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A Different Kind of Check-in

posted by LaminatorX on Monday April 28 2014, @09:07AM   
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."

• Re:How does this help? (Score: 3, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Monday April 28 2014, @11:21AM

  by wonkey_monkey (279) on Monday April 28 2014, @11:21AM (#37105) Homepage

  It is sad that night streets of US cities are just as dangerous as streets of Kabul.

  Or, if that is even true, it's great that the streets of Kabul are as safe as US cities.

  However politicians are not willing to implement death sentence for each and every violent crime.

  Yes, because a) in the West people largely believe in reasonable and just punishment for a crime and b) the jury is still out, if you'll forgive the metaphor, on whether the death penalty makes any difference. Rapists gonna rape.

  excessively liberal people, who are afraid of guns in their own hands (but not in hands of criminals!)

  Say "pussies" if you mean pussies.

  Why would an "excessive liberal" not be afraid of criminals getting hold of guns?

  In practice, however, too many people are not paranoid enough.

  That's okay; it sounds you're bringing the average back up.

  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk

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