Re: [DDN] Re: What can we do to prepare for a DISASTER?
John, Taran, et al -- While I understand your concerns, there is real value in face-to-face gatherings and conversations; which are often hard to capture remotely. There will be blogging and IRC chats throughout the conference, however. I also wanted to let you know that we here at Aspiration are hosting a web conference call on the same issue (ICT for humanitarian reliefs and tools in the field), together with NTEN, the Innovation Funders' Network, and Humaninet. I am looking for projects that might be interested in participating in that call to give a brief overview of what was done, what tools were deployed, and what is needed. There will be separate announcements for that (target date for the call is Sept 27). Please get in touch with me offline. I would especially appreciate projects involving private/corp partnerships, and those involving large relief organizations to the extent that they involve communications and technology, as I am pretty familiar with the plethora of grassroots ICT/tech projects that have been organized. I will compile the list (including what I learn from other sources such as DEv Gateway/truthlaidbare/Web 2.0/etc etc) and post here and on the DDN site. Thanks so much. Best, Katrin Aspiration: Better Tools for a Better World www.aspirationtech.org Rampersad wrote: John Hibbs wrote: At 12:34 PM -0400 9/15/05, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: While we're all talking about ICT disaster preparedness, I'd like to point out there is a NTEN-sponsored conference on ICT disaster preparedness coming up in October : Global ICT Humanitarian Relief http://www.nten.org/conferences-ict Why is an ICT conference not held virtually? Why do I have to travel to Washington to participate? or listen? or view? What century do we live in? So that's where I left my drum! :-) Maybe it's just not easy enough for people to organize a conference virtually yet... or maybe they don't know how easy it is. ___ 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.
Re: [DDN] Re: What can we do to prepare for a DISASTER?
In a message dated 9/15/05 12:00:23 AM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: First, long ago we tossed the idea of a bus...the van (40 foot container) would be towed for placement weeks and months on end. (outside of a Walmart) Next, it seems to me there is some advantage to having a self-contained shell where the equipment can be stored, used, and shipped - and where people can make their way to it, and work shoulder to shoulder. Just a thought. And you could be right. Maybe a boxes of computers which have all the information on their hard drivers, and bookmarks, etc. would be sufficient. Load them on an airplane and have the people find the outer carton, unpack same and set up shop. Wireless has changed a lot, that's for sure. John: What has happened over the past year to your ideas about the trailer information training/center and the 40' vans? I've been thinking about them a bit in the context of the needs of the Katrina evacuees, those who will be reamining in the Gulf Coast, and those who will be spread around the country in a mass migration comparable to the Mississippi River floods of 1927 - when much of the Mississippi Delta Region and Greenville, Miss. appears to have moved to Chicago. It would certainly facilitate the process if there were Internet supported information/training centers that could function in settlement house and concierge functions. Have written some concept papers that expand upon these ideas for you and others who may be interested. Don Samuelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ 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.
Re: [DDN] Re: What can we do to prepare for a DISASTER?
John Hibbs wrote: First, long ago we tossed the idea of a bus...the van (40 foot container) would be towed for placement weeks and months on end. (outside of a Walmart) Next, it seems to me there is some advantage to having a self-contained shell where the equipment can be stored, used, and shipped - and where people can make their way to it, and work shoulder to shoulder. Just a thought. And you could be right. Maybe a boxes of computers which have all the information on their hard drivers, and bookmarks, etc. would be sufficient. Load them on an airplane and have the people find the outer carton, unpack same and set up shop. Wireless has changed a lot, that's for sure. http://www.fraw.org.uk/ssp/container/ That's sort of what you're talking about, except with a focus. Maybe you could hire a few Jamaicans. :-) Now, when I worked at Central Florida Blood Bank, I built a lot of the equipment for mobile blood drives... in fact I designed some of it... using PVC. It's possible to create tables that flip into self contained boxes with systems screwed to them... picture a computer on a desktop, and you unlock the desktop and it pivots on a central screw, allowing the system to be automagically packed into a PVC box which converts back to a table. You then secure the equipment to minimize vibration, and there you go. PVC is durable and easy to replace and keep clean (especially outside of a blood bank setting). Honestly, the Apple Mac minis may be ideal for this because of their small size. Wireless out of the box as I recall, which means that all that would be needed is a server, internet access (satellite) and some chairs. Toss some solar panels on the roof, ample fuel cells (because nothing described so far is heavy) with the understanding that they need to 'breathe', a DC refrigerator (you will want something to eat and drink), and you could *try* solar air conditioning, though you should have a double seal door if you use that because they don't blow as hard, normally. You should have some windows, too, for natural light - on top, for natural light in, dispersed with dispersal plastic (like in front of the fluorescent bulbs in offices) You could even put in a solar water pump and keep your own supply of water, which I would suggest. Toss in a HAM radio and the right software, plus a GSM modem... Actually, I just described my dream office. But I think you'll all get the idea. -- 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.
Re: [DDN] Re: What can we do to prepare for a DISASTER?
At 10:42 AM -0500 9/15/05, Taran Rampersad wrote: Thank, Taran, for the reminder about the Jamaican effort. I had looked at that about four years ago...I see they have made a LOT of progress. All of what you say - every single word - has merit. Now, how to get our hands on some of the $50 billion being appropriated as a result of Katrina to put some of the Rampersad Boxes into - well, boxes? Shouldn't every Red Cross center of any size have a couple on hand? (I'd love to see the Jamaicans be the builders, but that really is far fetched..) Can we pursue this to where an offer is put on the Feds table by a reputable provider? http://www.fraw.org.uk/ssp/container/ That's sort of what you're talking about, except with a focus. Maybe you could hire a few Jamaicans. :-) Now, when I worked at Central Florida Blood Bank, I built a lot of the equipment for mobile blood drives... in fact I designed some of it... using PVC. It's possible to create tables that flip into self contained boxes with systems screwed to them... picture a computer on a desktop, and you unlock the desktop and it pivots on a central screw, allowing the system to be automagically packed into a PVC box which converts back to a table. You then secure the equipment to minimize vibration, and there you go. PVC is durable and easy to replace and keep clean (especially outside of a blood bank setting). Honestly, the Apple Mac minis may be ideal for this because of their small size. Wireless out of the box as I recall, which means that all that would be needed is a server, internet access (satellite) and some chairs. Toss some solar panels on the roof, ample fuel cells (because nothing described so far is heavy) with the understanding that they need to 'breathe', a DC refrigerator (you will want something to eat and drink), and you could *try* solar air conditioning, though you should have a double seal door if you use that because they don't blow as hard, normally. You should have some windows, too, for natural light - on top, for natural light in, dispersed with dispersal plastic (like in front of the fluorescent bulbs in offices) You could even put in a solar water pump and keep your own supply of water, which I would suggest. Toss in a HAM radio and the right software, plus a GSM modem... Actually, I just described my dream office. But I think you'll all get the idea. -- 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. ___ 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.
Re: [DDN] Re: What can we do to prepare for a DISASTER?
John Hibbs wrote: At 10:42 AM -0500 9/15/05, Taran Rampersad wrote: Thank, Taran, for the reminder about the Jamaican effort. I had looked at that about four years ago...I see they have made a LOT of progress. All of what you say - every single word - has merit. Now, how to get our hands on some of the $50 billion being appropriated as a result of Katrina to put some of the Rampersad Boxes into - well, boxes? Shouldn't every Red Cross center of any size have a couple on hand? (I'd love to see the Jamaicans be the builders, but that really is far fetched..) If you want a 3.5 foot tall by 2 foot wide by 1 foot deep box, you need ((3.5'*4)+(2'*4)+(1'*4))= 26 feet of PVC, 4 joints (3 side), and some PVC glue - and a hacksaw and a ruler with a pencil. I'd suggest 2 inch PVC, though you could use 1.5 inch PVC if you had to. Then you can use plastic sheeting (plexi) for the external, which you would need an easily calculated few square feet of. Then you can drill and mount the pieces with screws, and fill the interior with foam. I'd advise against standard packaging foam, because that causes an electrostatic discharge which can ruin electronics. Zap. Pow. You have a box. Or, you could just use the PVC frame with sheeting on top, and store the PCs and monitors elsewhere, but the box makes things rather easy. Like legos. I like legos. Can we pursue this to where an offer is put on the Feds table by a reputable provider? Every Red Cross office could build their own boxes. It's easy. It's the electronics and the container would be the real issue. What would probably be better is to build a demo and release the plans as Open Content. If you have all the materials on hand - the basic boxes, electronics, and solar stuff as well as the container - an untrained crew could put something like this together within 3 days. A trained crew could put it together in one. So I don't know that the Federal Government should get involved. Why insert bureaucracy? The beauty of this idea is that with this, a few containers could even be on standby for shipping to disaster regions. Do monthly checks on equipment, like ambulances are supposed to have done with each shift, and a roster of people who rotate (blue crew, gold crew) every month to man the containers. A 3 person crew, trained, could handle 2 containers of 12 machines, though you should double up for blue crew/gold crew rotation at the disaster site. And don't forget, the more people you put in a disaster area, the more supplies they will need not just for themselves, but for emergencies. Ideally, the people crewing this would be EMT trained (not necessarily certified), because sick people will be around... and also, bad news comes on the internet and phone. So placement of these during a disaster should also be near the Aid stations, or integrated into the Aid/Security stations, and a clear path would have to be maintained from the Teletainer to the Aid station. We're dealing with people here. People on the teams should also have a working knowledge of the equipment, and have top of the line communications skills for training new people (you're going to grab volunteers on the ground who speak the local language, as necessary) and so on and so forth. But now I'm delving into the logistics, and I have some stuff I have to finish today. I should probably write this all up and release it as open content ASAP. -- 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.
RE: [DDN] Re: What can we do to prepare for a DISASTER?
CONSEIL REGIONAL DE LA REUNION Direction TIC I think it great ! Jean-François RIVIERE Message N° Merci d'accuser réception à Please acknowledge receipt to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel : 02 62 92 29 33 Fax : 02 62 92 29 00 Mobile : 06 92 86 76 81 -Message d'origine- De: Deborah Elizabeth Finn [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: mercredi 14 septembre 2005 23:42 À: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Cc: NonProfit and Voluntary Action Discussion Group Objet: [DDN] Re: What can we do to prepare for a DISASTER? Dear Colleagues, I just want to mention a vision that a few of us in the Katrina PeopleFinder Project group have been discussing. What if we got together with the national CityCares / Hands On Network http://www.handsonnetwork.org/our-network/ and the Community Technology Center Network http://www.ctcnet.org? What if the Hands On Network recruited volunteers (to be trained by the Katrina PeopleFinder Project) who would be willing to go to local CTCs in the event of an emergency, in order to process data about missing persons, or to help distraught loved ones who are searching for evacuees to enter queries into the PeopleFinder database? If we had a network of previously-trained national or international volunteers - and sites to which they could report - in advance of emergencies - then the folks who were in unaffected regions would have an immediate way to help those in need. What do you think? Best regards from Deborah Deborah Elizabeth Finn Boston, Massachusetts, USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog http://public.xdi.org/=deborah.elizabeth.finn ___ 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. ___ 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.
