Slashdot Mirror


Yokohama Accidentally Tweets That NK Missile Is Inbound

ForgedArtificer writes "Earlier today, the Crisis Management Office Affairs Bureau for the city of Yokohama, Japan had some startling news for its followers; to wit, a North Korean missile was on its way to Japan. The tweet stayed up for about 20 minutes before being removed and replaced with an apology. The city reports that a pre-written tweet was released due to a malfunction in the 'mechanism' that would have released the tweet at the appropriate time."

89 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Apparently by netwarerip · · Score: 5, Funny

    They wanted to be first to tweet the news.
    Must be a Slashdot user.

    1. Re:Apparently by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Note to self: Maybe that RaspberryPi Tweet monitoring Nuke launcher was a bad idea...

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    2. Re:Apparently by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe.

      Though being twitter, I'd expect it to be something more like:

      missile coming were all going to die lol

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    3. Re:Apparently by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      #ohshit

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    4. Re:Apparently by Bigby · · Score: 1

      It was their "FRIST POST", except their spelling mistake was the whole post.

    5. Re:Apparently by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      There's a story from the USSR that one time an automated nuclear counter-strike system was erroneously triggered and it was only human intervention that stopped it.

      Agreed, humans need to be at the switch.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    6. Re:Apparently by Sperbels · · Score: 2

      Right. They just taught the automated system tic-tac-toe and it decided to give up on the launch. Computers are so stupid.

    7. Re:Apparently by Sam+Nitzberg · · Score: 2

      Here are the two relevant Wikipedia Links regarding this series of events that happened:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_RYAN

      There is also a documentary on this called something like Soviet War Scare 1983 that has been on the military channel.

      -- Sam

    8. Re:Apparently by isorox · · Score: 2

      #ohshit

      #NOCARRIER

    9. Re:Apparently by eyenot · · Score: 1

      There is also a documentary on this called something like WarGames that has been on the military channel.

      Tweaked that for you.

      --
      "Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
  2. joshua what are you doing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    joshua what are you doing?

    1. Re:joshua what are you doing? by interval1066 · · Score: 1

      Nial set us up the bomb.

      --
      Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
    2. Re:joshua what are you doing? by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 1

      What you say?

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  3. Pre-written? by ZorinLynx · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This sounds like something serious enough that a pre-written tweet is not the best idea. If a missile were inbound for my area, I'd want a real person to write the tweet, with actual pertinent details, rather than "releasing" a prewritten, generic tweet.

    Something that can cause panic like this should not be automated.

    1. Re:Pre-written? by HaZardman27 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seriously, how long would it take in the event of an actual launch detection to write a tweet? Doesn't seem like this "mechanism" is nearly worth the risk.

      --
      Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
    2. Re:Pre-written? by alen · · Score: 1

      they probably use some social media program that automatically posts to different social networks

    3. Re:Pre-written? by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Sure, but that wouldn't be very Japanese. On the windows of some trains on the Tokyo subway, there were big warnings that the window could not open. The windows in question were clearly stationary, if you broke your fingers trying to pry them open, that was on you. This is the same country that practices tiger escape drills in their zoos using costumes.

    4. Re:Pre-written? by medv4380 · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's automated because they're using the same system that they use for earthquakes notifications. They're just lucky it only posted to twitter, and not a full Text Bombing Emergency Alert. They have a far better EBS then the US, but it still has bugs. Most of the US EBS are just pre-recorded messages with general instructions that later lead to your more personalized message, and instructions.

    5. Re:Pre-written? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Depends who operates that "mechanism". If it's a government employee, a few hours to days after the impact. If it's a 14 year old girl with an iphone, about 42ms after the missle was launched...

    6. Re:Pre-written? by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Given the proximity of North and South, ahem, Korea. Me thinks you don't get much lead time...

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    7. Re: Pre-written? by sir_eccles · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually well run corporate social media often implement an approval process for all tweets replies and other comments to avoid spelling mistakes misinterpretation and ensuring that the right corporate message gets across. I'm sure that a committee sat down here and said "what is the best way to write this?" Rather than let some 20 something quickly write something in the spur of the moment that might be wrong. So yes prewritten is probably a good idea, accidentally pressing send however...

    8. Re:Pre-written? by Bohnanza · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sounds like something serious enough to use an air-raid siren instead of a tweet.

      --

      -----

      Sorry, I'm only a 1336 h4x0r.

    9. Re:Pre-written? by Hentes · · Score: 1

      If a missile was inbound, emergency broadcast shouldn't rely solely on Twitter.

    10. Re:Pre-written? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2

      Write it? Not long. Compose it, complete with ass covering? A long time.

      I'm sure some committee agreed on the wording. They couldn't get one out in realtime without prewriting it because there doesn't seem to be anybody around anymore who will step up in an emergency and take responsibility.

    11. Re:Pre-written? by the_other_chewey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Given the proximity of North and South, ahem, Korea. Me thinks you don't get much lead time...

      Good thing then that Yokohama is in, ahem, neither.

    12. Re:Pre-written? by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      Because we'd hear an air-raid siren in our soundproofed basements?

    13. Re:Pre-written? by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 1

      Doh! Still I doubt Japan has much lead time either :)

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    14. Re:Pre-written? by Jens+Egon · · Score: 1

      This is Japan. They have PA systems all over the place to bring earthquake warnings.

      Backing that up with whatever they can lay their hands on .

      Apparantly that includes twitter.

    15. Re:Pre-written? by asylumx · · Score: 1

      Why is your basement soundpr.... oh... nevermind.

    16. Re:Pre-written? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      She'd also include an instagram picture of the missile with some pretty effects to boot.

    17. Re:Pre-written? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I seriously doubt it was a mechanism.... Reminds me of a WISP we used to run. When someone missed their payment, we logged in and shut off their radio. Then when they call we say "Oh, it looks like the 'system' disconnected you for non-payment...."

      There was no fucking mechanism :D

    18. Re: Pre-written? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      "prewritten is probably a good idea,"

      When the shit hits the fan, there won't be any bean counters around. That 20 year old kid isn't going to remember which "button" sends which message either. Might as well let him ad lib it.

      "The bomb set us up, we all die now!"

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    19. Re:Pre-written? by rtfa-troll · · Score: 1

      Look up "nonstop". if you haven't soundproofed (and actually I mean all vibrations) your basement yet then you might as well be using Windows on the open iternet. I mean, get with the plan. This is, of course, after you have already built a Faraday cage and a fully independent power supply.

      --
      =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
    20. Re:Pre-written? by geekoid · · Score: 1

      It's standard procedure in automated warning systems.
      I suspect it's one of several outlets that get hit when the system is activated.

      Remember, it's a 24/7 system so you need to maximize the chance it gets out.

      Accidents happen. Would you rather have a rare false positive to the general public, or a increased chance of the system failing ?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    21. Re:Pre-written? by geekoid · · Score: 2

      You're statement is completely false.

      It's rewritten becasue t's part of an automated 24/7 system. I work with Emergency responders, and with people who design these systems. Plenty of people are willing and do take responsibility. People who aren't don't hold those position very long, assuming they could get one.

      When talking about the US government, remember a few things.
      1) 10's of thousands of project go on every year.
      2) the media only reports things they perceive as failures*
      3) The people in your government work far harder then any media ever shows
      5) The US government employees do a damn good job compared to any other government in the world.

      Yes, there will be problems. People make mistakes and people aren't perfect.

      *most aren't, there just a lack of understanding of the situation by the medias.and of course, some are.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    22. Re:Pre-written? by flimflammer · · Score: 1

      It doesn't. It just so happened that when this bug or error or whatever the hell it was happened, it only posted to Twitter. They have a rather indepth system for informing the population of threats.

    23. Re:Pre-written? by OhSoLaMeow · · Score: 1

      Oh, so it was YOU!

      --
      They can take my LifeAlert pendant when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
    24. Re:Pre-written? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2

      Really? So if you were call officer for the emergency response system in your city and you got a notification that a North Korean missile was incoming, would you hop on Twitter and tell everyone what you knew? Or would you crack open the manual and see what you were supposed to do?

      I should have been more specific - nobody wants to take sole responsibility for making public announcements. That's because all you hear about in the media is the failures. If you had taken the initiative and made the announcement that Yokohama was about to get nuked, in your official capacity as emergency response duty officer, the media would be stringing you up right now, and your bosses probably wouldn't be on your side. By following the book or, better, having an automated message, carefully worded by committee, individuals can deny responsibility. Even if Yokohama was about to get nuked you'd probably be criticized for making a typo or using unnecessary adjectives relating to North Korean ancestry.

    25. Re:Pre-written? by creepynut · · Score: 1

      Not sure if Funny or Informative. Which one more represents "probably true"?

    26. Re:Pre-written? by dintech · · Score: 1

      The peace V sign being somewhat confusing given the inbound nuke.

  4. Wow, talk about being eager for "First Post" by kannibal_klown · · Score: 4, Funny

    Man, I thought the first-post messages on Slashdot were bad.

    At least the incorrect messages on slashdot won't incite World War III

    1. Re:Wow, talk about being eager for "First Post" by cellocgw · · Score: 1

      Man, I thought the first-post messages on Slashdot were bad.

      At least the incorrect messages on slashdot won't incite World War III

      Never seen a flame war break out over God, Not-God, Apple, Microsoft, ClimateChange, emacs vs vi? It's practically WW-III every day here on Slashdot!

      --
      https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
    2. Re:Wow, talk about being eager for "First Post" by kannibal_klown · · Score: 2

      True, but the closest thing we have to permanently damaging artillery is a link to the goat*x pic.

  5. boy that cried fire by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    no one will believe it when the real one comes

    1. Re:boy that cried fire by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Who's on second.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  6. This business will get out of control... by BMOC · · Score: 1, Funny

    It will get out of control and we'll be lucking to live through it.

    --
    I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
    1. Re:This business will get out of control... by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 1

      Less so his work in actual 'law' and 'order'....

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
  7. Twitter fails as warning system. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good test. No widespread panic. Nobody changing their behaviour. No flood of retweets. Thanks to this production test we learned that twitter is not a good warning system.

  8. Had to add this... by ForgedArtificer · · Score: 2

    I texted the story to a friend of mine before posting it here.... his comment:

    "Whoopsie."

    I'm still giggling half an hour later.

    --
    The right to offend is central to the right to free speech.
  9. Smells like... by SYSS+Mouse · · Score: 2

    WarGames.

  10. My fellow Americans by Alranor · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

    1. Re:My fellow Americans by ValentineMSmith · · Score: 2

      I can remember my parents laughing when that happened, and I can remember the news (for some reason, ABC News REALLY sticks in my mind) was REALLY offended and angry.

      Which may have been part of the reason my folks were laughing so hard.

      --
      Karma: Chameleon - mostly influenced by bad '80s New Wave music
  11. This is a test. It's only a test. Do not be afraid by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    Had this been a real emergency, we would be telling you to kiss your ass goodbye...

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  12. Retaliation tweet by sl4shd0rk · · Score: 4, Funny

    lol whops... sry Kim my bad. -Obama

    --
    Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
    1. Re:Retaliation tweet by Wookact · · Score: 1

      You hear that noise above your head, thats not a missile, its just a woosh. The joke is that upon seeing the tweet, that Obama launched a counter attack. Upon finding out the tweet was a mistake, that Obama then tweeted an apology.

  13. 140 Chars... by ZiakII · · Score: 1

    Seriously a tweet is 140 characters, that's not something they can just write in a second if and when it happens?

    1. Re:140 Chars... by Endo13 · · Score: 2

      Well, let's see. We'll do a little quick math here. A typical typist does about 40-70 WPM. Really quick ones can top 100. So let's be generous and assume they have one of their fastest on this, and he/she can do 120WPM. Now, when calculating WPM, five keystrokes is considered one "word" (not counting keys like shift or control). At that rate, it would take 14 seconds to type 140 characters, not a mere single second as you so rashly assume. /ducks

      --
      There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.
    2. Re:140 Chars... by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Well, to be fair, in the event of a real missle attack, the last thing anybody is going to be thinking about is sending out that tweet. Plus you didn't account for the time to get to the computer, open the browser, go to Twitter, log into your account, realize you forgot the password because you've never used the account, get a reset password request, wait for the email to come through, wait longer than you should, resend it assuming it failed, wait a while longer, check your spam folder and fine the reset email, click on the link, reset the password, and then type your tweet. In an emergency situation, you want that tweet going out automatically, as soon as the system is put into the state of "incoming missile", if there's people relying on it for emergency warnings, you don't want it to be the case that someone forgot they were supposed to send out the message via twitter.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:140 Chars... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      set up us. c'mon, know your memes.

    4. Re:140 Chars... by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Seriously a tweet is 140 characters, that's not something they can just write in a second if and when it happens?

      Or, at worst, have in a text file somewhere. How long would it take to go from "We just got word that North Korea fired missiles" to "Open Text File" to "Copy" to "Paste" and "Send Tweet"? Probably less time than it takes to realize your tweet went out accidentally and delete it.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  14. Or...... by 3vi1 · · Score: 2

    Or their twitter feed got hacked by some NK'n kids and they just didn't want to admit it.

  15. Boy who cried wolf by Enderandrew · · Score: 1

    With so many false alerts, will people believe the real thing?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc60XPCXrh8

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    1. Re:Boy who cried wolf by Applekid · · Score: 1

      With so many false alerts, will people believe the real thing?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc60XPCXrh8

      Who cares if they believe it? It's not like they would be able to do anything about it.

      --
      More Twoson than Cupertino
    2. Re:Boy who cried wolf by Enderandrew · · Score: 2

      My first thought when I saw videos of that fake EBS broadcast was "this is funny."

      My second thought was "I hope some nut-job doesn't kill his/her family to save them from being eaten by zombies."

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    3. Re:Boy who cried wolf by mabhatter654 · · Score: 2

      If Il quit threatening, people would stop reaching for the "retaliation" button.

      Somebody is accidentally going to wipe his country off the map if he keeps this up.

  16. Re:Of course, here's the thing... by Dan+Dankleton · · Score: 3, Funny

    A more appropriate time would be, y'know, when a North Korean missile is inbound.

  17. It's the first ever False Flag event on Twitter! by turp182 · · Score: 1

    Twitter is really growing up these days.

    --
    BlameBillCosby.com
  18. Re:Of course, here's the thing... by mrbester · · Score: 2

    Personally, I'd rather not know there was an inbound missile as spending the last few minutes of my life going "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" (are you really going to be calm and phone a loved one [who you can't contact because they're trying to phone you] to say goodbye?) doesn't sound much fun.

    --
    "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
  19. Re:Oblig: by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nuclear launch cancelled. Not enough minerals.

  20. not sure what the glorious leader by nimbius · · Score: 1

    is planning in terms of warfare, but so far his campaign seems to be extremely effective in its ability to insight terror. He even made some large superpower play chess with its missile defense, at their own expense.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:not sure what the glorious leader by khallow · · Score: 1

      He even made some large superpower play chess with its missile defense, at their own expense.

      Which also happened to be a convenient pretext to plant anti-missile systems in Japan, South Korea, and Guam. China's nuclear reach just got a bit weaker.

    2. Re:not sure what the glorious leader by Xphile101361 · · Score: 1

      One could argue that we should have had these defenses in place long before Kimmy-boy said that he would set the world on fire.

  21. Fitting reaction by thrill12 · · Score: 2

    Barman: Did you say the world is coming to an end? Shouldn't we all lie on the floor or put paper bags over our heads?
    Ford: If you like.
    Barman: Will it help?
    Ford: Not at all.
    [Ford runs out of the pub]
    Barman: Last orders, please!
    (THGTTG - DNA)

    --
    Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
  22. 99 Red Balloons. by Gabrill · · Score: 2

    Nena seems appropriate here. 99 Red Balloons.

    --
    Always going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse.
  23. Really, it's that hard? by bryan1945 · · Score: 2

    They pre-wrote a 140 letter missive? Are they using a drugged-out, one-armed sloth as their spokesman?

    --
    Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
    1. Re:Really, it's that hard? by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      Ever tried to communicate in a real emergency? (One where seconds rather than minutes means the difference between life and death?) I have, and it's not nearly so easy as you think to communicate clearly under those circumstances. There's a reason why military folks and 911 dispatchers undergo extensive and ongoing training.

    2. Re:Really, it's that hard? by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      So, those tweets & texts I've gotten were life-and-death? That explains why they were so incoherent!

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  24. Re:Found the Bug by nedlohs · · Score: 1

    let's hope the twitter warning is posted after the "launch missiles back" check is done.

  25. Re:Oblig: by SYSS+Mouse · · Score: 1

    #Fail.

    Nuclear is Terran while the pylons is Protoss.

  26. Re:"Mechanism"? by Xphile101361 · · Score: 1

    This is japan. They'll likely crash a satellite into the incoming missile. That may buy them enough time to upload their cyberbrains into the internet.

  27. 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident by happyhamster · · Score: 3, Informative
  28. cabinboy, bring me my brown trowsers! by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    more like "LAST POAST"

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  29. Re:"Mechanism"? by mabhatter654 · · Score: 1

    Their Ghosts can Shell the enemies?

  30. Re:It's Actually Headed Towards Tokyo by mabhatter654 · · Score: 1

    After the war, the people responsible will be sacked.

  31. password: JOSHUA by eyenot · · Score: 1

    What inanity! If the early-warning system is connected to the internet, there's this huge chance of somebody else connected to the internet being able to trigger an early warning.

    Even if it's offline until the moment -- and only during the moment -- it needs to login and send the tweet, there are so many possibilities as far as hacking the early warning system.

    It must have sensors of some kind, and sensors can be quickly and easily fooled. And if the sensors aren't so vulnerable? There are obviously some people attached to the system who can also be quickly and easily fooled.

    This is even worse than electronic voting! Seriously! I think we should be petitioning the local government of Yokohama to cease and desist!

    As another user here joked (and I find the joke hilarious), "maybe my Tweet-monitoring Nuke launcher was a bad idea..."

    Well, the Tweet doesn't have to trigger a chain reaction of nukes to have potentially dangerous, even deadly side-effects. And certainly the people of Yokohama don't deserve those minutes of accelerated aging over the supposition that nukes are literally right on their way.

    --
    "Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
    1. Re:password: JOSHUA by eyenot · · Score: 1

      Granted some things:

      1. I think this North Korea bullshit is way over-hyped by a death-worshipping media circus that wants to keep us all frightened into angst-driven consumerism. I have every reason to believe this is just a new leader going through the sick motions required of a really stupid political organization. With the White House being more or less sedate about N. Korea's nuclear antics, I'm surprised the liars and whores of the media monopoly press are bothering to bug their eyes out this far and deliver so many hamkicks -- it's like b-grade horror. You really have to ask yourself who's convinced.

      2. I'm not against smart weapons (or smart weapon systems). I'm against stupid people building smart weapons and systems.

      --
      "Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
  32. Accuracy in journalism by StikyPad · · Score: 1

    The tweet was accurate, but North Korea accidentally the missile.

  33. Re:Of course, here's the thing... by the_one(2) · · Score: 1

    If you had a few minutes you could get to a bomb shelter and survive.