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Wed, 2011-05-11 08:01 — mdmcdonald
The Communication Working Group is focused on communication improving health and human security status in the U.S.

The mission of the Communication working group is to optimize the health, human security, resilience, and sustainability of Americans and their communities of interest globally. 

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bevcorwin Kathy Gilbeaux Maeryn Obley mdmcdonald
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communication@m.resiliencesystem.org

Crowdsourcing Democracy Through Social Media

Sun, 2011-10-16 00:55 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Tim Siftar

Georgia Tech

ATLANTA – Oct. 11, 2011 – Today the citizens of Liberia will participate in just their second presidential election since the country emerged from a brutal civil war in 2003, and in such an environment the specter of violence or other unrest is never far away. But what if social media, a Georgia Tech professor is asking, could identify and even help prevent dangerous situations from occurring?

When nearly 40 million Nigerians took to the polls last April to elect a new president, many of them went online to share comments about their chosen candidates on blogs, Twitter or other social media platforms. They also used these new media tools to report what they saw. “Listening” to much of it was Georgia Tech Associate Professor Michael Best, which just might have saved a few lives.

During the election, Best provided technical support for a Nigerian group that wanted to use social media as a means for tracking the election process and identifying any problems that cropped up. Best and his team of researchers designed a social media aggregator tool that could pull content from about 20 different sources (including Twitter) and analyze the data in real time using keywords.

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Communication
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The Next Five Years in Health IT: ONC's Plan for the Future

Wed, 2011-10-12 22:24 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Helen R. Pfister and Susan R. Ingargiola, Manatt Health Solutions - ihealthbeat.org - October 11, 2011

On Sept. 12, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released an updated strategic plan for implementing a nationwide health information network. The Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2011-2015 sets forth activities to improve health care through use of health IT tools.

Below is an overview of the Strategic Plan and some of the federal government's newest initiatives, including the Query Health initiative, the electronic health record data segmentation initiative and various initiatives to drive consumer engagement in health care, such as the recent proposed regulation affording individuals direct access to laboratory results.

Strategic Plan Background

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United States
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Health
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'Wi-fi Refugees' Shelter in West Virginia Mountains

Wed, 2011-09-14 10:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

BBC News - September 12, 2011

       

Nichols Fox lives alone in a home powered primarily by gas just outside the Quiet Zone

Dozens of Americans who claim to have been made ill by wi-fi and mobile phones have flocked to the town of Green Bank, West Virginia

There are five billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide and advances in wireless technology make it increasingly difficult to escape the influence of mobile devices. But while most Americans seem to embrace continuous connectivity, some believe it's making them physically ill.

Diane Schou is unable to hold back the tears as she describes how she once lived in a shielded cage to protect her from the electromagnetic radiation caused by waves from wireless communication.

"It's a horrible thing to have to be a prisoner," she says. "You become a technological leper because you can't be around people.

"It's not that you would be contagious to them - it's what they're carrying that is harmful to you."

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Video - BOATLIFT, An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience (Narrated by Tom Hanks)

Sat, 2011-09-10 12:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

While the towers burned and collapsed on 9/11, a half million people were evacuated from Lower Manhattan by a civilian flotilla of ferries, tug boats and other vessels—the largest boatlift in history. Narrated by Tom Hanks, Produced and Directed by Eddie Rosenstein

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDOrzF7B2Kg

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Citizens
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Cooperation
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Video - Mobile Phones Without Towers Coming Soon

Sat, 2011-09-03 17:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Sydney Morning Herald - September 1, 2011

A mobile phone communications system that doesn't need towers is being developed at Adelaide's Flinders University.

The Serval Project was inspired by the 2010 Haiti earthquake in which the phone network crashed as infrastructure went down.

Creator Paul Gardner-Stephen said the earthquake showed the lack of resilience in a communications system that relied on infrastructure.

"If the towers are knocked out, mobile phone handsets become useless lumps of plastic in our hands," he said.

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State-by-State Developments Related to Hurricane Irene

Sat, 2011-08-27 01:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CNN - August 26, 2011 - 8:44 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- On Friday, President Barack Obama said of Hurricane Irene that "all indications point to this being a historic hurricane."

Numerous local, state and federal agencies, among other organizations, have taken steps in preparation. Here are some of those measures, for states most affected by Hurricane Irene:

SOUTH CAROLINA

Irene was off the South Carolina coast on Friday, with its outer bands bringing gusty winds, heavy rain and dangerous surf.

No evacuations were ordered, as the storm path appears to be too far east to present serious problems. However, state emergency officials were monitoring Irene and have contingency plans. The state emergency management agency is using its website, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to keep the public informed.

NORTH CAROLINA

Hurricane Irene is expected to make its first contact with the U.S. mainland on Saturday morning near Beaufort, according to CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.

United States
Cities
Citizens
Communication
Community
Disaster Risk Reduction
Extreme Weather
Vulnerability
Solutions
Problem

Facebook Becomes Divisive in Bahrain

Wed, 2011-08-17 17:50 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Voice of America - August 17, 2011

      

A Bahrain woman looks at pictures of victims of the February 14 uprising, displayed at an exhibition during a gathering held by the Al Fateh Youth Union in Isa Town, south of Manama, Bahrain, July 28, 2011

It has been six months since anti-government protests inspired by the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt first erupted in Bahrain. And as in Egypt, many Bahrainis used social media Internet sites such as Facebook to help organize the protests. The Bahraini government is now using Facebook, too - apparently to track down and arrest the protesters.

It is questionable whether the Arab Spring ever would have amounted to much without social media on the Internet. In most cases, as more and more frustrated youths turned to their computers to express their discontent, an increasing number of people left their homes to publicly demand change.

The term “Facebook Revolution” was coined after the successful ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. And in Bahrain, the social networking site also played a role in encouraging people to participate in the nation’s “Day of Rage” protests on February 14, and in the pro-democracy demonstrations that followed.

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Britain Debates ‘Slow-Motion Moral Collapse’

Mon, 2011-08-15 21:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by John F. Burns and Alan Cowell - The New York Times - August 15, 2011

               

LONDON — Divided over Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan to bring in a retired American police officer after last week’s riots, politicians staked out competing positions Monday for both the causes of the violence and the cures for what the British leader called his country’s “slow-motion moral collapse.”

The speeches by Mr. Cameron and the Labour opposition leader, Ed Miliband, seemed to signify a further retreat from a cautious consensus as the riots flared and some politicians were forced to return early from vacations after apparently underestimating the fury of the arson and looting.

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NYPD Forms New Social Media Unit to Mine Facebook and Twitter for Mayhem

Sat, 2011-08-13 21:34 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Rocco Parascandola, Daily News Police Bureau Chief - NYDailyNews.com - August 10, 2011

                    

DAILY NEWS PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
The New York Police Department has formed Facebook and Twitter units in order to track down and monitor criminals and criminal behavior on social media sites.

The NYPD has formed a new unit to track troublemakers who announce plans or brag about their crimes on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.

Newly named Assistant Commissioner Kevin O'Connor, one of the department's online and gang gurus, has been put in charge of the new juvenile justice unit. He and his staff will mine social media, looking for info about troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and other potential mayhem, sources said.

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San Francisco Subway System Admits Cutting Cellphone Service to Stop Planned Protest

Sat, 2011-08-13 21:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CNN - August 13, 2011

       

Demonstrators shut down a BART station in July to protest the shooting death of 45-year-old Charles Hill.

In a controversial move that has riled up free speech advocates, San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway system said it cut off cellphone signals at “select” stations in response to a planned protest this week.

“BART temporarily interrupted service at select BART stations as one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform,” the transit agency said in a statement on its website Friday.

BART said it took the actions because protesters said they “would use mobile devices to coordinate their disruptive activities and communicate about the location and number of BART Police.”

Demonstrators had planned a rally to bring attention to a number of transit police officer shootings, the latest one resulting in the death of 45-year-old Charles Hill, who was shot last month after a confrontation with officers.

The transit agency said protests during rush hour endangered the safety of commuters and employees.

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