Posts tagged technology
CU’s Android App tweets disaster aid
Sep 28th
PEOPLE TWEET DURING DISASTERS
Just as codes once were developed for public safety communication via citizens band radios, a common language now is being formulated for disaster communication via Twitter — posing a challenge for people who haven’t yet learned or can’t recall it.
Daniel Schaefer, a University of Colorado Boulder doctoral student in communication, recently created a solution to this problem in the form of a software application, or app, for mobile devices. It turns everyday language into a Twitter syntax used during disasters through a special smart phone keyboard.
“Twitter has become popular during disasters because it offers a concise and efficient communication medium,” said Schaefer, who was inspired by the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire near Boulder. “However, a need to standardize the syntaxes used on Twitter has surfaced particularly for the emergency personnel, affected individuals, concerned loved ones, information officers and journalists who use it to provide and monitor information and collaborate on rescue efforts.”
The free app, called the Bucket Brigade Keyboard, is designed for Android devices. It transforms the standard smart phone keyboard display into a keypad of 12 message choices such as “help,” “location” and “request.” When these messages are selected, corresponding tweets — about one’s status, needs and offers to help — are queued for posting online.
“In a disaster, communication and working together can save lives,” said Schaefer. “Just as a bucket brigade fills and passes buckets of water to help put out a fire, this app allows people to fill and pass buckets of tweets to help during a disaster.”
The syntax used in Schaefer’s app — which turns an “I’m Ok” key into “#imok” — is based on a concept devised in 2009 by doctoral student Kate Starbird of CU’s Project EPIC (Empowering the Public with Information in Crisis) research group. The streamlining of disaster-related Twitter communication through Starbird’s idea, called “Tweak the Tweet,” makes the information computationally easier to extract and collate, which can help connect people with needs to responders.
Nearly 3,000 tweets using the Tweak the Tweet syntax were posted in the weeks following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. More than 500 tweets using the syntax were posted in the wake of the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Mo.
During those instances, users manually entered text that now can be deployed with the touch of a button through the Bucket Brigade Keyboard.
The app not only empowers people with a standard language, but also is designed for convenience using accessible technology, according to Schaefer.
“People are going to be holding smart phones during disasters,” he said. “They’re not going to be going to laptop computers or cafés with time to look up the syntax.”
Schaefer entered the Bucket Brigade Keyboard in the Federal Communications Commission’s Apps for Communities contest. The challenge calls for apps that help local government deliver quality-of-life-improving information to populations that are typically disenfranchised or disconnected from broadband communications.
The Bucket Brigade Keyboard has been downloaded in 20 countries.
Schaefer says a planned update to the Bucket Brigade Keyboard will add more Twitter shortcuts to the app, as well as auto-fill and auto-correction features.
For more information on the Bucket Brigade Keyboard visit https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bucketbrigade.softkeyboard&feature=search_result. For information on the Apps for Communities challenge visit http://appsforcommunities.challenge.gov/.
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22 Boom – Doo Wop TV Special – Episode 41
Sep 20th
With the trend of 50 and 60s fashion coming back in style we thought we’d host an entire show with Doo Wop music. Here is the list of artists and songs we show music videos by. The Silhouettes – Get a Job (1957), The Marcels – Blue Moon (1961), The Five Satins – In the Still of the Night (1956), The Shirelles – Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1961), The Ronettes – Be My Baby (1963), The Orlons – The Wah Watusi (1962), The Diamonds – The Original Stroll (1958), Dee Dee Sharp – Mashed Potato Time (1962), Little Eva – The Loco-Motion (1962), Del Shannon – Runaway (1961), The Crystals – Da Doo Ron Ron (1963), The Skyliners – Since I Don’t Have You (1958), Michael Jackson – Rockin’ Robin (1972), Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers – Why Do Fools Fall in Love? (1956), Frankie Lymon – Little Bitty Pretty One (1960), The Cadillacs – Speedoo (1955), Jackie Wilson – Lonely Teardrops (1958), Bay City Rollers – Shang-A-Lang (1974) and The Turtles – Happy Together (1967)
Videos in this Episode
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22 Boom Intro -
Doo Wop TV Special -
The Silhouettes – Get a Job -
The Marcels – Blue Moon -
The Five Satins – In the Still of the Night -
The Shirelles – Will You Love Me Tomorrow Live -
Doo Wop TV Special -
The Shirelles – Will You Love Me Tomorrow -
The Ronettes – Be My Baby Live -
The Ronettes – Be My Baby -
Doo Wop TV Special -
The Orlons – The Wah Watusi -
The Diamonds – The Stroll -
Dee Dee Sharp – Mash Potato Time -
Little Eva – The Loco-Motion -
Del Shannon – Runaway -
Doo Wop TV Special -
The Crystals – Da Doo Ron Ron -
The Skyliners – Since I Don’t Have You -
Michael Jackson – Rockin’ Robin -
Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers – Why Do Fools Fall in Love -
Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers – Litte Bitty Pretty One -
The Cadillacs – Speedoo -
Jackie Wilson – Lonely Teardrops -
Doo Wop TV Special -
Sam Cooke – You Send Me -
Bay City Rollers – Shang A Lang -
The Turtles – Happy Together -
Outro
Boulder Library: Nicholas Carr Lecture & Book Signing
Sep 4th
The Nicholas Carr Lecture & Book Signing: The Shallows event is scheduled for Saturday 9/17/2011 at 3:00 PM. The description for the event is: Join us for an author talk with Nicholas Carr on The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. The Shallows was a 2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Mr. Carr will present a lecture, followed by a Q&A and book signing.
Carr’s book expands on his notable Atlantic essay, Is Google Making us Stupid? Part intellectual history, part popular science, part cultural criticism; The Shallows offers a compelling exploration of the history of information technology and how new research in neuroscience reveals startling implications for the way we think and learn.
Copies of Carr’s book will be available for purchase and signing after the lecture.
The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, call 303-441-3194