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Imagine heading out to run errands at all your usual places, and your phone's "equity app" has a better idea.

Siri might say, "Buy your groceries at one of these other stores, just as close as your regular store." Or "There are three coffee shops within 2 miles. You haven't tried this one before."

We already get shopping suggestions when we bring up Google Maps, especially when our smartphones are transmitting our GPS coordinates. A similar type of computation is happening behind the scenes at Facebook and Twitter, whose targeted ads can sometimes be scarily on point.


But what if, instead of just boosting sales, those suggestions coming from your phone were designed to address social problems like inequality?

A group of researchers in France and Spain may have solved one preliminary puzzle toward getting us to that point.

In the paper, "Crowdsourcing the Robin Hood Effect in Cities," published in June 2017 in the journal Applied Network Science, the researchers describe a computer algorithm they created that attempts to "rewire" the complex network of commercial transactions and shopping trips people take part in every day. The goal is to redirect more money to poorer neighborhoods so that the wealth differences between rich and poor parts of a city are evened out.

The study used data from 150,000 people and 95,000 businesses in Barcelona and Madrid, and on the surface the pattern of transactions and the money spent revealed that some neighborhoods were up to five times wealthier than others.

But researchers were shocked to find that if as few as 5% of commercial transactions were changed — so that capital flowed from richer to poorer neighborhoods — income inequality in those cities was drastically reduced, up to 80%.

"We were not expecting that," said one of the study's authors, Maxime Lenormand of the National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture in Montpelier, France. "Actually, I checked the algorithm because I was not sure in the beginning that everything was OK in the code."

Lenormand conducted the study of the Robin Hood Effect with Thomas Louail of the Paris-based National Center for Scientific Research's Joint Research Unit of Urban Geography, Juan Murillo Arias of Madrid-based BBVA Data & Analytics, and José J. Ramasco of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Physics and Complex Systems in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Their research began as an attempt to use a model in transportation planning that finds the most efficient way people can get to work and extend it into the area of reducing inequality, Louail said.

It also has potential applications in combating the "neighborhood effect," a self-reinforcing trend that describes how the relative wealth of a person's neighborhood affects their own wealth, which in turn accelerates the neighborhood's own tendencies toward wealth or poverty. Rewiring shopping trips to cross those neighborhood boundaries can decrease the gentrification — that urban neighborhoods experience.

But so far, it's just an algorithm.

"One of the first questions you can ask is — what extent is this scenario implementable?" Louail said. "What it's going to take to perform in real life, and how you will motivate people to change their travel destination for shopping."

The rise of so-called "big data" raises interesting questions about how social scientists and anti-poverty activists approach their work, said Sarah Elwood, a professor in the University of Washington's Department of Geography who studies the intersection of geographic information systems and technology with social justice and inequality. "We're seeing more of these sorts of practices that sort of try to get at the behaviors of individual people and try to get them to do something different."

Guiding and changing individual behavior to instigate social change is possible, both at the grassroots level and as "nudge policies" enacted by governments, she said.

Yet such small actions don't address the structural causes of poverty. "It's important to differentiate between questions of inequality and questions of impoverishment," Elwood added. "You can change the degree of inequality in a society without having acted to change the big processes of impoverishment."

Louail and Lenormand agree. If reversing inequality were the goal, then even an algorithm embedded in a smartphone app would require other measures, such as policy decisions or local government incentives to encourage participation. "But [the solution] is not an app, of course, and maybe I think that the city government, local government somehow could imagine some incentives to help, to motivate people to engage in these kinds of collective enterprises," Louail said.

"We remind the readers [of our study] that the possible tools of city governance to mitigate inequalities are necessary but they're not sufficient to resolve everything," he continued. "And so what we proposed is you can articulate or supplement governance with more bottom-up initiatives."

The researchers see this as an important first step toward using large amounts of data to address social problems.

Since their paper was published, they’ve been contacted by people from around the world interested in developing mobile apps or other technology based on their "Robin Hood" algorithm.

Louail and Lenormand are still considering what next steps they might take. Elwood thinks this is an opportunity to bring other dimensions into the research. "I think big data is going to continue getting bigger," she notes, "but I believe there are significant aspects of human knowledge, human experience, expressions in social life in cities that we are never going to be able to capture in data."

"I would want to put their data science expertise together with people who know and study the politics of urban redevelopment, people who think about housing policy, people who think about existing approaches to development in metro areas," she says. "For me, this is the moment for complex research teams that can ask questions from a variety of different standpoints and be more than the sum of their parts."

This story originally appeared in Yes! Magazine and is reprinted here with permission.

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Hum by Verizon

For anyone diagnosed with a serious illness, support from friends and family is crucial. For Alan Cohen, extra support came from a surprising place: his car.

Alan was diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer in April 2017. "It was a shock," he says. "I don't drink. I don't smoke. I eat very healthy."

Image via Alan Cohen, used with permission.


Despite having done everything right, he suddenly found himself dealing with doctor's visits, prescription pickups, and the daily stress and anxiety of having a serious disease — all in addition to the appointments and commitments of his regular life.

"You fight it every day," says Alan. "Every day is a fight to live."

Alan's particular treatment is, luckily, 95% effective in curing his type of cancer. But that doesn't mean his days don't include struggle. He's still a dad, a medical professional, and a person with tons of things to juggle in addition to keeping up with his medical treatment. He has to remember to take his medications and make time for bloodwork in addition to everything on his already-full plate.

Image via iStock.

For Alan, a bit of relief came in the form of Hum by Verizon, which keeps him connected to his car.

Alan is already dealing with enough stress — he doesn't have time for the strain of unexpected car troubles, such as his car not starting or a flat tire. Hum has features that remind him to keep his car well-maintained — he sets reminders for things like oil changes and tire rotations — helping prevent him from winding up stranded on his way to important doctor appointments.

"It told me my battery was low, and I hadn't realized that," he says. "Of course, I was on my way to work, and that's when it popped up. But I made it back home and had my battery changed the next day. It helped prevent me from running late to other appointments and whatnot. That helped a lot."

Image by Verizon.

Alan has enjoyed his Hum so much, he even reached out directly to Verizon to let them know:

"Just got the Hum and it's worth every penny. I'm hard of hearing so the Bluetooth is awesome, works really well. I like you can press for help and the police and fire dept. can locate you. Haven't needed to use that as of yet. I feel very comfortable using it and I like the car health reports it sends me."

We've all had days where it seems like everything that can go wrong, will.

When you're already dealing with something serious and long-lasting, every minor inconvenience can feel like the universe is really piling it on. Even though car troubles aren't the greatest of Alan's concerns, knowing they won't crop up to make a difficult day worse grants him a little bit of valuable peace of mind.

More seriously, his car's connectivity also eliminates his concern that he'll have a health issue while he's alone and unable to get help.

"I feel really, really confident that if anything happens, I'll be able to use the Hum's emergency button," he says.

Rather than being continually fearful of being by himself, Alan is able to continue his life feeling independent and secure.

It's easy for smaller stresses to take a backseat when we're dealing with something huge — but it's the avoidable worries that are the easiest to prevent.

Hum is another example of how innovations can help people free up the time and energy they need to deal with life's bigger challenges, by handing the smaller ones over to technology.

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12 mighty clever apps making smartphones work harder for blind users.

Making smartphones even more intelligent — and more inclusive.

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Perkins School for the Blind

When braille was invented in the early-1800s, it was world-changing and life-altering.

Louis Braille was only 15 when he invented the world's first written language for the blind. Inspired by a language of raised dots used by French army officers to communicate silently at night on the battlefield, Braille envisioned a simple series of tactile raised dots to help translate the written word into something that could be read by the blind.

His innovation helped bring the worlds of blind and sighted people closer than ever before. Now whip-smart mobile phone developers are building off his work to keep our world connected and inclusive with helpful mobile apps that assist people with visual challenges in their daily life.


Downloading these apps and using them regularly is one small — but meaningful — way everyone can make the world more inclusive and accessible for people with vision challenges. Dozens of apps abound online, but here are 12 of our current favorites:

1. Contribute to a blind person's experience of a neighborhood with BlindWays.

BlindWays is a navigation app for iPhone that picks up where GPS navigation leaves off. Through information provided by sighted members of the community, the app guides blind travelers to the closest bus stop sign with easy-to-understand navigational cues. Best of all, it's user-powered and updated regularly — so the next time you're walking around the block to the store, take a few seconds to open the app and share some information that will help a blind person get around. It's only available in Boston right now, but they're hoping to expand to other areas.

2. Be My Eyes connects sighted and blind people for momentary acts of kindness.

Want to help a blind person navigate a quick challenge? Be My Eyes is the answer. This iPhone app connects blind or visually impaired users with sighted helpers through a live audio-video connection. Blind users can point their phone camera at an object or place they'd like assistance with — like installing batteries correctly or checking expiration dates on food — and sighted users can lend their eyes. For sighted users, it's a lovely way to be generous with a few minutes of your time.

3. Access braille and audio versions of 50,000 books with the BARD mobile app.

The next generation of braille is here (and on your phone). Image via iStock.

Have an Apple mobile device? Load it up with more than 50,000 books, magazines, and music scores courtesy of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and the Library of Congress. It works with Bluetooth-enabled braille keyboards too!

4. Listen to radio stations with content by and from blind and visually impaired people with Sero.

Finding community with people experiencing life in the same way you are is an important part of being blind or visually impaired. The Sero (formerly iBlink radio) app for iPhone collects radio stations, reading services, and podcasts of interest to blind people, their caregivers, and their friends. And every station is owned or operated by people with limited or no eyesight.

5. Ariadne GPS combines navigation and narration to help people find their way.

Raised crosswalk indicators are useful for finding intersections. Ariadne GPS takes navigating to the next level. Image via iStock.

This excellent talking map service was designed with the blind in mind. Users can navigate using their finger on the screen while Ariadne gives them verbal and tactile clues about the world around them. Crossing the street? The iPhone will vibrate. Need a bus or train stop? Ariadne will let users know.

6. Turn sunshine into sound with the Light Detector app.

Need to get changed and want to make sure the blinds are closed? The Light Detector app for iPhone and Android shows the source of light in a room by transforming it into a sound. Users simply point the camera at a light source (or where they expect one to be) and the app creates a sound that rises or falls in intensity depending on the brightness of the light.

7 & 8. Talking Goggles and the KNFB Reader help blind folks experience Google Glass (without the dorky hardware).

It's the Google Glass that Google Glass wishes it were! Image via iStock.

If there's text on something — a street sign, a poster, even a bottle of shampoo — text- reading apps like Talking Goggles and the KNFB reader can recognize it and read it out. Users can point the phone's camera at what they want to read, and the app does the rest. Even better? It works on both iPhone and Android, and it can read in different languages — with the correct accent.

9. Need to know what's in front of you right now? This iPhone app lets users Tap, Tap, and See.

What's in the pantry — a can of peaches or a can of baked beans? TapTapSee helps blind or visually-impaired users identify the objects around them with a quick click of their iPhone or Android device camera. Once a photo is taken, a voiceover will share what the object is. A useful app for blind and sighted folks!

10. Listen to music (and the rest of the world) with the Awareness! app.

It's every pedestrian's nightmare: You're walking outside, listening to Katy Perry roar, and you don't hear that oncoming train. Unsurprisingly, missing important auditory warnings is a very real concern for blind and visually-impaired people. Awareness! is a music-listening app for iPhone that helps users stay connected to the rest of the world while they rock out. Songs play like normal, but in the case of important sudden noises, Awareness! will silence the song and let the real world — and all its dog barks, car horns, and fire alarms — through.

11. Make sorting money easier with the LookTel Money Reader.

A woman going through her wallet. Image via iStock.

With or without a visual impairment, sorting through America's uniformly green bills can be a challenge when you're in a rush to pay. Fortunately, the LookTel Money Reader app for iPhone removes the chance of confusion. Turn on the app, point the camera at the bill, and LookTel will announce the denomination out loud.

12. Make sure your pants and shirt match with Color ID.

Searching for your lucky green tie? Want to know if the cat you're petting is a brown tabby or a silver one? Color ID can help. Like most of the apps on this list, all it takes is pointing the mobile phone camera at an object, and Color ID does the rest. Now you'll finally know if those pants your wife hates are khaki or just greenish-brown. It's available for iPhone and Android.

This is just a small sample of the mobile apps available to help make the world a little easier to navigate for blind and visually-impaired people — and there's more being developed all the time.

Here's to a digital world that makes the real world safer, more fun, and more inclusive for everyone!

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Cricket Wireless2

There's just something innately special about a hot cup of coffee.

(Or a cold one! Iced lattes are awesome too, if that's more your speed.)


Coffee obviously picks you up when you have a case of the sleepyheads. But if you think about it, it picks you up emotionally as well. I mean, why else are coffee breaks and coffee dates a thing?

And remember that story about the Starbucks employee paying it forward and giving free cups of coffee to Chelsea first responders? Surefire pick-me-up!

Well, one savvy entrepreneur is looking to blend the special something that coffee brings into an amazing app.

It's called Nack and it lets you buy coffee for anyone, anywhere. It's the brainchild of Paul Haun, a Rhode Island native who quit his job in finance to grow his new innovation full-time. He credits his cousin, former NHL player Tom Cavanagh, who sadly passed away in 2011, for inspiring him to pursue his passion.

Interestingly enough, he came up with the idea for Nack thanks to — you guessed it — a coffee run.

All images via Nack, used with permission.

"I would always think to grab a cup of coffee for a friend, assistant, or client, but asking and remembering how they like it is a hassle," says Haun. "By the time someone responds to a text or a quick call, it’s too late."

After noticing this gap in the market, Haun set out to create an app that saves your coffee preferences for those exact kinds of moments. But something was still missing. Haun was looking for a better hook to make Nack a bigger part of anyone's sacred coffee routine.

The idea? Why not offer free coffee? And even better, why not be able to send it toanyone?

Nack is all about spreading kindness and supplying random acts of coffee.

The app allows you to send coffee to a friend, family member, or coworker — all you do is pay for it in the app and the recipient can claim their coffee from select partners. The app also allows you to perform a random act of coffee by purchasing a cup of coffee for any user to claim. Haun describes it as sort of a digital way to buy coffee for the person behind you in line.

"Say you're in the drive-thru and you say, 'Hey, I'll grab this guy's coffee.' Doesn't matter if the guy's driving a Mercedes. You just feel like, 'Hey, this guy doesn't know what's coming. I'm just going to perform this random act of kindness,'" Haun describes.

The best part? You can even include a little message from the heart.

Thanks to tech like this, it's now that much easier to brighten someone else's day.

"We’re going to start to eventually give users some more options where you could say, 'I want to gift a random coffee to a person in this state, a random male or female,'" says Haun.

But Nack isn't stopping there.

"We’re working here now in my hometown in Rhode Island where now users are going to be able to gift a coffee to a random teacher, a random police officer, a fireman. We’re working with the city departments now to make that happen," adds Haun.

"It’s all about sharing random acts of kindness."