Creative Commons Stock Photos

Compfight is a free online tool which makes the massively overwhelming Flickr pool of images into a source of possible stock photography (or as they say for "comps, inspiration, or research"). By allowing you to search for images by tags or descriptions, that are Creative Commons licensed, you can easily find photos that may be available for use free of charge (with proper credit, check the license first). A great option for small/non-profit clients with low budgets.

What Izzit?

IzzitGreen is a new community review site that allows visitors to rate their local businesses not only on the usual factors of service, quality, etc., but also on their environmental aspects as well (i.e. Is it green?). The site is currently only beta testing for the Boston area.

Become The Media

Italian art activist group Les Liens Invisible has created A Fake is a Fake as tool for parodying corporate websites. They provide free hosting space and WordPress templates that allow anyone to quickly and easily create their own alternate version of popular news destinations, the White House site, the Beijing 2008 Olympics site, and more. These sites can then be populated with whatever content you like and used as tools to educate, confuse, or amuse the unsuspecting. Find out more or start making your own Yes Men style detournement HERE.

DIY Fonts

FontShop, a popular typeface company has embraced the current DIY ethic by creating a free online font creation tool: FontStruct. Not only is it designed for ease of use, but the resulting fonts are then available for free download under a variety of Creative Commons licences! Find out more, get fonts, or make your own HERE.

Creative for A Cause

Creative for A Cause is an incredible new online resource for socially minded design folks created by Heidi Cies. Made as part of her graduate thesis in advertising/design at Syracuse University, Heidi has put together two dozen detailed case studies of how socially conscious design is being taught in schools across the US. The site also has comprehensive lists of publications, websites, sources of funding, schools, and "role models" all pertaining to working in the fields of marketing, advertising, and design from an ethical stand point. The searchable site is a fantastic work in progress that should prove invaluable to anyone interested in working/teaching differently. Check it out HERE.

Oil + $ + Politics =

Oil Change International invites you to "Follow The Oil Money". Their site features an excellent interactive database which gives a striking graphic view of the connections between the petroleum industry and the politicians they financially support. Check it out HERE.

(Shown US Congress Relationship View)

Google Pedometer

The Google Map Pedometer from WebWalking.com is an nice free tool that turns the car-centric Google Maps into a foot (or bike) friendly resource! The simple interface allows you to make your own path, which it then calculates in miles or kilometers. You can even save your route for future use or to share with others. Try it out HERE.

Thanks Charlie!

Tap Water Quality Database

While we're on the subject of water...
Find out how clean your tap water actually is (in the U.S.) on the Environmental Working Group's National Tap Water Quality Database.