Archive for the ‘Political’ Category

MobileActive: A Leading Source on How Mobile Phones Can Make the World a Better Place

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Are you interested in using mobile technology to make the world a better place?  If so, make sure to check out MobileActive.org.  They’ve got a great blog and newsletter summarizing various mobile activism projects making a difference throughout the world.

Here is a quick summary of what they do:

“MobileActive.org connects people, organizations, and resources using mobile technology for social change.

We are committed to increasing the effectiveness of NGOs around the world who recognize that the 4.5 billion mobile phones provide unprecedented opportunities for organizing, communications, and service and information delivery.

We work together to create the resources NGOs need to effectively use mobile phones in their work: locally relevant content and services, support and learning opportunities, and networks that help MobileActives connect to each other. With these things on hand, tens of thousands of NGOs will be in a better position to enrich and serve their communities.

The MobileActive.org community includes grassroots activists, NGO staff, intermediary organizations, content and service providers, and organizations who fund mobile technology projects.

MobileActive is committed to expanding the knowledge and experiences about the use of mobile phones and to accelerating the use of effective strategies and tactics while reducing the learning costs for organizations.”

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FactCheck.Org on the Mobile Web

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Curious to learn just the facts about the health care bill or the 2010 census? m.factcheck.org might be a good resource while you are on the run.

Factcheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases and then report on it on this site.

I have found this site particularly useful during elections when the mudsling is in full effect. They break down the topics in a digestible way and appear to give both sides.

The easy to use Search feature allows me to just find what I need and I can even email the editor questions or read the weekly FactCheck Mailbag to see what others are interested in.

The gubernatorial elections are coming up in many states this June. I’ll be checking back into this site before I go to the polls.

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New York Times Politics Notifier

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The New York Times Politics Notifier app allows you quick access to New York Times Political News Stories and the New York Times political-based Caucus Blog. You can access up-to-the minute news, analysis, and commentary and be alerted to updates by pop-ups or vibrations. This app won’t provide you any content that you couldn’t get in other fashions, but it does make it easy to get and view the latest political news. And that is generally what I’m looking for in a mobile app: anything that makes it easier to what I’d otherwise do in a more time-consuming, less-mobile way.

It’s free and available from BlackBerry App World.

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Life with Google — on your BlackBerry

Monday, March 1st, 2010

I’m one of those people who can’t imagine life without Google. I communicate with all my friends and family using Gmail and Google Talk. I do all my web searches on Google Search. I look up all my directions on Google Maps. And I keep up on all my news via Google Reader.

That’s why the first app I installed on my BlackBerry Curve was the free Google Mobile App. It has all the amazing features of Google – but it comes with me in my pocket. Here’s a few tips for maximizing your life on the go with the Google Mobile App for BlackBerry:

  • Voice search: Say you’re having a conversation with a friend and trying to figure out when the first day of spring is. It’s easy: just launch your Google Mobile app, hold down the green call button, and say “first day of spring” into it. The voice recognition software will translate what you say into a Google Search query—and return the results that the first day of spring this year is March 20.
  • Maps: Did a friend just call and offer to meet you at a restaurant you’ve never heard of in an hour? No need to get directions, just plug the restaurant name into your Google Maps app. Whether you’re walking, driving, or taking public transit, the Google Maps app will draw your route for you, and give you estimated time it’ll take to get there (and how much it’ll cost, if it’s via public transit). Or are you lost? Just call it up and wait for the blue dot to tell you where you are. I’ve used this more times than I’d like to admit when I’ve been turned around in unfamiliar neighborhoods. And it’s especially valuable to have if you’re navigating someone from the passenger seat; “turn right in two blocks” is a lot better than “turn right on Main Street, which is coming up at some point…oops, there it was…”
  • Reader: This app is by far my favorite. As a CREDO Action campaign manager, I live and breathe the news, and Google Reader is my go-to way of catching up on the latest. I use RSS feeds from all my favorite newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Rather than having to visit each publication’s site, I pull their stories into my Reader account through RSS. The Mobile Reader app pulls in the headline of the newest 10 (depending on your settings) articles. You can easily scan to see the latest news, or click through to read the full articles of the ones that pique your interest the most.
  • News: Don’t use Google Reader? You can also use the News app, which pulls in the latest from the Google News homepage.

All of these and more are available with the free Google Mobile App for BlackBerry. Just point your browser to m.google.com or visit their website to have a link texted to your phone.

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Posted in News, Political, Travel and Maps, Utilities | 1 Comment »

Watch Brave New Films on your BlackBerry

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Many of our readers may know that we at CREDO Mobile are big fans of Brave New Films, but did you know you can view Sick For Profit and other BNF productions on your BlackBerry Curve or web-enabled device via YouTube? Sick For Profit exposes CEOs of the five largest health insurance companies and the fact that they are making millions at the expense of your health.

Brave News Films uses new media and Internet video campaigns to educate, influence, and empower viewers to take action around issues that matter. Their short videos have been viewed over 45 million times in the past two years. They have a million members and counting and are getting critical issues into the mainstream media.

Here are a few ways you can participate:

1. View a Brave New Film on your Mobile: Go to http://www.youtube.com/mobile on your BlackBerry Curve or web-enabled mobile phone. You can search for videos by typing Brave New Films into the YouTube search box.

2. Join Brave New Films: Sign up for a free Brave New Films video subscription at their website: www.bravenewfilms.org

3. Become a Video Activist: Sign up to be a Brave New Films Video Activists and capture and submit compelling stories you believe need to be told.

If you’d like to upload a video to YouTube from your Blackberry here’s how:

  • Log into YouTube from your computer and click on “Account”
  • Find the link on the left-hand side called “Mobile Setup.”

  • Specify and/or register your mobile phone number to get a unique email address to which you can send your mobile videos.

  • Save that into your BlackBerry as a contact. Once you’ve taken a video from your phone, just email it to that address to upload it to your YouTube account

I hope you’ll take this chance to get involved with Brave New Films whether on the go or at home. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

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There’s no app for that?

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

This blog is about mobile applications, and whenever possible, we try to focus on apps that have an affinity to our mission as a progressive social change organization.

So when it’s my turn to blog here I inevitably search for that great political or social change app. And frankly they are few and far between. Particularly ones that are related to politics for the Blackberry or other more basic phones.

With the exception of Visible Vote (which was previously reviewed here) and the Right-wing WhipCast (reviewed here) there is very little for a progressive like me to do politically when it comes to apps.

I know that personally there have been times when I’ve wanted to know the political giving of an individual or corporation (a la opensecrets.org) and would love an app for that. I remember the CREDO powered, SMS-based service for fivethirtyeight.com leading up to last year’s election and would love an app like that. Maybe something more local, so when I travel I can immediately get a sense of the local political scene?

I’m sure there are many, many more. Maybe there are bunch that exist that I just don’t know about. Maybe you have an idea for a great app you’d like to see built.

So rather than doing a formal review today, I pose an open question: what kind of political, progressive app would you like to have?

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Posted in Political | 2 Comments »

WhipCast for BlackBerry? *Empty*

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

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Republican representatives Eric Cantor of Virginia and Kevin McCarthy of California, aiming to compete with the Democrats’ technical edge, have released a new BlackBerry app. WhipCast is designed to be “a pocket card for the 21st century,” and to allow users to check talking points and bill facts, follow votes, plan floor action and supposedly even check out the latest jabs from the Daily Show.

“Today’s launch of the WhipCast BlackBerry app is the latest demonstration of our commitment to modernize the way we communicate with Americans from coast-to-coast,” Cantor said.

“I think it’ll go viral,” said McCarthy, the minority’s chief deputy whip, who is also the app’s chief evangelist.

But Kristie Greco, communications director for House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, wasn’t impressed. “They can roll out as many applications and technologies as they want, but their [approval] numbers are still at historic lows,” Greco said. “I don’t see how this helps them.”

Curious to check out the “Friday Funny,” I downloaded WhipCast.

Aside from an intro video with a retro spy-movie soundtrack, there was no content.

Every category turned up empty. No Talking Points, no Bill Facts, just *Empty*, *Empty*, *Empty*.

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Posted in Political, Productivity | 1 Comment »

The Only Messaging App You’ll Ever Need

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Chances are you have a friend or two that use Blackberry. They are after all the best selling smartphones in the world. If you also use Blackberry, did you know there’s a free, easy way to connect with your fellow Blackberry users?

It’s Blackberry Messenger and it’s pre-installed on all Blackberries.

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Some popular features:

* Instant messaging

* Group chats

* Files sharing

* Voice notes

* Link/website sharing

* Many, many more.

How do you find your friends and invite them to chat? All Blackberries carry a unique PIN# – to find out what your PIN# is, go to “Options” (the wrench on the main menu) then click “Status.” Once you have your PIN# your friends can use it to “invite” you or vice versa.

Beyond the extended features not available on other instant messaging clients, one of the big benefits of using the Blackberry Messenger is the cost. There are no text messaging costs, additional data charges or voice minutes used when using this application.

It’s also seamlessly integrated with other Blackberry features (web browser, phone, contacts, etc.) for the ultimate ease of use and efficiency.

If you’re not addicted to your Blackberry yet this may be the application that does it – I know a lot of people who swear by this app.

Happy messaging!

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Posted in Entertainment, Green, Messaging, Political, Productivity, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Blogging from your Smartphone: WordPress for BlackBerry

Monday, September 21st, 2009

We recently held a contest, working with the folks at Netroots Nation, and awarded three CREDO BlackBerry Curve smartphones and 12 months unlimited service from CREDO Mobile to three outstanding progressive bloggers. The awards were given out at the 2009 Netroots Nation Conference and the winners in each category were:

  • Leo Gerard “Best National Blogger”
  • David Dayen “Best State/Local Blogger”
  • Kerry Trueman “Blog Activist of the Year”

Congrats again to the winners! If you’re thinking about starting your own progressive blog – or want to be able to update your existing blog easily from your BlackBerry smartphone – there is a new Beta version of WordPress specifically built for your BlackBerry. WordPress is one of many free blog hosting and publishing platforms available on the web and is used by both novice and professional bloggers alike.
If you already have a WordPress blog (if you don’t, you can go to www.wordpress.org to start one) you can get the mobile app for easy mobile updating by going to http://wordpress.blackberry.org/install and downloading the beta version of this app to your BlackBerry. After the download is complete, go ahead and run the application – starting with entering in your blog’s URL then entering in your existing WordPress username and password.

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Sign Up for SMS Alerts to Save the Dolphins

Monday, August 24th, 2009

“The Cove” is a documentary that brings to attention the atrocious killing of dolphins in Japan to sell in markets as “whale meat.” Being Japanese, I am appalled that this goes on in my home country. I never knew that there was such a tradition of killing dolphins or that they were sold into the market as food with toxic levels of mercury.

It’s not showing in every city, but it looks like it’s worth going out of the way to see. I plan to see it at the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.

To help stop the Japanese fishermen from slaughtering these dolphins, sign up for SMS alerts on this issue by texting DOLPHIN to 44144.  The first text message is a link to a form that you can fill out on your mobile phone to send a letter to President Obama, urging him to address this issue.

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Posted in Green, Messaging, News, Political | 4 Comments »

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