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Boy, 4, Uses Siri To Help Save Mum's Life (bbc.com)
A four-year-old boy saved his mother's life by using her thumb to unlock her iPhone and then asking it to call 999. From a report: Roman, who lives in Kenley, Croydon, south London, used the phone's voice control -- Siri -- to call emergency services. Police and paramedics were sent to the home and were able to give live-saving first aid to his mother.
No, but a 4-year boy may not know that, and presumably you need to unlock the phone for Siri to respond to activation command.
Did you miss the part about it being a 4 year old? They don't always know, or understand, how everything works.
This is a breakthrough, because in the olden days a 4 year old would've been able to simply dial 999 on the rotary phone without having to deal with fingerprint identification or risk getting things wrong with voice commands?
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Thing sure have changed since I was four.
They don't always know, or understand, how everything works.
Actually, the kid was smart enough to figure out the unlocking thing and then ask Siri for help. I'm just surprised that dialing 999 (or 911) is beyond him.
Have gnu, will travel.
this boy is clever enough to have punched 999 into any phone. I'm just not seeing how that siri thing deserves to be the hero of the day here.
You do if it's an iPhone.
You used to be able to make emergency calls using an iPhone on the lock screen - it was a button that was part of the "enter your PIN" screen.
Problem: in iOS 9, Apple removed that screen. Now you just get a screen that says "press home to unlock." There is no option to place an emergency call on iPhones any more as they forgot to move that button to the new lock screen. Oops.
Actually, the kid was smart enough to figure out the unlocking thing and then ask Siri for help. I'm just surprised that dialing 999 (or 911) is beyond him.
He probably saw his mom unlock the phone and use Siri many times before. However, being as he is only 4 years old he might not have known to call 999, or which number on the keypad was 9 when it came up. Some 4 year olds can read the numbers 0-9 but not all. Stringing together the right 3-digit sequence of numbers is not a small task at that age.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
It's still there, bottom left, passcode screen.
*grabs phone
*hits button
"Enter Pin" "Emergency"
*enters pin and checks firmware
ioS 9.3.5
I hate Apple as much as the next non-fanboi, but give the Devil their due.
Actually, the kid was smart enough to figure out the unlocking thing and then ask Siri for help. I'm just surprised that dialing 999 (or 911) is beyond him.
He probably saw his mom unlock the phone and use Siri many times before. However, being as he is only 4 years old he might not have known to call 999, or which number on the keypad was 9 when it came up. Some 4 year olds can read the numbers 0-9 but not all. Stringing together the right 3-digit sequence of numbers is not a small task at that age.
My 4-year old knows the four digit unlock code for the phone, and the 4-digit front door code,
Yes. The word "Emergency" is what you tap.
If you use the fingerprint sensor, then you might never see this. Click on the home button with an unregistered finger.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Me: Siri where is the nearest Cabelas?
Siri: I've found the nearest Cabelas. Would you like me to call it?
Me: Yes
Siri: ("Yes" APPEARS on the screen) I'm sorry, I didn't understand.
Me: Yes
Siri ("Yes" APPEARS on the screen) I'm sorry. I didn't understand.
Me: Siri CALL THE FUCKING GOD DAMN NUMBER YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT
Siri: Calling
Yes, that would be the screen that Apple removed. Well, it's not gone, exactly, it just only shows up after you reboot the phone or if you haven't unlocked it for 48 hours.
Quick: do you know how to reboot an iPhone? If it's not your phone and you need to place an emergency call that presumably can't wait a couple of days?
You do if it's an iPhone.
You used to be able to make emergency calls using an iPhone on the lock screen - it was a button that was part of the "enter your PIN" screen.
Problem: in iOS 9, Apple removed that screen. Now you just get a screen that says "press home to unlock." There is no option to place an emergency call on iPhones any more as they forgot to move that button to the new lock screen. Oops.
I get "press home to unlock" on my iPhone (iOS 10), and the unlock screen has "emergency" down at the bottom-left
Still there, bottom left.
Or you could also ask SIRI with he the phone still locked. But the kid didn't know that was not needed, I think it's pretty clever anyway for hime to do so given the age.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
...I guess most responders will be outraged at this terrible IOS security hole that Apple has enabled?
At least the kid didn't use the wrench.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The enter pin screen still exists, it shows up in a number of cases including if you try to unlock the phone with an unauthorized finger or haven't unlocked it in a long time.
However it's a text link and a 4 year old probably can't read. But as children are generally pretty observant figuring out that you can use mom's finger to authorize a voice request isn't that surprising provided he'd seen his mom use those capabilties.
I know corporate Executives that don't always know, or understand, how everything works.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Top center if it's an alphanumeric passcode.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Time for the obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Does she know the code, as in the position and order? Or does she know the code as a number? I've seen small kids unlock phones the first way (monkey see, monkey do), but me telling them the gesture or number results in failures.
Works for me. Tap a couple times, brings up passphrase screen with Emergency at the top of it because mine is alphanumeric.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
False. Just hit the home button a couple times when it's locked. It brings you to the passphrase screen which has the emergency button there.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
so, we're holding it wrong again?
Definitely not limited to 4 year olds.
I don't have an iPhone, but on my Android phone if you want to make an emergency call without unlocking the phone, you need to use a special gesture (swipe up from the bottom-left corner) and then tap the small word "emergency" near the bottom of the screen when the unlock prompt appears. Since it's not a normal flow for most people, it might have been a bit much to expect a 4-year-old to figure it out during a life-and-death emergency (can he read?). This kid relied on the method that he knew would work, which was good thinking given the circumstances.
The only worse three digit number would be 900 since then you have to rotate the dial all of the way around and wait for it to return before dialing the next number. The US 911 is superior since it has the nine clicks at the start to weed-up false positives then the shortest available numbers for the next two.
Parent's Are Dying Because Children Cannot Call 999 On Locked Smartphones
It seems like one happens more often than the other.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
I know corporate Executives that don't always know, or understand, how everything works.
Or politicians.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I'm sorry, did you say...
Glad things worked out - could have been several app purchases, videos and songs later before the authorities got the message.
How do you even attempt to make any sort of phone call without first unlocking the phone and opening the the call app? Is their some secret password that calls 911 for you?
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
my android lets me call 911 from the lock screen, no unlocking needed. doesnt IOS work that way?
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Yes, it does. But he was a 4yo kid.
Boy, 5, arrested for using Siri to create and distribute child porn in return for lollipops.
Or slashdotters...
How do you even attempt to make any sort of phone call without first unlocking the phone and opening the the call app? Is their some secret password that calls 911 for you?
Yes. The password is "Emergency". Not very secretive though, since the phone puts it on the screen in the lower-left corner.
Corporate IT departments are starting to realize that 22 year old college graduates might be out of touch with the latest technology, hence the renewed interest in kids in kindergarten.
"I'm just surprised that dialing 999 (or 911) [youtube.com] is beyond him"
Um, just a wild guess here, perhaps it's because HE'S FUCKEN FOUR YEARS OLD AND HIS MOTHER IS DYING IN FRONT OF HIM?!
Jesus fucken Christ.
Who? Wisnoskij?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Be aware, your 4-year old may be Marlon Wayans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
No, but a 4-year boy may not know that, and presumably you need to unlock the phone for Siri to respond to activation command.
From the lock screen, if you swipe down, you get the search box, w/ the mic icon on the right, which would enable Siri. Granted, the 4 yr old may not know that, but if he's smart enough to use mom's finger, I'd expect he's smart enough to have explored such nooks & cranies of an iPhone. Of course, I'm talking here about iOS 10.2.1: not sure whether they would have had an older version, for whatever reason.
4 year olds can know numbers and letters.
E.g. "what letter/number is this".
Kids vary wildly at that age in what they have learned though.
Android has an emergency link in the lock screen. I don't see one in iOS. Despite having swipe down/right and left, it doesn't have an emergency link or icon anywhere - talking about iOS 10.2.1
I thought they changed it. They made a catchy jingle and everything...
UK (and some other parts of the world) slang for mother is Mum...
You mean like this? http://youtu.be/F3CS9l9VJmE
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
It's there... tap "emergency call"
While I was driving, I voice activated my phone to "call my dad" and I handed my daughter behind me my phone to talk to grandpa. At some point th connection dropped. Next I hear my four year old using the voice control and says "call my dad", sure enough, she reconnected to my dad.
:P
1. I didn't know she knew how to activate the voice control (double click home button) but she had enough exposure to other phones/tablets to know to try it.
2. She was four.
3. Somehow I expected my phone to call itself
- Yo Grark
Canadian Bred with American Buttering
Actually, reading down, it is there in the PIN code screen. Problem is - since I use the fingerprint, I often bypass it. Of course, if one does, one can then invoke the Phone icon and simply dial 911
At it for how many years and still can't spell, eh msmash?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8GtuPdrUQ
Well hey at least he didn't have to memorize "0118 999 881 999 119 7253" !!
i.e., in English, it's mum (Actual English).
I'm just surprised that dialing 999 (or 911) is beyond him.
His mother is probably on the young side of millennial - meaning voice calls are a rare thing, having been replaced by messaging and Snapchat. He may not even know what "dialing" means, but can ask Siri.
Sometimes dialing the emergency number is hard.
You mean that you can use any phone that is able to get a signal to call 911 is somehow a security hole?
No, the fact that you can unlock a phone with the finger of someone unconscious...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"Was this a typo and they meant "Mom"?"
Mum is British for mom.
It would be nice if after one wrong PIN attempt, your fingerprint was automatically deactivated from allowed inputs... or maybe some very low specified threshold for finger inputs it did not like.
The iPhone has a start in that direction, you can't use a finger to unlock until after you have entered the pin at least once after the device has powered up.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Using finger to access the device. :P Imagine an exploiter wanting to do the same. :/
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
She's either smart to have figured that out or is now very confused about how dads work. Like when your grandma calls your grandad "grandad." What, he's your grandad too? What the hell went on in this family?!
It would have been extra adorable if she'd tried to impersonate your voice when she was talking to the phone.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
You do if it's an iPhone. [...] Apple removed that screen [...] There is no option to place an emergency call on iPhones
No you don't, no they didn't, and yes there is.
Pretend it's an emergency and you're using someone else's iPhone. What's the first thing you'd do after getting the screen to turn on? Try doing that on someone else's iPhone and see what happens.
I'd wager you tried pressing the home button first thing, and, sure enough, if you do that with an iPhone running iOS 9 or iOS 10 you'll see the old unlock screen, including the "Emergency" button that gives you access to the owner's medical info and a keypad to dial out. That screen appears anytime an unregistered finger is used to press the home button. And the reason it doesn't appear for registered fingers (and why you're likely unaware that it was still there) is because there's no need for a special emergency screen when you can already use your registered finger to unlock the entire phone.
Saint Steve jobs and his Holy iphone saving lives beyond da grave! Ffs m$ get your shits together!!!1
it takes a 4 year old boy to use common sence where an adult dialing 911 would have been placed on hold not even thinking about the technology that phone offers and freaking out and complaining.
"From the guys that bought u White Chicks"
LOLOLOL like that was a shining achievement.
Dialing is quite possibly not a daily occurance in the house like when we were 4. But he got the job done and that's the part that matters.
Really, you need a thumbscan to call 911 (or 999)? I understand locking out non emergency numbers and other phone functions, but this could have very easily cost this woman her life (I am impressed 4 year old could do this but OTOH, I think back to 1982 and being able to figure out how to work my older brother's high end for the time Casio digital watch when I was around this kid's age) digitalwatch
I'd wager you tried pressing the home button first thing, and, sure enough, if you do that with an iPhone running iOS 9 or iOS 10 you'll see the old unlock screen, including the "Emergency" button that gives you access to the owner's medical info and a keypad to dial out. That screen appears anytime an unregistered finger is used to press the home button.
No, it doesn't. Try it: the screen shakes and you're told "try again."
Yes. And Siri as well. I'm assuming the little boy did not know that. (At 4 he probably can't read yet)
Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
Mom is American for Mum.
Or mam
So no mention ... was the mom OD'ing on heroin? Was she morbidly obese and dying of a heart attack? Why no mention of what the mom was suffering from, I need to make a judgement if it was a good thing or a bad thing this kid saved her!!!
No, it doesn't. Try it: the screen shakes and you're told "try again."
You didn't press the button. You placed your finger on the sensor without pressing the button.
I always thought it was strange the way that you Americans say "ma'am" instead of "mum". Why so formal with your own mothers?
So the story is this:
A FOUR YEAR OLD BOY KNOWS HOW TO MAKE A PHONE CALL.
*gasp*
Amazing. Of course, I've seen stories on shows like Rescue 911 decades ago where people's dogs were able to knock a phone off the nightstand and dial 911 when their owner was having a siezure or something, so...
Short for madam not mum...
But a 4 year old probably doesn't know that, the 4 year old just knows that you need Mommy's thumbprint to play candy crush and assumes you also need it to call 911.
Kudos to the kid saving his mom, but it is also kind of sad about how isolated and dependent on institutions and technology so many of us have become... So much so, we just take it for granted a four year old would have no neighbor or relative nearby to turn to.
Perhaps I was just lucky to grow up (lower-ish) middle class in a suburb in the 1960s with siblings, many stay-at-home moms as friendly neighbors all around, as well as lots of kids playing in the street. That seems to be a world that perhaps hardly exists anymore in the USA for any child... Other countries may be more likely to still have that kind of circumstance perhaps...
And more wealth seems to only make it worse -- see for example:
"The Problem With Rich Kids"
https://www.psychologytoday.co...
"In a surprising switch, the offspring of the affluent today are more distressed than other youth. They show disturbingly high rates of substance use, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, cheating, and stealing. It gives a whole new meaning to having it all."
"The Culture of Affluence: Psychological Costs of Material Wealth" ...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
"Evolutionary psychologists have suggested, furthermore, that wealthy communities can, paradoxically, be among those most likely to engender feelings of friendlessness and isolation in their inhabitants. As Tooby and Cosmides (1996) argued, the most reliable evidence of genuine friendship is that of help offered during times of dire need: People tend never to forget the sacrifices of those who provide help during their darkest hours. Modern living conditions, however, present relatively few threats to physical well-being. Medical science has reduced several sources of disease, many hostile forces of nature have been controlled, and laws and police forces deter assault and murder. Ironically, therefore, the greater the availability of amenities of modern living in a community, the fewer are the occurrences of critical events that indicate to people which of their friends are truly engaged in their welfare and which are only fair-weather companions. This lack of critical assessment events, in turn, engenders lingering mistrustfulness despite the presence of apparently warm interactions (Tooby & Cosmides, 1996).
Physical characteristics of wealthy suburban communities may also contribute to feelings of isolation. Houses in these communities are often set far apart with privacy of all ensured by long driveways, high hedges, and sprawling lawns (Weitzman, 2000; Wilson-Doenges, 2000). Neighbors are unlikely to casually bump into each other as they come and go in their communities, and children are unlikely to play on street corners. Paradoxically, once again, it is possible that the wealthiest neighborhoods are among the most vulnerable to low levels of cohesiveness and efficacy (Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997). When encountering an errant, disruptive child of the millionaire acquaintance next door, neighbors tend to be reluctant to intervene not only because of respect for others' privacy but also, more pragmatically, because of fears of litigation (e.g., Warner, 1991)."
It used to be we lived in tribes and then still close-knit communities...
Daniel Quinn proposes we try to go back to that way of life:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
"New tribalists believe that the tribal model, though not absolutely "perfect," has obviously stood the test of time as the most successful social organization for humans, in alignment with natural selection (just as well as the hive model for bees, the pod model for whales, and the pack model for wolves). According to new tribalists, the tribe fulfills both an emotionally and organizationally stabilizing role in human li
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
No you don't, and my conspiracy brain thinks this is just a tactic to get people to use fingerprint verification. How'd they know he unlocked the phone with her print in the first place? He's four. He wouldn't be going into the details about how he did it. Have you ever listened to a four year explain something? Surely the phone locked itself eventually? 2 minutes is the default, I think. Anyone else seeing my point?
If you're a 4 year old who cannot read the instructions on the lock screen and doesn't know how to dial numbers, then you probably do.
It's more like Mom is American for Mum, since Mum is not limited to Britain, but Mom is limited to the US.
Yes but you Americans call your own mothers "ma'am". That's just really weird to be so formal.
You should meet my mother. THEN you would understand.
You have an alphanumeric finger?
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
You should meet my mother.
A couple hundred of us already have...
My fingers can count to ten AND spell in ASL.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Touché
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Like when your grandma calls your grandad "grandad." What, he's your grandad too? What the hell went on in this family?!
I think this may help clear that up.