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This charity is a bit more specialized in the past. I tend to rally around Education, and this is tied to that, but is more directly associated with Dispath, the band. They make great music and I’ve been a huge fan for about 2 or 3 years and seen them in concert several times. Along with their performances, they believe in community service. The current charity is called Amplifying Education, and they volunteer while they are on tour. The money raised is distributed to several worthwhile educational funds. So, here is Amplifying Education, pass it on. ...

I saw a link on Daring Fireball the other day about the EFF going after a case involving royalties on Podcasting. This whole patent troll thing has gotten out of control and to think that all podcasts might be subject to a fee just for existing is beginning to scare me. There was also an interesting show from This American Life about it. Bottom line, this month, after taking a little brake, I’m back with donating $5 on the fifth. You can join me at the EFF Help Save Podcasting page. ...

I’ve been commuting a lot more. Every Monday morning I hop in the car and start with my favorite podcast, This American Life. (Short aside, I got into this show because of piece I posted about here). Three weeks ago I heard the first of a two part series on Harper High School. To say I was moved is a catastrophic understatement. This American Life chose Harper because they were in their home city of Chicago and last year there 28 shooting incidents with current and former students. The stories of the lives of the students is a strong juxtaposition with my own childhood. They are forced into gangs that are about protection, not crime. The school is the place they feel most safe. And it has been under a special grant to provide great services for these kids. The grant is ending next year, and many of the support positions will be losing funding. They are collecting donations to support these kids. ...

I’ve been talking about this for a while with a close circle of friends. I’d like to start a trend of donating $5 a month to different charitable causes. The goal being if I can get enough people behind the idea, we could make some significant impact to the charitable space. Each month, I’m going to come up with a new charity, and provide instructions for donating to them. I’ll try not to hit the same charity too often, but there are a couple of causes I feel particularly passionate about. ...

I saw this on Devour, this video embodies why I train for sports: The video and the music are compelling, so watch the video, but here are the words: There are no grand celebrations here. No speeches, no bright lights, but there are great athletes. Somehow we’ve come to believe that greatness is reserved for the chosen few, for the superstars. The truth is, greatness is for all of us. This is not about lowering expectations, it’s about raising them for every last one of us. Because greatness is not in one special place, and it is not in one special person. Greatness is wherever somebody is trying to find it. ...