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The Post 9/11 Tech Boom
"The battlefield will not be physical so much as it will be digital," Rob Owens, a tech industry analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore., told the San Francisco Chronicle recently. "There will definitely be people who prosper in this new environment."
Owens and other analysts point to these factors:
- A need for more secure technologies for Net traffic, business communications, computer networks, travel and building architecture, along with the predictably more sophisticated components for new weaponry.
- A huge increase in "homeland security" spending not only by governments, but among biotech firms as the country expects and prepares for attacks potentially more lethal than those on New York and Washington.
- A boon for telecom and video conferencing companies and systems. Not only will many corporations choose to do business without sending executives on the road, but such systems are seen as increasingly vital communications backups in the event of widespread attacks on an existing communications infrastructure. By the same token, it would make sense that in stressful times people will spend more time shopping, talking, amusing themselves and doing business on the Net, as they did in the days after 9/11.
- Continuing increases in sales across the tech spectrum as individuals, businesses and governments make sure their hardware and software systems can deal with the challenges and problems of a post 9/11 world.
The media are feeding these trends. Not only are the images of 9/11 horrific and continual, but the war in Afghanistan has -- correctly or not -- enhanced the idea that technologies are our only feasible response to the profoundly changed geopolitical reality that Osama Bin-Laden created last fall. The fact that we have undermined a terrorist network and overturned a repressive government in weeks, with only a handful of American casualties, has transformed the way even Americans think of technology. This isn't a time for a tech slump, but another boom, perhaps of even greater proportions than the last one.
All a programmer needs to know these days to polish his resume is to continue to name the correct protocols and standards to get their resume through the HR text filter, and keep boning up on idiot languages like VB and Java.
Post-Columbine, now Post-9/11. What other horrors can turn into tech articles?
The fact that there is a tech boom ahead is perfectly logical if you look back at history.
turning any time of threat to the country much money has been invested into tech advance... look at the computer during WWII and it's aftermath. or firearms during the civil war.
Seany
"Where ever you go, there you are"
The fact that we have undermined a terrorist network and overturned a repressive government in weeks...
Have we really? Last time I checked neither bin Laden nor Mohommad Omar had been captured, nor seen, and few if any high-ranking officials in Al-Qaeda had been captured.
I think the US was very efficient in how they handled the situation, but let's be serious: it's not even close to resolved.
Hopefully, this will also lead to the decentralization of business. There's a danger of increased "sprawl", but the dispersal of urban centers means less large critical targets, a good thing in my view.
"Slashdot is about legos and staplers." -Cmdr. Taco
But, geeks can still prosper in this age. the CIA has a huge problem finding people willing to infiltrate Islamic terrorist organizations, what Ivy League Foggy bottomer wants to leave his blonde sorority girl wife for years of living in a dirty, cold cave, eating putrid lamb, wiping his ass his with right hand and forgoing sex, I know I wouldn't.
Fortunately, this website has a huge amount of geeky sorts who eat poorly, live in a dank, computer infested hovels and haven't gotten near pussy since they were expelled from one 20 years ago. Coupled with a decent facility for languages (just substitute Parsi or Arabic of PERL) and you can too can help the world's best country by being an incountry spy in a third world country like Pakistan, Egypt or France, please contact your local CIA recruiter.
Unfortunately, war has often sparked the economy, not just in technology, but across the board. The 1930's were the Depression era, but as soon as oue war effort got into swing, the economy improved.
Because of the type of threat, technology will be the big "winner" of the business, from detection devices, to warplanes.
If I weren't nailed to the penis, I'd be pushing up the daisies!
The fact that we have undermined a terrorist network and overturned a repressive government in weeks, with only a handful of American casualties...
We tend to believe that our actions have had long lasting effect on this troubled region, but my take on it is quite different. US tends to wage its war and then pack its bags and go home leaving a war ravaged country and its warlords to fight the rest of the war between themselves and their common enemies.
We might benefit overall from these effects, but the moment the US Soldiers leave, every warlord in Afghanistan is gonna be on everyone else's throats. Afghanistan had some notable politicians but Taliban made a point by wiping them all out.
We cant wage a two month war and then leave all of a sudden telling ourselves that our work here is done and now this nation would pull itself together towards a road to peace. This country is far from being over from the civil war.
Rapid Nirvana
I got nothing to do but, sleep, play video games and work with some computer vision algorithms.
www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~sager/ai
Freaking would be nice to have a job. Being tied down by $50,000 in tuition debt is borderline retarded.
God spoke to me
And it's hard to get one of those without being a US citizen, let alone a permanent resident.
A lot of my fellow coworkers are H1-B holders and are thus shut out from government jobs due to a lack of security clearance or the unwillingness to hire anything but US citizens. The funny thing, however, is that there are fewer and fewer US college graduates with CS and engineering degrees, the very disciplines that will continue to serve the post-9/11 security needs. US high-school students don't want CS or Engineering degrees--they're geeky and 'hard'. Instead, they graduate with Communications or Marketing degrees and end up fighting for the same job at IHOP. Meanwhile, the tech jobs needed to build the systems that shore up federal and state security go unfilled.
When will the government grant security clearance to foreigners so we can get much-needed talent on these critically important homeland security tasks?
Karma: Excellent Birds (mostly as a result of listening to Laurie Anderson)
but the war in Afghanistan has -- correctly or not -- enhanced the idea that technologies are our only feasible response to the profoundly changed geopolitical reality that Osama Bin-Laden created last fall.
not, I should say.
Sure there's things that can be done with technology to help improve security in "The Post 911 World", but there's no substitute for really good, on the ground, human intelligence.
The U.S. is notorious for relying on tech toys, eyes in the sky, etc. while neglecting to send actual people to find out what is really going on in the world.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
I'm not really sure why, but when everybody reffers to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 simply as 9/11 or even worse 911, it really bugs me. It seems like it has become just another buzzword in a culture that thrives on sound bites to keep them informed. Is this just me? Am I the only one who thinks that it trivializes what happened when we treat as just another element of pop culture?
- American flag manufacturers
- Bumper stickers with "These Colors Don't Run" on it
- American flag decal producers
- Record companies who make "Tribute Albums"
- Those damn flag-on-plastic-so-you-can-fly-one-out-your-car-w
i ndow things
Just a few that I've become annoyed with... er, taken notice of.I completely agree.
Hearing this from an employed person just makes it worse.
Hey Jon, try and look for a job, then come back and write how the jobs are about to "boom".
I know my company (consulting firm) thought things would turn around by Q1, and there were layoffs in Q1. Sorry, but things aren't turning around like planned. The only people anticipating a hiring "boom" in the computer industry is investors and stock brokers that work in tech stocks. They *NEED* a boom, so they are trying to make one.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
I disagree.
I work a large telecommunications company which
has been crushed by the past year. The dotcom
implosion was predicted and it's a very different
world for a technologist post-that. I don't see
9-11 having an impact on my job or the IT market
as a whole. In fact, the increased international tension
has further damaged economies already shaky from the dotcom bust.
There is no new boom. There can't be and there
won't be. There will be a very slow and steady
growth; the assets which need to shift first to
revive the industry are telecommunications based.
They're expensive. $10s of millions expensive.
Committing to such projects takes time. Consumers
cannot drive the demand for new net services,
not in the same way the can for other commodity
goods. There must be framework. It's like wanting
new trains. You simply don't get startup railroads,
who can afford the track?
What many IT folks miss is that much of the
industry we're in is invisible. Consumers don't
know what I do, or why my job is needed. All they
know is that the internet is still slow, TV is
still TV and that most of those new fangled
interactive services are too expensive and trivial
to bother with. IT cannot sustain growth with the
consumer need, and, with my consumer hat on,
I'm not prepared to pay through the nose for
broadband, don't like interactive TV and haven't
got a PDA/laptop etc. Without this low level demand
and we're in a minor global depression remember,
there will be no significant IT recovery for a
few years. No months, years. 5-10. No boom,
just steady industrial scale growth, like everyone
else.
Any tech boom that comes along in the US will come to a screeching halt if Senators Hollings and Stevens can get the CBDTPA passed, and anything that includes a "digital interactive device" becomes both unuseable and prohibitively expensive (someone will have to pay the R&D costs - and it will be you). The entire tech industry will move overseas.
But hey! CBDTPA will create it's own tech booms in Europe and places like India so it's not all bad. (Don't know about Mexico & Canada - they're too close to our Senators from Disney.)
Yeah, I know - off topic.
null sig
Any idea where the input came from?
[o]_O
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Sorry for the language, but it's what I (any most European anti-terrorist experts, which is to say, those who have some experience and understanding of what they're dealing with) think.
The only way you'll stop it happening again -- IMHO -- is to stop funding Israel and get the fsck out of the economies and political systems of supposedly "independent" states that don't want you there (the people, that is, not the rulers), and to stop backing dictatorships like Saudi Arabia just because they're "on your side". In Ireland they used to say: "You cannot have a military solution to a political problem." Guess what? They were right.
*sigh* now I'm going to get flamed to fuck. Well hopefully someone might be prompted to think... I just hope you don't wait until you're up to your waist with dead Americans and "collateral damage" (I know, they're barely human but they still count... )
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
Excuse me? How about "Get those business plans up to date."? Why wait the few months it's going to take before the hiring actually starts. Why not get a jump and start your own business? You know how much you hate the boss? Well, hate yourself and be your own boss. Now you can tell yourself to go home at 5 PM, and even respond back to the boss with a "No!" The really great part is if the company does go under, you'll be the last to be fired. Or maybe someone will come buy out your business.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Ah yes, first internet/tech got hyped beyond belief making the hype reality and the hype pendulum swung to the stratosphere fed by media. Then ppl started to realize it was hype and so it crashed fast, the media forcasting a self fulfilling prophecy of business/economy doom and gloom. The gloom hype became reality. With a little 9/11 nudge we have another swing coming, the hype is starting to swing again - the new buzzword - SECURITY. 9/11 was not the author of the new hype, merely a catalyst. Kinda like pouring gas on fire.
Will SECURITY hype become reality? Should it? Or will it be just hype and a false sense of security.
It should be a fun ride.
You are pigeon-holeing yourself into what effect an event has on *... and then you change the event after the next big event happens and start all over again. PLEASE STOP! Really, people 40 years into the future with brilliant analytical minds, degrees in philosophy psychology and divinity will come together and give us an answer. I really think you are biting off more then you can chew with this kind of stuff. I appreciate your effort but I really think that this kind of stuff is way to complex to be scratched with a measly 1000 word essay. Please try to stick to something easier like affect of the Slashdot user base on incoming techies (read new readers) with its very interesting and eccentric viewpoints. Something that you would have a much better understanding of and would be more of an authority of! Hell some people might stop filtering your stories.
A huge increase in "homeland security" spending not only by governments, but among biotech firms as the country expects and prepares for attacks potentially more lethal than those on New York and Washington.
;-)
Ahem... If you are referring to the anthrax attacks, then yes, New York and Washington belong in the sentance, especially when speaking of biotech. However, the anthrax attacks were not all that lethal, with just a handful of casualties. Besides, you left out Florida, another forgotten land in the attack discussions.
If, however, you are referring to the incredibly lethal aircraft attacks, those occurred in New York, NY and ARLINGTON VIRGINIA!!! Yes, folks, the Pentagon is in Arlington Virginia.
The DC 2600 meetings are in Arlington, VA also (right across the highway from the Pentagon), but we do that just to trick "the man"
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
Then I looked down a bit to where it says "Posted by", then I thought to myself, "Ahh. That explains it. It's a Katz article."
Sad thing is, I'm one of his biggest fans, and even I can't help but think that he's a bit silly at times.
Tech boom?
First thing I'd do to investigate this "tech boom" is look inward. Yeah, the company that you are employed by.
If they anticipate a tech boom, then why bring in the "giant ads" or this??
Can I get links next time? Cause I know you are just quoting stock brokers (that trade tech stocks). They need you to start buying tech again....
Rob Owens, a tech industry analyst at Pacific Crest Securities
Owens and other analysts point to these factors
Yeah, these analysts need your income. They can come up with stats till there blue in the face, but tech companies aren't employing. You will need employees for a boom, right? Well, as soon as I see these tech companies hiring like wildfire, I'll still be worried if I have a job tomorrow...
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Continuing increases in sales across the tech spectrum as individuals, businesses and governments make sure their hardware and software systems can deal with the challenges and problems of a post 9/11 world.
Well of course there is going to be a boom, because we'll all need new hardware once the CBDTPA becomes law, hence fueling the "Post 9-11" tech boom.
Because in the post 9/11 world, we're all potential terrorists and thieves, and the gov't has to protect it's corporate cash cows.
--
Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.
Biometrics is booming, disaster-recovery services are booming, and even the people that hate the incursion of things like biometrics and face rec technology are drawing more attention to the companies that make it.
There is always a remarkable trickle-down effect within private enterprise that occurs when massive, targeted government spending pours forth. And it's no surprise that, given the trauma of 9/11, the government is bringing its massive resources to bear to develop technological solutions to many domestic security issues (many of which are structurally almost insoluble, by the application of technology or otherwise). Interestingly, the Dep't of Defense is even resorting to open-ended solicitation of "new ideas relevant to homeland defense and security" from technology companies with which it has dealings.
All you have to do is glance at the tailfins on a 60s Cadillac to understand the unshakeable faith Americans have had in new technology over the past century. Technological progress as panacea is still a fundamental, if often unspoken, tenet of our shared culture.
However, when it comes to "homeland security", the search for technological solutions (e.g. systems to put air passengers and air cargo under x-ray and gas-cromatographic microscope) largely misses the point. Massive essentially indefensible borders, enormous reliance on a vulnerable modern communications infrastructure, the lack of internal security paranoia characteristic of a wealthy, free democratic society... these characteristics militate against easy high-tech band-aid solutions to "homeland defense."
So what's the solution? We can protect the United States from attack by consistent and forceful _projection_ of power, by eradicating from the earth those who bring violence inside our domestic boundaries, those who threaten to do so and those who aid and support such people. By doing so we relentlessly disincentivise those who might consider attacking us. Structurally, the United States will always be vulnerable to attack within its borders. A massive and massively expensive build-out of new security technology will not alter this fundamental truth.
Deployment of massive amounts of high-tech infrastructure that will do little more than inconvenience honest US citizens will not secure our nation. Judicious application of our Rooseveltian "big stick" will.
Nice appeal to pity and weak analogy to Orwell. Unfortunately you've done nothing except spout a cliché phrase and failed to back it up with a single example, topped off with a touch of pessimism and vulgarity to make yourself look witty.
However, since you've failed to give a single example of how we're turning into a "Big Brother" state. Where are the telescreens? the secret police everywhere? the cameras that monitor my every move? Do you have an real examples, or are you just another raving paranoid who is convinced off-handedly that since you don't understand the complexities of republic government and every single facet of the government's doing hasn't been disclosed to you, that there must be a conspiracy to wipe away your freedoms, since everybody in government is just inherently evil and have no thought for the wellfare of the people whom they govern over (even though they're citizens of this state too). Maybe you'll be quoting Gary Allen to me next? Grow up.
+1 for my straw man. Moderators, bring the parent post down, now.
The problem is on the digital battlefield there is no rules or consequences. Our network was taken down last week due to an DoS attack. All of the packets were spoofed, it's very hard to find out who took our internet connection out. Countries and people have no fear of what will happen when they take down a website. Untill this happens expect the "digital war" to esclate. For all our power and might we got taken down by 6 guys with plastic knives.
Vote early. Vote often. Vote CowboyNeal.
On the other hand, last fall's events could also suggest a shift *away* from technology is our only feasible response. It all depends what particular trends you want to find in a given situation.
For example, my apartment is within a stone's throw of the old WTC site. On the morning of the attack, almost *everything* went offline; it was next to impossible to get a cell or landline out, transportation was shut down, broadcast antennas were gone, etc. (Heck, you couldn't even see more than a few blocks because of all the dust and smoke.)
As a result, many of us were reintroduced to the actual communities in which we live, as opposed to the virtual ones we'd created for ourselves. No longer able to rely upon the technology to which we'd grown so acustomed, we were forced to go out and interact with one another in more traditional ways. I spent a good part of that morning up on my roof, meeting neighbors I'd had no reason to talk to before, watching events unfold. Word of mouth was pretty much the only way to learn what was happening.
And now, more than half a year later, I'm finding that some -- not all, but some -- people are a lot less willing to put their entire faith in technology anymore. Not the way they used to. The friend who used to run her entire life via Palm has now gone back to the old-fashioned day planner. Old pals who once relied upon email as an easy way of keeping in touch have begun returning to phone calls and mailed letters again. The local community -- we're talking on a block-by-block level here -- has begun to reassert itself.
Am I suggesting this is a national trend? Or even noteworthy? Of course not. It's a local and probably fleeting phenomenon. The point is, you can take a series of events and make them mean almost anything you want. Katz wants to see it as a technological boom waiting to happen? Well, bully for him. Doesn't make it so, any more than what I just wrote suggests things are heading for a technological bust.
Tech boom - right! That must be why I got laid-off last week, along with about 500 other folks in my company.
[Insert pithy quote here]
You want proof? you can't handle the proof!
No, really if you want proof that they are tracking me look here or you might see why I feel this way here
Please don't scoff at my insane perinoia!
Seriously. Who's footing the bill for all this?
At what point will basic economics conquer this latest "boom". Everything inevitably will have to bolster the bottom line, otherwise costs are going to be passed on to the customer, or paycuts to the staff. My guess will be both, and all this new spending will, in the long run, just further injure the economy.
Oh, yeah, and exactly where is the proof that we've gotten rid of Osama and company anyway?
So I don't see much of a boom yet, except for fancy Apple toys like the new iMac and iPod. The fundamentals have to get better - IT spending needs to recover from big cyclical budget cuts, and there does need to be a new Next Big Thing that people will actually pay for.
Of course if CBDTPA passes (which I think is unlikely, but send those faxes) you can kiss the industry goodbye.
sulli
RTFJ.
Upon realizing the Jon Katz drivel is almost deterministic and could be pieced together with the most simplistic of algorithms, scientists devised a way to code Katz's job out with a 50 line perl script.
Sorry Katz. I just don't see any new jobs opening up, or any new businesses offering new opportunities. In fact if you listien to quarterly reports, most of the established businesses arn't doing that well either. Consumers don't have that much money and they arn't going to spend it as they are afraid that they are going to lose their jobs too.
As an asside note, I lost my job as a software engineer for Iomega back in July. I couldn't find anything at all so like a moron I joined the Army like an idiot but at least my student loans will be paid off and I have won't have to worry about being laid off.
So Linus, what are we going to do tonight?
The same thing we do every night Tux. Try to take over the world!
Can I have what you are smoking or shooting up? Once again you have demonstrated that you have no clue as to the real world. Perhaps you and the (tired) Wired crowd should stop blowing smoke up each others backsides.
First, go out and learn the basics of how business works and the basics of economics. When you have done that, little boy, you will see the error of your ways and wonder how the fork you could ever write and post cr*p like that.
At least all the arguments that we used to hear from /. posters about how "if you're good at what you do you never have to worry about a job" seem to have quieted down. Suddenly a bunch of very naive young coders have learned that the economy doesn't revolve around their l33t skills.
Mr. Katz has it all wrong. IT is not going to be the area of tech that will boom post 9/11 as we go into a much different type of war, a war of cloak and dagger and targeted, precise military actions. The fields of tech that will undergo booms in funding will not be IT, or computers, it will be Chemistry, Physics, Aerospace engineering, and Biotech.
Biotech will get the most - designed to come up with biowarfare countermeasures (better Anti-biotics for Anthrax, better vaccienes (sp?))
Physics will get the next most for new weapons, counter measures, and the ever famous missle defense shield. Think applied physics in the areas of superconductors and photonics for ground and air-based chemical lasers.
Aerospace engineering will get quite a bit from the govt. to develop better unmanned drones, superior targeting equipment, and replacing all the bombs getting dropped in Afghanistan and maybe Iraq later.
Chemistry will get the last batch of major funding, for new explosives (Thermobaric bombs were a combination of applied physics and new explosive chemistry), chemical detection equipment (analytical chemistry, micro-sensors for detecting micromoles of chem warfare/neurotoxin agents), and chemical support for the applied phyics field listed above. Probably even new polymeric materials for aerospace applications.
There will indeed be another tech boom, but its not going to be in IT. Given the enemies of the US in this war on terrorists, IT is useful in getting intelligence on the enemy, but its going to be the ground forces and new weapons that take them out, not an improved IT solution or technology. Unless that IT allows one to fly an unmanned drone better, its not going to get much more funding than it already gets.
-When going for broke, go for Ithaca!
Katz sounds so much like one of those mid-1999 Silicon Valley recruiters offering stock options that its downright cute.
Seastead this.
Yeah, right. Ecconomy booming. Maybe in comparition to what it could be, but you didn't attempt make that point. (and I'm not sure I'd belive it.
I know many laid off tech workers. Not .com either, some have been in comptuers longer than I've been born. No jobs out there. Every company I know of is in the mode of "We are not hiring, we are trying to keep the people we do have."
Jon, you're full of shit.
If the Valley was quite alive and well, then why did my former company go from almost 1700 people to less than a hundred in 18 months (and then I got laid off in January). IPIX wasnt one of the cruft. I helped design and implemented most of the Enhanced Picture Services (as seen on eBay.com) system, hell I ran it all singlehandedly for a few weeks at a time, and usually with a tiny ops team. If it was such a technology boom, I should've been able to hire people to help me. We also ran the Full360 real estate virtual tours system.
Now I see why everyone's tired of your same old bullshit, Jon.
"To err is human, to forgive is simply not my policy." --root
Part of the reason the CIA didn't uncover Bin Ladin sooner is that it's too fixated with electronic surveilance and has gotten away from actually sending in operatives to infiltrate small but radical organizations.
Remember the Unibomber? People who don't adhere to the normal regieme of society and technology fall into a blind spot, as far as US intelligence is concerned.
When some guys with box cutters hijacked some airplanes, our government responded with renewed calls for a missle defense grid.
Huh?
Technology alone isn't the solution to terrorism. But 'the best solution money can buy' tends to be a tech solution.
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
I'm curious, why do you say people feared that the printing press would wipe out the art of story telling? What's your source?
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
Silicon Valley is alive and well, just like everywhere else in America. There was never any problems with things being dead. However, it still is hard to get a job and a lot of people are unemployed. I moved out of the bay area last year after being laid off to avoid a constant game of leaping from job to job just to get laid off when the company went under.
I feel bad for my friends who stayed down there, who are competing with about 250 other candidates for any programming job that opens up, because most of the jobs gets picked by favoritism of people who have an in at the company. Some of my friends just moved to the bay area for a job, and don't know many people yet to get that luxory. Before reporting booms, lets try to look at some realities, ok?
Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
Silicon Valley is alive and well? Then how come so many tech geeks I know are unemployed or working at Starbucks, bookstores, etc.?
It's true that there is a whimper of a pickup, but it's just a whimper. Many people are running out of unemployment $ and I expect that there will be a rise in foreclosures on houses as Santa Clara county continues to have one of the higher unemployement rates of urban areas in the country.
Heck, even VA-whatever just had another, quiet round of layoffs. Most people can't even remember how many rounds their companies have had -- it's *that* bad.
And, while there are still recruiters in business, not a single contact I have from last year works for the recruiting firm they did when I received their address. It's not that they've moved -- they're laid off.
I'd give it another six months at least before declaring it even alive. It's got too much brain activity to be clinically dead, but it's not out of the ICU yet.
Let's not forget that "unemployed dot-commers" aren't necessarily the segment of the industry that Katz was referring to. Very few of the former dot-com employees I know of are proficient in the hard sciences. Knowing MySQL/PHP/ASP isn't going to help win the war on terrorism, and those people will remain unemployed. On the other hard I thing we're already seeing a hiring upswing for computer scientists; I base this both on the anecdotal evidence my of Berkeley CS grad friends, who were all unemployed last year and seem to be finding jobs nowadays, and on whatever rumors seem to be circulating around.
I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
"The battlefield will not be physical so much as it will be digital," Rob Owens, a tech industry analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore., told the San Francisco Chronicle recently.
"OK, Agent Smith. I want you to start by taking down Al Queda's Internet access."
"Uh...sir? There is no Internet access in Afghanistan."
"Perfect! Then disrupt their cellular telephone communications."
"Right...er...they don't have cellphones."
"Well done, Smith! Now, I want to disrupt their landline network."
"Sir, they don't have -- strictly speaking -- what you would call a 'telephone network.'"
"I do say, Agent Smith, I'm very impressed! Then let's hit their power grid. I want 98% of Afghanistan to be dark within 72 hours."
"Well, sir...uh...that's pretty much taken care of, too."
"Wonderful, wonderful, Smith. This new digital warfare is really working out! Now we'll just wait a few weeks and they'll feel like they're living in caves. Join me for golf?"
-Waldo Jaquithi
do you /really/ think more computers and software will help protect you from more low-tech terrorism? [That]'s what I (any most European anti-terrorist experts, which is to say, those who have some experience and understanding of what they're dealing with) think. The only way you'll stop it happening again -- IMHO -- is to stop funding Israel and get the fsck out of the economies and political systems of supposedly "independent" states that don't want you there (the people, that is, not the rulers), and to stop backing dictatorships like Saudi Arabia just because they're "on your side". In Ireland they used to say: "You cannot have a military solution to a political problem." Guess what? They were right.
Sadly, you are correct. The amusing thing about all of this is that we actually know what we have to do to crush the enemy who will attack us again.
We have to diversify our energy supply for the US into American-produced energy systems, diverse ones more resistant to attack. None of these are oil (or its derivative gasoline).
If we really want to stop the attacks, we should be pushing for more American-made, American-operated, and American-maintained energy supplies like clean coal, wind energy, fuel cells (for storage and distribution, plus vehicle power), and solar energy (in remote non-wired areas). Not tomorrow - today. Right now wind energy is half as expensive as oil and takes a max of 18 months to build a new plant - and the system (the grid) can take up to about 20 percent variable power supplies. If you throw fuel cells in you can store the energy where produced and use it for vehicles (like farm vehicles, trucks, SUVs).
But at the moment every dollar we spend on oil results in 50 cents going to the terrorists and those who aid, educate, supply, and train them. And the countries behind this are known: some are our supposed "allies" like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, the Phillipines, and Signapore. That's where the enemy lies.
Propping up dictatorships with tech won't forestall the attacks. It will just encourage more. And propping up oil-dependent energy will do the same thing. It's their supply line - more than 90 percent of their funding (indirect and direct) - comes from oil money, while less than 2 percent comes from drug money (used mostly for field operations income).
In fact, when in the field in Europe and the US, the terrorists fund themselves from the low-tech hacker techniques, like stealing credit cards, bank fraud, offshore tax havens, free email.
Tech is not our friend in this war. Sound national policy is. Most of the useful tech is the cheaper faster better stuff like cheap bombs that have GPS, not fancy doodads that cost millions per missile.
-
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
Hello, are you even paying attention? We are in the worst tech slump in years. Now the dot-coms are dead, and because of 9/11, most companies are in a hiring freeze or are laying people off.
I was laid off on 9/20/01, busted my ass every day and it took me a good month to find a job. My 2 other friends that were laid off are still unemployed. Well, one is unemployed, one is slinging lumber at frickin' HOME DEPOT. These are skilled programmers that couldn't find a job to save their lives.
Maybe in the gov't sector jobs are booming, but everywhere else it sucks.
Mark
Well, we've heard JonKatz rave about mainstream corporate movies, now he's repeating the corporate media's perception of the tech economy, which is: "Wow, the tech economy crashed but we still need technology!"
No shit. In the past five years, and unprecedented amount of money was spent on hardware and software. What came of it? Microsoft got stronger, Windows became slower and more insecure, and the Web became full of pop-up ads.
A few people got broadband access, and Cisco sold some routers. That's about it. The rest of the investment capital was spent on dot-com pizza parties.
If you want to say that this country continues to have an underdeveloped tech infrastructure, then say it. But it's insulting to hear media buzzwords like "trends" and "new spending."
Trend means, "Hire marketers now." New spending means, "Get ready for more pizza parties." Neither of these things have anything to do with the long-term planning of a fast and reliable tech infrastructure.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
...but about 3000 people were killed in the WTC, while about 20000 worked there. That means that a lot of PC's, routers, and other high-tech gadgets need to be replaced.
In addition, all those 'smart' weapons are loaded with semiconductors, and they can only be used once.
sorry.
Some of the actual things that we can individually do - not the government, trapped in the Big Oil is Good world - are:
(choose one - but do at least one)
1. buy a compact flourescent lightbulb at the local hardware store or Home Depot - $4 to $6, use 1/8 the energy (this is Good Tech).
2. get a furnace controller (turns heat down when you're at work, or asleep, but heats it up in time for waking or coming home) (Good Tech)
3. get a tuneup for your car (better mpg)
4. next car you buy, new or used, get one that gets 5 mpg better than your last one (off the shelf we can get 40+ mpg for cars, SUVs and trucks - but consumers need to buy it).
5. change your furnace filter (improves energy efficiency and cleaner air).
6. next time you buy an appliance - washer, dryer, dishwasher, toaster, microwave, oven, etc - get either the best or second best energy efficient one.
7. buy 50 cent rubber seals to go behind your wall outlets (you're a techie, can't you do minor electrical stuff?) - up to 10 percent of heat loss is external-facing wall sockets in most houses. At Home Depot or hardware store.
8. buy a $2 foam insulator for your hot water heater hot water pipe (going out) - keeps it warmer and less cold showers when you turn on the hot water.
9. if your old hot water heater or furnace needs to be replaced, get the most energy efficient one you can.
10. if wiring for motion detectors, consider wiring your furnace/air conditioner controller to adjust temp based on occupants - and lights too. this is good tech.
All of these save you money - and cut the supply line of the enemy who wishes us dead.
If the hundreds of millions of Americans all did this - just one thing for each person - we would change the entire energy dynamic and painlessly switch energy supplies without any government intervention, while delivering a body blow to the enemy and their supporters. Then we could stop propping up anti-democratic regimes for energy supply reasons.
But inaction is what the al-Qaeda depend upon.
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
Here in Research Triangle Park, NC we are in the midst of the worst recession and the worst unemployment since the invention of the vacuum tube.
Obviously, you haven't seen Rambo III. How could the russians compete with Rambo? He was totally kicking their asses even when that Hind helicopter came out and was blowing shit away, Rambo was just like, "Suck on this you Commie-Pinkos!", and then BOOM!
Also, how do you expect a country that can't even feed and clothe it's own people to take over another country? Yeah, that's right, the country plain fell apart remember? I run into John Rambo at the coffee shop every now and then and he told me that he hasn't received one "Thank You" card for all that work. Ingrates!
I graduated college just after Sept. 11th and got laid off Sept 19th. I was out of work for three months and finally got a terrible position cleaning up HTML in a marketing shop. Now that job seems to be in jeopardy. If there's a post-9/11 boom, then I have yet to see it.
--
My hand isn't raised about Andersonville Georgia (time for a Google search).
If AIDS was to get to the same levels in Europe or North America, you can bet a little more money would be spent...
Um... of course!
It's our own fucking people! You take care of your own first! I will be happy to help my fellow Americans get out of an AIDS epidemic but as far as people that far away, too frickin bad... We gotta worry about ourselves.
So here we go, flame on... That's just how I feel.
El Karma: excelente(principalmente la suma de moderación hecha a los comentarios de los usuarios)
...But are all of these better on net balance?
I know most are, but speaking about the light bulbs, does it take 8 times the energy to produce a compact flourescent bulb than a normal carbon filament or whatever they are? If so, your energy savings could be negated...
If you sell your car and buy a new one, isn't the balance of energy consumption MORE than it was before you bought the car, no matter how efficient the new car is, because someone else is driving the old one around?
I agree with your ideas and actually like them, but after reading the "Recycling is Garbage" article, I like to double-check these ideas.
El Karma: excelente(principalmente la suma de moderación hecha a los comentarios de los usuarios)
Greetings to you, Holy One, and may your struggles against Satan be fruitful.
We have only a short time before the battle here, over which I am granted authority by you, shall be won.
There is a problem I must bring to your attention before the completion of this chapter in our relationship:
Many of the young men who assist me are without wives. As you know, the women of Satan are so numerous here that one can hardly look on a woman without knowing she is either Satanic or fast falling under Satan's spell. All I ask of you is this: That upon victory, my men be granted wives of their choosing from among a number of young, fertile, women who are without children of their own, to worship in accordance with their husbands' traditions. There must be many young women of whom you would like to rid yourself as they are nearly in Satan's grasp already. To us, in the Land of the Great Satan, however, they would appear to us as pure as the driven snow. If you have enough such tarnished women that some of the more heroic captains among my men, on the occasion of their victory, could take more than one wife, it will, I am sure, make the subsequent chapters of this book we are together writing all the more fruitful!
Allahu Akbar!
Seastead this.
All I can say is, now I don't feel quite so bad about missing out on all those .COM opportunities as I toiled away at my boring 'ole programming job at one of the largest defense contractors in the world... :-)
--
CPAN rules. - Guido van Rossum
There is always a remarkable trickle-down effect within private enterprise that occurs when massive, targeted government spending pours forth.
Wow!!! I had no idea that Ronald Reagan reads and posts to Slashdot!
Do you really want to know why they say "The Events of Sept 11th"?
Whenever they use the phrase "The Attacks on the WTC" to mean more than just the attacks on the WTC, the phone rings off the hook - Remember, on Sept 11th, there was also the attack on the Pentagon, and the Hijack/crash of Flight 93 in PA
So, "The Events of Sept 11th" is a LOT faster than saying
"The Attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the hijacking of Fight 93"
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
The unpopular expansion of the H1-B program has caused massive dislocation in the tech industry with little popular debate.
Over 80% of the American public opposed expansion of the H1-B program. Still, the program was expanded last year, in the middle of a tech recession. White House sources available to this correspondent indicate that there is starting to be considerable dissent among personnel in the Bush administration on whether the expansion of the H1-B program should be continued. Bush has been a strong supporter of the H1-B program(McCain and Gore also supported the H1-B program- Leiberman was unusual in that he was one of four senators that abstained from or opposed the major Senate vote around H1-B expansion).
Seastead this.
The source of the H-1B text given was here.
Seastead this.
Something people seem to have decided after 11/9 ;-) is that it's important to keep communication - aka the internet - going if a country has a national disaster.
The Internet didn't appear especially vulnerable. Apart from a few specific websites being overloaded. A far more vunerable communication system that day was broadcast radio and television. When did Manhatten get all it's TV stations back?
We have learned a lot. If the internet was designed today, we wouldn't make the same mistakes. An example is that the protocols (or routers) should not allow DoS attacks using packets with fake headers. They do because DoS was not considered when the protocols were first implemented, and now we can't change them.
Which dosn't do much against a more primative attack. Something like a few truck bombs against telephone switching centres or power lines.
Terrorist attacks are far more likely to be low tech than high tech.
Because in the post 9/11 world, we're all potential terrorists and thieves, and the gov't has to protect it's corporate cash cows.
:)
Shouldn't "cash" equal "sacred"
I'll tell you who has hit it big from 9/11:
The Flag Lady. Who is she you ask? Well, here in a small town in Ohio there is a woman who has run a small flag shop in the small downtown area. The first day she got nearly 11,000 orders for flags.
No kidding. She had to hire 150 employees, and she ended up renting a warehouse. There was a picture of her in the newspaper, and whereas before she had a little flag shop with a small dollar store cash register, she now had a giant warehouse complete with inventory control systems, production lines, etc.
She was standing next to a few servers, they looked like S/390's, explaining to the newspaper how she managed customer orders.
I assume she has scaled back now. However, before she used to be a very small, yet respected business owner in the community. Now she owns a huge house on the hill and has bought several franchises in town, and is running for a seat on City Council.
The moral of this story? Go into the flag business!
"I'll just chip in a bit for RedHat: I actually have that installed on my university machine." - Linus, '95
Bwahahahaha!! Damn, Katz, you've always been full of shit (particularly in your movie reviews) but this has got to be one of the most idiotic comments I've ever seen. I guess maybe it's "alive and well" in that there are still people living here, but that's about all you can say about it.
This place is "alive and well" only if you're looking at the healthcare industry here (hint: looking at healthcare won't tell you a thing, because the demand for healthcare services is largely independent of the economy).
Use 'slashdot stuff' in the subject line in any email you send me if you want to get past the spam filter.
I think we may see a revival of the tech industry pretty soon anyway.
There are three reasons for this:
First, the Internet is in desperate need of updating. Our current IPv4-based networks can only be described as the equivalent of chewing gum and bailing wire on an old biplane--the use of routers and other techniques to extend the use of IPv4 can only take us so far.
Once the switch to IPv6 begins in earnest, there is going to be a massive need for IPv6 compatible networking equipment.
Secondly, our cellular telephone systems will soon begin the transition to 3G phones later this decade. Again, there will be a major need for cellular system upgrades to take advantage of 3G cellular technology.
Finally, the FCC mandate for digital TV means we will have to start improving both cable TV and DBS systems later this decade.
In short, hardware manufacturers are going to enjoy a major revival by 2005 as the changes I mention start getting implemented.
Folks,
I read with interest Jon Katz's comments.
Contrary to what a lot of people think, there will be another boom coming to Silicon Valley fairly soon.
This new boom will not be the excesses of the dot-com era of the late 1990's, but based on real needs and government mandates.
First, the Internet will need to fairly soon advance beyond our current IPv4 address system. Sure, modern routers has extended the usefulness of IPv4, but the new IPv6 addressing system can easily accommodate way more devices operating over the Internet. As the switch to IPv6 begins in ernest over the next few years, there will be considerable need to either upgrade current installed network hardware and/or install new network hardware that supports IPv6. It also means we have to upgrade our software to support IPv6 easily for all Windows, Macintosh, Linux, BSD, and commercial Unix users.
Second, all the major cellular companies (AT&T, Cingular, Verizon, Sprint PCS) are preparing to make the technological jump to 3G cellular phones that support far faster data tranmission speeds than today's systems, meaning we can have things like high-quality streaming media over cellphones. Because 3G cellular systems require new hardware, there will be big demand for new telecommunications equipment that support 3G.
Finally, the FCC's mandate of digital TV will mean the need to upgrade our current cable TV, broadcast TV and satellite systems. That means lots of demand for new telecommunications equipment to support digital TV, especially 1080i 16:9 aspect ratio HDTV.
The only way you'll stop it happening again -- IMHO -- is to stop funding Israel
The surrounding Arab countries will start another Holocaust the instant America withdraws support for Israel. Every bit of rhetoric coming out of the Arab world is calling for the annihilation of the Israel and the Jews.
Don't think they're serious? Most of us didn't take Islamic terrorists seriously in America, either, before September 11.
Best,
-jimbo
XML Tools for Mac OS X
What I think Slashdot needs is a pre- writer. JonKatz can write about post-this or post-that, and someone else could post [no pun intended] equivalent drivel about living in a pre-something world. Just think of the paradigm shifts we haven't gone through yet...
"How can you claim that you are anti-crack, while still writing a window manager?" — Metacity README
I know the history of the region. Your facts are pretty thin.
First of all, the US didn't 'give' anyone anything. Britain partitioned their mid-east terrtories into Israel, Palestine, and other mideast nations (incidentally, an intentionally unstable partioning. Kurds were split between a number of nations when they should have gotten a state of their own). Many jews living in Palestine at the time were murdered or forced from their homes. Most palestinians left Israel voluntarily since arab leaders at the time argued that a palestinian minority would make the complete slaughter of the Israeli population more 'complex'.
Zionism existed long prior to the existance of Israel. It began around 1919 with Theodore Hertzel, though there were Jews living in Israel for millenia before that, of course. And the people who legaly moved into the holy land under the Brittish empire, got murdered by their neighibors in waves. The Brittish did nothing to defend them, though many settlers had expected protection. Now keep in mind that Jews have lived in the area that is Israel for millenia. Those arabs who claim it as their own have it only because they killed someone else to get it, so don't even pretend that they hold some sort of high ground where 'they' lost 'their' land. They had as much right to it as the Israels, and only slightly more than the Brittish. The standard leftist line of "it's a powerful white guy oppressing a weak colored person" just dosen't fly here. Racially, Jews and Palestinians trace their roots to the same place. Some palestians respond to the accusation that they are anti-semetic with the response that they ARE 'semetic' tracing their roots back to Shem. The only difference is cultural. So don't give me any of that 'racist' bullshit.
When Israel was created, the settlements there were literally threatened with genocide. They wanted to "push the Jews into the sea". Yes, genocide. Do you think genocide is a good thing?
Do you think it's not a 'human rights abuse', or do you think it's justified when committed against certain people?
What was supposed to happen? People just choose to lay back and die? The golan hights and west back are crucial strategically to any nation that could be overrun with tanks in under a few hours. "half of Jerusalem" was and is impossible to defend in a millitary assault.
Given the circumstances, Israel has maintained an unprecedented amount of civil liberties for the Palestinians who choose to reside there. No other nation has faced the threat of total genocide that Israel has and still allowed as many civil liberties within the country to those who attacked it. You're welcome to try and name one. In contrast, if you're American or Israeli and walking around in the palestine you're likely to get killed. But people seldom judge arab nations with the same moral standard that they judge Israel. How many civilians have to be murdered in the streets of Palestine before it's called a "human rights abuse" by the international community? Aren't Israelis humans? Many "Human Rights" organizations are actually "Palistian Rights" organizations. They never condem atrocities commited by Arabs. Such atrocities, such as Israeli POWs being tortured for years never even make the paper.
Look at it this way, imagine if some people in the US started finding imigrants from Mexico and killing them. Those imigrants would also have a right to defend themselves, wouldn't they. They would even if they didn't have a millenia-old connection to the land as Israel does. And if the level reached that of a truly millitary assault, they would be justified forming a nation in their defense. No group of people is under moral obligation to endure genocide.
And yes, Israelis make more money than Palestinains. So that justifies murder? I don't follow. Israel has a thriving tech sector. Their biotech division is top knotch. All the other countries in the reason rip off Israeli biotech advances and Israel does nothing. So be it. Palestianians think it's Israel's duty to provide them with jobs. You cannot simultaneously attack a nation and expect it to provide you with economic assistance. This is the most twisted logic I've ever heard of.
Hatred of Israel is a political tool used by mideast states.
Consider how Saddam responded to the US defense of Kuwait. By attacking Israel? The existane of Israel is what has allowed many mid-eastern dictators to keep their power. It has done the same thing for their popularity that the attack on the world trade center did for George Bush's. A common enemy unites a nation and these men know it.
>Maybe they hate us because the average Israeli >makes $20k+/year whereas the average Gaza Arab >has an annual income of more like $600!
>Add to this a lot of oil money from other Arabs, >and you have a problem.
No, you have a solution. But of course, Israel is responsible for taking care of Palestinains and not their arab allies. A few Arab nations recently pledged over 100 million in economic aid to Palestine. It's about time they did more than simply send explosives, which don't help Palestinian civilians one bit.
I don't know where you get the whole 'media bias' riff.
I've heard the media cover both sides of the mideast conflict. That 'the media supports Israel' is a pretty difficult claim to make. The Chicago tribune certainly dosen't seem to.
>These terrorists are not all whackos. They are >just tired of being fucking poor.
Of course. But noone ever got rich strapping bombs to their chest and running into a market square. Yes, Palestinians are in a terrible position. They bear the brunt of Israeli retaliation when the Mid-East power structure decides that killing Israelis is a good idea. But what's the solution?
Keep in mind, peace is what would be best for Palestians, economically. Israel wants peace. But during the beginning of the peace process, when folks thought Arafat might be serious, his supporters threatened to abandon him. He was getting locked out of conferences. Now he just wants to attack Israel as a negotiating tactic, but is surprised when they counter attack.
>So, then one of them gets smart enough to >realize that America is the cause of Israel.
Israel managed to defend itself even before America was an ally. America has helped Israel immensely, but it's worth noting that Israel endured even when America was not helping it.
>Now before you freak out, I am looking at this >from a sociological perspective.
Yes, but a sociological perspective that is rather selective about the facts it chooses to support it.
I don't think that 'all Arabs are scum' as you suggest. I do believe that a nation's first priority is to defend its citizens from attack. Israel cannot make peace before the arab nations decide that they want to make a peace that allows Israel's continued existance. And any treaty that stipulates a 'palestinian right of return' as all have does not allow that. Israelis are a minority in the middle east, and Israel, a democracy, would be flooded and would fall victim to terrorists who still believe that all Israelis should die. No nation is required to allow itself to be destroyed. I also don't support genocide of all arabs, as your post implied. Israel retaliates on an incident by incident basis, and this is the right course. When the arab states decide that violence is not the answer, the violence will end. But as it now stands, there are still many arabs who want the complete destruction if Israel. As long as Arafat is unwilling to restrain them (and he'll have a hard time doing this and keeping his position), there cannot be peace.
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
Well, I wasn't kidding.
The Prius gets more mpg per unit payload, because the Insight is a sporty little two-seater and the Prius is a five-seater family sedan.
Fuel cells are a great idea to power the home, and I intend to install one eventually, but they are (using current technology) impractical for my driving needs. Membrane contamination is the major issue, and a lack of infrastructure to deal with failures on the road. Toyota has addressed repair problems nicely with a combination of highly reliable systems, broad distribution of repair facilities, and use of standard parts for the non-hybrid portions of the vehicle.
I saw an Insight the other day with a bumper sticker reading "Driving a Gas Guzzler is Unpatriotic".
--Charlie