SMS and Email for Tsunami relief: ARC

Immediately after I posted Disaster Relief System: SMS and Email, Dan Lane became involved and pushed this idea into a reality through a healthy dose of knowledge of SMS (Short Message Service), work, Perl, PHP and BASH. The result is called ARC, for Alert Retrieval Cache.

I went to sleep half an hour after the first tests from Sri Lanka and creating a mailing list for the messages to go to (unlisted for security reasons). After some long days trying to get the idea to the right people. Once it got to Dan, it was all downhill - and while the system is still in Beta, I awoke to find it announced all over the place. Sometimes you just have to be happy when an idea is implemented.

It's a stark contrast to the results of the work with ICT Robustness done in the Caribbean/Latin America region after Ivan. The difference? Simply put, less talk and more do. Once things started rolling, the system as it is now was up in a matter of about 2 hours. Without Dan, who knows how long it would have taken.

Maybe we just need more concerned people who are willing to do things.