You are here

Home

Other

Smart911 Technology Improves 9-1-1- Response

Wed, 2012-01-25 17:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Mike Kraft

Homeland Security News Wire - January 25, 2012

Municipalities improve 9-1-1 response with Smart911; the technology allows individuals to use a Web site to enter emergency-relevant information they want emergency personnel answering a 9-1-1 call to have, including children’s photos, medical conditions, disabilities, home addresses of cellphone callers, or other rescue-related information

Farmingham, Massachusetts-based Rave Mobile Safety, a provider of safety software solutions, said its Smart911 technology has seen increasing adoption in 2011. Smart911 allows citizens to create a safety profile with critical information, which is then automatically displayed at participating public safety answering points (PSAPs), when a 9-1-1 call is placed.

The company said that Smart911 is now available to more than five million citizens.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Communication
Technology
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

New Jersey Enacts New Disaster Preparedness Law

Thu, 2012-01-19 23:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - January 18, 2012

On Tuesday New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed new legislation into law designed to bolster state emergency preparedness

On Tuesday New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signednew legislation into law designed to bolster state emergency preparedness.

The new law, based on recommendations from a legislative task force formed after Hurricane Katrina and Rita, is primarily aimed at addressing key emergency response activities like shelters, evacuation plans, and critical infrastructure protection.

“Updating our emergency plans is critical to ensuring that we are prepared for any weather activity that comes our way,” said State Senator Jeff Van Drew, the bill’s sponsor. 
“This process is particularly important to protecting our residents in the event a large-scale storm directly impacts the coast. This law will set into motion actions that are crucial to improving the state’s overall emergency preparedness,” Drew added.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Disaster Risk Reduction
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Data Without Borders Upcoming Event in DC - 03.02.12

Tue, 2012-01-17 20:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Data Without Borders is coming to Washington DC!  We’ll be digging into non-profit data from around the nation’s capital the weekend of 3/2 – 3/4.  If you’re a non-profit who needs help with data or wants to understand what all the buzz is about, sign up here!

http://datawithoutborders.cc/dwbevents/

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Technology
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

EPA - Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Data for Calendar Year 2010

Thu, 2012-01-12 18:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

                                                                    

On January 11, 2012, EPA released greenhouse gas (GHG) data reported from large facilities and suppliers across the U.S. economy for the year 2010.

The 2010 GHG data includes public information from facilities in 9 industry groups, including 29 source categories, which directly emit large quantities of GHGs, as well as suppliers of certain fossil fuels and industrial gases.

This information can be used to help businesses track emissions and identify cost– and fuel–saving efficiencies, identify industry leaders, inform policy at the state and local levels, and provide important information to the finance and investment communities.

More information:

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Climate
Environment
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Texting 911 in Emergencies

Sat, 2011-12-17 17:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Homeland Security News Wire - November 29, 2011

The Post Falls police department in Idaho is testing a new 911 system that would allow residents to report emergencies via text message or e-mail.

Police say it is not meant to replace phone calls, but is instead designed to provide residents with additional options to communicate with authorities.

Texting or e-mailing is particularly helpful for the hearing impaired or those with disabilities that make it difficult to communicate over the phone.

Charlene Holbrook, PFPD’s emergency communications supervisor, hopes that the new text-based 911 option will encourage young people to interact with the police more. 

“Texting allows them a method of communication with which most teens are comfortable,” Holbrook said. “Texting was the next logical step for us.”

“Whether you like it or not, it’s obvious that the future of communication is texting,” Chief Scot Haug added. “You look at young people today and that’s the method of communication. Text messaging is here, and everybody’s using it. We are just looking for new ways to get information to solve and reduce crime.”

The new system also allows photos to be sent to 911 dispatchers.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Communication
Technology
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Mapping Digital Media

Tue, 2011-12-13 10:07 — Kathy Gilbeaux

soros.org - Open Society Foundations

The values that underpin good journalism, the need of citizens for reliable and abundant information, and the importance of such information for a healthy society and robust democracy: these are perennial, and provide compass-bearings for anyone trying to make sense of current changes across the media landscape.

The Mapping Digital Media project, which examines these changes in-depth, aims to build bridges between researchers and policymakers, activists, academics, and standard-setters across the world. It also builds policy capacity in countries where this is less developed, encouraging stakeholders to participate and influence change. At the same time, this research creates a knowledge base, laying foundations for advocacy work, building capacity, and enhancing debate.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Communication
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Stanford Social Innovation Review - Collective Impact

Mon, 2011-12-12 23:08 — Kathy Gilbeaux

imagesubmitted by Theresa Bernardo

Illustration by Martin Jarrie

by John Kania & Mark Kramer - Winter 2011

Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, yet the social sector remains focused on the isolated intervention of individual organizations. 

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Resilience
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Occupy L.A.: Crowd Swells as Deadline Nears

Tue, 2011-11-29 14:24 — admin

Los Angeles Times - November 27, 2011

      

As a midnight deadline loomed, more than 1,000 Occupy L.A. protesters and supporters crammed onto the City Hall lawn for what might be their last general assembly -- the nightly meeting of protesters.

A few climbed into trees while others stood or sat on the ground. For more than three hours, protesters stood up to make statements, lead chants and, in at least one case, sing a gospel song.

Some of the business related to the impending eviction: Speakers gave out the phone number for the National Lawyers Guild, which is providing legal support for any protesters arrested in the action, and directed the protesters to reassemble at Our Lady Queen of Angels church on North Main Street if police cleared the encampment at City Hall.

PHOTOS: Occupy L.A. eviction

Other issues ranged farther afield. Speakers urged the audience to go vegan, and the assembly passed a resolution supporting the repeal of "corporate personhood."

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Citizens
Economics
Happiness
Security
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Rare 'Survivor' Dolphin Gives Hope for Finding Cause of Deaths Since BP Spill

Sun, 2011-11-27 22:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Kaija Wilkinson - gulflive.com - November 27, 2011

Institute Director Moby Solangi watches a sickly dolphin make circles in its pool at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. (The Mississippi Press/Kaija Wilkinson)

GULFPORT, Mississippi -- A sickly, stranded dolphin that was found in Alabama and transported to Gulfport to convalesce and be studied could provide clues to a spike in dolphin deaths that has occurred over the past year.

The 2-year-old male is the first to be found alive since the BP oil spill last spring, according to Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, where the dolphin is being held.

The spike coincided with the spill, but to date no definitive link has been made between the spill and the deaths, which in south Mississippi and Alabama are three to four times what they are in a normal year.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Disease
Ecosystems
Environment
Oceans
Pollution
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Revealed – The Capitalist Network that Runs the World

Wed, 2011-11-23 22:16 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Andy Coughlan and Debora MacKenzie - newscientist.com - October 24, 2011

      

The 1318 transnational corporations that form the core of the economy. Superconnected companies are red, very connected companies are yellow. The size of the dot represents revenue (Image: PLoS One)

AS PROTESTS against financial power sweep the world this week, science may have confirmed the protesters' worst fears. An analysis of the relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations has identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Economics
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Pages

Subscribe to Other
howdy folks