Halbrook Associates.com

following twitter while researching breaking news

I had an interesting experience this morning.  You know from reading this blog that I have been struggling with the concept of social media, and its use in the emergency response arena.  Today I conducted an experiment which shed some light on the future, and the possibilities associated with this technology. 

If you have been following the news you know that at 0830 this morning the Iowa Supreme Court was to announce its opinion on a case relating to the definition of marriage, and Iowa’s “ban” on same sex union.  The politics of this opinion are irrelevant to this discussion.  What is important is the way that information traveled.

In this case the Iowa court decided that they would post their opinion on their website at 0830 this morning.  With the world upon them the web site became so bogged down that at 0826 it failed completely.    This left us in an information black out.  By 0840 none of the traditional news outlets had reported on the ruling.  Understanding that there were probably hundreds of people at the court house waiting for the decision in person I turned to social media.  I logged onto my twitter account and I found one tweet expressing frustration that the court’s web site had failed.  Looking for a broader field I turned to monitter.com.  This web site searches and streams all of the posts that are made to the Twitter system.  I entered three different criteria into the search fields.  “Iowa supreme court” “Gay Marriage” “Court Ruling”.  At first I only saw information about the court’s website being down.  Then I started to receive posts from people who were at the court house.  Finally at 0838 I saw one single post which stated the court’s ruling on the case.  After that I saw more, and more posts this consistent message spread like wild fire across the network.  With the court’s website still in shambles a few people were able to get the text of the court’s opinion and post it to their own sites.  The information spread, and it was another 15-20 minutes before a traditional news outlet reported on the ruling. 

I’m not convinced that twitter, or monitter would be a great tool to get the big picture of flood damage, but if a tornado struck a community, or a terrorist attack unfolded first person accounts of the event could be very valuable to emergency managers, EOC’s and responders. 

Just a thought

Re-discovering flight

As you probably know I have a love of flying. One of my favorite child hood memories what visiting the FAA's hangar in washington DC, and doing a preflight inspection on an aircraft with the tail number "N1". As I grew up my interest, and enthusiasm for aviation expanded. I began attending air shows, and I staffed EAA's air venture in Oshkosh. In college I worked as a line guy for Midwest Aviation at the Ames Municipal Airport (AMW). During this time I obtained my pilots licensee in a Piper Tomahawk PA-38. This aircraft was great. I got it for something like $45 per hour, and when my flight instructor moved to texas he left his aircraft in town. I was given the opportunity to fly it for him until he finally sold it.

After the tomahawk left town I started to advance my training. I spent a summer back home with my parents, and I flew with the American Flyers at the DuPage county Airport. This was my first introduction to a formal flight school environment. I got some simulator time, and a little bit of complex time.

Halbrook Associates.com Receives Honor

The editors of www.Typepad.com (The company that hosts Halbrook Associates) have chosen our website for recognition. Type Pad regularly chooses sites for their own special award. These award recipients are chosen based upon "unique subject matter, thoughtful posts, and engaging design". As a part of this featured status you can find a nice write up, and a link on the type pad home page.

As we pause and reflect upon the past six months of activity we would like to thank you for your continued support, and interest in this site. With out your patronage we would not have the energy and enthusiasm to continue with this project.

Iowa Flood Web Page

This link came to us through the Midwest Disaster Communication list serve. It is a compilation site bringning in pictures, video's, and news feeds from all over the country. This page is quickly becoming a one stop shop for information on the Iowa floods of 2008. Enjoy

http://www.iowaflood.com/

1999 Chevrolet Silverado For Sale

I have a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado for sale. I am the original owner and have driven this faithful vehicle for years. I recently upgraded to a newer truck, so it is time to sell. This vehicle has the following options and accessories:

Accessories, and more photos after the break

5/31/08 Introducing Doug and Krisdeena Jansen

Today we celebrate a wedding.

tomorrow we recover

The Fire SUV

Chronicles of a modern warrior Updated

The blog that we maintain for Spc. Troy Ruffin has been updated. We look forward to Troy's return home early this spring.

Chronicles of A modern Warrior

Survival Blog

A significant portion of any Search and rescue teams training involves survival.  Becoming separated from a team, or working in bad weather is a constant concern.  Legitimate sources of real life survival tools, tricks, and training are rare.  I recently found Survival topics.com.  This page has everything from an explanation of 550 (Para) chord, all the way to recommendations for how long water should boil depending on what altitude you are at. 

I hope this page is useful to you

www.survivaltopics.com

Animated Knots

Virtually all emergency response entities require participants to master knots.  this task is often times very difficult to master.  The web site Animatedknots.com does an excellent job of breaking down the knots into easy to follow steps.  I hope this site helps with your training.