Cool, thanks for the link. I had in mind a maybe smaller and more focused team with a reasonably small and well defined problem to solve, but this might be also an option.

On 3/19/20 1:45 AM, Valentyn Tymofieiev wrote:
Saw this  website on HN today, where crowdsoursing of various ideas is discussed :

https://helpwithcovid.com/
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22615453

On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 4:30 PM Seetharam Venkatesh <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

    Can we not use NextDoor that already connects communities?

    On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 4:01 PM Alex Amato <[email protected]
    <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

        Well, you could try scaling it as an App to connect people. A
        simple web architecture would be fastest to setup.

        But I think a lot of people won't be able to use an app, if
        you had a phone number with some operators to collect their
        information, then it could be possible to get those users
        assistance.
        There might be some privacy and security issues too around
        taking and publishing people's information. So I am not too
        sure how to navigate that.

        On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 3:48 PM Jan Lukavský <[email protected]
        <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

            Hi Alex,

            great idea, thanks for that! Can we think of a solution
            that would be a little more scalable? Can we (e.g. via a
            mobile app) help connect people who need help with people
            who might offer help? Can we do this in reasonable time?

            On 3/18/20 11:42 PM, Alex Amato wrote:
            Here is one thing many people could do:
            - Contact your neighbors (leave a note on their door with
            your phone number) and find out if anyone is high risk
            and does not want to risk leaving their home. If you are
            lower risk and willing to go out. Insist that you can
            help them and obtain supplies for them. Or help them
            order online if they don't know how.
            - If there are neighbours who live along, also give them
            your phone number. Help keep track of them incase they
            get sick.

            More technical and farfetched idea:
            - Building custom ventilators. In some locations they are
            already out of respirators, and they will need more. You
            could donate these to a hospital, though I am not sure if
            they would use them (but they might be willing to if
            there is no other option).
            There are a few blogs on how to build these from supplies
            available in a crisis. A little bit of DIY knowhow and it
            may be possible to build a few. Even a few low quality
            ventilators could save some lives. Though, it may be
            possible there are more skilled people or local shops
            already doing this. Helping them get supplies and funds
            is another option.
            https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Pandemic-Ventilator/



            On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 3:27 PM Jan Lukavský
            <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

                Hi,

                I'm taking this opportunity to speak to this
                "streaming first" and
                "datadriven" community to try to do a little
                brainstorming. I'm not
                trying to create any panic, I'd like to start a
                serious discussion about
                solving a problem. I'm well aware this is not the
                primary use-case for
                this mailing list, but we are in a sort of special
                situation. I think we
                might share a know-how that might help people and so
                we could take
                advantage of that. Currently, the biggest concern (at
                least in Europe)
                seems to be separating people as much as possible. My
                questions would be:

                  - Can we try to think of ways to help people
                achieve better
                separation? There are places people must go to (e.g.
                shopping food), can
                we help planning this so that there are less peaks?

                  - Can we find any other ways to help prevent the
                virus spread? Or any
                other benefits we can do for people (e.g. missing
                medical supplies,
                missing work force, ...)

                  - Does anyone have any infrastructure or data that
                can be used for this?

                  - Would people be interested in investing some of
                their (hacking) time
                to implement any "global" precaution(s)? IMO there
                seems to be no
                "local" solution to this, currently.

                These are only a few questions from the top of my
                head, please feel free
                to add any thoughts.

                Cheers,

                  Jan

-- Regards,
    Venkatesh

    “Perfection (in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more
    to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away.”
    - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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