Tethr: Getting online in a crisis

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120413-communicating-in-a-crisis

by sciurus • 14 years ago

36 17 14 years ago

bbc.com

tobylane• 14 years ago

I'm surprised to ever say the words, but copy of this BBC page for those of us in the UK?

izak302• 14 years ago

http://www.readability.com/articles/0qieknze

corin_4• 14 years ago

Interestingly, clicking that link first redirects me to http://www.readability.com/read?url=http%3A//www.bbc.com/fut... (which shows the BBC page, with its "We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK" message), but if I then load your URL again it shows the article through readability just fine.

Related note, I never have and still don't understand why any BBC content is blocked for UK viewers. If it's paid for by our license fees we should have access, if it isn't and is instead funded 100% from advertising, why not show adverts to us rather than block our views?

edit: Info on the launch of "BBC Future" (which this story is under) at http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/worldwide/220212future.html - but no statement on why content "created for a non-UK audience" can't allow the UK audience to read as well.

mtkd• 14 years ago

I'm stunned they've banned UK visitors from that page.

They give license payer funded content out internationally, but commercially funded is restricted to everyone but license payers?

The few links on HN to BBC site are the only value I get from the license fee - I don't watch the channels or iPlayer.

corin_4• 14 years ago

Do you not watch any TV at all? Because if not, you could just chose not to pay the license fee. (I guess unless you do watch live TV but never BBC channels.)

matan_a• 14 years ago

seems like a good candidate for Kickstarter

malandrew• 14 years ago

This is exactly what I was thinking.

I can't afford a $2000 unit now or a $500 unit a year or so from now, but the possibility of having something like this available for $100-$200 3 years from now is super exciting.

I just bought my first touring bike and plan on really getting into it over the next couple of years. Having reliable intern ate access while on a long trip would be great.

ondrae• 14 years ago

Tethr is a really cool convergence of open source software and hardware that will save lives. I'm really impressed by disaster response technology. I hope Tethr works well and is widely deployed.

Light weight related, the Open Street Maps response to the Haiti earthquake was particularly impressive. Here is a slideshow about that. http://www.slideshare.net/sabman/haiti-quake-public-key

rdl• 14 years ago

I have this functionality in a backpack. The problem is the BGAN satellite link is about $5-10k for the equipment and $3-12/MB for data, so it is effectively short text message and IRC only for me.

If you are in specific areas, it probably would be better to use a vsat like wildblue, although far less portable. At that point it basically requires a big car or station wagon to transport all your gear, and a semi skilled operator to set it up.

huslage2• 14 years ago

I'm the founder of Tethr and am really happy that you guys enjoyed the article. We're planning a lot of new things and hope you'll stay tuned.

Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

iNate2000• 14 years ago

Great work! Is there a place where I could see a list of the off-the-shelf hardware used in the device?

huslage2• 14 years ago

We're still working on our website, but will have the info in due time.

Would there be interest in a kit version?

Tethr: Getting online in a crisis

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