Trust But Verify

More On Gabe Rivera's Memeorandum

Britt Blaser wonders "Could someone ask them to light up katrina.memeorandum?" I approached Gabe about doing just that nearly two weeks ago. We went back and forth about the idea; his chief concern was  whether a hurried effort would add enough to the conversation about Katrina. (via Scripting News) It took Gabe months to get tech.meme to beta and then live; it may all be automated but getting it that way required an intense amount of work on his part. Ideally -- from my perspective -- he'd be able to set up something in response to breaking news but it might require a different approach to sourcing. Now that tech.mem is live maybe the idea of a dedicated Katrina page can be revisited.

One other point: As good as tech.meme and its predecessor are, they aren't exhaustive. In order to be included in the conversation, the site either must be part of the primary list or, I believe,  linked to by someone in that universe. 

Gabe, if I'm off target, I feel confidant that you will set me straight.

Related: Automated Tech News Site Goes Live

Hurricane Katrina: USPS @ Work

Please share this.

The USPS efforts in the wake of Katrina sounded pretty impressive during a CNN interview with Postmaster General John Potter so I went to the web site for more information.  They're making a great effort but the site information is barely penetrable. Next step: a phone call (not as easy as it sounds) to the media office; I heard back from someone within the hour -- and I was glad I made the effort. Some key points:

• People are sending money and other materials to the Astrodome and other shelters addressed to "any survivor." USPS spokesman Bob Anderson said that is causing more problems, in part, because some organizations won't accept it; also, I gather, because it adds volume. Instead, the USPS asks that donors give cash to the relief agencies,  organizations, their religious institution -- anywhere but through the mail to unknown recipients.
• Different shelters have different mail procedures. For instance, Mr. Potter mentioned giving people at the Astrodome individual  P.O. boxes. That's not the case for all evacuees or even for everyone there.
• If you are trying to reach someone via mail the best bet is to send it to their old address unless they have given you a specific new one.
• Survivors should make change of address requests ASAP even if they are only going to be somewhere for a few days. (The shelters should be able to provide the right address.) Electronic requests have the fastest turnaround -- 24 hours and can be done for someone if they can't reach a computer. Phone calls should be nearly as fast: 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777. The slightly slower standby: go to the nearest post office and fill out a form. The spokesman told me the rerouting starts as soon as the request is processed so anyone filing today could start to get mail in the next few days.
• The web site may be misleading to some in one important respect. Some forms of mail are not being accepted for delivery to certain zip codes but I have been assured that doesn't apply to first-class mail.

I urged him to ask for a more accessible explanation online both for survivors and for those trying to reach them. He said he would try. BTW, I made it clear when I left the message that I was not calling for an established media outlet but for information to share online.

Hurricane Katrina: Tagging Continued

For anyone who doesn't know how to tag or is still uncomfortable with it, Alexandra Samuel has written a tutorial for Katrina tags. She offers examples that can be used as templates and explains how you can use a service like del.icio.us to tag other people's posts. Please make use of it and share it. Alex also has set it up as a wiki because she hopes "others will edit and improve."

Many thanks to Nancy White for suggesting Alex as a resource -- and to her and everyone else who continued the conversation on Katrina tagging.

Hurricane Katrina: Yahoo Missing Person Search Across Sites

Yahoo now has a Katrina missing-person search engine that draws results from multiple sites including its own message boards,  ICRC, Craigslist, Gulf Coast News, NOLA.com, Public People Locator, MSNBC, Refugee Connect, Hurricane Help, Castpost Missing Persons, Operation Get-InTouch and CNN.

I knew this was in the works but wasn't sure when it actually would be usable. A big thank you to the people at Yahoo who gave up their holiday to make it work. 

Yahoo: Search Katrina lists from across the Web

The Blame Game

I agree with Rex that rescue and survival are far more important than blame.

Rex: We're all outraged. We're all in shock and disbelief. We all want to blame someone. But can we at least have a national day of mourning before we commence with this national day of blaming.

Here's my suggestion: Keep writing all your evidence-of-responsibility posts but hold onto them for a few days. Use those days to help people find loved ones and to figure out what you can do to help. Raise money for relief causes. Figure out how your church or civic club or neighborhood can re-settle an evacuee family. Then, after a week or so (September 12th at the earliest) go ahead and start back flooding the blogosphere with blame.)

Unfortunately, the longer it takes to figure out who did -- or, more to the point, didn't -- do what, the easier it seems to be to shift the blame. Why does blame matter? It's not as if anyone in charge is going to be charged or as if it can change anything that happened in the past week. But it can -- and should -- help us understand how not to let it happen again.

I hope that anyone collecting facts about the events leading up to Katrina and the subsequent chaos continues to do so. The invective, the politics, the anonymous fingerpointing -- that can wait.