Re: Web Application for project

[f_kenisky () earthlink net]

Thanks to everyone who replied.  I received a lot of email about this project.  Unlike many other "people finder" 
projects this is unique in that it's not confined.

I know there were many different "people finder" type databases.  The problem with that is that the people who needed 
to manage the database didn't own it.  Also you must understand the boundaries, which confine this type of good-natured 
gesture.

Although it is goodwill and sincere it is not without it's drawbacks, which stem from conflict of interest, to politics 
and everything else stirred in.

The D.A.M.N. project is about the community providing an open application that can be modified and used by anyone and 
everyone, with a common database for use in an emergency.  I realize this poses it's own "WEBSECURITY" problems but 
whom else better than an open source community D.A.M.N. Project.

The problems faced during Katrina were that there were so much assistance and no coordination.  The main problem was 
that there were so many different "people finders" and no one common area for people to locate what they needed to do.  
That is only one small area within this application.

The other problem we ran into was trying to determine where the local resources were.  In the event of a disaster the 
size of Katrina it not only affected New Orleans but also other cities in other states as well.

As you may know from the news since FEMA has no idea how many or even where most of the evacuees currently are within 
the city of San Antonio, they are holding back or refusing to pay the local government for their costs.  Also there is 
the issue of trying to determine if any of the people relocated from New Orleans were "Sex Offenders".  This creates 
another problem that I feel the common database will prevent.  "Privacy Act Disclaimer".

The "people finder" was useful to a handful but is now useless to everyone else.

I hope to get this thing up and running as soon as possible and hope we can start working on something.

Thank you SecurityFocus and everyone else who emailed and wants to get involved.  I'll keep in touch.