Mobilisms

What does the following list of items have in common?

• a laundry machine
• a puddle in the street
• a toilet
• an upside-down beer in a purse

Give up? These are all things that, through unfortunate and sometimes highly improbable series of events, have destroyed my phone at one time or another.

Yes - I have washed my jeans with the tele in the pocket - I have dropped it while running after an april shower (ok fine I was walking) - the toilet/pocket paradigm - and, believe it or not, a purse is NOT a practical cup holder no matter how cold the can is. 

My phone is prone to drowning which leads me to introduce the new “floaties” for phones - NeverWet! I am soooo excited about this stuff. Ross Nanotechnology is currently developing a silicone-based coating that you spray on your phone. The stuff repels liquids by creating a small barrier of air between your cell and water/beer/kool-aid etc. 

So if you are like me, shamefully clumsy and irresponsible when it comes to mobile devices, get excited because NeverWet is going to save you more money than switching to Geico. 

Banjo is similar to Foursquare, Google Latitude, and the likes in that it tells you the location of a friend. What makes Banjo unique is its ability to only notify you about a friend’s location when they are within a specified location of you.  The service connects to all of your social media networks to send you push notifications and can be turned on and off at will.

Banjo may be innovative and the next step in this generation’s move towards hyper-connectivity, as it aggregates all geo-points into one program for an easy-to-access, simplified form of “Who is where and when?” But, it adds the answer to the question “Oh ya, are they within 5 miles of me at this exact moment?” Although one has to enter in some form of location-based information to one of their social networking platforms to share any information, I can’t help but think that this app borders along the line of T(oo) M(uch) I(nformation). 

It’s Halloween and that means several things… 

1. I am going to gain 10 pounds thanks to the invention of “party size” candy bars. 
2. Young women will have an excuse to wear their cheer uniforms from 10 years ago to relive the glory days, and NO ONE will tell them it’s inappropriate. 
3. There will be a parades-worth of people dressed up as either the villain or superhero from their favorite comic book/cartoon.

Based on Halloween observance #3 - for Halloween, Mobilisms is dressing like our favorite superhero…….SUPER-SIRI!!!!!

Who needs a utility belt when you have mobile apps? Who needs to fly when you have the ability to automatically contact whoever you need with just a word? Who needs the bat signal when you have GPS beaming out your location to the proper emergency squad?

Our friends at Gigaom have outlined some specific Super-Siri powers that could save lives. 

1. Speaking the word “emergency” could video call 911 providing visual cues to a situation.
2. Siri can send the GPS location of the caller to emergency services.
3. An app could automatically send critical info to the nearest hospital (such as allergies or prior conditions).
4. Siri could automatically send a text or email to an emergency contact. 

I have an addiction to both caffeine and impatience. It’s true. I don’t care and I’ll own it. 

I have no desire to wait in a Starbucks line at 6:00 a.m. only to be forced to watch countless people order overcomplicated drinks which I KNOW they are only ordering so that the barista (otherwise known as the jolliest/smiliest/MOST AWAKE and intolerable person alive) has to devote an entire hour crafting their one single cup of piping hot liquid energy! I LOATHE waiting in line, but I LOVE my hazelnut iced coffee.

Ladies and gentlemen THAT is exactly why I am pleased to introduce (or pass along) this life altering information. Qminder is developing an app for the “morning glory” in all of us.  The Estonian Qminder system is essentially a place holder system for all of us who suffer from chronic impatience. People can download this app using the iPhone, iPad, Android or Nokia devices.  Essentially, you are “taking a number.” Jump on your app when you pull out of your driveway and chances are it will be your turn at the register by the time to reach the counter. 

Want it. Love it. Need it. 

Are you occupying Wall Street? Elsewhere? Do you frequently find yourself in situations where you might get arrested? You should probably get the “I’m Getting Arrested” app.

Inspired by Occupy Wall Street, the “I’m Getting Arrested” app is new for Android. It lets you immediately tell your family/friends/lawyer that you’ve been arrested, and that someone should probably come bail you out. By pre-entering the contacts, you know you’re notifying the right people.

Don’t be skeptical, this is legit.

The app lets you pre-write a message, then stores it until you tell it to send. Should you find yourself handcuffed and in the back of a squad car, take a sneaky and quick second to open the app and hold down the bull’s-eye for two seconds – your message will send.

Initial reviews say the app is super straightforward and easy to use. If you ask me, that’s exactly what this app needs to be – effective. The time of arrest is not the time to deal with a high-maintenance and faulty app.

Of course it’s possible to use this app for other purposes as well. If you’re constantly typing the same message, be it your lunch order, directions, holiday wish-list, etc., you can use this app to prep the same message, then simply send whenever you feel so led.

Good luck and happy protesting. May the app keep you safe, and your family/friends well-informed.

It doesn’t get more “mobilism” than this. Those of you who just tried to google Mobilisms - stop and click. Those of you who didn’t click the link are lazy, but I don’t want you to miss out so the short definition is this.  A mobilism is mobile technology that connects people to people and people to brands - AND THIS TAKES THE CAKE - AN ULTRASOUND APP! This FDA approved app just put the very first connection between mother and baby within the reach of mobile tech. 

This is awesome BUT let’s step back and really think about what the bigger news is here - mobile technology just entered the healthcare industry.

The ultrasound device is being sold for a fraction of the cost of the equipment most hospitals currently use. The entry of mobile tech medical equipment into mainstream healthcare could have a direct impact on the cost of healthcare all over the world.  SimplyZesty writes, “You can imagine that this would be brilliant in lesser developed countries; the mobility and lower cost would appeal to charities and doctors in need of this sort of equipment.”

We couldn’t agree more. 

I rebel against the e-reader.  

YES they are convenient

YES they can save money

YES I write a blog called Mobilisms that praises mobile technology!

BUT….I can’t bend the corners of an important page I want to come back too and I can’t highlight my favorite passages and I can’t get a secret snobby self-gratifying sense of importance when people see that I AM INDEED A READER and therefore INTELLECTUAL!!!!

Ok, that last one might not be the e-readers fault…I’ll get to my point.  The e-reader (device) doesn’t quite “do it” for me because it lacks the ability to really connect the story with e-readers (people.)

Yes, yes, yes I know that you can get a trendy cover and there are options to type little notes where-ever I want but I feel like there is a disconnect between myself and what I am reading. It’s like my Kindle is the Tin Man missing his heart.

Sure, there is a definite plus to not having to lug around 1168 pages of Ayn Rand telling us about how the Atlas Shrugged - BUT how can we take digital books and make them lasting stories? How can we give the Tin Man a heart?

The Southeastern Literacy Tourism Initiative  gets close to answering this question. This program encourages local readers to publish books digitally and include links throughout their novels with references to real places in the community. “The end product would be an interactive travel guide within a book, sometimes referred to as tourism fiction.”

This is more like giving the Tin Man some oil rather than a heart but hey - if I remember right, I think he was pretty happy with oil.