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Texting to Avoid Arpaio

9:25 am By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Media|Tech · Comments Off

4 Jan 2010

Adding to the ways that we think technology should be used, Lydia Guzman, director of the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group Respect/Respeto, has created a “text tree” system in Maricopa County, Arizona, to alert people of when Sheriff Joe Arpaio is conducting one of his infamous (and likely unconstitutional) street sweeps.

“Everyone is responsible for sending it out to their own networks, and that is how it spreads like wildfire,” Guzman said of the text messages.

This relative simple use of technology is more important to me than say, text lists that are being built by orgs to promote legislation. Not to knock that work but this is about the very immediate needs of communities and is something that can be replicated easily and is accessible to many. While not all Latinos are plugged into the internet, most do have cell phones and use text messaging.

Not surprisingly, Sheriff Joe and others are saying that such information sharing borders on illegal since the text messages could be construed as evading law enforcement. In fact during the RNC activists who used twitter to report on the moves of law enforcement, this was a charge levied.

I think this is something that all communities should try and replicate on some level in order to deal not just with raids and street sweeps but with other types of attacks against our community.

Via / LA Times

Jueves Jugetes : HP Pavilion dv2

7:53 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing|Tech · 1 Comment

2 Jul 2009

dv2_5f00_back_2d00_open_2d00_right Every once and a while VivirLatino gets sent products to try out and review so that we can share the information with our audience in an effort to make you buy something. And every once in a while, if Mala is in the mood, or if it seems like something that could be useful to myself and the VL audience we will. Today, I’m typing from one of HP’s new laptops, the HP Pavilion dv-2 Entertainment Notebook.

Straight from the box, the HP dv2 shiny white exterior could be seen as trying to look like a Mac. The interior black surrounding the Mercury-free 12.1″ diagonal HP BrightView LED display tells you it clearly isn’t, as well as the fact that it runs Windows Vista® Home Premium which as a two year Mac convert, I don’t dislike as much as I thought I would.
Read more…

Shooting Hoops With HP : Contest

9:54 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing|Sports|Tech · 2 Comments

20 May 2009

hp-pavilion-dv2-portatil1 HP has a new laptop out, the HP Pavilion dv2. As part of their promotion of the ultralight and portable new model, HP has teamed up with the NBA to send one person selected at random to see Kevin Garnett and the Celtics play a home game in Boston and an away game in a West Coast city. The package will include VIP tickets, airfare, hotel and great HP gear. You can enter for that contest here. Pero hurry because the contest runs only until the end of the month.

Pero we have something special for VivirLatino readers.

VL has been chosen, along with two dozen other sites, to be eligible for extra prizes. What are the prizes?

10 regulation basketballs, each signed by an active player of the winner’s choosing

2 trips to the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas: includes travel, accommodations and tickets for two – one winner and one site owner (yup so someone from the VL team gets a prize too!)

and there’s more. VL is getting one $50 gift card for use at The NBA Store, which will go one lucky VL reader who enters.

So how can you get in the game?

Enter the HP/NBA Contest Aqui

Come back here and comment with a valid email that you entered the contest.

Vl will choose who gets the $50 NBA Store gift card and all the entries will go into the random drawing with the entrants from the other two dozen blogs for the other prizes.

Please enter by 11:59:59 p.m. PT on May 31, 2009 to be eligible and sorry, this contest is only for peeps in the U.S. (quizas one day we’ll get an international futbol contest going or something).

Good Luck!

Apple Nixes “Baby Shaker” iPhone App

12:09 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · children|Controversia|Games|society|Tech · 3 Comments

23 Apr 2009

Apple probably wasn’t banking on a whole lot of controversy when it decided to allow anyone to add their own homegrown applications to their repository of iPhone applications, the App Store. But banking or not, they are getting it with one application which has outraged people all over; the Baby Shaker app (see video above) lets users shake a crying baby until it dies all in the name of fun. The SF Chronicle reports:

“Baby Shaker,” a simple app from Sikalosoft, was first released Monday for 99 cents. It shows pictures of babies with the sound of them crying and a stop watch. To stop the crying, you shake the iPhone hard and then little Xs appear on the eyes of the baby, who will presumably never cry again.

Apple apparently pulled the app sometime Wednesday afternoon after blogs and sites such as TechCrunch and Cnet caught on to the story. It’s hard to believe that this got through the iPhone app certification process in the first place.

According to The Chronicle, infant brain injury advocates are outraged. As well they should be. Child abuse is not a game.

Saul Hansell of The New York Times’ Bits thinks Apple was wrong to cave into pressure about this application. Read his opinion here.

What do you think? Was Apple right to let the app through in the first place? Or did they overreact when they pulled it? Let us know your opinion.

Via / SF Chronicle

And the Winner Is……..

8:19 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing|Tech · 1 Comment

21 Apr 2009

att-pantech-matrix-pro-dual-slider-thumb11 I sat last night reading all the wonderful entries to the Pantech Matrix Pro telefono giveaway that asked you how Latinos could best use smartphone technology to raise their political game. Really there were so many great and thoughtful responses that talked about art, activism, and the example of the Obama campaign. I wish I had phones for each of you.

Pero unfortunately, I only have one phone and that will be going to………

Oscar Flores.

What was it about Oscar’s email? I think the way his answer integrated the personal with the political got me. Without getting all up in his business Oscar wrote about moving from a place with nearly zero technology to the U.S. and how smartphone technology could have helped him as he navigated organizing within the racial justice paradigm and other intersections.

A sincere gracias to all who took the time to write thoughtful answers, and a sincere thanks to AT&T, Pantech and BuzzCorps for providing the prize. Stay tuned. VL will have more contests and giveaways.

U.S. Latinos 20 Million Strong on the Internet

6:37 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Internet|Media|society|Tech · Comments Off

20 Apr 2009

$two-teens-with-online-math-tutor-full$ Gone are the days when marketers and businesses doubted whether U.S. Latinos would use the Internet en masse. Well, actually, they still doubt — but now they have some hard numbers to contend with. According to a new study by comScore, there are some 20 million Latinos online and that number is growing fast. Latinos as a user group are growing at a rate of close to 50% faster than the general population. MediaWeek reports:

In February of 2009 comScore found there to be 20.3 million U.S. Hispanic visitors on the Web, representing a surge of 5.8 percent versus February of 2008. During that same period of time the general Web population grew by 3.9 percent. A similar growth disparity was evident for engagement measures such as total minutes spent online and total page views, where Hispanics exhibited growth that was five times as fast as the general population.

While the numbers look really good, MediaWeek reports that Latinos still only make up 11% of the total online population due to late adoption of the Internet.

Via / MediaWeek

Last Day to Win an AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro

8:38 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing|Tech · 1 Comment

20 Apr 2009

att-pantech-matrix-pro-dual-slider-thumb1 Today is the last day to win an AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro phone ans $100 AT&T gift card.

Here are the details of the contest. Email us at info@vivirlatino.com, telling us how smartphone technology can help Latinos access and share information to further their political power (and you know I’m not just talking about electoral power). The most interesting (in my humble opinion) answer wins!

So far there are some interesting answers in the VL inbox. Tomorrow morning I will announce the winner.

Good luck!

Win a Telefono : Pantech Matrix Pro Smartphone for One of Our Readers

8:49 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing|Tech · 6 Comments

17 Apr 2009

We warned you. Today through April 21, you can enter to win one AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro Smartphone. For me this phone was the perfect intro to smartphones and it had me tweeting, texting, sending fotos, and emailing up and down the 7 line and in the Mala/Mami’hood.

Want one?

Email us at info@vivirlatino.com, telling us how smartphone technology can help Latinos access and share information to further their political power (and you know I’m not just talking about electoral power). The most interesting (in my humble opinion) answer wins! Not only do you win the phone pero also a $100 credit for AT&T’s web site.

As much as I’m about promoting the Americas, the contest is only open to residents of the U.S.A. Sorry.

Preparate : We’re Giving Away a AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro Smartphone and So are These Other Sites

10:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing|Tech · 1 Comment

14 Apr 2009

Last month I reviewed the AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro Smartphone and wondered, seriously how did I live without a smartphone up to this point? Well you may not have to live without one either.

Vivirlatino is participating with another 25 websites to give away an AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro smartphone and a US$100 AT&T gift card each, to readers in the U.S. Apologies to our non-U.S. readers.

So you can have 26 chances to win this phone, pero sadly you can only win one.

Where can you win? Here is a list of the site participating and the dates their contests will run:

Tools for Thought (15-Apr 19-Apr)
ChipChick (16-Apr 20-Apr)
VivirLatino (17-Apr 21-Apr)
slashgear.com (18-Apr 22-Apr)
www.modaco.com (19-Apr 23-Apr)
Gadgetell (20-Apr 24-Apr)
GeeksRoom (21-Apr 25-Apr)
OSNN (22-Apr 26-Apr)
Techmamas (23-Apr 27-Apr)
Clintonfitch (24-Apr 28-Apr)
Justanothermobilemonday (25-Apr 29-Apr)
Geek.com (26-Apr 30-Apr)
MediaBlab (27-Apr 01-May)
Smartphonethoughts (28-Apr 02-May)
Mobilityminded (29-Apr 03-May)
The Gadgeteer (30-Apr 04-May)
Geekzone (01-May 05-May)
Techie Diva (02-May 06-May)
Bostonpocketpc (03-May 07-May)
GearDiary (04-May 08-May)
MobilitySite (05-May 09-May)
AbsoluteWindows (06-May 10-May)
Mobilejaw (07-May 11-May)
Experiencemobility (08-May 12-May)
HackCollege (09-May 13-May)
Gear Live (10-May 14-May)

So how do you win?

Actually the contests don’t kick off till Wednesday so you’ll have to wait till then. VivirLatino’s own giveaway will go live on Friday.

Pero if you just can’t wait check out this deal that will give you a free Jabra BT4051 Bluetooth headset when you buy an AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro.

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