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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

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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Averting Bridge Disasters: New Sensors Could Save Hundreds of Lives

Mon, 2011-08-01 18:38 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security Newswire - August 1, 2011

                              

Sensor mounted to bridge member // Source: gizmag.com

One of every four U.S. highway bridges has known structural problems or exceeded its intended life-span. Most only get inspected once every one or two years; University of Maryland researcher has developed a new sensor that measures indicators of a bridge's structural health, such as strain, vibration, flexibility, and development of metal cracks; the sensors are expected to last more than a decade, with each costing about $20

Millions of U.S. drivers cross faulty or obsolete bridges every day, highway statistics show, but it is too costly to fix all these spans or adequately monitor their safety, says a University of Maryland researcher who has developed a new, affordable early warning system.

This wireless technology could avert the kind of bridge collapse that killed thirteen and injured 145 along Minneapolis’ I-35W on 1 August 2007, he says — and do so at one-one-hundredth the cost of current wired systems.

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Communicating With the Public During Emergencies: An Update on Federal Alert & Warning Efforts

Mon, 2011-07-18 23:37 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Mike Kraft

                                                

Testimony of Damon Penn, Assistant Administrator, National Continuity Programs, Before the House Committee on Homeland Security, "Communicating With the Public During Emergencies: An Update on Federal Alert & Warning Efforts"

dhs.gov - Release Date: July 8, 2011 - Washington, D.C.

Introduction

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World Bank Is Opening Its Treasure Chest of Data

Mon, 2011-07-04 17:18 — Kathy Gilbeaux

World Bank - Washington D.C.

 . . . "the most valuable currency of the World Bank isn’t its money — it is its information" . . .

 . . . "The bank, he says, is essentially widening the circle of people it can brainstorm with." . . .

 . . . "Having created models for open-sourcing and crowd-sourcing, the bank is now moving toward mash-ups. A new Mapping for Results program offers interactive maps pinpointing locations of almost 3,000 bank projects in more than 16,000 places worldwide. Links open up pages with information about each project, and users can add overlays that show, say, where infant mortality is highest to see whether the bank’s work in those areas matches the need.

The program is sensitive because it involves releasing data provided by client governments and others, but the hope is that it will prompt these parties to link their own data on economic and social development to the site or otherwise make it available." . . .

World Bank Is Opening Its Treasure Chest of Data

HeraldTribune.com - Stephanie Strom - July 3, 2011

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Video - Crisis Mapping Helps with Disaster Relief

Sat, 2011-07-02 10:36 — Kathy Gilbeaux
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Crisis Mapping Helps with Disaster Relief

Sat, 2011-07-02 10:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Voice of America - June 30, 2011

After devastating natural disasters, mobile phone networks, satellites and other computer software are often used to help to pinpoint where help is needed the most.  They are crucial for the creation of crisis maps.

The power of the mobile phone and other social media became clear in the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan.  Just hours after disaster struck, Japanese volunteers used social media information  to create a crisis map.  The map indicated hazardous areas and emergency services.  Hundreds of people each day posted updates to the map on the Internet, including information from radio stations.

Crisis maps also helped with relief efforts in Haiti. Thousands of text messages provided information to international aid organizations about shelter, food supplies and sanitation.  A mapping team helped pinpoint search and rescue requests for people trapped in the rubble.

Sheldon Himelfarb is the director of peacebuilding at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. "The word went out that if you texted a certain short code number with your call for help, it would be captured, mapped and it would enable responders to help… We saw very quickly how the emergency responders of all sorts, from the Red Cross to the military to the NGOs started to rely on this map," Himelfarb said.

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NYC Mayor Bloomberg, FEMA, FCC Detail NYC Emergency Notification System

Wed, 2011-05-11 08:03 — mdmcdonald


From Wired

   * By Sam Gustin Email Author
   * May 10, 2011  |
   * 4:39 pm
NEW YORK — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled the nation’s first comprehensive, geographically targeted emergency notification system for cellphones on Tuesday, declaring the launch to be a “quantum leap forward in using technology to help keep people safe.”

Flanked by federal officials, members of New York’s congressional delegation, the city’s top law-enforcement officials, and top executives from the nation’s largest wireless companies, Bloomberg detailed the Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) ata press conference overlooking ground zero of the 9/11 attacks nearly a decade ago.

PLAN is a free service that will send geographically-targeted, emergency text alerts to enabled mobile devices, alerting citizens of “imminent threats to safety” in their area. The service will be rolled out in New York City by the end of 2011 — at least two quarters, the Mayor emphasized, before the rest of the nation.

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