It seems that the mobile phone market has matured a bit and decided that the Apple app store just wasn't working for them by creating the Wholesale App Community (WAC). It's supposed to be an app store for everyone, as Ian Paul writes: Read more »
It seems that these days, everyone is trying to corner user data in one way or another - be it selling them eBooks on a proprietary device or being an application Nazi for their platform. Read more »
This article on social media and the Haitian earthquake points out one of the problems that I was forecasting with the Alert Retrieval Cache (ARC) project. Bear in mind, too, that I'm not just a geek. I'm a former Navy Corpsman who was BLS-I, ACLS, PHTLS, and administrated/supervised the NTC Orlando ED for 12 hour shifts. I also turned the other way when 2 juniors were racing wheelchairs in the parking lot.Read more »
Basic first aid involves the ABCs. Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Bleeding falls under 'C' - circulation. Lets face it, 'ABB' just isn't as memorable. So basic first aid does include control of bleeding.
As I wrote a few days ago, an emergency SMS number was needed. While it is questionable how useful the Ushahidi 4636 Shortcode for Hait is with mobile batteries in the rubble close to death (though hopefully not their owners), it still allows some coordination of volunteer efforts which is quite important. Read more »
A few things have happened in the past such that I no longer think of this as an active project. It has been undercut too many times.
Even so, I will advocate the idea to whomever can implement it when the opportunity presents itself. Maybe, someday, it will be done before a disaster and really save lives by allowing victims to SMS where they are in a disaster. It would allow a startup system of communication with volunteers.
And implemented with different numbers, it could allow civil society to coordinate efforts better in the field - again, saving more lives. Read more »
The technology of the initial Alert Retrieval Cache is simple enough, though it must be customized to every area where it is installed - laws, regulations and simple infrastructure are key.
Asterisk was the keystone of the project, initially, and some scripts written in Perl (if I recall correctly) or Python. Any scripting language would do, really, just as any telephony software/hardware would work.
That combined with a content management system is all you really need. Read more »
Back in late 2004 and early 2005, the Alert Retrieval Cache got some press. As the story goes, I put out a few emails to the Digital Divide Network List and a few others and it netted me Dan Lane. Dan was the man who made the whole idea work way before Twitter was a speck on the horizon. And really, it uses the same concept. Read more »
