Crisis Mapping

A very interesting overview of an international public policy-computation initiative on crisis mapping, specifically as it related to mapping conflict and other fast-moving emerging crisis conditions through mobile platforms, google earth, etc from Patrick Meier. The post outlines an interface and technology wish list that speaks to the conditions required for this kind of mapping to take off as well as a set of scenarios that talk about the movement of maps from representational tools to social dynamic tools to communication tools. Worth a look, especially for those groups working on crises that are more fast-moving.

Rethinking the Interstate

 

 

Metropolis has a piece by Karrie Jacobs that asks, “What if we used our 46,000 miles of highway as the backbone of a new 21st-century infrastructure?” 

Worth a quick look.

Cellphone hack detects diseases

Using off the shelf parts (LED, wires, etc) and some custom software, a UCLA team has rigged up a cellphone to detect various diseases in blood samples. This approach can theoretically be applied to any cellphone and therefore be part of an urban scale information infrastructure. Even better, its highly portable, local and autonomous, easily accessible, and low maintenance. As our research has shown, cellphones are nearly ubiquitous in Mumbai slums, with almost every family having at least one, and the off-the-shelf parts are easily acquired through both the slum markets and the informal network of goods exchange. There is great potential in this technology for integration with our thesis.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2008/12/gallery_microscope_phone

Times Crowd Sourcing

Interesting side feature on the Times website related to inauguration festivities. The paper is compiling reader-submitted images of inaugural events into a slide show matrix.