Putting a Panic Button In Smartphone Users' Hands 175
theodp writes "If you own an Android phone, you may have inadvertently butt-dialed 911 from time-to-time. So, wonders Kix Panganiban, why don't our phones come with a universal 'Panic Button', that would make it just as easy to intentionally dial the police when it's truly needed? Panganiban envisions "a smartphone app that when triggered, would discreetly send out a distress message to contacts of your choice, and perhaps do some other functions that can get you out of bad (and maybe even life-threatening) situations." While a quick search reveals that some have taken a crack at apps that put a Panic Button in smartphone users' hands, are there good reasons why such a feature isn't just standard on mobile devices? And, with GPS and always-watching and always-listening tech only becoming cheaper and more ubiquitous, how far out in the future is it before your person can be continuously remotely monitored like your residence, even while mobile, and what might that look like?"
Yes, here's why... (Score:5, Funny)
are there good reasons why such a feature isn't just standard on mobile devices?
Florida Woman Calls 911 After McDonald's Runs Out of McNuggets [google.com]
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There are too many stupid people on this planet, and our emergency response people are already overworked without having to respond to McNugget shortages.
*sigh* (Score:4, Insightful)
In today's world, few people seem to recognize an emergency situation. When I was growing up, the word "emergency" meant that someone's life was in jeopardy. One or more lives were in danger from an avalanche, a runaway train, a mad dog, a bank robber - something serious. And, people understood that they should avoid such emergency situations, or deal with the situation themselves.
Today? As you point out, very stupid people think that it's an emergency when they can't get their Chicken McNuggets.
Preposterous.
I say we go back to dealing with our own little emergencies, and just call the cops to come clean up after the fact. After all, when seconds count, the cops are only minutes away! Let's just grow up, learn to avoid and/or deal with emergencies, and stop fretting over phone apps.
Re:*sigh* (Score:5, Insightful)
The system is designed to make people make stupid choices, so we can bash the user, rather than fix the problem. One guy in the search suggested was criminally deprived of his property. That's worthy of a 911 call, as the police have personally told me. But no, lets make fun of him because it was "just a McDonald's hamburger."
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But no, lets make fun of him because it was "just a McDonald's hamburger."
I'm sorry, but to call 911 because you didn't get what you wanted at McDonalds is just plain stupid (and in some jurisdictions reason for a citation or arrest), no matter how to try to spin things based upon your weird personal experiences.
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Or it's the "normal" and "expected" response, but for arbitrary value numbers different than you think they should be.
Certainly in the eyes of the less fortunate, petty theft may not seem so petty.
And grand theft might be something they never have to worry about, having nothing that counts as "grand".
Still, the law sets the value of various levels of theft. In Alaska, a stolen burger is Theft in the Fourth Degree [touchngo.com] and unlikely to receive any official police action, even if they did show up to keep the situation from getting out of hand. Your missing car engine case (contrived as it might be) is Theft in the Second Degree [touchngo.com]
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At one time, all you had to do was press the 9 for several seconds and it would automatically dial 911 for you. It didn't even matter if you had service, as long as the frequency of the phone matched a tower in range, it would connect you.
I used to get trac phones back in the late 90's and give them to people I knew without phone
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Actually it looks like she called 911 because McDonalds actually robbed her of her money and offered her a burger which she didn't want in return.
But when does it become acceptable? If you go into a car dealership and spend $100000 on a Porche but then after you hand over the money you're told they don't have Porches but you can have the 10 Ladas out the back instead and no you I won't give you your $100000 back, is that worthy of a 911 call?
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I won't give you your $100000 back, is that worthy of a 911 call?
No, its not an emergency. Call the regular police number. 911 is for heart attacks, buildings on fire, and co-works going postal.
You are just a richer version of the McNugget woman.
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A crime in progress is an emergency especially when there's scope for escalation.
Calling the regular police number is a great thing to do later in the afternoon while when you realise something is wrong and there's nothing that can be immediately done about it. When the person robbing you is still standing right in front of you 911 is definitely the right course of action.
Yes it's a crappy thing to do but what do you honestly think would have happened if she reported it a few hours later? Yeah absolutely no
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Try calling the non-emergency line for a crime. They'll direct you to call 911 in order to get a case number.
Not where I live. Your local police seem to be abusing the system. Thats not how it was intended.
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This is what happens when the government is in charge of protection.
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He has to wait in line?
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That's what maids are for!
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You suggest that they somehow try to make it as unpleasant as possible, but really, the things you offer for it is stuff that you have to do that basically amounts to "red tape", and isn't about deliberately trying to make things difficult for anyone. Yeah, it's a bit of a hassle, but then what you've described can happen just as much when you go and renew your driver's license, or get a new passport photo, adjust your automobile insurance, open a new bank account, apply for unemployment insurance benefi
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My bank gives free coffee and cookies to people waiting. A bathroom that isn't covered in vomit with people loitering inside.
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Of course there's a difference, but most waiting times are just part of the fact that other people are busy doing their jobs and won't drop everything to attend to you the instant that you walk in the door.
That, and the "recomended" method of reporting a crime is to call 911 to have an officer dispatched, then give a statement when the officer comes. 911 is the non-emergency number everywhere I've lived in the US. 3 states (CA, TX, and AK). Where are you that 911 isn't the non-emergency number?
That your area, which you refuse to identify, treats visitors to the police station with dignity and politeness doesn't mean it happens everywhere. It doesn't happen in Dallas. Your arguing about what happens where
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I wasn't aware that I was somehow obligated to tell you my area.... you had not previously asked where I was from.
I live in the greater Vancouver metropolitan area, in BC Canada.
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Context matters, that's why I asked.
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It's a lot like a doctor's office in my experience, actually... even with an appointment, you can end up waiting 15 or 20 minutes past your scheduled appointment time if it's late in the da
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I not you have still not indicated the location where these plush police facilities exist. I'd love to visit a station that didn't look like a prison (for the non-criminals forced to interact with the police).
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I will bet it is a crappy police force or the guy dresses and talks like something they don't like.
In my home town, the cops are corrupt. Not all of them, but most of the ones you will ever meet. I specifically remember the cops pulling a friend over for speeding and then ripping his dash apart claiming he had to check the serial numbers on the radio to see if it was stolen- it was a crappy stock radio. The problem that started this was when the cop went back to his car to write the citation and call the in
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I have, multiple times. The police really don't like people reporting crimes, especially the kind that are really hard to solve like random thefts or property damage. Makes them look bad, higher crime rates and more unsolved cases.
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> could not differentiate between "nearly ran a red light" and did not run a red light
care to enlighten us?
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Re:*sigh* (Score:4, Funny)
Where did you think the phrase "runs in the family" comes from?
Diarrhea . . . ?
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Sadly, we have plenty of institutions for the mentally ill... they are called private jails or private prisons.
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Really? So that's why the ACLU sued and we know have rules stating we cannot institutionalize someone unless they are a danger to themselves or others?
What exactly is the alternative to not being able to institutionalize someone and they commit a crime- do we say oh well, they are crazy and let them go? Do we just ignore them? Or do we treat them as we do any other person and send them to jail after committing a crime? And if anything other then treating them the same is true, how do you distinguish between
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chemical imbalances go, that's never been supported by research to cause mental illness,
But the dread hormonal imbalance apparently can cause liver failure.
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Indeed. That is why they ask you "what is your emergency" and then decide what, if any, people to send.
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There are too many stupid people on this planet, and our emergency response people are already overworked without having to respond to McNugget shortages.
You'd be surprised to learn that there's even dumber reasons people call -- the most common call a 911 dispatcher gets is not shots fired, debris in road, or any of that... it's what the current score is for whatever game is currently on in town. I shit you not, people call by the thousands.
People are dumb, stupid animals... but they occasionally get hurt, and need help. Even if 99% of the time, when they yell help it's over something utterly retarded, sooner or later, everyone is the 1% that really does ne
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Why don't they tack on a $100 "911 call charge" to the caller's phone bill for every call? That ought to make the idiots learn pretty quickly.
The charge would be waived if any emergency personnel are actually dispatched.
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All calls are recorded, right? Get them to play it back to you.
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You didn't get it, right? Someone is using your phone for a 911-call. And you are left with a $100 bill for each call. And none of your acquaintances will tell you who placed the call. Who do you sue?
The calls are recorded. Surely you will be able to get a recording of the call. Also, there's not a $100 fine for owning a phone from which a call is made, but for making a call. The call coming from your phone is a strong indication that you made the call, but not conclusive proof.
So they will have a recording of the call, a witness who will testify that it is your voice and you had access to the phone, so you are getting the fine, plus there will be criminal charges now because you intentionally did th
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Because that would make the prank of calling 911 from your acquaintance's phone just more fun. And maybe call it several times. And then don't tell anyone who did the actual call.
It would make it more fun for a short time, and a serious crime. You'd also run out of acquaintances rather quickly. Some of them would meet you again in a dark corner and give you some life lessons.
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I'm aware of that. I was simply responding to the parent poster who did post about 911.
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In many jurisdictions, emergency response is required to dispatch responders for all 911 calls, regardless of the reported incident. The possibility exists that the party calling is under duress, and even failing that, there is just too much potential liability to not send a couple of uniforms in squad cars.
Source: My then two-year-old son snuck into the office at my mom's house on Christmas Day, and used the emergency speed dial button on the phone to call 911. After babbling a bit to the dispatcher, he sa
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But the phone doesn't have to call 911. My locked phone gives me super fast access to emergency calls already.
But I used this app [circleof6app.com] for quite some time because I would find myself in dodgy situations weekly. I knew there was a potential for harm, but I knew 911 wasn't going to be my best bet. Instead I already had my "team" know where I was heading and what time - and dialed them if needed so they could relay to 911 what the situation was. Thankfully I only needed it once and showed that I had and it was a de
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It may not necessarily be as urgent as other types of emergencies, but theft is often considered important enough for responsive police action.
If people's lives are not in danger, it's not an emergency.
You can quite happily call the police on their normal number to report a theft.
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Obviously, you have never heard of a rain check. The local vendor advertises a special of some sort - say, McNuggets for half price. He orders what he believes to be enough to meet demand at the lower price - but runs out. Generally, if you ask for a rain check, the manager will give you a rain check, giving you half price McNuggets on your next visit. He may even throw in a free Coke, for having inconvenienced you.
He hasn't taken anything FROM YOU after all. He made an offer, which was good for everyo
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Unless he accepted cash money from you for the McNuggets, then failed to deliver those McNuggets which you had paid for,
Which seems to be exactly what happened to the nugget lady mentioned in the second post. (Go and actually listen to the call) She paid for nuggets, then McDonalds told her they didn't have them but refused to refund the money. The refusal to refund the money seems to be the reason the lady called 911, and sure seems like theft to me.
Is this a 911 call? Maybe not. But as some people have already said, even when reporting minor thefts they were instructed to call 911.
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Yes, I do.
If you leave your house with the door locked and come home to find it open, you call 911 while removing yourself from the the immediate vicinity.
Samsung had this on their candy bar phones (Score:3)
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When I push X times volume down, I usually want the volume go down x steps, or want it on zero.
Also, Siri: how can I help you?
Me: emergency call.
Also my locked I phone has an emergency call button at the keyboard.
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That's missing the point of this which is discrete and customisable. When someone is pointing a gun at you shouting "emergency call" at Siri probably isn't the best course of action.
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>When someone is pointing a gun at you shouting "emergency call"
That's quite unlikely. "Give me all your money!" is much more likely, I think...
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That's missing the point of this which is discrete and customisable. When someone is pointing a gun at you shouting "emergency call" at Siri probably isn't the best course of action.
"A photo of you has just been sent to a place where the police will be able to get it if anything happens to me". Sure the guy is annoyed, but annoyed enough to go to jail for murder when he _knows_ he is going to be caught?
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Wait what? How is that discrete? What next we do a selfie with the gunman? Maybe politely ask him to stand still for his mugshot.
The problem (Score:3)
To be useful, any panic button should be so easily accessible that it is open to the same accidental triggering as butt-dials. I can't think of a good way to resolve this issue, but it is something any proper app maker will have to deal with.
Re:The problem (Score:4, Interesting)
The company I work at wanted to do something like this for, eg epilepsy patients. Triggered by accelerometers, would automagically try to contact from a preselected list of friends/relatives, using location tracking to find the nearest ones first. Would start to make loud noises and flash instructions on screen for passers by on how they might help. Escalate to real emergency services if need be. Pretty good idea, but we somehow never hot around to building it.
Of course there was potential for false alarms by dropping the device, but in that case it would be no problem for the patient to deactivate it.
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That's actually a very good idea. And the false alarms could be dealt with by further readings from the accelerometer -- "in guy's pocket while he's seizing" and "dropped on ground" don't look the same.
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A blue tooth ring either on your finger or a key chain or something- perhaps even in the pocket your money or wallet is in. Place an activator in a pocket and a button on the ring. When they are within a certain range, pressing the button in a certain sequence could activate the call or panic program discretely.
Perhaps it could be even less complicated and you press the button only without an activation device but in a sequence not easily replicated by normal situations. Maybe by tapping out S.O.S in Morse
Liability (Score:4, Interesting)
Who wants to be the first developer to get sued when your program doesn't dial 911 (perhaps because there is no signal)? Who wants to be the first developer sued because it got the location wrong?
Way too much liability potential. IT is too important a thing to mess up, and you can bet that something will mess up eventually, and the developer will be blamed, regardless of whether or not they are actually responsible.
Sigh. (Score:5, Informative)
Apparently people have already forgotten this has been done before. Before there were smart phones, there were just plain cell phones... tiny little indestructible bricks with flip-open LCDs. And it was thought that having a fast way to call 911, a panic button if you will, would be a useful feature. So pressing and holding '9' on these phones would connect you to emergency services.
This feature was redacted from all phones, everywhere, within a couple years, because it innundated emergency services with so-called "butt dials" and wrong numbers. You do not want '911' to be a one-button push on a mobile device. It ends badly.
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If movies and TVs always showed people pressing "the emergency button" instead of "911", then people might use it.
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I can remember that too. I also remember driving 20 minutes to a pay phone at a closed gas station in the middle of nowhere and not knowing the number for the local cops to report an accident. Nothing was listed on the phone and the phone book had already been pilfered before I got there. Of course at this time in life, all one would have to do is call the operator and ask them to connect you to the police. They might ask what city you were in and if you didn't know, you could get the police at the billing
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Or I/my dial-up modem accidently dials 911 instead of a local 91x-xxx number. That happened a few times. Ugh.
it's easy on a Moto X (Score:2)
Glance for Pebble (Score:2)
Glance on my Pebble Smartwatch does this. I think a smartwatch is a much better place for a true "panic button". I mean, in a truly difficult situation you're going to have problems entering a passcode or pattern if you have your device locked... which you should, by the way.
In Glance there's a function that allows me to set a button long press to send an emergency text to the contact of my choice including my longitude and latitude (obviously only as precise as the smartphone itself can manage). Quite a ni
"I've been shot and I can't get up!" (Score:2)
LifeCall: "I've fallen and I can't get up!" [wikipedia.org]
Circle of 6 - Apps against abuse (Score:2)
What about Circle of 6:
http://www.circleof6app.com/ [circleof6app.com]
http://appsagainstabuse.challengepost.com/submissions/4900-circle-of-6 [challengepost.com]
Plus a button when a senior craps himself (Score:2)
On an Apple product (Score:2)
And have round corners.
My first "App" for my N900 (Score:2)
The panic button was the first "app" I wrote for my N900, and I use that term very loosely. Actually, just a one-liner using an existing python script:
python ssms.py NPANXXxxxx 'I''ve been kidnapped by aliens!'
A crude drawing of an alien saved as an icon file and an entry in the desktop icons directory and I had a text message panic button.
Naturally, I never tried adding the dialing of 911 in the script, for no other reason than testing it would call 911 and they don't like that.
What's the point? (Score:3)
I'm getting beaten. *Press panic button* *Wait 10 -15 minutes for the police to arrive.*
The police are there to write reports and do light investigation. They are not, and never were, a rapid response force, ready at a moment's notice to alleviate your panic.
The suggestion of panic buttons on phones is not only not helpful, it sends the problem further in the wrong direction. Some people will reason that since their phone has a panic button, they can take risks they might otherwise not.
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I'm getting beaten. *Press panic button* *Wait 10 -15 minutes for the police to arrive.*
The police are there to write reports and do light investigation. They are not, and never were, a rapid response force, ready at a moment's notice to alleviate your panic.
The suggestion of panic buttons on phones is not only not helpful, it sends the problem further in the wrong direction. Some people will reason that since their phone has a panic button, they can take risks they might otherwise not.
I'm not quite sure where you get your definition of police, but those armed with shotguns, sidearms, and MP-5's to go to work every day are NOT members of the elite Paperwork Pushers Unit. What you have described here is the job of the coroner, which is the result of having no police force at all.
It has been proven that a first responder has actually saved lives before, and not just shown up to do light investigation. No shit. You should read about it.
And for those elite folk who want to confuse a 911 ap
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It has been proven that a first responder has actually saved lives before, and not just shown up to do light investigation.
Absolutely, police responding to calls have saved lives and prevented crimes. We saw a good example recently in Arapahoe High School. But that only happens when the police happen to be close enough to respond in time, and if they decide to intervene. Generally they do, if they're around, but they're under no legal obligation to do so, at least in the US.
The bottom line is that the old saw "when seconds count, the police are just minutes away", is absolutely correct. Because they're usually not present whe
What's the point? (Score:2)
Your focus on a single edge case has lead you to an erroneous conclusion.
You seem to forget, there are other services that are reached via 9-1-1... like the fire department and EMS, which *are* rapid response forces. You also seem to forget that there *are* times when the polices and sheriffs are a rapid response force, such as a major t
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the rural homeowners.
Huh? I've lived rurally most of my life. None of the people I live near, or myself, are under any illusion of police being here within the half hour, and I can't imagine how we ever would be. Fortunately our rural fire brigade (bless those good men and women) have first aid & CPR training which makes a difference, but actual policing is done by things that go 'woof' and things that go 'bang'.
Already exists (Score:2)
There are already several apps that do this. The way they work is you have to "arm" the app. Next, you trigger the emergency function in a preset way, for example by discreetly unplugging the headset from the headphone jack.
Having an always on emergency button would probably not work because it would lead to too many false alarms.
Butt-dial? Really? (Score:2)
How do you "butt-dial" on a capacitative touch screen? Doesn't there have to be some actual (almost) skin contact?
With physical buttons, I can see how it can happen, but with resistive touch screens it is already less likely...but with capacitative is seems extremely unlikely. Am I missing something?
Remove the smartphone requirement... (Score:2)
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How would it tell an accident from a sudden stop without an accident? Or even being thrown?
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So, I'm visualizing here. "No, Joe, I don't want the phone to panic when I throw it against the wall." So, Joe picks Jim up, and throws HIM against the wall. Joe asks, "Do you want the phone to panic now, or not?"
Judgement call here, LMAO!
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I'd be better if phones came with car crash detection instead. It's quite easy to do (subject moving a more than 20mph, sudden halt, huge haptic feedback on the sensor) and could save lives more than a panic button. Hell with Bluetooth enabled car, even air bag deployment could send a signal to a phone to enable GPS and call 911 automaticaly.
Wouldn't it be sufficient to put car-crash detection in cars themselves? And call it "On Star" or something?
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http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/ecall-automated-emergency-call-road-accidents-mandatory-cars-2015 [europa.eu]
Maybe more than that? (Score:2)
What would be nice is a BT interface (read-only of course) that can tell if car doors are opened. That way, if someone is going through a bad neighborhood, if a window is broken or one of the doors is opened before the person gets to the destination or deactivates the app, it is assumed that a carjacking happened, and the vehicle would either run for a bit and stall, or some other behavior.
"Engage shields" in certain situations? (Score:2)
Admittedly, it could be pretty intrusive, but I can envision certain situations where one might want to have someone "keeping an eye on you" for at least a short period of time: driving in bad weather, bad areas (ever have your GPS direct you to "take a shortcut" through a drug-dealing neighborhood or industrial area?), etc.
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Me: HELLO 911?
Op: What is your emergency sir?
Me: I AM HIDING IN MY CLOSET FROM THE GUY WHO KILLED MY WIFE AND IS RANSACKING MY HOUSE!
Op: Please quiet down, if you yell he'll hear you and find you.
Me: HOW ELSE CAN THE ASSHOLE POSTING ABOVE ME HEAR ME IF I DON'T SHOUT?
Seriously, though, I've always wondered why the hell it's taken 20+ years to be able to send texts to 911. At least when they finally get around to it, they'll be set up for MMS and you can send them the pic of the getaway car [cnn.com] or whatever.
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So let's say that you're about to get thieved by a bunch of ghetto youth. They're talking in ebonics, and by the time you decipher what they're trying to say, they've shoved a gun in your back and have relieved you of your wallet, your keys, and the phone with the panic button.
While you have your hands up, point to your regular eyeglasses and say that they are Google Glasses, and have already transmitted pictures of them to the police. So they'd better just run away, before they get themselves into more trouble.
If you are not wearing regular eyeglasses, claim that you are wearing Google Contact Lenses.
That aside, you are correct, even if you did had time to call 911, by the time the cops got there, the crime would be history. Criminals are not afraid of 911. They plan to be
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Is the answer not obvious? IT'S JUST PLAIN A BAD IDEA THAT DOES NOT WORK IN THE REAL WORLD! That's why
This.
In a situation which gives you enough time to find the special app, you could also dial 911.
In other situations it won't make any difference.
Plus there's FAR too many stupid people out there who'll treat it like a free consultation line every time *anything* happens to them.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9-1-1 [wikipedia.org]
but i would bet that most carriers will redirect to 911 for any of the more common "others"