All posts by johncohn

Thursday night – help map the Phillipines for storm disaster relief

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Lots goign on in my life right now… my brain is truly swirling. I was procrastinating today to get my mind off things when I found an interesting albeit very indirect way to help the phillipines rebuild from the terrible typhoon strike they just had.

 

A group of us at work monitor a community called ‘Understanding Risk’. We’re interested in seeing how IT can’t help manage and mitigate RISK. This appeal came across that community today..   The basic idea is to help crowd source the maps of soem of the more remote rural areas to help get supplies  in there.   . Here’s the note we got.

 

Typhoon Yolanda has had a devastating impact on the Philippines. Thousands are feared dead and many more have been affected by one of the strongest storms on record. The work required to respond and recover from this event will be massive.
One way that you can help is by contributing to OpenStreetMap (OSM). OSM is a free and open map of the world that everyone can access and contribute to. Right now, hundreds of volunteers from all over the world are working together to digitize roads, buildings, and other features from satellite imagery made freely available by Microsoft and the US State Department’s Humanitarian Information Unit. With the coordination of our partners at the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, the geographic information they are creating is already being used by the Red Cross, the United Nations and other responding organizations working in the Philippines. There is more work to be done and the Understanding Risk Community is uniquely positioned to help.
To get started, you can:
– Visit the project coordination page for more information: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Typhoon_Haiyan
– Login to OSM Tasking Manager (OpenStreetMap account required) and click on a task to contribute:  http://tasks.hotosm.org/
-If you have any questions or want to learn more you can join the mailing list of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team: https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot
– If you are in DC and want to help the Philippines Typhoon response, contribute to @OpenStreetMap at @CrisisCamp this Saturday – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crisiscamp-philippines-washington-dc-tickets-9289145083

 

It’s pretty easy to sign up. first go to http://www.openstreetmap.org

and sign up for an account.. you have to click on the email they send you to get started…    then go to the link above that lists the tasks that need doing http://tasks.hotosm.org/ , pic a task, then start editing,

You start by choosing an editor….. I picked ‘potlatch’, the second choice..

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They suggested an easier entry level editor called ‘ID’.. which you find on the ‘Edit’ menu… I took a short tutorial and was editing in 3 min ..

 

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I only did a little tonight.. but plan to do more during phone calls tomorrow..

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I know it’s not much.. but at least its something we can do to help get help there..

 

nite all nite sam

-me

 

Wednesday night – The pod

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Flying back home now from a good set of meetings in Nyc. Last night i wasn't able to make it out to maxs so i tried so,ething new. I stayed in The Pod a (relatively) low cost hotel in mid town. You get a bunk bed, a sink.. And a shared bathroom. It was so cute and tiny.. Ill always stay there from now on..

 

Meetings today were interesting and thought provoking.. Ate lunch downstares and watched ladies gluing dinosaur bones together. Cool

 

Oops.. Leaving

Nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Tuesday night – eating alone

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Siting alone at an empty italian place in midtown manhattan.. And kinda happy to be doing just that. Its a moment of peace an quiet ive been craving all day .normally most of the time, i dont eat in restaurants when im traveling alone.. It just seems so sad to do that.. But feels right tonight,

It reminds me of one of my favorite billy collins poems

 

471. Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant – Billy Collins

I am glad I resisted the temptation,

if it was a temptation when I was young to write a poem about an old man

eating alone at a corner table in a Chinese restaurant.

I would have gotten it all wrong

thinking: the poor bastard, not a friend in the world

and with only a book for a companion.

He'll probably pay the bill out of a change purse.

So glad I waited all these decades

to record how hot and sour the hot and sour

soup is here at Chang's this afternoon

and how cold the Chinese beer in a frosted glass.

And my book –– José Saramago's Blindness

as it turns out –– is so absorbing that I look up

from its escalating horrors only

when I am stunned by one of his gleaming sentences.

And I should mention the light

that falls through the big windows this time of the day

italicizing everything it touches ––

the plates and teapots, the immaculate tablecloths,

as well as the soft brown hair of the waitress

in the white blouse and short black skirt,

the one who is smiling now as she bears a cup of rice

and shredded beef with garlic to my favorite table in the corner.

Ahhh.. Heres my pizza !

Nite all, nite sam

-me

 

 

Monday night – decongested

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Just got off the phone from my last work call at 9L30 pm. that makes another fourteen hour day …

I am about 2 hours into an over-the-counter  12 hour decongestant pill.. I feel like Alice goign down the rabbit hole,.. the box says  says it doesn’t make you drowsy or speedy.. but I’m both.and my ears are ringing.. and my vision is like I’m looking out of a dark cave.. . I wonder if my brain is just overly sensitive to chemicals…

that said.. its kinda peaceful.. I like being a little spaced out like this. .I have a ton of stuff to do.. but cant seem to make my self care right now.. I took one of these last night before bed and lay there peacefully awake until about 4 AM.. .. then fell asleep until 7 and woke fully rested…

 

so this thing does do a good job of decongesting my sinuses.. now if it could only decongest my mind,.. 🙂

ok.. gonna try this sleep ting again.. wish me luck !

nite all, nite sam

-me