[Yr7-10it] Bushfire comment...
Kent Beveridge
kbeveridge at stbc.vic.edu.au
Mon Feb 9 21:23:17 EST 2009
Apologies firstly to this forum as I am well aware this is an I.T. forum..but..
Whilst not being directly impacted by the fires, I have been indirectly impacted. My thoughts and concerns are with all those affected. My work this morning, as part of our morning procedures, conducted a prayer for those concerned and impacted by the recent events.
I am not a deeply religious person but will confess to being emotional.
So, in short, my thoughts go to all those families and students impacted by the fires. For those of us who can, lets do whatever we can to assist although I am sure this goes without saying given what I understand about my fellow teaching and educational colleagues...if we didnt care, we're in the wrong job!
Lets hope the mongrels that started all this get caught and prosecuted in a fashion to match the crime. How they can get joy from other's loss is beyond me!
Again, sorry listers for this social comment but we DO have a wide audience, so perhaps those who live in a cave but do have internet access will see this and contribute in some way to help the recovery of those affected.
Donations, school raffles, 'fill a trailer with goodies and donate that', are all ideas. Aussies are a giving bunch...so lets give!!
Thanks for reading and thinking about these thoughts...
Kent.
Kent Beveridge,
I.C.T. co-ordinator
St. Brigids Catholic Sec. College
http://www.stbc.vic.edu.au/ <http://www.stbc.vic.edu.au/>
Horsham Ph (03) 5382 3545
kbeveridge at stbc.vic.edu.au
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________________________________
From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Greg Neil (Mr)
Sent: Mon 2/9/2009 8:17 PM
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: RE: [Yr7-10it] Bushfires and the social media
Fortunately they are at this stage, thank you. As are friends to the north of Melbourne caught in the horrendous blazes that occurred through that region. I was defending my Parent's property on Saturday when the change sent the Bunyip Ridge fires up the Tarago valley. Thankfully the change was not quite as vigorous as predicted, and the ember attacks were not as sustained in the area as they were in others. Unfortunately I was not able to be there today when a new outbreak occurred less than a kilometer away and burned across the ridge that borders their property. I also do not know if I will be able to get back in before the end of the week, when the next weather change will likely bring the Walhalla-Nojee fires back down on them. So you can see it has been a stressful few days and I was not feeling subtle when I responded.
I love IT as much as the next geek (OK, I don't get Facebook. How does some anonymous person behind a pseudonym, clicking a button, become my friend ? Can I borrow money from this person ? Would I ask them to babysit ? Has "Friend" become the most de-valued word on the internet ?), but it annoys me when the IT press tries to turn things like Facebook and a Google map into something of world importance or great significance. For the most part they have little real value, and are of transient interest until the same journos decide what is the next big thing. When the fit hits the shan, as they say in the classics, Facebook has about as much longevity as Corey and his partying ways. This is doubly true when a first world country such as ours cannot even provide the basic infrastructure required to access these things to the more vulnerable parts of society.
Sorry to Stephen - my response was not aimed at you personally. Just a note of general frustration.
Cheers,
Greg
-----Original Message-----
From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Bane, Janet A
Sent: Mon 2/9/2009 3:35 PM
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: RE: [Yr7-10it] Bushfires and the social media
I hope your folks are OK Neil. I know its hard for us "city slickers" to imagine what it was like in the bush. We can only do our bit by donating to the appeals that have been set up. I know our school has asked everyone, students and staff for a gold coin donation (as a minimum) to be sent to the Red Cross.
I don't think Stephen was being disrespectful, just pointing out how social networking sites such as facebook and twitter and google earth were being used as a communications tool for the rest of us concerned citizens, be they in Victoria, Australia or other parts of the globe.
regards
Janet Bane
Patterson River SC
_____
From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Greg Neil (Mr)
Sent: Mon 09-Feb-09 2:59 PM
To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: RE: [Yr7-10it] Bushfires and the social media
Which is all well and good, if the local infrastructure could provide services to country Victoria. For my parents at least, in Western Gippsland, this was of little use as they were without electricity for 48 hours, and without telephones for 24, from well before the main threats reached them. Even if we pout the PC on the generator we weren't going to get anything. Thank goodness for ABC radio, because they have no mobile reception, and power and phones that are poor at the best of times, and useless when really needed. Worship this as innovation is you want, but facebook means nothing in the real world. In fact, Facebook et al are for people who don't live in the real world. When the smoke is so thick it is darker than night, you can't afford to sitting at facebook or google hoping to find out if the fire is just over the next hill.
-----Original Message-----
From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of stephen at melbpc.org.au
Sent: Mon 2/9/2009 1:57 PM
To: oz-teachers at rite.ed.qut.edu.au; oztl_net at listserv.csu.edu.au; link at anu.edu.au; yr7-10it at edulists.com.au
Subject: [Yr7-10it] Bushfires and the social media
Social media lights up as Victorian bushfires rage
Asher Moses February 9, 2009 - 11:22AM
http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/web/social-media-lights-up-as-
victorian-bushfires-rage/2009/02/09/1234027910408.html
As the worst bushfires in Australia's history raged across Victoria,
Twitter, Flickr and Facebook lit up with condolences and horrific first-
hand accounts, while many used innovative online mapping tools to assess
the risk of the fires reaching their own homes.
Mainstream news outlets, battling to provide comprehensive coverage of
the tragedy, have incorporated accounts published on the social
networking sites extensively in their reports.
Using online social media to spread vital information and personal
stories is becoming increasingly commonplace in times of crisis, but this
may be the first time the social networking sites have been used
extensively during an Australian disaster.
Google's engineers have created a map containing the latest up-to-date
information about fire locations and their status, based on data provided
by Victoria's Country Fire Authority (CFA).
http://mapvisage.appspot.com/fires/FireMap.html
The map, updated in real-time with information about the number, type and
size of fires in a particular location, buckled as thousands of web users
sought out updates. But the site appeared to be working as normal this
morning.
Google created the map after the CFA's website struggled to cope with the
surge in people looking for information about the fires.
"We hope that it's of some use to people who may be affected, to
emergency services personnel, and that it takes some load off other
websites which are being inundated," Google wrote in a blog post.
Aus-emaps.com created its own map of the fire locations - derived from
data provided by Federal Government body Geoscience Australia through its
Sentinel national bushfire monitoring system - before Google but also
reported slowdowns due to high demand.
http://www.aus-emaps.com/bushfires.html
On Twitter, "bushfires" is as of this morning the No.1 "trending topic"
as users traded first-hand accounts, news, and information on how to
donate and seek help. http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23bushfires
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, through his Twitter account, has published
messages telling his 7000 followers how to make cash and blood donations,
find out more information on the fires and seek emergency Government
assistance.
http://twitter.com/KevinRuddPM
"Red Cross donation page is down, which is a good sign," wrote steven-
lewis.
Another users, carloscomputers, wrote: "My thoughts go out to those
affected by the bushfires. I really feel for you poor buggers."
One Twitter member and volunteer firefighter, cfavolunteer, has been
posting updates on his progress since late January.
http://twitter.com/cfavolunteer
Yesterday, he wrote he had "experienced and seen things today that no one
should ever see".
He added: "7th February 2009 will go down in history for all the wrong
reasons. I hope people are safe, especially after what I have seen."
CFA has even created its own Twitter account, CFA_News, to aggregate the
latest news updates on the fires.
http://twitter.com/CFA_NEWS
Another unofficial Twitter account providing information on the fires,
cfa_updates, has published over 9000 messages and has 330 followers.
http://twitter.com/cfa_updates
On Flickr, Victorians flooded the site with amateur images of their fire-
ravaged state.
A user going by the handle Aussie Pecker published several particularly
striking images of burnt out cars, houses and bushland, devastated
displaced residents, a clothing donation drive in Whittlesea and family
reunions. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14654415@N07
Several more photographs can be found in the special Flickr group created
to collate images of the fires. http://www.flickr.com/groups/998526@N20/
On Facebook, at least three groups have been created in remembrance of
those who lost their lives in the bushfires. The biggest, "Applaud the
CFA heroes & empathise with the victims of the 09 Vic bushfires", has
almost 7500 members. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?
sid=c015ec3a2230ae71d73525cc70037943&gid=48846541698
"Without the selflessness of the people on the fireground and those
unsung people behind the scenes this tragedy could unbelievably have been
much worse," wrote Facebook user Marci Medley among scores of other
tributes.
--
Cheers people
Stephen Loosley
Victoria, Australia
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