There have been several other examples of the collective power of the Internet to make small but significant changes to peoples lives, whether it’s bringing Bosnian puppy-tossers to justice or making a veteran’s birthday party better (whether he needed it or not).  The Ushahidi/Haiti example may have been a tipping point where the slightly more technical-than-the-average Internet user actually feels empowered to affect real-world events, virtually.

This week, there was some evidence that that trend might be real, and like the Ushahidi/Haiti example, maps and location information played a big part.  You may have heard about the horible natrual gas explosion and subsequent fire yesterday in San Bruno.  So far, four people have been confirmed dead and dozens of homes were either destroyed or damaged.  Almost immediately after the news spread, Edward Vielmetti from Ann Arbor, MI (http://vielmetti.typepad.com/) created http://sanbrunofire.crowdmap.com/ as a resource for people to find out more  about the fire and a central place for people to post and verify information.

It’s a nice example of the power of the Internet and a reminder of how location online can become more and less relevant at the same time.