Tech help after Cyclone Idai
Tech help after Cyclone Idai As the death toll across Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi rises following Cyclone Idai, families are desperately trying to find missing loved ones. To help reunite families, the International Committee of the Red Cross has launched a dedicated digital website in English and Portuguese. We hear about the difficulties of gathering this data when there is no electricity in some places, let alone connectivity. Decentralising the web Following 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web we look at how the web may change in the future. A network where so much data, money and control resides in a handful of huge tech companies seems at odds with that original vision of a ‘distributed hypertext system. Given that much of the world is on one social media platform, uses one search engine and shops at one online store – the world wide web of today looks remarkably ‘centralised’. But could it be decentralised? Bee virus music Imagine a music track that keeps glitching, but the faults are intentional and he sound files have deliberately been corrupted. The track itself is based on a virus that’s threatening some populations of bees and it is now part of an installation just outside London, visitors kitted out with wearable technology transmit that corrupted WAV between themselves, to simulate the spread of the virus and raise awareness of the increasing threat to bees. Social Media President Finally hashtag #Bolsonaro Persona Non Grata has been trending on the social media in Chile in recent days during the visit of Brazil’s far-right leader. The persona became ‘non grata’ for many thanks to a rather un-stately dress code for a lunch in Bolsonaro that invited women to wear short skirts. This is just one of many questionable posts on social media from the Brazilian President’s account. (Photo: Tropical Cyclone Idai lashed Mozambique. Credit: Getty Images) Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz