Not lost on me that it's nonprofit tech, https://app.watchduty.org, showing up & actually working in the midst of the LA fires (donate to them!)
Meanwhile platforms fail to surface key news, vital info is paywalled...
As I've been saying, we need a new tech paradigm, yesterday!
@Mer__edith sure good technology would be nice but this is primarily a social problem that rich people build prestigious houses in this area that is known for fires since decades: https://fosstodon.org/@haraldkliems/113798379254707764
@mekeor @Mer__edith
What an idiotic stance to take. Altadena, which is being devastated by the Eaton Fire, is not a rich neighborhood. I have friends who live there whose homes are being affected. My cousin who lives elsewhere in LA area (not rich by any means) had to evacuate because fire knocked out electricity. Screw you for thinking that this fire is a social problem for the rich.
@tonyslatte @mekeor @Mer__edith Century-old houses in North Pasadena burned too; that's always been a minority/poor area. Pacific Palisades' gazillion-dollar homes get the attention but even the Palisades has (or had) modest homes built 70 years ago where mere mortals live. Those people, many retirees, have lost everything.
@pkw @mekeor I grew up in Los Angeles. We've always known that some of Malibu was built on fire-prone territory. AND we've never seen anything like this, spanning well beyond known at-risk areas into places like Altadena, and waging so much destruction. I think it's very dangerous to minimize what we're seeing or indulge in "told you so." There are longstanding issues that are metastasizing due to climate change and decades of neoliberal austerity. All of these are reasons.
@mekeor @Mer__edith not all rich people, they're simply (as usual) getting more attention.
@Mer__edith The number of people I've recommended Watch Duty to this week! And I had never heard of it until I joined Mastodon.
@Mer__edith Is there a comparable service for fires east of the Mississippi?
Watch duty does not cover that area.
@Mer__edith sounds to me like you are calling for a new _economic_ paradigm, one based on the efficiency of public information instead of the exclusivity (hence monetizability) of paywalls. I could not agree more! #NewEconomicThinking #OpenKnowledge
@Mer__edith thanks for the link. The framing is very interesting.