Telecom operators slash call rates to quake-hit Nepal - The Economic Times

Telecom operators slash call rates to quake-hit Nepal - The Economic Times: "Telecom operators MTS India and Tata Teleservices today said they have slashed charges for calls made to earthquake-hit Nepal to support disaster relief efforts.

State-run telecom firms BSNL and MTNL, and private companies like AirtelBSE -1.83 % and Idea CellularBSE 2.03 % have already announced reduction in charges or made free calls to Nepal, where over 2,000 people were killed after a devastating earthquake yesterday.
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'via Blog this'

New Tech City: The Future of Disaster Relief: Food, Water, Shelter…and Wi-Fi Blimps? - WNYC

New Tech City: The Future of Disaster Relief: Food, Water, Shelter…and Wi-Fi Blimps? - WNYC: Using technology to get communities back on their feet faster after a crisis might include floating blimps with wi-fi over a disaster-hit city or creating a National Guard of tech geeks to take action when the digital infrastructure goes down or maybe even stockpiling electronics and generators for tech reserves, similar to oil reserves.

How Social Media Can Aid Disaster Relief

How Social Media Can Aid Disaster Relief: "But it's also become more clear that Facebook, and other social media services, like Twitter, can be used for good. This is perhaps most apparent in social media's role in disaster relief."

LivingSocial Deal Contributes $2 Million to Japan Disaster Relief

LivingSocial Deal Contributes $2 Million to Japan Disaster Relief: "LivingSocial has raised $2,301,130 for the American Red Cross’s Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund after leveraging its popular group-buying platform to solicit donations.

Instead of offering a discount coupon for a product or activity, the site offered its more than 24 million subscribers an opportunity to make a $10 donation for just $5. LivingSocial picked up the difference."

Social Media Responds to Chile's Earthquake: We Can Help | Dan's FC Blog | Fast Company

Social Media Responds to Chile's Earthquake: We Can Help | Dan's FC Blog | Fast Company: "As Chilean and international rescue forces work through the rubble cause by the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit near Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city, users of social media the world over have undertaken their own rescue measures. Twitter, Facebook, and several of Google's properties aren't trivial, now. They're life-saving, informational tools. An eye-rolling bit of gossip about one of those Kardashian girls can explode through the web in minutes--and now, news about those in Chile is traveling over the same digital pathways, with the same speed, reaching the same vast amount of people. These are a few ways social media is being used in the wake of the quake."

RexBlog.com: Rex Hammock’s weblog » Blog Archive » How the Red Cross is using Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, RSS and Wordpress.com in their disaster response efforts

Chris Brogan pointed to this story on RexBlog.com

RexBlog.com: Rex Hammock’s weblog » Blog Archive » How the Red Cross is using Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, RSS and Wordpress.com in their disaster response efforts: "Kudos to whoever at the Red Cross came up with the approach of setting up this website (and the executive who approved it) to support their efforts to meet the massive needs resulting from the tornadoes and floods in the Midwest. Because the Red Cross, like lots of organizations, has been at least experimenting with social media, someone within the organization had the mindset to pull together the tools necessary to quickly launch a website that is rich in new-media features. In doing so, they are providing a simple model to others of how online networking and conversational community building tools can be combined almost instantly* to support large-scale communication efforts."

Text to Save Lives: Mobile Giving Takes Off - ReadWriteWeb

Text to Save Lives: Mobile Giving Takes Off - ReadWriteWeb: "Last month, both China and Myanmar suffered natural disasters of such huge proportions that they received the attention of the world. The combination of the quake and the cyclone left a death toll that is today approaching 200,000, but has affected millions more. Many of us have read the news but have been so caught up in our day-to-day lives that we haven't been able to find time to give. However, new mobile 'text-to-give' services will help make charitable donations faster and easier to do."

Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » Twitter crowdsourced China earthquake in realtime

Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » Twitter crowdsourced China earthquake in realtime: "While the mainstream media scrambled to put up their “breaking news” headlines Robert Scoble alias Scobleizer, was early to tweet the news. Quickly there were live radio interviews, pictures, google maps, videos all being sent in real-time, says VentureBeat."