Technology Really is Amazing

When I got out of one of my classes early yesterday, I figured a good way to kill the spare time before my next class was to catch up on the news.

Since I have multiple news applications on my BlackBerry, I find myself constantly

BlackBerry

checking the news. I have the CNN application, the Associated Press Application, and the New York Times application on my Blackberry. What is particularly useful to me is that the Associated Press application allows me to store my zip code and get local news. Even when I am at school, I can be on top of what is going on at home. This is really awesome because the Associated Press gathers my local news for me from the same newspaper I interned with and wrote for this summer, The Bergen Record!

I definitely think since the news is on my BlackBerry, I am more knowledgeable and up to date on what is going on in the world. Thanks to the mobile news, I am always on top of breaking news, even if I have been in class for a few hours straight.

It might seem as though this blog entry is just about me bantering about how great it is to have the news on my phone. However, I actually want to talk about a story I read yesterday when I read the news on my phone yesterday between classes.

I read an article yesterday on CNN, titled “Florida Girl Rescued From Swampy Forest Four Days After Disappearance.” The story was about 11-year-old Nadia Bloom, who

Nadia Bloom

disappeared from her home four days earlier. The young girl is said to be mildly autistic. She had been riding her bike and taking pictures of nature and eventually got lost.  She was found in decent condition. Although her shoes were missing and her body was covered in bug bites, her vitals were good.

Nadia was found by a man named James King on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. King was part of the Bloom Family’s church and had been helping look for Nadia. King called the authorities from a cell phone to tell them that he found Nadia.

What I think is fascinating about this story is how the authorities were able to locate both King and Nadia in the middle of the swampy forest. Anyone who has ever been in a forest knows it is extremely difficult to pinpoint a location–the trees look the same, and the ground looks the same. By using King’s cell phone to track down his location, the authorities flew a helicopter around the area in order to find his exact location. He was finally located when he climbed up a tree and waved toilet paper back and forth.

We discussed in class a few weeks ago the disadvantages of Twitter tracking our location. This is especially true  for journalists breaking a story in a very competitive atmosphere. However, in the case of  Bloom, the ability for King’s cell phone to track location is extremely advantageous.

I wonder if this ability to track people via cell phone will become more common? Imagine all the missing children that could be located if they were equipped with some sort of tracking device!