How It Works

User Interface & Customization

Desktop Experience: Full-featured dashboard with movable sidebar. Click the sidebar drag handle to reposition the data panel to your left or right preference. Your layout choice is saved automatically.

Mobile Experience (NEW): Optimized touch interface with customizable card order. Press and hold any card title to activate drag mode, then reorder cards to match your priorities. Your preferred card arrangement is saved locally and persists across sessions.

Theme Options: Toggle between light and dark modes using the theme switcher in the header. System preference detection available.

Accessibility: Full keyboard navigation support, ARIA labels, and screen reader compatibility. All interactive elements are accessible without a mouse.

Card reordering uses SortableJS library for smooth touch interactions. No personal data is collected during customization.

Security & CSP Reporting

We enforce a strict Content Security Policy (CSP) and collect violation reports for continuous hardening. A lightweight security alert module may generate minimal, sanitized technical telemetry strictly for defense-in-depth.

• Sampling to reduce noise
• Sanitized URLs (queries removed)
• Reports are non-blocking and privacy-aware
• Forwarded to a secure collector alongside local sink

Telemetry includes IP, user agent, page/referrer paths, and timestamps only. No behavioral profiling or sale of data.

Live Traffic & Weather

Traffic: Powered by live Waze data, centered on Highway 7/8 and major roads.

Weather: Real-time temperature, wind, and "feels like" from Open-Meteo API. Updates every 5 minutes.

No API keys required. Data is public and freely available.

Rail Crossing Alerts (Proprietary)

Locations: Nafziger Road & Waterloo Street major rail crossings.

Technology: Dedicated sensors detect train activity in real-time. Alerts sent to subscribers within 10 seconds of detection.

Accuracy: Best-effort; always verify crossing status visually before proceeding.

Proprietary sensor network owned and operated by New Hamburg LIVE!(TM). Patent pending.

Civic Participation & Reporting

User Reports: Community members submit reports on hazards, traffic, weather, and service issues.

Moderation: All reports are reviewed and verified by moderators before publication. False reports result in user banning.

Transparency: Verified reports are published with timestamps and verification badges.

Emergency & Alert Systems

Amber Alerts: Canadian Centre for Child Protection feed. Updated in real-time.

Environmental Alerts: Environment and Climate Change Canada RSS feed. Weather warnings and alerts.

Electricity Grid Status: Ontario IESO real-time grid demand and supply.

Air Quality: Environment Canada AQHI (Air Quality Health Index). Updated regularly.

Scanner Feeds: Public emergency dispatch channels (police, fire, EMS). Audio streaming from trusted sources.

Data Refresh Rates

Data Sources & Attribution

• Waze: Community-driven traffic reports
• Open-Meteo: Free weather API (OpenWeatherMap alternative)
• Environment Canada: Government environmental alerts and AQHI
• Canadian Centre for Child Protection: Amber Alert RSS feed
• IESO (Ontario): Electricity grid real-time demand data
• New Hamburg LIVE!(TM) Sensors: Proprietary rail crossing detection
• Community Users: Civic reports and local updates

Reliability & Backup

Uptime Target: 99.5% availability.

Fallback: If a live data source fails, the dashboard gracefully displays "unavailable" rather than crashing.

Redundancy: Critical data sources (weather, rail alerts) have secondary fallback endpoints.

Error Reporting: All data fetch failures are logged and flagged with red indicators.

Disclaimer: New Hamburg LIVE!(TM) is a convenience tool and should not be relied upon as the sole source of critical information. Always verify important data (traffic, weather, emergency alerts) with official sources.