Humanitarian OpenStreetMap

Posted on 2015-05-19 by arjaybe

OpenStreetMap.org, mentioned here on Green Comet, is more than just an open source mapping project.  It’s more than the “Wikipedia of maps.”  It’s more than a hobby for hikers and cyclists.  It’s proving to be a valuable resource in the world’s response to disasters.  This is what can happen when people work together to create free and open information. – rjb

Since the devastating earthquake in Nepal, there have been responses from all over the world from relief agencies, governments, non-profits, and ordinary citizens. One interesting effort has been from the crowdsourced mapping community, especially on OpenStreetMap.org, a free and open web map of the world that anyone can edit (think the Wikipedia of maps.)

The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), an NGO that works to train, coordinate, and organize mapping on OpenStreetMap for humanitarian, disaster response, and economic development, has mobilized volunteers from around the world to help map since the Haiti earthquake in 2010.

Nepal is the most recent example of a large-scale activation for Humanitarian OpenStreetMap.

Source: Humanitarian OpenStreetMap helps Nepal earthquake response | Opensource.com

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Everyday injustices for working women: The slights add up – CNET

Posted on 2015-05-10 by arjaybe

It’s still going on, and whenever a woman brings it up, it gets worse. Some of the comments to the article will confirm that.

Commentary: If you want to make a difference in gender equality, consider the subtle and often subconscious ways in which women are overlooked, devalued and underestimated in the business world.

Source: Everyday injustices for working women: The slights add up – CNET

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Day Against DRM – 2015

Posted on 2015-05-06 by arjaybe
International Day Against DRM - Defective by Design CC-BY

International Day Against DRM – Defective by Design CC-BY

Led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Defective by Design, we’re celebrating today the ninth annual Day Against DRM.  It’s meant to raise awareness of the harm done by the application of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) to our media.  Videos that will play only under specific circumstances.  Music that you can listen to only on authorized devices.  Books that you can read only after jumping through the right hoops.

As noted at the bottom of the Green Comet website, there is no DRM on anything you find here.  You can read the books any time, anywhere.  You can listen to me read the stories on any device that plays open audio.  Unlike those who encumber their offerings with arbitrary restrictions, I want people to read and hear my stories.

Read the article and follow the links.  Find out why there is a day against DRM.

 DRM affects almost everyone on a daily basis, but in the blind community it is a problem of epic proportions. Usually when people want something to read, they go to a library, pick up a book, and check it out. Blind people in the US can use the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in almost the same way—except for one major difference: coming from the NLSBPH, books are usually audiobooks, stored in a specialized format encumbered with DRM.

Defective by Design – Disabling the Disabled

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