CHAPTER 8 How to Fix The Web: Obscure Back-End Techniques and Terminal Secrets
blown government warning. All stations should be reporting it, assuming
there are any left; it would be really, really bad news if not.
In the US, many broadcasters participate in the Emergency Alert
System, which theoretically allows the President to address the nation
within 10 minutes, though it might be vulnerable to hackers.^1 France
uses air raid sirens for its Signal National d’Alerte^2 and Japan’s J-Alert
uses loudspeakers.^3 All are part of the United Nation’s International Early
Warning Program. This is important, especially now that the International
Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (the 1990s) is long over.^4
You should be able to ascertain pretty quickly if your website woes are
related to this. If not, move on to the next section.Infrastructure
The Internet depends on electricity. Your hosting company probably has an
uninterruptible power supply (UPS) which will take over instantly in the
event of power failure. It can provide power to your Web server for a few
minutes, long enough to have a diesel generator ready to take over.^5 The
major networking equipment connecting your Web server to the Internet
is probably protected with UPSes and generators as well. And your laptop
should survive for a few more hours if fully charged.
Your wireless router, however, will cease to function. It is the weakest
link. You can get around it by checking the Internet via your smartphone,
which should work as long as your nearest tower has back-up power, and1 Lucian Constantin, “Emergency Alert System devices vulnerable to hacker attacks, researchers say”,
Computer World, Feb 13 , 2013. http://smashed.by/emergency
2 Le Signal National d’Alerte, Institut Français des Formateurs, Risques Majeurs et protection de
l’Environment, Mar 28, 2007. http://smashed.by/national-alert
3 “Japan Launches Alert System For Tsunamis And Missiles”, Terra Daily, Feb 9, 2007.
http://smashed.by/alert-system
4 A-RES-44-236 General Assembly Resolution 44/236, United Nations General Assembly, Dec 22 , 1989.
http://smashed.by/un-solution
5 “UPS and Generators - How long can they run for?”, Power Continuity.
http://smashed.by/power-continuity