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A Different Kind of Check-in

posted by LaminatorX on Monday April 28 2014, @09:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the If-you-are-reading-this-message... dept.

Papas Fritas writes:

Natalie Matthews writes that a year ago, a friend of hers left her two roommates at a bar to walk the three blocks home to their apartment in a yuppie Boston neighborhood. "She wanted decent sleep before a Saturday morning exercise class; her friends wanted late night food. Instead, she was jumped by a stranger on the curb of her apartment building, brutally raped, and beaten in her living room while her roommates ate burritos, none the wiser," writes Matthews. " If she'd done something, anything, differently, would it have changed the outcome of her night? It's an unproductive exercise, both she and I know. And yet when I heard about Kitestring, she was the first thought that flashed in my mind, because maybe Kitestring would have helped her, had it existed then."

Kitestring is a new service that aims to make sure people get from point A to point B safely, notifying their emergency contacts if they don't. You tell Kitestring that you're in a dangerous place or situation, and give it a time frame of when to check in on you. If you don't reply back when it checks your status, it'll alert your emergency contacts with a custom message you set up. "Perfect for blind or online meet-up dates, walking home at night, or feeling safe in any dangerous situation, Kitestring is like the virtual mom I've always needed," writes Mary Rockcastle, "especially if your mom is like mine and is never awake past 8:30pm."

 
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  • (Score: 2) by jimshatt on Monday April 28 2014, @10:42AM

    by jimshatt (978) on Monday April 28 2014, @10:42AM (#37097) Journal
    Modern-day chastity belt: Run a wire through a belt with a current and a tiny transmitter (transponder, RFID, something like that). You need to authorize with an app every time you are to open the belt (possibly 2-step remote authorization including significant owner (pun intended)). Yes, it's a bit of a hassle, but we want security, right?
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  • (Score: 2) by tathra on Monday April 28 2014, @04:16PM

    by tathra (3367) on Monday April 28 2014, @04:16PM (#37256)

    no, that would be terrible. all fathers would have that on their daughters until they left for college*, and many cheating and/or possessive husbands/boyfriends would keep those on their wives/girlfriends. it'd just be another way to terrorize women.

    * fathers are hypocrites since nearly all of them were fine when they were out screwing other people's daughters at age 14+.