It has been a busy, busy summer for me, and I have been away from the computer more often than usual. The recent disaster, hurricane Katrina, has brought a few websites or more than a few to my attention.
mp3 uzbekOn the *how can they do this* front... The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers up online registration application for aid to disaster victims. Issues include users need to have Windows OS, Internet Explorer 6.0, Javascript enabled, and be able to view images and see them well in order to apply. (Captchas are used as a requirement for online form submission). See today's WaSP buzz for more info and links. Of course, there are phone in help options available, though people need to give a phone number and mailing address as a requirement for follow-up contact. One might wonder how displaced, homeless, and phoneless victims have access to these options? The FEMA site does suggest to visit a library if a computer is not available.
On a more positive note, Yahoo!News has put together an outstanding resource for hurricane victims and others interested in finding people and more at its timely and very useful new metasearch tool, Katrina: Search for Missing People, Hurricane Message Boards. Great work.
Recently, or over the past several days, I have been checking out information at the New Orleans Intel Wiki, a wide variety of resources, media, comments, and images available to those interested in following what's been happening over the past week and days, thanks to the people and server which remained up and running on diesel throughout the storm located in New Orleans. Found out about DirectNic (the server) and its workers via a wired news piece, Flood Waters Can't Sink Net Link. More stories about the server at this Google Search Results page. Great work, everyone.
Like many, I am still wondering how and why things happened or evolved the way they have, and hope for the best for everyone.
Posted by Holly at September 7, 2005 12:17 PM | TrackBack