‘Arrested’ Development For The Occupiers

“If you build it, they will come” is a statement often said in reference to any glamorous product.  In the case of the new Android app, “If you tap it, they will bail you out.”  As the epicenter of the massive Wall Street movement has gone from a Canadian-based email on July 13 to endless pickets in proclamation of spending within our government ranks, tech-savvy gurus from the world over have taken this opportunity to further capitalize on crowd sourcing by developing eBooks, guides, sales pitches and now an alert to your friends, family and attorney when one gets a little feisty to the point of receiving a set of shiny silver rings around ones wrists, carefully situated behind their backs.

Outside Looking In

While hoards of fist-pumping activists were standing outside millionaire penthouse apartments, demanding answers to the quagmire of corporate greed and why 99% of the United States is suffering economically while the 1% of U.S. citizens seemingly live on easy street, Android app developer Jason Van Anden was quietly in the computer lab, piecing together a masterful application for the Android Marketplace that was his donation to the ‘Occupy Wall Street Movement‘.  The splendors of this application may seem on the surface to be slightly comical; however, the intellect behind the Bubble Beats music application creator is self-contained: with so many people getting arrested on a semi-consistent basis due to their riotous nature, it would be great to contact a loved one in the midst of a ‘Miranda Rights’ moment and let them know to bring the bail money.

The concept is easy – simply program a few names into the application of people you know would come pull you out of a jumpsuit in a tight spot; when the time comes, you simply tap on the ‘target’ in the middle of the app screen, and an automated text message you pre-set goes out to those people; so now you may sit comfortably in the squad car, and while making the trek to the booking station, your people can speedily meet you up at the station before the bars slam and shut behind you. Although Van Anden is not an OWS protesting party himself, he cited the application as a ‘good fit for democracy’.  While other techies are developing apps that contain a playful ruse, politically astute programmers like Van Anden have finally come up with a solution to cater to the interests of people standing on the front lines of an epic economic battle.

Social Democracy

Should the Zuccotti Park demonstration wage through the winter, applications of this nature would be particularly handy if one feels hypothermic; although the 1% being put on ‘Front Street’ believe that crowds will disperse for the winter, it is evident that eyes have been made privy to the connection between our technological world and the need for suitable employment, banking firms being overhauled, and a general swift kick in the proverbial buttocks of the “greedy shysters” in the upper echelon of society.  Until such measures are enacted, savvy app makers like Van Anden will be slowly contributing helps from the outside, although they will do so at a considerable distance.