Last night I was talking with Keith Pleas. Keith is a developer that I’ve known for more than a decade now. He worked on the help system in Windows 95. He also owned a furniture shop where he imported from around the world, particularly in the Asian Pacific. So, he’s well connected in that part of the world.
Last night he told me that we haven’t even heard how bad the tsunami was. He told of one island where 20,000 people used to live. He said he heard that only 600 lived.
Today the death toll was increased to 116,000 (thanks to Memeorandum for the link). That’s a number that’s beyond my comprehension.
One of Keith’s friends, Susi, who lives in Bali and travels frequently to Indonesia, has started a blog: the Aceh Aid Bucket Brigade.
You know, I started out the week by being insensitive. A boor. I said that blogs had missed the initial story. They had. The mainstream press had gotten the original story first. But blogs, like Susi’s, are now helping build new kinds of relief networks and news networks.
By the way, Susi reports that Continental Airlines is opening its doors wide. Corporate giving is really important at times like these. It’s where corporations can show they are important parts of our society. Congrats to eBay, Google, Amazon, Apple for linking to relief efforts.
Microsoft is late to this party. B
…excerpt from: radio.weblogs.com…