Seeing No Limits
Tim Cordes has mastered much in his 28 years: Jujitsu. Biochemistry. Water-skiing. Musical composition. And most recently: Medical Doctor. Any one of these accomplishments would be impressive, but what makes them really extraordinary is that Tim Cordes is blind.... posted on Apr 05 2005, 1,550 reads

... posted on Mar 21 2005, 540 reads

City Repair
In Portland, Oregon, on the corner of 47th and Ivan, are a park and a sauna built and maintained by neighborhood residents. On 18th and Clinton are a one-room sanctuary for contemplation and an oven for baking bread. Led by architect Mark Lakeman, City Repair Project has motivated more than a thousand people to transform urban intersections into community spaces that foster commerce, reduce crime... posted on Mar 17 2005, 1,297 reads

Wave of Aid
Inspired by the fundraising power of the neon yellow "LIVESTRONG" wristbands sold by the Lance Armstrong Foundaton, two Monta Vista High School students figured they could raise $5,000 selling wristbands -- bright blue ones inscribed with "WAVE OF AID" at $2 each -- to help a relief organization build a home in India for children orphaned by the Asian tsunami. Just a week after nearly selling out ... posted on Mar 12 2005, 939 reads

Invent
As an adolescent, Clifford Ross was an apathetic science student but obsessed by Tom Swift. Now 52, Mr. Ross has become a character appropriate to a boys' adventure novel. An artist and businessman, he recently became an inventor - of a camera unusual enough to capture the attention of serious scientists, including the kinds who work for the government, experimenting with nuclear fusion, space tra... posted on Mar 08 2005, 959 reads

Born into Brothels
In Calcutta’s red light district, over 7,000 women and girls work as prostitutes. Only one group has a lower standing: their children. Zana Briski became involved in the lives of these children in 1998 when she first began photographing prostitutes in Calcutta. Noting the children's fascination with her camera, Zana and began to teach them photography as a way to see the world through their eyes... posted on Feb 09 2005, 1,289 reads

Combating the Digital Divide
Rodrigo Baggio has taught computer and Internet skills to almost one million at-risk children. His project, the Committee to Democratize Information Technology (CDI), initially created a network of more than 200 self-managed computer schools in the urban slums of 17 Brazilian states. Helping students who might otherwise have turned to drug trafficking or violence, Rodrigo is bridging the digital d... posted on Feb 08 2005, 1,052 reads

Your Calling
... posted on Feb 07 2005, 708 reads

Love blooms in NYC cab
So, for the lovelorn who are burned out by the bar scene, fed up with personal ads or tired of scouring the Internet, there's another place to look for that perfect date: the back seat of a taxicab. Specifically, Ahmed Ibrahim's cab. The 50-year-old Egyptian immigrant sets up blind dates for his single passengers through a free, impromptu matchmaking service he runs out of his yellow cab. ... posted on Feb 02 2005, 2,242 reads

MacGyver for the Third World
MacArthur fellow Amy Smith has a stable of oldfangled technologies that she has reconfigured and applied to underdeveloped areas around the world. Her solutions include new grain-processing techniques, alternative cooking fuels and water-quality tests. "A lot of people look at where technology is right now and start from there, instead of looking at the absolute functionality. If you go back to th... posted on Feb 01 2005, 1,173 reads