May 7, 2014 – Anything Geospatial

I’ve lived in tornado country and I know how important it is to have as much notification as possible when extreme weather is in the area. Getting important SMS or mobile alerts of extreme weather like tornadic activity can be a life saver. To help you be prepared here’s 10 weather alert notification apps and services to consider:

AccuWeather –AccuWeather.com provides free email forecast and severe weather alerts
ALERT FM is an aggregator of State and Local emergency information with multiple contact paths for mass notification. Emergency information is delivered via the data subcarrier of existing FM radio stations, SMS (text) and email. This personal alert and messaging system allows emergency management officials to create and send digital alerts and messages to recipients such as first responders, school officials, businesses, and citizens based on geographic or organizational groupings. [Read more…] about Be Prepared for Tornado Season – 10 Mobile Notification Extreme Weather Alert Apps

So, you wanna grab a bite to eat. Chances are good that if you live in or near a cool, hipster filled city that a food truck may be close by. Think opportunity!

I recently stumbled onto a cool mobile food truck app for my city (Victoria, BC) and there’s no reason why you can’t create one for your region. All you need is a little creativity, some handy mapping tools, and most important, some quality open data! Streetfoodapp is pretty simple in concept with a Google Maps driven user interface. Load the app of choice and the map is centered on your city. Food trucks are identified by green dots on the map along with helpful data showing time of operation at that location. Trucks can also be viewed in a tabular list form that also displays a user ranking by stars, open or closed designation, and distance from your current location. Finally, trucks can be sorted by popularity or listed as your favorites. View detailed info about each truck and you should see hours of operation for the week, a link to an official website, twitter, and email account. Social sharing options are also provided so you can share with your fiends and networks.

The app is simple but very effective. Can it be made better? Sure it can and that’s where you can jump in – think Opportunity!