Twitter Launches Emergency Alerts

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Twitter Launches Emergency Alerts

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Wednesday September 25, 2013 @10:56AM from the spread-the-word dept.

wiredmikey writes "Twitter on Wednesday launched a system for emergency alerts which can help spread critical information when other lines of communication are down. Twitter Alerts are designed to help communicate in natural disasters or other emergencies when traditional channels may be overloaded or unavailable. 'We know from our users how important it is to be able to receive reliable information during these times,' Twitter product manager Gaby Pena said in a blog post. Users who sign up to receive an account's Twitter Alerts will receive a notification directly to their phone for tweets marked as alerts from certain senders. Some of those able to send alerts include the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, World Health Organization, and government and non-government agencies in Japan and South Korea."

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How robust is Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 10:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

Other than being accessible by different devices, doesn't Twitter still need data (either mobile or broadband)? How is this going to help much if other forms of communication are down?
1. Re:How robust is Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:07 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  This is a critical emergency talking up Twitter right before the IPO alert.
2. Re:How robust is Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:10 · Score: 1
  
  That’s exactly why this is really cool. It’s a single channel of communication that can cross devices and communication methods with ease. Twitter was an invaluable tool for organizing during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 because takes advantage of existing social and technical networks. This additional capability will be really useful.
3. Re:How robust is Twitter by Mitreya · 2013-09-25 11:10 · Score: 2
  
  doesn't Twitter still need data (either mobile or broadband)? How is this going to help much if other forms of communication are down?
  If you send data in under-100-byte chunks, it can go over the downed connection. Don't you know anything about the internet? Just don't use the entire 140 byte allotment and it will work.
  (that's my best explanation, let's see if someone else has a better one)
4. Re:How robust is Twitter by Ralph+Wiggam · 2013-09-25 11:11 · Score: 1
  
  I already get emergency alerts directly from my cell service provider and cable operator. The new cable DVR boxes put alert crawlers over recorded programs. If those systems are offline, then Twitter is useless. If they're online, Twitter is redundant.
5. Re:How robust is Twitter by Anne_Nonymous · 2013-09-25 11:15 · Score: 2
  
  You're going to want an emergency alert to let you know that Facebook is down, aren't you?
6. Re:How robust is Twitter by WillAffleckUW · 2013-09-25 11:55 · Score: 1
  
  No I want a twitter alert to tell me that Twitter is down.
  (big puppy eyes)
  
  --
  -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
7. Re:How robust is Twitter by WillAffleckUW · 2013-09-25 11:58 · Score: 2
  
  SMS was originally a derivation of the Short Messaging System used by naval ships, planes, and submarines to send burst traffic in such a way that it didn't suffer too much from interference, had optimum range, but could not be used to triangulate your position if encrypted (think of when they "trace" your phone).
  So it can function over heavily impaired robust systems, in that a single packet does not have a lot of overhead (Twitter tweet).
  It can even be bundled in burst packets to run over systems and pad out the strings.
  Priority level determines how the packets get bundled, depending on the delivery mechanism(s).
  
  --
  -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
8. Re:How robust is Twitter by pspahn · 2013-09-25 12:07 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Twitter was an invaluable tool for organizing during Hurricane Sandy in 2012
  As well, during the recent floods here in Colorado, there was only a single local news outlet providing any sort of coverage. That coverage was better than nothing, but not by much.
  Twitter, on the other hand, was providing valuable information from across the area about what was going on, roads washed out, etc. Also (and likely because the floods were happening in Boulder) there were a number of tweets coming from some folks at NOAA and other related government agencies that provided links to rapidly changing conditions.
  That event was the first time I ever considered Twitter to be more valuable than all other news outlets combined, simply because it also includes information from regular people (photos, accounts of what happened, etc). I was even able to find out some critical information about the roads near my family's nursery that was posted by, of all people, a guy that worked at a local brewery.
  Aside from all of that, Twitter was more valuable than local news simply because the people they send out to do location reports are complete idiots many times.
  Remember, it's not all about the affected people having access to information, it's also about those nearby who will be able to help if they have that information.
  
  --
  Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
9. Re:How robust is Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 12:45 · Score: 0
  
  And why is Twitter a better option than just using SMS?
10. Re:How robust is Twitter by Urza9814 · 2013-09-25 12:53 · Score: 1
  
  Not everyone has cable, and not every cell service provider sends emergency alerts. I have a number of apps I installed on my phone to do just that, after realizing that I would have no other way of getting any such alerts. Mostly I just want the severe weather alerts so I can be reminded to check my laptop before driving all the way in to work only to discover nobody is there because they've given permission to work from home due to the impending blizzard (or, in one case, hurricane) that I knew nothing about. Had that happen more than once last winter....
11. Re:How robust is Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 12:58 · Score: 0
  
  How is this going to help much if other forms of communication are down?
  The benefit is that you can get information directly from sources in real time. For example, the scientists at NCAR were live-Tweeting during the recent Colorado floods, and also you get live info from people at the scene.
12. Re:How robust is Twitter by antifoidulus · 2013-09-25 13:05 · Score: 1
  
  I know you are being snarky, but this is actually sort of true. Cell phone systems are only designed to serve something like 20% of the users at any given time. However, in an emergency EVERYONE is using their phone, so anything that is data-intensive(voice, loading web pages) tends to fail or timeout.
  
  I was in Japan when the big earthquake struck(far enough north that it was incredibly strong but far enough inland that the tsunami didn't reach me) and while the towers switched to backup power and remained up, they were basically unusable except in short bursts. You could send sms messages and whatnot, but voice was impossible and even most web pages timed out. Something that could push a small amount of data in the event of an emergency could be quite useful.
  
  --
  Monstar L
13. Re:How robust is Twitter by Obfuscant · 2013-09-25 13:09 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  If you send data in under-100-byte chunks, it can go over the downed connection. Don't you know anything about the internet?
  Yes, and this is nonsense. Now, I've actually had a network device that failed in a way that its MTU was around 100 bytes, but that's a very ABnormal failure mode, and simply limiting your packets to < 100 bytes isn't going to get the data over a link that has failed.
  You're thinking of SMS, and none of the Twitter apps I've got on my phones uses SMS for transport. They can't, I've never told Twitter my mobile number.
  The question as originally asked stands. Twitter depends on network connectivity, and in a situation where 3/4G cell connections and/or Internet are down, how will this do anything but increase the load on a system that has already failed due to overload?
14. Re:How robust is Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 14:49 · Score: 1
  
  This is a critical emergency talking up Twitter right before the IPO alert.
  The parent comment ( quoted above ) is easily the most relevant
  comment in this entire discussion, yet none of you have modded
  this comment up.
  This is a perfect example of why the moderation system used on Slashdot
  results in an irrationally skewed distribution of comments based on reasons
  having nothing to do with merit.
  By the way, AM radio remains the best way to alert a very large number of people, via
  the time-tested emergency broadcast system. All this cell-based stuff has spotty reliability
  at best. If you need to have two-way communications, the amateur radio bands are the best
  tool in an emergency which may involve widespread power outages. A battery-powered handheld
  transceiver will always get you in communication with someone, except perhaps in the event
  of a nearby nuclear weapon detonation, in which case you won't be around long enough to matter
  anyway.
  -
15. Re:How robust is Twitter by zer0sig · 2013-09-25 16:55 · Score: 1
  
  While I agree that consistent penetration and reach is best via AM radio overall, the listener count is not what it once was. SMS messages have the bonus of trickling in during very brief periods of cellular connectivity, even when electrical systems and land lines are down due to damage or overloading, and they go to what I would suggest is the single most ubiquitous means of communicating with the folks who are harder to reach - the ones not in crowds or sitting by a TV or radio. Of course, the EAS folks have been working to consolidate broadcast commercial radio, television, SMS, cable, and other methods and the methods should improve with time. I honestly think that twitter for a general EAS carrier medium is adding an unnecessary level of complexity (this is based on my experiences from both sides of the SS7 switches that carry SMS, their overall reliability and general impenetrability of viruses, the Slashdot effect, etc.) to a good idea. However, as a general purpose, user-configurable carrier for the most desired flashes of specific information and emergency sources, this idea has some solid potential.
16. Re:How robust is Twitter by Wraithlyn · 2013-09-25 17:35 · Score: 1
  
  Ditto for the recent floods in Calgary, Twitter was an absolute godsend. I felt like I had never really USED Twitter before that day.
  Obviously you're only going to get so much from your personal feed, but just hop on a popular hashtag for a major event and suddenly you're reading 1000s of people describing conditions in real-time around the city. Just incredible. Checking the mainstream news was an afterthought... a formality. Twitter was moving 100x faster (it helped that the police and mayor were using it heavily).
  In fact the police used it so heavily that their account was blocked temporarily. Funnily enough at the time, one thing we were thinking was how useful it would be if Twitter actually had formal support for emergency communications.
  
  --
  "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
17. Re:How robust is Twitter by OhANameWhatName · 2013-09-25 18:58 · Score: 1
  
  doesn't Twitter still need data (either mobile or broadband)?
  No, they're moving to a new brain embedded model with free T-shirts reading "I'm a twit. #follow me if you wish to remain safe".
  
  FEMA were the first to volunteer all their staff.
18. Re:How robust is Twitter by pspahn · 2013-09-25 19:13 · Score: 1
  
  one thing we were thinking was how useful it would be if Twitter actually had formal support for emergency communications.
  I had the same thought, and it seems as simple as adding geotags to tweets (especially photos). The rest is arbitrary.
  
  --
  Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
19. Re:How robust is Twitter by bickerdyke · 2013-09-25 20:02 · Score: 1
  
  but just hop on a popular hashtag for a major event and suddenly you're reading 1000s of people describing onditions in real-time around the city.
  That's my (personal) problem with twitter. How do I know what hashtag to use? What if I'm twitting away and no one reads it cause I'm using the wrong tag? Or if the really usefull information is posted on facebook instead of twitter?
  
  In fact the police used it so heavily that their account was blocked temporarily. Funnily enough at the time, one thing we were thinking was how useful it would be if Twitter actually had formal support for emergency communications.
  Yes. It may be a good thing to help people organize. And probably much better than other means of communication. But you CAN NOT tout it as an emergency replacement communication channel, when it itself relies on a "traditional" media (internet either over cellphone or landline) that is probably the first to go down.
  Whoever said this, has no idea of emergency communication. They should either now base Twitter on a less disruptable bese technology (hard), or position it as emergency organization medium, but not communication medium. It NEEDS a communication medium itself.
  
  --
  bickerdyke
20. Re:How robust is Twitter by sortius_nod · 2013-09-25 20:26 · Score: 1
  
  In Melbourne, until recently, the Telstra network in the CBD was essentially falling over. During lunch hour you were lucky to be able to send a tweet or even refresh your incoming tweet stream. One thing that did work is push notifications, which is the intention of this system.
  I see it as a smart use of the medium. The key with emergency response is to have the same message spread on as many mediums as possible to ensure the message gets out there.
  Anyone being snarky about this has no idea what they are talking about & should look at how current emergency systems work (read: redundancy).
21. Re:How robust is Twitter by BitZtream · 2013-09-26 01:03 · Score: 1
  
  Considering all modern mobile phones do emergancy alerts already anyway, this is pretty dumb.
  
  --
  Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
22. Re:How robust is Twitter by BitZtream · 2013-09-26 01:05 · Score: 1
  
  And with all the benefits twitter provided, it would have been retarded to send that information as an 'emergancy alert' type of message, flooding people with information they didn't need.
  The reason social media is useful in events like theses is NOT ONLY because of the large amount of data that comes in quickly, its because people can find information that THEY NEED. Spaming everyone with a bunch of useless shit just gets them to turn off their feed of said useless shit.
  
  --
  Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
23. Re:How robust is Twitter by BitZtream · 2013-09-26 01:07 · Score: 1
  
  Not everyone has cable, and not every cell service provider sends emergency alerts.
  Cell service providers will very shortly considering its a legal requirement now being rolled out.
  
  --
  Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
24. Re:How robust is Twitter by geekoid · 2013-09-26 03:27 · Score: 1
  
  Not as dumb as people who don't read the article and don't bother to try to understand why this is important becasue there too busy showing slashdot how smart they think they are. amirite?
  When ever you read something, especially a summary, and have a thought like that please remember these 2 things:
  1) The people doing it have a reason.
  2) Read up and find out why they are doing it and how it applies to other factors. In this case cell phones.
  You will find out that many things presented as obvious and dumb only seemed that way becasue you lacked some data.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
25. Re:How robust is Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-26 05:41 · Score: 0
  
  Why is an electric current better than using solar material for an uncontained nuclear fusion reaction?
26. Re:How robust is Twitter by Wraithlyn · 2013-09-26 19:52 · Score: 1
  
  Good question. This is where trends actually become useful. During the height of the flooding, we had four topics trending on the top 10.. #yycflood, #abflood, Calgary, and Alberta.
  I "manned" #yycflood and #abflood long into the night, passing along important information and answering any questions I saw anyone asking (eg "Is the tapwater safe to drink?" was a continually asked question, and monitored situation, all night). It was an absolute lifeline of information.
  Calgary Police were incredibly responsive on it as well which was amazing to see. Somebody asks a question and everybody can see the answer. And our kickass Mayor Nenshi (who was a rockstar before, but is now a deity) was tweeting status updates from a helicopter. After he was awake for 43 hours straight, #nap4nenshi started trending. He complied. How's that for community feedback? :)
  You're correct of course about it being primarily useful as a self-organizing tool, requiring a functioning internet to work, but I will dispute you on one point there; it's not (necessarily) the first thing to go down. Tons of people from areas with power outages were still using their cells to communicate. But then again, I suppose it depends on the particulars of your cell provider's infrastructure.
  
  --
  "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
27. Re:How robust is Twitter by bickerdyke · 2013-09-26 23:49 · Score: 1
  
  requiring a functioning internet to work, but I will dispute you on one point there; it's not (necessarily) the first thing to go down. Tons of people from areas with power outages were still using their cells to communicate. But then again, I suppose it depends on the particulars of your cell provider's infrastructure.
  Yes. during the good-old-days of expensive, overregulated state-run phone network, Emergency communication was an essential part of the network design. Simple phones would be powered by the phone network itself, in case power went down. And even in case the power for the phone exchange went down (or the exchange went out for some other reason), there were rooms full of lead batteries to give emergency power to a secon, independant set of lines that could be used to connect to the local police and fire stations.
  Phones were life-safers. Having a second network (cellphones), completly independant from landlines mitigates the risks of each one on its own being less stable than the old POTS.
  And even nowadays you sometimes hear alerts about either the phone net being down OR the emergency net being down, but never both. and you either have the emergency lines working or can reach the police station by their normal landline.
  You couldn't even get a licence for running a cordless phone if you didn't prove that you have also a simple phone connected that works on network emergency power, as people didn't think about the phone base station.
  And likewise, when cellphone networks were regulated to a similar extent, all cellphone towers were required to have a generator for emergency power.
  THAT is an emergency medium. The US Emergency Broadcast system is an emergency medium.
  I don't know the US regulations about emegency power for cellphone towers, but unless that underlying feature is gueranteed (and this is no guarantee twitter could give), twitter can't be relied on. It's really nice if it works, but, hey, Twitter itself had a reputation of unreliability. Remember the fail whale? Their outages even had their own mascott!
  
  --
  bickerdyke
Reliable information by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 10:59 · Score: 1

reliable information

twitter
If only Facebook would follow suit. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:02 · Score: 0

I am rarely on Twitter, but I'm on Facebook 24/7. It'd be nice to get some official information rather than 200 friends panicking and speculating.
1. Re:If only Facebook would follow suit. by Luckyo · 2013-09-25 12:29 · Score: 1
  
  There is a very easy way to do this. Don't be on facebook 24/7.
2. Re: If only Facebook would follow suit. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 12:41 · Score: 0
  
  But you will never see that alert on facebook if not considered a top story
Hashtag oh no by puddingebola · 2013-09-25 11:05 · Score: 5, Funny

Earthquake very strong, crushed under chunk of house, check my location on foursquare, #dying
1. Re:Hashtag oh no by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · 2013-09-25 11:43 · Score: 1
  
  #AllGonnaDie!!
  #ZombieApocalypse!!
  #NuclearArmageddon!!
  #Earthquake!!
  #RunForYourLives!!
  #PyroclasticFlow!!
  #Tsunami!!
  #ResonanceCascade!!
2. Re:Hashtag oh no by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 12:07 · Score: 0
  
  @NoNonAlphaCharsHere: Exclamation points doesn't work in hashtags. #Fool
3. Re:Hashtag oh no by MickyTheIdiot · 2013-09-25 12:58 · Score: 1
  
  #drownWithCruz
Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:07 · Score: 0

Does it concern anyone else that Twitter appears to be evolving into an essential public service? I mean, what happens when, after many years of coming to rely on Twitter Emergency Alerts, Twitter goes down just before an emergency and nobody gets alerted?
1. Re: Twitter by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:12 · Score: 0
  
  The same thing that would have happened were they not relying upon Twitter: nothing. Trash a service because it *might* be unreliable at the moment someone relies upon it? Like seat belts, ambulances, land lines, and so on?
twitter in ten years? by turkeydance · 2013-09-25 11:09 · Score: 1

build the EMS onto Twitter. Twitter goes MySpace.
Thank God! by Cornwallis · 2013-09-25 11:10 · Score: 2

Just in time for the new season of American Idol.
Twitter already is an emergency alert system by themushroom · 2013-09-25 11:11 · Score: 1

If a Kardashian so much as farts, word goes out like it were an Amber Alert.
But more seriously, Twitter has been used in Egypt's turmoil and other real-world events. This just formalizes what's already being done by its users.

--
Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
1. Re:Twitter already is an emergency alert system by Obfuscant · 2013-09-25 12:59 · Score: 1
  
  If a Kardashian so much as farts, word goes out like it were an Amber Alert.
  As well it should. Have you ever been close to a Kardy when it farts? Oh, the humanity! Pray for a tsunami to wash the smell away.
Can't Wait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:13 · Score: 0

Hashtag Nuclear Armageddon!
1. Re:Can't Wait by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 12:10 · Score: 0
  
  Hashtag Nuclear Armageddon!
  #SpacesDoesNotWorkInHashtags
why now? by themushroom · 2013-09-25 11:13 · Score: 2

must... maintain... social... RELEVANCE! add... value!!

--
Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
Idol(otry) by themushroom · 2013-09-25 11:14 · Score: 1

Season 13 looks to be a catastrophic tragedy indeed.

--
Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
But Twitter doesn't know where you are. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:16 · Score: 0

These alerts can't be specific enough to be useful in an emergency unless you tell Twitter where you. . . .ooooooooooh, now I see what they are up to.
I knew they couldn't be serious with this alert crap, because they obviously rely on the same infrastructure that would take down all the services they (claim to) want to replace.
Hope twitter has an emergency mode of its own by Rigel47 · 2013-09-25 11:21 · Score: 4, Interesting

I remember on 9/11 all the major news sites were effectively DDoS. I hope they and twitter now have a convenient switch to flip that will, in the case of the news sites, jettison all the garbage ad content and the complex page rendering code in favor of something more textual that would result in 100x page view scaling. For twitter I would imagine dedicating 10% of their infrastructure to purely asynchronous emergency broadcasts would do the trick in such a circumstance.
1. Re:Hope twitter has an emergency mode of its own by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:57 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah right that'll happen. You are operating under the assumption that Twitter cares enough to do a good job here as an emergency communications platform. Instead what is happening is Twitter is trying to position themselves as an emergency communication platform. One has nothing to do with the other: this is a pure marketing ploy.
2. Re:Hope twitter has an emergency mode of its own by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 15:38 · Score: 0
  
  Most of that was an overstatement.
3. Re:Hope twitter has an emergency mode of its own by Phroggy · 2013-09-25 18:16 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I remember on 9/11 all the major news sites were effectively DDoS. I hope they and twitter now have a convenient switch to flip that will, in the case of the news sites, jettison all the garbage ad content and the complex page rendering code in favor of something more textual that would result in 100x page view scaling. For twitter I would imagine dedicating 10% of their infrastructure to purely asynchronous emergency broadcasts would do the trick in such a circumstance.
  On 9/11, people were actually communicating with loved ones via Slashdot's comment system, because thanks to the heroic efforts of their admin team, Slashdot was one of the few major sites that managed to keep things running for most of the day (it wasn't entirely smooth, but it mostly worked). Serving a static-HTML version of the home page was one of the tricks they used.
  A couple weeks later they posted an article describing what went on behind the scenes that day, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find a link to the article - does anyone else remember this?
  
  --
  $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
  $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
4. Re:Hope twitter has an emergency mode of its own by MrNemesis · 2013-09-25 22:21 · Score: 1
  
  Are you kidding?! Natural disasters and (inter)national tragedies are the PERFECT time for adverts - think of all the people who'll be frantically searching for relatives, or will be crippled and needing a new medical plan, or need temporary accommodation, or need to find a pharmacy and a gun shop in close proximity in a hurry... it's our duty, nay, our DESTINY to ensure our consumers are made aware of all the fine products our sponsors can provide for them for a very reasonable fee in times of crisis. If anything, we'll need to dedicate more page real estate to adverts during crises so that we can ensure the citizenry can demonetise effectively and thus not risk further damage to the economy. Our case studies show that during events like 9/11, click-through rates increased from 0.2% to 0.93%, indicating that people want more adverts during times of trial by a factor of at least 800 millicapitalisations.
  This turning off adverts (a concept that in itself any right-minded consumer would consider a ludicrous proposition) during a time of chaos would not only be fiscally irresponsible, but also allows people to have a shared experience in consuming the grieving process.
  
  --
  Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
5. Re:Hope twitter has an emergency mode of its own by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-26 08:03 · Score: 0
  
  I remember that day (I'm one of those guys who've been reading for over a decade but never got an ID :) ). I don't have the link to the article though. CNN did the same thing with a basic static HTML version of their site. It was the first media/news I went to after the professor mentioned "something in NYC going on". Once I saw that mostly white static page slowly come up, I knew it was for real serious.
Uh oh... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:35 · Score: 0

So basically "#mileystongue is on the loose in LA, seek shelter immediatly"?
A Lot of Nothing by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:37 · Score: 0

I fail to see anything special about this. You just follow some official sources and get their tweets. Maybe from FEMA, etc.
Must combine with additional data... by willy_me · 2013-09-25 11:46 · Score: 2

Alerts are fine so long as filters can be applied to minimize the number of people that receive them. For example, GPS coordinates could be effective at limiting the number of recipients. Add to that accelerometer data to determine if the person is moving or possibly asleep - also helpful.
Alerts must be minimized or else people will start ignoring them. It is similar to how people would just click "Allow" whenever Vista prompted them with a security warning - most people would not even read the message after seeing so many prompts. So use some intelligent filters along with sensor data to minimize the number of alerts or risk all alerts being ignored.
1. Re:Must combine with additional data... by gstoddart · 2013-09-25 13:27 · Score: 1
  
  For example, GPS coordinates could be effective at limiting the number of recipients. Add to that accelerometer data to determine if the person is moving or possibly asleep - also helpful.
  And you think people would be well served by allowing Twitter access to their GPS location and accelerometer data?
  Much as I'm sure they'd love to have that, there's no way in hell they should be given it.
  
  So use some intelligent filters along with sensor data to minimize the number of alerts or risk all alerts being ignored.
  So, spy on everyone all the time to see if it would be appropriate to send them an emergency message?
  And people wonder why I have no interest in Twitter.
  
  --
  Lost at C:>. Found at C.
2. Re:Must combine with additional data... by willy_me · 2013-09-25 13:46 · Score: 1
  
  Filtering should be performed by the client so there is no uploading of personal data. The server must send clients the filters for various different alert types. The user would then have the option of editing the filters should they not like the default values.
  
  And people wonder why I have no interest in Twitter.
  I'm with you on that one.
3. Re:Must combine with additional data... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 16:51 · Score: 0
  
  And you think people would be well served by allowing Twitter access to their GPS location and accelerometer data?
  It depends on what you consider "being well served".
  If you like the idea of your every movement being tracked and
  retained in a database, then giving Twitter such information would indeed
  allow you to be well served.
  `
Can we turn these off? by WillAffleckUW · 2013-09-25 11:52 · Score: 1

When I started getting AMBER Alerts on my iPhone, I could turn those off.
Maybe I don't care if there's a tsunami that will kill people 300 miles away at the vulnerable coast, or I'm ok with the project 100,000 people death toll from a factor 7 quake in Seattle ...
It's like police reports. If you read them too much you live in Fear, and overemphasize your actual risk factor, when you should be far more worried about accidents in the home and the fact you ran out of bandaids and your fire extinguisher is empty..
If it's anything that severe, there's usually not a lot you can do. And you should have done it before, not during.

--
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
What is the use case here? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 11:53 · Score: 0

As others have mentioned, there is no use case here where twitter is working but the underlying transports are not. Fail.
Obligatory Xkcd by asjk · 2013-09-25 11:54 · Score: 1

And the reason I have a Twitter account devoted to emergencies. http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/seismic_waves.png
Also... by Fned · 2013-09-25 12:13 · Score: 1

Some of those able to send alerts include the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, World Health Organization, and government and non-government agencies in Japan and South Korea.
Others able to send alerts include anyone able to momentarily spoof Twitter into thinking they're one of the listed agencies...
New? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 12:18 · Score: 0

I didn't realize this was new... Alberta has been using Twitter for this for a couple of years, with alerts sent via SMS. #ABemerg / @AM_EmergAlert. Main issue I saw with it is that users who don't link their main Twitter account to their phone are limited to a certain number of tweets per day. When we had the floods in Calgary this summer, my account got timed out on the second or third day of it all. (Tho by that point, there wasn't much new coming anyway.)
Very few governments by manu0601 · 2013-09-25 12:53 · Score: 1

The service is available for very few governments: US, Japan, Korea. I wonder if they talked with others local or national governments before launching the service. There is something rude to tell citizen of a given nation that US officials can send them an alert, but not their own government for which they voted..
1. Re:Very few governments by Obfuscant · 2013-09-25 13:04 · Score: 1
  
  Well, if you don't want alerts from Korea, don't follow the Korean alert address. Pretty simple. I don't think you have to worry about getting an alert while in New Orleans from Korea that says "All your bases are belong us."
"Monetization" strategy by GumphMaster · 2013-09-25 12:56 · Score: 1

How better to determine which of the Twits are in the disaster zone and therefore going to be needing health care adverts, insurance company adverts, builder adverts, new car adverts, funeral service adverts, and (if in the United States) lawyer adverts etc...

--
Patent litigation: A doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction... in which everyone seems willing to push the button
1. Re:"Monetization" strategy by mysidia · 2013-09-25 14:58 · Score: 1
  
  and (if in the United States) lawyer adverts etc...
  Why would you need to wait for a natural disaster for that?
  Leverage the phone's accelerometer, to detect if the owner has fallen, or experienced a suddenl jolt/rapid stop within their vehicle, and updated the advertisement targeting data accordingly....
Paid by tax dollars by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 15:34 · Score: 0

How much did we pay? We should know.
Air Sirens and Air Horns by holophrastic · 2013-09-25 15:39 · Score: 1

I'm confused. Name the last major disaster that forced people to follow large-scale national instructions where any significant number of those persons had access to twitter? Last I checked, cell towers are the first te become useless, and home internet is the second to fall apart.
So let me get this straight. We used to use air raid sirens, that everyone within 50km could hear, and it cost virtually nothing to have one siren per township. Then we went to air horns and mega phones where public announcements could be heard for blocks and again humans needed zero infrastructure to hear them..
Now what? Now aliens are attacking during a hurricane and I need a smartphone, a data package, a fully-charged battery, and how many bars of connectivity?
1. Re:Air Sirens and Air Horns by AHuxley · 2013-09-25 16:21 · Score: 1
  
  In theory a regional/national telco would equip its cell towers with backup power - battery, generators or fuel cell systems?
  The problem would be legal challenges to keep cost down and not have federal laws stating backup power is any sort of telco requirement.
  Later portable cell towers can be driven in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_on_wheels
  Helicopters to fly in replacement batteries?
  Smartphones and web 2.0 .coms can probably smell cash from federal broadband infrastructure projects for remote and rural communities.
  Why should web 2.0 miss out on branding, PR and cash vs ongoing optical, wireless upgrades or sirens, air horns or storm cellars?
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
2. Re:Air Sirens and Air Horns by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-25 17:01 · Score: 0
  
  Why should web 2.0 miss out on branding, PR and cash vs ongoing optical, wireless upgrades or sirens, air horns or storm cellars?
  Because it has many more failure points and is also much more vulnerable
  to abuse from both government and non-government entities who may have
  ulterior motives.
  Emergencies require rapid response, extremely high reliability, and rapid failover
  provisions. Web 2.0 is just another attempt to grab money from chumps by exploiting
  the fact that many people carry mobile devices. This does NOT mean that web 2.0
  is therefore well suited to providing emergency communications. If "smelling cash" is
  the thing that drives _your_ decisions when planning for emergency
  communications, you should be prevented from even operating in emergency
  situations because your decision making process is so deeply flawed. Some things
  are not about money, and emergency response is one of those things.
3. Re:Air Sirens and Air Horns by BitZtream · 2013-09-26 01:12 · Score: 1
  
  Just bind cellular providers to the same rules as land lines. This should apply to VoIP providers as well. Anyone that is selling a telephone number service should be bound by the same reliability requirements as land lines. Most of those problems suddenly become a lot less of an issue.
  They don't go away entirely, but theres a reason your land line fucking WORKS.
  
  --
  Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager