Just another day in paradise - until 8:08am

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Don’t you think it’s weird that this has never happened before Kim Jong Un started making threats?

I’m much more inclined to believe that the threats make the operators nervous and more likely to make mistakes. It may have been a drill that went wrong in that the final action to broadcast the message and cause panic should not have happened.

[GrayHare]

Com networks being overloaded is not good but also not surprising. Cell, wired telephone, internet - were they all equally as jammed?

[flyingaway]

Looks like a good time to look for retirement house in Hawaii.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrayHare Com networks being overloaded is not good but also not surprising. Cell, wired telephone, internet - were they all equally as jammed?

It would be neat if they weren't! I remember after 9/11 trying to get in touch with Frank, who was just outside NYC in CT. Cell phone communiciations were terrible, probably due to the huge number of calls, but e-mails went through. Same here after Katrina - - cell phones and landlines were disrupted off and on, but e-mail was better.

[flyingaway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan I’m much more inclined to believe that the threats make the operators nervous and more likely to make mistakes. It may have been a drill that went wrong in that the final action to broadcast the message and cause panic should not have happened.

US didn't launch a counter attack immediately. That was a relief.

[SheitlQueen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff In 4th grade my teacher at a Catholic Parochial school, during the Cuban Missile Crisis advised us that if we saw a flash in the sky, we should crawl under our desks. We all know that nothing will protect you in a nuclear blast like a 4th grade desk.

I remember those days! However, since we lived in California the teachers told us that it was a earthquake drill. I was too young to know about the Missile Crisis and just accepted that crawling under a desk would save me during a massive earthquake.

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingaway US didn't launch a counter attack immediately. That was a relief.

If you believe the article above and statement from the Governor there was never any incoming missile(s) detected, just an operator who erroneously pressed the “broadcast emergency” button during a shift change.

[CaptTom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R It would be neat if they weren't! I remember after 9/11 trying to get in touch with Frank, who was just outside NYC in CT. Cell phone communiciations were terrible, probably due to the huge number of calls, but e-mails went through. Same here after Katrina - - cell phones and landlines were disrupted off and on, but e-mail was better.

In the old days, the land-line system was designed to support something like 10% of the total number of possible connections. It was never expected to work properly during any kind of emergency or panic. I suspect cell service is even more limiting.

Asynchronous comms like text and e-mail have a much better chance of getting through. They consume a lot less bandwidth and can wait for a lull moment.

[John Galt III]

It took me 10 minutes of searching to finally find out that the name of the Homer Simpson protege who pushed the button 'was not released'. I found that info on Wikipedia, to their credit. I don't think anyone at the press conference ever asked for the name of the button-pusher. I don't want the poor guy to have his life ruined, but I'm just amazed that no one even asked the question. They did ask what would happen to him, and the answer was that he would be retrained (but not fired, apparently). I guess everyone is just too kind and considerate? Was there a skit on SNL about him last night? I don't think he should be outed, necessarily, but I'm amazed that there seems to be no interest on the internet, in his identity.

[RobbieB]

I heard about this and saw the news reports with people running.

I think I'll go to the bar order up some drinks and sip them on the veranda and wait for the flash in the sky.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III It took me 10 minutes of searching to finally find out that the name of the Homer Simpson protege who pushed the button 'was not released'. I found that info on Wikipedia, to their credit. I don't think anyone at the press conference ever asked for the name of the button-pusher. I don't want the poor guy to have his life ruined, but I'm just amazed that no one even asked the question. They did ask what would happen to him, and the answer was that he would be retrained (but not fired, apparently). I guess everyone is just too kind and considerate? Was there a skit on SNL about him last night? I don't think he should be outed, necessarily, but I'm amazed that there seems to be no interest on the internet, in his identity.

Go over to Reddit. There's a lot of traffic on this. One was an invite to do an AMA(ask me anything), I don't think he's talking.

Hopefully anyone who sheltered heard it was false. In a couple of years some old codger is likely to come out of hiding.

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Go over to Reddit. There's a lot of traffic on this. One was an invite to do an AMA(ask me anything), I don't think he's talking. .........

Thanks! I found it on Reddit. Google search results had no Reddit hits, for some reason.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III Thanks! I found it on Reddit. Google search results had no Reddit hits, for some reason.

I don't think Reddit shows up often. If I understand correctly it's because Reddit is an aggregator of other people's content..

[HadEnuff]

I had some bad days at work, but never as bad as the guy who pushed the button. He or she may be a new member of our internet community. All kidding aside, I feel for whoever did this.
Thank goodness he/she didn't have access to that other button.

[MuirWannabe]

Hawaii seems to have a bad luck history when it comes to warnings. When they actually needed a warning on Dec 7th 1941, the radar operators were told don’t worry about it. Now, they get warned when they really did have nothing to worry about.

Paradise don’t come free I suppose. Volcanoes and other scares from time to time.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff DW and I are heading to the Big Island in 17 days. We are going to spend the month of February there. I was in Kauai for a short week 30+ years ago, and DW has never been to any of the Hawaiian Islands before. Her daughter is jealous that we are going, and was the one to tell us about the alarm. She suggested we cancel our trip. I hope she was joking. I hope you will share with the FIRE community on a thread, how your time on Hawaii went, what you learned, etc etc.

One of our earliest visits to the Island (back when we were tourists, not yet residents) was right after the resolution of the DC10 accident in Chicago. Sure enough, the equipment we flew was one of the first flights of the DC10 following the extensive investigation and equipment examination. DW was ready to cancel the trip instead of getting on the DC10. I told her it was the most inspected, safest aircraft in the sky at that point. She finally agreed and we flew without incident.

Regarding the threat from NK, I suppose an attack is always a possibility, but it's my personal opinion that while Kim might be crazy, he isn't stupid. Of course, YMMV.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff Koolau, I do have a serious question for you. Just wondering, how does one tell the difference between an incoming nuclear missile alarm (which I would ignore) and a tsunami alarm (which I would not ignore)?

The actual warning was specific in its verbiage, so there's that. Had I chosen to ignore the warning note, I must say that the tone on the cell phone was one that I had never heard before and I have heard at least 3 tsunami warnings. I would have to say that the cell phone tone was actually a bit frightening, though I don't know how to describe it.

Again, the biggest clue that the warning was an error was that nothing else backed it up (No tsunami/air raid sirens - and we have almost 400 on the island from what I understand; Radio traffic was "normal;" police were not cruising neighborhoods alerting folks to take cover, etc).

[Chuckanut]

Gosh! Pearl Harbor syndrome rises in Hawaii.

[Koolau]

I saw no panic where I was hanging out. It happened to be in a church building. Someone prayed out loud and then most of the folks tried to reach loved ones on their cell phones. This reminded me of the early '70s placard (available in most novelty stores):

IN THE EVENT OF NUCLEAR ATTACK, ALL LAWS AGAINST PRAYING IN THIS GOVERNMENT BUILDING WILL BE INDEFINITELY SUSPENDED. YMMV

[Oma_here]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Don’t you think it’s weird that this has never happened before Kim Jong Un started making threats?

Not really considering that the system was only reactivated 12/1/17. They didn't even make it two months before messing up