Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line • Hacker News Board

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#331

Post by callahad » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:26 PM UTC

cema wrote: post #231

mindcrime wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turns out my cousin's wife got injured in training and didn't run today. They were just there to cheer on some friends who were running. Last I heard they were OK, but, as you can guess, the flow of detailed information in and out of Boston is pretty patchy right now.

SMS seems to be working better than mobile voice.

SMS will probably not go through at the moment: "Cellphone Service Shut Down in Boston" http://bigstory.ap.org/article/official-cellphone-service-sh...

"A law enforcement official says cellphone service has been shut down in the Boston area to prevent any potential remote detonations of explosives."

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#332

Post by angersock » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:26 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #321

angersock wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you say that your site traffic is blowing up in response to this event? EDIT: Sorry, sorry--in a weird headspace from the news. In all seriousness, did you actually just launch a product in this thread? EDIT2: Just remember, when launching a product--it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

150 visitors on the site right now, so I guess it depends on your definition of "blowing up." We're getting visits from YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, etc. but I haven't dug into where exactly. Proof: http://d.pr/i/LDao And as to "launching" in a thread, I don't really consider this a full "launch." Our product is needed, so even though it isn't ready we pushed it live.

I checked it out, and it's a cool product. I agree with somebody elses's comment--this is a useful thing to have in this day and age.

Out of curiosity, how are you picking which things to feed? Your ticker rate for tweets seems fixed, so you are discarding some things, right?

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#333

Post by hfantods » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:26 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #47

While this is buggy/not ready for release, here's a way to follow this on social media. http://fastlane.grasswire.com/ PS. Here's our launchrock page if anyone cares http://grasswire.com

This is incredible.. but at the same time you've exposed me to the multitudes of people that are just so hungry to make a "viral" image. I can't believe it.

One of the many:

http://distilleryimage7.s3.amazonaws.com/a9ba58b6a61111e2901...

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#334

Post by jauer » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:26 PM UTC

mathattack wrote: post #213

They police are saying, "Don't use your cellphones, as they can set off other devices." Is there real science behind this?

I'd say mostly BS, unless the bomber is a technical idiot. If any random cellphone freq can set it off, it could be set off before the bomber drops it.

Being detonated by cell phone, maybe setting all numbers but one to a ringer of silent and then using the speaker would seem more plausible, but figuring that out probably takes more time than they can spare right now.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#335

Post by khuey » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:27 PM UTC

uptown wrote: post #250

Authorities ID suspect as Saudi national in marathon bombings, under guard at Boston hospital http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/authorities_under_susp... EDIT: Two media outlets reporting conflicting information, so not sure if this is reliable information.

The NY Post is the only one reporting this, and they're not exactly known for accuracy.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#336

Post by Glyptodon » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:27 PM UTC

Killswitch wrote: post #4

Crazy people.. Another image [NSFW]: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH6fwFvCUAA-PWb.jpg:large

I'm glad people are posting photos like this - I hate how traditional media almost always post 'clean' pictures and video taken afterwards that make it hard to discern what actually happened.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#337

Post by Kequc » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:27 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #47

While this is buggy/not ready for release, here's a way to follow this on social media. http://fastlane.grasswire.com/ PS. Here's our launchrock page if anyone cares http://grasswire.com

I would like a way to filter out everything that includes the word "pray" in it unless it is from a respected news source. 90% of what any person ever says in response to everything that happens in america is "pray for it". It's sort of muddy to look at.

Actually it's just completely obnoxious. I like the site though.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#338

Post by agwa » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:27 PM UTC

betterunix wrote: post #329

rayiner wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there some "silly knee-jerk" response to every such event? I don't remember the knee-jerk response to the Oklahoma City bombing. Or the Atlanta Olympics bombing. Or the first WTC bombing. Or the attempted 2010 Times Square bombing. The response to Sandy Hook is better described as "belabored" rather than "knee-jerk." As for 9/11, that involved 3,000 people dead and the collapse of a major American icon. It killed…

We did not have a knee jerk response to the Oklahoma City bombing? What would you call this rights-contracting law then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiterrorism_and_Effective_De...

Thank you. I was literally about to post the same thing.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#339

Post by VLM » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:27 PM UTC

taurath wrote: post #292

VLM wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing I don't get, is if you know there are multiple devices, any opfor with half a brain is going to put them in the mass transit for follow up. So why evac people when sheltering in place is almost certainly safer? The TLDR is don't create a juicy concentrated target when you know for certain that someone is currently aiming at juicy concentrated targets. Also if its an ongoing event, shelter in place means peo…

Transit is much harder and has a much stronger security presence - people in general are also far more alert for suspicious packages. It would be much tougher I'd think to get something like this onto a subway rather than a huge crowd.

Whoops I looked it up and apparently a "mall" in boston is what the rest of the world would call a boulevard or parkway. So they're actually evac a street lined with trees. My worry was it they're shoving people in immense lines thru the doors of what the rest of the world would call a "mall" making a tempting target for the opfor.

I am surprised its verified to be packages and not dudes wearing vests or whatever. There's no way to avoid the issue that getting the crowd to stampede means certain targets of opportunity will be very busy. If I were in Boston there's no way in hell I'd set foot on any mass transit until the evac is over.

The original point still stands, that people mostly sittin down can't get into too much mischief, "everybody get up and run around" results in huge opportunity for chaos, because not just the good guys, but the bad guys too will be up and running around.

Re: Explosions near Boston Marathon finish line

#340

Post by ctdonath » Mon, Apr 15, 2013, 9:27 PM UTC

bargl wrote: post #313

noonespecial wrote: post #138

The worst part for me (and I really am feeling bad about this) is that I should be concerned about the victims right now, but I can't stop thinking about what freedoms I'll be losing as a result of this.

Why is this the top thread? I'm being serious here... I honestly don't understand how this got all the way up to the top where as others of much greater worth (IMHO) sit below...

Because most people think violent attacks on high-profile innocents is more meaningful than, say, the merits of blogging without an audience.