The first medical-quality wearable to help measure stress, epileptic seizures, activity and sleep.
Source: Future Ideas & Technology
This New Smart Watch Was Designed to Do Much More Than Just Tell Time — It Can Save Lives, Too
The Importance of Knowing How and Why Black History Matters
Before this year, I didn’t like celebrating Black History Month. While I was grateful for the contributions of the Black people who came before me, I didn’t like celebrating Black History Month because I felt like Black history didn’t matter today.
This dislike for Black History Month didn’t come overnight. It started in high school, where I kept hearing and seeing the same old faces being taught. In high school, we had Black History Month assemblies in the gym each year. At first, these were entertaining. By my junior year, I had gotten bored by them. During my senior year, I didn’t go at all.
Another reason I came to dislike Black History Month is because I didn’t see the past contributions of Black people being reflected anywhere in the mainstream media. In fall 2010, I was doing research on the history of rock music for a college paper and was surprised to discover that Black musicians like Chuck Berry and Little Richard had pioneered rock ‘n’ roll.
When I discovered this, I had mixed emotions. On one hand, I was excited to hear Chuck Berry’s music and see old live performances clips on YouTube. On the other hand, I was upset that I hadn’t learned about Black people inventing rock ‘n’ roll in grade school. I was also disappointed because I thought that there weren’t any Black rock musicians today.
Last year, I realized that there were current Black musicians in rock as well as every other genre besides hip-hop, pop, and R&B. Using the site Afropunk to do further research, I discovered hundreds of bands and musicians like Skunk Anansie, Gary Clark Jr., Marian Mereba and more. All these musicians were either independent musicians or not widely known.
At the same time, I was digging deeper into the past and discovering other musicians not in any school textbook. Some examples included Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nina Simone and Betty Davis. Soon I was able to make connections about who influenced who today and gain an immense appreciation for Black musicians in almost every genre.
In addition to the music, I also discovered Black speculative fiction, a literary genre that comprises Black authors of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. According to an I09 article, Black speculative fiction has been around since the 19th century. Some current Black speculative fiction authors I have read include Balogun Ojetade, Tananarive Due and N.K. Jemisin.
Read more by Latonya Pennington at Black Girl Nerds
4 Apps To Vastly Increase Your Child’s Black History Knowledge
‘Black Inventors Match Game’
Available on: Android and iOS
This app, for younger children around ages 7-12, features the characters Myles and Ayesha as interactive teachers. They will help kids learn about Black inventors and their inventions, such as the doorknob, traffic light, lemon squeezer and many more. Then users can test their knowledge with a matching game. This app is only 99 cents.
One of Tech’s Few Black CEOs Says Technology Can Help Crack the Code to Racial Equality
The technology industry’s diversity problem is no secret anymore, but one Black CEO who has managed to break into the predominantly white industry says technology actually has the potential to encourage and promote racial equality.
Most of the concerns about the lack of Black people in the tech world deal with biased hiring practices and limited educational resources for Black students interested in tech, but Civic Eagle CEO Damola Ogundipe explained that the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley has even greater implications than one might initially think.
Ogundipe explained that technology, the same industry that has turned its back on Black entrepreneurs for years, could be a great tool to help advance discussions of racial inequality in America.
“What we can see is that technology improves connectivity on all levels,” he told Tech.co. “It allows us to connect across geographical locations and cultures, and it gives us even more opportunities to have honest and open conversations. Mobile technology can literally put the world at our fingertips; social media can make political movements grow like wildfire around the globe.”
That was certainly the case with movements like #BlackLivesMatter and the Atlanta-based #ItsBiggerThanYou rally that brought more than a 1,000 protesters into the streets in support of Michael Brown, the unarmed Ferguson, Missouri, teen who was gunned down by police officer Darren Wilson.
He added that, “Civic technology can provide us with opportunities to make improvements in the civic space and allow people to connect to movers and shakers of social causes, community organizations, legislation, policy-makers and political candidates — faster and more efficient than it ever has been.”
This power that technology potentially has to be a great weapon in the war against racial inequality makes it all the more disappointing that Black voices aren’t present in the industry.
Ogundipe explained that many aspiring Black tech entrepreneurs have ideas that are important for the entire world as well as their own communities, but they are shut out of the market because investors only tend to invest in the type of entrepreneurs that are familiar to them.
“Investors tend to invest based on patterns,” he said. “It helps mitigate risk and is completely logical and pragmatic. However, this presents difficulties for black leaders because the pattern of success has typically been a white male from a certain background with certain skills and experiences.”
Fortunately, there are some tech ideas, like Ogundipe’s own Civic Eagle, that are making it a point to help better facilitate much-needed conversations about racial inequality and the overall landscape of politics.
“The concept for Civil Eagle came from a feeling of frustration with the current civic environment,” he said. “There’s actually one specific moment that kind of pushed me to build Civic Eagle: I was flipping back and forth between news channels, trying to understand the Affordable Care Act, but instead I would get different — and purposefully biased — interpretations of a specific section of the bill.”
Civic Eagle helps strip away the bias so people can really figure out what’s going on inside their government. The app shares new pieces of legislation and allows users to create safe forums to host debates and reach their own decisions about policies.
Being better informed about new legislation can help the Black community really figure out who has been fighting for them politically and who has been hiding behind empty promises to push for the types of policies that could help address racial inequality.
Net Neutrality Affects Everyone Who Uses the Internet; Here’s Why the FCC Ruling Was a Big Deal in Under Two Minutes
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler’s plan would apply to ISPs and wireless carriers. It will go to a full vote later this month.
Source: NewsyTech
9 Awesome Comics Represented at the Black Comix Arts Festival To Add To Your Collection
Last month, The Afronauts launched by attending the inaugural Black Comix Arts Festival presented by the Northern California Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Foundation. The Black Comix Arts Festival’s mission is to celebrate the creativity and subjectivity of African-Americans in the comic arts and popular visual culture, and it included a grand exposition, kids’ activities, special guest artists’ presentations, film screenings, cosplay events and much more. The event was held at the San Francisco Public Library, the Children’s Creativity Museum and City View at METREON. The Afronauts were the only media visibly in attendance, and we were able to interview half of the 28 artists/writers in attendance.
Here are some of the comics we would like to highlight from the event:
‘Siba’:
Siba is a young girl who is known for her huge appetite, kind heart and loyalty to her friends. Her two childhood best friends, Kevin and Jeff, are troublemakers. They always get into fights, stealing from shops and pulling pranks on people. Together they enjoy their childhood sharing the good times in the neighborhood.
Christopher Garner and Sebastian A. Jones:
‘Dusu’
Hidden from his kin and sheltered from his future, Dusu is raised among the Galemren (Wild Elves) in the secret heart of the Ugoma Jungle, a world in which he does not belong. But Dusu is not entirely human either. He is on the path to something more. Dusu must focus his rage and become the savior of Ugoma before all he loves is destroyed.
Young Black Entrepreneur Launches New Site to Help Atlanta Job Seekers Find the Positions They Desire
One budding Black tech entrepreneur is going digital with his efforts to help both Atlanta residents find work and Atlanta businesses find new talent in the area.
Both Atlanta natives and recent transplants to the growing metro area might be surprised to hear that the Georgia city is ranked as one of the top cities for finding jobs.
According to Forbes, Atlanta is ranked the third best city to find a job despite the fact that unemployment in the city has remained relatively stagnant.
There are many factors that contributed to this trend, including the fact that just as many jobs were laying people off as there were companies bringing on new hires.
Another factor, however, could very well be the fact that people are struggling to find the jobs they want. That’s where CareersofAtlanta.com could grow to be a saving grace for both employees and employers.
A young Black entrepreneur, McVincent Strothers, recently launched the mobile-friendly website in an effort to address the current hurdles in the job-hunting and employee-seeking processes.
“I saw a need for a mobile friendly regional job site and I decided to put together a site that was modern and reasonable for employers to post jobs and find qualified candidates,” Strothers said in a press release.
What makes CareersofAtlanta.com such a valuable site is not only the fact that it tailors to a particular location, but it also caters to the fast-paced lifestyle of today’s professionals.
Its HTML 5 responsive design makes the site compatible with any screen size, thus enabling job seekers to scroll through listings on their phone or allowing employers to post new positions from a tablet.
All that digital convenience comes with a price, however.
The service will cost employers anywhere from about $30 for a month to $500 a year.
For now, Strothers is offering a special deal for employers as a part of an aggressive marketing campaign.
For the price of two unlimited year subscriptions, employers could get a lifetime subscription for $1,000.
This would allow them to post as many jobs as they wanted, as frequently as they wanted while also giving them a special half-off rate for a booth at certain job fairs.
This African Inventor’s 3-D Printer Created From e-Waste Is the Most Ingenious Thing You’ll See Today
Kodjo Afate Gnikou has imagination, talent and ambition.
Using rails and belts from old scanners, the case of a discarded desktop computer and even bits of a diskette drive, he has created what is believed to be the first 3-D printer made from e-waste.
It has taken him several months to put together his experimental device. Lifting designs off a computer, the 3-D printer produces physical objects. He shows us by “printing” a small round container.
Source: TWND
MECCAcon, Another Upcoming Black Nerd Event to Get Excited About
Conventions are rapidly growing. For supporters of diverse representation in comics, there’s nothing better than conventions dedicated specifically to those ends. A sense of belonging is a curious thing in comics lately, and if you’re on this site you probably nerd hard in the paint and consider representation important. Enter: MECCAcon. You won’t find a better atmosphere and more opportunities to support your favorite writers, read diverse characters and meet spectacular nerds, so it’s obvious your trip to the Midwest should be scheduled for September.
Black Nerd Problems talked with Maia “Crown” Williams, the founder and organizer of MECCAcon, to learn more about your next favorite convention.
Black Nerd Problems: What is MECCAcon?
Williams: Midwest Ethnic Convention for Comics and Arts – or MECCAcon – is a large comic book and artist convention held annually in Detroit. I started developing it October 2013. The primary reason MECCAcon was established was to instill knowledge primarily in the younger art culture. I also wanted to show Detroit that women know about this stuff, too. We read and watch other things besides romantic mumbo jumbo. It is my mission to make sure that children know that all “heroes” do not look the same; that many actually look just like them. It is also important to learn the origin of comic books, what the historical facts come from, and what the word “hero” actually derives from. I am very much into knowledge of self, and I love to share my knowledge, but in a fun way. Children in all communities love comic books and art. Unlike many “comic cons,” we don’t focus only on comic books. Art has several mediums, especially in Detroit, and we want to highlight them all. MECCAcon aims to highlight comics, science fiction, steampunk/steamfunk, fine art, music, graffiti, Black speculative fiction, DJ artists, handmade artisans, urban gardening, fashion, African martial arts and more.
BNP: What is the biggest challenge you face organizing a convention like this one?
Williams: Money is the biggest, and being taken seriously as a woman in this business comes second. Funding is crucial in all aspects. All of the finances weigh down heavily, especially for the simple fact that 90 percent of it comes from my own pockets. It can be stressful, and sometimes mentally draining at times. I like to focus on the children’s faces every time I get that moment of “what the hell was I thinking?”
To get information about MECCAcon and read more from Jordan Calhoun, Black Nerd Problems lick here.
8 Incredible Google Projects You Might Not Know About
Google Earth Flight Simulator
The Google Earth Flight Simulator is the latest version of Google Earth. It allows users to view 3-D models of natural landmarks, like mountains, and urban areas all through the lens of a virtual plane. The feature arrived last year, but many people are unaware of it. To activate the flight simulator, users must download Google Earth and press CTRL + Option + A to activate it.
Space Elevator
Google’s research lab Google X has been developing a space elevator capable of transporting people above the Earth. The elevator will be made of the hardest substance on Earth in the form of carbon nanotubes. These would support the elevator. It is likely a project like this will not become a reality until around 2025.