Tag: DISASTERS

Since it launched three years ago, Ushahidi has played an increasingly crucial role in natural disaster and crisis relief efforts by allowing citizens to report violent incidents as they happen. Whenever the open-source software receives a notification from a user, it uses data collected from text messages, news reports or the Internet to geographically map the incident in real-time. In recent ...

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management wants to make earthquakes, or at least learning about earthquakes, fun. In order to accomplish this, they created a Quake Quiz Web site, which features tips on how to prepare and react when an quake occurs. The site features an interactive quiz that places the user in six different scenarios -- at home, on the beach, in the car, at work, and ...

Microsoft is distracting itself with yet another non-Windows, non-Office product. This time, Microsoft appears to be trying to take on Facebook and Twitter with an alert- and message-oriented social networking tool called Vine. Currently in beta testing in Seattle, Vine is squarely aimed at sharing emergency information and news feeds. A Vine widget sits on your desktop and displays a map of ...

If you think GPS-equipped devices are strictly for bad drivers or novice hikers, you may want to reconsider. Edmonton, Alberta's Josh Brown, 21, was rescued last week, and is now recovering, from a climbing accident that saw him fall close to thirty feet onto hard ground, according to CTV Calgary. Brown, who suffered fractured ribs and vertebrae, was climbing in Banff National Park when he ...

It took only hours but with all the passengers and crew of US Airways Flight 1549 declared safe it was, perhaps, inevitable that a Facebook fan page was crafted in dedication to the pilot who skillfully guided the plane to its controlled landing in the Hudson River off the edge of Manhattan. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, 57, of Danville, Calif., a former Air Force pilot and now hero to at ...

What would happen if a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Southern California? We certainly can't think of anything good, and our thoughts are echoed by the findings of a 300-page study from the U.S. Geological Survey, which detailed the likely resulting damage should such a disaster hit along the San Andreas Fault. That inspired the Institute for the Future and the Art Center College of Design to ...

Chinese media mavens, get ready to be kinda bored: According Marc van der Chijs, CEO of Spill Group Asia and co-founder of Todou.com, the Chinese government has issued orders that all entertainment Web sites and regular television programming be shut down for the next three days. Apparently, only Web sites and television stations covering the country's recent earthquake will be allowed to ...

For cable subscribers, it's often only a few bucks a month extra to get the company's standard DVR, giving access to a "digital" tier of channels and the ability to record them on a rented, Tivo-like device at a fraction of the cost. That the device is being rented is an important point to remember, a point that was driven home to Ann Beam, a Wheatland, Wisconsin woman who received a bill for ...

Southern Californians near San Diego are currently in the midst of a massive and (largely) out of control wildfire destroying houses and displacing many residents. When you're near such a spreading and unpredictable disaster, staying informed is about the most important thing you can do. Some posts made by users of the instant-status-update site Twitter are helping some keep ahead of the flames. ...