Re FEMA to test 'Presidential Alert' system next week

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Geoff Kuenning <geoff () cs hmc edu>
> Subject: Re: [IP] FEMA to test 'Presidential Alert' system next week
> Date: September 17, 2018 at 6:07:33 PM GMT+9
> To: dave () farber net
>
> I'm not (hugely) worried that President Trump will misuse the FEMA system.  I suspect that the "deep state" (joke) 
> will be sufficient to keep the reins on.
>
> But has anyone stopped to think about the effect of making every cellphone in the nation suddenly play a loud alert 
> tone?  Purely by coincidence, I'll be in an operating room for a perfectly safe procedure at that time; I can imagine 
> my wife's reaction to such an alert if I hadn't warned her.  But will the doctors and nurses know?  Movies, classical 
> concerts (fortunately few at 2:18 PM on a Thursday), school classes, and business meetings will be disrupted.  
> Drivers on freeways will be startled, and not a few will grab their phones to try to read the text.  I suspect that 
> several people will die as a result of the latter phenomenon.
>
> Assuming the system works as designed, safety officials will then know that it's available.  My experience with such 
> things is that the people in charge won't be able to resist misusing it.  "Since we have a way to reach everybody, 
> let's send out a message telling them to wash their hands before eating."  That's not a hypothesis; I received 
> precisely such a message through my employer's emergency-alert system two years ago.
> -- 
>   Geoff Kuenning   geoff () cs hmc edu    http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~geoff/
>
> Software, like bridges, should be elegant and visually pleasing as
> well as functional.  Ugly constructs, designs, and languages should be
> avoided like the plague.




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-a538de84&post_id=20180917050926:5DE2E7A2-BA59-11E8-9DA0-9259D2BB6CCF
Powered by Listbox: https://www.listbox.com