This was a cool talk, but not very linear, so I had a tough time noting it down.  So, it made a lot more sense at the time than you might see here.

Topic: Open data on mobile devices is a lens for daily choices. (description)

What you make goes everywhere – and it sticks around.  So we have a chance to kick out little bits of awsome into the world.

Information overload – we give each other signs, guidance.  Think about the vast array of refreshing beverages.  People are open to ideas about which to pick.   Another example – “drains into the bay” sings on sewage drains.

Book recommendation: Nudge by Richard Thaler

In the near future, we will all be at a party.  Imagine you’re there now.  And that you’re Brian Eno, and its in a bit of a rough neighborhood…

[I kind of got lost imagining myself at a party. So I didn't get the full story down.  The point was (I think) that our sense of place changes depending on our perspective.  If you ask someone if they like where they live, while you're standing in their apartment, their answer might reflect how nice the apartment is - not how nice the city is, or the neighborhood is. Ask a different person, or the same person in a different place, and you'll probably get a different answer.]

The big here, and the long now.  How big is the here you imagine?  In SF, I think about the watershed, and the pacific ocean. Ends at the bay (across the bay is far away.) Here in Austin, my here is very small, it’s about 6 blocks square.  I don’t know this place.

[Fire alarm interruption. Little discussion about whether we should evacuate.  The staff member (with radio) manning the door, said it's a false alarm. So we decide to stay put.]

Technology can expand our “here”.  For example…

Locavore’s iPhone app ($2.99!) that tells you what’s in season and where the farmers markets are.

Seafood watch iPhone app – Helps people make ethical fish buying decisions.  180,000 downloads, used 2.8 times on average.   New version will add a “super green” rating – what’s good for you and the oceans.

[I met Humberto, the creator, afterwords.  Nice guy.  Told him that I was pretty jealous of their app.  Turns out that the original fish guide project had been done for internal reasons - making sure the fish they were buying as aquarium food were ethically sourced.  Then they created a paper guide. Then a volunteer made them a (very cool) iPhone ap.  Getting and managing good data is the hardest part.]

Good Guide website – 70,000+ products, indexed on three categories (health, enviro, social issues).  Can get it by SMS, can use website, can use with iPhone.  If you wan to help out, contact Sumhir Meghani via http://developer.goodguide.com/

[Rachel pauses her talk for an announcement, "I have been asked to clarify to you that nothing is wrong. Everything is going to be OK."  Well, that's good.]

Book recommendation:  Daniel Goleman’s, Ecological Intelligence, stories about what happens when people have product information.

Mobile empathy amplifiers…

Ability for people in a disaster to ask for help, and for people in far away places to give help has become much easier.

Ushahidi (witness), open source.  Used for Kenya violence. Was also used for Haiti. Real time relief reports. The big relief agencies were using it (FEMA, Red Cross, etc). Some great quotes about how effective it is.  Turns out the guy behind it is in the room, and he needs help (patrick [thingy] ushahidi.com) (want’s volunteers).  Ended up training about 300 distributed volunteers in a day or two of getting the word to deploy (and realizing that they were getting more information that could be handled).  Mainly student led volunteer response.  Community that developed around the tool, mapping data found around web, was what he found fantastic.  Now he wants to improve the underlying system.

Project 4636 – Started with Haiti earthquake. Maps were not accurate enough to get help where it needed to go.  Connecting people who know a location with people who need to supply help. Short code sms sent when help needed. Is forwarded to crowdflower.com, gets translation, goes into a fairly complex data flow.  See also mission4636.org/history and this.

The Extraordinaires – iPhone ap, lightweight, for distributed volunteering.  ex. Tagging photos from news stories to help find missing people during Haiti earthquake.  Get the ap at…  beextra.org

Red Cross Haiti mobile campaign – MGive processed $37 mil for Haiti in three weeks.  Massively record breaking for mobile fundraising.  2.3 mil tweets with haiti or red cross jan 12-14, 59% retweets, 150,000 included both, 189,024 included “90999″ (the code you could text to donate).  Felt like you were reacting immediately and personally to people who needed help.

Q and A note…  Even in the US 1/4th of the people are not on the internet (and don’t have smart phones) in any given week.