These are small
burrowing animals, living in large underground networks with multiple entrances
which they leave only during the day, except to avoid the heat of the
afternoon. In Discovery and National Geographic channels, we have seen these
gregarious animals - often shown as
living in groups of families, as a large community. Bigger than Squirrel in size, mongooses like animals
famed for their upright posture. They often stand on their rear legs and gaze
alertly over the plains. It is the ‘meerkat’ or suricate (Suricata suricatta), a small
carnivoran belonging to the mongoose family (Herpestidae). Meerkats live in all
parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in
Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A
group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or
"clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but
some super-families have 50 or more members.
To look out for predators, one or more meerkats stand sentry, to warn
others of approaching dangers. When a predator is spotted, the meerkat
performing as sentry gives a warning bark or whistle, and other members of the
group will run and hide in one of the many holes they have spread across their
territory.
Away from this
lovable animals, ‘Meerkat’ that is news is a ‘Video
livestreaming app’, the tech world’s
latest darling. It lets you
livestream video of whatever you’re doing from your phone whether you’re
climbing a hill, driving a vehicle, holidaying or even working. TechCrunch called it “the livestreaming app
Twitter should have built.” Business Insider explained why people are “going
crazy” over the app. GeekWire says it makes Twitter “oh so much more fun.” The
Wall Street Journal has already written up its backstory.
Meerkat, a live-streaming phone app, became the latest fascination for many Twitter users, less than a week after its launch. The app, named after the small, carnivorous member of the mongoose family, is built to allow users to live-stream video straight to the web. It relies on Twitter to alert people to Meerkat broadcasts. It was launched on Friday 27 February by Life On Air, a live-stream startup team of just 10 people. Meerkat had originally been conceived as a side project but the company’s CEO, has decided to focus the whole team on Meerkat. Using Meerkat is simple. You download the app. You open the app. You sync it up with Twitter. There is a box saying “Write what’s happening …” There is no option to embed your Meerkats, which limits the possibilities for journalists using it to stream live from breaking news scenes. The mobile livestreaming idea is not entirely new. In 2007, Justin.tv allowed viewers to watch the eponymous Justin Kan “lifecast” his day. The rules of ‘meerkat’ look simple: Everything that happens on meerkat happens on Twitter; Streams will be pushed to followers in real time via push notifications; People can only watch it live. No reruns ; Watchers can restream any stream to their followers in real time. Your own streams can be kept locally on your phone, but never on the cloud.; Everyone can watch on web. So are you in tune with the latest technology and do you have ‘FoMo’ With regards – S. Sampathkumar
6th Mar 2015. Photo credit : livescience.com
