Facebook Joins Networks with Disaster Apps

Facebook Can Now Help You Out During Disasters

‘Despite the frivolous nature of most social media interactions, Facebook’s latest new feature is intended for use only in serious situations. Unveiled today in Japan, Safety Check notifications are pushed to users when a natural disaster hits and area you have listed as your location, where you’ve checked in on Nearby Friends, or where you recently logged in from. Tech companies like Google and Facebook have worked to connect people after significant disasters in the past, and Facebook says the project is an extension of the Disaster Message Board its Japanese engineers rolled out after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami there. Safety Check is rolling out globally on Android, iOS, feature phones and the desktop — there’s a demo video (embedded after the break) to explain how it all works…’
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Tech-Savvy Cop Hacks Passwords to Save Life
Police use iPhone to rescue woman after car plunges down ravine
‘A California car crash victim was impossible to find until a tech-savvy police officer made a crucial decision to track her down using an iPhone.

‘California Highway Patrol officers located the missing woman’s Chevy Cruze at about 5:30 Tuesday morning. The missing car was 500 feet down a ravine off Mt. Hamilton Road in South Bay.

‘A Coast Guard helicopter was called while officers walked down the embankment through heavy shrubbery. They found 28-year-old Melissa Vasquez, who had been ejected from the car, and had been missing for 17 hours.

‘It wasn’t until 3 a.m. Tuesday when Cameron went to Vasquez’s house and found her iPad that he realized he could use Apple’s Find My iPhone app to track her. But first, he had to crack all of her pass codes…’
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The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking
Want to learn how to give a great talk?
‘Over and over, you keep asking us: What’s the best way to give a TED Talk? It’s not just that you’re interested in sharing your ideas at a TED or local TEDx event. Short presentations have become a bread-and-butter staple at schools and offices around the world, and you want more guidance on how to give them well.

‘And so, our curator Chris Anderson is writing a book to be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in spring 2016. Titled Talk This Way! The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking, it will be packed with insights on what makes talks work…’
TED