Following up on an earlier BB thread about geeks who want to help Hurricane Katrina victims (with cash, tech know-how, gear, hard labor, or organizing skills) reader Rich Kulawiec suggests,
It seems that everyone currently in the New Orleans Superdome — plus many others — are going to be moved to the Astrodome…estimates range from 10K to 30K people, with a possible stay of "months" mentioned. The Astrodome's schedule is being cleared through December.
Communications are going to be a serious issue for these refugees; for example, those few who might have their cell phones probably don't have their chargers. And in a month, when their bill goes to their still-underwater house and isn't paid, their service will be cut off.
Suggestion: we the geeks put together and deploy the world's largest cybercafe in the Astrodome.
Granted, Internet access isn't a panacea, but it at least would provide a way for these people to communicate. What's needed:
(a) permission from someone in a position to grant permission
(b) space+power
(c) tables
(d) chairs
(e) lots and lots of PCs and Macs
(f) at least one ISP that provision a pipe into there
(g) net infrastructure: routers, cabling, etc.
(h) sufficient geek labor to build it.My guess is that (a) might be the most difficult to come up with. So now what?
BB reader Dan says,
While a VOIP center at the astrodome would be a fun thing to build, maybe cell phones and blackberries would be a better way to actually get people in touch with the people they need to get in touch with.
Previously: Tech pros ask — how can we help with Katrina recovery?
