Public Access Database for Tracking Events

Read the following:

On the other hand, what if it wasn’t a coincidence? If a group of people wanted to cause havoc and destruction, and to have a good chance of getting away with it, what might they do? We’ve all been led to expect an apocalyptic attack one or more major cities, which would make the national news and launch an immediate manhunt. But what if they were to sabotage and burn dozens, or hundreds, of vehicles in rural areas instead? How would anybody connect the dots?

Since then, I’ve been searching for any mention of these fires in the local news, to no avail. As of this writing, I’ve yet to find any news story that I can associate with the date and location of these particular fires. That’s frustrating, but it tells me that we can’t rely on the mainstream media, or official sources, to recognize these dots, much less connect them!

This is where citizen journalism comes in, which means you and me. Use whatever tools are available to do the job. If you don’t have a video camera or a camera phone, at least get a phone with web browsing and text messaging capability, so that you can transmit the details of what you encountered.

How would a database or wiki help? The task of “connecting the dots” would be much easier if we had a database or wiki that everyone could use for reporting unusual events and local-scale disasters, and that everyone could search to find patterns and causes of events. In order to be useful, this would have to be a large-scale project that takes in and organizes detailed data from all over the U.S. It would take plenty of resources to start up such a database or wiki on a server that could handle the traffic, to launch and promote the project, and to sign up enough participants to give the project a good start. This is not a one-person job; clearly, it would take more funds and more time than I presently have at my disposal. Nonetheless, this is my proposal for the future, and if enough other people are interested, we could get it done!

Source: 1389 Blog Read the whole thing for context.

Hat Tip: Hillbilly White Trash

I think this sounds like a good idea, and will be pursuing options for the local area...perhaps by setting up (yet another) blog just to track these events, and make it a group blog so others could join in...using technorati tags to ease searching.

I already have cameras that do both video and still, a flash drive that reads my SD Cards, and two portable hard drives I always have with me.

Another thing to have in mind is to establish photo and video sharing accounts so that others might glean useful information from them (such as the same people showing up again and again, perhaps states away!)
It would also seem pertinent to see if the local fire or rescue dept posted pix or reports of their activities online and trying to tie data together from citizen journalists and public safety.
I think this thing could evolve into a high-tech "Neighborhood Watch," where the stakes are much higher.

If anyone is interested in helping out, or have suggestions, let me know in the comments, or here.