On Tuesday night, the Cooler Heads Coalition, an informal network of groups opposing cuts in greenhouse gases, sent an urgent Internet alert from its chairman, Myron Ebell.
The dynamic is so entrenched, in fact, that the city runs a daily Internet alert, noting what groups are scheduled to protest, whether they are likely to disrupt traffic and dispensing advisories to commuters.
Researchers in artificial intelligence at Microsoft are also working on a more general effort called the Attentional User Interfaces and Systems Project, which includes a project for continually monitoring streams of data like e-mail, voice mail, Internet news alerts and instant messages.
"If I had to write a book," Mr. Horvitz said in a recent interview, "It would be titled 'My Battle With Attention.' " In the new world of the Attentional User Interface, as the researchers call it, a software program known as a notification manager would continuously monitor streams of data that include electronic mail, voice mail, Internet news alerts and so-called instant messaging notes.
Get The News, Now 09.11.02 Internet news alerts have grown in popularity since Sept. 11.
Another young Syrian refugee said his sister, who was living in Germany, had read the same claim on the internet and alerted him.
"Be aware of unscrupulous persons offering to take fees from you now to help you raise capital over the Internet," the alert reads.
In her campaign against stoning, Iranian attorney Shadi Sadr made savvy use of the Internet by alerting the international community within hours after a stoning execution.
If a jet aims at Earth, satellites transmit its location to an Internet-based alert network on the ground.
Re-enactments, Amber Alerts, Internet bulletins, GPS devices, cellphone records, 24-hour news: people will look for you.
