Sure, every app developer dreams of creating an addictive blockbuster app that hooks users, but what about something useful? Or better yet: what about an app that saves lives? We have all seen the horrifying images of Houston and nearby Texas towns transformed by Hurricane Harvey into a watery wasteland. We have also been inspired by the stories of indomitable communities rallying together to rescue those in danger and face the hardships the storm brought. Now Florida is bracing for another storm, Irma, with many parts of the state evacuating to prevent a Harvey-sized disaster.

But there’s an app that has been helping those in need to weather the storm: Zello. The communications app is reporting 6 million new users in the run-up to Irma. Founded in 2012, the walkie-talkie-like app allows users to talk over public channels, as long as they have access to WiFi or cellular data. People in the areas affected by the storm are finding the app extremely useful for passing along important and potentially life-saving information, such as makeshift shelter locations, tornado warnings, hospital accessibility, and safety tips. App admins are spreading information on power outages and wind speeds. It is incredibly affecting for app developers to listen in on the channel. Zello is helping communities survive.

Zello’s usefulness has helped it ascend the ranks in the Apple App Store, where it is currently the number one free app. CEO Bill Morris claims that the app has been downloaded by one million new users a day since last Monday. Houston app developers saw Zello at work during not just Harvey, but storms past, when groups like so-called Cajun Navy saved lives by broadcasting up-to-the-minute information. It’s not just storms: Zello has proven its usefulness in the protests and general upheaval in Egypt and now Venezuela. Its a powerful example of how a relatively simple app idea can create security and community in times of chaos.

Since the tragedy at Charlottesville a couple weeks ago, the nation has had to deal with some ugly truths about itself. That kind of soul-searching and moral inventory is never easy, but it’s a lot more painful when the president is Donald Trump, who equivocates while denouncing hate groups and talks about the “alt-left,” a loaded label for the anti-racist groups that showed up to show the neo-Nazis, Confederate sympathizers, and Klan members that they were not afraid. Was this the president repeating things he heard from one of his favorite news sources, like maybe his pal Alex Jones? Does the president have a strategy in place for dealing with this so-called “alt-left”? That idea is chilling, but after reports of the Justice Department’s warrant requesting information on Trump protesters that organized for the inauguration, internet of things app developers are right to wonder if this administration is out to stifle or intimidate dissent.

Hosting service DreamHost revealed in a blog post last week that it has been locked into a legal battle with Jeff Session’s Department of Justice over an overreaching warrant asking for information on Trump protesters. Specifically, the Department of Justice was requesting information from the website disruptj20.org, an activist website with the goal of organizing mass protests and direct actions to shutdown Trump’s inauguration. The department demanded “all files” related to the website, which includes 1.3 million IP addresses, photos, email content, and contact information (including physical addresses). “In essence, the Search Warrant not only aims to identify the political dissidents of the current administration, but attempts to identify and understand what content each of these dissidents viewed on the website,” said DreamHost’s legal team. To Seattle IoT app developers concerned with browsing privacy, this kind of blatant overreach sets off all sorts of alarms.

Fortunately, it now appears that the Justice Department is narrowing the scope of its focus. While not admitting that anything was suspect about the original warrant, the Justice Department has agreed to modify the warrant and not request certain sensitive information, like HTTP logs associated with IP addresses. Still, the new filing still requests “all records or other information, pertaining to the Account,” which is asking for a lot. The Justice Department claims that it has no interest in peaceful protesters, but is instead looking for those who participated in planning riots. It is unclear how the new warrant would differentiate between information on peaceful dissidents and potentially criminal ones. Internet of things app developers eagerly await DreamHost’s next move.

Over the past few years, a depressing series of shaky smart phone videos have pushed the issue of police violence against the black community into the mainstream conversation. As a result of those videos, the idea of police officers wearing body cams has grown in popularity. What better way to curb abuses of power than to document them? But what about a body cam for the average citizen? Sure, every iPhone app developer has a camera on their phone, but what about when you need a video in a pinch?

That’s where Shonin comes in. This small stream cam has garnered a lot of attention, pulling in more than $150,000 on Kickstarter (its initial goal was $30,000). It would appear that this is the right gadget for our times. The “wearable personal security camera” can easily be clipped onto your shirt and is activated by a simple tap. When there is no Wi-Fi connection, the video is saved to an internal 8GB SD card. But with a connection, video is instantaneously streamed to YouTube or Facebook Live and is uploaded to the protected Shonin cloud. That way, an iPhone app developer in a sticky situation can have video documentation of the incident broadcast in real-time.

Does the average citizen really need to invest in a body cam? It may seem a little extreme, but Shonin’s success on Kickstarter suggests that people really do believe this is a necessary tool for our era. The video on Shonin’s Kickstarter opens with a jarring montage of KKK rallies, heated protests, bad cops, and street violence that feels even more timely in light of the events in Charlottesville (funds have spiked in the last week). The startup has raised enough money now to add a time-lapse mode and image stabilization. Chicago iPhone app developers may not feel it is necessary to leave the house strapped with a wearable cam, but for those at a high risk for run-ins with trouble, the Shonin is not a bad investment at less than $200.

We’re living in an era of wall-to-wall news, a lot of it quite alarming. It’s easy to get overwhelmed — and to despair. But in this seemingly endless pile-up of crises, it is important for Los Angeles FinTech app developers to remember that net neutrality is in peril. We cannot lose sight of this fight. Many in the app development community have already gone to DearFCC and spoken out against the FCC’s plan to get rid of net neutrality regulations (and if you haven’t, get on it), but the open internet is dangerously close to being dismantled. The struggle has only just begun.

Fortunately, it’s not just individuals standing up to the FCC. Today, more than 70,000 tech companies, nonprofits, cities, and passionate individuals are speaking out in support of net neutrality. Big names like Google, Amazon, and Netflix are among the companies participating in this Day of Action. They will be posting a banner on their websites reading things like, “Sorry, we’re stuck in the slow lane,” with a portal for site visitors to make their complaint to the FCC. The message should be clear to FinTech app developers: without proper net neutrality protections, telecommunications companies could establish a “pay to play” system that favors certain website and therefore stifles competition and innovation.

Two of the three FCC commissioners are widely expected to vote in favor of overturning the existing net neutrality regulations when the matter comes to a vote in August. But that doesn’t mean that FinTech app developers should throw up their hands. There are a lot of diverse voices protesting the FCC’s plans to destroy the open internet. Senators Ron Wyden and Brian Schatz wrote the FCC, telling them that they better be ready for the influx of comments that are sure to come flooding in today. The FCC website has crashed before when net neutrality was on the chopping block. Given the amount of outrage about this issue, it wouldn’t be surprising if the site were to crash again.

Net neutrality is on the chopping block yet again, and the outrage is growing. Leaders in the tech community (not to mention rank and file iPhone app developers) have repeatedly made their stance clear: without net neutrality regulations in place, their businesses are in trouble. After John Oliver unleashed an epic 20 minute tirade on the necessity of net neutrality a couple weeks ago, the FCC website mysteriously crashed, although allegedly from some sort of attack and not the millions of dissenting comments pouring in (yeah right).

Now Congressional Democrats are hoping to stoke the flames of the popular backlash to the FCC’s plan to dismantle net neutrality. Democrats lack the necessary negotiating power to protect Obama-era regulations in the Republican-dominated Congress. Instead they are looking to nurture the grassroots anger over FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s anti-net neutrality agenda to put pressure on Republicans to compromise. “It’ll be a campaign issue if they repeal it,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the top-ranking Democrat on the House committee that oversees the FCC. So Democrats are adopting net neutrality as a pet issue, basically as a way to win elections — which is okay with app developers as long as it ultimately saves net neutrality.

The Republicans seem to think that popular opinion is in their favor. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) made the baffling claim that several of her constituents actually do not want a ban of paid prioritization. Pockets of ignorance remain when it comes to the issue of the open internet, but after the last big fight for net neutrality a few years ago, the public is much more knowledgeable about the ins-and-outs of net neutrality (thanks in part to political comedians like Oliver). Nonsense like Ted Cruz’s claim that net neutrality is “Obamacare for the internet” won’t hold up much longer. Whether or not the Democrat’s strategy to save net neutrality works, Dallas iPhone app developers will help them out by continuing to speak out, building on the grassroots outrage that threatens to unseat Congressional Republicans.

Even before John Oliver took to ranting about the necessity of net neutrality regulations, mobile app developers were passionate supporters of the open internet. We thought the fight for net neutrality was over after the unified outcry from various internet communities back in 2014, but then along came Trump and his new FCC chairman, former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai. Now that Chairman Pai has unveiled his Restoring Internet Freedom draft proposal, it’s time to ban together again to save the internet we know and love.

Pai’s plan would remove the protections that keep ISPs from indulging in unfair practices like paid prioritization and content blocking. He has the support of the president and most Congressional Republicans, but it’s important that we show him that he does not have the support of the people. Now that the plan has been made public, the proposal is open to public comment. That’s where we come in. Although the FCC attributes it to an attack, Oliver’s diatribe appears to have crashed the FCC’s website (maybe it was the same attack that crashed their website when he spoke out in favor of net neutrality in 2014). Denver iPhone app developers are safe to assume that the vast majority of those incoming comments were against the FCC’s plan.

The enterprising folks at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have put together a tool called DearFCC that makes speaking out against the Restoring Internet Freedom plan surprisingly easy. App developers may remember DearFCC from back in 2014 when it helped give more than one million open internet supporters a voice the last time net neutrality was on the chopping block. Now they’ve relaunched the tool to assist in the new fight. As Oliver points out in his rant, if you have time to indulge in trolling the Pope on Twitter or giving the Grand Canyon a one-star review on Yelp, you have time to make your voice heard on this issue. And with DearFCC, there really is no excuse. Click here to give Chairman Pai a piece of your mind.

On January 18th, 2012 Dogtownmedia.com, Wikipedia.org, Reddit.com, and thousands of other sites across the globe went black in protest SOPA and PIPA, two proposed laws that represent the most extreme threat to free speech in the Western World since WWII.

You can prevent SOPA and PIPA from passing into law:

• GET INVOLVED: Call your Senator! Tell them to stand against PIPA on January 24th!
• MAKE YOUR MARK: Fill out the EFF Congressional e-mailer.
• SPREAD THE WORD: Tell others on Facebook and Twitter about the potential threat to the internet.
• BOYCOTT:  Stop doing business with corporations supporting SOPA and PIPA.

The Senators listed below are supporters of PIPA. Give your representatives a call and tell them what you think.

AK, Lisa Murkowski, 907-456-0233
AL, Jefferson Sessions, 334-244-7017
AL, Richard Shelby, 205-759-5047
AR, Mark Pryor, 501-324-6336
AZ, Jon Kyl, 602-840-1891
AZ, John McCain, 602-952-2410
CA, Barbara Boxer, 510-286-8537
CA, Dianne Feinstein, 415-393-0707
CO, Michael Bennet, 303-455-7600
CT, Richard Blumenthal, 860-258-6940
CT, Joseph Lieberman, 860-549-8463
DE, Thomas Carper, 302-573-6291
DE, Chris Coons, 302-573-6345
FL, Bill Nelson, 407-872-7161
GA, C. Saxby Chambliss, 770-763-9090
GA, John Isakson, 770-661-0999
HI, Daniel Akaka, 808-522-8970
HI, Daniel Inouye, 808-541-2542
IA, Charles Grassley, 515-288-1145
IA, Thomas Harkin, 515-284-4574
ID, Michael Crapo, 208-334-1776
ID, James Risch, 208-342-7985
IL, Richard Durbin, 312-353-4952
IN, Daniel Coats, 317-554-0750
IN, Richard Lugar, 317-226-5555
KS, Pat Roberts, 913-451-9343
KY, Mitch McConnell, 502-582-6304
KY, Rob Portman, 361-576-1231
LA, Mary Landrieu, 225-389-0395
LA, David Vitter, 337-262-6898
MA, John Kerry, 617-565-8519
MD, Barbara Mikulski, 410-962-4510
ME, Susan Collins, 207-945-0417
ME, Olympia Snowe, 207-874-0883
MI, Carl Levin, 313-226-6020
MI, Debbie Stabenow, 517-203-1760
MN, Al Franken, 651-221-1016
MN, Amy Klobuchar, 612-727-5220
MO, Claire McCaskill, 816-421-1639
MS, Thad Cochran, 601-965-4459
MS, Roger Wicker, 601-965-4644
MT, Max Baucus, 406-657-6790
MT, Jon Tester, 406-449-5401
NC, Richard Burr, 910-251-1058
NC, Kay Hagan, 336-333-5311
ND, Kent Conrad, 701-258-4648
ND, John Hoeven, 701-250-4618
NE, E. Benjamin Nelson, 402-441-4600
NH, Kelly Ayotte, 603-622-7979
NH, Jeanne Shaheen, 603-647-7500
NJ, Frank Lautenberg, 973-639-8700
NJ, Robert Menendez, 973-645-3030
NM, Jeff Bingaman, 505-346-6601
NM, Tom Udall, 505-346-6791
NV, Dean Heller, 775-686-5770
NV, Harry Reid, 702-388-5020
NY, Kirsten Gillibrand, 212-688-6262
NY, Charles Schumer, 212-486-4430
OH, Sherrod Brown, 216-522-7272
OK, James Inhofe, 918-748-5111
OK, Tom Coburn, 918-581-7651
PA, Robert Casey, 570-941-0930
PA, Pat Toomey, 610-434-1444
RI, Sheldon Whitehouse, 401-453-5294
SC, Lindsey Graham, 864-250-1417
SD, Tim Johnson, 414-276-7282
SD, John Thune, 605-334-9596
TN, Lamar Alexander, 615-736-5129
TN, Bob Corker, 423-756-2757
TX, John Cornyn, 512-469-6034
TX, Kay Hutchison, 214-361-3500
UT, Mike Lee, 801-524-5933
VA, James Webb, 804-771-2221
VT, Patrick Leahy, 802-863-2525
VT, Bernard Sanders, 802-862-0697
WA, Patty Murray, 206-553-5545
WI, Ron Johnson, 605-332-8896
WI, Herbert Kohl, 414-297-4451
WV, Joe Manchin, 304-342-5855
WV, John Rockefeller, 304-347-5372
WY, John Barrasso, 307-261-6413
WY, Michael Enzi, 307-682-6268