A bit off topic for this blog but this news from Wired is still interesting IMHO.
A Geo-Information technologist, has been using satellite photography to help NGOs document atrocities in isolated crisis zones like Darfur, Zimbabwe and now in the Union of Myanmar.
[…]To catch human rights abusers in the act, Bromley will need a heads-up from the NGOs, who usually know what’s about to go down. “If enough groups learn of the satellites,” he says, “the odds increase that we can collect useful pictures” — pretty much anywhere in the world. Though the impact of such photos is uncertain, in matters of human rights abuse, global attention is never a bad thing. “Right now, we take what the NGOs already know and prove it,” Bromley says. “But my job’s not done until we put a stop to it.”[…]
Although it is obvious that military research in technologies can brings positive points for the humans society (remember ARPANET?) they tend do hurt more than they help (accept this one like a personal comment without statistics proof).
Nevertheless I’m always happy when technologies help people and not injure them… Now the reasons of this post is to gather some comments about the possibilities to use Internet for Humanitarian (2.0 ?) goals? I’m sure their must be more useful things to do than just donate (but do it!). In my point of view donating is always admitting our fails in preventing a unacceptable situations.
Any idea?
Ahmet
The human eyeball has long time been appropriated by the military. Standing on the mountains of Firenze in Tuscany one can see how the militias surveyed the territory for control. How different is a satellite given today’s scale of control? Scouts are taught to kill for the greater good. Such is the responsibility of power and usefulness. While military agenda is frequently smuggled, it’s not infrequent to see the use of hallucinogens by the conscripted. May the faces of children crying, laughing, in terror, hungry, lost, what have you be broadcast perpetually on the world children’s channel, so that politicians can be held accountable for the facial expressions that dominate. (Thanks to artist Juan Downey for this idea.) http://namjunepaik.artistorganizedart.org