Fast Forward India blog

Proposal 12 : fIT Forward

2006-11-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

Project: fIT Foward

Proposed by: Jitendra Mohan

Summary: This project is aimed at changing the livelihood of disadvantaged section of the population through the use of Information Technology (IT). The project will focus on imparting computer literacy to children/women. We will launch this project in Dhanbad and then extend it to other locations in future.

Impact: The root cause of poverty-related issues is the lack of proper education, and this project is focussed at using one aspect of education to improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged.

At the end of the fIT Foward project, the students will have learned the basic computer skills. With these basic skills, they will be all set to take up courses that focus on the ways to earn livelihood through the use of IT.

Approach:

-A success criteria will first be defined for project. This criteria will be in terms of how many people enrolled for the project and successfullygained the required skills.

-A set of 3-4 volunteers will get the logistics sorted out. A room will be rented near campus (if ISM rooms are not available) and 3-4 computers will be placed.

-Contents/syllabus will be designed for the students in a way that it covers most of the computer-basics. Idea is to teach it in a fun and easy-to-understand way.

-Progress will be assessed regularly. In addition, feedback will be taken from the students.

-Towards the end of each course, students will be tested on the concepts.

A bi-weekly review meeting with the FFI Team will be coordinated to discuss the progress/bottlenecks.

FFI Team meeting Nov 6 2006

2006-11-07T01:35:00.000-08:00

A meeting of the India team of FFI was held on 6th November on Yahoo messenger.Please click here to download/view the transcripts of the meeting.The agenda of the meeting was:
a) An informal round of introductions between the members so as they open up to each other.
b)Planning on how do we intend to go about implementing the projects from a very broad perspective.
c)Thinking of ways to expand our team in India.

Those present in the meeting were:
Mohit Ranjan
Vishal Agrawal
Prateek Kataria
Deepak Tiwari
Kumar Vivek
Priyank Nandan
Parag Goswami was there for sometime.He was disconnected due to electricity issues.
Ashutosh Dubey was not able to join the conference but was in a seperate meeting with Priyank Nandan.The transcripts of this chat can be found here.

Thanks a lot to everyone for showing this enthusiasm.Special word of appreciation for Kumar Vivek for editing and making the transcripts colourful.

Project 11: Discovering the herbal potential of Dhanbad and unused land areas in Mines around Dhanbad

2006-11-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

Project: Discovering the herbal potential of Dhanbad and unused land areas in Mines around Dhanbad
Proposed by: Vaibhav Bhamoriya

Summary
There are large tracts of unused or almost barren land in and around Dhanbad and there is a huge hinterland available in the form of unutilized land with the Mines. Most of these mining companies are facing problems of revenue generation. This project works in three stages which are a mere mirror replication of the first stage. The first stage is about discovering and mapping the potential of growing and harvesting herbs in the ISM Campus. This will itself comprise of stages. The second stage will mirror this in the mining companies and the third stage will mirror this in the entire district of Dhanbad or areas in and around Dhanbad town. If the three stages are successful then a fourth stage of collective marketing and dealing with the marketing for the produce can be devised or attempted.

Detail
As described above stage 1 is concerned with the ISM campus. This stage in itself involves many steps. As listed below

Step 1: Identifying volunteers.
Step 2: Identifying resources and resource centers and people
Step 3: Mapping the existing herbs within the campus and creation of database of herbs
Step 4: Agro-geological characterization of the campus
Step 5: Identifying the potential of growing more herbs in the campus for – a) in-campus consumption by the inmates for various purposes and b) for commercial purposes.
Step 6: getting the permissions and basic requirements in place for productions activities
Step 7: undertaking the production or harvesting activities
Step 8: linking with processing and marketing or distribution if required.

This gives a fairly detailed picture of what needs to be done. For more National Innovation Foundation maintains the national data base for such herbs and land races. They can support the initiative through expertise and funding as well. However this might need a specific contract with the students and extreme transparency with the funds. Lacking this it might close the doors of a huge resource pool for ISM and its students. This is being done in various parts of the country by different NGOs. The students of ISM are much more capable and can use their resources of contacting experts to find new and established uses to exploit the capacity of usage by campus residents or even commercial sales to willing buyers.

Linkages Possible
National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad.
Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow.
Usha Martin Foundation , Ranchi
PRADAN, Ranchi.
Prof. Anil Gupta, IIMA and NIF.
Prof. N. Singh, IIHM (International Institute of Herbal Medicine), Lucknow
Dr. S.C. Sharma, IIHM (International Institute of Herbal Medicine), Lucknow
Prof Khanduja, Director CIMAP.

Testing and chemical processing facilities of
CME (center for Mining environment)
CMRI (Central Mining Research Institute), Dhanbad and Ranchi
BCCL (Bharat Coking Coal Limited)
Chemistry department, ISM.
Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Vishwabharti University , Kolkata.

FFI team meeting on Nov 4 2006

2006-11-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

A meeting of Fast Forward India was held using Yahoo Instant Messenger on Nov 4 2006. The chat transcript of the meeting is available as a pdf file. Please click here to open/download it. We are providing transcripts of all our meetings and conversations online to enable you to see what's going on exactly behind the scenes so that you get the best understanding of our initiative in a transparent, first hand manner. Many thanks to Jitendra Mohan for cleaning up the transcript file.
Those present at the meeting were:
Mohit Ranjan
Ashutosh Dubey
Prateek Kataria
Sanjeev Sethi
Priyank Nandan
Pankaj Sarin, MD
Dr Kirk Wilson
Jitendra Mohan
Durga Prasad Pandey
Ashutosh Chauhan tried to, but couldn't join the meeting because of issues with messenger.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Good job on the brainstorming!!

Project 10: Fresh Forward

2006-11-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

Project: Fresh Forward
Proposed by: Shulabh Gupta

Summary: Fresh Forward India is an initiative to make India Cleaner and Greener. We'll start with the campus of Indian School of Mines and the city of Dhanbad as our first target area. Keeping surroundings clean is easy if there's a system in place for garbage collection and disposal and an awareness among the people in a city of the value of maintaining cleanliness.

Impact: A number of diseases directly owe their spread to lack of cleanliness and hygiene. Increasing awareness alongwith visible and consistent action to keep the campus and city clean will lead to a healthier Dhanbad. This will also reduce the burden of medication that a lot of poor people have to bear when they get sick, which happens often in areas that have poor cleanliness.

Workplan: Fresh Forward will start an awareness and action plan within the ISM campus and encourage members of the ISM community to try to keep the campus as clean as possible. This implies that garbage cans must be *available*, they must to be emptied out regularly and kept clean and smell-free. Not emptying garbage regularly is in itself a breeding ground for germs.

Fresh Forward will also hold a meeting with the faculty and with members of the staff to solicit their open cooperation in keeping the campus clean. As part of this initiative, we also plan to encourage and support the ISM mess workers to undergo regular health checkups.

Potential partnerships: with NSS

Background: Here is a transcript of the chat between Shulabh Gupta and DP Pandey that gives more background information and thoughts on this initiative. We are doing this as part of our effort to make the process of conceptualising and reviewing projects as transparent as possible.

(12:11:14) DP: any problem is only as good as the best approach you have to solving it
(12:11:15) DP: ;)
(12:11:27) DP: u know what I mean?
(12:11:31) shell_shulabh: nope ;)
(12:11:38) DP: just saying a problem is imptt isnt enough
(12:11:44) DP: we need to have an approach to solve it
(12:11:53) shell_shulabh: ofcourse
(12:11:54) DP: if you dont have an approach
(12:12:02) DP: then you end up just talking about it, and sometimes even blaming the system and then you forget it
(12:12:10) DP: so lets talk of your proposed idea
(12:12:11) DP: :D
(12:12:12) shell_shulabh: yep
(12:12:30) DP: is it on sanitation/population/global warming?
(12:13:10) DP: what were u thinking baout
(12:13:11) DP: ;)
(12:13:33) DP: i had always felt strongly about the sanitation problem in Dhanbad
(12:13:39) DP: like garbage on streets
(12:13:40) shell_shulabh: kaafi vaguely... jaise recycle system...
(12:14:08) shell_shulabh: maybe students can act as an interface between the recycling aganecies and common households...
(12:14:16) DP: like I used to see all this garbage on the road
(12:14:18) shell_shulabh: mere ghar main recycle naam ki cheez na suna ho kisi ne kabhi
(12:14:23) DP: on my way to the railway station in dhanbad
(12:14:30) DP: is was definitely a solvable probblem
(12:15:36) DP: in Dhanbad we could try to do something to get the city cleaner
(12:15:41) shell_shulabh: like..student forms community in a neighbourhood....they install garbage cans.... they promote recycling strategies in homes..by pamphlets etc etc..
(12:15:52) DP: very good
(12:16:07) DP: how do you raise awareness and cause community participation?
(12:16:11) shell_shulabh: and they form a channel between the agencies who take care of recyclign and between these household garbage sytems
(12:16:30) shell_shulabh: lets assume that we have a small neighbourhodd..lets define that
(12:16:44) shell_shulabh: one team of students per nieghbourhood...
(12:16:50) DP: ok
(12:16:56) DP: jagjivan nagar, say
(12:16:56) DP: :)
(12:17:06) shell_shulabh: they distribute pamphlets...organize fundraising events....presentations in a community..etc etc
(12:17:27) shell_shulabh: to raise this point so that it reaches every household...
(12:17:39) shell_shulabh: people are educated enough...
(12:18:03) shell_shulabh: in here i am not saying soemthing about villages...strategy will change there
(12:18:19) shell_shulabh: in my neghbourhoood in ghaziabad...people are middle class families..but still no grabage systems...
(12:18:33) shell_shulabh: students should take charge of this...as simple as that
(12:18:49) DP: ok
(12:26:40) DP: so u go and tell dhanbad municipality: we want u to clean up the city?
(12:26:49) DP: or maybe u start it from home
(12:26:58) DP: asking people in ISM to keep the campus clean
(12:27:09) shell_shulabh: definitely
(12:27:21) DP: ok
(12:27:29) shell_shulabh: the point is installation of proper garbage and recycling systems
(12:27:37) DP: recycling isnt that easy
(12:27:44) DP: its a whole system/industry you need to create
(12:27:51) DP: for a realistic 6 month project
(12:28:01) shell_shulabh: ofcourse its not...but i am sure we do have paper recycling
(12:28:06) shell_shulabh: stuff
(12:28:06) DP: i'd explore recycling, but actually try to do at least the garbage
(12:28:19) DP: lets say
(12:28:24) DP: we want to at the very least
(12:28:28) DP: get the campus clean
(12:28:33) DP: how far ahead you take the project
(12:28:39) DP: will be at the discretion
(12:28:42) DP: of the team
(12:28:43) DP: :)
(12:28:49) shell_shulabh: ;)
(12:28:54) DP: so cleanliness = a minimum
(12:29:28) shell_shulabh: actually i see it not only for ISM...it should be realized for all colleges atleast...its totally a student stuff...
(12:29:30) DP: what do u think
(12:29:43) DP: I absolutely agree
(12:29:44) shell_shulabh: its kind of campaign...
(12:29:49) DP: so what exactly would u do?
(12:29:57) DP: to make sure people adhere?
(12:30:07) DP: i am not saying restrict it to ISM
(12:30:11) DP: i am saying: at least ISM
(12:30:12) DP: ;)
(12:30:19) DP: i am just trying to define a lower bound
(12:30:22) shell_shulabh: i dont know..i havent thought about it...
(12:30:27) shell_shulabh: yeah i know
(12:30:36) DP: you can always raise the lower bound
(12:30:40) shell_shulabh: true
(12:31:01) DP: i dont want the team to feel over pressured
(12:31:04) shell_shulabh: but we have to think of a way that we can define som kind of protocol ;) that reaches all colleges
(12:31:09) DP: pressure hone se realistic kaam bhi na ho pata, and pressure na hoga to whatever you do on top of the minimum aim helps you feel only better
(12:31:25) DP: I am going to write up a summary based on this chat
(12:31:29) DP: and post it online on the blog
(12:31:57) shell_shulabh: there can be some ways for sure...to promote in various colleges together...
(12:32:07) shell_shulabh: students can form teams and visit different universities
(12:33:02) shell_shulabh: sanitation and garbage system is very important mere vihcaar se ;)
(12:33:29) shell_shulabh: also other thing...jo dimaag main aaying tho
(12:33:32) DP: kya
(12:33:36) shell_shulabh: promoting bikes
(12:33:42) shell_shulabh: bikes bole to cycle ;)
(12:33:43) DP: sahee
(12:34:16) shell_shulabh: if every student in university stops using motorbikes and cars atleast inside the campus ... the effect will accumulate a lot¸
(12:34:29) DP: there's no student with car in ISM
(12:34:30) DP: ISM
(12:34:31) DP: :)
(12:34:41) DP: rickshaw
(12:34:52) shell_shulabh: well this is ISM...but in places like IITD, IITB.. its like a city inside
(12:34:53) shell_shulabh: ;)
(12:35:08) DP: thats another project idea
(12:35:14) DP: i'll let you write that
(12:35:15) DP: ;)
(12:35:26) DP: its a good idea too
(12:35:41) shell_shulabh: mere ghar ke aaspaas jitne college hon...sab abher rahing college ke....sab bikes cars use karing even ghar gali ke nukkad pe ho tab bhi ;)
(12:36:04) shell_shulabh: india main people think cycles as a low standard stuff..
(12:36:14) DP: ok
(12:36:17) shell_shulabh: i think its wrong
(12:36:26) DP: in that case maybe this will be a good project to launch next year
(12:36:36) DP: when we launch FFI on a bigger scale
(12:36:39) DP: what say?
(12:36:51) shell_shulabh: might be... sonchna padega
(12:36:55) DP: we'll also do it in ghaziabad
(12:37:37) shell_shulabh: what I am more interested is in ... participation of college student...and they should set up an example...either by garbage systems...bike ..enviornemt, plantation...
(12:37:45) DP: thats a good idea
(12:37:52) shell_shulabh: students have to work themselves before asking others...
(12:37:55) DP: ya
(12:38:03) shell_shulabh: before goign to villages or ghars..to give fundas...
(12:38:06) DP: ya
(12:38:13) shell_shulabh: students have to step forward
(12:38:16) DP: thats why I thought if someone from outside ISM comes to ISM
(12:38:20) DP: and finds it really clean
(12:38:25) DP: our campaign will be really strong
(12:38:25) shell_shulabh: yeah
(12:38:30) DP: that was the point
(12:38:31) DP: ;)
(12:38:35) DP: if ISM is dirty
(12:38:35) shell_shulabh: ;)
(12:38:39) DP: we dont hold ground
(12:38:42) shell_shulabh: sure...
(12:38:50) DP: and its far easier to convince engg students
(12:38:54) shell_shulabh: than there are couple of things... related to population...
(12:38:56) DP: than to convince others
(12:39:04) shell_shulabh: lest say sex education...;)
(12:39:06) DP: ok
(12:39:18) shell_shulabh: why there is no sex education still availbel in india
(12:39:19) shell_shulabh: ?
(12:39:21) shell_shulabh: `:D
(12:39:28) DP: as a different subject?
(12:39:31) shell_shulabh: early marriages....etec etc
(12:39:37) shell_shulabh: yeah...for population control..
(12:39:39) DP: i think your ideas can form a whole series of initiatives
(12:40:28) shell_shulabh: if you look at all of them together..what i wish is...clean air...clean cities.... enviormental awareness and polulation control...everything is imporant for global warming and environment protection issues
(12:40:42) DP: good
(12:40:53) DP: flesh them out into specific projects
(12:41:00) shell_shulabh: bikes are excellent ways to start with
(12:52:47) DP: is "clean dhanbad, green dhanbad" a good possible name?
(12:52:54) shell_shulabh: umm
(12:52:56) DP: :P
(12:52:58) DP: too commonplace
(12:53:09) shell_shulabh: i think better to give it a general name...
(12:53:12) DP: like?
(12:53:18) shell_shulabh: umm.. sonching
(12:53:33) DP: Fresh Forward
(12:53:34) DP: ;)
(12:53:34) shell_shulabh: Clean India. types
(12:53:41) DP: :P
(12:53:42) shell_shulabh: aha
(12:53:56) DP: actually fresh forward isnt so bad
(12:53:59) shell_shulabh: sound better
(12:53:59) DP: but i dont know
(12:54:09) DP: you can always change it later
(12:54:10) shell_shulabh: i think its very good
(12:54:13) DP: whenever u want to
(12:54:15) shell_shulabh: Fresh forward India
(12:54:18) DP: ok we'll use that for now
(12:54:30) shell_shulabh: i think its pretty good
(12:54:34) DP: ;)
(12:54:37) shell_shulabh: ;)
(12:54:52) DP: Lets just keep it fresh forward for now?
(12:55:00) DP: so that people dont think its a parallel initiative
(12:55:01) shell_shulabh: Indian na lagaying ;)
(12:55:01) DP: :P
(12:55:04) shell_shulabh: okay
(12:55:05) shell_shulabh: :d
(12:55:10) DP: baad mein project start hone pe India laga denge
(12:55:14) DP: ;)
(12:55:16) shell_shulabh: ;)
(12:55:23) DP: i dont want people to be confused now
(12:55:23) DP: ;)
(12:55:27) shell_shulabh: okay...
(12:55:33) DP: it also sounds like press forward
(12:55:37) DP: which is a good thing
(12:55:41) DP: :D:D:D
(12:55:44) shell_shulabh: yep :D
(12:56:19) shell_shulabh: waise.... mere ke yeh vichaar pehelse se tho ;) ... ki every project should have their own website linled to the main website ;)
(12:56:39) shell_shulabh: ya le jao uthake..rakhlo wahin
(12:56:40) shell_shulabh: ;)
(12:56:51) DP: every project will have its website
(12:56:52) DP: :)
(12:56:57) shell_shulabh: they shoudl have
(12:57:02) DP: thats the plan
(12:57:03) DP: :)
(12:57:16) DP: thats part of the project implemtnttaion
(12:57:17) DP: :D
(12:57:21) shell_shulabh: ;)
(12:57:41) shell_shulabh: sex education also is important issue in society
(12:58:18) DP: think about how to do it
(12:58:23) shell_shulabh: yeah
(12:58:29) DP: a problem is as good as the approach u have
(12:58:30) DP: ;)
(12:58:35) DP: if we dont have an approach
(12:58:38) DP: we only think
(12:58:39) DP: ;)
(12:59:01) DP: the problem might be significant
(12:59:09) DP: but we need to think of approaches
(12:59:10) shell_shulabh: well..you see.... the important toosl that students have are campaigns, rallies, college visits, presentations...tems interactionxs ect etc
(12:59:24) DP: thats good for awareness
(12:59:25) shell_shulabh: team interactions*
(12:59:35) DP: you also have to see how to make people adhere
(12:59:37) DP: :D

(12:59:41) DP: so thats an aspect too
(12:59:42) DP: :D
(12:59:51) shell_shulabh: awareness is important...and is one of the initial steps too
(12:59:54) DP: yea
(12:59:57) DP: thats right
(13:00:04) DP: but tlak has to come together with action
(13:00:08) DP: otherwise it dies out
(13:00:17) shell_shulabh: ofcourse...
(13:00:21) DP: it starts off well but dies out without concrete action
(13:00:21) DP: :D
(13:00:25) shell_shulabh: ;)
(13:00:27) DP: so we gotta plan both
(13:00:38) DP: its very easy to start almost ANYTHING well
(13:00:38) shell_shulabh: word of mouth epidemic is what we need ;)
(13:00:40) DP: ;)
(13:00:57) DP: but u have to "fresh" it forward
(13:01:06) shell_shulabh: yeh ka diye aap ;)?
(13:02:48) DP: I am actually going to do something new
(13:02:56) DP: and also post the chat transcript of this chat
(13:02:56) DP: :D
(13:03:01) shell_shulabh: ;)
(13:03:09) DP: so people can see whats going on in our minds
(13:03:14) shell_shulabh: okay

Project 9: India Animated

2006-10-31T18:36:00.000-08:00

Project: India Animated
Proposed by: DP Pandey

Summary: India Animated is an open initiative to make flash movies out of the field experiences of NGOs, and share and discuss them with other organizations working in the field.

Concept: Usually while starting an NGO from scratch, founders talk to people with experience but usually they have to rely on their own ingenuity and end up reinventing the wheel of figuring out every aspect of the new organization.

There are organizations in every field associated with development that have developed a rich set of strategies and thumb of rules based on their experience of working in the field. In many cases, these NGOs might be interested and willing to share their experiences with others, provided proper credit and recognition is given. India Animated will provide a platform for different NGOs to interact and benefit from each other. In doing so, it'll provide a way for new entrants to take a quickstart based on the rich experiences their more experienced counterparts have documented with India Animated.

Sustainability: The CDs produced by India Animated are sold to NGOs for a nominal fee which will pay for the cost of prooduction.

Background: An increasing number of NGOs in India have been getting access to Computers and the Internet. Movies are a very powerful visual medium to disseminate knowledge anyways. India Animated will produce movies and share them online, and offline on CDs and DVDs. The Creative Commons video referenced at the end of this proposal is a clear example of how flash can be used to convey a concept very clearly and powerfully.

References:
1. Creative commons's flash intro, http://mirrors.creativecommons.org/getcreative/clicktoplay.html
2. UNICEF's animation for development workshop, http://www.awn.com/unicef/workshops/prague.html
3. An Introduction to producing Flash Animations,
http://www.toondoctor.com/flashcartoon01.htm

Project 8: IndiMa

2006-10-31T17:25:00.000-08:00

Project: IndiMa
Conceived by: Vishal Sehgal and DP Pandey
(Note: this project was originally written up as a business plan, so the given focus. We will adapt it as per the requirements of FFI).

Public Summary:
IndiMa is a women-focused healthcare firm that tracks health condition of women with difficult pregnancies. It enables quick access to medical care by making patient history and special needs available instantly over the phone to the attending physician.

Concept:
IndiMa is an over-the-phone service available to all registered medical practitioners in India for a small yearly subscription. A pregnant woman gets an IndiMa card with a unique ID for a small fee on her first checkup with a physician. The IndiMa tollfree number provides access to information such as special needs, allergies, recent medications and health problems, and a record of recent checkups about the patient to the attending physician. Both the doctor’s and the patient’s ID are required to access this information.

This information allows the physician to make quick decisions about dealing with an emergency. IndiMa uses phones since they are the most widely available and cheapest communication medium in India.

Sustainability:
The target market for IndiMa consists of:
1. Private doctors. The IndiMa information system provides critical information to a registered medical practitioner for a small fee. The system is accessible from any part of the country with a landline, cellphone or satellite phone.

2. Health departments and Private hospitals. IndiMa empowers the health departments of various states by making the Primary Health Centers deal better with pregnancy cases. IndiMa has bulk-purchase license agreements with major healthcare providers of all sizes.

3. Pregnant women: IndiMa charges a small fee(which could be subsidised fully by state governments) from pregnant women which gives them an IndiMa ID. The ID allows women to go to any doctor of their choice who could access their medical information through the IndiMa system.

Competitive Advantage:
Currently the government has a system of Primary Health Centers (PHCs) and health care workers that support the health services in the rural areas. This system collects data and creates a paper trail that is extremely difficult to use. With over 90% of Indian villages getting connected by a telephone, there is now a real possibility to create a system whereby this data can be stored and manipulated electronically at a central level.

We do not expect a number of competitors in the field as we do not expect to make money at a substantial rate of return. The organization will be able to make enough money to support and maintain the infrastructure that is created but nothing more. It will need to have a very good working relationship with the various health departments across state and federal level in India. This will require a small team that would be dedicated to the cause and will develop and maintain those relationships. We also expect that this database will be used by the various national and international agencies fo research and policy making.

Finally the tie ups with the various governments, developing a database design that matches the government systems and the users are easily able to use would create enough entry barriers for any competitors to enter the field.

IndiMa is currently engaged in talks with a major telecom provider and a large health service provider on the project's pilot testing and implementation.

Financial Plan:
The cell phone and land line tariffs in India are among the lowest in the world at this point in time. Further the government is considering a plan under which the whole nation will be a single call area with the calls costing at local calls nationally. Thus the operating costs are very low.

The set up costs will include setting up the support system consisting of a centralized server which allows the data mining and report generation. This will be supported within the hospitals and at a central level there will be very small staff to take care of the maintenance. The software and hardware will be developed with a support from the government and international and national; charitable organizations. We estimate that the maximum requirement of the costs will be under USD 1 million.

We plan to charge the users a nominal fee of Rs. 1 to register with the database. The government will pay a matching fee to support the project and use the data. This revenue would be sufficient to pay for the central team and maintenance of the data base.

Background: India’s maternal mortality rates in rural areas are among the highest in the world. A key factor that contributes to India’s high maternal mortality rate is the lack of medical care for pregnancy. The estimates nationwide are that only 40-50 percent of women receive any antenatal care. Even a woman who has had difficulties with previous pregnancies is usually treated with home remedies only. It is estimated that pregnancy-related deaths account for one-quarter of all fatalities among women aged 15 to 29, with well over two-thirds of them considered preventable.

Copyright: Vishal Sehgal and DP Pandey.

Project 7: Food Insecurity problem in India

2006-10-31T16:31:00.000-08:00

Project: Food Insecurity problem in India
proposed by: Kumar Vivek

The Problem:

Even with the country’s economic growth rate sustaining 8% plus mark, 50% of the world’s hungry live in India.
One in every five Indians suffers from overt or covert hunger.
Around 214 million people (i.e. around 25%) are chronically food insecure, i.e. consuming less than 80% of minimum energy requirements.

The problem of food insecurity in the country has twin facets – both seemingly far apart, but yet closely inter-related.

Child Malnutrition –

About 50% of children (mostly tribal and rural) are undernourished and stunted. 23% have a low birth weight and 68 out of 1000 die before the age of one year. There is a high prevalence of anaemia and other micronutrient deficiencies.

Adult Insecurities –

Adult insecurities relate to the poor population both in urban and rural areas. The increasing number of slum-dwellers in urban India has dwindled work prospects in cities. Rural problems encompass the economically marginalized farmers who had to resort to suicides in states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Punjab.

How we can help:

Addressing Underprivileged Children

For initiatives like Kartavya to bear fruit, a mechanism needs to be devised to contain attrition rates of children triggered by food insecurity. Such a mechanism might be an improved version of GOI’s mid-day meal scheme which hardly saw any success.

Promoting nutritious fortified food such as Indiamix piloted by UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) to limit malnutrition related diseases.

Addressing Urban and Rural Poverty

Identifying food insecurity hotspots in cities and promoting food-for-work activities.

Promoting welfare associations and self-help groups among rural farmers so that they can consider alternative sources of income including dairy and poultry (The Amul example).

Educating farmers about ways of enhancing agriculture productivity through the use of technology; identifying access channels for technical inroads into villages to address problems of irrigation, quality seeds etc.

Identifying profitable distribution channels for food grain productions so that farmers get reasonable returns on harvests bridging the gap between rural and urban economies.

Project 6: Educating unprivileged children in Orissa

2006-10-31T16:30:00.000-08:00

Project: Educating unprivileged children in Orissa
Proposed by: Sravan Prathy

Objective
The project objective is to increase the rate of computer literacy in the State of Orissa, India by establishing “Center of Computer Excellence” in primary schools.

Introduction
Education is the like building material for the society. The Indian government has realized this and introduced many central and state level programs to improve the infrastructure for providing better education to our citizens. The infrastructure and resources are being built rapidly to meet the needs. Funding have been relocated to create new schools and to recruit new teachers. From some googling on the internet, one can confidently say that numerous parties/NGOs are working hand in hand to help the government for elevating the literacy level in India. Every year the percentage drop outs from the primary and secondary school is improving and percent of children of the age 5-12 enrolled in the school are also improving. A good sign!

Everybody reading this abstract will have a fair idea about computers. The world is changing into Web2.0 now and every aspect of business is being converted on-line these days. With the increase in computer dependency, the new schools should ensure that today’s children will get enough education in computers for meeting tomorrow’s needs. But, in general very few schools which are set up by the federal and state government have a computer facility.

Why Orissa:
At current prices, Orissa's per capita income for 2003 was Rs 12,388 against the all-India average of Rs 23,359. In percentage terms, Orissa's poverty rate for 1999-2000 was the highest among all States at 47.15 per cent. (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091201311100.htm).
According to the 2001 census Orissa is the 10th most illiterate state in India. The literacy level is changing at a very high rate of 14.5 % which is 6th highest rate in India. Definitely there is mis balance here. The number of new schools put up in Orissa is in peak at this current time. Being one of the most neglected states in India, it is always good to have a high rate of new establishments for educating the children. At the same time, if enough resources are not provided to ensure that the schools are set up with correct guide lines, the efforts put in establishing new schools will be partially effective. Most of the schools does not have a computer facilities to meet the increasing needs of society. Recently, the State Government of Orissa has started a scheme “Adopt a School (http://www.orissasociety.org/NEW/education_adoptschool.htm) for primary schools under which computers are provided. Till now, Non Resident Indians have only adopted 50 schools out of 55,000 primary schools in the State of Orissa. ( Source: Government of Orissa, Review of annual plan 2004-2005) There is definitely a scope to improve the computer education in Orissa. Realizing the importance of computer education and at the same time realizing that the rate of new students enrolling in the schools are at the peak, this is the right time to go there and help them to establish a computer facility in primary schools in Orissa.

Implementation:
· Choose the right school to establish a computer facility
· Start the project small with just one school to ensure high success rate, later on, the project can be expanded to other schools or may be to other states
· Choose a local representative to help executing the project ( Volunteers can be found through common contacts)
· Help the school to recruit a teacher for teaching in basic computers
· Establish a course outline for primary school students

Cost and Timeline
Each second hand computers will cost approximately Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 8,000. Five computers can be initially bought to establish a center at a chosen school. The teacher annual monthly salary will cost approximately Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000 based on his experience. With a commission to the local representative the total project cost for the first year to establish a center of computer excellence at a chosen school will be around Rs. 1.2 lakh to Rs 1.8 lakhs, provided that the school will provide a space to put up the computer facility. It is anticipated that the project to establish a computer facility in one school would not take more then 4 months. Once the center of computer excellence is established, the challenge is to maintain it and ensure that it functions properly by meeting all the needs of the school. The local representative can over see the operations.

Benefits
* Approximately 1000 primary level school children (target) can be computer literate with in one year of implementation of this project
* Easier to get started, as very minimal resources is needed to maintain the facility, once the computer facility is established in the school. The facility can be handed over in safe hands of the school management. Some intervention from our end might be needed in the later time to ensure that the facility is meeting the necessary needs
* The unique strength point of the project is higher returns with relatively less cost and time.
* Most importantly we will be driving the society in the right direction

Project 5: Education

2006-10-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

Details being revised.

Project 4: Jeevan Rekha

2006-10-31T16:26:00.000-08:00

Project: Jeevan Rekha
Proposed by: Prateek Kataria

Introduction: Jeevan Rekha is a voluntary blood donation society run by the students of ISM Dhanbad since the past one year. Currently, it has more than 250 students registered as voluntary blood donors. These students donate blood only one someone approaches us with a need.

The Need: Millions of Indian people die every year due to blood related diseases. A majority of these deaths can be prevented by timely donation of blood to these people.

At the Central Hospital of Dhanbad alone there are around 12 patients (8 of them are kids aging below12 years) who suffer from Thalassemia which means their body can't secrete blood and hence, they need 2 units of blood every month in order to survive.

Work plan:

Setting up voluntary blood donation society at various places, preferably educational institutes.
Appointment of a secretary for every zone responsible for the proper functioning of the society.
Establishment and maintenance of a database of the interested donors in each zone.
Maintaining close contact with local blood centers to ascertain the need for donors.
Motivating others to come forward for blood donation.(Few ways: providing certificates to the donors, educating them about the crucial service they can provide, etc. )
A number of local voluntary blood donation societies can then be brought under a national network.
Contacting various NGOs for financial aids
Medical benefits can also be provided to people once we have managed the funds.

Project 3: one step towards great india

2006-10-31T16:24:00.000-08:00

Project: one step towards great india
proposed by: Vishal Agarwal

At ISM , apart from KARTAVYA, we have recently started a program on blood donation by ISMites . All those who are intersted in donating submit their names to a volunteer. When an outsider requires blood then he/she can contact the head of this society with the specific blood group needed. This is happening right now. I think we can elevate this concept into much stronger practical idea where participation by youth is necessary. We can arrrange blood donation by college students all over the state or nation either biannnualy or quaterly.

Since India has a large number of blood cancer patients, this idea can help large number of patients who cannot afford blood transfusion regularly. But all this requires large number of volunteers. Main advantage is that this doesn't require very large financial input. One simple step is collecting money from college students which is very meagre individually but when accumulated it certainly forms an appreciable amount. This individual amount can be say, 10Rs/ per month so that it doesn't affect the pockets of students as well.

Surely, if students union across nation come forward for a social cause, this will help lot of people because somepne aptly says" where there is a will , there is a way".

Project 2: IT for Farmers

2006-10-31T16:22:00.000-08:00

Title:-IT for Farmers
proposed by: Ashutosh Kumar Dubey

Agriculture is still the backbone of our economy..and hence any idea to develop India can't succed without taking this into account. This project will aim at providing IT education to farmers so that they can cope with new changes poised by the global economy in a better way.

The main features of this project include*:-

(1) we'll be imparting them some very basic IT education..such as Msword/excel,Internet and basic computer operations.
(2) a course would be structured which would be of approximately 15-20 days duration...
(3)this we would do in teams of two or three at a place...so that we can cover a large area..
at ISM we can pursue this during our winter break..which is also a relatively leisure period for them....

* :- project idea is open to any modifications that'll help reach the goal in a better way

Project 1: Back to School

2006-10-31T16:21:00.000-08:00

Back to school...
Proposed by: Mohit Ranjan

Aim: To recognize and promote the talent at school level.

Description: It's very common and practical problem, that we all have faced during our school days (usually 9th-11th std). We lacked direction at that time. Most of us (including me) didn't know about some of the interesting and fast-emerging feilds like bio-tech,designing etc and . So we hesitated to go for that option because of ignorance. With the help of this project, we can work in our winter and summer vacations to go back to schools and try to spread a word about enggineering and it's diffrent streams. The pros and cons of it. And also we can organize JEE based events and counselling sessions for the students.
This can be expanded by including some guys from medical,law,bio-tech etc. at later stage. Initially we will start from Patna, and then expand it to other places.

Resouces: We can have tie-up with any newspaper, any coaching institute, or any NGO to provide the support. We can also atleast try to convince our respective schools to provide the required infra-structure.

Background: Here's a chat transcript of a conversation with Mohit that provides further details on this project.

(15:08:27) DP: I like your idea on counselling high schol students
(15:08:28) talk2coolmohit: ya bt very painful approach of learning
(15:08:31) DP: I want you to do it
(15:08:35) DP: but not only about engineering
(15:08:43) DP: also about other courses
(15:08:54) talk2coolmohit: yeah
(15:09:02) DP: you can also get some ppl from the patliputra medical college
(15:09:04) DP: and other colleges
(15:09:12) DP: inluding journalism, art etc
(15:09:13) DP: :D
(15:09:23) DP: its a useful idea
(15:09:25) DP: for students
(15:09:29) DP: and very doable
(15:09:31) talk2coolmohit: i wrote that we can include law, medical
(15:09:35) DP: with good impact
(15:09:38) DP: exactly
(15:09:40) DP: i agree
(15:09:49) talk2coolmohit: bio-tech, designing
(15:10:06) DP: I can help you with a part of it too
(15:10:10) talk2coolmohit: infact i was inclined towards designing
(15:10:12) DP: as i have been career counselling a lot of people
(15:10:38) DP: you can still do it after your bachelors
(15:10:46) talk2coolmohit: but reluctant to take a un-orthodox feild
(15:11:00) DP: think what you could use as a platform
(15:11:02) talk2coolmohit: so landed up with cse
(15:11:07) DP: would you also have a forum online for asking qns
(15:11:10) talk2coolmohit: :)
(15:11:18) DP: there are many forums for MBAs but none for high school students
(15:11:32) DP: you could be the designer of the premium high school students forum in the country
(15:11:50) DP: you could have people volunteer and go and talk to students around dhanbad to start with
(15:11:59) talk2coolmohit: y nt..
(15:12:06) DP: do it to a whole bunch of colleges around dhanbad
(15:12:20) DP: Make video CDs of these presentations and send it to shcools that are far
(15:12:34) DP: so you can start with very low cost and do this really cool project
(15:12:42) DP: and make a solid impact
(15:12:51) talk2coolmohit: n u mst hv noticd tht students frm 11-12 r flooding orkut
(15:12:56) DP: yea
(15:13:01) talk2coolmohit: agree sir..
(15:13:07) talk2coolmohit: bt i plannd 2 launch in patna
(15:13:09) DP: orkut is definitely an excellent medium to tap on
(15:13:13) talk2coolmohit: as we hv contacts there
(15:13:21) DP: you could also launch in Dhanbad
(15:13:25) DP: its right next
(15:13:29) talk2coolmohit: and help frm native schools can also be taken
(15:13:33) DP: sure
(15:14:04) DP: I have thought about this problem in the past
(15:14:16) DP: so I'm really glad you articulated it so clearly
(15:14:29) talk2coolmohit: k
(15:14:33) DP: and are motivated to implement it
(15:14:36) talk2coolmohit: thnx sir...
(15:14:46) DP: we'll assemble a team to help you with it
(15:15:07) talk2coolmohit: infact i discussed this with dubey before launch of FFI
(15:15:12) DP: I'm going to actually paste this chat transcript on the ffi blog
(15:15:24) talk2coolmohit: so i though to include it under this umbrella
(15:15:35) DP: so people know what is the current state of thinking on this project
(15:15:35) talk2coolmohit: sure sir..
(15:15:59) talk2coolmohit: k
(15:16:05) DP: very good, its always good to meet with someone who cares about these issues a lot
(15:16:15) DP: think of a name for the project
(15:16:22) DP: thats catchy and describes it well
(15:16:26) talk2coolmohit: my motive ws diffrent earliar
(15:16:33) DP: what was your earlier motivce
(15:16:47) talk2coolmohit: i wantd 2 promote my college in our native places
(15:16:56) talk2coolmohit: so planned all this..
(15:17:24) talk2coolmohit: for example..
(15:17:30) talk2coolmohit: we planned tht
(15:17:46) talk2coolmohit: we cn hv quizzes n JEE based tests
(15:18:05) talk2coolmohit: for buildings n test centers we can convince our schools
(15:18:32) talk2coolmohit: for questions and checking we can rope in any coaching centers
(15:18:47) talk2coolmohit: n print media is always there
(15:19:09) DP: makes sense to me
(15:19:27) DP: I'll let you decide where to launch it
(15:19:38) DP: Dhanbad and Patna are both good choices
(15:19:47) DP: maybe you can do both, but it might get overwhelming
(15:19:52) talk2coolmohit: ok sir
(15:19:57) DP: you know many people on Patna
(15:20:00) DP: so its good
(15:20:06) DP: Dhanbad is right next, so its easy to manage
(15:20:10) talk2coolmohit: my first choice will surely be patna..
(15:20:18) DP: how will you coordinate it?
(15:20:21) DP: where in patna?
(15:20:43) talk2coolmohit: i wantd to in volve sum junioes frm patna
(15:20:53) talk2coolmohit: so to make it a chain affair
(15:20:59) talk2coolmohit: coz i won't b there aftr 1 yr
(15:21:38) talk2coolmohit: first thing will be to meet respective schools
(15:21:44) talk2coolmohit: media partner
(15:22:05) talk2coolmohit: and a coaching center to support
(15:22:31) talk2coolmohit: in return they wil get excellnt publicity without spending too much
(15:22:32) DP: whats the role of the coaching center?
(15:23:10) talk2coolmohit: we need sumbody to set papers n correct it
(15:23:46) talk2coolmohit: n help in organizing things
(15:24:04) talk2coolmohit: coz they have a base n they also organize seminars
(15:24:15) talk2coolmohit: so they may help..
(15:24:31) talk2coolmohit: n we will get free man-power
(15:24:46) DP: hmm
(15:24:56) DP: so there are 2 aspects
(15:25:07) DP: one is spreading awareness and information aboiut career paths
(15:25:22) DP: the 2nd is helping students prepare for specific exams related to careers
(15:25:32) talk2coolmohit: bt surely they won't be extra highlighted
(15:26:01) talk2coolmohit: exactly
(15:26:05) DP: sounds good
(15:26:30) DP: so if I say, do both in Patna, but at least organize the awareness part in Dhanbad too
(15:26:31) talk2coolmohit: n like us othr people frm diffrent feiilds wil do same thing
(15:26:35) DP: could you do it as a challenge?
(15:26:42) talk2coolmohit: bt with diffrent audience
(15:26:52) DP: or is it too overwhelming to start off?
(15:27:19) talk2coolmohit: can't say
(15:27:28) talk2coolmohit: bt i can try my level best to do it
(15:27:45) talk2coolmohit: coz it's before FFI
(15:27:58) talk2coolmohit: so u r an extra motivational factor
(15:27:58) DP: as you can tell, i'm a little worried about your being in Dhanbad and the project being in Patna
(15:28:21) DP: FFI is itself not a project or entity
(15:28:34) DP: its just supposed to be a help and support to organizations coming up
(15:28:38) talk2coolmohit: we planned it jst 4 vacations
(15:28:56) talk2coolmohit: a platform
(15:29:00) DP: yep
(15:29:03) talk2coolmohit: am i right?
(15:29:07) DP: exactly
(15:29:42) DP: so as i said
(15:29:58) DP: the decision on where to launch it is totally left to the person who's leading it
(15:30:00) talk2coolmohit: so do u want this to continue 4 whole year
(15:30:33) DP: yes we'd like to carry out projects from Nov till April/may
(15:30:36) talk2coolmohit: ok sir..
(15:30:40) DP: so my plan was
(15:30:45) DP: maybe on certain weekends
(15:30:50) talk2coolmohit: and how the teams will be formed
(15:31:00) DP: a group of colllege students would go to a high school say in Dhanbad
(15:31:06) DP: and talk maybe for an hour about careers
(15:31:26) DP: and answer questions the students there have
(15:31:36) DP: what do you think?
(15:31:54) talk2coolmohit: u mean counselling session
(15:31:58) DP: more or less
(15:31:59) DP: yes
(15:32:03) talk2coolmohit: fine..
(15:32:13) talk2coolmohit: we cn do it here also
(15:32:19) DP: spending an hour or two should be too hard for the team members
(15:32:27) talk2coolmohit: our college name will help here
(15:32:30) DP: yea we could actually invite the students to ISM and do it here
(15:32:54) DP: as you said in your proposal
(15:32:57) talk2coolmohit: bt wt abt ppl frm othr feilds..
(15:33:01) DP: such information we now knmow about
(15:33:10) DP: we will get people from other fields too
(15:33:15) DP: thats the interesting challenge
(15:33:21) DP: getting other people to come and talk
(15:33:30) DP: maybe invite someone from calcutta
(15:33:38) talk2coolmohit: yeah
(15:33:44) talk2coolmohit: atleast in dhanbad for me
(15:33:45) DP: and we could maybe arrange to pay for their fares
(15:34:09) talk2coolmohit: coz no othr college is here
(15:34:17) DP: ya
(15:34:24) DP: well there are other colleges
(15:34:27) talk2coolmohit: bt thn again we have to think for money..
(15:34:29) DP: that are not engineering colleges
(15:34:38) DP: so
(15:34:49) DP: what kind of expenses do you think we'll have?
(15:34:53) talk2coolmohit: bt they don't hv any repute
(15:35:34) talk2coolmohit: i m talkin abt inviting ppl
(15:35:39) DP: ok
(15:35:47) DP: 1. Fares and stay and food for inviting people
(15:35:50) DP: what else?
(15:35:59) DP: i want to get a rough idea of the expenses
(15:36:02) talk2coolmohit: ya
(15:36:09) DP: 2. printouts
(15:36:15) DP: 3. photocopies and glue
(15:36:32) talk2coolmohit: n nt sure whether they will alsocharge
(15:36:38) DP: they wont
(15:36:42) DP: i'll arrange for that
(15:37:25) talk2coolmohit: ok then only fare is the max. expense
(15:37:28) DP: ok
(15:37:31) DP: include everything
(15:37:33) DP: fare
(15:37:36) DP: charges for printouts
(15:37:41) DP: photocopies
(15:37:42) DP: glue
(15:37:48) DP: and other sundry expenses
(15:37:52) talk2coolmohit: thn it's fine
(15:37:54) DP: i'll arrange it
(15:38:09) DP: i'll talk to some people and ask for funding
(15:38:36) DP: can you take responsibility for leading the team?
(15:38:38) talk2coolmohit: gud enough sir
(15:38:44) talk2coolmohit: bt y will they fund us
(15:39:01) DP: because we are going to have a positive impact
(15:39:14) DP: good work should never get stopped because of funding
(15:39:18) talk2coolmohit: sure..
(15:39:25) talk2coolmohit: i m always ready 4 tht..
(15:39:35) DP: thats the support FFI brings
(15:39:38) DP: do you see it now?
(15:39:42) DP: :)
(15:39:49) DP: you create the organization
(15:39:51) DP: you lead it
(15:39:55) DP: you create impact
(15:39:59) DP: you learn from it
(15:40:06) talk2coolmohit: ok sir..
(15:40:07) DP: FFI helps with finding gunds
(15:40:13) talk2coolmohit: ya agree with u..
(15:40:14) DP: FFI doesnt need any publicity
(15:40:19) talk2coolmohit: :)
(15:40:28) DP: FFI wants the organizations to do well
(15:40:41) DP: because thats what matters
(15:40:47) DP: we all want impact
(15:40:52) DP: because we care
(15:41:15) DP: if we get funding from a third party
(15:41:28) DP: you might just have to acknowledge that organization and FFI as a sponsor
(15:41:33) DP: thats about it
(15:41:47) DP: so this is an opportunity
(15:41:52) DP: but also a big responsibility
(15:43:17) talk2coolmohit: nw comes the team
(15:43:23) talk2coolmohit: r u goin 2 do this?
(15:43:29) talk2coolmohit: or i hv 2 do?
(15:43:35) DP: what do you think?
(15:43:35) talk2coolmohit: k
(15:43:35) DP: ;)
(15:43:46) DP: so the plan is
(15:43:54) talk2coolmohit: ready
(15:43:56) DP: we'll release a list of all FFI projects
(15:44:09) DP: and ask the students to sign up for the teams they are interested in
(15:44:15) talk2coolmohit: ok sir..
(15:44:20) talk2coolmohit: thn..
(15:44:37) DP: if there are specific people you want to work with you can ask them to sign up
(15:44:38) talk2coolmohit: fine
(15:44:47) DP: i suppose thats reasonable
(15:44:48) talk2coolmohit: n thn shortlist them
(15:44:51) DP: yep
(15:45:05) talk2coolmohit: ya..
(15:45:08) DP: we'll also have mentors for the project
(15:45:20) DP: who will advice you and provide you extra support
(15:45:25) talk2coolmohit: hw ws the response frm ISM
(15:45:27) DP: mentors are in general very experienced people
(15:45:30) talk2coolmohit: ?
(15:45:36) talk2coolmohit: who wil b they??
(15:45:49) DP: i have had a couple of people interested
(15:46:04) DP: 1 mentor we have confirmed was aprofessor at Boston university
(15:46:09) talk2coolmohit: k
(15:46:11) DP: he's now the CEO of an organization
(15:46:22) DP: there's a second one who's a faculty at harvard medical shcool
(15:46:40) talk2coolmohit: ok
(15:46:56) DP: so interacting with them should give the team a valuable learning experience
(15:47:01) DP: not just project wise
(15:47:05) DP: but inn general
(15:47:08) talk2coolmohit: so u wil decide tht which person wil guide which project?
(15:47:17) talk2coolmohit: ya agree with tht..
(15:47:24) DP: we'll similarly ask the mentors to indicate what projects interest them
(15:47:42) talk2coolmohit: tht's better..
(15:47:50) DP: it should all be done on people's willingness
(15:47:57) DP: imposing a project is a bad idea
(15:48:05) DP: whether for students or mentors or NGOs
(15:48:16) talk2coolmohit: ya
(15:48:27) talk2coolmohit: so whn the list will be declared
(15:48:37) DP: by this weekend
(15:48:52) DP: there's a whole flurry of activity going on here
(15:49:05) talk2coolmohit: k
(15:49:08) DP: also you have to think of scaling
(15:49:12) DP: do you know what that means?
(15:49:12) talk2coolmohit: related to??
(15:49:26) DP: related to FFI
(15:49:43) talk2coolmohit: means expansion
(15:50:07) DP: yes
(15:50:28) DP: you have to think of what you'd do if you had the resources to take this project nationally
(15:50:30) DP: or regionally
(15:50:36) DP: its something to think about
(15:50:41) talk2coolmohit: we hv lot of scope here
(15:50:48) DP: because it could happen next year
(15:51:04) DP: the point is, this idea is not unique just as a concept
(15:51:09) DP: i have had the same idea before
(15:51:24) DP: and its quite likely that many other people must have thought of it in some way
(15:51:30) DP: maybe slightly differently
(15:51:36) DP: but the difference with you is
(15:51:41) DP: you are actually doing it
(15:51:58) DP: that is a *big* difference
(15:52:15) DP: from sitting on a couch and speculating about it, to actually doing something on the ground
(15:52:56) DP: anyways i have to get back to work now. good job!

Fastforward projects up for peer review

2006-10-31T16:19:00.000-08:00

please review one or more of the projects below and leave your reviews as comments.