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Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

notfound.org

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Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#61

Post by ImprovedSilence »

sliverstorm wrote: post #41
paulhauggis wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like you are saying that the effort is futile because they won't find them anyway. It doesn't matter of they are "incredibly rare". We are talking about human lives here. If it saves one life, it's worth it.

We are talking about human lives here. If it saves one life, it's worth it. Ah, one of my favorite arguments. The good 'ol, "there is no price which is too high to save a life (period, full-stop)". Do you actually believe that? Really? Or am I just reading you wrong here?

Is the cost (price) of this solution really so high though?

Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#62

Post by tobias3 »

paulhauggis wrote: post #26
chimeracoder wrote: post #13

I appreciate the noble motives behind this, but programs like the AMBER alert have not proven very effective[1]. Furthermore, abductions by strangers are incredibly rare; most abductions are by people that the child knows well (such as an estranged parent/relative, etc.). These are the cases for which the AMBER alert is most likely to have success, but they're also the cases for which it is the least likely to be nec…

It seems like you are saying that the effort is futile because they won't find them anyway. It doesn't matter of they are "incredibly rare". We are talking about human lives here. If it saves one life, it's worth it.

We live in a world with finite resources. That means nothing is free and everything has a cost associated with it.

That means you have to think a little bit about the cost and benefit of doing something.

You cannot save all children.

Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#64

Post by bmm6o »

paulhauggis wrote: post #26
chimeracoder wrote: post #13

I appreciate the noble motives behind this, but programs like the AMBER alert have not proven very effective[1]. Furthermore, abductions by strangers are incredibly rare; most abductions are by people that the child knows well (such as an estranged parent/relative, etc.). These are the cases for which the AMBER alert is most likely to have success, but they're also the cases for which it is the least likely to be nec…

It seems like you are saying that the effort is futile because they won't find them anyway. It doesn't matter of they are "incredibly rare". We are talking about human lives here. If it saves one life, it's worth it.

If it's that important, it shouldn't go on a 404 page (which, ideally, people won't see). You should dedicate space on all of your pages for pictures of missing kids. And escaped convicts.

Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#65

Post by pharrington »

inportb wrote: post #51
sliverstorm wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are talking about human lives here. If it saves one life, it's worth it. Ah, one of my favorite arguments. The good 'ol, "there is no price which is too high to save a life (period, full-stop)". Do you actually believe that? Really? Or am I just reading you wrong here?

We think human lives are priceless because we like to believe that everyone is unique. There is no warranty replacement for children born defective; nor could you replace them when they break, go missing, etc.

Well obviously everyone is unique in that there's only one of any given life, regardless of whether or not anyone's life is qualitatively unique. But it seems obvious (at least to me) that what's much more relevant is that as self-reflective human beings, we have a responsibility to protect other human lives, within reason. Of course, what "within reason" means is a whole subject on it's own.

Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#66

Post by bmm6o »

See related discussion from 3 years ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1148200

And as I said then:

I think the intentions behind the idea - trying to do some societal good with your web site - are great. It's just seems odd to me that the way you handle not being able to find what the user wants is by showing them something unrelated that is guaranteed to be not what they were looking for. What is the attraction to doing this on a 404 page, vs say a banner ad (as suggested elsewhere in the thread)?

Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#67

Post by eranation »

I think it helps more the image of the site owner than the chances of these poor children to be found, (though I don't think it can hurt anything, just don't think it helps much) However hidden GPS tag (in a watch / shoes etc) on my child that only I can use to locate them in the first 3 hours, now that's a solution. Is there anything like this?

EDIT: a quick Google search suggests there is, are any of these solutions really work?

Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#68

Post by larrys »

mikeash wrote: post #37
autophil wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If even ONE SINGLE CHILD is found and returned back into the loving arms of a parent due to a repurposed 404 page, the initiative is a great success. Don't you think?

That would depend entirely on the cost of the initiative and what other things, including potentially more effective ways of rescuing kidnapped children, could be done instead.

"potentially more effective ways of rescuing kidnapped children"

Agree.

Better than nothing? Ok, yes. Better than a company giving people an opportunity to monetize their 404 traffic (people do this obviously) and then taking those earnings (even if nominal) and putting it toward a cause to help children (or anything "worthy") even better.

Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#69

Post by icebraining »

ImprovedSilence wrote: post #61
sliverstorm wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are talking about human lives here. If it saves one life, it's worth it. Ah, one of my favorite arguments. The good 'ol, "there is no price which is too high to save a life (period, full-stop)". Do you actually believe that? Really? Or am I just reading you wrong here?

Is the cost (price) of this solution really so high though?

If you're a parent of a kidnapped child who you lost most hope of finding, what effect would seeing this on each and every 404 have? My guess is "not that great", to say the least.

If it's really that much ineffective as some are arguing, I think the costs to our mental health far outweigh the benefits.

Re: Turn your 404s into lost children alerts

#70

Post by drblast »

anjc wrote: post #46

Is it just me or is there no sample page on the site? I had to go to a participating webpage and find their 404. It's a noble idea, i don't know if 404's are an appropriate place, and i don't know if it'll have any real impact. Noble, though.

http://notfound.org/lkasjdlkasjdasljk
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