Every morning I get a weather forecast on my phone from Mark, Jeff, Eileen or Jennifer. And now I can add Phil to the list.

This year, Punxsutawney Phil’s“weather prognostication” will be texted as well as streamed live online.

I signed up earlier this week. It looks like the Pennsylvania Visitor’s Bureau is hoping you’ll be interested in more than just the groundhog and sign up for alerts about vacation opportunities as well.

When my phone buzzes on Tuesday, I hope it’s good news!

To sign up text “GROUNDHOG” to 247365.

Posted under Weather, Web/Tech

If you are interested in watching President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight, you have your choice of options. It will be on-air (on KWWL), online (KWWL.com, YouTube, whitehouse.gov, etc.) and on your phone (the White House iPhone app).

But now the President and YouTube are offering a unique opportunity – a chance for the average citizen to get their questions answered following the SOTU. During the speech and for the next few days, you can submit questions regarding the SOTU in text or video on YouTube’s CitizenTube. Users will be able to vote for their favorite questions, and the top picks will be used in a live online interview with the President next week.

So if the President says something tonight that really gets you thinking, record a short video question (they request 20 seconds or less) and see if other people want to know the same thing.

YouTube Blog: The State of the Union

Posted under Politics, Web/Tech

Today the Department of Transportation announced an immediate ban on texting while driving commercial vehicles like semis or buses. Those caught in the act could be fined as much as $2,750.

The move is part of a concerted effort by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to limit driving distractions. An executive order took effect last month banning federal employees from texting while using a government-owned vehicle. And just this month, the DOT launched Distraction.gov, an entire site aimed at highlighting the dangers of distracted driving and efforts to reduce distractions.

So the question remains, will either a state or federal ban for the average driver be soon to follow? I’m not sure if soon is the right word, but I’m sure it will happen eventually.

I’ll be honest, I occasionally text and drive. I don’t do it nearly as much with my iPhone as I did when I had a normal keypad. Sometimes it isn’t even texting – I’m looking at directions or messages. I understand it’s not safe, and if there is a law forbidding it, I’ll stop. Sometimes it’s work related, and sometimes it’s not. I have a close friend who won’t even let me talk on the phone while she’s in the car, and I have other friends who spend their lives on the road and would lose productivity with a texting ban.

I can see both sides of the argument. What do you think? There’s a poll question up on www.KWWL.com or you can leave a comment below.

Posted under Web/Tech

I’ve always known that universities like to control their public image, but I guess it never dawned on me that a school would have official Web colors.

On Friday, UNI updated its Web colors for the first time in 10 years, citing new technology and further testing as the reason for the change.

The Web gold is still the same, but the new purple is this instead of this.

Look for UNI sites to start making the switch.

UNI Webtools: UNI Colors

Posted under Education, Web/Tech

…if I don’t friend you on a social network. It’s not that I don’t like you, it’s just that I take my privacy seriously.

I have chatted with many soon to be college grads and discussed my philosophy on social networking, and my advice is always the same - You have to make a choice. Is your profile for personal or professional use and how easy is it for people to access the information.

Here’s what I’ve decided:

Facebook is for personal use. If I don’t know you in real life and consider you a good friend, I won’t accept you as a friend on Facebook. It’s not that I have anything to hide, I just don’t necessarily want the general public seeing photos from my family vacation.

Twitter is for work and public consumption. I feel like I am still fairly candid and open, but I realize that what I say reflects on KWWL, just like it does on this blog.

And now there is Foursquare. I’ll admit that I’m giving it a try. I’m always open for a new form of social networking. While I don’t mind the general public knowing that I’m at the TV station most of the day, I don’t even want all of my friends to know where I’m at on a Saturday afternoon.

Lately, I’ve been getting friend requests from some of you who have found me on Facebook or people who see me nearby on Foursquare. I guess I just wanted to reassure you that it’s not meant to be an insult if I don’t accept your friend request.

I really am interested in getting to know you through my blog and through Twitter. But at this point, there are certain parts of my online life I’m not interested in sharing with the World Wide Web.

On that note – what are your thoughts? Do you protect your online life or open it up to the public?

Posted under Web/Tech

Yesterday, the White House released its own iPhone app to complement WhiteHouse.gov, promoting live streaming video as one of the key features ahead of President Obama’s State of the Union address.

I decided to give it a try. I’m watching live streaming video of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. And the quality isn’t too bad considering the fact AT&T doesn’t have a 3G network around here.

The app provides 5 tabs across the bottom: Blog, video, photos, newsroom, and live.

The newsroom and blog tabs are very similar. The newsroom tab includes more official releases and the text of speeches. The blog covers a wider range of topics and is a little less formal, but there seems to be a lot of overlap between the two sections.

The video section is playback of a variety of speeches, press conferences and public appearances, while the live tab includes a list of live and upcoming events. This is probably my one request for an improvement. There are currently four events under the live tab and they are not in order of start times. An event for Friday is at the top, two events for today in the middle and the President’s State of the Union is listed last. Also, if you click on an upcoming event, it actually loads video of a White House live graphic. I think it would be much better if it showed details of the upcoming event or even allowed you to sign up for some type of reminder.

The images under the photo tab include captions and can be sent in e-mails. They mostly feature key officials at events and public appearances, but there was a picturesque photo of the West Wing under a blanket of snow.

Overall, the design is simple if you’re looking to browse, but if you’re looking for something specific, I’d use a search engine.

It’s interesting watching the government work to catch up with technology. The White House also announced plans to unveil a WAP site, mobile.whitehouse.gov. And despite claiming more than 3 million followers on his own account, President Obama sent his first tweet ever from Haiti this week using @RedCross – “President Obama and the First Lady are here visiting our disaster operation center right now. ”

I might try out the app during the State of the Union next week and see how it holds up. Of course – you can also watch the President’s speech on KWWL.com! (Couldn’t resist slipping that in there.)

Posted under Apple, Politics, Web/Tech

I know it’s far removed from eastern Iowa, but if you have techie friends living in D.C., CA, Denver or London, pass this along.

It’s a project I’d love to be involved in and I think could really have an impact on how we share information from Haiti and future disaster sites.

Crisis Camp is looking for the best technology minds to sit and brainstorm, develop, code and collaborate tomorrow. Their projects will be provided to the public to help assist in disaster relief. The proposed projects range from information representation to a survivor database. Here’s the ideas they have on their Web site so far:

Project Proposals for CrisisCamp Haiti

• Base layer map for Port Au Prince: This project would create a new collection of imagery and a new base map for NGOs and relief agencies. Post available imagery to share with the public for open source applications.
• Family locator systems: Uniting efforts of interested technologists, developers and communications experts to provide technical assistance.
• Tech Volunteer Skill Matrix/Volunteers: Create a role of volunteer as well as
  Managing News Aggregator: Provide content channel management to coordinate data feeds
• Defining the Collective: Create what we are and why we are doing this. Coordinate and post historical timeline/archive for the CrisisCamp efforts.

I’m excited to see what comes out of this!

CrisisCamp.org

Posted under Web/Tech

I have seen suffering; poverty, war, natural disasters. And I can say with certainty, that no video or photo can capture the emotion of standing in the middle of senseless destruction.

Unfortunately, we here in eastern Iowa have a powerful connection to these images. Looking through photos from Haiti today, I could feel again the helplessness I felt driving into Parkersburg less than an hour after a tornado ripped the town apart. And I could feel the despair I felt as I watched the flood water slowly rise and fall in my community. While the images from Haiti may not fully capture the panic and devastation, too many of us here in Iowa can fill in the emotions from our own experiences.

The massive death toll and extreme poverty, however, set this disaster apart. American reporters landing in Haiti say the streets are literally littered with bodies. Click here to see CNN’s Twitter list of reporters in Haiti.

The American Red Cross announced a text to donate campaign on their Web site, saying the effort is backed by the U.S. State Department. You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.

And while I’m sure many other important relief funds will be created in the near future, the FBI has also issued a fraud alert, based on e-mail and online relief scams discovered during previous natural disasters.

The people of Haiti, the relief workers from around the world and the reporters on the scene are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Posted under Weather, Web/Tech

Ever since my grandfather was diagnosed with, and then died from, Parkinson’s, my family has become truly passionate about keeping our minds active and fighting memory loss. My mom favors word games, while my dad tends towards number puzzles. And my sister and I have developed a love for both.

Now it turns out that something I was fairly sure would prove bad for my cognitive health, could actually be a way to protect it.

A study released in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease shows that the electromagnetic waves from cell phones both prevented and reversed Alzheimer’s in mice.

Obviously, researchers aren’t suggesting we strap cell phones to our heads. But, sometimes I feel like my phone is permanently attached to my ear anyway, and it’s encouraging to hear that it might not be a bad thing.

Read more.

Posted under Health, Web/Tech

Ever wonder what it’s like to brave the worst winter has to offer in an Iowa DOT snow plow?

An IDOT information specialist is blogging about her ride-along with a snow plow in Des Moines. She’s also answering questions – like how long does it take to clear one route?

Iowa DOT Blog

Posted under Weather, Web/Tech