When a disaster strikes, it's good to be prepared. Having a plan in place to quickly contact your loved ones and tell them you're okay -- or to tell them you aren't -- can go a long way during the first hectic minutes of a tragedy. Microsoft wants to help people streamline their emergency contact plans with their new HelpBridge app. It can quickly post to Facebook, send texts, or email contacts if you're in an emergency. If you're not the one in the middle of an emergency, HelpBridge lets you easily donate when disaster strikes elsewhere.

If there's one thing folks usually recognize as being important and worth their respect, it's emergency vehicles. If an ambulance or fire engine is careening down the street with its lights on, chances are that the driver is responding to some kind of kerfuffle. It's pretty unlikely that they're just flicking switches because they feel like it. The same goes for when an ambulance is parked with its lights going. That didn't stop one particularly vigilant New Orleans convenient store from booting an ambulance yesterday, though.