HACK RATING SYSTEM

[J. M. Pescado]

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]

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]

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]

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!

[Renatus]

TwoJeffs, at least, tends to update thread titles when the hacks update. I think You'll get JM to implement a consistant system of showing when hacks update when Satan can go skiing. 

[BlueSoup]

I think You'll get JM to implement a consistant system of showing when hacks update when Satan can go skiing. 

I've been harassing JM to implement some sort of system for updating threads, even going so far as to volunteer to do it myself because I really hate when the thread is not updated with a hack update. 

[yetyak]

Should happen now, since there is a rumor that hell has frozen over, because the Seahawks have made it to the SuperBowl....

[vilia]

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"

Way to go flower power!  you think they could at least use an Aussie plant - Terrorism: Lilly Pilly Alert has a much nicer ring to it.

Funnily enough I work for Qld Government too, although I take care to hide my ID badge when I leave the building so the general public won't know .  I'm leaving though and Friday is my last day!!! 

Our pop up message in our department warns us not to access porn etc - I guess we have slightly different priorities - yours tries to keep its staff alive, ours tries to ensure they are behaving responsibly. 

Have you seen the great bomb alert notices next to phones?  They give you a set of questions to ask bombers e.g. what kind of bomb is it, when will it go off, how can I difuse it, what is your name and address?...and yes some people have been stupid enough to give their name & address.

[diamonde]

Funnily enough I work for Qld Government too, although I take care to hide my ID badge when I leave the building so the general public won't know .

I left mine on all the way home last friday.  And I wondered why I didn't get asked for proof of age when I bought wine, probably because it was prominently displayed on my pants.

I'm leaving though and Friday is my last day!!! 

Our pop up message in our department warns us not to access porn etc - I guess we have slightly different priorities - yours tries to keep its staff alive, ours tries to ensure they are behaving responsibly. 

Have you seen the great bomb alert notices next to phones?  They give you a set of questions to ask bombers e.g. what kind of bomb is it, when will it go off, how can I difuse it, what is your name and address?...and yes some people have been stupid enough to give their name & address.

Weird, my last day is also friday - my contract's up then.  And I have that same list of questions at my desk.  *suspicious*  You don't work for Justice, do you?  It's entirely possible the popup when I log on warns me about porn, I never read it...  (I do, however, refrain from porn at work.  Since our internet access is almost entirely blocked.)

[vilia]

Weird, my last day is also friday - my contract's up then.  And I have that same list of questions at my desk.  *suspicious*  You don't work for Justice, do you?  It's entirely possible the popup when I log on warns me about porn, I never read it...  (I do, however, refrain from porn at work.  Since our internet access is almost entirely blocked.)

Nope, I work for Health - which is why I take care to hide my ID.  you wouldn't believe the down right hostile looks I & some of my fellow co-workers were getting last year.  My contract is up on Friday too - I have been found and I quote my supervisor "surplus to requirements" lol. I have also been told to organise my own farewell party because everyone in my old team is either a deployee or moved on to a new job 

[cwykes]

Ratings is an excellent idea - anyway you can make the rating obvious on the main firing range and armory screens?  That way you can see at a glance which hacks are critical fixes without having to go into the thread.  It would be particularly useful to newcomers to see the critical fixes at a glance.  colour coded titles?  icon in the title?

[Avie]

Sucks don't it Vilia? I"m a H grade in charge of an entire Burns-and-Plastics Unit and because two of our consultant surgeons have retired  we are faced with closuure and the loss of the service
Never trust a suit.

[J. M. Pescado]

Ratings is an excellent idea - anyway you can make the rating obvious on the main firing range and armory screens?  That way you can see at a glance which hacks are critical fixes without having to go into the thread.  It would be particularly useful to newcomers to see the critical fixes at a glance.  colour coded titles?  icon in the title?

Well, so far it's pretty easy to search for them. Just search the hack boards for "terror/<color>".

[Ellatrue]

If you've seen "Bowling For Columbine," you know that Fear is the US government's most useful weapon...against US citizens.

Anyway, my husband (a truck driver) just informed me that he's been to only one place that actually displays the Terror Alert Scale, and they manufacture fertilizer. Go figger.

Seeing as that can be turned into a bomb, like the one Tim McVeigh used, it doesn't surprise me.

But the terror scale is still dumb. I live near Washington DC (okay, 1/6 of the year, anyway, it's rather complicated), and whenever it goes up to orange they put "stay alert" signs on the bridges into the city... it's irritating. What are we supposed to stay alert for anyway, brown people? Traffic jams from random closings of the main roads?

Stay alert everyone, you could die at any moment, and you don't want to miss it! And personally, I think the terror alert scale is just a rip-off of lifesavers. Whenever I see it, I think, "mmm... candy"

[Database]

Since our internet access is almost entirely blocked.)

Same here. School sucks.

[Simsbaby]

Could something like this be added?


Requires :
I used the maxis images.

[BlueSoup]

I would love an icon shown somewhere for which game someone owned, so it was easier to help them if they post a problem.

[Li'l Brudder]

But maybe change the nightlife one to something understandable, not a shadey pig head.

[Simsbaby]

It is not a shadey pig head, it is the nightlife logo grayed out. So if that way applied to a hack, it would mean that it only needs The Sims 2 and University.

[vilia]

Sucks don't it Vilia? I"m a H grade in charge of an entire Burns-and-Plastics Unit and because two of our consultant surgeons have retired  we are faced with closuure and the loss of the service.  Never trust a suit.

Oh, Avie - you take care of yourself ok?  It's rough out there and for a while it is probably going to get rougher

btw I actually did get a farewell gift after all and it was all due to my farewell card.  I bought one for myself (as I was the last of my team to go) and put "Thanks for everything, you're a top operator" on it  .  Everyone I had worked with or gotten to know felt so guilty they did a surprise whip around and I got a really nice flower arrangement 

[Simlover]

Brilliant!!

[DMDye]

This idea merits a "You can't argue with perfection!", if implemented.

[dadditude]

Would it be possible to make it so that the rating system were searchable, so that one could, for example, go under Advanced search and search for all critical hacks?

[Venusy]

Would it be possible to make it so that the rating system were searchable, so that one could, for example, go under Advanced search and search for all critical hacks?

Ratings is an excellent idea - anyway you can make the rating obvious on the main firing range and armory screens?  That way you can see at a glance which hacks are critical fixes without having to go into the thread.  It would be particularly useful to newcomers to see the critical fixes at a glance.  colour coded titles?  icon in the title?

Well, so far it's pretty easy to search for them. Just search the hack boards for "terror/<color>".