“I’m alive.” I’ve made that call, maybe you have too. That surreal statement instantly erases panic in whomever’s on the other end of the line.  It reconstructs a momentarily unglued world.

When I made that call, mobile phones were in their infancy, and landlines were choked by overloaded phone networks. Now a Lebanese woman has developed an app to let you get that most urgent message out loud and clear, “Hey, I am alive!”

Bombings are a frequent reality in Lebanon, and Syria, and Egypt, and Iraq. Sandra Hassan, a Lebanese-born graduate student studying abroad in Paris heard about a car bomb in a Beirut suburb; and the idea was hatched.

“It was a little bit frustrating that, in Lebanon at least, we’re living in a situation that makes such an application necessary or useful,” Hassan told National Public Radio in a recent interview. “My way to express that frustration was to publish this app, kind of as a statement against what was happening, a statement of discontent if you will.”

Lebanon was bombed several times in January, and Hassan said it was stressful trying to contact family and friends to check on their safety. So this student of public health decided to develop an app that allows users to quickly get the message out. With one click, using the internet and avoiding potentially disrupted phone networks, they can instantly tweet the message: “I am still alive!” using with the hashtags #Lebanon and #LatestBombing.

The app is based on Twitter, but Hassan plans updates so that it is compatible with Facebook and could work like an instant messaging independent of social media; a single click to update everyone who wants proof that you are okay.

“I am hopeful that this application can actually help people, not only in conflict zones, but also be used in times of crisis as a result of natural disasters,” Hassan says. “I’ve been getting a lot of requests by people who have seen the application, to make it more international, to remove the hashtag Lebanon and to make it usable by people all over the world.”

She was surprised the app got so much attention, with journalists buzzing on sites like Muck Rack.  There hasn’t been a bombing since the app launched, so the next explosion will be its first live test. Oh what times we live in.

Image of of teenage girls from Shutterstock

The post Lebanese inventor makes “alive” app for war-torn regions appeared first on Green Prophet.

1. Call It Quits is for smokers wishing to quit and quitters who could use some added support.  It provides cessation tips, motivations and coaching access to helpline pros. It also enables you, using your phone contacts, to build a trusted support group and then keep that support group with you in the palm of your hand. This ought to be basic software on all smartphones sold in tobacco-loving Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. (Free.)
2. Locavore uses your phone’s GPS to make searching for in-season, local foods a breeze.  It pinpoints the nearest farms and farmer’s markets.  Use it to find that specific local fruit you’ve been craving, or to check out what’s in-season.
3. BirdsEye guides you to your best birding opportunities by sharing the collective wisdom of thousands of birding experts who contribute to eBird,  the enormous, real-time bird observation system run by the bird brains at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Take this when hiking any of Jordan’s six nature reserves. ($19.99)
4. Fooducate from Israel lets you scan the barcodes on packaged items in your grocery store to see each product’s good and bad highlights, allow you to compare with similar products and best of all, select healthier alternatives.  It’s like having a dietician on speed dial. (Free.)
5. The Night Sky enables you to identify stars, planets, galaxies, constellations and even satellites in real time as you see them.  Stand anywhere and hold your smartphone or tablet up to the sky and The Night Sky will display the names of everything you see.  Perfect for camping with the Bedouin beneath Wadi Rum’s pristine night skies. ($0.99)
6. Springredients allows you to select one key ingredient and then spin the dial to view three established flavor combinations. It’s a cool tool that helps you to discover an endless array of flavor combinations.  Less likely to waste food if you see more ways to use random ingredients.($1.99)
7. Seafood Watch was created by the Monterey Bay Aquarium with the aim to promote responsible purchasing of wild and farmed seafood. Shopping sustainably is made easy, as this app ranks seafood items as “Best Choice”, “Good Alternative” or “Avoid” rankings. (Free.)
8. Ease into 5K with a running coach app perfect for those who are new to racing world.  The 8-week regimen guides you through 30 minute sessions, each designed to improve your endurance. I’ll be using this one to prep for April’s Dead Sea fun run. ($2.99)
9. Wild Edibles Full offers a massive compendium of foraging knowledge suitable for beginners and experts alike.  Use this app as a quick home reference, or in the field as a replacement for hefty field guides.  This app takes edible plants to a whole new level of accessibility. ($7.99)
10. Don’t Eat That lets you conduct an instant food “health check” right in the store just by entering its name.  Find out if an ingredient causes allergies or drug interactions, is carcinogenic, banned in other countries, bad for kids or pregnant women, or genetically modified. ($1.99)

As with all apps, you’ll need to do a check on the product websites to ensure these are geared up to work on your specific device, and in your slice of the globe.

Close-up of a smartphone by Shutterstock

The post 10 Smartphone Apps to Green Up 2013 appeared first on Green Prophet.