Posted on 11/08/2001 11:32:14 AM PST by butter pecan fan
This is to put forth a number of new comments on the "FReepAlert" idea, and "keep the ball rolling".
Newbies please see the original thread for full background and discussion to date on the idea. Really, I ought to rewrite the whole thing and fully update the concept, but I'm out of time at the moment and this is far quicker... apologies for that...
You should be aware if you aren't already, especially in regard to the forum issues, that I'm not a member of the core FR team (I'm just another Freeper here, and a rather new one at that, though I've lurked in the past and FReeped the VP mansion last year...) I haven't yet talked to Jim Robinson about the FreepAlert idea, though I would like to do so soon. I don't particularly expect him to personally endorse the idea, but he should at least be aware of it and have contact with the person who's come up with it (BTW, what's the best way to contact him?)
Some good supplemental ideas have been thrown out. Speaking personally, at this point, it's been all I can do to keep up with the basic FreepAlert idea and some other personal attempts to get a handle on various family protection issues.
I would suggest that if freepers would like to see a possible "alert area" on the web site, that might be a separate thread, though there is an obvious crossover of interest here, so I'd like to be pinged in on it. We would need one of the proposers of this idea to take the lead in developing the idea, coordinate with FR, etc.
But because of the possibility of regional threats (though any serious threat would probably still be of interest to all Americans, since al Qaeda is likely to strike multiple targets at once) I have thought of splitting the list into about 3 to 6 regions. However, there are some problems with that:
1) I very much doubt we will start out with a large network. It doesn't make quite as much sense to regionalize a small list - partly because until you have a reasonably large network in your region, you might need someone from outside your region to pick up an alert affecting you in, say, the middle of the night.
2) It further complicates things, and already the logistics / complexities are in danger of killing the idea. The most likely cause of death will be if we all just talk about it and get bogged down in the complexities and issues and never actually do anything.
3) We could always reshuffle at some point and regionalize things if and when we've had a functional network running for some months and the network grows significantly. However, one of the things I'm unsure of offhand is how the network would grow to a larger size. And maybe it doesn't need to. The more people that could be benefitted in an emergency, the better. But there's an advantage to having a high concentration of "news hounds" in the network. Thoughts, anyone?
The initial tests could include a midday test, an evening at-home test, and perhaps an evening rush-hour test. A middle-of-the-night test would be both annoying and unnecessary, since almost everyone will be home then. If the network works at five o'clock, there's no doubt it'll work at 2 a.m.
Anyway, fair enough.
This is not an issue as long as we can recruit someone else to adminster the network who meets the following qualifications:
1) Is considered credible and reliable by all (or at least most) of the potential participants. The adminstrator (or "host") must keep list details confidential, and must not release them to anyone beyond the degree required to cause the network to function.
2) The administrator must also be reliable in doing some administration. Must be ready, willing and able to devote the time and effort necessary to coordinate setup, communication, maintenance of the central list, testing, and dealing with any problem members. That sounds like a lot, but I don't expect it to be a huge burden. Still it must be done.
3) Must also have a full, crystal-clear understanding of the design and operation of the network, or be willing and able to work with me to get one. This is essential because if the way the network should work is not absolutely understood by the administrator, it could cause problems in a few different possible areas. At worst case, the network might not work reliably.
There are also some privacy issues the administrator needs to clearly understand. I would recommend, for example, that many members of the network will want to set up a hotmail email address, because these are anonymous and can be checked via Outlook Express. The main use I see for an email address is in testing, to send an email saying, "There will be a FreepAlert system test within the next week - please note the time you receive the test alert," and one after the test saying, "We've tested - if you weren't contacted or haven't sent in the time and date you were contacted, please let the administrator know so that test results can be checked." The administrator must understand how to instruct new members to do things in such a way that will protect their privacy.
We could possibly use FReepmail as an alternative to email, except I think email is more reliable. The chief problem is that members may not log into FR for days.
In any event, the floor, basically, is open for nominations for a suitable administrator (or "host", as I've previously termed the role).
-bpf
Sorry, should've said "wouldn't work well.
It could be of some benefit, but might not be worth the effort required unless we had a large list.
Many times during the election, we had short notice of a visit and it would have been great to be able to contact someone to have them notify the people in their area. It is like flying blind sometimes! Also would have come in handy when we had all the tornadoes in Western Oklahoma earlier this fall.
Thanks for what you are doing!
You got it, snorkeler.
A few additional quick notes for discussion and/or my own future reference in reworking the original proposal:
Suggestions --
Some interesting peer-to-peer (P2P) articles for general info:
Enjoy!
I should clarify what I wrote about "dead links," since it wasn't at all clear, and if people haven't been following the discussion (and even if they have) my loose usage of the term could easily be misunderstood. Maybe posting a bit of general info in this new thread will be good, too.
The network will basically consist of a chain of people notifying others in the event of an alert. Examples of alerts might be: multiple truck bomb attacks (or even one big one, since a known attack by al Qaeda, like the first airplane crashing into the WTC, implies that more may be on the way). A nuclear reactor incident. The sudden discovery of smallpox, since people may need to make preparations for possibly having to weather an epidemic.
Word will be spread almost entirely by telephone, since telephone is almost always available, and (most importantly) is immediate. Email could be used as a third way of alerting someone (if they don't have an answering machine).
In this way, word of a major attack can potentially spread among all members of the network within minutes, even if it happens during the dead middle of the night (of course, the news does have to first be picked up by an alert member. The bigger the network, the easier this becomes).
A "dead link" (as I mean the term) is basically a person in the chain who either a) is consistently unreachable, or who receives valid alerts and does not pass them on.
The network is specifically designed to tolerate lapses in the chain. Generally, if Jane is not home and Bill is on vacation, no problem - the message will still go through.
But where there are genuinely "dead links", over time these will need to be identified and cleaned out (taken off the list and replaced with active contacts) in order to prevent the chance that communication may break down.
For example, if we run the (possibly 3) initial tests and Lou can never be reached, we need to figure out why. Maybe Lou was just on vacation in the Bahamas that week (no problem). But maybe Lou's moved to the Bahamas and left no means of contact there. Then Lou should be dropped...
I can indeed figure out a viable role for you overseas folks!
Overseas members of the network can be extremely important for one simple reason - you're very likely to be listening to the news while those of us who are Stateside are sleeping.
If you're in Europe, this is during the early part of your day. If you're in Asia, it's late afternoon and evening.
If a nuclear bomb went off in the middle of the night in a major city, the vast majority of Americans would not know about it until the next morning. But members of the network would know. They could immediately take evasive action if downwind from radiation, or take the kids to Grandma's in the country if they lived in another major city that might be a target.
So overseas members could be very important indeed.
No purchase required. Some have talked of having (or getting) police scanners, which could be a very useful part of the network. But for the majority, just being alert & ready to pass on info if need be is all that's required.
As to when, that'll partly be a matter of getting some feedback on necessary items via this thread.
Computer networking, peer-to-peer or otherwise, could definitely open up some possibilities for expansion and improvement of the network once we get it going.
Basically, interested parties could install a small program on their computer which would check frequently for an alert any time their computer is connected to the Internet. If an alert found, the computer could notify the user, who might or might not be part of the telephone-based network.
We would have to have some central control over this, though. The telephone network has the added advantage that people can judge at every link whether an alert seems to be real or not real, so a bad alert can be stopped. Not so with computers.
But the computer network could be used by someone to send a report to a central administrator (or administrators) who would have the ability to sound a network-wide alert.
I'd want to have absolute assurance of the integrity of the programmer(s), and see the source code.
There are some other potential problems, which might be able to kill the idea. But hopefully those could be worked out.
A web site could be set up simply for people who want to know in case a major alert is sounded. They could download the software there. Thousands of people could do so.
So the idea does seem to have some real potential.
Maybe this has been asked and answered, but if someone hasn't received this email, they wouldn't have replied, giving a falso positive? Maybe require a response, yea or ney to confirm continued interest and validity of contact info.
But no ... I don't have anyone in particular in mind, mostly because I have no idea who might be willing to take on such a job.
You've done a tremendous amount of work already. Kudos for your efforts! Count me in too.
Too much work for the administrator, but your point is certainly valid.
My initial thought is that it would be best to incorporate confirmation directly into the quarterly test process somehow, maybe sort of as follows:
Bob calls Jill.
This is a test of the FReepAlert network.
Can you verify the daytime and evening contact numbers I have listed for you?
Thanks, and let me remind you to verify the same for your next contact, according to your printed "FReepAlert Test Instructions."
Test instructions wouldn't have to be long or complicated, but should definitely be available to remind people what to do, since they'll only do it once every 3 months. Test instructions would be printed on the same page (sent out with the same email) as the contact info originally received from the administrator.
Instructions would include a reminder that if info changes for one of their contacts, they need to notify the administrator, who would then in turn look on the list and drop an email to the other 3 network members who have that person on their list.
That way the administrator ONLY has work to do WHEN an actual change of contact info takes place.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.