December, 2014

LibriVox chosen for 2014 Nominet Trust 100

Posted on December 4, 2014 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, in the press, News, on the web | Comments: 4 Comments on LibriVox chosen for 2014 Nominet Trust 100

Changing the World through Tech:

LibriVox celebrated in this year’s Nominet Trust 100

LibriVox is proud to have been included in the annual Nominet Trust 100 (NT100) list of inspiring digital social innovations highlighting the impact of the global ‘tech for good’ market and the transformative power of technology to drive social change around the world.

London, UK, 4 December 2014:

Today, Nominet Trust proudly announced that LibriVox has been named among the 2014 Nominet Trust 100 (NT100) – a global list of 100 inspiring ventures from around the world.

Projects featured on the list are using technology to tackle some of the world’s biggest social problems from education and human rights abuses to climate change and health.

Following a global call for nominations earlier this year LibriVox has been selected by an independent steering committee in recognition of its use of digital technology to contribute to worldwide access to knowledge and community engagement.

This year, LibriVox  is rubbing shoulders with organisations from established tech markets in the US and Europe, such as Freecycle, Random Hacks of Kindness and Google’s self-driving car, alongside initiatives from emerging economies, including eCompliance, a revolutionary use of fingertip-readers to record tuberculosis treatment in India; philanthropic food-photo sharing app Feedie from South Africa and HarassMap, an anonymous crowd-mapping platform for sexual harassment in Egypt.

Annika Small, CEO of Nominet Trust, the UK’s leading tech for good funder, said:

“There is a striking progression in the quality and maturity of this year’s NT100, indicative of a wider evolution in the ‘tech for social good’ sector as a whole. More people than ever before are using technology to solve problems that matter to them in bold new ways. This year’s NT100 list is populated by extraordinary people with inspirational stories to tell and it shows us that imagination, social conscience and technology make a potent mix to effect change.”

The final list was compiled by an illustrious steering group chaired by Annika Small and including General Partner of Google Ventures, Tom Hulme; angel investor and entrepreneur, Sherry Coutu; Chief Executive of Big Lottery Fund, Dawn Austwick; CEO of Big Society Capital, Nick O’Donohue; Director of Wayra Europe, Simon Devonshire; innovation expert, Charles Leadbeater; internet entrepreneur, Dickie Armour; Senior Fellow at the Stanford University Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society, Lucy Bernholz; and Deputy Editor of The FT Weekend Magazine, Alice Fishburn.

To see the full list of NT100 projects, please visit the Social Tech Guide, a dynamic, growing online resource to help inspire social enterprises, or follow the action @socialtechguide / #2014NT100.

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Introspection

Posted on December 1, 2014 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks, News | Comments: Comments Off on Introspection

Towards the end of the year, many people like to stay at home, relax, and do a bit of soul-searching. Get some inspiration with 10 gems from our catalog.

“I think, therefore I am” is probably the best starting point for deep thoughts. A good portion of scepticism will also be useful. Read René Descartes’ famous work Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and of Seeking Truth.

Monday or Tuesday is a collection of eight short stories by Virginia Woolf. They are an example of her stream-of-consciousness writings and centre around what people may or may not think.

Also Blaise Pascal, a famous French mathematician, has his thoughts – or Penseés – about things. His contemplations about philosophical paradoxes ultimately led him to the formulation of Pascal’s wager.

The Death of Ivan Ilyitch is imminent, and the judge has but a short time to look back at his life. He wondes whether it was truly a moral one. Read Leo Tolstoy’s novella to find out to what conclusion he is coming.

Probably nobody has a completely Untroubled Mind. In the book by Herbert J. Hall, part self-help, part religion, the physician tries to treat the mind of his patients in order to heal their bodies as well.

It would be interesting to know whether that book would have helped the protagonist of Notes From the Underground. In the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a civil servant writes his ranting memoirs in a poor part of St. Petersburg. This book is also available in the original Russian.

Maybe it would have been good for him to talk to somebody. After all, Everybody’s Lonesome, as Mary Alice discovers when sent to her godmother in New York. The book by Clara E. Laughlin describes what the old lady has to tell.

Maybe the secret is love? At a drinking party, each of the illustrious guests are invited to give speeches in praise of that highest of all emotions. Read our dramatic version of The Syposium by Plato.

Love and destiny, life, death, and God are only some of the feelings and thoughts that Omar Khayyam poured into his Rubaiyat. This is a bilingual Persian-English recording of the famous ancient poem from the Middle East.

What is the secret of The Little Gray Lady? For the last 20 years she has spent Christmas alone in front of a candle, thinking about the one huge mistake she has made. But, this year is different… Find out why, in the short story by Francis Hopkinson Smith.

Enjoy – and have peaceful holidays!

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