Hurricane Hackers Group??

If I said to you that a hurricane hackers group was created because of hurricane Sandy you would mostly like reply with "say what?!?!" Well it's true and it's made up of a group of hackers (called CrisisCampers) that got together in Boston, cities on the West Coast and even in New Zealand to attend a workshop where they "designed and coded projects to help local communities prepare for and cope with crisis. (Mack, 2012)" One of the projects they started working on will categorize images for building damage and they also started a document that will try to keep track of all recovery data in one place.

The workshops took place this weekend and were free to the public. They wanted volunteers to show up in-person and asked that if you were/are involved in the on-ground recovery efforts that you sign up for the e-mail loop so that you can help coordinate information with the CrisisCampers. Another group was started by MIT's Media Lab (Hurricane Hackers) that is closely related to this group. They've been helping to coordinate relief efforts via Twitter.

I personally think utilizing technology this way will be extremely beneficial in helping disaster relief efforts run more smoothly in the future. Also, it is another notch to add to the long list of technology-related accomplishments. There's always a great sense of pride and good will when volunteers team up and put their minds together to create something beneficial for all out of the goodness of their hearts. Although a bit of a stretch for some, one could say that coding is a bit of an art form. Look at what types of things you can create (web pages, video games, computer platforms), all from coding.

Our nation relies so much on technology that if anything were to ever cause a massive strike to it that it would be massively devastating. People are so used to using technology to do things that, a lot of times, they forget how to do things the "old-fashioned" way. Now, more than ever, we need to beef up our Information Security personnel in all aspects. That way we at least have a running shot at potentially combating Info Sec hackers.

Reference:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57544230-1/superstorm-sandy-hurricane-hackers-gather-to-help/