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Amber alert

Ugh. Without a doubt this was a terrible situation, but the vast majority of the people commenting seem unable to separate what the father did from the way the amber alert was dealt with.

Here's the way I see it.
1) What the dad did was awful and I applaud efforts to try to save children from harm (this one is the most important)
2) I think they need to drastically rethink the amber alert notification system. I have no problem sending a message to everyone's phone, but the audible alarm is beyond excessive. Issuing a third alarm to cancel the amber alert is completely ridiculous. Hopefully they had a smaller notification area this time, the last time I got a notification that a child was kidnapped an hour before in Thunder Bay. The notification area should be roughly correlated with reality. Start by notifying those within an hour of the possible travel distance. Issue an alert in a larger area if and when that is required. If someone's phone is on do not disturb or silent, respect that and stfu (unless the person has opted in to receiving all alarms). Feel free to send the text message, but waking up half the province does nothing to help find the child. My wife ended up turning off all phones as the alerts just kept coming. We were doing nothing to help the girl and in fact we became completely unreachable by anyone that may need to get us. My wife was also concerned that if the alarm went off while driving, it would create a dodgy situation as her phone normally lives in her purse so she would need to pull over and dig her phone out of her purse to cancel the alarm. Meanwhile, half the people driving will probably be fumbling with their phones while driving to shut the damned thing off.

Again, I have no problem with notifying people, but they need to think through the process to ensure the response is effective and commensurate with the situation (eg. if tornados are in the area, sound the alarm because people need to wake up to move to safety).

Obviously, all the people that called 911 to complain need a swift kick to the side of the head. It should be simple enough to do as PP said and add $1000 to their cell phone bill as an idiot tax. Just give 911 operators an idiot button that they can press to trigger the charge.

EDIT:
Macleans published a whole opinion piece that said anyone that complained was a horrible person. That proves my point exactly. Anyone that could reasonably help the situation should be notified appropriately. Notifying millions of people that will have zero impact on the situation and then calling them horrible??? wtf.

https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-myth-of-american-greatness/
 
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I think what people are complaining about is the fascism that comes with having your phone number mandatorily invaded with no option to opt out. There are people who don't watch the news, don't care about what goes on in the world and the terror that goes on in it, even if it's in the midst of blowing up...those people have a right to their privacy. In the US you can opt out, in Canada you can't. I suspect with a few lawsuits to the CRTC, you will be able to opt out here one day.

A town north of the GTA was just hacked and randsomwared, it's just a matter of time until hackers get everyone's phone numbers just to say they did...and sell them phone numbers to marketers. Then what? You'll be getting amber alerts from your local Wal-Mart that toilet paper is on sale.

There is so much wrong with this system. Amber alerts are for the news.

RIP Riya.
 
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They have thought it through.....

"What types of alerts are broadcast?

Only authorized government agencies can issue alerts. Together, government officials developed a specific list of the types of alerts that are considered a threat to life. These types of alerts should be broadcast immediately on television, radio and wireless devices."

https://www.alertready.ca/

There was a threat to life......and unfortunately that life was ended, perhaps it could have been prevented, perhaps the next Amber Alert will save a life, and for me that is enough to not be bothered if one goes off, even if it's in the middle of the night...

.
 
The hell, it's your job to interact with customers. Did she think they only call in to tell them what a great job the company is doing?

I'm virtually throwing up my hands as I'm reading your comment :) If a person is a snowflake, maybe customer service is not the best career choice.

I also question what doctor in their right mind would write a note for that.
 
Apparently the guy was found and caught because of the amber alert. Driver noticed the vehicle after seeing the amber alert. Didn't help the little girl as she was already dead. BUT.. if it saves the life of even 1 child... it's worth it.
The guy was found about 2 hours away.. limiting the distance to an hour travel time (post 21).. might have seen him get away.
 
Very sad on many fronts - R.I.P. Riya

Human selfishness knows no bounds - “Man is not, by nature, deserving of all that he wants. When we think that we are automatically entitled to something, that is when we start walking all over others to get it.”
 
I'm virtually throwing up my hands as I'm reading your comment :) If a person is a snowflake, maybe customer service is not the best career choice.

I also question what doctor in their right mind would write a note for that.

:D

amen
 
If you go to settings in messages there might be an option to turn off the alerts.

Sent from my purple G4 using Tapatalk
 
Doesn't explain for me. Both my wife's phone and mine are on the list, no alert. Both prepaid though.
Stupid question, as I'm fully aware that you are much smarter than I, but are you in Canada right now?

Sent from my purple G4 using Tapatalk
 
Maybe consider you may not have the full context of the situation, nor are you entitled to it. PTSD is triggered by things that would not be traumatising to mentally healthy people. You gonna laugh at a vet for having an attack during fireworks?

Whoosh.
 
I think what people are complaining about is the fascism that comes with having your phone number mandatorily invaded with no option to opt out. There are people who don't watch the news, don't care about what goes on in the world and the terror that goes on in it, even if it's in the midst of blowing up, and those people have a right to their privacy. In the US you can opt out...and I suspect with a few lawsuits to the CRTCA, you will be able to opt out here one day.

A town north of the GTA was just hacked and randsomwared, it's just a matter of time until hackers get everyone's phone numbers just to say they did...and sell them phone numbers to marketers. Then what? You'll be getting amber alerts from your local Wal-Mart that toilet paper is on sale.

There is so much wrong with this system. Amber alerts are for the news.

RIP Riya.

Amber Alerts are not sent by calling your cell number.....


.
 
Apparently the guy was found and caught because of the amber alert. Driver noticed the vehicle after seeing the amber alert. Didn't help the little girl as she was already dead. BUT.. if it saves the life of even 1 child... it's worth it.
The guy was found about 2 hours away.. limiting the distance to an hour travel time (post 21).. might have seen him get away.

I said an hour beyond where they could be. Based on what I have seen, the dad was last seen at ~15:00 and amber alert was issued at ~00:30. Radius on this one would be big.
 
If you go to settings in messages there might be an option to turn off the alerts.

Sent from my purple G4 using Tapatalk
Only in the US. Canadians are not allowed to opt out. This is facsim.

911 used to be an amber alert sytem to emergency services. Now people call it when they are in a bad customer service situation at McDonald's.

Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk
 
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If you go to settings in messages there might be an option to turn off the alerts.

Sent from my purple G4 using Tapatalk

I have my devices go into do not disturb mode at a set time in the evening and switch the mode off in the morning. The amber alert still came through.


Sent from the moon!
 
All though ridiculous I can somewhat understand people's frustration, maybe make a "White Alert" which a text gets sent and pops up on your phone as priority without an audible alarm. Would prevent all this headache for emergencies at night.


Also interesting that I've never received an amber alert ever and I'm on a 6S with Fido
 
"This is facsim."

You keep saying that.
You really think sending emergency alerts to a mobile device is fascism?
I don't think you know what fascism is.
 
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We have 5 phones between us (personal and business)... all with the same carrier, all newer phones... All 5 were sitting on the living room tables when it came... but only 2 of the 5 received the alert.
 
Checking the link provided earlier, I am quite surprised how many arw not on that list.

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