My project is based on magnetic material.. where i shoud check the magnetic properties of the soft magent (Ni-Fe and Fe-Co alloy) which is availabe commercially in shapes of toroidal, rectangular bar and produce magnets by different method and finally compare the properties . please if any one could
Warming Climate Out of Balance
The 2000s were the warmest decade on record.
The 2000-2009 decade was the warmest on record, easily surpassing the previous hottest decade — the 1990s — researchers said Tuesday in a report providing fresh evidence that the planet may be warming at a potentially disastrous rate.
In 2009, global surface temperatures were 1.01 degree above average, which tied the year for the fifth warmest year on record, the National Climatic Data Center said. And that helped push the 2000-2009 decade to 0.96 degree above normal, which the agency said “shattered” the 1990s record value of 0.65 degree above normal.
The warmest year on record was 2005 at 1.11 degrees above normal.
The findings follow years of gradually rising global temperatures which atmospheric scientists attribute to the warming effect of gases released into the air by human activities, including burning fossil fuels.
Balance is incredibly important for earth’s ecosystems because they have been found to be extremely sensitive to even the slightest changes. This super-sensitivity causes both expected and unexpected reactions. Climate scientist James Hansen has been saying this for years: Our weather is out of balance, the warming climate is out of balance, and life on earth is getting out of balance as a result.
Everyone should be concerned about this from an environmental standpoint; and anyone who cares about the economy and jobs should be very concerned about climate change. Sudden climate disasters that get the public’s attention, which may occur either before or after tipping points are reached, could have a devastating effect on world economies. The situation may require sudden changes in energy sources, which we are not ready for at this point. Our economy is based in large part on our energy sources, especially fossil fuels. Ultimately, climate change will affect every aspect of our economy, from consumerism to energy to the insurance industry (especially the insurance industry).
Recently, businesses and government have noticed that climate change is going to be bad for the economy and bad for business and bad for our national security — and the national security of every country on earth, for that matter. It’s notable that even major financial publications are worried about climate change. Business and government know climate change is going to drastically change the world. Why don’t our media and politicians know this and act upon it? The article below is from a major financial publication, the Financial Times:
World Weather Shifts off Balance
Trains, planes and cars halted by snow and ice. Gas and electricity supplies rationed. Sensitive crops ruined. Boats frozen into waterways. . . .
For weeks, images of the coldest weather for decades have filled the media across Europe, Asia and North America.
But there is an alternative weather story. In much of the Canadian Arctic – and across north Africa and the Middle East – temperatures have been 10°C above the midwinter average. The southern hemisphere is experiencing some extreme [...]
iPhone Survives Eight-Foot Drop During Weird Stunt [Image Cache]
Meet David Fermin, a pro MMA fighter who apparently forgets that he has an iPhone in his pocket when he swings from pipes, eight feet off the ground. Yeah, his iPhone takes a fall. No, there's no gadget gore.
Whether this clip is staged or not, I just plain want to know why David didn't choose something safer-looking than those pipes for his exercises. They look ready to join the iPhone and its case in clattering to the ground.
Scott Brown, the small government candidate wins; but don’t thank the Libertarian Party
by Dan Sherrier
Massachusetts’s famous Senate race is over, and as you’ve probably heard by now, Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley – not by a landslide, but by a comfortable margin of 53-46.
If you’re an advocate of smaller government and reducing the federal debt, Brown was the clear choice–even just on the health care issue alone. And that’s a rather enormous issue.
Joe Kennedy: No hope
Nevertheless, the Libertarian Party (LP) was willing to risk spoiling the election in Coakley’s favor. The party applauded its senatorial candidate, Joe Kennedy (no relation to the late Ted Kennedy), for refusing to drop out of the race.
In a press release, Wes Benedict, executive director of the LP, stated: “In fact, no one is ’stealing’ anything. The votes belong to the voters, not the candidates. If voters choose Kennedy over Brown, it’s probably because they understand that Brown is a typical big-government Republican. If voters choose Kennedy over Coakley, it’s probably because they understand that Coakley is a typical big-government Democrat.”
If the Republicans are the "Big Government Party," than the Dems are the "Gigantic Government Party"
Brown might meet the LP’s definition of “big government.” But compare him to Coakley – or compare the average federal Republican to the average federal Democrat – and see that you can’t apply the exact same “big-government” label to both. If Brown is “big,” then Coakley is gigantic.
It’s possible that some Massachusetts voters might have switched from Coakley to Kennedy. But it’s unlikely for most. Government spending is an issue that concerns many American minds. The Tea Party folks are evidence of that, and they’re not everyone who cares about the situation. (I have never participated in any Tea Party, and I’m concerned about government spending. I suspect many more fall into this category.)
On this issue, and the issues that stem from it, the Libertarians and Republicans vie for the same constituency. Both parties are opposed to the Democrats’ plans for America. They don’t agree on everything, but both would like to reduce the size of government and thwart current Democratic proposals, such as the healthcare legislation, cap-and-trade, and any more massive spending bills that might arise.
Yes, the Republicans spent too much money when they were in the power. They messed up. Those who participated deserve a good scolding.
But they’ve been behaving themselves better over the past year, beginning with their near-unanimous opposition to the $787 billion stimulus bill. There’s a reason the Democrats try to smear them as “The Party of No” (as if saying “yes” to any legislation that passes through Congress is automatically a good thing).
Just because the Republicans screwed up in the past doesn’t mean they definitely will in the future. After all, many of the big-spending offenders were voted out, hence the current Democratic majorities. And we can find better Republicans to replace the incumbent Democrats. Brown is just one example of new Republican blood at the federal level.
Libertarians need to hook up with Republicans
Here’s my suggestion to the LP: Join forces with the Republican Party, at least temporarily.
Focus on the common ground. Put isolationism and drug-legalization on the back-burner for now. When the Democratic Party is sufficiently neutered, then you can break away and present your alternative to the Republican Party.
Libertarians, your official motto is “Smaller government. Lower taxes. More freedom.” What short-term compromises are you willing to make to achieve that? And aren’t the current Republicans working to bring us in that general direction, or at least to slow down the growth the Democrats want to enact?
Republicans are far from perfect, but they’re many times better than the Democrats
Peter Schiff has it right. He’s very libertarian-minded, but he’s running for Senator from Connecticut as a Republican. Look at the issues he outlines on his web site. He focuses on the common-ground topics. Schiff could actually win in 2010 and produce accomplishments that would make both libertarians and conservatives happy.
At different times over the past year or so, I’ve referred to myself as both conservative and libertarian while maintaining a distance from both the Republicans and Libertarians. Between these two parties, I qualify as a moderate. I can find items to disagree with on both party platforms, but I can at least understand from where both sides are coming.
The national Democratic Party’s plans, however, strike me as a blueprint for power-hungry politicians. Let’s scare them about global warming. Then let’s scare them about health care coverage. And let’s make sure they believe that only the government can heal a sick economy. Then we can enact more regulations and further justify our existence!
I’d much prefer to see Republicans vs. Libertarians as the two major parties rather than Republicans vs. Democrats. In order for that to happen, the Republicans and Libertarians first need to work together to thwart the Democrats, which will take time and hard work.
Or, the Libertarian Party can stand on the sidelines with its 1 percent of the vote and continue to shout, “Well at least I took my stand! I tried! ‘A’ for effort!”
Editor's Note - Dan Sherrier is a regular contributor to the North Star National which covers politics and opinion from all angles. Special thanks to Editor Dan Calabrese.
SlideScreen Android App Replaces Homescreen With Beautiful Information [Android Apps]
Android's stock homescreen is fine; usable, not thrilling. SlideScreen, a homescreen replacement, is a wild departure that totally changes how you use your phone. It's a mix between Zune, MotoBlur and HTC's Sense. And I just made it my default.
Instead of the standard grid of icons and widgets we've seen in handhelds since Palm OS, SlideScreen integrates information from various sources—Google Reader, Twitter, email, text messages, calendar appointments, and stocks—right onto the homescreen. It's sort of like Blur, the social-networking-focused Motorola skin seen on the Cliq, taken to an extreme. Each of these information sources is given a color-coded section and shows new information as it comes in.
In the middle of that is the app's namesake, a slider (itself displaying date, time, weather, battery, and signal strength) that can be moved up and down to reveal and highlight each of the other sections in full. Tapping the menu button takes you to a traditional list of apps, with space for eight favorites at the top. It's pretty confusing to explain, but it's really easy to use. Check out this video for a nice walkthrough.
I love how the app frees you from the standard homescreen. No longer does your home button lead you to a portal for opening other apps; SlideScreen gives you access to the information within the apps that you want. Tapping on any individual update, like a tweet or an email, takes you into the corresponding app (in this case, it might be Twidroid and Gmail), but you can just look at the homescreen and get the gist of what's happening in your phone.
It's also incredibly fast—even on my Droid, which is a pretty swift little bugger, the stock app launcher and notification shade both have a tendency to stutter, but SlideScreen is perfectly smooth. That's not to say that it's perfect, however.
SlideScreen is not very customizable—I'd love to be able to move or add some sections (right now, you can only remove them). I want to add Facebook/AIM/Gtalk, or put my email in the top position instead of phone calls, but no such luck. Also, it doesn't work with Google Apps (only normal Gmail accounts work), so my Gizmodo email account doesn't show up on the homescreen—a serious problem. Luckily the SlideScreen team says they're working hard on releasing a fix for that issue. The built-in Twitter reader is very barebones, and displays only an excerpt on the homescreen (an excerpt of a tweet? Is 140 characters really too long?). But it's got a ton of potential, and it's interesting to look at, which stock Android is not, particularly.
SlideScreen isn't just one of the most polished Android apps I've ever seen, it's also in itself an argument for how great Android can be. Not everyone will like it, but it's pretty amazing to have the option to totally transform one of the most basic parts of your phone. Not in a million years will you see SlideScreen in the iPhone App Store. I just hope Larva Labs, the makers of the app, keeps developing so it can achieve its potential. It's available now in the Market as either a free version (with an ad) or a $7 pro version. [SlideScreen, video from MobileCrunch—Thanks Justin Dove!]
IOC wants to ‘treat’ intersex athletes
The New York Times is reporting that a panel of medical experts convened by the International Olympic Committee is recommending that the issue of athletes whose gender seems ambiguous be treated as a medical concern and not one of fairness in competition:
Athletes who identify themselves as females but have medical disorders that give them masculine characteristics should have their disorders diagnosed and treated, the group concluded after two days of meetings in Miami Beach. The experts also said that rules should be put in place for determining an athlete’s eligibility to compete on a case-by-case basis — but they did not indicate what those rules should be.
“We did not address fairness,” said Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson of Florida International University. He is an expert on such disorders and participated in the meeting. “The entire concept was that these individuals should be allowed to compete.”
The decision is in reaction to the recent controversy surrounding Caster Semenya, an intersex athlete who won the 800 meters at the world championships in Berlin last August.
While this clearly solves a problem for the IOC, the decision to "treat" athletes with genetic abnormalities will likely have far reaching repercussions for those with other types of genetic endowments. The IOC is in danger of opening a pandora's box in which virtually every athlete with a biological advantage will be questioned.
Immediate examples include swimmer Michael Phelps with his many advantageous traits (including the possibility of Marfan Syndrome) and those athletes with higher levels of hemoglobin which gives them superior oxygen-carrying capability.
But as any athlete knows, it doesn't even need to be this extreme. There's never been a perfectly level playing field in sports, whether it be the quality of the facilities, coaching, funding, and of course, genetic constitutions. Dedication and heart will only get professional athletes so far; so many winners these day are, for all intents-and-purposes, genetic freaks. To suddenly start 'treating' these sorts of athletes and constrain their physicality within a pre-determined sense of normality is overtly problematic.
Who is the IOC to determine what is physically normal in sport? Why should the attainment of fitness peaks (natural or otherwise) be prevented or constrained? And how could they ever come to describe the perfectly 'normal' human athlete?
The IOC is clearly hoping that this issue will be limited to intersex athletes, but what's to prevent others from crying foul when they feel that they're at a genetic disadvantage? The IOC needs to tread very carefully should they chose to move forward with this recommendation.
Dan Buettner: How to live to be 100+
Dan Buettner gives a TED talk about the practical things we can do today to extend our healthy lifespans. Nothing too radical or out-of-the-box here, but what he says makes sense (but I think I'll pass on joining a faith-based community); these are lifestyle changes we can make in the here-and-now as we wait for more substantive life extending interventions.
Buettner's talk reminds me of an article I wrote a while back, "Eight tips to dramatically improve your chances of living forever."
Scott Brown: Pro-Defense Libertarian
No Subsidies from American Taxpayers for Islamic Terrorists
(Comments start 1:50 in)
"And let me say this, let me say this to those people who wish to harm us. I believe, and I know you believe that our Constitution and laws exist to protect this nation."
Chant: USA! USA! USA!
"Let me make it very, very, very clear. They do not grant rights and privledges to enemies during wartime. And the message we need to send, dealing with terrorists, our tax dollars, should pay for weapons to stop them, and not lawyers to defend them."
Brown’s uniting all GOP factions: Social conservatives & fiscal conservatives
Statement from Bryan Preston, Communications Director, Republican Party of Texas:
Brown's run has already exposed even more Democrats' contempt for the Tea Party Patriots, and it may help unite the social con-fiscal con wings of the national GOP as we get ready for the mid-terms. That Brown won in Mass. just one short year from Obama's inauguration will carry potent symbolism that no one will be able to miss.
Note - Bryan Preston is a "libertarian-conservative," co-founder of HotAir.com, and a friend of Libertarian Republican blog.
Photo - Bryan Preston, right, Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com, left.
Just the beginning for Massachusetts Republicans
From Eric Dondero:
Scott Brown handily won his election. But that's not stopping Massachusetts Republicans. They're planning aggressive challenges for state legislature, the governor's seat and for congress.
From Jennifer Nassour, Chair, MA GOP:
The outcome of this race gave me new confidence and pride in what we do here at the Massachusetts Republican Party, as we give stand-up candidates like Scott Brown the assistance they need to run competitive campaigns.
Scott's victory is the beginning of a movement to elect more Republicans in Massachusetts. Will you help us build on this momentum?
One highly-touted candidate is Earl Henry Sholley, who like Scott Brown, has been campaiging in opposition to the health care legislation. Sholley promises to run a high profile campaign against Barney Frank.(SholleyforCongress.com)
Charlie Baker is the Massachusetts GOP's expected candidate for Governor. In a recent poll Baker was only down by 3 against incumbent Democrat DeVal Patrick.
Get involved in the Massachusetts Republican Party. MassGOP.com
Do This QUICK!
Yes I dropped the ball on this one, not paying enough attention to the goings on of the Planetary Society. Shame on me because they ROCK! GO SOLAR SAIL 2!!
The mark of Buzz on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Click for larger. Credit: NASA
There’s Still Time to Sign Buzz’s Birthday Card (click either of the links below)
Join Thousands to wish Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Happy Birthday!
Buzz Aldrin has walked on the Moon, rapped about the Rocket Experience, and served as a tireless advocate for exploring the high frontier. Next week, the Apollo 11 astronaut turns 80 on January 20, 2010, and well-wishers worldwide can join The Planetary Society in saying Happy Birthday.
“A man and a milestone in the history of human exploration. Thank you, Buzz, for your willpower and determination… Happy Birthday!!”
To honor the man who has contributed so much to space exploration and the world, The Planetary Society is collecting birthday greetings. The Society will present a giant birthday card to Buzz, that conveys the good wishes and thanks of thousands of people, who have been inspired by his achievements and lifetime of space advocacy.
“Many have promised the Moon. You delivered it.”
To date, The Planetary Society has gathered over 6,000 messages from well-wishers in 85 countries. One parent sent a message from his sons, aged 3 and 5, named Armstrong and Aldrin. Others recounted their joy in meeting Buzz at one of his many public appearances through the years.
“Happy Birthday from an 11-year old fan! You signed my book in Pasadena, CA and I will always keep it! You are my hero!”
Many recalled the moment they watched the first humans step foot on another world.
“When I was 8, our teacher allowed us to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing on a B&W TV in the grade school cafeteria. We all clapped and shouted when the lunar module touched down. In 2010, we’re all still clapping and shouting! Happy 80th Birthday!”
But perhaps the most poignant was the simple question from a man in Indonesia:
“When will you go again?”
There is still time for people to send their birthday greetings to Buzz. Messages will be collected until Thursday, January 21, 2010.
Buzz is a hero no doubt about it! Happy Birthday Buzz!!
Meet the “Puffin,” NASA’s One-Man Electric Plane | 80beats
The one-man stealth plane of the future is on the horizon–and it’s named after a conspicuously cute bird. NASA scientists will officially unveil their design for a hover-capable, electric-powered aircraft, nicknamed “the Puffin,” on Wednesday at an American Helicopter Society meeting in San Francisco.
On the ground, the Puffin is designed to stand on its tail, which splits into four legs to help serve as landing gear. As it prepares to take off, flaps on the wings would tilt to deflect air from the 2.3-meter-wide propeller rotors upward, keeping the plane on the ground until it was ready to fly and preventing errant gusts from tipping it over. The Puffin would rise, hover and then lean over to fly horizontally, with the pilot lying prone as if in a [hang] glider [Scientific American].
The Puffin stands 12 feet high and has a wingspan of 13.5 feet. In theory it can cruise at 150 miles per hour and sprint at more like 300 miles per hour [Gizmodo]. The craft is electrically propelled and runs on rechargeable lithium phosphate batteries, which would theoretically allow it to soar as high as 30,000 feet before its batteries would begin to run low and it would be forced to descend. But scientists are confident that the Puffin’s range could be increased as batteries improve over the coming years.
The Puffin has the potential to revolutionize the way we transport ourselves from place to place. With its small engines, light weight, and battery power, it could provide a way for us to take to the skies as the streets get more clogged with cars. And this electric aircraft also has military applications. The Puffin is 10 times quieter than current low-noise helicopters, making it suitable for covert military operations. The electric motors are not just quiet and efficient, they also generate less heat–making them less likely to show up on thermal sensors and also requiring significantly less cooling air flowing over them. This reduced aerodynamic drag gives the Puffin a speed boost that aircraft with internal combustion engines don’t get.
Researchers plan on finishing a one third-size, hover-capable Puffin demonstrator by March. But Brien Seeley, president of an independent flight test agency that hosts the annual Electric Aircraft Symposium, says the designers still have work to do. Said Seeley: “In my opinion, a mass-marketable version will need conventional seating, cup holders and a short runway for glide-in, view-ahead landings—but opening up people’s imagination is the first essential step” [Scientific American].
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Video: NASA
Undersea Cables Could Detect Tsunamis’ Electric Signatures Before They Strike | 80beats
Manoj Nair of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has devised a new possible method of detecting a deadly tsuami long before the wave crests to dangerous heights. And, in a bit of good news, much of it is already in place.
In a new study in next month’s Earth, Planets, and Space, Nair modeled the massive 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and found that a tsunami picking up steam as it moves across the ocean emits a tiny electromagnetic signature of of about 500 millivolts. That’s enough to have an effect on the communication cables that stretch across the ocean floor, carrying internet messages and phone calls. The electromagnetic signal “is very small compared to a 9-volt battery, but still large enough to be distinguished from background noise on a magnetically quiet day,” said Nair [Daily Camera].
Nair says this kind of system could be a lower-cost alternative to the bottom pressure arrays that directly measure large movements of water. “What we argue is that this is such a simple system to set up and start measuring,” Nair says. “We have a system of submarine cables already existing. The only thing we probably need is a voltmeter, in theory” [Wired.com].
Oleg Godin, one of Nair’s research partners, said any small improvement could make a huge difference. “If you detect tsunamis in the deep ocean — and that’s what we’re working on — meaning far from shore, you have hours, certainly tens of minutes, to warn people,” he said. “If people are well educated, a 15-minute warning is enough to save everybody” [Daily Camera].
Related Content:
80beats: South Pacific Tsunami Kills More than 100 People
80beats: Geologists Find One Cataclysmic Tsunami in Every 600 Years of Thai Dirt
80beats: Haiti Earthquake May Have Released 250 Years of Seismic Stress
Image: flickr / epugachev
More help to Haiti | Bad Astronomy
As you may know, Haiti got hit with a magnitude 6+ aftershock today, so the bad news there continues. If you want to give money to help, here are some good charities:
I’m sure there are many more, but these are good places to give your money. We’ve seen a lot of truly awful groups using tragedies to do useless things, so please make sure the money you send goes directly to help the Haitians by assisting them with medical supplies and doctors.
Generation iPod: Young’Uns Spend 53 Hours a Week Consuming Media | 80beats
When your kid isn’t in class, he/she is probably listening to an iPod, flipping TV channels, or switching between tabs on their computer, which means they may be juggling between Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube–in other words, kids today are staying hyperconnected and wired through their waking hours. That reality is confirmed by a new study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which reveals that if your kids are awake, they’re probably online [The New York Times].
In the third of a series of large-scale national surveys, the Kaiser Foundation study found that kids between the ages of 8-18 years now spend an average of 7 hours, 38 minutes per day using entertainment media. That adds up to more than 53 hours of entertainment consumption in a week. And this does not include the time kids spending texting or talking on their cell phones.
Unsurprisingly, the report says that all this media consumption could be a factor in kids getting lower grades or having behavioral problems. The report notes: “About half (47 percent) of heavy media users say they usually get fair or poor grades (mostly Cs or lower), compared to about a quarter (23 percent) of light users.” Heavy users are the children and teens who devour more than 16 hours of media per day, while light users are those who take in less than 3 hours per day.
The study [also] found that young people’s media consumption grew far more in the last five years than from 1999 to 2004, as sophisticated mobile technology like iPods and smart phones brought media access into teenagers’ pockets and beds [The New York Times]. Blacks and Hispanics, said the study, were the highest consumers of media. When it comes to TV watching, black children spend nearly 6 hours, Hispanics just under 5 1/2 hours, and white youths 3 1/2 hours watching TV each day. According to the report: “The racial disparity in media use has grown substantially over the past five years: for example, the gap between White and Black youth was just over two hours (2:12) in 2004, and has grown to more than four hours today (4:23).”
The report lists the top online activities as social networking, playing games, and visiting video sites such as YouTube. It also revealed that 74 percent of all 7th-12th graders say they have a profile on a social networking site. But if you are a parent, there is no need to despair; your child can still be compelled to go play outside. Kaiser executive Victoria Rideout says that rules can be a game-changer. “I don’t think parents should feel totally disempowered,” she said. “They can still make rules, and it still makes a difference” [The New York Times].
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Image Credit: iStockphoto
SpaceX Refutes Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel
Musk refutes report slamming safety standards, Spaceflight Now
"A commercial space pioneer and a former astronaut are answering claims by an independent advisory panel that private companies do not meet NASA human-rating standards and last year's presidential review of the space program did not adequately consider safety.
In an annual report released Friday, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, or ASAP, said it would be "unwise" to abandon NASA's Ares 1 rocket and turn to private companies to transport astronauts to low Earth orbit. The board said potential commercial crew transportation providers do not meet NASA safety standards for piloted vehicles."
Calamities of Nature | Bad Astronomy
I like a lot of web comics, but it’s sometimes hard to find good ones. I was recently twigged on to Calamities of Nature, which commonly has themes dealing with science and critical thinking. I particularly like this one, excerpted in the picture here. The last panel is awesome.
In the character guide, the artist describes the mole (the white guy with earmuffs) as a cynic, but I don’t think so. A cynic is in many ways a pessimist, but a skeptic can see the good in things while still asking for evidence of claims. I think Aaron is a skeptic.
Tip o’ the virtual ink to Carl Spackler.
LPIN Strategy Meeting Announced for January 30th in Indianapolis
In previous years, the Libertarian Party of Indiana held a strategy meeting in every January of an election year. Chair Sam Goldstein has announced the restarting of this tradition on January 30th, 2010. All LPIN membership is encouraged to attend, and help set our goals for not only the 2010 election cycle, but the next two years. Long range planning is essential to success.
All those planning to run for office in 2010 should attend this meeting.
Conservation and the Economics of Birding
Posted by David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
Are you a birder? Did you realize that the act of watching birds can help protect them?
In a study of birding economics, Paul Kerlinger of the Cape May Bird Observatory noted that in the mid 1980’s birders added an estimated $20 billion to the economy annually. In a Tampa Tribune [...]
Hosting for Haiti
On January 12, Haiti was rocked by a series of devastating earthquakes. In the past week, people from around the world have come together to provide supplies and support to the Haitian people and their ravaged nation. More than $24 million has been pledged via text message to the American Red Cross International Response Fund , and groups like Doctors Without Borders, Shelterbox, AmeriCares and International Medical Corps have been working around-the-clock to provide as much help as possible.
With all of the ongoing relief efforts, it has been difficult to decide how we could be involved and make the biggest difference without making our involvement seem like it’s about us. It turns out we’re not alone in that sentiment. Over the past week, The Planet has been working with other hosting companies including Rackspace, PEER 1, GoGrid and ServInt to create an industry-wide campaign to provide relief:
We know the power we have as a group exceeds the sum of the contributions we could make on our own, so we’re putting aside our fierce competitiveness for the greater social good. If you’re able to help, you can be sure you’re making a difference.
Visit HostingForHaiti.com to learn more about how you can help by donating to the American Red Cross and spreading the word about this effort.
If you’re a Web host and you’d like to join this industry-wide effort by posting a blog and spreading the word to your social network, e-mail info@hostingforhaiti.com to be included.
Follow the progress of the effort on Twitter by following @hostingforhaiti or searching for the #hostingforhaiti hash-tag.
We hope to make a difference through our unified efforts by providing immediate assistance to the tens of thousands of Haitians in need. Please join us to expand our reach.
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