Hawaii ballistic missile alert!

[yoink 321]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42677604



whoops.

Fuck receiving that as a wake-up text!

[Calvin19 0]

yoink

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42677604



whoops.

Fuck receiving that as a wake-up text!

I'm very curious. Is that a common thing in Hawaii? because some people that I know that live there either have absolutely zero trust in such a warning system(now obviously far less useful than it was 24hrs ago), or a complete misunderstanding of what "incoming ballistic missile, take shelter, this is not a drill" means.

This is not Pokemon Go. You get that warning, don't go take a selfie.

Get. THE FUCK. underground.

(now).

There is a lot you can do to hide from an incoming nuke. And since it's traveling through space at mach 10, there is no time to question the authenticity of such a system. But now there is a reason to question it. Great.

[wolfriverjoe 1,462]

Well, given that people can be really, really stupid about stuff, I wouldn't be in the least surprised if there are stories of people going outside and trying to find a vantage point to get a good view of it coming in. I know they go too fast for much of a view, but that's not the point.

There was a story a few years ago about an undersea earthquake causing a tsunami warning along the coast of Oregon (this was a couple years after the big Indonesian tsunami). So how did people react?
They went down to the waterfront to watch it come in.

However, this warning was questionable to begin with.
While the DPRK has missiles and warheads, they really don't have them dialed in. They haven't really figured out re-entry and their guidance is rudimentary at best.
They also know perfectly well that sending a missile at Hawaii is signing their own death warrant. They are really good at "poking the bear" without crossing the line and generating retaliation.
This would be well beyond that.

If I was there and received this warning, I doubt I would take it seriously.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[Calvin19 0]

wolfriverjoe

If I was there and received this warning, I doubt I would take it seriously.

I can't say I would take it seriously either, if there is an atmosphere of reminders of the government starting to test warning systems (like there is in Hawaii I gather).

-SPACE-

[Bob_Church 7]

As to how this happened, this is my guess based on having seen the results of way too many just out of school, first real job, techs. You know, the ones who always wear polo shirts and a sneer.

Boss being shown around "and down here is where our emergency alert is, all you do is flip up the toggle then push the button, uh, wait, what's all this?"
New Tech "that button system? And, give me a break, but a toggle? What is this, the 60s or a museum? No, I've installed a new system where you not only don't have to push a button or, for god's sake, flip a toggle. Use the app, I put a copy on our server, didn't you read my email, but using the app I wrote you can activate this from wherever you are, see you would just.. uh, oops."

Boss "oops, what do you mean oops?"

New Tech "well sir, there are always going to be some delays and bugs with any new....."

Boss "what do you mean OOPS?"

New Tech "Sir, I don't think it's fair to condemn the entire system over one error."

[Faicon9493 133]

It’s scary when you think about what may have happened if Trump had been watching Alex Jones or Fox News when this happened.

[billvon 2,739]

Quote

Boss being shown around "and down here is where our emergency alert is, all you do is flip up the toggle then push the button, uh, wait, what's all this?"
New Tech "that button system? And, give me a break, but a toggle? What is this, the 60s or a museum? No, I've installed a new system where you not only don't have to push a button or, for god's sake, flip a toggle. Use the app, I put a copy on our server, didn't you read my email, but using the app I wrote you can activate this from wherever you are, see you would just.. uh, oops."

"State Governor David Ige apologised and said it was caused by an employee pressing the wrong button."

Sounds like an app might be an improvement.

[Bob_Church 7]

Faicon9493

It’s scary when you think about what may have happened if Trump had been watching Alex Jones or Fox News when this happened.

I don't think so. By the time he consulted his aides and found out that, yes, Hawaii is in the US they had it worked out as a false alarm.

[Calvin19 0]

Bob_Church

By the time he consulted his aides and found out that, yes, Hawaii is in the US they had it worked out as a false alarm.

[Calvin19 0]

Had a chat with some friends who run a dive charter from HNL. They got the warning while out on the water. Hearing about the reactions from locals vs whuffos was interesting

I think a vast majority of people don't understand what a nuke is.

If it had NOT been an idiot mistake and there was a NK 50kt(generous) party favor inbound, it's not going to vaporize the islands and all humanity for a hundred miles. It's a death sentence for people within certain ranges, but if you're on the opposite side of the island you will be fine. Just don't get the warning and excitedly go LOOK for, with your fragile bubbles of fluid and nerves, the wrath-filled energy of a tiny star. It will be the last thing your eyes see.

[Faicon9493 133]

Bob_Church

***It’s scary when you think about what may have happened if Trump had been watching Alex Jones or Fox News when this happened.

I don't think so. By the time he consulted his aides and found out that, yes, Hawaii is in the US they had it worked out as a false alarm.

True, but he could have tweeted something really harmful and inflammatory before finding out the truth about what really happened.

[Faicon9493 133]

Faicon9493

******It’s scary when you think about what may have happened if Trump had been watching Alex Jones or Fox News when this happened.

I don't think so. By the time he consulted his aides and found out that, yes, Hawaii is in the US they had it worked out as a false alarm.

True, but he could have tweeted something really harmful and inflammatory before finding out the truth about what really happened.

[nolhtairt 0]

That didn't take long....

[normiss 723]

I'm reminded of a cleaning lady, who when exiting a major international power corporation's Western Hemisphere Network Operation Center, instead of pushing the button to open the doors, pushed the emergency power shut down button.
The entire half of the planet went off-line for about 120 minutes.

Shit happens when humans are in the mix.

[Stumpy 283]

normiss

I'm reminded of a cleaning lady, who when exiting a major international power corporation's Western Hemisphere Network Operation Center, instead of pushing the button to open the doors, pushed the emergency power shut down button.
The entire half of the planet went off-line for about 120 minutes.

Shit happens when humans are in the mix.

Pretty sure that story is apocryphal - I've heard various versions of it over the years (unplugged the servers to plug in a Hoover is my favorite) but your point is still valid

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[normiss 723]

Given that I was there and working to restore services, I don't doubt that it did indeed happen.
We added a hinged cover to the shutdown button.

[ryoder 1,553]

Stumpy

I've heard various versions of it over the years (unplugged the servers to plug in a Hoover is my favorite)...

I first heard that story of the cleaning-lady/vacuum/server in the mid-1990's when I was at Motorola in Schaumburg IL, and it supposedly happened there.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[ryoder 1,553]

normiss

I'm reminded of a cleaning lady, who when exiting a major international power corporation's Western Hemisphere Network Operation Center, instead of pushing the button to open the doors, pushed the emergency power shut down button.
The entire half of the planet went off-line for about 120 minutes.

Shit happens when humans are in the mix.

I had a co-worker who had been in USAF in the early 1990's. He spent a time on TDY as a Unix admin at a base in Italy, with the servers in a tent. They had been plagued with unexplained reboots for a while, until one day someone witnessed the cause: They had befriended a stray cat, and the cat sometimes rubbed its self against power cables, occasionally wiggling the cable enough to cause an intermittent connection.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[wmw999 2,314]

It most certainly happened to a mainframe I supported in the late 80's. They unplugged one of the system disk drives (to date myself, we called them DASD).

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[normiss 723]

At a Navy research center I worked at in the 80's, we lost our secret napping area behind the mainframes.
We had a cushion nestled in the path of the exhaust fans so it was nice and warm.
During a live "maximum missiles in flight" exercise one night, the napping sailor rolled over during his sleep and hit the breakers for the computers. Suddenly a VERY angry voice of the admiral came over the sound powered telephone. "This exercise is no longer active!"

[yoink 321]

normiss

Given that I was there and working to restore services, I don't doubt that it did indeed happen.
We added a hinged cover to the shutdown button.

The designer that put a 'destroy everything' button next to a door open button needs a slap.

[AlanS 1]

yoink

***Given that I was there and working to restore services, I don't doubt that it did indeed happen.
We added a hinged cover to the shutdown button.

The designer that put a 'destroy everything' button next to a door open button needs a slap.

They found the person responsible. See picture.

[Stumpy 283]

yoink

***Given that I was there and working to restore services, I don't doubt that it did indeed happen.
We added a hinged cover to the shutdown button.

The designer that put a 'destroy everything' button next to a door open button needs a slap.

That's my thinking as well. A destroy everything button thats even easily available and accessible to a cleaner is a spectacularly bad idea hence why I am always sceptical of the stories.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[wolfriverjoe 1,462]

Stumpy

******Given that I was there and working to restore services, I don't doubt that it did indeed happen.
We added a hinged cover to the shutdown button.

The designer that put a 'destroy everything' button next to a door open button needs a slap.

That's my thinking as well. A destroy everything button thats even easily available and accessible to a cleaner is a spectacularly bad idea hence why I am always sceptical of the stories.

Well, there's a difference between a "destroy everything" button and an "Emergency Shutdown" button.

The latter needs to be readily accessible, due to the fact that it will need to be used in an emergency.

The lack of "guarding" on it is a bit foolish. Most of the ones I usually see (fuel pump shutoffs) are behind glass. Readily accessible when needed, but hard to push by accident.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[headoverheels 329]

Had it been a trading day, it would have made for an interesting stock market.