PopTech : Blog : This week in PopTech: Unplugging, mobile mapping and affordable drugs prevailing

This week in PopTech: Unplugging, mobile mapping and affordable drugs prevailing

Emily Qualey ( Bio / Posts ) | Friday, January 07, 2011 UTC

Ushahidi

There’s always something brewing in the PopTech community. From the world-changing people, projects and ideas in our network, a handful of this week’s highlights follows.

As we ease back into the post-holiday grind, Jonah Lehrer sheds light on why going on vacation and unplugging from technology aids creative productivity.

An Ushahidi mobile app is now available for the iPhone and iPad. Mapping on the go has many benefits. GPS-enabled devices gather exact latitude and longitude, camera-phones offer photo capability, and 3G enabled devices can upload incident reports in real time. Additionally, when an internet connection is not available, multiple reports can still be collected and uploaded at a later time when the device is connected.

In more Ushahidi news, congratulations to 2009 PopTech Social Innovation Fellow and organization co-founder, Ory Okolloh. She’s taken on a new position as Google’s Policy Manager for Africa.

Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK), a team of lawyers and scientists led by co-director and PopTech 2008 Social Innovation Fellow Priti Radhakrishnan, won a patent battle which will enable the distribution of key AIDS medications at a much more affordable cost.

Master of voice and comedy, Reggie Watts, performed “Emulsification,” an original track recorded for BreakThru Radio.

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