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Thanks for all the links and non-mainstream media on the fires, jr. I have been avoiding the urge to delve too deep into this story because it looks like one of those compelling events that will completely suck up one's time. I was riveted to the Web and cable during 9/11 and the DC sniper stories for days on end, seemingly unable to pry myself away from the next nugget of news.

The Twitter users you cited are excellent examples of citizens using these emerging Internet media to out-perform mainstream news outlets. Even as someone who has worked in this field, both as a mainstream and independent journalist, I never cease to be amazed at the power of the Internet to broadcast and retrieve information.

This is more than a mere "democratization" of the media and information access. We are living through a period of change perhaps unparalleled in human history, and even the most talented techies and futurists have only a rough idea where we might be headed.

That is, of course, provided that we as irresponsible humans annhilate ourselves first. All bets are off if we re-ignite our love affairs with nuclear and microbial weaponry, and it appears that a conflict of global proportions might not be far off.

I suspect that a Third World War will be much more destructive than the first two.

posted by historymike on Oct 25, 2007 at 08:56:36 am     #

About the only information I've seen or read over the past couple days about these San Diego County fires has been via the KPBS and Nate Ritter twitter pages and KPBS's streaming radio broadcast.

posted by jr on Oct 25, 2007 at 12:53:47 pm     #

It's nature's real estate bubble that was fueled by overdevelopment.

I concur w/George Carlin's sentiments:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/justin-mccarthy/2007/10/24/george-carlins-view-wildfire-victims-get-whats-coming-them

The planet is fine. The people are [bleeped out]. Because everyone is trying to save the planet. The planet doesn’t need that. The planet will take care of itself. People are selfish. And that's what they're doing is trying to save the planet for themselves to have a nicer place to live. They don't care about the planet in theory. They just care about having a comfortable place. And these people with the fires and the floods and everything, they overbuild, they put nature to the test and they get what's coming to them. That's what I say.
...
There are places that are going to go away. The map is going to change and that's because -- people think nature is outside of them. They don't take into them the idea that we are part of it. They say, "oh, we're going for a nature walk. We're going to the country because we like nature." Nature is in here. And if you're in tune with it, like the Indians, the Hopis, especially, the balance of life, the balance, the harmony of nature, if you understand that, you don't overbuild. You don’t do all this moron stuff.

posted by charlatan on Oct 25, 2007 at 04:35:13 pm     #

I heard a fellow on PBS commenting that people are worried about the cause(s) of these fires, but they are almost inevitable. The dry tinder that is spread throughout the region is just waiting for a match. And the same fellow said that there is no way a fire department can save houses with shakes for roofing. Perhaps one good thing has come out of this. The areas where the fire was allowed to burn can be rebuilt with an eye to reducing the possibility of fire. As for the areas that the fire departments worked so hard to "save": they probably are still located in tender-dry spreads of ignitable fuel.

posted by oldsendbrdy on Oct 26, 2007 at 01:14:17 am     #

Interesting and chilling stuff JR and Mike. On the lighter side, my latest media obsession is Robin & Company at 6:00 AM. And sometimes I turn on the sound.

posted by Offshore on Oct 26, 2007 at 08:58:52 am     #

Nov 15, 2007 Toledo Blade story titled Lucas County to establish small-scale crisis team

Following a debriefing about flash floods that damaged homes in the Old West End last summer, Tina Skeldon Wozniak, president of the Lucas County commissioners, felt more could be done to respond quickly to disasters that affect small numbers of people.

Ms. Wozniak said when a tornado touches down or flooding occurs in large portions of the county, the Emergency Management Agency immediately swings into action.

But when a particular neighborhood or a township is damaged by inclement weather or other forces, services are often slow to reach those areas because of a lack of a coordinated effort among elected leaders and first responders.

The National Weather Service in Cleveland will participate as needed, and Ms. Wozniak said City of Toledo officials often will be involved.

Ms. Wozniak said each of the county's political jurisdictions has been contacted about the incident assessment team, which she said is an extension of the county's disaster-response protocol.

Ms. Wozniak said the assessment team not only will provide affected residents with more rapid relief, but also will be able to produce correct information to media outlets on where people should go or call for additional help.

What about disseminating information? What's the local process for informing the public in a timely fashion? What's the protocol for sharing information with other counties, including those across the state line? I wonder if area crisis teams in the future will exploit and promote the use of social media to inform people regardless of the size of the disaster?

Coordination by the local media and agencies for TV, radio, and Web is needed. Don't forget the ham operators and citizen eyewitness accounts and collecting and distributing that information.

All of these Web services could be used, and they're free or cost little. Nothing to install. The software and information are hosted on the servers of these Web companies.

• Wordpress or Typepad - blog for long informational posts.

• Google - maps for a visual display of affected areas, shelters, etc.

• Twitter - micro blog service for rapid-fire updating. Citizens can subscribe to the crisis twitter account to receive updates on their cell phones. The owners of the twitter account can post from their cell phone. Web version exists too.

• flickr or photobucket - photo sharing

• YouTube - video sharing

• Pbwiki or Wikia - wiki for organizing the information and services listed above. Could be used as a starting point or home page.

Those without power, Internet access, and cell phones, can get updates from a battery-operated radio, assuming the radio station has power. If the radio station or stations do not have power, what's the backup plan for broadcasting? Can another station in the area be used, assuming it's not a widespread power outage, like what the public station in San Diego managed to do during their fires last month?

Those with power can continue to update the Web services. Radio and TV stations capable of broadcasting to those without power can read the info posted on the Web services. The information released by the media and government agencies should be replicated on some Web service for lookup later by those who happen to miss the radio or TV broadcast.

posted by jr on Nov 15, 2007 at 02:42:33 pm     #

I should have mentioned that all of the above Web services, except for the Google maps app, can syndicate its content through RSS feeds, which means one site can scarf up all the RSS feeds from all the Web services used and display the info on one page. Or the single site could use a separate page for each RSS feed. The Google map or maps can be embedded into this single site that's aggregating the RSS feeds.

In other words, while the crisis teams, media, etc. are using multiple Web services to distribute information, as long as all the information can be syndicated with RSS, then the public only needs to know the URL to one site. The "aggregator site" would contain links to all the Web services used and to the Web sites for the media and government agencies. RSS feeds only contain the most recent 10 to 20 or so posts. A user may need to go to the Wordpress, Twitter, or media site to see old postings.

During the San Diego County fires last month, San Diego's PBS station KPBS actively maintained a Twitter page, and KPBS displayed their twitter postings on the front page of their station's Web site by snagging their twitter RSS feed. KPBS also created a fascinating Google fire and shelter map. KPBS streamed their radio broadcasts over the Internet, informing those beyond radio range. Multiple ways to keep the public informed.

One service I left out in the previous comment was Craigslist and its forums. http://toledo.craigslist.org/forums/. Craigslist forums have been used as a communication tool in the past for other natural disasters.

posted by jr on Nov 15, 2007 at 03:21:44 pm     #

The local ham radio operators are an integral part to the County EMS and are routinely involved in emergencies and emergency planning. Talk about a terrific asset in the community!

posted by MaggieThurber on Nov 15, 2007 at 09:44:35 pm     #

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