Friday, July 27, 2012

App-solutely ingenious!

Another post about apps.
The best part about technology is using it to make the world a better place. The Internet is where millennials develop a collective social consciousness, if we want to.
Everyone I grew up with knows the story of Noah and the Ark. But I'll tell it for those who haven't heard it: Many thousands of years ago, God was unhappy with humankind. Nobody was behaving in the manner He expected of them. So God decided to flood the earth and clean it of all the sordidness. There was one man, Noah, whose life pleased God. Noah was given a mission: he had to build an ark, and take his family and two of each kind of beast and bird into that ark while God washed the world. It rained and rained. When it finally stopped and the land dried, God promised never to send another flood. The rainbow is a sign of that promise. (I knew catechism would come in handy someday.) Because they protected so many creatures, I like to think that Noah and his family were conservationists.
Project Noah isn't related to the Biblical character. Noah here is an acronym, according to the site. It stands for Networked Organisms And Habitats.
The site, and app, help citizens of the world aid scientists in the collection of data. You take pictures, upload them and identify the species. I think that is such an interesting idea.
And with the Western Ghats having recently been given the title of World Heritage Site, I think it is doubly important that we record as much as we can. None of Goa's wildlife parks are in this year. Sigh.
Thank goodness Project Noah is available online- they don't have a Blackberry app, so no smart phone business for me. Never mind- I can't wait to get started!
For more apps-for-nature, read this BBC article.



Trash is OUT

We've all seen the dumps. Where I'm from, there's litter everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. I've spent so much time getting mad, but some people in Slovakia chose to go one better. They've created an app, TrashOut, that you can use to mark illegal dump locations on Google maps.
Do the authorities come and clean up after you take this step? Maybe not just yet. But under the FAQ's it says that TrashOut will "approach them and let them know". Or you can take action yourself and make a day of cleaning up the place with your friends.
The app is downloadable on iOS and Android.
I love this idea, I really do. I checked the map of Goa recently and no one has marked anything yet. Shocking!
Read more, learn more, and mark the dirt, PLEASE! I'm delegating to the cyber-Goan-verse. Here's a video to watch too. It tells us stuff we know, but in a format we can pass on (and not be accused of being preachy)

Ramadan Kareem.


Saturday, July 21, 2012

This is a bike I could ride

It's actually a tricycle...


Well, if it weren't so hot here, this would've been a decent method of travelling.
I've noticed that the number of motorbikes in the city has increased tremendously from, oh, 16 years ago. Maybe the couriers and delivery guys could take a leaf (or a bike) from Portland's B-Line guys' book.Or sweat it out with the trikes?
Now how does one go about getting a bike here? I know a few Metro stations where I would be able to park it.
But where would I park a Segway? Good question...

Monday, July 16, 2012

Energy Conservation

Sighted today at Khalid bin al Walid station: escalators switched off and the following sign placed at the foot and top of them
Turned off for Energy Conservation
(not in quotes because I did not take it down word for word. And since I was in a bit of a hurry, I didn't get a picture either.)

It wasn't peak hours, so nobody was forced to huff and puff up a flight of stairs.
Yay for energy conservation!

(also posted on http://metroscrapbook.blogspot.com/)

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Sidewalk smiles

Thank God Cassy hasn't trademarked her blog name yet. (I promise I'm not infringing on your rights anyway :D)

Here's something I saw on the sidewalk that made me smile


In case you can't make out what it says, the blue one is for recyclable stuff like metals and plastics; the yellow is for non-recyclables like food, peels, leaves.
These bins are all over Business Bay (Executive Towers). I've seen them in JLT too.
I hope people are using them. The most common excuse I've heard to not use bins is how far away they are. I don't think that'd fly here.  They're everywhere!

Other things I've seen on the sidewalk: mynah eggshell (pastel blue), the leg of a doll, dates...

About Me

Greetings, citizens of the world! We are united by planet and species, so what say we do our best to look after our handfuls of earth?