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IPAWS National Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on September 20, 2018. The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether improvements are needed. The WEA test message will be sent to cell phones that are connected to wireless providers participating in WEA. This is the fourth EAS nationwide test and the first national WEA test. Previous EAS national tests were conducted in November 2011, September 2016, and September 2017 in collaboration with the FCC, broadcasters, and emergency management officials in recognition of FEMA's National Preparedness Month.
[...] Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 2:18 p.m. EDT. During this time, WEA compatible cell phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA should be capable of receiving the test message. Some cell phones will not receive the test message, and cell phones should only receive the message once. The WEA test message will have a header that reads "Presidential Alert" and text that says:
"THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."
The WEA system is used to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations through alerts on cell phones. The national test will use the same special tone and vibration as with all WEA messages (i.e. Tornado Warning, AMBER Alert). Users cannot opt out of the WEA test. If circumstances, such as a major weather event, cause the IPAWS National Test to be postponed, the back-up date is Wednesday, October 3, 2018.
Also at Engadget.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday September 16 2018, @12:41AM (2 children)
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "oh, it's gonna be Presidential Alerts about the phoney Russia Witch Hunt." Trust me, it won't. To me, the most important issue is the nuclear issue. I think it's a shame. I had a beautiful meeting with President Putin, we're talking about nuclear proliferation, we're talking about Syria and humanitarian aid, we're talking about all of these different things, and we get questions on the Witch Hunt! And I don't think the people out in the country buy it, but the reporters like to give it a shot. I thought that President Putin was very, very strong.
Great meetings with President Putin, great meetings with President Macron -- fabulous parade, very strong handshake -- great meeting with Chairman Kim, the most delicious food you've tasted in your entire life. President Xi, the best cake in the history of the world. Bibi Netanyahu, incredible guy. Prime Minister May, not so great, why didn't she stop that horrible balloon? We have a lot of competitors, they're starting to respect us again. Because of me. But maybe someday I'll send out a tweet that says, Duck & Cover. Because I had a bad phone call with some very foolish person. And UK is sending us its nuclear, France is sending its nuclear, Russia is sending nuclear, Korea sending nuclear. China, nuclear. Israel. And you'll be very happy you read my tweet. Because possibly it will save your life. You're welcome!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @05:58AM
Love it...
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday September 16 2018, @06:33AM
In 1965, a surely far wiser head than mine declassified all but one of the Manhattan Project's secrets.
Perhaps because by then both the USSR and the PRC had successfully tested. But now we have Israel, Pakistan, India and North Korea in our once-elite Nuclear Club.
The one secret they didn't declassify was the Initiator. It sits at the center of the Plutonium pit and emits some neutrons when the implosion has reached its smallest diameter, so as to kick off the Nuclear Cascade Reaction.
When I read about that in Richard Rhodes' "The Making Of The Atomic Bomb" I said to myself, "That just _has_ to work a certain way". Even then - in 1993 - what I knew about Physics, the 396 box I owned back in those days of my misspent youth and the UCSC Science Library I am quite certain I could have designed a successful Initiator in less than a month.
(Consider that at Los Alamos, a "Computer" was a Math Whiz armed with a table of logarithms and an adding machine.)
The Uranium Bomb was completely declassified; they didn't even test it, they knew it would work on its very first try when dropped on Hiroshima: just shoot a Uranium slug out of a cannon through the center of a Uranium ring, thereby briefly assembling a single piece of Uranium that is of significantly more than Critical Mass.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]