It seems to be that previous massive failures by companies such as Intergraph are quickly forgotten about. In Victoria, Australia, there ended up being a Royal Commission - and Intergraph didn't seek an extension to their contract as a result due to the massive fallout " rel="nofollow">http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s181316.htm>, and " rel="nofollow">http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s427907.htm>
My hell as a 911 operator
221–230 of 241 posts
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#222Earlier quoted context omitted.
Blergh, Kamailio. Will it scale down to a Raspberry Pi? I realise I'm completely not your target market but I need something that does VoIP better than my router does it.
We ran openSIPS before but we found the pace of development to be higher on Kamailio in general. Plus most of our customers are running it instead of openSIPS. We're currently trying to build the world's smallest cluster; seven raspberry pi's will hopefully support 100 phone calls or so with no single point of failure. If you're looking for something single server you want freeswitch by itself. That thing is a beast…
Thanks! Best of luck with your project.
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#223Wow. It's a new case study on how process risk equals 1970's-style failures: Big Design Upfront and failure to manage risk. Gambling with people's lives instead of ironing the bugs out in a mock environment, going live on a limited basis (smaller center/group first) and not letting the consultants drive the product.
The operators should've had final say on production worthiness. The arrogance of top-down "solutions" that don't work.
Other observation: results are often inversely proportional to budget, up to a point. Spending instead of thinking is not a solution.
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#224Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here's an example of that kind of situation happening for a fire department in Tennassee: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/10/04/122193/county-f...
That policy is about as backwards and fucked up as the idea of privatizing a 911 service. Those "firefighters" should be ashamed. As a counterpoint, I refer you to all the other counties in the US where receiving this vital service isn't contingent on your bills being paid. I can see these people losing their home to a fire because they failed to acquire home insurance, but I can't see how moral people would stand by…
If you had bothered to read the article, you would have found that the fire fighting service was offered by a neighboring jurisdiction to a jurisdiction that had no fire service of its own.
Many rural U.S. counties have no standing fire fighters. Fires are fought by volunteers, often using donated equipment. There is nothing immoral about a town offering enhanced fire service to subscribers outside the town.
Similar arrangements are also common between ambulance companies and subscribers. Old people with a fixed income consider it a great deal to pay $50 a year or so for discounted service.
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, then don't you have an axiom that taxes are not theft? Simply because most people agree with you doesn't mean you are right and moral and I am not. Would you call slavery moral? Yet throughout most of the human history, most people had no problem with it. Those who realized it was immoral either kept quiet or were persecuted. Next you will probably tell me: but how can you compare taxation to slavery? Well, bot…
You agree to the taxation by using the currency of a tax raising organisation whose stability, and therefore the stability of the currency you own, depends on that organisation being able to defend territory and keep a stable economy running in that territory, which takes resources which in that system then requires some of the currency it created. If you want to create an alternative economic system that requires no…
Empirically, what you're saying is not true. Many countries use USD as their primary currency, however their citizens do not pay taxes to the US.
But let's say I agree. I'm gonna switch to Bitcoin and start my own country. Problem is, no one's gonna let me occupy a territory I choose even though it may not be used at all (!) by a government or any of the citizens. The moment I start building my house in the woods, someone's gonna notice and send people in suits to evict me. What's the justification for that? No one uses the land anyway! Why is some government more entitled to it than I am?
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#226The miracle of over-centralization at work.
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh boy. In 1993 handwriting wasn't the only option. And we're talking about 911 dispatching, not just police. Fire, medics, police, dog catchers, tow trucks etc., are all involved now.
Successful management of any endeavor requires prioritization. If dog catchers and tow trucks are in the same bullet list as ambulances, they're doing something wrong.
If a car crash needs an ambulance it also needs a tow truck.
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. The government monopoly, as broken as it is, should not discriminate in matters of health and safety, whereas a corporate system that you're proposing would. I am Canadian and am not interested in defending the American system. We have free healthcare (so long as you're a resident paying taxes, and others of course are billed after receiving care). 2. So, in your world, the guy who seemed to have alcohol on his br…
1. I respect the fact you don't want to discriminate when it comes to matters of health and safety. I, on the other hand, would like to discriminate. If a person who led unhealthy lifestyle knowingly requires medical attention, I want to have a default option of not paying for this out of my own pocket, because I don't know that person at all. Now, say I'm a Canadian citizen too: would you give me the same amount of…
Silly libertarian.
Here's how Canadians (and I'm one of them) think about health care: Some of us do crazy, unhealthy stuff, and some don't. We all have the same healthcare. Be free, do your thing. Live your life the way you want to. It costs way too much to have different healthcare for different people.
Some of you "land of the free" people really don't get it.
Being free to leave your job, and free to live your life that way you want to (without actuarial oversight) are pretty important.
Those are way more important to me than the last nth percent of optimization I might be able to do on my own personal wallet by taking on all the idiocy of privatized, customized health care.
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
I doubt about #2. #1 is the only issue. As with everything gov, too much money leads to under the table deals. It's ridiculous that we have 200 people constantly updating code for my sound card in Linux at 2 different projects, but no one can give out time to improve a vital system like this which eats billions of my taxes. ...just because someone went to college with someone else or somebody got golf membership some…
Just an FYI, 2600hz, where I work, is building an free/open-source operating system for Telecom that could easily support nationwide IP-based 911 service. I just don't have any lobbying money :).
Voting systems have the same problem.
All we needed to fix the problems laid bare in 2000 was a foolproof way to encode ballots. Open source software running on a PC connected to a card punch machine would have solved it.
What we got was something that undermined the whole voting process. And at the cost of millions.
Again and again and again, our decision making system allows a minority to waste our money.
The only fix, in my opinion, is giving you the right to choose who represents you.
And I don't mean the right to pick from two alternatives chosen by someone else, and not even getting that unless you are in the majority.
If you picked your lawyer or doctor from two preselected choices and didn't even get that guy half the time, wouldn't you conclude that someone else was in control?
Re: My hell as a 911 operator
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "If a person who led unhealthy lifestyle knowingly requires medical attention" It's interesting how, when this particular viewpoint comes up, the hypothetical individual is always deeply irresponsible, borderline malicious. But the person making the argument never is. > "Now, say I'm a Canadian citizen too: would you give me the same amount of respect and not require me to pay tax money for the things I have no int…
> It's interesting how, when this particular viewpoint comes up, the hypothetical individual is always deeply irresponsible, borderline malicious. But the person making the argument never is. No, I may be the most irresponsible person in the world. The difference is, I'm not asking you or anyone else to pay for it. > No, because this is a fundamental philosophical difference that runs to the core of who we are. I val…
> not asking you or anyone else to pay for it
Sure you are. The moment you're out of your financial depth you'll scream like a little girl and recant.
You presume that a private system yields some kind of low-cost alternative to single-payer systems. That's not the case, and it's so far from true in the US that it's laughable.
You are the one who needs to look into his kids eyes and explain why they can't have critically needed health care. It should start with "Daddy can't do math", and end with "and so my beliefs were more important than your well-being".