Technology giants Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter are all offering digital ways to donate to Japan’s recovery efforts following the massive earthquake and devastating tsunami.
Apple has set up an option on its iTunes software to allow registered users to make donations ranging from US$5 to US $200 to the US Red Cross simply by clicking a button for the chosen amount.
The Red Cross has also launched a campaign on Facebook through the social media giant’s Causes function, initially aiming to raise at least US$25,000 for relief efforts.
A service accepting donations via text message was also launched by the Red Cross, after a similar fundraising campaign raised over US$20 million last year for Haiti quake survivors.
Micro-blogging site Twitter was updating by the second, continually refreshing information and advice as well as directing people to resources on the ground and offering ways to donate to help survivors.
“At Twitter, we feel that it is part of our duty to do whatever we can, no matter how little, to support those during times of need like this,” read the Web site’s blog.
Hashtags, a label used by Twitter users to help organize messages has been created to find anything from evacuation information to medical updates.
Even gamers can do their bit.
Zynga, the world’s largest social gaming company, hopes to raise US$2 million for Save the Children’s Japan Earthquake Tsunami Emergency Fund.
The company is asking users to donate money through the purchase of virtual goods in CityVille, FrontierVille, FarmVille and its other games.
Zynga has raised millions of dollars in recent years through similar campaigns, most notably for the relief efforts in Haiti.
Google’s Crisis Response page was also geared up to offer people a way to help survivors on the ground as well as offering resources to find information.
Google’s person finder service had notched up almost 140,000 records of people leaving messages seeking information on friends and family by 5:30am GMT yesterday.
The site was updating, in English and Japanese, by the hundreds every few minutes.
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
Former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a Peruvian presidential hopeful, gathered hundreds of supporters in Lima on Tuesday and gave authorities 24 hours to annul the first round of the country’s election over allegations of fraud. Lopez Aliaga is locked in a tight three-way race with two other candidates for second place in Sunday’s vote. The election runner-up wins a ticket to June’s presidential run-off against front-runner Keiko Fujimori. “I am giving them 24 hours to declare this electoral fraud null and void,” said Lopez Aliaga, surrounded by a crowd of several hundred supporters. “If it is not declared null and void tomorrow,
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
RSS