InvisibleBracelet sends SMS in case of medical emergency December 29, 2009
The InvisibleBracelet (IB) is a voluntary service that puts the patient in control of the information medics can access.Like a virtual medical ID bracelet, InvisibleBracelet allows its members to share vital health information during emergencies with participating Emergency Medical Service providers.In the event of a medical emergency, responding medics within the service area can access the information you have made available. If transport is required, text or email messages will be delivered to your In Case of Emergency (ICE) contacts. The service costs $5 per member, per year.Via Textually
Email This PostPassenger jet bomb ‘plot’: Passengers praise BA for terror alert text messages December 27, 2009
Passengers flying to America from London’s Heathrow today praised British Airways for ensuring they were not adversely affected by a step-up in airport security following the terror alert.People boarding flights to the US this morning were sent text messages ahead of travel warning them the hand baggage allowance had been reduced to one item.Meanwhile, anyone who arrived at the airport unprepared was able to check in their extra baggage, free of charge.
Karen Ward, 44, from Reading, Berkshire, commended the airline for informing passengers about the changes in good time.’We got a text message this morning at about 11am to say …
In mobile phone journalism, Africa is ahead of the west December 19, 2009
In areas where net-connected computers are not common, the mobile phone is becoming a vital tool for news
In Africa, mobile phone penetration is higher than electricity penetration. Graphic by Jon Gosier of Appfrica Labs
Thanks to the iPhone and other smart phones, in the western world mobile phones are getting increasingly important for journalism. But in Africa, the phone has been used as a broadcast device for quite a while.In fact, the use of mobiles in Africa is in many ways ahead of the west.No need for an app, though, as bandwidth is still …
Saving Lives with SMS for Life December 15, 2009
A new solution developed by IBM ( IBM), Novartis and Vodafone with the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, is helping to save lives using everyday technology to improve the availability of anti-malarial drugs in remote areas of Tanzania.Called “SMS for Life,” the initiative uses a combination of mobile phones, SMS (Short Messaging Service) technologies and intuitive web sites to track and manage the supply of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) drugs and Quinine injectables, both of which are key to reducing the number of deaths from malaria.The mosquito-borne disease causes nearly one million deaths in Africa each …
Email This PostSalvation Army Accepting Donations via Text Message December 11, 2009
The Salvation Army is launching a national text messaging donation program Saturday in hopes of using this new medium to reach more donors.Donors can text the word HOPE to 45678 from most Canadian mobile phones to make a $5.00 contribution to the Salvation Army’s Christmas Campaign. Money raised will directly support the more than 1.5 million people the Salvation Army serves year-round.The program officially launches at the Santa Shuffle Runs across the country on Saturday, December 5 and will continue throughout the Christmas season, giving donors a cash-free, easy and secure way to make donations to the Christmas Campaign.Winnipeg’s Santa …
Email This PostText Messages: Digital Lipstick on the Collar December 9, 2009
The New York Times reports on how text messages are being used in court cases to prove that a partner has strayed.But one question most people ask is what happens to text messages once they are deleted.Even though you delete an incriminating SMS from your own phone, it can remain on the recipients phone and in your wireless carrier’s system. Carriers stores them for anywhere from days to a few weeks (at most). According to The NYTimes article, AT&T said saves text messages for 72 hours while Verizon for 5 to 10 days.Can deleted text messages be retrieved …
Email This PostSMS Enabled Art Toilet at The Danish National Gallery December 2, 2009
In conjunction with a music event held outside the The National Gallery in Copenhagen earlier this summer, the gallery introduced a new kind of service: Art Toilets.Besides being cleaned after each visit, the Art Toilets were equipped with art magazines and posters, thereby turning the trivial and potential unpleasant activity into a somewhat nice and memorable experience.To access the Art Toilets, users were required to send an SMS to a dedicated number, which in return gave them a virtual toilet token, free of charge.The phone numbers were collected and later used by the National Gallery to kick start a new …
