This is such a ridiculously ridiculous post. I'm saying that having worked on a number of media campaigns for a small but excellent medical research charity tha

This is such a ridiculously ridiculous post. I'm saying that having worked on a number of media campaigns for a small but excellent medical research charity that has benefited enormously from the technical progress made in the last few years. That benefit comes from making savvy use of everything from (now) cheap digital cameras and video editing, to carefully cultivated email lists, dedicated web-pages for outreach teams, and growing profiles on social networking sites. All that seems like basic stuff, I know, but that's what's so amazing. Five years ago it was either much more expensive, or nonexistent. Today, it's ubiquitous (Facebook, for example, had 1% of its current base in 2005, and today I can shoot a better picture with a $5k camera than a $75k camera could capture back then). That massive and very sudden shift has allowed organizations to do things (real, saving lives and avoiding death things) that simply wouldn't be imaginable - let alone possible just a few years ago, at least not with the limited resources they had for outreach. So, Jolie O'Dell, if you want to see homeless people getting help, stop waiting for 'tech to do it'. Instead, just go out and talk to some homeless people. You don't need an app for that. Nor, you'll find, do they. And when you do figure out what's most likely to help, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised at how helpful all these new resources can be - provided you're creative enough to use them imaginatively. Separately - all of you working on this 'pointless' stuff; you're awesome. And thank you. You're making vital connections. You've helped tremendously. The world is a better place because of you. Please, by all means, carry on.