Blogging to Help Others

Hi folks -- quick update because, after all, the blog world never
sleeps...

We've got a few "Stans" in the news -- as
you know, South Asia got hit pretty hard Saturday by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that was centered
near the Kashmir region, affecting Pakistan, India, and
Afghanistan.

The death toll is feared at 20,000 and
rising as reports come in. Below are some blog info and help resource
links:

* South Asia
Quake Help Blog - A quake news and resource group
blog. It's a good place to find local resources and info (like Metroblogging
Lahore and Karachi).  It's done by the folks
who did the Southeast Asian Earthquake and Tsunami Blog (SEA
EAT)

* Pakistan Earthquake
2005 - Another disaster and relief info blog set up
in the wake of the earthquake.

* As always, BBC News
has strong, ongoing coverage, including reporters'
first person accounts and reader reactions to the
disaster.

* Here is blogger Kathryn Cramer's entry about her CommunityWalk site for the earthquake; a
CommunityWalk is a kind of community Web
site (sort of like a group blog or wiki) that's built around Google Maps
imagery, where people can add their own notes and
photos.

* Disasterpedia is a
self-proclaimed "one-stop info shop" on natural disasters of all sorts;
they also feature their Top Ten Myths of Disaster
Relief.

* The International Federation
of the Red Cross has information, as well as their
donation page.

They
also have information on our other "Stan" item: Hurricane Stan didn't
affect the U.S. very much, but it hit Central America pretty hard,
causing flooding and landslides and making a lot of people
homeless.

As always, you can go to:

Network for Good

to
find the charity or humanitarian organization of your choice if you'd like to help out.

Talk to you later. -- Joe