Behind the support of the Arrow clothing line, Save Ellis Island has created nation-wide buzz and attention to the hugely important role Ellis Island had in the flux of immigrants into the United States with their We Are Ellis Island campaign. Celebrities and average Americans who's lives and families began at Ellis Island have taken part in the campaign.

On DoGooderTV, Save Ellis Island has put together a compilation of their PSA's.

Go here to view the We Are Ellis Island channel on DoGooderTV, and go here to get one of those "We Are Ellis Island" t-shirts.

Brought to us by Google and Specialized Bicycle Components, the Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest was a contest designed to inspire innovation and environmental change by highlighting the benefits of cycling.

The Challenge: Invent and put together machines that transform zero-emission human energy into new and useful purposes.

The Result: Success- hundred folds. Entries from all around presented their own ideas, the winner however, took a Playpumps-esque idea and made it mobile. The Aquaduct:  Mobile Filtration Vehicle, a bicycle that not only provides an environmentally friendly transportation, but also provides a means to create and move clean filtered water long-distances. It was designed to target problems in areas where clean water is not readily available, and as a result, leads to millions of deaths every year.

I present to you the winner the Innovate or Die contest, The Aquaduct:  Mobile Filtration Vehicle...

Be sure to also check out the other entries on their YouTube page here.

Sources:

• Google Blog
• Innovate or Die Contest Page

In a rare interview, billionaire and founder of Duty Free Shoppers Chuck Feeney talks with James Hattori, substitute host of Weekend Edition Sunday, about his plan to give away all his money before he dies. Mr. Feeney was born into a blue-collar Irish-American family during the Depression, fought in the Korean War, and eventually made a fortune as founder of Duty Free Shoppers, the world’s largest duty-free retail chain. Mr. Feeney transferred all the money he made from his lucrative businesses to a foundation he created called Atlantic Philanthropies. Now in his mid-seventies, Mr. Feeney is having his foundation spend its remaining $4 billion during the next decade.  Chuck Feeney calls it “giving while living.”

Listen to it here.

With the help of Microsoft, a poor neighborhood in Philadelphia recently opened  it's doors to a new type of school known as the "School of the Future". This highly anticipated project was originally put together in 2003; it houses classrooms that look like board rooms, advanced technology lockers, but most importantly, an approach to teaching that embraces and encompasses the next generation of technologies (even blogging).

Read more about the program and order the documentary at Microsoft's website. Also check out the NPR's report on the school.

Jane Wales is President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Northern California and Co-Founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum, interviews Googlers Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Larry Brilliant: