Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 27 posts

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#11

Post by davchana »

systemtest wrote: post #5
CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #2

That's awesome! We kindof have a more targeted system (for example, Amber Alerts), but it seems like something very similar. This makes me wonder if the mobile carriers and phone OS manufacturers could collaborate on a similar type of targeted system. Let's assume that an accredited healthcare provider has an emergent patient. The patient has been identified, and a name of a friend/relative/etc. has been provided, bu…

I have emergency contacts on my phone. You can access them, together with my medical information, without having to unlock my phone. A simple system that works.

Please elaborate more. Phone OS, method, phone lock type? Thanks, I also want to set it up on my phone, Android.

The easiest I found is to write in info on an image & set it up as my lock screen wallpaper.

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#12

Post by dewey »

davchana wrote: post #11
systemtest wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have emergency contacts on my phone. You can access them, together with my medical information, without having to unlock my phone. A simple system that works.

Please elaborate more. Phone OS, method, phone lock type? Thanks, I also want to set it up on my phone, Android. The easiest I found is to write in info on an image & set it up as my lock screen wallpaper.

Not sure about Android but iOS has all this built in:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207021

https://www.imore.com/how-add-emergency-contacts-iphone-appl...

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#13

Post by marbletiles »

rwmj wrote: post #8

The Eddie Mair documentary would be here, but as is usual the BBC never makes old archive programs available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mdf9r I'm like 99% sure I listened to it, but unfortunately I didn't make a copy probably because I listened to it on the broadcast radio rather than download.

Click the "Clips" link on that page to hear the segment: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y83k6

(NB: The BBC makes thousands of hours of radio archives available, including the entire In Our Time archive, for example, but the policy depends on genre and rights so it's not blanket coverage.)

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#14

Post by NeedMoreTea »

rwmj wrote: post #10
phkamp wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back then the first three letters of the license plate identified the city council where the car was registered. There wouldn't have been a lot of cars in London with that particular three-leter code which increases the chance of recognition a lot.

Still does (the first two letters anyway). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of...

It used to encode the town or part of a city, now it gives a region that could be anywhere in several counties based on the nearest DVLA local office (now all closed).

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#15

Post by comma-ampersand »

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #2

That's awesome! We kindof have a more targeted system (for example, Amber Alerts), but it seems like something very similar. This makes me wonder if the mobile carriers and phone OS manufacturers could collaborate on a similar type of targeted system. Let's assume that an accredited healthcare provider has an emergent patient. The patient has been identified, and a name of a friend/relative/etc. has been provided, bu…

Since the article is about the UK it should be said that mobile carriers there do not necessarily know the name of their users.

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#16

Post by joshgel »

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #2

That's awesome! We kindof have a more targeted system (for example, Amber Alerts), but it seems like something very similar. This makes me wonder if the mobile carriers and phone OS manufacturers could collaborate on a similar type of targeted system. Let's assume that an accredited healthcare provider has an emergent patient. The patient has been identified, and a name of a friend/relative/etc. has been provided, bu…

This is smart. I'm an inpatient physician. We run into issues all the time where we can't reach family for an elderly or non-responsive patient.

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#17

Post by chrisseaton »

joshgel wrote: post #16
CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #2

That's awesome! We kindof have a more targeted system (for example, Amber Alerts), but it seems like something very similar. This makes me wonder if the mobile carriers and phone OS manufacturers could collaborate on a similar type of targeted system. Let's assume that an accredited healthcare provider has an emergent patient. The patient has been identified, and a name of a friend/relative/etc. has been provided, bu…

This is smart. I'm an inpatient physician. We run into issues all the time where we can't reach family for an elderly or non-responsive patient.

What ethical concerns do you face doing this for someone who has not consented?

What if the patient didn't want their family to be reached?

What if the patient has been trying to escape an abusive family and you're leading them straight back to the patient!

I always wonder when my local police force Tweets 'missing person' and I think 'what the fuck if they were trying to escape an abusive partner!!'. Or what if they just don't want to be found by anyone for some reason that's none of your business.

I'm not sure police or hospitals should be going around asking after anyone who's an adult who hasn't consented.

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#18

Post by chrisseaton »

rwmj wrote: post #8

The Eddie Mair documentary would be here, but as is usual the BBC never makes old archive programs available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mdf9r I'm like 99% sure I listened to it, but unfortunately I didn't make a copy probably because I listened to it on the broadcast radio rather than download.

> as is usual the BBC never makes old archive programs available

What are you on about?

Two thousand episodes of Desert Island Discs https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr/episodes/player

Nearly a thousand episodes of In Our Time https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/guide

Two hundred episodes of the Moral Maze https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qk11/episodes/player

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#19

Post by rwmj »

chrisseaton wrote: post #18
rwmj wrote: post #8

The Eddie Mair documentary would be here, but as is usual the BBC never makes old archive programs available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mdf9r I'm like 99% sure I listened to it, but unfortunately I didn't make a copy probably because I listened to it on the broadcast radio rather than download.

> as is usual the BBC never makes old archive programs available What are you on about? Two thousand episodes of Desert Island Discs https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr/episodes/player Nearly a thousand episodes of In Our Time https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/guide Two hundred episodes of the Moral Maze https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qk11/episodes/player

That's 3200 episodes, versus how many radio programmes has the BBC broadcast in all?

Re: The personal SOS messages the BBC used to send

#20

Post by tomjen3 »

bumholio wrote: post #3

The stranger memorizing the license plate from a single announcement on the radio and then finding that car on the street to deliver news of a sick kid is a fantastic story. It's hard to imagine for someone brought up in the age of the information overload just how starved people were back then for entertainment and news. I remember the anxiety with which I waited a whole week for my favorite (and only) cartoon I cou…

Granddad (born in 39) told me his childhood home didn't even have a radio. Granted they were unskilled labour, but in my mind not having any news is still weird.
Post reply on HN