Matthew Leavitt

Connectivity and Poverty
Iraqi refugees in Syria will receive UN food vouchers through text messages on mobile phones, the World Food Programme said Tuesday.
In a test project targeting 1,000 Iraqi refugee families, the United Nations agency will send a 22-dollar (15-euro) voucher every two months by SMS to each family, who will be provided with a [...]

I think it would be fun to create an event that is sort of sad and mournful. I’ve only done a couple of shoots, but If I can get at least 5 shoots by the end of the semester, I could throw a “smallest gallery opening” type of deal somewhere on campus and display the [...]

- Google Dashboard
Google Dashboard has been launched, which allows users to have a greater transparancy to the information that google has about them. Although this is a big step in the right direction as google (between the many apps it has) collects a lot of personal data, the Foundation of Tax and Consumer Rights says [...]

– Grieving , Extreme Edition
This article from the New York Times speaks about grief and depression after a loved one has passed. Normally, “time heals all wounds”, but for 15% of the population affected by someone close to them dying, they suffer from what Dr. Katherine Shear calls “The Loop of Suffering”. There is debate [...]

- What Would Happen if The Internet Ceased to Be?
Cracked.com did an open call for people to photoshop what life would be like without the internet (after the riots stopped). Overall, they take internet trends and make them manual (birds flying around with messages, people in a long line for porn). It’s important to analyze [...]

- In App Purchases Now Available to Free Apps
Apple has now opened up their “Upgrade to Full Version” programming to free applications (that have full versions for download) instead of exiting the store and then downloading it that way. I think as far as “contagious” is concerned, when people download free apps (which they do a [...]

- How Felicia Day Recruited Millions to her “Guild”
In this interview with Wired, Felica Day talks about her life in Hollywood and how her fame online has not come from her guest roles in such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but rather with her “webisode” show “The Guild”, which is a show about gamers. She [...]

1.) Interventional Innovation

Summary // This article spoke on how specific vectors of innovation an target people (specifically caregivers), into adopting certain recommendations in our society. Through advertising we are constantly becoming more blunt as ads have inherent suggestions that urge people to help the ones they love by using product X. Teachers are recommending that [...]

Divorce Photography Meme
Patient Zero
- The patient zero’s that are particularly targeted within the confines of my already developed project are photographers / photobloggers / photo enthusists. Using the #photography tag in pushing forward my meme, I am hoping they spread the world, then it catches on to a more general streamlined process.
The Good
- The best [...]