This category features organizations doing good by providing platforms, applications, services and products to help make others feel better, live better and uplift our globe. These are posts that showcase ideas that are helping transform our world.
You leave your house as usual around 8am, a little early to avoid the inevitable delays, to jump on the subway and reach the office by 9am. Before walking up the steps a coffee stop in the lobby is not just necessary it’s essential, “two cream, two sugars – please”, just as you’re about to reach for the door to the office lobby with a steaming cup of java in one hand and your Anitgua satchel draped over the same shoulder, a stranger who was sitting on near-by bench approaches saying “here’s your package.”
That’s the hope of a newly derived crowd-platform delivery system coined TwedEx by Eric Horvitz of Microsoft Research in Seattle. There are similar delivery concepts already existent as web and mobile apps, but this one has one essential difference: the service will be able to bubble up routes and destinations that are travelled frequently. The model calls for a package to be delivered amongst a chain of people, and an algorithm does the math to calculate the fastest route using location data compiled from New York tweeters.
We were unlucky enough to experience the Fukushima disaster first hand, but the biggest takeaway we gathered from the disaster wasn’t the horrific event rather it was how people came together. We were overwhelmed with support from our own families, the heartfelt thoughts of the people of Japan thinking of their loved ones, and the resiliency of a nation. When the nation was hurting people the people of Japan were coming together.
A new social network in San Francisco has learnt from moments such as this and others such as the devastation created by Hurricane Sandy. Instead of seeing disasters as a time when cities fall apart – SF72 wants you to see them as a time when people come together. Being prepared for a catastrophe isn’t just about having tubs of water, cans of beans and other supplies it also is about knowing those around you, lending a friendly hand, and transferring knowledge.
In North America and many parts of other established nations dental hygiene is a staple in everyday life. However, over the totality of our world there are too few dentists, moreover in poor communities the problem is even more pronounced. Our communities face significant oral health challenges and even in those living in situations where dental care is easily found, those that are poor simply can’t afford the care that’s available.
“Our health is connected in important ways to our systemic health, and when people go without the dental care they need, the effects ripple through their body and also affect their families and communities.” That wisdom from Joe Brennan of Smiles for the People accentuates how a simple act of buying a toothbrush can turn into an extraordinary act of generosity if companies provided for greater good instead of just for-profit.
Although technically not a startup, Karma Refill is a concept app that has a striking visual approach to charitable donations. Designed by Isaac Pagan, Senior Art Director at Energy BBDO, the application is intended to make it donating as much as your heart wishes and your wallet can bare to various, popular, and preferential organizations as easy as possible.
Once logged in, with a tap of a button users can incrementally decide how much to donate (once for $1, twice for $5, three times for $10 and so forth). After any donation is made Karma Points are earned which, in concept, can be utilized to redeem for goods through participating corporate partners, or given back to charities.
Busy Building Things has been delivering artistic and inspirational messages for startups, entrepreneurs and everyone in general – so inviting are those posters that they’ve found their way into the offices of Facebok, Apple and many others. The messages are not only there to help drive success but also be uplifting to bring more happiness into this world. That too is the mandate of Behappy.me – a daily newsletter and website bringing a dose of inspiration.
Once a day, Behappy sends an inspiring quote to its subscribers, bringing great and highly shareable quotes to life, increasing the circulation of happiness. Inspiring over 16,000 people everyday, subscribers not only get a quote but a well designed art piece which makes the quotes stick even louder in hearts and minds. And if you find a quote tugging at you more than any other, you have them printed on a shirt, greeting cards, posters, canvases or mug to take with you everywhere.
In other terms, ‘hype’ is a concept that equates to a high level of anticipation. It is something that is invisible, but not only does it exist, it has become a driver of consumer behavior in today’s world. In a product’s pre-release stage, it is something that is quantified by outdated and unreliable means, and by traditional outlets such as surveys and clustered compilations of chatter from social media. Hypejar aims to funnel the ‘hype’, capture it in a single container to quantify, and to then present it to the world. A website dedicated to sharing details on all products that the mainstream wants to be aware of, but is yet-to-be-released and presenting it in one place.
The Montreal-based company launched their beta site back in September with a very simple idea – organize all the products that are about to be released and make it more easy-to-find instead of scouring multiple sources. A sneak peak if you will, at the future of consumer products. Co-founder Grant Yim says:
HealthAware is a free service online that makes the process of finding a health professional easier along with simplifying the appointment process. Founded by Nikolai Bratkovski, the goal of the platform is to help people find local practitioners, see real-time appointment options and book it instantly.
There are many reasons to workout with a friend or a personal trainer – you’ll work harder, it’ll be more fun, you’ll be motivated, and you’ll be more fit in a quicker time. The benefits of working out with a friend are limitless, but they won’t have the experience of a personal trainer. At the same time the cost of brining an experienced fitness guru into your home to help you train can be quite costly.
Wello brings you the best of all worlds in the convenience of a web app. The site provides discounted personal training sessions with qualified trainers over a live two-way video chat. Wello gives you access to a gamut of personal trainers so you can pick and choose the person and personality that coincides with what you can afford to stay fit. From $150 an hour celebrity personal trainers to $5 an hour trainers you may not know, Wello takes the cost pains of staying fit away. Wello will also match you with the right fitness professional based on your workout preferences – ensuring you get a specific session just for you each time.
We all have to remember Chatroulette that gained mainstream exposure not too long ago. Now there’s a newer and better idea that comes from the same concept: Catroulette! The brilliant concept showcases shelter cats to help find them a home. Not only is it filled with cute cuddly cats you just want to hug to pieces, but with a tap of a button you can find out the contact info on how you too can bring one home.
It’s very uplifting to see Facebook provide a platform that is much different from its very heavily used social platform. Facebook Stories is a new innovation from the Facebook team to share how people are using the social network in extraordinary ways.
Videos can be uploaded by anyone to share how Facebook can be used to change people’s lives. Those videos that Facebook deems interesting are then shared – of which the first feature video for August tells the story of Mayank Sharma, who shares how he lost 27 years of his life and his memory all too suddenly due to the quick and harsh effects from a rare case of meningitis. He then turned to Facebook and the “People You May Know” feature to re-establish his life and connect with people who were a part of his life once before.
