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Government Linux Gaming Supercomputer
pupkick writes "Wired news has a story about a government supercomputer running Linux that 'pits two opposing teams of soldiers against one another in a fight for control over a city under siege.'"
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How seriously can one base decisions on the results? We've had weather simulation software in development for decades and the weather man on TV still can't tell me if it's going to rain tomorrow. It seems this simulation takes human emotion/reaction into account on a large scale, I would think that is much harder to simulate than a weather pattern. Also, who is in charge of programming the human simulations? I would hope they would consult very closely with people actually from the area in question.
IIRC, Maxis, the company that brought you SimCity, SimEarth, SimTrain, SimAnt, SimWhatever has contracted with companies for several years providing its simulation engine for use in petroleum refinery research, manufacturing automation, factory floor managment simulation. I would be surprised if they HAVE NOT done similar work with DoD. Me thinks a nice beowulf cluster of xboxes running linux would make a nicer story...
Busy aligning my non-linear thoughts.
No wait, they do... General Norman Schwarzkopf said he never understood the true meaning of the word Byzantine as it applies to politics until he had taken command in the middle east. And he had studied the area EXTENSIVELY prior to his deployment there. These systems are modeling behavior of of crowds, soldiers in combat, "battlefield detainees", traffic patterns, weather, weaponry, supply lines, AND the political climate. The people playing these games ain't high school video gamers. They are retired or otherwise very experienced military personnel that advise the JCS. All of them are very well educated in the art of war, and it's drawbacks. That's why they're so quiet about it.
Bush's suggestion that the only problem with the war currently was that we "won too quickly," that the enemy was supposed to stand, fight and be killed instead of retreating and coming back with car bombs the way they have, is ridiculous. It shows how out of touch he and his advisors are with the real world. All you have to do is look at American history: George Washington lost just about every battle he fought in, but the tactic of fight, retreat, and live to fight another day won the war.
Since they seem to be unwilling to learn from history, before our beloved administration engages in another wasteful bloodletting, maybe the high end of the chain of command should take a moment to see how regular people would fight if thrown into the situation.
Heck, make sure some 10-14 year olds are able to play. They're brutal! I remember when Warcraft came out, those little snots would pull some amazing tricks to kick butt right out of the gate. Remember the Grunt Rush offense?
The CB App. What's your 20?