<nettime> Fwd: No Aid from FEMA Without Windows.....

[Michael Weisman <popeye@speakeasy.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: NanRubin@aol.com
> Date: September 9, 2005 1:21:43 PM PDT
> To: activist@mediatank.org, WBAIProducers@yahoogroups.com,=20
> stubblefield@prometheusradio.org
> Cc: Subject: [MediaAct] No Aid from FEMA Without Windows.....
>
> Want to file for aid online? Better run Windows
>
>  FEMA site requires assistance seekers to use Internet
>  Explorer 6
>
>  By Gary Krakow,Columnist
>
>  September 6, 2005, MSNBC
>
>  <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9231271/>
>
>  The good news: If you've survived Hurricane Katrina, the
>  government will let you register for help online. The bad
>  news: But only if the computer you're using is running
>  Windows.
>
>  Yes, it turns out that to make a claim with the Federal
>  Emergency Management Agency's Individual Assistance Center,
>  your Web browser must be Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 or
>  higher and you must have JavaScript enabled. It even says so
>  right on the page itself. One problem: IE6 isn't available
>  for Macintosh or Linux computers.
>
>  Complaints about government Web sites requiring Microsoft
>  software aren't new, of course. (MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC
>  joint venture.) But this is one instance that struck
>  particularly hard for some.
>
>  Mac user Gary Mullins wrote Monday on the MacInTouch Web
>  site:
>
>  	My 90-year old mother sat out Katrina in her brother's
>  	home next door in Diamondhead, MS, about eight miles from
>  	the Mississippi coast where the hurricane's eye hit. They
>  	survived without injury but with massive destruction to
>  	their homes, and my mother has lost most of her
> 	possessions. I brought her to my home in California
>  	yesterday and this morning went to the FEMA website to
>  	register to start the assistance process. To my dismay,
>  	our Federal emergency agency requires Microsoft Internet
>  	Explorer 6, and only IE 6, to use the website for
>  	disaster assistance. I don't want to be political about
>  	this, but this smacks of a serious leadership failure
>  	that the use of the Internet is reserved for only the
>   	Windows community.
>
>  When reached Tuesday afternoon, a FEMA spokeswoman said they
>  were aware of the problem and had passed it along to their
>  tech guys to try to resolve the issue. The spokeswoman I
>  spoke with declined to venture a guess on when the problem
>  might be solved, however.
>
>  I tried myself to access the FEMA site (
>  http://www.fema.gov/register.shtm) using the latest version
>  of Mozilla Firefox on a Windows PC, a brand new Mac mini and
>  a Linux laptop. No luck. Whenever I got close I was directed
>  to a page which told me to try again later or "We are sorry
>  for not being able to proceed your requests because you have
>  failed our tests." Trying with Opera, Netscape or Safari
>  wasn't any better.
>
>  If you're running Mac OS X, you could run Virtual PC 7 and
>  then access Windows and Internet Explorer. Some people also
>  have been having some success using Firefox and the User
>  Agent Switcher extension and setting it to IE6. I tried this
>  and was able to get a little further in the process, but
>  stopped before actually having to fill out a form. I'll leave
>  that to those who really need help.
>
>  At this time, I'd say the safest way for non-Windows users to
>  register for assistance is to call FEMA directly at
>  1-800-621-FEMA (1-800-621-3362) or for the hearing/speech
>  impaired at TTY: 1-800-462-7585. FEMA says the phone lines
>  are staffed 24/7.
>
>
>
>
> * * * * *
>  PLEASE NOTE NEW ADDRESS!
>
>  Nan Rubin
> Community Media Services
> 121 W.=A0 27th St.=A0 # 302
>  New York, NY=A0 10001 USA
>  212-463-7411
>  www.nanrubin.com_______________________________________________
> Activist mailing list
> Activist@mediatank.org
> http://www.mediatank.org/mailman/listinfo/activist
>
---------------------------
Mike Weisman
please respond to popeye@speakeasy.org




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