The world’s changing around us and the developing world needs help to grow. Josh Silver’s a British inventor and a former professor of physics at Oxford University. He’s designed a pair of water-lensed glasses, a one-size-fits-all design that has one extremely important benefit above all: no optician required.

Blackbird’s just brought light to something I think deserves some attention. It is estimated that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes lying in their closets. We outgrow some and some become outdated, and for some reason, we’re just too lazy to do something with them. Well, that should change starting now.

Blackbird will be collecting gently worn footwear for the charity Soles4Souls, which ships the shoes to people in need. As a special incentive on December 12th Blackbird will trade 40% off any full priced shoe purchase when you bring in your old shoes.

Now through January 2nd, Earnest Sewn’s shop on Washington Street in NYC will be offering up “Recession Proof, a way to encourage some consumption in this rigid economy of ours. Everything costs $50 or less including Dents driving gloves, Case & Sons knives (pictured below), and some house pieces.

Not a good enough bargain yet? You can also get one percent off for every canned food item you bring in (up to 20 percent), with donations going to the Food Bank for New York City and New York Cares.

Wow, you get to feel good about yourself and get a good deal when we need it the most.

For their 125th anniversary, fashion house Bulgari has set a goal of raising €10 million EUR (approximately $13 million USD) for the Save the Children foundation, having already completed one tenth of the goal through an initial donation of €1 million EUR (approximately $1.3 million USD).

Save the Children is the largest independent international organization for the defence and championing of children’s rights. Their “Rewrite the Future” campaign aims to provide education to 8 million children living in conflict-affected zones by rebuilding and equipping schools.

Bulgari has designed a silver ring that has the Bulgari logo on the outside and “Save the Children” logo on the inside. The ring’s made of silver in tribute to the company’s founder who started as a silversmith in the 19th century.

20% of the ring’s $375 USD MSRP will go to the foundation and will go on sale from 1 February to 31 December 2009 at all Bulgari stores worldwide.

savethechildren.org

bulgari.com

“Don’t vote.  Things are fine just the way they are.  Take a look around.  Our world needs a change.  You can be that change.  Vote.  And encourage others to vote.  Grab a poster.  Print it.  Spread the word.  ”

Watch the animations after the jump.

Seldom do we come across a woman so beautiful and so smart, that all we can say is: wow.  Not only is Petra Němcová a fashion model, but she’s overcome obstacles most of us can’t even fathom.  Oh and did we mention she’s the founder of a charitable organization, too?

So who is Petra Němcová?  Well, she was discovered walking the streets of Czech Republic by Next Agency.  Her arrival at stardom was certified when she was on the cover of SI’s Swimsuit issue in 2003.  She’s had a roller coaster of a life since.  She was stuck in the middle of the tsunami that hit Thailand in 2004, where she lost her fiance.  She suffered many injuries including a broken pelvis, but luckily survived.

With such a traumatic experience, she somehow found the strength to make one of the most admirable comebacks we’ve ever heard of.  The following year, she founded The Happy Hearts Fund.

HHF is a charitable organization and campaign formed after her survival and recovery from the Tsunami of 2004. It aims to advocate and provide for disadvantaged youngsters who have had to endure hardship and who are not receiving the essential and sustainable help they need for healthy childhood development. It actively partners with charities, donors and foundations committed to providing immediate, tangible assistance for children.

Her list of accolades is endless since her comeback.  Some highlights include her appearance in the 2006 Swimsuit Issue of SI and her getting to be host of TLC’s A Model Life. Petra also went on to write Love Always, Petra in December of 2005 which tells of her life in communist Czech, how she got into fashion and modeling and how she brokethrough and got on the cover of SI.

For more info on Petra, head over to her official website.  Check out some more shots of her below.

Petra Němcová:

Think about all those different ideas that run through your head when you’re lighting on up being a couch potato.  Well, maybe this is the time to try to pitch some of those and see how they fair. In celebration of their 10th birthday, Google’s announced Project 10 the the 100th to put a grip on these different ideas and use them for a greater cause.

How it works: fill out a 20-step Submission Form that covers your contact info and what your idea is.  Once that’s done with, you hit the Submit button $10 million in funding if you win.

Seem simple enough? Get your brains pumping, people.  Check the video below.

Q: What is Project 10^100? A: Project 10^100 (pronounced “Project 10 to the 100th”) is a call for ideas to change the world, in the hope of helping as many people as possible.

Q: Why is Google doing this? A: The short answer is that we think helping people is a good thing, and empowering people to help others is an even better thing. Here’s the long answer.

Q: How many ideas are you funding? A: We have committed $10 million to fund up to five ideas selected by our advisory board.

Video after the gallery

Google’s Project 10 to the 100th:

David Mwanaka is one of only two black farmers in all of Britain, and it seems odd to him as much as it does to local police. In five days, he was questioned by police three times who accused him of stealing crops. In fact, he recalls one time where four patrol cars turned up at the farm where he rents land to grow maize, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and sweetcorn.

Apparently, people not used to seeing a black farmer reported him and so the police got suspicious. He said he was questioned for half an hour and searched. Officers also checked his van.

He had to call the white farmer from whom he rents his field in before police were finally satisfied that he wasn’t stealing food. “They asked me what I was doing and I told them I was cropping my maize,” he said. “They said they couldn’t believe me so they asked me for my ID and they did some checks on my vehicle.”

The same type of situation happened two more times by different cops. Apparently in the UK, the police’s communication systems are from the 1800s.  Either that or just some random racist prick was calling in reports of a black man stealing crop. The cops came in three or four cars each time, making the situation bigger than it really was.

Source:  telegraph