Good guy Apple gives $2.5 million to Hurricane Sandy relief

After successfully raising "millions" of dollars toward the American Red Cross' Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees today that the company will donate $2.5 million of its own money to help the storm's victims recover.

Apple will donate $2.5 million to victims of Hurricane Sandy, according to an internal memo obtained by 9to5Mac. The charitable gift comes on top of untold millions raised by Apple customers for the American Red Cross through a special page on iTunes. 

Apple originally launched the Hurricane Sandy relief page in iTunes on November 1, just days after the storm decimated communities up the East Coast, including towns and cities in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Apple iTunes customers can give amounts ranging from $5 to $200 through the page.

Sandy is said to be the second most-costly hurricane in U.S. history, after 2005′s Hurricane Katrina. Eleven days after Sandy made landfall, around 265,000 homes in New Jersey, and more than 168,000 in Long Island remain without electricity. An untold number of people are displaced or homeless because of the storm.

News of Apple’s donation follows a joint project between Silicon Valley vacation rental starup Airbnb and the New York City Mayor’s Office, which are urging Airbnb hosts (or anyone with a bit of extra room) to lend out their space to displaced Sandy victims for free. As of this writing, more than 530 hosts have signed up for the effort.

Apple’s charitable giving has increased under CEO Tim Cook. In February, Cook revealed that the company had given a total of about $150 million to charity, a large number, but a small fraction of the electronic giant’s approximately $117 billion in cash it had on hand, as of this summer.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Airbnb and Mayor Bloomberg link up, open home renters’ doors to hurricane victims

Two weeks after Hurricane Sandy, a nor'easter heads toward New York City. Luckily, Airbnb and the Big Apple joined hands to offer free shelter to those displaced.

When Airbnb sent out an email two weeks ago encouraging renters to offer rooms at a discounted rate to help Hurricane Sandy victims, I applauded the startup’s efforts at giving back to the community. Today, as a nor’easter heads back to the tri-state area even though some victims are still without power or have been evacuated from their homes, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced a collaboration with Airbnb, helping the startup promote the word on free housing for those who need it the most.

Whether you’re an interested renter or in need of shelter, the shortcut URL of Airbnb.com/sandy can take you to the available homes in the NYC vicinity. Every listing under the section is entirely free of charge; Airbnb makes no profit off the listings, and home seekers still have full access to filter search results by neighborhood, amenities, and room type. Luckily, as the number of rooms available decrease after bookings, more renters are offering their homes to the site. When I began this post, 179 homes were available. Last I checked, there are 205.

There’s no word from Airbnb or the mayor’s office on how long this deal lasts, but if you’re seeking shelter or know someone who is, you can find everything from a free bedroom to airbeds and couches. Whatever humble abodes renters can offer, it will sure beat the snow that’s already descended upon New York City. 

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Verizon rolls out mobile device charging stations for Sandy victims

Definitely helpful for anyone impacted by Hurricane Sandy, Verizon is providing assistance to the public in the form of emergency communication centers.

With locations detailed on Verizon’s site, the wireless company has positioned large, trailer-sized charging stations at locations within Ohio, New Jersey and West Virginia as well as Staten Island. Not limiting outreach to Verizon customers, the company is welcoming anyone that was impacted negatively by Hurricane Sandy. The public can visit the mobile trailers to recharge their mobile devices like smartphones, tablets or laptops. In addition, anyone without a computer can get online at a computer workstation. Verizon is also offering Sandy victims access to mobile phones in order to make domestic calls to friends and families. 

Beyond the emergency communication centers, Verizon is opening retail locations up to the public for device charging and free domestic calls. Victims of Hurricane Sandy can also find prepaid phones as well as replacement chargers at Verizon stores if needed.

In order to reestablish wireless communication in areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy, Verizon technicians have been working around the clock to improve service. Regarding the progress of technicians, Verizon representatives stated the company has “seen continued improvement overnight with now more than 96 percent of our cell sites in service and serving our customers in the impacted area, including some of the hardest hit areas of the Northeast.” 

Similar to Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile stores are opening up retail locations to offer device charging. In addition, AT&T has rolled our mobile charging stations at relief areas across the Northeast. Regarding any payment issues, T-Mobile is giving customers a grace period up until November 8 and plans to waive all late fees as well. Basically, customers that haven’t paid their T-Mobile bill will continue to receive service to their mobile phone. AT&T is also planning on waiving all late fees and will extend payment windows for Hurricane Sandy victims. AT&T representatives did not specifically mention an end date on that grace period. 

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Hurricane Sandy Prompts Google to Cancel Android Event

Image credit: Google

Google had hoped to take the tech world by storm on Monday with its Android event, but a storm is now taking the event.

As a result of Hurricane Sandy, Google cancelled its big Android event, which was set to be held in New York City at 9:00 a.m. Monday. The effects of the hurricane are expected to be felt in the New York City area as early as Monday morning. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has already declared a state of emergency, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned residents to brace themselves.

Hurricane Sandy: Live Storm Tracker

At the event, Google was expected to detail the next version of Android, codenamed Key Lime Pie. It has also been rumored that it would announce a new Nexus phone made by LG and a new Nexus 10 tablet made by Samsung.

Google has not yet shared details on when or where they will hold the rescheduled event.

“We are canceling our Monday morning event in New York due to Hurricane Sandy. We will let you know our plans as soon as we know more,” Google said in an e-mail to ABC News.

Google’s event was planned to compete with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 event taking place in San Francisco the same day.

Android chief Andy Rubin is still expected to speak at the All Things D “Dive Into Mobile” conference in New York City on Monday afternoon. ABC News still plans to attend the conference and report on the news.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

How tech could make party conventions suck less

Political conventions are obsolete and overfunded, but throwing a little tech in the mix could at least make the spectacle more fun to watch.

Besides a minor hurricane, the news in the next couple of weeks will be dominated by political convention coverage, even though it’s been 30 years since a convention wasn’t scripted and something actually interesting and historical occurred. I’ve already heard the term “taxpayer-funded infomercial” more times than I can count, and as of this writing, the Republican National Convention has only been taking place in my hometown of Tampa for one day.

The idea of spending untold millions to gather party faithful in a large arena to cast votes – in person, by voice – seems a little antiquated to me given all of the technological tools at our disposal.

Maybe these tools could save us the $18 million that the federal government gives each party for balloons, signs, and the other accoutrements that goes into a big party (not to mention the $50 million that each host city receives for security).

How about funding the conventions the same way we fund new iPod docks, niche documentaries and bad anime comics? I would favor a federal law stating that all convention costs must be raised on Kickstarter.

If you think about it, it’s the technological equivalent of passing around the hat for some pizza when you have friends over, except it’s thousands of friends and millions of pizzas. And peacefully having pizza seldom draws out anarchists who want to protest your pizza.

The only risk for the political establishment in a Kickstarter-funded convention is that it might not make as much money as the new Planetary Annihilation game, which would be embarrassing, but would also show just how little the general public cares about scripted conventions.

A Kickstarter campaign for convention money might net each party a few hundred thousand. That’s not small change, but it’s far less than what they’ve been used to operating with. The new conventions will look a lot like the annual Furniture Constructors Convention, held every year in beautiful Tulsa. I’ve heard that one is an absolute rager!

Which brings me to my next idea: put the convention on GoToMeeting, or a similar service, so that only the people who need to be involved can get involved and the rest of us can return to talking about Snooki’s baby.

It’s not like these people want an educated electorate anyway.

The less we know about a party’s platform, the better it is for everyone involved. The citizenry gets less frustrated at how fragmented and insulting our political process has become, and the politicians don’t have to answer uncomfortable questions.

But if we are still interested in informing the electorate, journalists play a major part.

Unfortunately at modern conventions, they play too big of one. There are roughly 5,000 delegates at each convention and more than 15,000 credentialed media members. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure we don’t need three people asking each delegate questions that we already know the answers to.

What I would be interested in is the journalists’ uncensored view of the convention. Therefore, every journalist should be provided with an anonymous Twitter handle so we can read less tweets like “Romney ate breakfast with his family at Waffle House” and more like “He didn’t wash his hands after using the restroom. In a Waffle House.” Some people would say that’s not journalism. They obviously haven’t seen what passes for journalism these days.

Finally, to allow us citizens to conduct some of our own journalism, popular apps should publicize their search statistics soon after the Republicans leave Tampa and the Democrats leave Charlotte. I, for one, would like to see what people searched Yelp! for while they were in my hometown. “Lap dance clubs” wouldn’t surprise me. It’s Tampa, after all. Neither would “Planned Parenthood clinics.” “Barbers that can do a high-top fade”? Now that would be surprising for the GOP.

I would also like to see Grindr’s results, even though they would definitely be NSFW.

The point I’m trying to make, in the snarky way that my readership now expects, is that it’s time for our democracy to adapt to the times. We have a wealth of available technology that can make this experience more fruitful and cost-effective for everyone. Instead, politicians only seem willing to use technology when they want money. It’s time to replace the obsolete convention process with ideas that better suit the era in which we live.

[Photo credit: Frontpage / Shutterstock.com]

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

2012 Hurricane Season Now Forecast Above Normal

  Hurricane Ernesto approaching the Yucatan Peninsula.  Image credit: NOAA.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, updating its forecast, said today that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be above average.

The center said it was now predicting there would be 12 to 17 named storms, 5 to 8 of them hurricanes.  It raised the numbers partly because of the number of storms we have already seen this year.

“This year’s Atlantic hurricane season got off to a busy start, with 6 named storms to date,” said NOAA in a statement.  “The updated outlook still indicates a 50 percent chance of a near-normal season, but increases the chance of an above-normal season to 35 percent.”

Already, the Atlantic has seen tropical storms Alberto, Beryl, Debbie and Florence, and hurricanes Chris and Ernesto.

Based on that, the Climate Prediction Center said it now anticipates 12 to 17 storms with top winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, it is predicted we will see 5-8 hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), 2-3 of which could be major hurricanes. Major hurricanes are Category 3, 4, or 5 and have winds of at least 111 mph.

According to NOAA, the average Atlantic hurricane season produces 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

The Climate Prediction Center is increasing the number of expected storms due to wind patterns and warmer-than-average ocean temperatures, according to Gerry Bell, the center’s lead forecaster.

“These conditions are linked to the ongoing high activity era for Atlantic hurricanes that began in 1995. Also, strong early-season activity is generally indicative of a more active season,” Bell said.

At the same time, forecasters predict that an El Niño — a giant patch of unusually warm water in the equatorial Pacific that affects global weather patterns — will develop in August or September.

“El Niño is a competing factor, because it strengthens the vertical wind shear over the Atlantic, which suppresses storm development,” Bell said. “However, we don’t expect El Niño’s influence until later in the season.”

NOAA’s National Weather Service said regardless of predictions, it is important to take the proper steps to be ready for severe weather.

For more information on how to prepare for hurricane season, visit www.ready.gov.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com