Ideally, internet-led social movements would form a symbiotic relationship with their “on-the-ground” counterparts. Using social media outlets to propel a social cause cannot merely be a two-way dialogue—online and offline activism should not exist as diametrically opposed efforts. Think of online and offline activism efforts working towards the same goal as a meta-coalition, bringing solidarity and strength to a movement by providing consciousness, protection, connection, and documentation.

Creating an awareness and consciousness around an issue is the first step in building and articulating a movement’s demands and priorities. Blogging and micro-blogging serve as digital fliers or zines, while the social networks provide both a virtual printing press and a soapbox upon which activists can stand, free of the sponsorship and ratings constraints shackling the mainstream media.

Read the Full Article at GOOD

Of particular note is the Technical Support forum, where you can open new issues and see which have been resolved by Raffstar Team Members. Additionally throughout all of the forums you can now create polls, subscribe to topics, and sort by popular keyword tags.

As always, if there are any extra features you’d like to see, let us know!

August was declared National Children’s Vision & Learning Month in 1995. The goal of this national observance is to help educate parents and educators about the critical link between vision and learning.

COVD thanks Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals 2008 NFC West Champions’ wide-receiver and Pro Bowl MVP, for helping us promote our 2009 campaign. According to Fitzgerald, “The public doesn’t realize that you need over 17 visual skills to succeed in reading, learning, sports, and in life. Seeing ‘20/20’ is just one of those visual skills.” says Larry Fitzgerald.

In 2008, the COVD public awareness campaign for National Children’s Vision & Learning Month generated a record number of State and City Proclamations. COVD continues the success with new Proclamations for 2009.

Visit http://www.covd.org/ for more information on how to get involved.

Why Profit May Belong in the Charity Business
Aaron Steinberg | October 26, 2006

Before Google went public, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page informed potential investors that they wouldn’t be seeing all of the company profits. A small percentage of it would be set aside for a charity project to be determined later. Last month, Brin and Page finally revealed what they planned to do with those company funds when they announced the founding of Google.org, a charity operation designed—modestly, humbly—to solve all the world’s problems and provide us all with awesome electric cars besides.

That rich internet entrepreneurs would want to start a charitable organization is about as surprising as Bill Gates’ wardrobe. The corporate form Brin and Page chose for their new charity, however—that was something completely different.

Read the entire article at ReasonOnline »

We’re launching the very first giveaway as we speak: a $25 Target E-Gift Card! We’ll continue to host new giveaways every week through June, ending each Saturday. Check the leaderboard before watching those cartoons to find out if you’ve won!

Nolan Touchstone is the winner of a $25 Visa Gift Card!

Congratulations Nolan, and a huge thank you to everyone who joined up on Facebook!
Stay tuned for more ways to win, and as always, let us know what prizes and drawings you’d like to see held.

And as always, if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see on Facebook or elsewhere, just let us know! Visit our Facebook Page today!

This month we will begin cracking down on accounts suspected of cheating.

WHAT IS CHEATING?
Cheating is any attempt to manipulate the results of the system other than manually clicking the “Get Ticket” button within the allowable time for each giveaway. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Creating multiple accounts* to get extra tickets
• Using a script, application, or automated bot to automatically get tickets (even if it stays within the allowable time).
• Hacking or injecting code into the system for any reason whatsoever.

* Individual members in a household may each have separate accounts, but if one member’s account is caught cheating, all accounts may be affected.

WHY IS CHEATING BAD?

• It discourages advertisers from participating.
  Companies are paying for actual people to see their ads. If those impressions start coming from a bot or automated script, we can say goodbye to the financial backers of this site permanently.
• It discourages others from playing.
  When a new member sees that someone already has over 2,000 tickets for a prize, they’ll turn right around and leave the site thinking there’s no chance. Without members, there’s no reason for advertisers to stick around either.
• It causes problems with our system.
  Our site was designed to run a specific way, and any foreign code or interference can generate bugs and errors that affect everyone playing.

WHAT IF MY ACCOUNT IS FLAGGED?
We will be rolling out new security measures this month with three forms of response based on the severity of cheating involved:

• Account Handicap
  Member will be forced to verify their authenticity each time they get a ticket.
• Account Suspension
  Member will not be able to get tickets for an extended period of time.
• Account Ban
  Member (and similar accounts, including families) will be permanently banned from Raffstar.

We realize there are some members who eagerly (and fairly) get tickets with startling regularity and we’ll seek to resolve any confusion as it arises.

WHAT IF I NO LONGER CHEAT?
If a flagged account resumes normal activity before we contact the account holder, we will not pursue the issue. But if an account remains flagged when we start cracking down, the account holder will be permanently banned as an example to the other members.

How do you know if your account is flagged? A good rule of thumb is if you’re still cheating, you’re probably flagged. This is your ONLY warning.

We appreciate all all of our users who have been playing fairly since launch! If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact us! Thank you.

• Check your odds of winning
• Find out what those odds are equivalent to in the real world
• View all of your tickets together
• Compete against other members on the projected leaderboard
• Witness the un-luckiest members on a given prize
• And more to come!

Check it out now on any one of our prize giveaways, and as always, let us know what you think!

Don’t let that work go to waste — Become a Raffstar Fan on Facebook!