Nick Buehring's Blog (14)

Charleston, South Carolina sits right on a fault line between two tectonic plates. We experience minor earthquakes with some regularity and, as recently as the 1850's, experienced one that caused serious damage. Should such a tragedy strike again, Ushahidi could prove invaluable. This service would allow people to tell rescuers where they were if they were to be trapped under rubble. In fact, anyone at all could use it to tell the rescuers where they were needed and what type of assistance…

Charleston, South Carolina is very committed to preserving the local environment and have a variety of plans in place to keep it the most beautiful city in the world. First, the city recently sunk a couple of old ships off the coast so that they could form a reef. By all reports, the results have been great, with many species who had previously seen their numbers dwindling, now making a comeback. Charleston has also started pouring huge piles of old oyster shells (which we have in abundance…

I was not able to make the map function work properly, but I will write about how my city looks in the future. We have established low-cost housing along the northern end of the peninsula. We have also found employment for all of these people as sanitation workers, park workers in our numerous parks, and performing a variety of conservation projects around the shores to combat erosion and promote greater biodiversity in the aquatic wildlife. We have also established a number of new schools…

I chose to write about an article from February of 2015 about gender-based violence in Somalia. As everyone knows, many areas of the Islamic world have very backwards views as to how to deal with cases of rape. The article said that in Somalia, many victims are forced to marry their attackers. In many other areas, the woman can be punished for having extramarital congress because they see it as her fault for having tempted the man. This is a horrible way to treat these women who have already…

Afiya (which means health in Ugandan) is a young woman about to go to college in the year 2020. She studied at a school which was built out of bricks payed for with money from this website! Thanks to the generosity of the Evoke community, Afiya was able to gain an education which would otherwise have been denied her. She, along with her three younger sisters will now have a chance to make the most of their talents and attend university. This new trend of educated females has caused a…

I spoke about this issue to my friends and tried to help raise awareness of the global plight of women. They seemed very interested and we have discussed trying to raise the 30 USD for the 500 bricks to build a school in Uganda.

Since the links to the databases of examples were not working, I found my own from what we covered in my political science class today. The Surfers of Puerto Rico are an excellent example of a group of people who's knowledge of the environment constitutes wisdom which should be passed down. In the video (link below) the surfers consistently point out their closeness to the ocean and it's indigenous life. These people have developed a bond with, and understanding of the ocean and its…

To the people of the future, I would pass on my extensive knowledge of the local flora. I spend much of my life camping and have an excellent working knowledge of what plants may be consumed and what plants should be avoided. I know where these plants live, how they can be found, and how to harvest them and make them into healthy food. Things like wild grapes and onions, sassafras trees, and pine trees are all indigenous plants to South Carolina which can keep someone alive out in the…

I am a huge proponent of virtual money and online transactions. They are quicker, more easily traceable, and just overall more efficient. I believe that future economics practices will continue to move more towards this medium of wealth. Transactions are quick and easy and everything is simpler than using outmoded things like paper money.

With the state of the world today, it is entirely possible that we could devolve to a barter economy. The economies of the world are so interconnected today that should some tragedy befall one nation, the rest of the world's economies would likely soon follow. In an effort to prepare for this, I undertook to practice my bartering skills. I traded the guys in the room next door a muffin in exchange for some soap.

I'm here on the Savannah of Africa reporting a remarkable development. One of the local tribesmen has just erected a new bank! This brand new bank is here to serve this previously neglected community. Because large international banks refused to set up shop in this remote location, tribesman Ubutu decided to take matters into his own hands. He talked to a few wealthy investors in Greenland and attained the startup capital to open the first branch of Ubutu Banks. Here, he plans to give out…

In 2020, I plan to be sitting by my pool with my supermodel wife and our four beautiful children. I will be exorbitantly wealthy after the success of my start-up business. I will be giving generously of my extreme wealth to a variety of charities around the world because of my natural philanthropic spirit.

For my social innovator, I chose to follow Hal Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees. Steinbrenner sits on the board of directors for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a group which helps children of fallen soldiers. Steinbrenner's efforts have provided the opportunity for innumerable children of fallen heroes to attend school and gain an education. This selfless patriotism has revolutionized the American sporting industry, as teams all over the nation now have similar…

I think that the most important thing for innovation is the sharing of knowledge. When you share knowledge and information, you get other people's take on things. This collaboration leads to great innovation and the betterment of life for everyone involved. Though I do believe that intellectual property must be protected so as to encourage people to develop new things, I also believe that the free flow of ideas leads to a constantly expanding cloud of human knowledge which is hopefully used…