Comments on: Blaming Terrorism on Technology and Openness: The Case of Mumbai and Crowd Sourced Security http://blog.geoiq.com/2008/12/02/blaming-terrorism-on-technology-and-openness-the-case-of-mumbai-and-crowd-soruced-security/ News and updates from GeoIQ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:55:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Serren http://blog.geoiq.com/2008/12/02/blaming-terrorism-on-technology-and-openness-the-case-of-mumbai-and-crowd-soruced-security/#comment-741 Serren Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:21:00 +0000 http://blog.fortiusone.com/?p=800#comment-741 This is right here, in the present, not the future. This is right here, in the present, not the future.

]]> By: Barry Schaeffer http://blog.geoiq.com/2008/12/02/blaming-terrorism-on-technology-and-openness-the-case-of-mumbai-and-crowd-soruced-security/#comment-740 Barry Schaeffer Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:23:14 +0000 http://blog.fortiusone.com/?p=800#comment-740 Thousands of years of human history would suggest that technology has never and will never tip the scales of good vs. evil decidedly to one side. So long as the bad guys can get some of the same technology as the good guys or, knowing what the good guys have, can avoid and counter it with cheaper alternatives, we will have that perpetual battle of good vs. evil with no clear winner. The only logical alternative, one might conjecture, is to convince the bad guys to stop being bad... and we don't have much of a track record on that either. The bad guy who believes he is doing good (as might describe our Islamist enemy) might be considered a special and even more difficult case. So we must be prepared to defend what we believe is good, with the realization that the war won't end until God folds up the game board. Regards, Barry Thousands of years of human history would suggest that technology has never and will never tip the scales of good vs. evil decidedly to one side. So long as the bad guys can get some of the same technology as the good guys or, knowing what the good guys have, can avoid and counter it with cheaper alternatives, we will have that perpetual battle of good vs. evil with no clear winner.

The only logical alternative, one might conjecture, is to convince the bad guys to stop being bad… and we don’t have much of a track record on that either. The bad guy who believes he is doing good (as might describe our Islamist enemy) might be considered a special and even more difficult case. So we must be prepared to defend what we believe is good, with the realization that the war won’t end until God folds up the game board.

Regards,

Barry

]]> By: Patrick Meier http://blog.geoiq.com/2008/12/02/blaming-terrorism-on-technology-and-openness-the-case-of-mumbai-and-crowd-soruced-security/#comment-739 Patrick Meier Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:29:08 +0000 http://blog.fortiusone.com/?p=800#comment-739 Excellent post, I've also written on crowdsourcing crisis information and response from the perspective of conflict early warning/response: http://irevolution.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/covering-the-drc-opportunities-for-ushahidi http://earlywarning.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/crowdsourcing-warning-and-response Excellent post, I’ve also written on crowdsourcing crisis information and response from the perspective of conflict early warning/response:

http://irevolution.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/covering-the-drc-opportunities-for-ushahidi

http://earlywarning.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/crowdsourcing-warning-and-response

]]> By: Sean Gorman http://blog.geoiq.com/2008/12/02/blaming-terrorism-on-technology-and-openness-the-case-of-mumbai-and-crowd-soruced-security/#comment-738 Sean Gorman Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:59:47 +0000 http://blog.fortiusone.com/?p=800#comment-738 Hi Marc, The original context of the gun comment was that banning something, whether it is a gun or Google Earth, is not going to stop terrorists. When I was looking for reference on gun control in India I came across several blogs saying if citizens were allowed to have guns the terrorist events would not have happened. This struck me as silly as banning Google Earth, so included it. It is a bit non-sequitor, but I personally would feel a lot safer with a population armed with camera enabled phones and twitter than Glocks and AK's. We've done a lot of research on terrorist incidents across the globe and I can't think of a situation where a terrorist event was stopped by an armed citizen. The case of US state gun control laws is tangential but not quite the same. It would be interesting to see a map of gun control laws and murder rates by state, or whatever indicator would be appropriate to indicate safety. Although that would further open the debate if increased gun control resulted from high murder rates, as in Washington DC. Great issue to map out - I'll see if anyone on the data team is interested or feel free to add your own perspective. Thanks for following the work and tools. best, sean Hi Marc,

The original context of the gun comment was that banning something, whether it is a gun or Google Earth, is not going to stop terrorists. When I was looking for reference on gun control in India I came across several blogs saying if citizens were allowed to have guns the terrorist events would not have happened. This struck me as silly as banning Google Earth, so included it. It is a bit non-sequitor, but I personally would feel a lot safer with a population armed with camera enabled phones and twitter than Glocks and AK’s. We’ve done a lot of research on terrorist incidents across the globe and I can’t think of a situation where a terrorist event was stopped by an armed citizen. The case of US state gun control laws is tangential but not quite the same. It would be interesting to see a map of gun control laws and murder rates by state, or whatever indicator would be appropriate to indicate safety. Although that would further open the debate if increased gun control resulted from high murder rates, as in Washington DC. Great issue to map out – I’ll see if anyone on the data team is interested or feel free to add your own perspective. Thanks for following the work and tools.

best,
sean

]]> By: Topical links for 2 December http://blog.geoiq.com/2008/12/02/blaming-terrorism-on-technology-and-openness-the-case-of-mumbai-and-crowd-soruced-security/#comment-737 Topical links for 2 December Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:14:30 +0000 http://blog.fortiusone.com/?p=800#comment-737 [...] Flickr, too. Oh, and there’s Wikipedia, too. While I’m at it, Sean has a related post here on the issue of whether free geospatial information enabled the recent siege in Mumbai. I  to [...] [...] Flickr, too. Oh, and there’s Wikipedia, too. While I’m at it, Sean has a related post here on the issue of whether free geospatial information enabled the recent siege in Mumbai. I  to [...]

]]> By: Marc http://blog.geoiq.com/2008/12/02/blaming-terrorism-on-technology-and-openness-the-case-of-mumbai-and-crowd-soruced-security/#comment-736 Marc Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:48:58 +0000 http://blog.fortiusone.com/?p=800#comment-736 I like the idea of having technology empower the people. Not sure why you're harping on guns, however. What if citizens had both technology and guns so they could stop the terrorists before even the police could get there? Your case for technology seems convincing, your case against guns, on the other hand, seems out of place. Those of us who live in states with strong gun rights are more safe, not less (would you want to rob a man if there was a good chance he had a gun too!). I suspect the same would apply to terrorism and countries like India if handled properly. Either way, the debate on guns is a distraction. My suggestion, focus on your strengths--technology and geospatial analysis--and avoid the political. Btw, love all of the other stuff you're doing. Keep up the good work! I like the idea of having technology empower the people. Not sure why you’re harping on guns, however. What if citizens had both technology and guns so they could stop the terrorists before even the police could get there? Your case for technology seems convincing, your case against guns, on the other hand, seems out of place. Those of us who live in states with strong gun rights are more safe, not less (would you want to rob a man if there was a good chance he had a gun too!). I suspect the same would apply to terrorism and countries like India if handled properly. Either way, the debate on guns is a distraction. My suggestion, focus on your strengths–technology and geospatial analysis–and avoid the political. Btw, love all of the other stuff you’re doing. Keep up the good work!

]]>