Screensaver replaces milk carton in missing kid search
Download a photo screensaver, and potentially save a missing child. That's the message from the child-safety group behind the Amber Alert system.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) released in the last week a "Missing Kid Saver," downloadable software for people running most Windows operating systems. The application will draw on idle computer power to display updated news, information and photos on missing or abducted children from the NCMEC.
The software is opt-in, and it takes a page from the nonprofit's wireless initiative, in which people sign up to get Amber Alerts via cell phone. In contrast to the Amber program, which typically reports on new missing children cases, the screensaver delivers a continuous news feed on cases that are both new and older. (The application was developed by Pennsylvania-based Global Software Applications.)
The nonprofit hopes that the screensaver will buoy efforts to find more of the nearly 800,000 kids who are reported missing each year in the United States, according to Bob O'Brien, executive director at NCMEC. "We're offering this new tool because we know that photos work. In fact, one in six of the children featured in our photo distribution effort is recovered as a direct result of the photo."
if each time we ask Google's/Yahoo's/any-company's search
page it show a photograph in the side? The criteria for selecting
the photo could include geographical location, period of
missing, etc. etc.
I am not a US citizen neither I live there but I saw the milk
photos while there and if success ratio (of published kids) is 6:1
I think that this is a good idea.
alleviated, I think, fairly easily. A sponsorship of some sort could
probably be aquired - at least in part. I suspect this could either
be through private donations, etc. and Google might even meet
them part way - who knows?
- A much better way of finding missing people
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by wrapmail
August 9, 2007 6:08 AM PDT
- A new method to help find missing adults and children
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Reply to this comment
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(4 Comments)Unfortunately people, especially children, go missing every day. There are a great number of methods in place to help find the missing BUT one very obvious method is totally ignored, not to say impossible until WrapMail (www.wrapmail.com) developed its technology: email. Not email-blasts BUT using the emails people send every day anyway (one-on-one emails)!
Corporate and Government employees send emails ever day, these emails go to the public, business and government agencies but when they arrive they are plain black on white.
Each of these emails could have a wrap surrounding the email that in addition to information and links to the respective websites also could feature pictures of missing adults and/or children. WrapMail, Inc.?s technology allows for dynamic rotation so that every single email that is sent out could feature new missing kids so that every single one is exposed to the receiving audience. There are already RSS feeds out with data on missing kids that can be incorporated into a wrapmail. This is the milk carton of the 21st Century! All emails that leave WrapMail, Inc. have an amber alert on the bottom, currently linking to missing children in Florida where WrapMail is headquartered. This RSS feed comes from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
These pictures could have embedded hyperlinks that lead to pages with more details (such as more pictures, last seen, clothes worn, last seen with etc).
There are about 50 billion emails sent every day; one-on-one emails that is, every one of them could be looking for missing children.
The bottom line is that these emails are sent every day anyway ? why not use them for something good? WrapMail offers their solution for free for approved organizations (organizations that focus on finding missing adults and children) as they, like everyone else, send external emails every day. WrapMail further offers its clients to incorporate this feature for free either with just an amber alert or a rotation of missing people with every outbound email.
WrapMail also offers a free solution found at www.mywrapmail.com where users can set up a free email account and then build their own wrap with pictures and links.
Please email info@wrapmail.com for more information.