There’s an App for That
by Jesse Crow
Local iPhone Apps
Good iPhone Apps
• Jackson Prep Football, St. Andrew’s Football and Brandon High Football, 99 cents: These apps let you listen live to the high school’s football games and gives you their season schedules. • Mangia Bene, free: This app from the owners of BRAVO!, Broad Street Cafe and Sal & Mookie’s restaurants lets you view menus, directions and place to-go orders. • Upton Tire Pros, free: This app lets you get a quote on tires, get an appointment online and gives directions to Upton Tire Pros locations in the area. • Ole Miss Mobile, free: Keep in touch with all things Ole Miss—news, events, sports and even a campus map. • MSU Cowbell, free: This app gives State fans rosters and schedules for the football and basketball teams. It also plays “Hail State,â€? and you can ring it like a cowbell. • JFP Mobile, free: Get local news updates, hear the JFP radio show and get access to music listings and entertainment. (Andriod version under construction)
• Carticipate, free: This app encourages people to carpool. You can search for a ride or let others know your destination and the number of available seats. • Kiva Alerts, free: Kiva is an organization that connects people through micro lending to reduce poverty. Kiva has facilitated nearly $180 million in loans to impoverished entrepreneurs. This app allows you to view and fill loan requests. Its sister app, KLoan, also free, lets you check the status of your loan. • GoodGuide, free: Use this app to scan product barcodes while you’re shopping to get detailed ratings for the product’s health, social and environmental responsibility. This app can be used on more than 65,000 products. • Free WiFi Finder, free: This app has a database of 110,000 places nationwide with free wi-fi. Use it to find one near you.
Nonprofits by Julia Hulitt
T
o operate in the 21st century, most nonprofits need a website, computers and technical support. A portion of a nonprofit’s operating budget go to covering those costs. Most nonprofits also need tech volunteers, used computers, video cameras and social-media gurus. Here is a list of nonprofits with a technology focus: Mississippi Community Education Center 1435 Lelia Drive, 601-366-6405 www.mscec.org The MCEC uses online resources to provide educational and training programs. Mississippi Technology Alliance 134 Market Ridge Drive, Ridgeland, 601-960-3630 www.technologyalliancems.org The Mississippi Technology Alliance’s mission is to drive innovation and technology-based economic development for the State of Mississippi. The organization worked with 109 new entrepreneurial clients and 309 new manufacturing clients in the past year.
Parents for Public Schools of Greater Jackson 200 N. Congress St., 601-969-6015 www.ppsjackson.org Parents for Public Schools uses the help of parents, volunteers and effective programs for the students of inner-city Jackson. The organization’s JumpstART program teaches students how to use digital cameras to document their communities as well software to edit their photos. The Young People’s Project 2659 Livingston Road, 601-987-0015 www.typp.org/jacksonms The YPP provides mentorships and technology resources such as computers and flip cameras to help Jackson’s students excel through math literacy and social change. Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi 1450 W. Capitol St., 601-969-7088 www.bgccm.net The Boys and Girls club uses academic resources and computers to provide at-risk youth a place to complete homework assignments and receive tutoring in Hinds, Rankin and Madison counties. See more nonprofits at Jackpedia.com
December 22 - 28, 2010
Free Wi-Fi in Jackson
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Technology and the Government Google Cities
G
oogle set off grassroots campaigns in dozens of cities this year when it announced its Google Fiber for Communities contest. Google promised to finance enormous fiber-optic infrastructure projects in the city with the best proposal. The project would provide connection speeds of 1 gigabit per second—100 times faster than broadband available to most Americans—for up to 500,000 people, the company said. More than 1,100 communities submitted proposals before Google’s March 26 deadline. Community groups, tech-savvy professionals and politicians banded together to show support for their cities’ bids. In publicity stunts, mayors went skydiving and swam with sharks. Six Mississippi cities entered the competition: Clinton, Hattiesburg, Moss Point, Oxford, Ridgeland and Starkville, as well as Harrison County. Google has said it will pick a winning city or cities by the end of the year. Jackson didn’t enter a proposal, but city leaders could take note all the same. Not only is technology an enormous economic boost, but it can also be a community rallying point.
Government Tech Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.’s much vaunted “311� system for making city services more transparent is set for a rollout in
by Ward Schaefer
late February. The Jackson City Council has approved the purchase of equipment for the system—which would log, track and map citizen’s complaints and requests made by dialing 3-1-1—but the city is waiting for permission to use the 311 phone number from the Mississippi Public Service Commission. City spokesman Chris Mims said he expects the PSC to grant its permission this month, clearing the way for the city to hire two to three call-center employees and ready the system for public use. • Citizens dial 3-1-1 on their phones or visit the city’s 311 website to register complaints about open fire hydrants, potholes, abandoned properties, water main breaks and other issues and nuisances. • The 311 system automatically logs the complaint, generates a work order and submits it to the relevant city department. • Citizens can check the progress of their service request online. Johnson hopes to eventually integrate 311 with geographic information systems, or GIS, technology, allowing city personnel and residents to view maps of complaints. • 311 systems in other cities show varying rates of use. Detroit’s system fields an average of 26 calls per year for every 100 residents, while New York City’s received a whopping 224 calls per 100 residents, according to a 2010 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
How many times a day to do you check your e-mail? “I feel sorry for all the folks out there whose phones ding, and they immediately grab it like a Pavlovian dog. I pull my e-mail when I want it, and I do it often.� Jeff Good, co-owner/managing partner of Mangia Bene, Inc.
“Every five to 10 minutes via laptop or Palm Pre.� Brad “Kamikaze� Franklin, @Kamikaze601
“I check my e-mail (conservative estimate) 30 to 40 times a day.� Curtis Coats, assistant professor of communications, Millsaps College