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Rewiring (and Unwiring) New Orleans
stinkymountain writes "Is New Orleans bouncing back from Hurricane Katrina with the most advanced telecom system in the country? According to Network World, carriers have invested billions to rebuild the wired and wireless networks in the city, and businesses are taking advantage of new, advanced telecom services."
This story selected and edited by LinuxWorld editor for the day Saied Pinto.
Just imagine the future of New Orleans; a technological marvel, with gigabit ethernet connections to each home, instantly transmitting terrabytes worth of images showing topless coeds partying outside.
Does that mean we have to wait for a hurricane in order to get high speed in my area?
It's nice that they are re-building and as with that they indeed have to use new technologies because implementing old would be more expensive. It's logical to me that this happens. It's like building a new house, you can't get the cotton-covered electrical wiring so you get new better wiring. How this will translate to costs of course is another issue. Re-wiring existing technology IS also expensive and the costs/benefit is not as high.
But will this also mean that the poor in New Orleans won't be able to pay the charge for fiber-to-premises? Or will they make it so cheap so that New Orleans becomes the haven for geeks and technological companies?
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
sick, politically-correct joke. There's really no point except that people equate throwing obscene amounts of cash at the poor with having compassion on them. That is also why there will never be any meaningful welfare reform, and why folks will continue to game the welfare system.
I agree that it's great people are taking advantage of the new services, hopefully some of those will provide the people of New Orleans with their still more pressing needs, like houses, regular supply of goods + services, etc. In case you missed it, a remarkable story of Katrina and its post-effects appears on this blog (no relation). Even current posts there detail how things are still far from normal -- things each of us take for granted are still considered blessings in the affected areas.
stuff |
They are listening to you.
Just a friendly note from your friendly neighborhood AC, posting through one hundred and fifty proxies across sixteen continents with illegal 911 bit encryption.
captcha: wretch
On a somewhat related note, I heard an ad for AT&T while driving to work this morning that was disparaging VOIP service as inferior to landlines here in California. The main thrust of the radio spot was the recent power outages in California prevented people using VOIP from making calls, while those using landlines still had a dialtone. There was the typical scaremongering, with the implication that people who needed to call 911 couldn't if they were relying on VOIP, while AT&T customers were "safe" because AT&T has generators at the switching stations.
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Let the ocean take it and live somewhere else. Or, at the least, quit asking for my tax dollars to bail your sorry asses out and hold back the gulf.
I think it is a collosal waste of money, and investing $B in infrastructure is just going to encourage people to move to an area which is inherently unsafe and very expensive to make livable.
Oh, go ahead, hit that troll button, but there are an awful lot of us that are getting sick and tired of people spending an inordinate amount of taxpayer money on projects that keep "beautiful" places in the black. I'm okay with the occasional monument or historic home, but forking over billions of dollars to artifically change the landscape for a commercial venture is not my idea of good government. That goes for all you weenies on the east coast, too. I'm tired of paying the Army Corps of Engineers to put the beach back so your oceanfront home keeps its value. You want beach, you pay for it.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
so it can be destroyed and replaced again?
Just because an idea is popular doesn't make it right.
Is New Orleans bouncing back from Hurricane Katrina with the most advanced telecom system in the country?
Yes, yes it is.
In fact, New Orleans' broadband is so good, Korean tourists are flocking there to mob-harass the local Web pariahs.
New Orleans' broadband is so good, Al Gore is working on a movie advocating we de-decentralize the Internet, putting New Orleans right in the middle.
New Orleans broadband is so good, mint juleps are already outselling Mountain Dew as the official drink of computer nerds.
New Orleans broadband is so good, girls at the last Mardi Gras were flashing their MySpace pages in exchange for beads.
Hope that answers your question!
Sincerely,
SlashdotAnswerGuy
site I've ever seen. About 10% of that page is actually the article content! The rest is just links and ads.
If you're going to rebuild the city (and they are, except for apparently the lower 9th ward, which by the looks of it will just be allowed to remain a pile of rubble that even the cops are afraid to go into until it crumbles entirely to dust), it would be idiotic to put old technology in there. They're going to be spending billions to dig big trenches and replace poles and whatnot, do you expect them to do all of that and put in, say, cloth insulated wiring?
NO will get the most current technology because it makes sense to rebuild in such a way that you won't have to be digging up the same streets 5 years from now to upgrade wiring that was obsolete when you first installed it.
Let's hope the Telco's equipment also works underwater - or is at least water-proof.
Because one thing is sure: New Orleans is going so sink into the ocean rather sooner than later. Just the people (left) living there haven't caught up to the reality, it seems.
But the term "sinking billions in infrastructure" suddenly makes more sense, right?
Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
...until every one of the children in New Orleans has a $100 laptop!
The most important thing to do in your life is to not interfere with somebody else's life. -FZ
They went wi-fi cos they learned that the standard internet tubes fill with water....
Ah so we should abandon New Orleans then, huh? And you should go tell those Japanese to abandon their tiny island country so that the next earthquakes won't destroy their lives, oh yea.
I've been musing about this since Katrina... There is a lot of emotional power behind the "rebuild New Orleans" concept, and it will most likely happen. As huge parts of it were destroyed, that rebuilding process will be from the foundations up.
During the Civil War, Sherman burned Atlanta to the ground. Now, as far as cities in the Southern US goes, it's pretty damn advanced. It most assuredly would not be what it is today had that event not occured. Savannah, Georgia was "spared" by Sherman, and the place seems allergic to progress. At least part of that comes from a valid desire to preserve the historic elements that have been there for centuries. NOLA faces some of those concerns, but only in the sections that weren't destroyed...
I very seriously hope to see, perhaps in 20 years or so, the beginnings of one of the first NEW cities in the US in quite some time. The causality may suck, but life has already delivered those lemons... I want to see a 21st century city over here, and it has a chance to happen. Failing that, I'm hoping some growth happens around one of the spaceport sites.
And people accuse boat owners of throwing money into a hole in the water........!
This is an entirely new level.
Going on the assumption that instead of laying copper the folks doing the reconstruction will be laying fiber, will fiber work if it's underwater? Or will the water, once it gets through the coating, degrade the signal so much that you can't use fiber?
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Things are getting better each day here in New Orleans.
One problem that is still present is phone service. A lot of people I know are primarily using cellular phones as their main numbers since the landlines are not reliable / available in some areas. To BellSouth's credit, they have taken this opportunity to replace the copper wires throughout the city with fiber optics, which will provide more bandwidth. But this will take some time to do (and it does not take an inordinate amount of extra time than replacing the lines with new copper wires).
A lot of people in the city are now talking about scanning their important pictures into the computer and sending them off to relatives out of town (by CD or email).
Some of the lessons learned from Katrina in New Orleans include:
It is hoped that the lessons learned here help prepare other people in other places for the next emergency.
Writing stories for computers and humans since 1979
. . . you should go tell those Japanese to abandon their tiny island country so that the next earthquakes won't destroy their lives. . .
Actually, they tried that a while ago and we told them to knock it off.
KFG
and while we are at it..... lets stop subsidizing farmers, airlines, defense contractors because they all operate businesses that are inherently risky. lets stop repeatedly sending firefighters to people on the west who live in wildfire prone areas let their homes burn to the ground. lets stop repeatedly rescuing people who build homes on hills where landslides are known to occur. lets stop having our tax dollars being used to help insure people in ALL flood prone areas. lets not forget that when another massive earthquake hits LA or SF and destroys a good portion of either city lets NOT rebuild there either what a HUGE waste of money that would be just make everyone who lives there move to a place where the ground doesn't shake so violently.
I think the invisible hand of the market has its middle finger extended
--A wise old fart named SC0RN
Any bets on how long untill someone whips out the broken window fallacy in this thread?
I think the main point is, why are they rebuilding the city where it was before? Why not move the city farther away from the coast and above sea level? It's just asking for another big disaster, possibly even this fall, and all this shiny new equipment will be wiped out. It's not the level of technology, it's the investment in a place just waiting for another wipe-out.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
The only thing that is stupid is your anon comments. What about the businesses and residents that live here? FYI, the cost for replacing the copper is the same as fiber, so just are we to do to please your ignorant ass? Here's a heads-up, the people that live here-(ME) don't give a rat's ass about anybody's opinion about why we should do this and why we should do that. This is our HOME and we will do as we see fit.
Won't Bow.....Don't Know How
I just hope this time they put the generators in the hospital on the top floor (and other such improvements that reflect the fact that anything in the first 30' might get flooded and thus should be used for parking structures only, not residences or stores).
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
But come on, the rate of cellphone adoption these days makes it unlikely that there's anyone being attacked during a power outage who is relying soley on their VOIP phone to call 911?
I don't necessarily agree or disagree 100% with the ad, I just thought it was interesting that AT&T thought they needed a "preemptive strike" against VOIP. I wasn't aware that the uptake was high enough to rate that kind of a strategy.
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Whats with all the "white" comments thrown into your post?
Or have you never seen a non-white person live in suburbia?
If you want to rant about yuppies in the suburbs thats fine, but why make it a racial issue?
-- Please insert another quarter
Then I hope you won't mind when the rest of the country tells you to go to hell in the next hurricane, since you're too stupid to actually do something to prevent disaster- such as having building and safety codes that recognize anything below 30' might get flooded out.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
and it would be stupid to do.
Drop in a pantload of fiber everywhere and call it done. puttin in the "advanced" crap is pure BS and is only a way for contractors to pad their pockets with extra cash.
Fiber is cheap, do it right, not "advanced".
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
TFA takes up, maybe, 10% of the space on that page. The rest is all ads. I had to click the print button just to read it. That's just too much.
Did Slashdot decide to get some editors whilst I wasn't watching? I must have missed the memo...
I'm going to miss complaining about all the dupes and typos. For me, it's a part of what Slashdot is.
I'll probably be modded down for this...
Yeah, let's just let a major, ancient American city get destroyed by our government's incompetence and just let it rot, because we just don't care. Later, when the tornadoes/earthquakes/droughts/locusts come through your town, we'll cut our losses by writing you off.
Who the hell are these fake "Americans" who don't understand even the most basic concept of Union? They hate America, and must be kept away from any kind of power or influence. Or we'll all be left with our own post-katrina cities.
--
make install -not war
I'm taking this off-topic chance to post a thought I just had:
The post I responded to represents, to me, everything that has broken down since the "conservatives" have conquered the media, government, the courts and the zietgeist. The basic premise is: fuck you if you're too stupid to be rich.
This are George Hearst's grandchildren. William Randolph Hearts's children. Reagan was the dumb son, and Bush II the idiot son of the dumb son. The basic problem is that they value capital, but not people. Corporations are a symptom of their outlook. Let the smart win and the dumb get out of the way.
For this, we've a dying economy -- for those who aren't already wealthy. We're entrenched in another oil war, using the poor strivers who comprise the army to win wealth for those whose children will never serve. We've a dead health care system that is based on profit rather than healthcare, so we shuck the sick and bundle up the young and healthy into corporate packages, dumping those who don't make the cut onto what remains of the liberal subsidized healthcare created during an earlier, saner era. We're borrowing from abroad to finance oceans of tax cuts for the very wealthiest, who are poised to buy up the real estate plunging in cost as we hit bottom in the next decade. We've little manufacturing, so we can't create wealth, really. The tax revenues shortly are going to fund 1) interest on the borrowed money, paid to those who we gave the money originally, as interest to the loans taken to give them their tax cuts... and 2) guns to fight a Forever War.
This can't work, of course, and like the Soviet Union, we're going to have to crash, bottom out, to shake out the cognitive dissonant dingdongs who bankrupted us from the ranks of heroes. It's going to take a long time. See ya in a couple decades.
Probably because NO is very much a port city, just like Philadelphia or NYC. Moving the city further from one of their main industries will just make the port more expensive to run.
Hopefully one of the technological advances will be new levies and such...
FWIW, I don't think NO has ever been hit by a storm which 'wiped out' the city before... its unlikely to happen again in the near future, I'd think.
I lived in New Orleans for years before Katrina created Lake George, and I've returned several times since the storm and flood. I talk with people living there all the time.
New Orleans is not "bouncing back". As usual, some rich people are getting extra care and money, like the people getting the fat contracts in this article. The local poor people, though desperate for jobs and rebuilding, are cut out by imported Mexican and Central American workers, mostly illegal, all subsidized by living cheap in their own countries when they leave. Imported by fat American contractors, also mostly from out of state. Meanwhile, they still haven't hauled away the trash from the storm 355 days ago.
New Orleans isn't on TV much anymore. But it's still screwed. It's still a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I hope these new infrastructures are worthwhile investments in its future, but it's certainly not "bouncing" yet. What it really needs is more of you to come visit, spend some time and money seeing it for yourself. It's cheap and easy to get to by plane, rail and road, it's cheap to eat, party and learn there. And even if it never bounces back, at least you'll have seen America's most magical city for yourself before it's finally gone after 300 years - on our watch.
--
make install -not war
And screw those people commenting about race. As a white guy, I agree with you that it IS a predominantly white group of a-holes benefitting from this rape of Louisiana's environment. I grew up there. My hometown should be underwater in a couple of decades now thanks to oil. Yay.
Well, doing it 'right' the first time may not be the most 'cost effective' solution; Just getting the lines up in the first place would be a major improvement. There's always going to be something to replace, or upgrade. When you're doing upgrades you can do so progressively and time is on your side to build up budget and upgrade. Otherwise you run the risk of delaying progress because of budget shortcomings.
They've had close calls before, and a Katrina-like event was predicted years in advance. It's only a matter of time before it happens again.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
Actually.. good ideas all. Those things shouldn't be paid for out of the national till, they should be insured out of the local profits of living in those areas.
New Orleans should stand as a city because it is profitable for it to be there. Not because it is the whim of a few powerful people to spend others' money to establish it there. If that means building a smaller port-city to handle the mississippi traffic, then so be it. It was hubris to reach out beyond what the resources were capable of supporting. They tried to have a large, artistic city, protected from weather, with corrupt government, people on the public dole, and organized crime. Lofty goals all, but some would have to be sacrificed to operate within the available means.
Now I am going to retract a little, and say that for humanitarian reasons, it's perfectly reasonable for national support of a rescue operation. If we're to have a national governance at all, what is the purpose except to provide mutual support in time of disaster or invasion? Rebuilding however is another matter entirely.
At the same time, the government should not be involved in insuring or regulating the price of insurance* of anything. It should be more costly to live in those dangerous places *because of the danger.* People that cannot afford insurance or absorb the cost in the event of disaster should not have governmental support to move into those places.
*regulating insurance should be limited to assuring that contracts are not fraudulent and that legitimate claims are compensated. Insurance companies should be allowed to set prices based on risk. Regulating insurance rates at sub-unity return/risk ensures that insurance carriers must not carry that type of insurance or they will go out of business. Either way, it means no insurance will be available at any price.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
So let's not invest in LA or San Francisco since they are on major earthquake faults.
Forget about Seattle and large sections of Oregon since they are on major earthquake faults and have volcanoes near by.
For get about St. Louis since it is also on an earthquake fault.
New York City? Also could be hit by a major hurricane.
Miami and Houston should also be written off.
Hurricanes are unpredictable New Orleans might go 100 years without getting hit.
Before anyone pipes up with there proof that global warming is going to cause more and stronger hurricanes let me point out that so far there hasn't been a single hurricane so far this year.
The solution for New Orleans is simple.
1. Don't rebuild in the flood zones.
2. Have a real evacuation plan.
A lot of areas in New Orleans didn't flood at all. I will tell you that since I have been hit by three hurricanes in two years I found out something. The news services make it look a lot worse that it is. New Orleans was really bad but I promise you that news people filmed all the worst spots and showed them to you in great detail.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Great, Wi-Fi all over N.O. Does this mean that I can maybe surf somewhere that doesn't smell of stale urine?
No, that'd mean I'd have to get that kind of access *outside* of N.O. too.
There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
what the city really needs is a protective force field that is impervious to water, perhaps someday it will become the new Atlantis!
My gosh, it's been a year already...R.I.P all those who lost their lives in that disaster, and my sympathies to all those who lost loved ones...my thoughts will be with you.
http://nathanlindsell.blogspot.com/
Don't kid yourself..it isn't just the 9th ward that isn't seeing any rebuilding action....ANYWHERE that was flooded, is still pretty much dead. I used to live on the very edge (poor side) of the Lakeview area. Last time I was there a month or two ago, I was amazed at how it still looked like an atom bomb had gone off there...that area is still mostly a ghost town too...hardly anyone living there, hardly any rebuilding. A lost of the debris and trash is gone, but, that's about it.
No...for the most part, any part of the city and outskirts that was flooded...is still dead, and I dunno when/if it will come back. Hell, FEMA and the other agencies can't get off their asses to tell everyone officially how much they will have to raise there houses in order to get insurance...
And that brings up insurance...hell, will you be able to get it again?
But, no..it isn't just the poor 9th ward with troubles or New Orleans east...the wealthier parts hit are in just as bad a shape...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
This is so stupid a suggestion that I can't even come up with a good starting point for discussing it. Congratulations, you are one of the few people I just have to conclude are terminally stupid. Oh, by the way, we better rebuild Seattle in an area that has less volcano activity, and move the cities on fault lines in California into Utah somewhere. Jackass.
If you live on a damned fault line, don't ask me for help when you have two houses on the same lot, separated by a brand new ditch.
North Carolina coast? Heck, the barrier islands have been moving for eons. Don't build your new castle on sand and then ask me to pay to keep the beach in place.
Florida? Please...you knew there were hurricanes when you moved there. Build solid, put aside extra money for cleanup after the storm. Don't ask me to foot the bill. Hey, here's an Idea - how about using the STATE money you DON'T spend on snow plows and heating oil to pay for the cleanup.
I'm not adverse to helping folks out. Really. Everybody needs help now and then. Don't you think for the cost of the recovery and the future levies and storm damage, we could just condemn the area and tell eveyone to get the hell out? There are more stable places to build. Those who were smart got insurance, and they'll be reimbursed for unusable property. Those who didn't, well, short of saying tough luck, how about a $5k stipend and a map of the US with places that aren't under sea level highlighted.
Bad things happen all the time, and to be honest, it's not my fault. I'm all for helping get people back moving again. If you build a 100 story building and it's so tall it falls down, you are free to build another one. But I'm not going to pay you to do it. I'm going to tell you to go build ten 10 story buildings. Just because you want to live in a place that can only have 100 story buildings is not my fault.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Oh, by the way, we better rebuild Seattle in an area that has less volcano activity, and move the cities on fault lines in California into Utah somewhere. Jackass.
No, you are the jackass here. If one of those cities were destroyed by the dangerous surroundings in which it exists, would you think it a wise idea to rebuild it in exactly the same location?
they are 50 miles downriver.
Rebuild New Orleans on the north side of Lake Ponchartrain, north of Covington and Hamilton. Leave the Old City and Jackson Square where it is, as it is, a tourist trap.
Most of the businesses have moved into the casino hotels on the waterfront, anyway. There are only Tshirt shops and titty bars in the Veiux Carre, along with subpar restaurants.
Open the levees and give the city back to the gators and snakes.
True...but, the damage potential now is due in great part from the erosion of the coastal wetlands...lost in GREAT part, but, the slicing and dicing of it for pipelines for oil and gas to come in from the Gulf, and canals cut into it for transportation of such. You do realize that about 30% of your energy comes through this area don't you? Remember that 'little' gas crunch that happened after Katrina? Hmm? Well, a lot of the flood damage potential is due to the sacrifices and all that New Orleans and southern LA has put into giving the US this place for energy harvest, refinement and transport. We need money now, in forms of giving us a more fair share of off shore drilling lease royalties, to ensure that the coastal wetlands that are the best and a natural barrier from hurrican surges can be rebuilt and maintained...funds that are continuous and dedicated to that.
In another post you said "Move the City"...do you really think that is possible? Let's see, San Francisco is on a fault line, and they had some pretty bad damage awhile back, and are due for another catastrophe..maybe we could move SF? New Orleans is a major port city!! It is not only a source of a lot of importated goods, but, more importantly, all large percentage of exports from the central part of the US go through there...not really possible further up river.
Give a little thought to helping NOLA...it has been her longer than the US itself...nearly 300 yrs old. It has given the US cultural gifts, it is a strategic port city, and a central point for much of the energy the US needs. I don't see any other states shouting to let them build new refineries in 'their backyard', and the east coast, Florida, and the west coast all bad drilling for oil...so in trade for us letting people do that in our area...give us a fuckin' break, and instead of criticism, how about some help...perm. help.
I'm having to live outside NOLA for now...I desperately want to go back to live there, I do work there...but, I gotta see if the city and state will get their act together, and restart this city as it should be, and clean house. (Good start by taking over almost all the previously failing schools and making them charter schools), but, also, if we'll be able to get insurance on a house, and if the Corps. of Engineers, can and will build a comprehensive levee system that is built in a smart fashion, and not a half assed one like last time, that failed way before it should have and nearly killed the city.
Lastly...c'mon...we're part of the US. You can see what the Dutch did for their special town of Amsterdam. Is NOLA not that important for the US? If not for sentamental value, then for business as I've listed above. We send tons of $$ to other countries as foreign aid....why not keep a little of that to take care of our own...just give us the tools to protect ourselves, and we'll gladly keep exporting culture, fun, and energy for the US.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Here's a heads-up, the people that live here-(ME) don't give a rat's ass about anybody's opinion about why we should do this and why we should do that. This is our HOME and we will do as we see fit.
That is all well and good, but the next time your elected leaders skim from your state treasury instead of rebuilding levies to keep your cities from sinking into the gulf, don't evacuate into my city and don't expect my tax money to keep bailing you out.
I don't mean to be a dick, but I live in Houston and I am sick and tired of all of the New Orleans residents who are still living here. The majority refuse to try and fit in or acknowledge in any way that the city of Houston has bent over backwards for them. No, instead I get two murders in my normally quiet and peaceful apartment complex within the same month, both committed by New Orleans evacuees. What a wonderful "thank you". I'm sure its just a few bad apples making all the others look bad but I just need to rant for a moment.
Are you going to use my tax dollars to rebuild it? If so, then please don't rebuild the part that is below sea level and stuck between a lake and the frickin' golf of Mexico. Only the French would have built it that way in the first place...zing!
Ehh...this is the life we chose.
With Americans-(MY) money.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
Well, that just about sums it up.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
On this, I hear ya, and feel for you. Katrina really did kind of "flush" NOLA...the city needed it, but, I feel sorry for the other cities and states that have gotten stuck with it. I'm talking about the criminal elements, mostly from the projects. On the other hand, there have been some wonderful stories about some of the really poor, that left, and have actually seen what schools are supposed to be like...what an education does, and that life in the projects on the 'dole' is NOT a way of life. I'm hoping that some of those do come back to the city, and after seeing what schools, roads and the like are supposed to be, demand it of our city's govmt.
Trouble is...many of the gang bangers and other drug people, are trying quickly to get back to NOLA. They've found out, that in TX if you kill someone, you're not out on the street again in 48 hours, they try you and fry your ass. I hope they can get the judicial system fixed here...'cause they are coming back in droves to where 'business is easier'...no wonder we've had to get the Nat'l Guard to protect the abandoned neighborhoods (read anywhere that flooded, Lakeview, mid-city, 9th ward) and setting up shop in the ghost towns that used to be neighborhoods.
Anyway, from MOST of the people that aren't drags on society or criminals...THANKS for the help...and I hope soon, we can get those assholes you mentioned put behind bars wherever they are, and out of our hair.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Ignorance...
New Orleans happens to be one of the largest oil refining areas in our country. Most of the gasoline on the east coast is processed through New Orleans. New Orleans is the 5th largest port in the country and the busiest port in the US in throughput. It is the top port for rubber, cement, and coffee.
Can it be shipped somewhere else? Sure, if you want to build infrastructure to handle all of this somewhere else. Why build it anywhere else on the coast where it is just as likely to be destroyed? I have seen New Orleans and it isn't like the entire city is gone and they are rebuilding from scratch.
Ignoring the value to the country's infrastructure and that the US Government is mostly responsible for the destruction (US Corps of Engineers?), 14 million people visit New Orleans each year making it one of the biggest tourist areas in our country. Does that not indicate that there is more intrinsic value to the US as a whole and not just the residents of New Orleans?
Well to be honest NO a big crap ole, always was always will be. It aint worth saving, neither are the people.This from a person with a higher IQ than u all
If you look at the print edition (sorry, get it delivered at home) of the Wall Street Journal, you'll see an article entitled Cable Industry May Need to Spend Heavily on Broadband Upgrades, which points out that all cable-television providers will very soon need to upgrade their entire networks with fiber optic cables direct to every home.
It only makes sense, in rebuilding the damaged New Orleans, that they would be laying the new tech, rather than lay current standard and have to rip it up in just two to four years.
My brother is a high-speed cable manager in an oceanfront area of California, and when they get a corroded connection, they find it's cheaper to just lay a new line than to try to fix it.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Considering just how much damage was done, and how many people cleared out/died, I'd say that it's a lot more possible to move the city now than it would be to move a city that's fully populated. If San Francisco got evacuated and basically got wiped out, then yeah, I'd probably recommend that most people stay away from that area in the future. But they haven't completely evacuated (or I should say, gave a weak attempt at completely evacuating), so it makes no sense. Also, earthquake threat is a lot less serious to San Francisco than hurricane threat is to New Orleans. Nobody knows where an earthquake will strike in California. It doesn't have to be in or near San Francisco. Heck, an earthquake could strike in New Orleans. But to rebuild a city in a bowl below sea level in an area that gets a lot of hurricanes every year and got wiped out once already in an easily preventable situation is nothing short of suicidal. There's a reason why a lot of people who left aren't coming back, it doesn't take a genius to understand why.
I'm not trying to be insensitive here. I think it was tremendous human tragedy that happened in that city and it was a disgraceful response from the government. I respect those that want to hold onto their culture. I'm just sayin', if you want to hold onto it, do it in a place that's not going to get yourselves killed (again). Don't be suicidal, learn the lessons that so many people died to teach you.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
If Seattle got wiped out by a volcano and everybody evacuated, I'd suggest they move the city someplace better next time too. It's pretty obvious where volcanos are located, and if one was to erupt and then go dormant, I would not suggest you build a big city on top of it again. That would be terminally stupid.
If a city got completely destroyed in California and it was obvious it would have another earthquake again at any time and do the same thing, I would suggest they move the city too. But fault lines are all over the place, and an earthquake could really happen anywhere (yes, even in New Orleans). Perhaps a better example would be to say you shouldn't build a house on a California fault line under a big mudslide area. I consider people who rebuild houses in mudslide areas just as stupid as people who want to live in the bowl again, or live on top of a dormant volcano.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
Short answer version above. Justification below.
Amsterdam is the biggest city in the Netherlands. New Orleans is not as important to the US economy as Amsterdam is to the Netherlands. That much should be obvious.
I will grant that the port of New Orleans and the New Orleans Off Shore Oil Terminal are vital to the Mississippi Basin and then some. You will note that both were back up and running well enough, soon enough to handle the 2005 crop/driving season. Their flood protection was apparently up to the task. Bet they built their own levee network with their own money and paid for repairs themselves. (Granting they were business expenses, hence deductions, hence subsidised to nutjobs.)
In any case the Dutch spent about 15 billion US dollars over 20+ years connecting their barrier islands with sea walls/floating barriers/gates to the sea to protect about 15 million mostly middle class people. Suggesting such an expense for the 2 million people in the Mississippi delta is unreasonable.
It should also be noted the Dutch tax base is local to the problem. Perhaps Lousiana can come up with a way to pay for a big chunk of a proposed project.
Slums are in low cost areas for a reason. When you rebuild you don't rebuild shitholes. Poor people pretty much have to live where they can afford to. That will not be New Orleans for the immediate future. If you're town has an little nineth ward it will likely have one untill local authorities take steps to break it up.
Only the federal government built new slums. They have largely stopped. Don't expect them to make an exception for NO.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
A lot of areas in New Orleans didn't flood at all. I will tell you that since I have been hit by three hurricanes in two years I found out something. The news services make it look a lot worse that it is. New Orleans was really bad but I promise you that news people filmed all the worst spots and showed them to you in great detail.
You must not have looked at Google Maps's - I don't think it's still available, but you used to be able to search for New Orleans on Google Maps and be presented with a Katrina button to view images of New Orleans after Katrina. I looked at it for quite some time, and I don't remember finding more than 3 to 4 consecutive blocks that were not flooded.
People should instead invest in putting buildings above sea level, instead of losing all of their investment when the next levee breach happens. Venice did this quite well IIRC. After that happens, then you can worry about gigabit connectivity and public wireless Internet.
This really struck me:
Don't forget the licenses as your save your ass! What kind of BS is that? Doesn't the company that sold you the stuff know what you have? What are they going to do, sue you? Those are rhetorical questions, obviously it matters to someone.
That's the beauty of free software. It's much easier to walk away when all you have to worry about is your data and the small collection of stuff you might have customized. It's going to work on whatever hardware you find and no is going to bug you about licenses.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I know that that they where so happy the french quarter was undamaged as well as may other locations.
The majority of the problems would still have be resolved if state and local goverments had a working evacuation plan.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
> So let's not invest in LA or San Francisco since they are on major
> earthquake faults. Forget about Seattle and large sections of
> Oregon since they are on major earthquake faults and have volcanoes
> near by. For get about St. Louis since it is also on an earthquake
> fault. New York City? Also could be hit by a major hurricane.
> Miami and Houston should also be written off.
w00t! More money for Boston! I have some great ideas for Big Dig II.
As in the greenback.
BTW you can expect the white trailer park slums will also not be rebuilt quickly or directly. Rents and housing in general will be high cost in NO. Sucks to be poor. Should have paid attention in school.
Further any moderator that rated you Insightful should be metamoderated to oblivion. Race baiting is not insightfull.
2 million vs 15 million says nothing about the race of the people involved. The fact that the 15 million basically paid for their own flood protection also escaped your notice.
NO the most beautiful American city? Are you on crack? It was a tourist trap surrounded by slums. That at least has changed. Now it's just a tourist trap.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'