HACK RATING SYSTEM
J. M. Pescado:
Quote from: qvcatullus on 2006 January 20, 19:24:51
Wouldn't it be sad if something similar did happen, and a silly little sign could have fixed it, but there wasn't one?
The color coding is ridiculous, yes, but reminding ordinary folks to keep an eye out and LET SOMEONE KNOW if anything makes them suspicious is important (if only the government had a way to filter through the crazy foil-hat people who report alien invasions every day). And that's what the sign-posting thing is supposedly about.
But the silly little sign doesn't fix it. The sign doesn't recommend any useful course of action that people don't already know about. "Don't do anything different" and "report suspicious behavior" is not a course of action! The terror alert scale is just there for politicians to cover their ass, claiming they're making some kind of effort, so if something does happen, they can go, "Hey, we warned you!". It also serves to keep stirring up terror so people won't forget about terrorists. After all, when was the last time terrorists did anything, and really, have terrorists really proven to be that dangerous? You're more likely to be run over by a bus than blown up in one.
vilia:
Quote from: qvcatullus on 2006 January 20, 19:24:51
The color coding is ridiculous, yes, but reminding ordinary folks to keep an eye out and LET SOMEONE KNOW if anything makes them suspicious is important (if only the government had a way to filter through the crazy foil-hat people who report alien invasions every day).
I don't think we have a colour coded system in Australia but I do remember the 'stay alert but not alarmed' ads that were everywhere. Unfortunately they didn't work and they had to put a stop to the anonymous 1800 number as people were dobbing in others they didn't like for 'suspicious' behaviour. There was also a story circulating about a woman reporting a white panel van across the road from her house as suspicious...it turned out to be a plumber out on a call.
vecki:
Quote from: vilia on 2006 January 21, 02:01:01
Quote from: qvcatullus on 2006 January 20, 19:24:51
The color coding is ridiculous, yes, but reminding ordinary folks to keep an eye out and LET SOMEONE KNOW if anything makes them suspicious is important (if only the government had a way to filter through the crazy foil-hat people who report alien invasions every day).
I don't think we have a colour coded system in Australia but I do remember the 'stay alert but not alarmed' ads that were everywhere. Unfortunately they didn't work and they had to put a stop to the anonymous 1800 number as people were dobbing in others they didn't like for 'suspicious' behaviour. There was also a story circulating about a woman reporting a white panel van across the road from her house as suspicious...it turned out to be a plumber out on a call.
* vecki hides behind her all-powerful anti terrorism defense-fridge-magnet
That fridge magnet will protect me even from JM and his tank!
diamonde:
Quote from: vilia on 2006 January 21, 02:01:01
I don't think we have a colour coded system in Australia but I do remember the 'stay alert but not alarmed' ads that were everywhere. Unfortunately they didn't work and they had to put a stop to the anonymous 1800 number as people were dobbing in others they didn't like for 'suspicious' behaviour.
We have a boring set of levels without colours as far as I know - low, medium, high and extreme, although we only use medium. But I work for the Queensland government, so for a while when we started work and opened the department homepage we'd see a notice header saying something like "Terrorism: Orchid Alert". It turns out that Orchid Alert was actually the code name of an anti-terrorism exercise. Which we would have found out had we ever bothered to read the notice, but we were too busy making jokes about how if it ever changed to 'Righteous Daffodil Alert' we all had to duck and cover.
This is why the 1800 number didn't work very well. If even those of us who work in large, unpopular government departments and got caught right in the middle of the public transport bomb hoax can't take it that seriously, I doubt anyone else can. I loved the posters, though. Beware of shifty people giving each other cash or mysterious packages in the street! And people buying inexplicably large amounts of fertilizer! Terrorists! Because we don't at all have thousands of people in this country producing outrageous amounts of pot or anything.
resin:
Now that the rating system is in place, I just wanted to say that I love it. Very, very helpful.
As an infrequent - but very appreciative - visitor to this site I have a related suggestion. Is it possible to flag hacks that have been updated? Currently, unless I'm mistaken, there's no way to tell if, say, TwoJeffs' "Casual Romance" or a similar hack-to-updated has been altered from its original incarnation. If I go to a hack forum page, there's a "last post" entry. Maybe there could be a "hack last updated" entry as well.
Just a thought, and the LAST thing I want to do is give you more work...unless it's a very easy thing to do. As always, thanks for all of your hard work on this site. I don't like to imagine playing the game without your collective hacks!
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