奇速英语

 

In an age where more people live on their own and it’s normal to meet total strangers in a bar for a date, it can be reassuring（可靠的）to be checked up on.

Kitestring, which is considered an “overprotective mom”, was invented by Stephan Boyer, in San Francisco to keep his girlfriend safe. The 23-year old MIT computer science graduate said: 'My girlfriend, who lives in a dangerous neighbourhood in San Francisco, called to ask me to check up on her as she was walking home from work one day. I wondered if there might be an app or service that could offer a little extra safety for her when she goes out at night.'

Anyone wanting to use the service can set up an account on Kitestring’s website, where they enter their phone number plus an emergency contact, as well as writing an alert message which will be sent to their chosen contact when needed. 

To use the service, people schedule a time and date for when they plan to be out and estimate how long they will be.They can text Kitestring a time period like ‘45m’ to start a trip, for example, or click on options on the company's website. When that time has passed, Kitestring sends a text message asking for confirmation that the person is safe. Users can extend a trip by testing ‘ETA(Estimated Time of Arrival) 15m’ for example, to receive another text 15 minutes later, or can start another new trip if they expect to later than an hour after they originally said.

Their emergency contact or contacts are warned with a distress message if the service doesn’t hear back from a user within five minutes of checking up on them with a text message.

Because the service works using text messages, it makes itself useable by more people than previous ‘safecall’ apps for smartphones, which often rely on an internet connection and GPS.

Kitestring works in 217 countries, which could also make it handy（便利的）for backpackers and other holidaymakers exploring a new area on their own.
 

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