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You know, some people actually care too much about others and have a lot of empathy that it bloody hurts to read about the latest little girl or boy that was murdered in a forest. And I don't think this is about caring about others, it is about choosing not to receive alarming messages by default.
It’s entirely about you caring more about your nice clean lockscreen than public safety. I wouldn’t brag about it.

I’m clearly in the minority here in this thread so I’m out. Hope y’all get happier or something
 
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Well I’m glad to know my city is hugely in favor of these alerts. Wouldn’t want to live somewhere where people seem to hate each other and not even be willing to put up with very occasional side effects to basic societal conveniences offered and enjoyed everywhere else. How sad for you - I only hope you’ll never need to rely on these services going forward because I can guarantee you’d change your mind instantly. Just sucks that it takes something happening to you before giving a crap about it 🙄. Same exact flow of people that hold rallies for masks - just no semblance of sympathy for others, all about me me me
You can't actually guarantee it...so please don't come with the empty platitudes! Some of us are happy just living life without the need to know everything that is going on everywhere to everyone.

And it's nothing to do with hating each other. I don't hate anybody...it's a very strong word to use and I totally disagree that I have to hate somebody if I choose my own preferences over theirs.

As for the mask rallies...what I don't understand is how all (or a massive majority at least) of the people that would be for wearing masks ad aeternum are also those who are fully vaccinated...and many of those who don't want to wear masks are also those who don't want to be vaccinated! So the mask wearers are stating that those who don't want to wear masks are risking the safety of...who exactly? The unvaccinated?? So...themselves?? I don't get it...

Anyway...not sure you will reply as it seems you don't like to partake in a discussion where you aren't in the warm, comfy majority...which is a shame...sometimes the minority is actually right you know!! Well..the minority is ALWAYS in the right if we are taking about race or gender....(rolls eyes)
 
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I think in principle it sounds like a good idea but given how badly this utter useless and corrupt government has screwed everything up, I’m expecting it to be an expensive mess.
 
I still remember jumping out of my skin on holiday in florida for the first time (im from the UK) when i got an amber alert.
 
This should be opt-in and not opt-out. The English government sent everyone in Scotland (outside their competency) a notification about Covid which is a devolved matter and should have been sent out by the Scottish government. No one opted in to receive that notification and no one has yet to have had any repercussions.

I don’t think any national emergency is a devolved matter. That’s the reason these will be sent based on the levels and regions when it comes to actual deployment.
 
They'll push out notices of 'national importance', forgetting that England isn't the entire nation and that something happening in England isn't important. I very much can see if someone has a sneeze in London we all need too hear about it, but if Sheffield is under water again it'll go unnoticed. And that's just events in England.

Did you just say you don’t care what happens in England?! I mean last I checked London was still the capital of the U.K. whatever happened to the united us!

If a ballistic missile was to hit London today it would have very real consequences for me in Glasgow, regardless of whether there is a hard or soft border between us and England. I could have family, friends, business colleagues in the immediate vicinity, or it could be that the whole United Kingdom will probably be going to war which would have a massive affect on the whole country.

You are just coming across as petty. The Uk Gov failing to apologise for sending messages at the height of worldwide pandemic that's killed thousands of people in Scotland, and you want repercussions?!

Gie's peace!

Exactly my thoughts after reading that comment.

I mean the word “united” doesn’t seem to exist in [mention]ruka.snow [/mention] ‘s book.
 
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As for the mask rallies...what I don't understand is how all (or a massive majority at least) of the people that would be for wearing masks ad aeternum are also those who are fully vaccinated...and many of those who don't want to wear masks are also those who don't want to be vaccinated! So the mask wearers are stating that those who don't want to wear masks are risking the safety of...who exactly? The unvaccinated?? So...themselves?? I don't get it...

I am fully vaccinated and masked. I don't want to kill anyone else again with Covid just because I have a good level of protection. The unvaccinated could be people that can't be vaccinated. If a bunch of anti-vaccine nuts and anti-mask nuts want to get together on the other hand, more power to them... except when they invariably then have to encounter people that aren't protected that now may die or have life changing consequences.
 
I am fully vaccinated and masked. I don't want to kill anyone else again with Covid just because I have a good level of protection. The unvaccinated could be people that can't be vaccinated. If a bunch of anti-vaccine nuts and anti-mask nuts want to get together on the other hand, more power to them... except when they invariably then have to encounter people that aren't protected that now may die or have life changing consequences.
Ahhh...well then it seems that this is where our convergence of opinion...diverges! Which is fair enough...I don't insist that everybody (or even anybody for that matter!) agrees with me!
 
Did you just say you don’t care what happens in England?! I mean last I checked London was still the capital of the U.K. whatever happened to the united us!

And the capital of Scotland is Edinburgh. Why would I care more for what happens in London than Paris or any other city that I have no connections too? If London sunk to the bottom of the ocean tomorrow, I would still to to work and buy my groceries. It wouldn't be any more or less eventful than something happening to Paris, Berlin, or New York.
 
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Ahhh...well then it seems that this is where our convergence of opinion...diverges! Which is fair enough...I don't insist that everybody (or even anybody for that matter!) agrees with me!

Of course, our life experiences change us. If masks where a thing in right from day one then a few friends of mine may still be alive. Of course, no way to know if it was my infection that spread in the village or someone else's. I know I am not wanting to walk around willy nilly with nay mask on just because it is a minor inconvenience.
 
I mean the word “united” doesn’t seem to exist in [mention]ruka.snow [/mention] ‘s book.

We were united in the European Union and finally starting to put old scores behind, pushing towards being states within the EU, united with all sorts of people, people that share our values. But we are now cut off from our friends and family in the EU, though the world goes on, just a little worse. England now serves no purpose, that doesn't mean I wish harm on the people, I wish to end the division by breaking up the UK so we get away from vastly opposing cultures and start pushing forward on issues that matter to Scotland.
 
I get 0 notifications because I want 0 notifications. All incoming calls and txt's are blocked. This one pushed through. It isn't about having or lack of sympathy for others, it is about my choice to not wish to receive notifications and txt messages. If I want to receive CRA, I can opt-in.
OK, now you're starting to sound a little cranky. It is no big deal. I live in Scotland and welcome any additional information in an emergency. A few years ago we had a massive chlorine leak (from a pool) in the town where I live. As you can imagine, there were sirens everywhere, people being taking to hospital for treatment and observation, road blocks etc., but it 45 minutes before any mention of this was made in the news. It turned out OK - nobody was severely injured, but it would have been reassuring to have had more timely information.

I just hope the UK government has made the warning system well-hardened against any form of hacking.
 
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I wish the UK good luck with their alert tests. But do the people really, truly understand the difference between an "Extreme" alert and a "Severe" alert? I bet the average person doesn't. We have the same issue here in this country, and likely most countries do as well. They wind up creating several different levels of alerts, giving those alert types ambiguous names, never really fully explaining them, then wondering why we simply ignore them. It would be better to use easy to understand alerts like "there is a slight chance you might get struck by small hail stones today" or "get in the basement now or kiss your backside goodbye!" Instead they tend to say a "severe alert" or something equally ambiguous. Then we talk among ourselves and try to remember what a "severe" alert actually means trying to remember just how alert we should now be. In the US after the 9/11 attacks, the idiots in Washington decided to use colors to differentiate the levels of alertness, but few people ever really understood just what a orange or purple alert was in relation to a yellow or red alert. The result was predictable, we ignored the alerts because they were confusing.

In the US they issue weather alerts, which is a very good idea if done sensibly. But expecting a large, government bureaucracy to be sensible is a lessen in futility. We get alerts for our local area, but unfortunately we also tend to get alerts for areas that or up to 50 or more miles away. During spring we constantly get alerts, and there is nothing but sunshine outside. The alerts were from two counties over and of no concern. Again the result is the same, we begin to ignore the alerts.

If a child is abducted in you area, by all means get an alert and be on the lookout. If the child was abducted 1000 miles away, well do we really need that ear piercing alert over our phone? Probably not. The result is we get way too many unrelated alerts and thus start ignoring them, even if we shouldn't.
 
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OK, now you're starting to sound a little cranky. It is no big deal. I live in Scotland and welcome any additional information in an emergency. A few years ago we had a massive chlorine leak (from a pool) in the town where I live. As you can imagine, there were sirens everywhere, people being taking to hospital for treatment and observation, road blocks etc., but it 45 minutes before any mention of this was made in the news. It turned out OK - nobody was severely injured, but it would have been reassuring to have had more timely information.

I just hope the UK government has made the warning system well-hardened against any form of hacking.

And then it is your right to opt-in to these alerts and hope that since it is outside London that you'll be alerted. Just as it is my right not to give a monkeys if this is going on, or that I want to hear about it from other sources... there was a world before mobile phones. I really just want my phone to read emails and browse the web. It is a bugger that it also has to be able to receive txt messages and phone calls. At least I can someone block all incoming calls and messages, except when some government decides to ignore this and push a message to me that I can't reply to and tell them to sod off and never contact me again.
 
And then it is your right to opt-in to these alerts and hope that since it is outside London that you'll be alerted. Just as it is my right not to give a monkeys if this is going on, or that I want to hear about it from other sources... there was a world before mobile phones. I really just want my phone to read emails and browse the web. It is a bugger that it also has to be able to receive txt messages and phone calls. At least I can someone block all incoming calls and messages, except when some government decides to ignore this and push a message to me that I can't reply to and tell them to sod off and never contact me again.
Fair enough. But my understanding is that one can opt out, so with a few seconds of effort you get your wish. Enjoy this fine summer day! :)
 
Extreme Alerts AND Severe Alerts, as separate categories. Yep that has UK written all over it.
I assume that extreme alerts are the worst case scenario, hence the use of the word 'extreme', and the severe alerts are bad, but could be worse, and are therefore not extreme.
 
Fair enough. But my understanding is that one can opt out, so with a few seconds of effort you get your wish. Enjoy this fine summer day! :)

Aye, that we can opt out is something. But I am a strong proponent that everything should be opt in by default. Having people need to opt-out means the default is that almost everyone is using this. Having it opt-in with explainers on first install, means that only those that affirmatively consent will receive the message. And there is still the chance that they ignore my opt out and send me a txt message anyway to bypass that I don't want to hear from them.
 
I have a feeling you’d change your mind instantly if it were your child’s amber alert. Have some sympathy for others, it’s 1 notification out of thousands that you flip by each month.

“yet to have had any repercussions” lighten up
I'd keep these enabled if I only got amber alerts and other important things. But no, the city of San Francisco decided to make my phone scream cause it was 85˚F outside ("excessive heat warning"), and now it's disabled. Then I saw the Hawaii thing.

With great power comes great responsibility, and some people in charge of those buttons aren't responsible enough.

Edit: I misremembered. You can turn on amber alerts separately. I turned off the other two, "public safety" and "emergency." I forget which one SF was abusing, probably the former.
 
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I'd keep these enabled if I only got amber alerts and other important things. But no, the city of San Francisco decided to make my phone scream cause it was 85˚F outside ("excessive heat warning"), and now it's disabled. Then I saw the Hawaii thing.

With great power comes great responsibility, and some people in charge of those buttons aren't responsible enough.
Ah that’s BS, yeah locally we get one maybe once a year for an AMBER or something serious like a registered offender being in the area. But yeah using it for weather alerts is silly as hell and is just crying wolf with the system

Thanks for sharing your experience of it!
 
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