we blog.

http://wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1414&fuseaction=topics.item&news_id=533675

Congratulations & thanks to Jeff G & Katie for all of their work!!

If 2009 is the year of the mobile phone for social impact, then Earth Day should mark a special occasion in this regard. More and more organizations and people are discovering how mobile phones can be used for social impact, including how to use mobile tech for environmental protection, sensing, and to leverage just-in-time information to make our movements and actions more environmentally friendly. 

Read the full article here.

Article in Nature News by Roberta Kwok

Far from being just an accessory, mobile phones are starting to be used to collect data in an increasing number of disciplines.

Read the full article here.

A major SIM card maker is going to produce SIM cards with integrated A-GPS. ”While it was originally intended for emergency use, handsets without current GPS technology can enjoy the the same benefits as more modern and capable handsets,” using the new SIM cards with integrated A-GPS. Some interesting questions:

1. Will it be as accurate as devices already carrying GPS?

2. Will programmers find it easy to develop the same applicatins on the “dumb phones” that will use such SIM cards?

Read more here.

From Proceedings of the National Academy that may be interesting to other privacy concerns:

“Datasets describing the health status of individuals are important for medical research but must be used cautiously to protect patient privacy. For patient data containing geographical identifiers, the conventional solution is to aggregate the data by large areas. This method often preserves privacy but suffers from substantial information loss, which degrades the quality of subsequent disease mapping or cluster detection studies. Other heuristic methods for de-identifying spatial patient information do not quantify the risk to individual privacy. We develop an optimal method based on linear programming to add noise to individual locations that preserves the distribution of a disease. The method ensures a small, quantitative risk of individual re-identification. Because the amount of noise added is minimal for the desired degree of privacy protection, the de-identified set is ideal for spatial epidemiological studies. We apply the method to patients in New York County, New York, showing that privacy is guaranteed while moving patients 25—150 times less than aggregation by zip code.”

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/46/17608.abstract?etoc

“… now a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests [text message] technology could be used to reduce children’s chances of becoming overweight or obese later in life, by helping them monitor and modify their own behaviors now.”

press release:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081111142602.htm

Link to PDF:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PdfDownloadURL&_uoikey=B82X5-4TTHS6D-F&_tockey=%23toc%2333021%232008%23999599993%23700838%23FLA%23&_orig=browse&_acct=C000059605&_version=1&_userid=4423&md5=e330deb517c1b312c02b47ea3e651471

“Researchers from Nokia and Berkeley have constructed an unprecedented traffic monitoring system capable of fusing GPS data from cell phones with data from existing traffic sensors.”

http://traffic.berkeley.edu/

The Personal Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) is at Wired NextFest starting today up until October 12! Come check us out (and some 40 other amazing projects) if you’re in the Chicago area. Did I mention it’s free? Yeah, it’s free, so you really have no excuse. What better way to spend an afternoon than walking around “the premier showcase of the global innovations transforming our world?”

What is PEIR?

In a nutshell, PEIR is a way to track how you interact with the environment. You upload GPS data with your mobile phone, and PEIR estimates both how you impact the environment and how the environment impacts you. What is your carbon footprint? How often are you exposed to high levels of pollution? Login to your online personal profile to find out.

See for Yourself

Anyways, I can describe our project all the live long day, but nothing will compare to actually trying it out for yourself, so when you’re at NextFest (because I know you’re coming), come find PEIR and check out our demos. If you can’t make it, don’t worry, you can also take PEIR out for a spin at the website.

UPDATE : 2008.10.03 Read our press release on Business Wire about PEIR at NextFest.

peir was featured in the nokia press. read the article here:  Mobile devices analyze users’ environmental impact.