One of these days, text messages might just save your life.

Congress has approved a plan that calls for setting up a national system of text message alerts. Think of it like those annoying messages your phone companies sends you, but these are all about horrible disasters. The program would be similar in implementation to the threat alerts currently active in many school systems, but on a much larger scale.

The alerts would come in three flavors:

Dial ‘M’ For Murder

• Messages from the President would keep you informed of problems ranging from terrorist threats to school shootings.
• One set of messages would would be for imminent threats like hurricanes and natural disasters.
• The final set of messages would be Amber alerts.

On the plus side, we will all instantly be informed of national emergencies as they happen. Unfortunately, we will all instantly be informed of national emergencies as they happen, which could prove dangerous while, say, driving down the highway.

The messages will be free of charge and you will have the option of opt-ing out. Cell phone companies are being asked to voluntarily take part in this program and early estimates predict it could be operational in as little as two years.

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