Logging onto disaster

BANGALORE: After watching TV reports on the devastating tsunami that hit South Asia, Nitin Desai, a techie in Bangalore wanted to pitch in to help. But, before heading straight to Tamil Nadu, he made another trip.... to the world of weblogs to glean as much info as possible so that he could do his best to help. It made a huge difference when he went to Cuddalore. "I had a good picture of what to expect and what not to do, thanks to the tsunami blogs," he said.






Like Desai, many people across India, accessed blogs such as http://indiauncut-tsunami.blogspot.com and http://dcubed.blogspot.com, which provide first-hand personal accounts of the situation on ground zero. The detailed accounts are touching, informative, insightful and at times heart wrenching - going beyond clinical news reports that quote cold statistics and facts.





Amit Varma, a journalist who maintains the indiauncut blog, received over 100,000 page views in the week he wrote from Tamil Nadu. "This is pretty big in the blogosphere. I also got hundreds of emails from people who wanted to help, and directed them to the relevant agencies," he said.





While Varma sent his dispatches from a local cyber cafe, others messaged their accounts using a cell phone, which was then published on blogs. Some enterprising bloggers went a step further. The group responsible for http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com launched two new collaborative blogs: http://tsunamienquiry.blogspot.com, with numbers for emergency help services in affected areas, and http://tsunamimissing.blogspot.com, aimed at assisting people in connecting with loved ones.





Besides written blogs, a slew of video blogs better known as vlogs sprouted post-December 26, 2004, carrying images and audio of the killer waves that struck at various places and its subsequent devastation. These amateur videos attracted high page views on these sites.





Volunteers and NGOs in the South also posted requirements and the latest updates on their Websites. This is just a tiny sample of how technology and the Internet can make an invaluable difference in the face of disaster.





No longer isolated to tragedy





Like the stills of a mega blockbuster disaster movie, footage of the giant waves captured on digital cameras and videos tell their own story of the power of the tsunami's devastation. The sheer number of images shot during the disaster is also proof of the growing ubiquity of personal digital devices. Ordinary tourists and trigger happy camera enthusiasts in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka used the moment to capture what would probably be the most unforgettable images of their lives, and turned into visual chroniclers of the tragedy. TV channels in turn, have been beaming these scenes repeatedly into people's homes.





While efforts to provide relief to the tsunami-ravaged countries is pouring in from across the world at an unprecedented scale, companies like Cisco are trying to provide tech help in the form of Netrelief kits. This kit consists of a wireless voice and data communication system that allows families to communicate with their dear ones living elsewhere. This was recently deployed in the Banda Aceh region of Indonesia.





Companies are using innovative ways of getting people to contribute ranging from click- to-donate to providing links to aid organizations. US based ZaptoPhone sells "Tsunami aid ring tones." Interested customers can choose to buy from four ring tones, which include the national anthems of India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Proceeds from these sales would go into the US fund for UNICEF relief efforts. Talk about ringing in relief!