[Guest Plot Post: Robert Munro is the Chief Information Officer at Energy for Opportunity and a Graduate Fellow in computational linguistics at Stanford where he specializes in methods for processing large volumes of information in less-resourced languages.]
Crowdmap is not just for crisis mapping even though a lot of the media has associated Crowdmap with crisis mapping. Crowdmap can be used to map a wide range of issues, from event-based issues, to resources like schools and market places. In any case, if you do plan to use Crowdmap for crisis mapping, then we recommend you follow the following 5 steps.
1. Find out if someone else has already deployed Crowdmap for the same emergency. There are several ways you can do this:
a). Do a Google Search
b). Ask on the Crisis CrowdMap Google Group.
[Cross-posted from Konpa Group Blog, written by Sabina Carlson]
I have read a number of the stories written about the Ushahidi Haiti Deployment, some of which said that it served as a lifeline for many Haitians affected by the earthquake of January 12th. And as the rescue phase transitioned into the recovery phase, as disaster slowly transitioned into development, and as incidents gave way to indicators, our team decided that our platform had served its purpose and that it was time to close Haiti.ushahidi.com. Our site would always be kept up to serve as a snapshot of the crisis phase.
One week ago we launched the beta of Crowdmap, our cloud based service making it easy for users to create their own deployments of Ushahidi. On Monday (August 9th), the release was announced simultaneously on our blog and Twitter feed. It didn’t take long for people to notice.
On August 16, Twitter will be limiting requests using basic authentication for requests to their API and shutting them off entirely on August 31. What does this mean for Ushahidi? Ushahidi uses this method to connect to your Twitter account and download direct messages. If you have your own deployment of Ushahidi and you have added your Twitter username and password in the admin settings, you will no longer be receiving these messages. However, keep in mind that you will continue to receive messages based on your hashtag settings!
One of the first tasks as Ushahidi’s Mobile Project Manager, is to deliver the much-anticipated Ushahidi iPhone app. We’ve had an iPhone app in the works for the past year, however a lot has changed since we first envisioned the app. For example, background processing is now available on the iPhone 4.0, and the iPad now offers a much larger screen real estate.
So if we built the app from the ground up, what would it look like? How could we design the app to be as simple as possible, and yet still familiar to the user?
For many Kenyans who are not techies, getting to implement the Ushahidi platform can be tough, especially when not clear how exactly the use will contribute to achievement of organizational goals. That is why the Ushahidi 101 sessions were started; to give interested users a chance to understand how it works and get hands on experience.
The August Ushahidi 101 mainly attracted people who had downloaded the software or expressed interest in using the platform, it was a session for people to interact with Ushahidi team and get answers to most of the questions.
During my first few weeks in Liberia, I found myself at the mercy of my driver. The lack of street signs and numbered addresses meant that finding an office inevitably involved stopping to ask a woman selling bananas, or going up and down nearby streets until we’d eyed each nook and cranny of the concrete honeycomb. This isn’t how two mapping consultants go about their business, John and I thought; we had the power to do something, however small, about the disorder of Liberia’s capital. So we set out on in John’s surfboard-adorned jeep with GPS unit in hand.
On August 16, Twitter will be limiting requests using basic authentication for requests to their API and shutting them off entirely on August 31. What does this mean for Ushahidi? Ushahidi uses this method to connect to your Twitter account and download direct messages. If you have your own deployment of Ushahidi and you have added your Twitter username and password in the admin settings, you will no longer be receiving these messages. However, keep in mind that you will continue to receive messages based on your hashtag settings!
