Boulder gets wise to wise to wildfires
Sep 29th
Wildfire Awareness Month kicks off with Saturday workshop
Boulder County, Colo. – October is Wildfire Awareness Month in Boulder County and will feature a full slate of educational programs and events, community mitigation and forestry thinning efforts, and the launch of the Boulder County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
A free half-day wildfire mitigation workshop in Nederland on Oct. 1 will help guide county residents through a checklist of modifications they can make to better prepare their homes in defense of a wildfire.
“Nearly half of Boulder County is forested and at high risk for wildfires,” Boulder County Community Wildfire Protection Planner Jim Webster said. “Population growth in the forested areas has resulted in an increased risk of wildfire and in more direct impacts to residents, so we want to help people take a role in preventing and preparing for future wildfires.”
Wildfire mitigation measures can help minimize the destructive effects a wildfire has on forested lands and homes in the wildland urban interface and the following Wildfire Awareness Month events were developed to educate residents and promote action to reduce the frequency and severity of future wildfires in Boulder County:
Event
Location
Date/Time
Walker Ranch Fire Ecology Hike
Meyers Homestead Trailhead
Oct. 1, 10 a.m.-noon
Wildfire Preparedness & Planning Workshop
Nederland Community Center
Oct. 1, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
REI Fire Series Presentation: The Effects of Fire on Soils
‘Green Living: Saving Energy This Season’
Sep 29th
Fall weather is upon us and we find ourselves switching between the heater and the AC in the same day, driving up the costs of our utility bills. Think green this fall and winter, save the earth and save your money. Winter heating costs have risen in the last few years making it more enticing to go green and be energy efficient this year.
You may all ready be thinking about going green to save some money, but how do I do get there? Well let me tell you. The first idea is to shop around electric providers. Compare the rate per kwh and see if you could save money by switching companies. The second idea if you have some money to spend is to upgrade your heating source. Yes, there is a large upfront cost, but for most upgrades you will see the return on your investment in a few short years. Upgrades could be things around the home like installing energy efficient windows or upgrading to an energy efficient water heater. You may even receive a tax credit for installing these upgrades.
Don’t have the money to upgrade, don’t sweat it. There are easy tricks that are cheap to save some money on your bill. On a cool night, walk through your house and find if there are and drafts coming from the windows, doors, or attic. Then take a trip to your favorite local hardware store and pick up some supplies for a quick do it yourself fix. You’ll like yourself in January.
You know how cold it gets during the winter, so while the days are still reaching the high 80’s, look into fixing up some things around the home. It will help keep some cash in your wallet.
Bill Allen, Realtor @ RE/MAX of Boulder, ballen@boulderco.com
CU’s Android App tweets disaster aid
Sep 28th
CU-DEVELOPED ANDROID APP HELPS
PEOPLE TWEET DURING DISASTERS
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/.
-CU-
