Hopefully Google and Amazon product engineers are listening: EAS/NWS alert messages could come over your various devices to help the consumer... The NEST Protect smoke alarms would particularly be useful for NWS Alerts (i.e. they're loud and could broadcast "TORNADO! SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!") Already having ~6 Nest Protects, and a few Home devices, I can't seem myself ever needing to spend money on another one...unless version next.0 included an internal antenna that could pick up NWS alerts....seems like a good source of new hardware revenue to me... -A On Sun, Oct 7, 2018 at 12:25 PM <bzs@theworld.com> wrote:
Re: EAS alert, people not being reached
That was one advantage of the old air raid siren system, it was difficult to ignore and required nothing special to receive (hearing impaired excepted.)
I recall in NYC as a kid you were expected (maybe legally required, not sure) to head off the streets and to the nearest shelter. And people did. If you were a wise guy teen and didn't and a cop saw you you'd get an earful (don't ask me how I know this.)
Some areas particularly near the shore have similar siren systems.
Probably a bigger issue which isn't as apparent from a test is do people have any reasonable options even if they are completely aware that negotiations with the UFOs have collapsed and the death rays have started?
In the days when nuclear attack was more likely we'd often say that it's all well and good to be alerted but seriously wtf are we supposed to do (duck and cover!)? Beyond "better than nothing!"?
Granted for some proportion of the population a half-baked response is a lot better than none. If you're likely 2+ miles from a 1MT nuclear air burst just going into your cellars and away from windows (flying glass and debris) would probably save most of those lives and much injury at least from the initial blast.
So, EAS alert may be better than nothing for many but some enumeration of why one might get one and what would be a reasonable reaction to each case would be useful.
Otherwise it's just "ALERT! YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE!" Ok...
Of course for many here it might mean "switch to alternate power source immediately".
-- -Barry Shein
Software Tool & Die | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: +1 617-STD-WRLD | 800-THE-WRLD The World: Since 1989 | A Public Information Utility | *oo*