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Yep, the Emergency Alert Systems have existed since at least WWII. From a quick Google search: Canada has a National Public Alerting System (NPAS) which provid

by dlp211 6y ago

Yep, the Emergency Alert Systems have existed since at least WWII. From a quick Google search: Canada has a National Public Alerting System (NPAS) which provides emergency management organizations across the country with the capability to rapidly warn the public of imminent or unfolding hazards to life. Public alerts are issued through radio, cable and satellite television and on compatible wireless devices

simlevesque 6y ago
And they don't have any shape or form of public API which sucks.
- dlp211 6y ago
  Why would there be a public API for the Emergency Alert System?
  - zlsa 6y ago
    To get notifications about an alert in a given area?
    - dlp211 6y ago
      Considering that EAS's are handled at a hardware level and a public subscription API sounds ripe for a targeted DDoS attack for a pull model and bound to fail for a push scenario, I think radio, TV (OTA & cable), and Cell/Mobile are sufficient to reach the vast majority of people. Really only people who completely eschew technology would be left out since news orgs will be quick to update their web sites and forward the information into social media platforms. It just seems unnecessary.
      - CydeWeys 6y ago
        Have a separate replica system supplying the API, so even if it's DDoSed or whatever the cell alerts will be unaffected. The value of this API would be strictly additive. Think of the emergency weather alert radio broadcast channels as a form of primitive public API. We need something like that but over the Internet.
      - simlevesque 6y ago
        It could be a RSS feed. It could be a txt file on S3. I'm not asking for much. I work on digital displays and I would like to help spread awareness when alerts occur. It is an incredibly complex process, made for big telecommunication companies. A public API could save lives. You can't even ask them to send you a SMS on Twillio and make an API yourself. They send it through telecommunication networks, not by sending SMS to everybody.

by dlp211 6y ago

simlevesque 6y ago

And they don't have any shape or form of public API which sucks.

dlp211 6y ago
Why would there be a public API for the Emergency Alert System?
- zlsa 6y ago
  To get notifications about an alert in a given area?
  - dlp211 6y ago
    Considering that EAS's are handled at a hardware level and a public subscription API sounds ripe for a targeted DDoS attack for a pull model and bound to fail for a push scenario, I think radio, TV (OTA & cable), and Cell/Mobile are sufficient to reach the vast majority of people. Really only people who completely eschew technology would be left out since news orgs will be quick to update their web sites and forward the information into social media platforms. It just seems unnecessary.
    - CydeWeys 6y ago
      Have a separate replica system supplying the API, so even if it's DDoSed or whatever the cell alerts will be unaffected. The value of this API would be strictly additive. Think of the emergency weather alert radio broadcast channels as a form of primitive public API. We need something like that but over the Internet.
    - simlevesque 6y ago
      It could be a RSS feed. It could be a txt file on S3. I'm not asking for much. I work on digital displays and I would like to help spread awareness when alerts occur. It is an incredibly complex process, made for big telecommunication companies. A public API could save lives. You can't even ask them to send you a SMS on Twillio and make an API yourself. They send it through telecommunication networks, not by sending SMS to everybody.