CBS’s Sunday Morning may be one of my favorite all time television shows. There is something about a cup of coffee, the newspaper and their segments that seem to make everything right in the world. I can remember watching as a kid and catching myself being truly interested in what I considered to be one of my parent’s shows – yikes.

This last Sunday was no different, and it led to me watching an 8-minute 12-second segment (Selling Your Home for Charity) that I have been thinking about and talking about all week. It focuses on a family who downsized their home and used proceeds from the sale to start a non-profit organization assisting families in Ghana. The story posed the very important question: “How much should you give to charity?” One statistic noted that Americans give approximately 2.2% of their individual annual income to non-profit organizations. This statistic was juxtaposed with a vignette about Willie Mae Dorsey, a Publix cashier who donates 10% of her $25,000 annual salary. Point being: Often, the people who earn the least give the most, as a percentage of their income.

All week I have been thinking: What if we were all like Willie Mae and reached deeper, (giving 5%, 7% or 10%) to help people in need? How would the world be different? Suddenly the idea of ending hunger or poverty doesn’t seem as unreachable. It certainly has me looking to see what else I can be doing to be more like Willie Mae.

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Google Wave, the much-anticipated, newest addition to the Google family, is expected to change e-mail and Internet collaboration as we know it. A “wave” is an interactive conversation that you create with other users. Think of it as a Word document to which you can add infinite collaborators … or a brainstorming session, automatically transferred into an online conversation.

In addition to typing text, you can share photos, videos, links, maps, surveys and more – all in one convenient space. The fact that the application is live makes it ideal for working remotely. The features provide the opportunity to plan everything from a presentation to an event in one centralized location, rather than sorting through a mess of e-mail trails.

Lars Rasmussen, among others, put together a demonstration using the Declaration of Independence – and how it might have come together, had our founders been using Wave. The example makes use of the playback option, real-time text editing and ability to add multiple collaborators.

It seems the jury is still out on Google Wave, and it will probably remain that way until it is fully released to the public. In the meantime, some think it blurs the line between fun and function, while others see exciting potential.

Although Wave is still available only through limited release, current users were given a small number of invitations to share. Leave a comment on this post to receive one of our ten invites – and we can ride the wave together.

Recently, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill extending the Shield Law, which protects journalists’ confidential sources in federal court. With  the exception of national security issues, the bill passed by a 14-5 vote will not only apply not only to information held directly by reporters, but also to information such as phone and e-mail records held by third-party service providers. With broad support from journalism organizations, the bill extends the definition of a “journalist” to include unconventional reporters like bloggers, freelancers and citizen journalists.

This raises an interesting question: How do you define today’s journalist?

I bet Benjamin Franklin didn’t see this one coming. When laying the ground rules of the First Amendment for freedom of the press, the definition of “the press” was (quite literally) black and white. With the media shift towards citizen journalism and the ever-increasing accessibility to technology, virtually anyone with an Internet connection could be considered part of the media. I think at one point most of us have posted a Twitpic, 140-character fact, status update or blog entry “with the intent to disseminate information to the public.” With the court’s current definition of a journalist, I think it would be more helpful to define who is NOT a member of this group.

The definition of a modern day journalist is a constantly moving target. How would you define it?

Photo: Steve Rhodes

A couple weeks ago, Amber Naslund (@ambercadabra) asked her followers what their favorite non-social media blogs were. So, I went to my Google Reader to see what I could come up with.

I couldn’t make a final decision after about 15 minutes, so I sent Amber Serious Eats (@seriouseats). It’s a blog I read religiously – even on weekends – so I figured it fit the bill. Looking back, however, I should have sent her a link to Dumb Little Man.

It’s hard to sum up what Dumb Little Man’s purpose is. Its tagline is “Tips for Life.” Its subject matter covers all manner of topics, from “How to say no to great opportunities,” to “How to use a colon.” Most helpful to me, however, are the articles about personal and professional development. These posts serve as an attitude check, often helping me take a step back from my busy days and look at the big picture.

Some of my recent favorites include “How to discover your life’s purpose – 7 questions to ask,” and “You’re not small, you’re just human (and so are the gurus)”.

Share some of your favorite blogs in the comments. I’m always looking for new stuff to read!

Because it’s the holidays – and I’m getting into the spirit of things – I’ve decided to deviate from the normal CDe blog content (of all things public relations and social media) and instead delve into more festive subject matter: holiday giving.

At Costa DeVault, we’ve always supported local nonprofits, and in doing so, we see the need in the community firsthand – and we’ve seen the need grow. In Florida, the unemployment rate is 11.2% and the poverty rate sits at 12.5%. As a result, many local nonprofits and community organizations need help now more than ever. They are serving more people with fewer resources.

This holiday season, I would like to challenge everyone to make a contribution. Large or small, it doesn’t matter. Volunteer to feed the homeless. Drop change into a Salvation Army kettle. Buy a toy to support a children’s program. Drop off a bag of cat food to the humane society. Small donations have the ability to make a HUGE difference in someone’s life.

As famed poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”

I’ve compiled a short list of nonprofits (some local to Central Florida, some national) below – and of course, there are many more than I’ve included here. If you don’t see your favorite charity, please add it in the comments!

Adult Literacy League

BETA Center

Boys and Girls Club

Coalition for the Homeless

A Gift for Teaching

Habitat for Humanity

The Salvation Army

Second Harvest Food Bank

Seniors First

SPCA of Central Florida

Happy Holidays (and happy giving)!

Yesterday morning as I read through the Orlando Sentinel, I honed in on a story about Children’s Health magazine. I was surprised to see that the magazine has ranked Orlando 98th among its 100 best and worst cities to raise a family. Here’s why:

We considered more than 30 factors that parents deem vitally important, including crime and safety, education, economics, housing, cultural attractions, and health. When we crunched the numbers, these were the cities that best complemented family life.

As an Orlando native, I could present a counter-argument with a list a reasons why my husband and I chose to start a family here … such as the fact that my toddler knows he lives down the street from Mickey Mouse … and Shamu … and the beach. But I won’t go there. Central Floridians know why it’s a great place to live and have children. What struck me was this: according the Sentinel:

Editors at the magazine dinged the City Beautiful for its relatively low per-pupil spending, high crime rates, low homeownership rate, high unemployment and the number of sex offenders and missing children per capita.

It’s surprising to me that the editors of Children’s Health believe that owning a home is either a good – or bad – thing. That way of thinking is very antiquated, and (arguably) one of the reasons why we’re in a housing crisis to begin with … which leads me to believe that perhaps the other criteria that “complement family life” may be up for dispute as well.

Here’s a photo of a shuttle launch I took from my house in March. How many people in #1-ranked Burlington, Vermont can post that?