editorial
Appetite for informAtion For better or worse, the smartphone has changed the way we interact with each other and the world around us. As I write this, I’m commuting on the Staten Island Ferry Sen. John J. Marchi. It takes a short, scenic 5-mile route across New York Harbor from Lower Manhattan—The Battery—to the North Shore of Staten Island, offering wonderful views of the city skyline, the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano Bridge. Unfortunately, no one is looking. Ten of the 13 people around me are on their smartphones. The other three are sleeping. That’s because the smartphone is a seductive mistress, tempting us with a smorgasbord of apps that serve up or help you share tasty news, mundane information (“Buy some milk.”) and entertainment. We’re in the era of distraction. I’d probably be tapping this editorial out on my iPhone, if I wasn’t so ham-handed. For 2014, we’ve rolled out what we’d like
to think is a tasty app. Available for download free from iTunes for use on your iPhone or iPad, the Marine Log app provides access to our archive of the monthly digital editions of Marine Log, as well as a feed of breaking news from marinelog.com. There’s some handy functionality built into the app, including the ability to read and search through one or all of the digital editions. You can even download an issue or a single page to your device to read offline later or share via Twitter, Facebook or e-mail. We’re grateful for the generous support of Beele Engineering, the sponsor of our app. We’re not the only ones offering handy apps for busy marine executives. How would you like an app that allows you to report casualty incidents worldwide? This month, the Marine Response Alliance (MRA), an association of U.S. emergency responders providing OPA 90 Salvage Marine Firefighting (SMFF), launched the OPA 90 SMFF
John R. Snyder, Publisher & Editor jsnyder@sbpub.com
app. Available to download for free from the iTunes and Android app stores, the app provides users with “easy access to immediate response capabilities anywhere, anytime,” says Lindsay Malen, Director of Business Development for MRA and Titan. “As a responder the user can download vessel documents while headed to a casualty or the USCG can quickly access the plan holders Funding Agreement to ensure compliance. This is just another way the MRA is making these requirements time and cost efficient.” The OPA 90 SMFF app allows users direct dial access to worldwide offices, as well as immediate access to a secure password-protected database of registered vessel documents, pre-fire plans and certificates online, which can then be saved in the user’s offline documents. The user can review MRA’s geographic specific appendices, request drills, see salvage news and receive regulatory updates.
MaritiMe trivia trivia Question #10 Why was the launch of the USS Laboon so unusual? The first sailor or lubber who correctly answers the Maritime Trivia question will receive a color J. Clary collector print. Email your guess to: marineart@jclary.com
The winning answer for last month’s trivia question, “What food was known as ‘Strike me Blind?’ “ was submitted by Ron Schaper, Coral Springs, FL. Answer: Rice.
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4 MARINE LOG January 2014
wortelboer.nl 10-01-14 10:01