Disasters

Online masses text to offer Haitian quake relief

The Web was flooded with people hunting for news updates on Tuesday and Wednesday following a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. People were also looking online for ways to help.

With envoys saying that much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, has been leveled and a death toll expected to run into the thousands, it was obvious early on that the catastrophe would require significant relief efforts on behalf of both governments and nonprofits.

These days, it's not a surprise anymore when much of the breaking news surrounding a natural disaster is … Read more

Hackers create tools for disaster relief

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo may be tough competitors when it comes to Internet software and services, but they are putting their differences aside to build a developer community to tackle bigger picture problems like saving lives in emergencies.

The companies have joined with NASA, the World Bank, and PR agency SecondMuse to organize the first-ever Random Hacks of Kindness event, which was held at a warehouse space-cum community center called Hacker Dojo this weekend. For two days, coders worked on ways to use technology to help solve real-world problems, such as how people can get information and … Read more

Beyond the iPhone: What open source means for mobile

The launch of Apple's iPhone 3G S has justifiably caught the media's attention, what with its elegant design and speedy performance. But for all the noise that Apple is making in mobile, open source--not Apple--may well be doing the most to define the future of mobile communications, as two leading open-source projects suggest.

No, I'm not talking about the Palm Pre, with its Linux-based operating system and its new open-source applications portal. Nor am I referring to Google Android.

Rather, I'm referring to the InSTEDD project, which The Economist recently highlighted, as well as GNU Radio, … Read more

Meet Vine, Microsoft's superhero software

With a new product called Vine, Microsoft is tackling the issue that, in the Digital Age, contact management is no longer static--where you are and what you're doing at a given moment can matter just as much as what your cell phone number is. But instead of focusing on roving business travelers, Vine's slant is community management and emergency preparedness. It's in a private beta test right now.

Here's how it works. You download a "dashboard" application, and then you log in with your Windows Live account. Its interface takes the form of a … Read more

FDA tests internal cloud for disaster recovery

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is looking at using an internal (or private) cloud to manage disaster recovery.

In early testing, Joe Klosky, a senior tech adviser at the FDA, was able to successfully restart applications and services within 45 minutes onto other, differently configured servers in their environment without issues using Cassatt Active Response, not people or outsourced services.

Klosky notes:

"An internal cloud approach means that we do not have to pay for costly service contracts with outsourcers, nor do we have to dedicate rooms full of servers to sit idly by just in case … Read more

Open-source mobile software to save lives

It won't grab headlines like the newest version of the iPhone operating system, but a Palo Alto, Calif., nonprofit today announced a suite of open-source applications that aids in communications and collaboration for humanitarian workers dealing with diseases and disasters.

InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters) has released three applications to empower aid workers to use inexpensive, off-the-shelf mobile phones to better detect and respond to disasters, diseases, and economic catastrophes.

The organization currently runs projects in Southeast Asia, including the Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance project and the Phnom Penh Innovation Lab.

One of the new programs, … Read more

Podcast: Open source software for emergency SMS communications

In an emergency, communications can mean the difference between life and death. But, in much of the world, traditional emergency communications infrastructure simply doesn't exist. Even where it does, such as in the United States, we've seen breakdowns between agencies with incompatible radio systems.

Dr. Eric Rasmussen, CEO of InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters) tells Larry Magid about his organization's new software suite that helps to improve early detection, preparedness and response capabilities against global threats.

Podcast runs 10 minutes

This iPod Shuffle is a disaster

Updated at 11:30 a.m. PDT with info on Apple allowing third-parties to make accessories.

Let me start by saying that I'm a fan of the iPod Shuffle. I run with one and I just recently bought a second refurbished gen-two Shuffle for $30 to give to my brother. But with the new gen-three Shuffle, Apple made some design decisions I just can't understand.

First off, the old Shuffle was small enough. There's small--and then there's too small. Yeah, it's great that the gen-three Shuffle is the size of a small USB thumbdrive, but … Read more

Leave it to Japan: Robotic disaster rescue vehicle

I live in an earthquake-prone city. I live in this city in a very old building made out of unreinforced brick. This building is on the back of a steep hill over a freeway and then a lake. Thus, I'm likely to be crushed under tons of rubble and debris if a major earthquake hits Seattle.

If that does happen, it might take rescuers hours--or even days!--to get to me. And when they do, they'll have to get me to safety somehow.

Hopefully by that time they'll be using this amazing Japanese safety robot tank stretcher thing … Read more