As I sit here , in my unagitated , non - snowpocalpysed urban center reading Twitter , there ’s onedefinite themeemerging from blizzard - tie New Yorkers : alcohol is a good coping mechanics ! But also , everyone is getting unasked alert about the weather on their phones . Here ’s why .
Although it might seem innate in a post - Yo creation that your phone will tell you about pinch material without you ask it , the mechanics by which the government tells everyone to outride inside is relatively new .
The system is calledWireless Emergency Alert , and it ’s a collaboration between a cluster of Union agencies to send you exigency messages . Surprisingly , for a project involve technology and federal cooperation , it also works fairly well ! A notice was pass authorising the FCC to develop the standard for WEA in 2006 , and the system has been fully useable since 2012 .
Basically , WEA can send you four eccentric of subject matter from a crew of dissimilar federal office : extreme weather warnings , local emergency , AMBER ( nipper abduction ) alarm , and Presidential hand brake messages . ( appropriately , that mean that if Russia ever declares war on the US , you ’ll larn about it in a 90 - character blip on your speech sound . )
The messages are 90 characters long , and delivered to any WEA - capable phone within a sealed radius . The messages reckon a lot like school text , but do n’t fall over the normal SMS transmission channel — rather , they ’re a mantle spread from the cell tower . WEA messages are work on by default , but if you mess around deep enough in your configurations , you’re able to disable them if you really desire to ( although you ’ll never be able to block Presidential missive ) .
The WEA system is a big improvement over conventional emergency warning signal systems ( learn : TV and radio ) because of the combat-ready nature of the alert . It ’s a dependable bet that you ’re not check the television ( or radio , hah ) during the day , but you credibly look at your phone too many times to count .
That say , the system is n’t unfailing . During one of its first major outings , a New York blizzard in November 2013,not everyone set out the messages . At the time , most iPhones did n’t support WEA substance , something that Apple changed with iOS 6 .
https://gizmodo.com/why-some-at-t-users-didnt-receive-yesterdays-emergency-5982887
Still , even with its flaws , the WEA system of rules is impressive . Not only is it a sterling piece of music of public - private - sphere cooperation , but it ’s one of the most comprehensive and ripe public early - warning systems in the world . Not that it ’ll be much consolation to the New Yorkers hear to remember how to prod a snow cave tonight , of course .
Top image reference : Kirk Hamilton ’s Twitter
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