BoomTown is going to visit a class of eighth-graders this morning in what should be either a very awkward or very bracing talk about social networking. As was inevitable when the fine teachers at my kids’ school realized I knew a thing or two about digital issues and dealing with the confusing onslaught of all sorts of online tools and services used with dexterity by kids these days, they asked me to come in and give a talk about the upsides and downsides of it all. Oh dear, I am in real trouble, right?

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It’s been just a week, and BoomTown is rocking out in the DonorsChoose.org’s Blogger Challenge 2008, with almost $4,000 raised!

It started a week ago, with us featuring a video from my hell-froze-over dinner with Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who ably endured a meal with me in support of the many school children who benefit from the unique charity.

Now, I manage to get Yang in a dress and dancing in “High School Musical” to raise even more money–yipes!–but it’s for the kids!

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If it’s Oct. 1, it must be time for the DonorsChoose.org’s Blogger Challenge 2008!

DonorsChoose.org funds classroom projects in high-need public schools, using the Web to match teacher project requests with donors.

Last year, BoomTown did pretty well, raising $12,199 from 52 donors, impacting 1,940 students and almost scoring the grand prize of a lunch with Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang.

Well, I finally managed to get a dinner with him, as you can see in the video after the jump.

But now I face a more daunting task–besting the naked Scoble!

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BoomTown is back from a seasick cruise vacation in the wilds of Alaska–official sightings: lots of icebergs, 16 glaciers, a passel of jellyfish and starfish, four lumberjacks, three orcas, two seals, one otter, no moose or bears and, yep, one Republican Vice Presidential candidate’s lovely house in Juneau–just in time for school.

Or, more precisely, a little schooling for some of the tech companies that I cover in a mildly obsessive-compulsive manner.

All of them, I predict, are in for a news-filled fall.

Thus, here is a rundown of what to expect and also what some of those companies need to focus on over the next several months.

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We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May.

Here’s Part 4 of 4 of an interview Walt Mossberg did with the Gates Foundation’s Melinda Gates.

In this video, Melinda Gates answers questions from the audience about the time frame for the foundation, models of philanthropy, how businesses can become more philanthropic, how to improve troubled schools by eliminating “facelessness,” entrepreneurs and how to get better teachers.

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