Disaster can never be good. The times when catastrophe befalls people can never be said to be favorable or great. People of Haiti are facing one of the worst disasters. Moreover the repercussions of the earthquake is not limited to broken debris and people stuck in tons of rubble, it is also about the ensuing epidemic that might break out in the camps where people are staying.
If we compare this disaster to other disasters in the past, we can say that we have better technology to cope with the troubled times. The common man has access to technology like satellite imagery and VOIP that makes life a lot easier in many ways. Citizen journalism was seen to play a vital role even in the eve of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. The same can be seen in this case. We spoke about Web 2.0 in the previous class and I cannot see any better application of Web 2.0.
Now at the moment of this disaster AJAX and our project can also be of great help. Our concept of mash ups using web apis might serve the purpose of helping people in need,provided we have the necessary web applications.
The Haiti tragedy is one of many that people need to know about and offer help if they can.
ReplyDeleteThe use of technology has definitely helped create an awareness of events that are happening globally and give a way for others to share resources.
I went on vacation once to the Domican Republic which is on the other side of Haiti. I have not heard one news story or even a blub. Since they are on the same Island how were they uneffected by the same disaster.
ReplyDeleteThe big issue over there right now is that the banking system has failed. The money transfer locations are overwhelmed with people seeking aid from family and friends. The banks collapsed - literally - leaving everyone's financial "security" in ruin, all at a time where people have just begun to accept savings accounts as a sound method of, well, saving your money.
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