I feel old... It never occurred to me that not everyone in America knows what an Amber Alert is and where the name comes from.
this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2024
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It never dawned on me that it wasn't a thing elsewhere until I moved and stopped having my phone screech like a banshee on occasion.
You can turn them off...I'm a monster
The way they go State-wide makes them especially annoying in places like Texas where there's a ton of people, and the event is 400+ miles away.
The regulation needs to be fixed so that they can make them more targeted. Currently it cries wolf often enough that nobody pays any attention.
If, when appropriate, they could limit it to a county or two, that'd be a hell of a lot more useful.
It also gets used way too often in cases where it's a 17yo running off with their boyfriend or a custodial dispute where the child isn't in any danger but is a day late coming back from the weekend with the other parent.
You can’t turn off Canadian ones. I went to a music fest just over the border of Canada last year, and my phone would randomly go off every few hours because my phone would pick an American tower then swap back to a Canadian tower and sense me as “new to the area” or whatever. I can turn off American amber alerts.
This is on iPhone btw.
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Who is amber ? And why does him going missing warrant an alert ?
She was Amber Rene Hagerman:
TIL it's not a color designation
Add it to the list
https://notes.rolandcrosby.com/posts/unexpectedly-eponymous/
No way!
Some of these must have been plays on their name that they knew worked well. Like price club, taco bell which used a bell for a logo.
But why unilever for lever brothers? Bilever would be more accurate.
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Lol, it definitely contrasts with the silver alerts, doesn't it?
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I think in the US there are alerts (called amber alerts) for when people go missing in the hopes of increasing the chance of finding the person by raising awareness.
Amber alerts are for missing children. Silver alerts are for missing seniors. Here is an article outline other types as well:
So many colors (if clear is considered a color) and then "endangered missing persons." I know EMP isn't a color, and I'd be a lot more concerned if I got an EMP alert, but surely they could've come up with something for that one.
It's specifically for missing children afaik. And it may only be used when it's an abduction, not just a missing child, but don't quote me on that. That's just the ones I've seen.
"And it may only be used when it’s an abduction, not just a missing child, but don’t quote me on that." -- @ShunkW@lemmy.world
Listen here you little shit lol
😜
And you can't opt out ??? Weird
You can but it’s on by default and many don't realize you can
Depending on where you are, they might not use the different alert levels properly. In my area the local government uses the "the nukes have launched" alert level for everything, from amber alerts to tornado and ice storm warnings.
It annoying, but also leads to some wonderful moments. I was at small event yesterday, when a weather alert started rolling out. I can only describe it as glorious sitting at the back listening to a sea of angry alarms, and watching people frantically try to silence their phones. Idk if that outweigh the alarm fatigue it gives people, but it was a fun moment for me.
It's a great system but I mean....not exactly the most helpful sometimes.
THERE IS A BROWN CAR WITH A BLONDE GIRL IN IT SOMEWHERE WITHIN 100 MILES OF YOU! 11!1
Thanks Amber. I'll get right on that.
There is an emergency function in all mobile phones that overrides everything else and blasts a loud sound and takes over the whole screen. It is there for emergencies, like when the people in Hawaii got told that the apocalypse has come by accident. In the NL you get one per month when they check the air raid alert sirens. The US uses them for alerts for missing children.
Your phone would also do it if you are in the area, no matter where you bought it or your carrier.
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Amber is an acronym named after a real girl.
AMBER stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and was created as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, TX, and then brutally murdered.
That would be a "backronym"
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I don’t get amber alerts. They make my phone scream like the world is ending, and any interaction with device removes the message forever. So I can either stare calmly at the obnoxious noise box or stop the sound and never know what the issue was.
Yeah it's a terrible implementation. Shouldn't have software designed by politicians. "We need it to make a huge siren sound and makes sure people have to look at it before the siren will stop! Think of the children!"
I think an SMS message would be far more effective. If I get an Amber alert in the middle of the night, I'm not reading it, I'm just shutting it off as quickly so I can to get back to sleep. It's not like I'm going to be going out in the middle of the night to try to find a kid that went missing a hundred miles away. An SMS wouldn't wake me up, I'll actually read when I get up in the morning, and there's a chance I might be able to help because the information will still be there when I'm actually outside.
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I disabled these alerts permenantly on my android phone. Best 15 minutes I ever spent.
But now you can't receive useful alerts like "gry Toyt" (was a real alert that went out).
As Lord Maximus Farquaad magnanimously declared, "Some of you may die, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make."
Abbreviation for "grey Toyota"?
Of course, but that's every other car on the road.. No license plate number makes this meaningless
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I don't think you can opt out from a specific notification, but you can opt out. If you do you won't get any emergency broadcast notifications, at least that's how I think it works.
Not true for all devices. Samsung at least I can disable amber alerts while keeping emergency alerts on. Which I did after being woken up at 3am telling me to be on the lookout for a white SUV, as if I could see that from my bed.
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I don't want to opt out, I just want "let us know if you see a grey Buick" to not use the same alert sound as "nuclear attack incoming".
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