tools

  • The Use of Simple Digital Tools for Communion

    Thoughts in preparation for The Impact of Digital Communication on Civic Engagement at DPLA Fest. A lot of my career has revolved around data and communications. The first civic tech tool I ever made, in 1999,  was “KillerOnThe Loose.com”, a dumb notification tool that let you know, via Wireless Application Protocol, if there was a person…

  • Toolset Review: How I Made AldermanicWebsites

    Over the Christmas break I made AldermanicWebsites, “a comprehensive index of the technology, design, and content of Web sites for candidates running for Alderman in the February 2011 Municipal Elections in Chicago, IL.” I’m not a very skilled Web developer. I can’t write any code from scratch and I don’t know any programming languages. But…

  • Boulder fire: Awesome example of lightweight collaboration

    Someday we won’t consider any part of this a failure. Social media play key role in Boulder fire – Lost Remote. When the Boulder Sheriff’s emergency alert system failed, its emergency operations center asked that residents use Twitter and Facebook to help spread the word of mandatory evacuations, reports the Boulder Channel 1 Blog. The…

  • Very Interesting Experiment: Strong Angel III

    Strong Angel III | Strong Angel III THE DEMONSTRATION What will happen? Organizations and individuals participating in Strong Angel III are volunteering their time and resources to explore innovations in humanitarian response capabilities. This is not a trade show or a technology fair, with vendor booths, demos, and product literature. Nor is it an Exercise…

  • Text messaging meditations in an emergency

    The media loves these kinds of “silly-thing-was-important” stories, but mass text messaging from an emergency can serve a huge purpose in recovery effort (“careful– there’s gas leaks everywhere, “there’s a pocket of air in the bulkhead”, “approach fromthe left”, etc.) OMG: Text messaging an important part of response – Yahoo News Snodgrass was one of…