Television For Paranoids

By Wilson Rothman

For skittish citizens who aren't frightened enough by disaster reports on cable news, police scanners or the Web, RCA introduces Alert Guard. The early-warning system, built into four new RCA TV models, gathers data from government watchdogs like the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, finds events that threaten your neighborhood and displays alerts right on the screen. When something is brewing, whether it's an approaching tsunami or a mishap at a nuclear-power plant, the TV translates government-issued radio codes into text messages, audio alarms and colored warning lights (green, yellow, orange and red). The TVs are available now and range from a 20-in. model for $299 to a 32in. for $849. If they get cheap enough, some day you may find them in the same aisle as flashlights, bottled water and duct tape. --W.R.