Paraphrased from a Foreign Policy blog (sign-up required):
The popular mobile app "Yo" has been described as the most pointless tech start-up to recently receive major funding. The idea is like a parody of post-modern life: An app for "post-text" communication that does nothing but send the message "yo" to your friends. That's it and it has $1 million in funding. Now, it's been reimagined as a tool in Israel's war against Hamas.
Developed by Israeli coders, Red Alert complements the army's warning sirens that alerts Israelis to incoming rockets. Now, Red Alert has partnered with Yo to send "yo"s anytime a siren sounds in Israel. Each time a rocket triggers the system, you get a "yo."
So far, no word on whether any enterprising developers are monitoring strikes in Gaza using Yo.
Related Stories
The Independent reports on the secret report that aids Israeli public relations:
"Israeli spokesmen have their work cut out explaining how they have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, compared with just three civilians killed in Israel by Hamas rocket and mortar fire. But on television and radio and in newspapers, Israeli government spokesmen such as Mark Regev appear slicker and less aggressive than their predecessors, who were often visibly indifferent to how many Palestinians were killed."
The booklet is "...highly illuminating about the gap between what Israeli officials and politicians really believe, and what they say, the latter shaped in minute detail by polling to determine what Americans want to hear."
"The booklet is full of meaty advice about how they should shape their answers for different audiences. For example, the study says that "Americans agree that Israel 'has a right to defensible borders'. But it does you no good to define exactly what those borders should be. Avoid talking about borders in terms of pre- or post-1967, because it only serves to remind Americans of Israel's military history. Particularly on the left this does you harm. For instance, support for Israel's right to defensible borders drops from a heady 89 per cent to under 60 per cent when you talk about it in terms of 1967."
(Score: 2, Insightful) by ilPapa on Saturday July 12 2014, @02:16PM
Apartheid. There's an app for that.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Saturday July 12 2014, @02:31PM
Quite. Anyone that's too young to remember the Berlin Wall should take a trip to Jerusalem, or if you're able a stroll into Gaza thorough the Stez border crossing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 13 2014, @09:14AM
> Ayn Rand ended her days on Social Security and Medicare
On the other hand, Ron Paul's former campaign manager died with nearly half a million in medical debt because Paul's campaign didn't provide health insurance for employees and a pre-existing medical condition made it too expensive for him to purchase health insurance on his own.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Saturday July 19 2014, @01:49PM
I was able to see it for myself a few years back, when my wife was doing a fellowship at Ben Gurion University. I started playing with a few musicians, just for fun. A couple Israeli Jews and a couple of Palestinians. I did both the full Hasbara tour and had the opportunity to meet families in Gaza. Without knowing every single detail of the long, bloody conflict, it was easy to see that it's an apartheid state.
The first lesson was that Palestinians are some terrific people. The second was that there's something rotten going on with the Israeli government and extreme right wing factions. Some months after I got back to the States, my entire view of what's going on there changed. There's plenty of blame to go around, but there's only one side in the conflict that is directly benefiting from keeping it going, and that's Israel.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Sunday July 20 2014, @06:02PM
That would be Erez of course.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 13 2014, @10:15AM
Appartheid?
Karel K., Twibright Labs [twibright.com]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday July 12 2014, @05:18PM
Now we only miss the GPS coordinates, vector direction and speed. Then you can connect the smartphone to some servo and bazooka! ;-)
No more mizziles on my lawn! :P