Claude Almansi wrote: > Now if I understand correctly, you say they could had added a number > that would have sent the same message to a mailing list all relief > bodies could have accessed?
Right. People would SMS a number, like 767 (numeric of SMS on a phone), and that would be forwarded to an email list which all the different organizations could subscribe to. In this scenario, people could simply SMS in where they are - what street, which house, etc. - and so forth. To add to it - there's software for HAM radio operators as well that will allow them to also contribute to the email list. > If that's right, then yes, it must be done. You are saying it may be > late for helping Katrina victims. Maybe not: your anger at ARC not > being used so far is understandable. It's not really anger. It's frustration. . > But in the height of an emergency people are not at their best > learning new things. Which sort of makes my point. This is an emergency, and people will not be at their best for learning new things... but there isn't really that much to learn either. No, the problem here is that these agencies aren't open enough to accept new ideas - be it in contacting them, or even getting them to consider a new idea. Or, for that matter (as in the context of ARC) an old idea. > After, there is still a lot of information that must be shared, and > with less immediate pressure, relief agencies might be more willing to > explore a system that would work even with no internet connection > directly at hand. That's what we thought after the tsunami. It wasn't the case, unfortunately, and that's what's frustrating. These things only come to light when an emergency is happening, it seems, and nobody was very interested in fleshing this out. Thus I am focusing on the MobileActive Convergence <http://www.mobileactive.org/overview> meetup this month, and going from there. Here's the thing. We can talk about global warming, the ozone layer and all these other things - but at the end of the day, we have a load of academic papers analyzing the information mankind has accumulated on the globe, which is actually quite small. We don't have everyone signed on to the Kyoto accord, we don't have average people (the masses) truly exploring renewable energy in the 'developed' nations, and we - as a species - have demonstrated that our ability to react to systems is inadequate to ourselves on a humanitarian level - otherwise these discussions wouldn't be taking place... We have had an increase in the amount of natural disasters over the last 5 years, despite all of this. We can't form a committee to deal with the weather. We can't ask Mother Nature to join the U.N. We are *powerless* in controlling the weather, and earthquakes, and even just plain heat. Any changes we make now are changes that will have a small effect on the planet. I believe that mankind's future is one of reacting to disasters, because they will happen. They have happened, and have continued to happen, and will continue to happen. In days before modern technology, survival meant adapting to disasters - even the Ice Age. In a way, this is good news because there is a 'common enemy' for the nations on the planet: The planet. And we can't win that war, and perhaps that's a lesson in humility that mankind needs - perhaps not. Either way, we need to do what our ancestors did in the past: Survive. Einstein once said, "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." This was in the context of the start of the Nuclear Age, but considering the statement in modern contexts is especially interesting. In considering that statement in the context of ICT and emergency preparedness and other things... perhaps that difference between mankind's technological advancement and mankind's humanitarian advancement is the best definition of the 'Digital Divide'. I think this will be my new personal definition of the Digital Divide. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: Georgetown, Guyana [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
