Missing hiker ignored calls from rescuers because it was an unknown number:
Lake County Search and Rescue [(LCSAR)] says it got a report last week that a hiker hadn't returned from a hike on Mount Elbert. The hiker had set out at 9 a.m. on October 18 and wasn't back at 8 p.m., LCSAR said in a post on its Facebook page.
Rescuers tried to call the person's cell phone multiple times, but weren't able to reach them.
Five LCSAR team members looked for the hiker in areas where people tend to get lost, but called off the search at 3 a.m. A three-person search team checked another area at 7 a.m.
They got a call at about 9:30 a.m. that the hiker, who was not identified, had returned to where they were staying.
The hiker had no idea that rescuers were looking for them, the post said.
"One notable take-away is that the subject ignored repeated phone calls from us because they didn't recognize the number," LCSAR wrote. "If you're overdue according to your itinerary, and you start getting repeated calls from an unknown number, please answer the phone; it may be a SAR team trying to confirm you're safe!"
Umm, ok, but why not leave a message if the callee doesn't answer? :)
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:18PM (3 children)
"Answer your damn phone! It's your official electronic leash!"
"Fuck off with your spam calls, my vehicle warranty is fine!"
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:30PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:25AM (1 child)
A message would be an evidence admittable in courts as opposed to a conversation which is illegal to record.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @05:58AM
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Barenflimski on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:19PM (11 children)
If you don't know that you're missing and lost, does that mean you are missing and lost?
I've seen this headline all over the place and it seems like clickbait to me. I've been late from a whole lot of hikes in my life. No one called anyone just because it was dark. It seems like if anything, this is a lack of communication between friends.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:46PM (2 children)
Depends on, if you are actually missing and lost or not. In the event that you know (Not just think you know.) where you are, then by definition you aren't lost. You could still be missing, if you aren't lost.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 5, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 28 2021, @12:11AM (1 child)
Obviously, I grew up long before cellphones, or even GPS. I spent many a day, and some nights, out in the woods, not sure where I was, exactly. Just because you don't know where you are, doesn't necessarily mean that you're lost. "Well, I'm somewhere between Village Alpha, and Smalltown Zeta. I should have found Ephemeral Creek an hour ago, and missed it. Maybe it's dried up, so I didn't hear it? That should be Notsotall Hill over there, let me climb it and get my bearings . . . Damn, I won't get home for supper!"
No one was going to get excited, until I was "missing" for three days or more.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:45PM
I would say you still knew where you were, just not exactly. Whereas some people would literally have no clue how to not just keep walking in a stupid direction (next stop, 500 miles this way).
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:27PM (7 children)
I do take my phone with me when I hike - and I leave it turned off
I will turn it on when I am back at my car or the train station.. but when I am "away" I want to be away..
So.. this guy had his phone turned on, but ignored it.. Why not just turn it off?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:02AM (3 children)
If I don't believe I'm lost, I would keep the phone off to conserve my battery in case I later find that I am lost of in need of help.
(Score: 2) by pipedwho on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:04AM (2 children)
By that logic, most people should never even turn their phone on, since most of the time people aren't lost and therefore don't feel like they are.
(Score: 3, Touché) by MostCynical on Thursday October 28 2021, @05:06AM
sounds like a version of utopia..
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday October 28 2021, @09:31PM
When in a situation where they may not be able to charge their phone any time soon, it makes sense, especially if it is unlikely they could help with a friend's emergency from where they are.
If you're just out an about and you can plug in to your car at any time, not so much.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:43PM (2 children)
Do note that "ignored" is the reporters word applied to the story, and if anything, the last year of Gelman Amnesia reports emanating from the news industry should make everyone question every word in these stories, and esp. every word in the headlines.
The hiker may very well have turned off the phone, either to save battery, or to actually "be away and unplugged". Or the hiker might have been in a location without cell service. Both cases look, from the viewpoint of the rescue crew, of their calls/texts being ignored, because calls go unanswered and texts get no reply. And so they (rescue crew) say to the reporter that the hiker "ignored" their calls/texts, and the reporter simply took the word and wrote it into the story with zero critical thinking at all.
Unless we hear, from the hiker, that he had his phone on, and with him on the hike, but simply ignored all rings/texts, we can't take the word "ignored" as being anything other than invented by the rescue crew/reporter.
(Score: 2) by NateMich on Thursday October 28 2021, @04:25PM (1 child)
I just assumed he was using 'Do Not Disturb', just like I do all the time.
Who the hell would answer unknown calls?
If they called him about something important, which this obviously was, they should leave a message, and probably text him too.
Telling people to answer unknown calls is stupid.
(Score: 2) by owl on Friday October 29 2021, @01:59PM
Elsewhere in this thread someone said that the search and rescue equipment, when placing the calls, show up as "Unknown Caller" on the destination phone. In which case much of the blame lies on the equipment provider used by search and rescue (SAR). A call from SAR should appear as "Search and Rescue" or " Search and Rescue" on the caller ID of a phone being called. Why? Because no one in 2021 answers calls that come up with caller-id of "Unknown Caller" because "Unknown Caller" is otherwise always a caller from the indian sub-continent attempting to sell one "windows virus repair" or some other such scam.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:23PM (9 children)
Most people do not block texts by default. Instead of trying to call someone from a number they are sure to not recognize, send a text that clearly shows who is sending the text and why. Banks do it, utilities do it, many other businesses do it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:38PM (4 children)
The article I read a couple of days or so ago said they called and sent texts. The hiker saw the calls come in but rejected them and ignored the texts.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:53PM (3 children)
That's on the hiker then. If I saw texts that said there was a lost hiker in my area, even if I had no clue they were about me, I would read them in case I could help. Although if I was backpacking, I doubt I would bring a phone in the first place.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Nuke on Wednesday October 27 2021, @09:06PM (2 children)
My phone does not show the content of texts unless I deliberately open them. Otherwise it only shows who they are from and the first 3 of 4 words of the message. If you are going to the trouble of opening texts from unknown senders and reading them, you might as well pick up unknown voice calls too. Turns out this hiker does neither.
(Score: 2) by NateMich on Thursday October 28 2021, @04:28PM
That makes no sense. I'm fine with quickly looking over spam texts, but I'm sure as hell not sticking a phone up to my face to listen to offers for DirecTV if I can help it.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday October 29 2021, @07:47PM
Mine doesn't either, but if I saw it was from Search & Rescue or any other authority in an area I was hiking I would check it. Maybe I could help, or maybe it would be a warning of something that could be a threat to me. On the other hand, as I said, I probably wouldn't have my phone with me (or if I did, turned on) if I was on a hike.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:43PM (1 child)
And I take to task when they do. It is not the method I want to contacted. use paper for legal reason.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @09:20PM
Owl mail only for me.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Thursday October 28 2021, @07:00PM (1 child)
My phone system intercepts blocked callers before it routes to any programs or extensions. I have it answer them, ask for a name and phone number, and then it will route. Unknown callers are routed to a voicemail with a message instructing them that I screen my phone calls and to leave a message. If they mark it urgent, it is sent to an email alias for urgent voice messages.
As my cellphone is a burner and just an extension in my system, I have unknown/blocked phone calls set to not ring, raise any notifications, nothing. I used to not accept any text messages whatsoever, but now text messages to my VOIP lines are sent to me via email. I don't ever respond to them, nor am I setup to do so, but I can at least see what is being sent to them.
My point being, that even I, can be contacted if you leave a fucking message. I don't know what it is about contemporary society that makes them to not want to leave voicemail messages, and government is locked in the past and refuses to send text messages.
Furthermore, if they knew her number and could ring it, then why didn't they just use the cell towers to triangulate her position within the e911 requirements that mandate it be possible? Lastly, government more than has the capability of setting the Caller ID on outbound calls to 911. That's not an unknown number, and I believe phones would recognize that as an emergency call. Government has the tools, but lacks the intelligence, competence, and common sense apparently.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 04 2021, @03:57PM
For you as a private individual, this is great. Perfect. (Don't know why you even bother with the phone, but meh ...everyone needs a hobby, right?)
If you own a business, this is a great way of missing business. I'm often in a position to call people for everything from estimates to capability discussions to anything else. And, guess what...
The ones who pick up the fucking phone get business. The ones who want me to do a monkey dance around button-pushing and left messages and greasing the great monkey-god's Pole of Power? Go to the bottom of the pile.
This isn't penny-ante stuff either. I'm talking seven-figure contracts, supply arrangements, services. Big money, by the standards of anyone outside a government.
Want to do business? Pick up the fucking phone. Why? Because time is money, and that includes mine, and that of my clients. Every time I get to wonder whether Alice is mountaineering in Kamchatka or is just too jaded to actually want five mill in fresh contracts? I'm burning money. When Sally picks up the phone and gets specific? She gets the money.
I'm not talking hypothetically, either. I'm talking this week.
I know it hurts. I know it makes you cry great salty tears. If you want business, be available and responsive, even if it means picking up the goddamn phone, plugging it onto your skullstructure, and sobbing.
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by SomeGuy on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:29PM (3 children)
Is it against the law to not own a cell phone, or not take one with you when hiking? If not, then "Fuck you, I'm hiking!". Isn't the entire point of hiking to get away from this kind of shit?
Let me guess, someone's helicopter mother called this in.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:51PM (2 children)
If cell SPAM calls were as infrequent today as they were in the 1990s, he just might have answered.
I've got my phone on do not disturb by default, unless I'm expecting a call from someone not starred in my contact list - I won't become aware of missed calls or messages until I look at the screen for some other reason, tends to be a few hours on average - more when sleeping, thankfully.
I feel like the telephone industry is encouraging the SPAM callers and doing almost nothing to effectively thwart them. I wonder how many deaths, annually, could have been prevented if the decedent would have answered their phone but didn't because of SPAM call fatigue behaviors?
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:55PM (1 child)
Yet Another Call Blocker is a free (as in freedom and beer) no spyware (offline db) call blocker that works great on ungoogled android (will work on official android too):
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/dummydomain.yetanothercallblocker/ [f-droid.org]
It doesn't catch all spam, but it does reduce the number of spam calls that ring through. And, no stalker company like Google keeping track of all your incoming calls, as with Google's call screener.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @05:53AM
It's sort of cute that you think google only tracks your calls via their call screener.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:51PM (8 children)
Why not the family?
If the searchwes can reach by phone, then at least triangulate and know where to search FIRST!!
Lastly, again knowing where the phone is, what about GPS read, EMS call (phone# 911 or 111 or 999 dpending)
Or the best one yet... send via Amber/Grey/Silver/Weather Alert: "This is emergence broadcast. JOHN DOE, CALL YOUR MOM!!"
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Wednesday October 27 2021, @10:08PM (4 children)
Just No, to the last one. Everyone in the entire state / county / whatever, don't need to know that. The more something like an Amber Alert is used, the less people will want it.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:00PM
mine been off for over 5yrs now, since it actually servers no use, but to scare people.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:13AM (2 children)
I wouldn't mind the alerts if they were at least occasionally relevant. I do not need to be awakened at 4A.M. to be told that I should look out for a Silver car half way across the state from my bed. I have seen any number of severe weather events over the years and have received a few weather alerts but I have never received a weather alert for the place I was at the time prior to the severe weather event.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:50PM (1 child)
And now you know why one of the first config changes I made on my phone was turning off all of those "emergency" alerts. If the phone would let me turn off the "presidential alert" it would also be off, but it won't (and it is not rooted yet).
Too many of those "emergency alert" channels, over time, get miss-used for things that are not "emergencies" but instead someone wants to "inform" a large group of their latest brain fart, and oh, wow, look here, a way to "inform" a large group....
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday October 29 2021, @01:42PM
I'm fine with the Amber and Weather Alerts. Expanding emergency alerts for X random use, isn't particularly helpful, though. Possible abduction of child alerts and Tornado sightings alerts are reasonable. Due to the nature of said things, where time is of the essence.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 28 2021, @12:15AM (2 children)
You realize that you have to turn on the AMBER alerts, etc. Or, at least, the last cheap phone I played with didn't have it unless I turned it on. Do they all come with those "features" now?
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:45AM
Mine ($12 retard phone) apparently came with Amber Alerts on by default.
The phone sits on the desk right above my file server. First couple times an Amber Alerted, I thought it was the overheat siren from the server's BIOS ... same damn noise!!
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:46AM
I just got a new phone a couple weeks ago and now evidently you can disable different categories of alerts, including specifically Amber Alerts, which is nice. You just can't turn off the Presidential Alerts. Naturally.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Nuke on Wednesday October 27 2021, @08:55PM (15 children)
I fail to see the logic of looking at mesages from unknown senders if you are one of those people who does not pick up their voice calls. Answering a voice call is quicker than bringing up a text, on my phone anyway, deals with the the issue without delay, and you might even have the pleasure of telling an Indian scammer to fuck off.
In fact, it turns out that, indeed, the hiker neither answers voice calls nor reads messages from unknown originators.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @09:00PM (3 children)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 28 2021, @12:18AM
True. And texts go through when a voice call won't. My wife and I have often had no bars, but the texts made it in and out. A text only needs a couple seconds of two bars, as opposed to phone calls needing a solid three bars for the duration of the call.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @09:40AM (1 child)
哦，是這樣嗎？
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @07:53PM
(Score: 5, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Wednesday October 27 2021, @09:03PM (8 children)
Speaking as someone who does this, because 98% of spammers don't bother to leave a voicemail?
Not if they don't leave a message 9 times out of 10, then I don't have to check at all 90% of the time.
Granted I guess.
I don't bother yelling at telemarketers because since when are you ever going to have the actual guy in charge of the scam on the phone? I don't feel the need to punish random minimum-wage peons who are just trying to earn a paycheck, and it's unlikely to accomplish anything either.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @12:03AM (2 children)
> I don't bother yelling at telemarketers because since when are you ever going to have the actual guy in charge of the scam on the phone? I don't feel the need to punish random minimum-wage peons who are just trying to earn a paycheck, and it's unlikely to accomplish anything either.
Don't recall where I read it, but someone had a scammer (in India) on the phone. She asked the scammer if his mother knew what he was doing, and how would she feel if she found out. The scammer apologized. Maybe one less scammer, but you are correct, he was just a peon and the operation, no doubt, continued without him.
Don't yell-- shame. Shame works on decent people, at heart. Yelling doesn't work on anybody.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:15AM (1 child)
I pick up nearly all calls, even ones the caller ID looks suspect...and say "Hello". If it's spam, that's all I say, and I just set the phone down. Let the person or recording go on as long as they want--at least they aren't bothering anyone else for the duration I've tied up their line. If most people did this, the spam companies would make fewer calls every day.
A retired friend with time on his hands goes further, carries on a conversation as long as he can (of course not agreeing to buy anything).
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:30AM
If you pick up the call and say nothing, the robocallers will usually hang up on you within a few seconds.
(Score: 5, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Thursday October 28 2021, @01:34AM (4 children)
I prefer texts. My hearing is still pretty good, but when I'm outside with a busy highway only a few meters away, I can't make out speech on those micro speakers over the noise of passing traffic. Same goes when I have screaming kids in the house. The wife with the penchant for yelling honey-dos at me from another room, under her assumption that I am never tied up on the phone or busy with anything else, is another knock. Seems to have a real knack for doing that just as the person on the other end says something, and then I have to ask them to repeat what they just said.
Sure, being in the wilderness away from the intense noise pollution of civilization (and family) would make a tremendous difference. But there's more. I also don't care to have strangers in the grocery overhearing my private conversations. Further, a call when I am driving is very annoying. I don't want to be on the phone. Some people think nothing of that, and happily chatter away while going 5 mph slower than everyone else. Not me. Text me, dammit, and I'll read it when I can do so without running off the road and hitting a tree.
As for voice mail, I'd prefer not to have it at all. It is purposefully designed to burn up minutes by dragging out the retrieval process. And there is still the problem of finding some quiet and privacy so I can listen to it.
(Score: 3, Funny) by tangomargarine on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:42AM
I used to get this weekly call on my cell (within the last year or two, regularly for a few months at a time, in different stretches), where they'd leave a voicemail...jabbering away at me in Chinese. "Gee thanks...what do you expect me to do with this?"
The doubly funny part is that there was apparently some kind of inter-system problem between whatever auto-call thing they were using to leave the message and my carrier, so even with the volume on my phone dialed up all the way, I could still barely hear what they were saying. So even if I *did* speak Chinese...
Just always made me laugh, kind of like those old "*FOGHOOOOORN* This is your captain speaking!!" calls that I kinda miss now :)
So you're probably not one of those people in that recent trend where people put their phone on speakerphone so you can hear *both* sides of the conversation in the supermarket! :P
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:03PM
Yeah, this. I eventually turned mine off because retrieving messages was costing far more than I ever spent on texts or the rare outgoing call. Add to that the fact that the voice messages people left were almost invariably devoid of useful information and just consisted of a request that I call them, which of course would mean further expense, and like you I much prefer written communication. It becomes a big waste of time and money. The voice mail boxes are also easily hacked which is a worry I could do without.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:57PM
That's just standard wife mentality. Every single one of them seems to view husbands as a slave who is sitting around with nothing to do so they can order him around at will.
And even if you are actively working on one of the honey-dos, that is still "doing nothing" from their viewpoint so you are of course free to jump on the next thing they think they need but won't do themselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @08:00PM
Voicemail transcription for me. I never want to listen to that shit, where someone ums and ahs their way through a message, leaving a phone number at random that doesn't match the number they called from, and Now, I have to call them back on it, but I can't highlight it and click Call...
!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Fuck voicemail. Just use text, please. Unless you're my immediate family or friends, there's basically no reason to call me without an appointment.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:50PM
You get live Indians? How last decade! We get robo recordings made to sound like live people, they wait for you to say something then respond with the spiel. If you press 2 to be taken off their list they know you were listening and put you on three more lists.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Informative) by legont on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:48AM
Picking up the phone is a confirmation that the number is active which makes it way more valuable in spammer's land. You gonna get way more spam calls if you answer them.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Revek on Wednesday October 27 2021, @09:04PM (4 children)
Come on. If you are trying to get someone to answer a call and they don't a text is the next thing you do.
This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
(Score: 1) by Serizawa on Wednesday October 27 2021, @09:49PM (1 child)
And simply leave a voice message first.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Friday October 29 2021, @11:17AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:06PM
If that doesn't work, release the hounds
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Thursday October 28 2021, @10:47AM
They did text as well. The hiker ignored those as well.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday October 27 2021, @09:27PM (4 children)
Why would Lake County Search and Rescue expect that anyone would answer every call on their cell phone, especially in this day and age when people are besieged with calls everyday from "auto warranty services" and the like?
When I go into the hills around here there are many places where there is zip cell reception. Why would they expect more in Colorado?
I (like quite a few of my friends) have turned off call messaging service because it is a hassle to listen to and an added expense. I can see who called and call them back when I want. If I don't recognize the number, I ignore the call.
Why not simply use SMS to text to a cell number. If there is a weak signal that would have at least a chance to get through.
Why are government agencies using Facebook and Twitter to post information that could easily be posted on their own web site?
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:10PM (2 children)
because "communication" is now completely in the hands of marketing people.. They are no longer even called 'communications', they are often called "channels manager" and "media liaison" ...
As their entire JOB is about being on social media they honestly, and completely believe that is how you go about 'communicating'.
They even have performance metrics based on number of posts (and instagram/facebook/twitter are separate 'channels') and number of 'views' so they master click bait..
Also, updating a corporate or government website often requires several layers of sign-off, so won't be 'live' until next Tuesday. Yet for some reason they let people who can't spell cat post directly on the same organisations' social media accounts..
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @01:02AM (1 child)
Some of the episodes of 'The Newsroom' cover (and attack) this phenomenon back in 2012-2015.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday October 28 2021, @01:56AM
indeed they did.
Also. mmm, Olivia Munn
I still find it ridiculous that one 'public' information source is often in the hands of one (very young) person with almost no control/approval for what gets posted, and another source has sign off, approval, MD level scrutiny (and is still wrong, and usually out of date)
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Thursday October 28 2021, @09:17AM
In this case, because it’s worth a try, quick, and cheap. It may be a long shot, but if they *do* pick up you’ve just avoided a lot of wasted effort. In other cases, when the helicopter lands in front of you, you’d be like “why the fuck didn’t you call?”
The problem here seems to be that someone thought it was worthy of a story.
...and, yeah, if you’re out hiking in serious “not your Sunday stroll” territory you should take your itinerary seriously and - if you have the luxury of a phone & a signal - check in if you are seriously delayed, so a slapped wrist may be called for here.
There are other cases, though, where officials and businesses really don’t seem to understand that people no longer religiously answer every call, or that *sensible* people won’t even talk to their bank if they call out of the blue (I’ve had the “no, I won’t confirm the first line of my address because I don’t know who *you* are” conversation in a few occasions).
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @09:59PM (3 children)
Answering every spam call would burn out his phone's battery, and what if he had a REAL emergency and needed to make a call? It makes perfect sense for an undistressed hiker to ignore unknown number calls.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:52PM (2 children)
Maybe the department is trying to drum up support for legal access to geo location info on unresponsive search subjects to "prevent wasting resources" on inefficient searches.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @12:06AM
How very cynical. And, sadly, probably true.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:00AM
Lake County doesn't have the money for things like that. They can barely afford to keep the fire department open. Source : I live there
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @10:41PM (7 children)
But the authorities knew better.
One would think that since he had a working phone, he might have, you know, *called* someone for help if he actually needed it.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @01:09AM (6 children)
The CNN article is useless but the linked facebook post which was actually written by the search and rescue team has real information. The hiker was actually lost and did not return in the evening as planned. The person who called search and rescue was informed of the plan to return that evening and would have been genuinely concerned. The hiker did not find the trailhead until the next morning.
It seems very strange that the hiker would intentionally ignore phone calls in their situation.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday October 28 2021, @02:40AM (5 children)
One might also have thought the friend would have tried calling him before reporting him missing.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Thursday October 28 2021, @10:57AM (4 children)
I expect they did. But it seems the hiker was ignoring all calls and texts, and did not make any either, despite being lost and late for their expected return. Sounds like he was an idiot.
(Score: 2) by NateMich on Thursday October 28 2021, @04:32PM (2 children)
It sounds more like he was fine.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @04:59PM
If I told my family or friends "I'm going out hiking at X location today, I will be back this evening" and then I was not back that evening, this is not "fine" for anyone involved.
This hiker should have known that the people informed of the plan would be very worried.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Nuke on Thursday October 28 2021, @07:23PM
If you read TFA, you will see that he had lost his way, and had to wait until next morning daylight to find it. That was not his plan, so it does not sound fine. I doubt he was actually in any danger, but his friends and the rescue service did not know that - it was what the phone callers were trying to find out.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday October 28 2021, @09:28PM
TFA said he was ignoring "unknown number". Surely he knew his friends numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:19PM
Just like there's a SCAM LIKELY warning for certain bullshit calls, there should be a HELP LIKELY for legit rescue calls
(Score: 3, Informative) by RamiK on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:41AM
Wireless Emergency Alerts [fcc.gov] were made for this sort of problems...
compiling...
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @05:20AM (3 children)
Why is the CallerID descriptor for this OFFICIAL SAR number set to be unknown? Like seriously? That's your first fucking mistake! Faults not on the dude (who wasn't lost) to answer an unknown caller. It's on the Search and Rescue establishment for using the bullshit blocked caller ID. Like seriously, this is retarded level obviousness...
(Score: 2) by dw861 on Thursday October 28 2021, @06:05AM (2 children)
I'm going to guess that like most such organizations, the SAR techs were volunteers, using their own private gear (including phones).
At least, that is how things are run in my area. Right on the volunteer signup, they indicate "Must be able and willing to purchase required equipment to function as a SAR volunteer."
So, I will guess again that the caller ID was blocked so that after a rescue, there won't be a link back to the life of the private individual who acted as a volunteer rescuer.
This is just a guess. Perhaps others will have more insights as to whether I am correct.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @05:24PM (1 child)
While that makes sense, that then lays the blame on the entity recruiting the volunteers, the hardware should be setup to substitute a caller ID for the main SAR group so that the incoming call does not say "Unknown Caller" -- because "Unknown Caller" says "do not answer this call".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 29 2021, @12:15AM
Just like the FCC rules state, NAme and Number must point to the calling "party". Corps get fined heavily for NOT doing that. I point it out to the stupid spammers to improve their game. :)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday October 28 2021, @06:04AM
Unknown caller == telemarketer 99% of the time.
Me, not only do I not answer, I set my phone to not even ring when there's no callerID.
If you're looking for someone to blame, blame the fucking telemarketing industry that ruined the telephone system for everybody.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @09:55AM (1 child)
People that don't answer their phone, they definitely do not have voicemail configured in the first place.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @03:09PM
I never answer my phone for unknown numbers. If you can't be bothered to leave a message or send written correspondence, you won't be hearing back.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @12:58PM
Wouldn't work with me as my phone does not redirect to voice mail. Either I answer or you'll have to wait.
But you could leave a text message, which I will get round to … eventually.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 28 2021, @04:03PM
I do the same thing: If an unknown number calls me, I don't answer. I look the number in the Internet, and then maybe call back. Or, in most cases, not as it is mostly spam.
And this is in EU country where there are quite strong customer protection laws. Because it is not possible to do anything to these trolls without an army of lawyers.
The solution is simple: Make a worldwide database of contact information hashes. Everyone who does not want spam, signs into this base. When it leaks, there will be hashes, not a ready data. If someone violates it, the phone company must charge the caller with a significant fee, proportional to company's declared worth.
Now look why it is not implemented and you can see who controls governments.