P2P Hard Disk System Warns of Tsunamis 192
An anonymous reader writes to mention an article on NetworkWorld about a free software application that detects Tsunamis by listening for vibrations in the hard drives of computers. The peer-to-peer network uses the technology that allows HDDs to keep read-write heads on track, and passes the information to a network for analysis. From the article: "If an earthquake that could lead to a tsunami is detected, the supernodes inform the other nodes. Computers running the client software and connected to the peer-to-peer network can then warn of such events. The software is able to provide such warnings because the seismic waves produced by earthquakes travel at about 5,000 kilometers per hour, while tsunamis move much slower at 500 to 1,000 kilometers per hour"
I like it in principal (Score:5, Insightful)
I like helping people.
I don't like Windows only java clients which include dll files (they say on the front page its java based, but then on download page you see Mac OS X and Linux version in preparation. I think the DLL is going to pretty much stop all that.
I don't like running random programs accessing none standard data from my harddrive without knowing exactly what its looking at and what happens to my drive if its not got the required capabilities.
There is no technical information about this program or what it actually examines on a harddrive, coupled with the crypto java code buried inside the package (look in bcprov-jdk14.jar\org\bouncycastle\crypto) makes me nervous.
Negating all that it looks cool and if the technical aspects are cleared up I will try it.
I wonder if this functionality could be used to give any standard laptop a similar alarm feature as on the latest macbooks?
false warnings (Score:3, Insightful)
Cool! (Score:4, Insightful)
I wonder how many simultaneous reports it takes to trigger it.
Shouldn't proper seismic equipment be used? (Score:5, Insightful)
Tracking (Score:2, Insightful)
Frequency of seismic waves (Score:3, Insightful)
Immediately we have electrical interference at multiples of 50Hz. If this is supposed to be a delocalised system eg, SETI@home running in geeks' houses we're going to have much more interference: kicking your computer, bass speakers, fans..
Re:Shouldn't proper seismic equipment be used? (Score:2, Insightful)
A system like this could even help with aid...how do you ask? If a aid company (like Red Cross) got a early warning they could then mobilize and deliver aid much quicker...IMHO the sooner the aid gets there the better chance of having more people survive.
Just my two cents....
you don't understand how this works (Score:4, Insightful)
Does a similar thing.
No, not really. That application just shows a graph; this system collects and correlates data from many systems.
Once caveat: you can never touch the mac.
Again, no, not really. The system described (not Seismac) correlates data from many systems, and an earthquake will affect many systems. Your typing, jumping up and down, or even a big truck rumbling by, will not. Nevermind that earthquakes have a very charachteristic vibration, so individual nodes are unlikely to be fooled easily in the first place. The supernodes would look for correlation.
To really dumb it down: if an earthquake happens, PCs will see the same/similar vibration in an expanding circle pattern. Similar systems are used with microphones in some cities for gunshot detection- many of them can, with just a few 'listening stations', pinpoint gunfire to within a dozen feet.
Re:I like it in principal (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:I like it in principal (Score:2, Insightful)
1) Need a dll but know about a tsunami, pretty good i'd say
2) no dll, hence no working software, no tsunami warning, could work against me..
the choices, what should i do.. sigh..
Re:false warnings (Score:3, Insightful)
A quick look at IRIS [iris.edu] will confirm that, out of 334 earthquakes in the last 30 days, 6 had tsunami potential and there were no reported tsunami. I was quite interested in tsunami after the boxing day quake, and was preparing to help an open source project that fizzeled. The reality is there are enough siesmometers to analyse all ready, what's need is several fold,
one problem is geopolitical, many countries ignored the established warning systems because they were run by american or seen as run by americans.
Another problem is in many areas, there is either noway or it's difficult to get a warning from the emergency management center to the people fast enough or even at all in many parts of the world. If the Cascadia fault ruptured, there would be no way the people on our own west coast could be warned in time; imagine the problem in Indonesia's jungles islands.
and lastly there is what I call the "jaws syndrome" the locals just don't want to scare the tourists.
What I think is needed is a mesh network type of system where the warnings could be routed through multiple means even down to a radio system like the weather warning radios we can get. Remote villages near the coast could get one of these radios with solar cell recharged bateries, then use their own system localy.
Re:I like it in principal (Score:3, Insightful)
3) buy an alarmclock with EAS (used to be EBS, emergency broadcast) feature (set you back US$15)
or
4) download one of those WeatherBug spyware thingies for your windows tray (at least they only track your web habits). They actually pool EAS.
or
5) move AWAY from the sea; go live in CO, WY, NE, KS, even UT.
Re:April 1st already? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Frequency of seismic waves (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, not all that useful (Score:2, Insightful)
Indeed. The problem with this project is that the countries where computers are very common (say, the United States) already have effective tsunami systems. The IOC offers tsunami warnings [tsunamiwave.info] as well in most of the Pacific, and are extending their coverage. The problem is that the third world governments often have problems with disseminating the information, and it's these very same countries that also don't have a lot of modern computers with motion detectors. The places that have effective end-to-end tsunami warning systems don't need this software, and those that don't won't have the hardware necessary to use it.
There's also the concern about sensitivity, of course, including false alarms by people moving their laptops, bumping desks, walking around... some serious testing would be needed to ascertain both the precision (reliability) and accuracy of this system before believing what it says.