsheets, simple databases), as well as for email, for browsing the web, for creating graphics, for altering graphics and photos, for design of various printed publications, to develop material for and manage my web sites, and on and on. I blog about this frequently.
5. “Nonprofits and grant makers alike should begin to factor the perpetual cost of upkeep into the amount they set to raise before they break ground. Consider it insurance on your purchase.” Really enjoyed this article or blog or whatever about the importance of thinking about facility upkeep in nonprofit budgeting. Save it and include it in your budget proposal for donors who might sniff about funding non-program/administrative costs.
6. Three years in, the effort known as the Global Network Initiative, a code of conduct intended to protect online free speech and privacy in restrictive countries, has failed to attract any corporate members beyond the original three — Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Who hasn’t signed? Facebook and Twitter, among others. Here’s more in the New York Times.