Opinion: Technology Relief

The headlines make your stomach churn. Facebook is filled with furious posts because the world is just so awful sometimes. As you learn more about the bomb, about where it went off, about the timing, about the people, you just become sickened by whomever would be capable of this. On April 15, 2013, two bombs were detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three people died, including 8-year-old Martin. Next to the announcement of Martin’s death is his smiling face and big brown eyes looking up underneath a blue baseball cap. Hidden in between the lines describing the bombs is the knowledge that he will never smile and look up with those big brown eyes ever again. The world can be so very cruel, and that cruelty is haunting.Yet, there are still those family members who do not know if their loved ones are okay. We can only imagine the agonizing feeling of not knowing. To them, knowledge is relief, and in this way relief can be given.Technology is by no means always beneficial. In many cases it can be harmful, but I am glad to say that the technological age has brought relief to many in this situation. Google has worked to create a response system for those affected by the bombings. The Google Person Finder is a system set up online to allow people to either enter information they have about someone or to say they are looking for someone. The system then tries to make the matches and connects the two parties. Google has also connected other information through this site as well. Listed under the Google Person Finder is the number of the Boston’s mayor hotline, for victims, and the Boston Police line, for anyone with information. Google has also included a link to the Red Cross Safe and Well, which is a similar system. Red Cross Safe and Well offers the options of “List Myself as Safe and Well,” and “Search Registrants.” These web-based systems quickly and effectively connect the worried with their loved ones.This system can bring relief in a time of terror, and relief is hard to come by. It shows that new technology can serve the greater good, and it shows how it can become more than motherboards and wires. It shows how it can become a savior.Image after image of dismembered and maimed people will forever haunt me. That was someone’s friend, or mother, or brother, or sister… or son. Martin Richard’s father will never see his son’s bright, beautiful smile again. But even in this horrific and haunting time, relief comes – a relief that creates a strand of hope, even when everything seems to be enveloped by despair.