Critical Amber Alert

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Buff

The simplest solution is to not give your kids a phone a such a young age. They dont need it. You cannot give me one reason to rationalize it. They simply do not need it. No excuses. I keep hearing about research on how kids having devices is detrimental to their brains development. I have seen it first hand wih my own kids. They cannot control themselves. Most adults cannot control themselves when it comes to phone/device usage. Don't tell me otherwise about your kids because you would be lying to me and especially yourself.

Just like how my parents heard all the research about Nintendo killing my brain back in the 80s. And my parents' parents heard the research telling them that TV would kill their kids. And their parents heard it about radio.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

I'm glad we all get those notifications. It really is ''all hands on deck''. It works, and I'm glad the child was found. But I can totally understand a bunch of people getting upset if this would have happened at say 4am on a work night.

Unfortunately, crime and/or emergencies don't just happen during convenient business hours.

I would be interested to know if when the child was found, it was a direct result from a tip from the Amber Alert.

Not this time. An off duty officer who'd already spent a good chunk of the night looking for the car happened to see it on his way home and call it in, setting up the arrest. However, several useful tips came in from citizenry throughout the night.

[shermanator]

I posted this in the "I don't want to live on this planet anymore" thread, and I'll post it here. To those who are whining about losing sleep due to an alert here's a great article in MacLean's responding to you, titled "You are horrible people".

But we have grown so entitled to our comforts, we’ve forgotten that we have to pay for them, that we bear collective responsibilities. We can’t be bothered to vote. We resent paying taxes for public goods. We volunteer in our community less and less. And now we even begrudge having to help save the life of a child.

That is what citizens are complaining about today. They were asked to help save a child and this irritated them. In small towns, when a child goes missing everyone knocks on doors and wakes each other up and searches all night. Because in a community people look out for each other, they understand the duty we owe our neighbours. They recognize that if you want to live in a town that protects its children, occasionally you have to get up, go outside, and help.

This is a point all the whiners need to understand today: If you want to live in a province that protects its children, occasionally you have to roll over in bed and check your phone. And if that is too much to ask, then you are objectively a horrible person.

https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/...rrible-people/

[SebC]

Originally Posted by midniteowl

For all the people that complained about this emergency alert, just imagine if your kids got abducted, wouldn't you want as many people as possible notify the abduction and on the look out? Or your stance won't change that the alert is a nuisance and wake you up from your beauty sleep?

Sure, if it's your kid, you'll probably have a pretty selfish viewpoint on the whole thing. Still, we know from the daylight savings time studies that sleep deprivation increases car accidents, workspace injuries, suicides, miscarriages, etc., so even if it's your kid, are you sure you want to be waking everyone up?

[psicodude]

This thread is a great example of the selfishness that is plaguing our society lately. "My sleep is more important than a child's life". Seriously?

How did we, in a couple of generations, go from young women and men willing to give their lives in the name of freedom to people complaining about losing a few minutes of sleep?

[V]

Holy crap, now a vibrating alert in the middle of the night is causing sleep deprivation. This is obviously getting out of control.

[GGG]

I’m in favour of it however the same logic I use to oppose playground zones and metal detectors at sporting events applies here. We should look at lives lost vs lives saved

If 4 million people were woken up for 10 minutes society lost 40 million minutes of life. In 80 years there are roughly 42 million minutes. So since all alerts won’t be successful and all people won’t be woken up or inconvenienced by being woken up it appears from a Utilitarian standpoint to be likely a break even idea.

[midniteowl]

Originally Posted by SebC

Sure, if it's your kid, you'll probably have a pretty selfish viewpoint on the whole thing. Still, we know from the daylight savings time studies that sleep deprivation increases car accidents, workspace injuries, suicides, miscarriages, etc., so even if it's your kid, are you sure you want to be waking everyone up?

WOW, JUST WOW


So you would just sleep through your own child's abduction? And you won't want to bother others to help you locate you kids?

[Ducay]

I love the overreactions in this thread as if people have been complaining endlessly about losing sleep not being worth saving a child's life.

There was a couple rational suggestions for improvements to potentially maintain efficacy and reduce negative impacts, as well as honest questioning if improvements could be made - and all it was met with was "STOP CRYING ABOUT YOUR SLEEP THERE ARE CHILDREN AT STAKE". Its like - christ, as a parent to small children I get it, no one wants to reduce the ability to help, but that doesn't mean a positive program can't be tweaked. Can't we have an open discussion without the relentless pile ons?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Okay, if you don't want to be disturbed period, no matter what, turn your phone off.

If you're leaving your phone on, then you are allowing for it to notify, and awake you for some type of message or call. You wouldn't be bothered by it then since you've set yourself up for it, so why is a very rare emergency alert different?

It strikes me odd that getting the alert during the day time would be no big deal, but in the night time it is. An emergency is a emergency at any point of the day.

Originally Posted by Joborule

So? Doesn't change anything about what I've said. If you REALLY don't want to be disturbed under any circumstance, have phone off.

I can't have my phone off. I'm a business owner and the only one that can respond to alarms going off. My alarm company is whitelisted on my do not disturb profile. I'm the only family member my 70 year old mom has in Calgary and she lives alone - her numbers are white listed as well. I have a sick uncle with cancer and I'm his emergency contact - another whitelist. I also have a few others whitelisted like my wife and kids, but those were irrelevant last night as everyone was home.

I had my phone on do not disturb and this service whitelisted itself against my permission. I think it should respect the do not disturb. I'll check Samsung forums and see if I can blacklist it when do not disturb is on, which I only turn on when I'm sleeping.

I would want to keep iminant danger-type problems whitelisted, though, so it'll be nice when the system gets smarter. Like location-based stuff for tornado warnings, etc.

[IGGYFORMVP]

Originally Posted by SebC

Sure, if it's your kid, you'll probably have a pretty selfish viewpoint on the whole thing. Still, we know from the daylight savings time studies that sleep deprivation increases car accidents, workspace injuries, suicides, miscarriages, etc., so even if it's your kid, are you sure you want to be waking everyone up?

Yep, if I lost one of my kids your ####ing right I want everyone woken up. This is perhaps one of the stupidest thing I have ever read on this board. Give your head a shake.

[sketchyt]

People really do complain about everything lol.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I can't have my phone off. I'm a business owner and the only one that can respond to alarms going off. My alarm company is whitelisted on my do not disturb profile. I'm the only family member my 70 year old mom has in Calgary and she lives alone - her numbers are white listed as well. I have a sick uncle with cancer and I'm his emergency contact - another whitelist. I also have a few others whitelisted like my wife and kids, but those were irrelevant last night as everyone was home.

I had my phone on do not disturb and this service whitelisted itself against my permission. I think it should respect the do not disturb. I'll check Samsung forums and see if I can blacklist it when do not disturb is on, which I only turn on when I'm sleeping.

I would want to keep iminant danger-type problems whitelisted, though, so it'll be nice when the system gets smarter. Like location-based stuff for tornado warnings, etc.

You have no argument here.

You have your phone set to wake you up for emergencies, you don’t get to complain when your phone wakes you up for an emergency.

Perhaps you have an arguement, it is just selfish, your emergencies matter and others don’t.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by GGG

You have no argument here.

You have your phone set to wake you up for emergencies, you don’t get to complain when your phone wakes you up for an emergency.

Perhaps you have an arguement, it is just selfish, your emergencies matter and others don’t.

I suppose that's part of it. I don't want to be woken up in my bed in a Calgary suburb because a boy was taken by his mom in Edmonton. There are hundreds of emergencies all over the province every day. Millions all over the world every week. Sometimes I'm able to help, in which case I do. When I'm in bed I can't, so I'd rather not be disturbed.

I disagree that's selfish. I think it's just reasonable/practical.

They will improve the system in short order, though. As a group, many of you have decided that I'm being a prick, but actually I support the system and am looking forward to them tweaking it to make it better and more targeted at people that can actually help versus this shot gun approach.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I suppose that's part of it. I don't want to be woken up in my bed in a Calgary suburb because a boy was taken by his mom in Edmonton.

The mother was located and apprehended in Calgary. The exact situation you are so up in arms about is in fact is a case for why it WAS important to make it a provincial alert.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I suppose that's part of it. I don't want to be woken up in my bed in a Calgary suburb because a boy was taken by his mom in Edmonton.

And yet, the majority of this emergency played out in Calgary throughout the night, and ended up ending just outside of Calgary, so one could say it was more important that Calgarians know what was going on than Edmontonians...

[Wormius]

A mom in Edmonton with a car, that by the time the Amber alert was issued could have been anywhere in the province. This turned out to be true since they were found in was in Okotoks, right? They could have just as easily been in Fort Mac.

So yes, people all over the province are the right targets, not just people in Edmonton.

The arguments for tweaking the system are still not being very well thought out. There is no reason to change it.

[PepsiFree]

Not one suggestion for “improvement” here has been rational, possible, and without presenting numerous other, more serious, problems.

You absolutely need to hit all three for it to be a worthwhile improvement. That’s why most of the suggestions have been dismissed. They’re not good, and they do not solve a problem worth solving.

Want an undisturbed sleep? Shut your phone off. Have it on for emergencies? Congrats, an Amber Alert is an emergency. Your sleep and your emergencies are not more important than someone else’s emergency. Again, nothing is perfect and that’s ok. This is an extremely valuable system that works as well as it possibly can given it’s intention. That’s a huge win.

If anyone has a suggestion for improvement that is rational, possible, and does not cause other issues, please bring it up. Not one has been presented yet (and the “people are disabling the function!” ‘issue’ has been debunked, so please stop using that as a reason it needs to improve).

[Shazam]

I was awake, the rest of you really need to start drinking coffee at 9pm.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by Shazam

I was awake, the rest of you really need to start drinking at 9pm.

fixed