Miro

we also put together this simple site explaining how it works: Sync Video and Audio to Kindle Fire

We need your help to keep Miro alive. To those of you that have already donated this year– thank you so much. If you haven’t given yet, here’s why it’s urgent.

Over the past year, PCF, the non-profit that makes Miro, has had some big successes. We’ve won a Tech Award for advancing equality and an award from the FCC for innovation in accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing. Miro has taken huge strides forward, adding full music support, Android syncing, and much more– Miro is now used by millions of people every month!

We believe deeply in the power of open tools. But our very small budget depends on donations from users and we are facing serious shortfall going into 2012. Can you make a donation?

Yes, I can donate to Miro

After you give, you’ll see a list of new features that we are considering: please vote on what you’d most like to see in the next version of Miro.

We are already hard at work on a major update to Miro that will bring exciting new features and major performance improvements. Miro is built by one of the smallest software teams in the world for a project of this scale, just a few very underpaid developers. But even with our tiny (and incredibly talented team), it does take some money to build and offer Miro for free to everyone.

Our request this month is very real– we just can’t afford to keep making Miro without more user support. If you can make a donation of any size today, it will help ensure that Miro can live on into next year and beyond.

Donate Here

Thank you for reading and, as always, for using Miro. And please, if you possibly can, make a donation today.

Good news everyone! The Participatory Politics Foundation just launched a new version of OpenCongress. A sibling non-profit of PCF, the Participatory Politics Foundation is an organization with a mission to increase civic engagement and to create opportunities for engagement with the government.

OpenCongress is a free and open source public resource for tracking and contacting the U.S. Congress. In this new and improved version, OpenCongress finally allows its followers to write a letter to the members of the U.S. Congress and then track and share the correspondence with the public. In fact, they are the only online service on a not-for-profit site that offers features to write all of one’s federal elected officials at the same time.

What’s so great about the revamped version of OpenCongress is it actually encourages input from the public. The new version gives you the ability to reach out to Congress directly and open a dialogue with governmental officials. Thanks to OpenCongress, the government can hear the voices of everyday citizens!

We are strong supporters of the Participatory Politics Foundation and believe you should check out OpenCongress! It’s a great way to monitor official legislative actions and find out what’s really happening in Congress. OpenCongress makes it easy to be a political insider, so check out their site and learn more about the U.S. government.

Welcome to Week 7 of Miro Community Video Highlights! Miro Community is an open-source video aggregation and presentation service that allows anyone to develop their own video community. If you’re inspired to start your own site, it’s easy to get going & import video from anywhere on the web. Make Your Site Today >>

Flash Mobs Capture the Attention of the Community

What could be better than dancing in a group for an unsuspecting audience? In this video, watch a flash mob surprise onlookers as they dance together to Shakira’s hit, “Waka Waka.” Though the dance is choreographed, the audience can’t ignore the sense of pleasure from the smiling dancers and soon, the onlookers start dancing too!

Flash Mob breaks into Waka Waka Dance from Coleen LeDrew Elgin on Vimeo.

Sit Back and Relax to the Strum of a Harp

If you like the soothing sound of the harp, check out this video of Joanna Newsom performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live. A crooner with killer vocals, Newsom also plays the piano. Her style has been described as a combination between “Appalachian music and avant-garde modernism.” Watch this video and see for yourself!

We got this video from Joanna Newsom TV, a compilation of various videos of the artist created by devoted fans.

Watch the Community Media Network’s Handpicked Videos!

An extensive online video gallery, CMNtv presents media from the busy town of Oakland, Michigan. Through their Miro Community site, CMNtv allows viewers to watch videos about the current events in the Wolverine state. The Community Media Network is one of the most prestigious Public Access Television organizations in Michigan, so you know their videos ares worth watching!

Check out this video that captures “Heritage Days” in Rochester, Michigan.