here is a little script to add the national amber alert to your site. it runs as a ticker and changes colors when an alert is signaled and the information runs across the block with a link directly to the story with all the details. i had this on an old proboards forum i once used and just remembered it when kansas had an alert today so i found the code and tried it out on my smf forum. it works great in a center block but i havent seen what it looks like in side blocks yet. you can change the colors and such within the script to whatever you want.
</script>
<font size="1"><table width="1" align="center" class="bordercolor" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="catbg" align="center"><font color=#000000>AMBER ALERT</font></td></tr>
<tr><td class="windowbg"><table align="center"><tr><td><SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.2" src="http://www.codeamber.org/js/codea.js">
</script></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></font>
No offense intended, but most people find the national alerts so irritating.
If I am in Arizona, what good does it do me to see an alert for a child in Vermont? All it does is depress me. The same goes for the poor soul in the UK being forced to see missing children alerts from Iowa.
Now I might actually be a bit more sold on the Amber Alert feel-good bandaid if folks actually got up from their computers and went out to look when a child turned up missing. Until that happens, I will continue to view it as nothing more than an attempt to make people feel good by thinking they might be doing something, even though they're not.
As it is, you go to the store and find kids running amok - any one of them could be a missing child. In reality, it is the parents who are missing. They won't parent their own children, create disposable families, then expect "the village" to look out for them.
I am sorry - in the future, I'll consider sounding more like Hillary....... NO! ;)
the reason it is national is due to the fact that it is for the internet, and not everybody from the internet is located in arizona. now, if you have a forum that only has members from arizona, then no, you wouldn't be interested in this script and i suggest not using it. ::)
as for people who see the alert and get from the computers to go find them isn't any different then hearing the alert on the radio, or seeing it on tv and dropping everything to go search. it's intention isn't for creating super heros to fly out of nowhere and find missing children, what it does do is put the information there, and when people run down to the store, head out to go to grandmas, or do whatever, they will be a little more alert to their surroundings and betters the odds of possibly finding the child. if someone goes to leave work, sees the amber alert as they log off, there is a billion to one odds they will see the child and the abductor, BUT, thats better then a billion to none odds by not having the information. ;)
Regardless, Web surveys show that having non-localized Amber Alerts on your site not only slows down your site and further bogs the Internet, it repels viewers.
Logistically, the Amber Alert system has been an overall failure, since the public's involvement has pretty much only turned up children who were not in danger. Its value has only been within increased notification within the law enforcement community (where Orange county officials received notification from Los Angeles quicker), as well as making some people feel like they're doing something. In reality, they aren't doing anything except adding to a cluttered and overwhelming information delivery.
A proof of this is in the fact that Amber Alert banner usage is off over 90% from peak levels, with no statistical difference in effectiveness. The effectiveness has been almost exclusively in the mandates for law enforcement agencies to share information - and they aren't known to share it via banners on the WWW.
A partial solution would be to use a technology, like ASP or XML, which localizes banner output - if you're in the Detroit area, you get to see Michigan ads for White Castle and not ads for In-N-Out in California & Arizona. Apply that to your Amber Alert banners and only offer Kansas surfers Alert info for Kansas and you're eliminate a large part of the objection.
As it is, you only cause people to automatically ignore the Alert, since they get deluged with those not pertinent to them.
well deserved custom title you have. if you don't like the script and don't want to use the script then don't. if you insist on thread crapping to show off your superior intelect and in depth knowledge on all things related to the www and the amber alert system, then please create your own thread and stay out of this one. it is a small script that some people might want and might like, so it is posted for them, and only the ones who do want it will copy it and apply it to their website, and those that do not like it, nor want it on their site will simply hit the back button and browse other scripts.
your ideas that information isn't relayed via the banner is incorrect. information is passed through the banner via the amber alert website automatically. when i had it on my other site, the banner reacted in less then a minute from the time the alert was posted on the tv. when new information was released, i actullay saw it on the banner before it came on the tv.
since you are so keen, and obviously sensitive on this topic, why don't you take the wasted time blithering about a little script and spend it creating a better system that works the way you feel it should with all your asp and xml.
mods, you can lock this topic, PLEASE.
None of what you say is true, relevant or even reasonable. This site, as well as the SMF site (or IPB or phpBB or insert your favorite interactive script here) caters to a lot of new, inexperienced administrators. They come here looking for knowledge, experience and advice.
A newbie may be tempted to look at these little script tidbits and add them, just because they think it might be cool. The opposing view is also needed in something of a pro & con format. It is the reason message boards exist.
Pro: That Hummer H2 is sure a cool vehicle and it is extremely capable offroad!
Con: It gets abysmal fuel economy and only seats four comfortably.
If you cannot take the cons, maybe you need to write a book instead, then not read the critics' reviews.
If the newbies don't get the cons along with the toys, they are doomed to make the same mistakes many others have made. In this case (granted, my opinion), putting Amber Alerts on your site does nothing positive. The cons outweigh the pros. My intent here was to put forth some of the cons for the newbies to consider, as well as a suggested solution, before blindly throwing up some code.
By the way, the code you posted is readily available at Amber Alert sites and has no real tweaks for TP or SMF optimization - therefore your reasons for posting it here are questionable, at best.
uuuhhmmm 99% of all the snippets posted here are found at several of the popular javascipt and html code sites, copied code for code, so you might start thread crapping them now so you can have the weekend off. ;)
You'll pull anything out of context just to make yourself feel better, won't you? You might consider how you look and how you influence, instead of how you feel.
Honesty, integrity and acceptance of reality are far more important.
TwÃÆ'Ã,ÂnsX2DÃÆ'Ã,Â¥Ã,,‘ÂÃ,³ ; While you have made it your personal mission to provide the 'cons' point of view; many people see your posts as closer to 'thread crapping' than a valuable service. And it is you who should just 'turn the page' when you see something you do not like or see any 'value' in.
rbh is correct in starting this thread, in this board. This is a support site for TP and any topic which expands the functionality is welcome. Even if TwÃÆ'Ã,ÂnsX2DÃÆ'Ã,Â¥Ã,,‘ÂÃ,³ thinks it is a bad idea.
*considers making an "Ad hominem" rule on my forum*
:)
Quote from: nite0859 on April 13, 2006, 05:37:14 AM
*considers making an "Ad hominem" rule on my forum*
:)
Or maybe keep people from randomly deleting other's posts?
They don't have such a thing here. They enjoy attacking me because they have nothing solid to argue with and I don't cheerlead their favorite notions without reason.
Since it is a very misused and misunderstood term...
Description of Ad HominemTranslated from Latin to English, "Ad Hominem" means "against the man" or "against the person."
An Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. Typically, this fallacy involves two steps. First, an attack against the character of person making the claim, her circumstances, or her actions is made (or the character, circumstances, or actions of the person reporting the claim). Second, this attack is taken to be evidence against the claim or argument the person in question is making (or presenting). This type of "argument" has the following form:
1. Person A makes claim X.
2. Person B makes an attack on person A.
3. Therefore A's claim is false.
The reason why an Ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).
Example of Ad HominemBill: "I believe that abortion is morally wrong."
Dave: "Of course you would say that, you're a priest."
Bill: "What about the arguments I gave to support my position?"
Dave: "Those don't count. Like I said, you're a priest, so you have to say that abortion is wrong. Further, you are just a lackey to the Pope, so I can't believe what you say."
With what goes on here:
- TX2D: I believe there is something wrong with this code/item/feature.
- Out of the Blue Combatant: Of course you'd say that - you're always trashing things and you hate SMF.
- TX2D: What about the arguments I gave to support my position?
- OotBC: Those don't count. Like I said, you hate SMF, so you have to criticize things here and make others look stupid. Further, you are just a lackey for vB/IPB, so I can't believe what you say. While I am at it, I want to bring up how negative and hateful you are and remind you that I am one of 500 moderators here so therefore you need to listen to me!
Ad hominem, people - those who go off on ad hominem attacks and who can't deal with honest criticism have never really grown up.
Maybe if folks would just study what they're backing before they back it...
How come you always have a way to turn everything to a personal matter ?
And then nag and nag even more. Anyone have a right to an oppinion, no question about that, but when you start, you dont stop, and thats why some posts you write gets deleted i guess.
Keep to the facts Twins, and stop drag everything between here and kingdome come into every post where you make your personal statment. ItÂÃ,´s not always all about you.
Let people post things the way they want as long as they do it in the right forums, and let people read about the facts, not about your personal things and you faith in this or that.
In my oppinion, this is technic things, and i dont think GOD is in any of it.
Really annoying to read your statment in almost every thing anyone says or thinks.
I respect your knowlage in domains, databse, internet and other, but can you PLEASE stay to the facts, instead of taking every little bit to a personal level ? It really isent always how you think or feel that matters, we are all humans and we dont think alike, and every one have the right to think as they want, not the way you want.
Stop the personal wars and let anyone make their own dessisions in whats good or bad. It's like having kids, you tell them whats dangerous, and whats wrong, and if you do, they just have to try it. It's their way or no way at all. you are just like that here sometimes, your way or no way at all, let people try out for them selfes, and learn from the misstakes.
Feel free to state the facts, but keep it there instead of making it personal PLEASE..... :tickedoff:
For the others who read this, Sorry for the mood, but it's one of those days....
Maybe if I wasn't the victim of all of the ad hominem attacks and mysteriously vanishing posts, things would be nicer. Take a look a bit further back and see how BorgBobb came off at me - he was no part of the discussion, but came childishly out of nowhere slinging mud at me. Then look even further back at the way the topic starter came off toward me.
It is very interesting that I see none of these problems elsewhere and several here have thanked me for being honest.
Did I say that someone using the Amber Alert banners was an idiot? No, I put forth the reasons it isn't a good idea, much the same way I've seen others do to pepole asking how to enable HTML on their boards. If it isn't a good idea, then it isn't a good idea.
It is interesting that there are a few people here who aren't allowed to state facts and I happen to be one of them. Instead, someone (usually a moderator with no clue as to what it means to be a moderator) pops off without any idea as to what they're talking about or they slam on me without taking a peek at why I said what I said.
Fine - let people toss up Amber Alerts - then you sit there and try to fix it when they get 503 or 500 errors and are blaming their hosts for some imagined malfunction or when their bandwidth allocation is blown out of the water.
Before you do that - go back and see exactly when it turned personal - it wasn't from my connection.
Ok, this is getting too much, Twins. Please stop.
Why is it I am always the bad guy?
Quote from: TwÃÆ'Ã,ÂnsX2DÃÆ'Ã,Â¥Ã,,‘ÂÃ,³ on April 13, 2006, 10:00:36 AM
Why is it I am always the bad guy?
I read this three times and I don't see where your a bad guy. It looks like the rbh guy started it and then borgoob did somemore. Maybe not every one here is as nice as I thought in my other posts. g6 you need to calm down girlfriend. Your not making sense.
Quote from: TwÃÆ'Ã,ÂnsX2DÃÆ'Ã,Â¥Ã,,‘ÂÃ,³ on April 13, 2006, 10:00:36 AM
Why is it I am always the bad guy?
You are not - but you throw back too much and too hard here.
The response you gave rbh in the post was not objectional - it seems more like you wanted to vent a personal opinion on something that poor code was displaying or not. Which is fine, but it said nothing whether it worked as it should or not, which I assume was rbh intentions to begin with..
Very few posts are completely objective, especially when there is such a problem as there is with widespread adoption of anything which gives little or nothing in return.
I didn't bring up whether or not the code would work because it does work - it is standard Amber Alert code. Of course it works, just as it has on thousands of sites.
What still wasn't answered is why people can beat me over the head, insult me and repeat lies, yet I cannot speak truth about an item? I didn't once question the validity of the code or whether it works and I never once accused anyone of anything. It is pretty sad when the first interaction borgBOB has ever had with me involved him raking me over the coals. Nice guy there.
Quote from: LilBitty on April 13, 2006, 10:06:38 AMI read this three times and I don't see where your a bad guy. It looks like the rbh guy started it and then borgoob did somemore. Maybe not every one here is as nice as I thought in my other posts. g6 you need to calm down girlfriend. Your not making sense.
Thanks for the support - I'd have offered to help you on your problem even without it. :D But the support will only make you unwelcomed here, too.
I am sorry, I didn't mean to get you into more trouble. It sounds like some people need to grow up.
I like your signature.
gees... twins has a fan :P
Seriously though - everyone needs to lighten up. not like smf, TP, and even amber alert code is a life and death issue for most. In the end, we are all here because we want to be - so lets play nice.
oh and thanks for posting the code block.
yes ive been running one for quite sometime but mines a global i put on the main index at bottom because its been very important to me and my family as my wife was involved in helping getting the program setup.
We also continued on with the fact that she lost a baby before we married to product safety (window blinds in particular) so even if someone finds it tacky they will atleast think about it for a few seconds and even if it helps save just one, just one life than its all worth it isnt it?
i'll admit my fault in this matter and should have not even responded to begin with, it's just when someone starts their first response by saying they don't mean to offend, they know what they are gonna follow with will create a reaction. if they felt it was enough to say this before they began, then they had full knowledge that what they was about to post had a strong chance of ruffling some feathers. anyways, sorry for back and forths and i still say the thread should have been locked back when this started. :knuppel2:
just for the record though, this script is not harmful to your site nor to the internet. the cons have been posted, and now the pros. as of this year there are over 1 billion websites hosting an amber alert ticker worldwide so if it was a script that was harmful and destructive to a websites performance, a billion people can't be wrong. ;) i have it running, and comparing page load speeds with it installed compared to uninstalled showed absolutley no difference. i will also bring to fact that in the few years i have run this script, i have never had it alert more then 2 or 3 alerts at the same time on any given day even though this is a national alert system so there are no fears of 500 kids being kidnapped in the same day.
stormlrd, that was my point to begin with. even if it the ticker you run only helps once in 100 years, wouldn't it be worth it?
As you are the topic starter and you feel that the topic should be locked, i lock it here :)
If you want to continue, you have the option as the thread starter to unlock.