Slashdot Mirror
Soldiers Call for Engineering Tech Support
chuckfucter writes "Wired news writes that soldiers in the battlefield now have their own army of geek advisers whom they can contact whenever they need technical support. The stakes are much higher here, with troops asking about the structural integrity of bridges, roads, dams and airfields: Can this structure be safely used after sustaining damage from bombings?"
And if it is on the field, the responses would need to be realtime, too.
It may make the difference between life and death.
This doesn't suprise me, with all the money being spend on the army, it makes an awful lof of sence to give the army all the tools they need. the better prepared the army, the better they can protect us.
Give it a few months and they'll outsource it to India like all the other tech support jobs.
Is the first bridge over a river the one that sinks deepest into the riverbed?
This could be dangerous, having to rely on foreign nations for essential military services.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
The article states clearly that the support is for engineering type problems.
Article?!? Wait a minute, this is slashdot after all...
"Wired news writes that soldiers in the battlefield now have their own army of geek advisers whom they can contact whenever they need technical support. "
Ummm, wouldn't that be the Army Corp. of Engineers?
Yes we do need tech support while we provide resources, remove murderous genocidal governments, and remove terrorists from their civilian population. You probably didn't realize that you had misplaced a few words so I fixed it for you. No charge, I was happy to help.
Now you can do your part to help kill more Iraqi women and children.
In heavy Indian accent... "Thank you for calling the United States Army Tech support line, what is the problem today?" "excuse me i can't understand what your saying..." "I said what seems to be the problem today sir?" "I still can't make that out." "Sir, how can I help you?" "Umm well...OH MY GOD WERE UNDER ATTA....*line goes dead*" yup....how long before someone running for office has this outsourced to save the tax payers money?
Look at the last thumbnail in that article, hes got a panasonic toughbook in his lap
Damn i've always wanted one of those, looks like another one in the helicopter picture
I'd always thought the military had some special laptops designed specifically for them, but i guess just like the police in vancouver they use those toughbooks
Hee hee! One of the most entertaining byproducts of Bush's smashing victory has been watching the worldwide Left come unhinged. Anyone remember the exploding heads from Scanners? That is where the fruit cakes are heading.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.
When we start fighting India?
"No sir, you cannot cross that stream. Yes, I know it looks very shallow but it's actually the ocean. Yes, sir, the ocean."
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'.
So has anyone ever seen how long it takes to get a building checked out by a civil engineer and now your telling me people are going to do it over the phone whithout even seeing the damage to the beams?
The world wide left? How about the world wide non-mentally handicapped? Clinton gets a BJ in office and they try to impeach him. At worst, an intern got a lifelong stigma. Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq, leading to the deaths of thousands of US Soldiers and innocent Iraqis and he gets re-elected?
WHAT THE FUCK?!
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'.
Isn't this the job of the combat engineers?
Back in March, the selective service began planning the procedures for a "Speical Skills" draft, which is a hypothetical draft of "Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages."
"Talking to the manpower folks at the Department of Defense and others, what came up was that nobody foresees a need for a large conventional draft such as we had in Vietnam," said Richard Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System. "But they thought that if we have any kind of a draft, it will probably be a special skills draft."
Just to clarify: they're not talking about actually drafting such workers yet; they just want procedures in place if they do need to do a draft. (This strikes me as somewhat ominous, in spite of their claims that it's a remote possiblity, but that could be my own paranoia.)
They already have the procedures in place to draft medical workers (up to age 44!) if it ever becomes necessary. The article doesn't say, but I would anticipate that an IT worker draft would have a similar age spread.
This article was back in March; anybody have any more recent news?
such as what they're doing in the areas of signal security and preventing interceptions/jamming of transmissions on the battlefield. How do they authenticate who's talking to who? How do they keep the enemy from listening in?
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
These are the same folks who designed most of the dams under the TVA. They designed the steel mesh "tires" on the MOON ROVER, for pete's sake! I'm 40 years old and even I was a kid when that was happening.
It's a way cool place to tour if you're in the area. Don't know if they still have the hangar-size scale model of the san francisco bay but if they don't there's sure to be something equally impressive occupying that space.
This might be a bit OT here but whenever I read some /. article and Military or Army in the Subject then it scares and worries me. I am worried that my work (contribution and efforts) on Open Source and Free Software is being abused by the Military / Army for hightech equipment which helps killing other people. This indirectly makes me a supporter of an organization.
To be more concrete, I am a muslim citicen and thus grown up. I also do work on Open source and Free Software projects as many other people over this world do. By knowing that the Military or Army uses my Software or parts/code of it for their technological equipment such as Radar, Rocket, or Equipment Systems is scary for me. Knowing that this material is being used to kill my own people in other muslim countries.
I would really like to vote for a new way of thinking in this direction whether Open Source and Free Software should be abused in such a way. Supporting the War machinery that causes pain and disaster to other human beings is not supportive.
A lot of people have made comments about the possibility of this being outsourced. While most of the comments are meant to be funny, I think it is definitely possible that it could be outsourced. Remember that the philosophy of Bush and Rumsfeld et al. is that the US army should be *small* and practically every function of the US army that doesn't involve holding a gun and shooting should be outsourced (mainly to private US companies like Halliburton). Actually, considering that even some US government staff in Iraq are guarded by private guards, even holding a gun and shooting is outsourced to some degree. I've read articles that said that in the first Gulf War something like 1 in 100 of the people working for the US army were private contractors, but in the second Gulf War, something like 1 in 10 are from private (US) companies. As events in Iraq show, even things like interrogation of prisoners is conducted by private contractors.
Of course a major problem with this is that you can't order engineers from a private company to go out under fire to fix a bridge/power plant etc. while you can with army engineers. The other major problem is who will punish private contractors who say torture prisoners or accidentally (or even deliberately) kill or injure civilians. If they are in the army they could be investigated and court-martialed, but I think for private contractors it is much murkier. I think the general rule is that they are under the rules of the local government, but well, in a lot of these places, local government is hardly existent or very corrupt.
What is wrong with these people? They all seem to think America can do no wrong. I say no to helping them do more damage to Iraq or what ever land they take over next.
Rather than have these "geek consultants" off site and ready for call-in support, why not just train soldiers with engineering backgrounds? I think a geek with technical prowess coupled with decent physical training under his/her belt would r0x0r anyone's b0x0rs :D
consider this, as kid i grew up on military bases. my dad was maintainance for communications. and during the vietnam war in ashu valley delivered by helicopter under heavy fire communications equipment. the article was i'm sure general knowledge, but i'm sure slashdot has definitly played a part in disseminating the info further and ultimately into more of the enemies hands. can u imagine after reading /., an iraqi fighter giving the order "make sure to get a u.s.tele-engineering kit and keep the operator alive also". it doesn't sit well with me and is no joke the reality of the possiblity of slahdot's contribution to the enemy and the possiblity an american could suffer because of it. war sucks for both sides.
Nice to see that Slashdot found the cool geek angle to the wholesale murder of civilians. But will the apache helicopters bombing faluja be running linux? Well done nerds.
You may not know of this, but there is something called a "background check". They go and visit all the people you've met for the past ten years of your life and interview them. They peruse records you don't even know that exist. They tap your phones, watch your email, know when and what you are doing at all times.
I'm sorry, but you can't slip through this unless you are bona fide an American citizen who has never said anything bad about the country and has never associated with those who have.
The radical sect of Islam would either see you dead or "reverted" to Islam.
that's a looooooong way from Vicksburg, cappy!
Thanks for calling the USMC technical support line.
If you have been shot, press "1".
If you have been bayoneted, press "2".
If you want to shoot someone else, press "3".
If you want to talk to a human being, a real nerdy type, the type you jock military type assholes used to bully in high school then you can kiss my safe, bunkered, hairy corn-fed ass. Yeah, not so clever now are you? Right, now Ive got your attention, lets talk about that wedgy you gave me in sixth grade...
The US/UK is/are not playing policeman.
It is ensuring the steady supply of oil.
Don't fall for the high moralisation. It's a canard.
It's on wired for god's sake!
If an iraqi fighter DOES give that order like you said.. then.. well, the US has superior tanks and planes don't they?
Slashdot is just helping to remove the imbals and hax from this war! We are still doing a good thing!
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
Mind you, you're still right about the entertainment value of liberal histrionics. Every bit as funny as the antics of conservatives during the Clinton administration.
That's all that liberals and conservatives are really good for anyway.
"MOAB penetrates deep underground"
Massive Ordinance AERIAL Burst.
Most of the rest of what you've said, the AWACS thing with facial recognition, is a bunch of fake shit too.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
The US has plenty of defences on it's own soil, at least for any kind of real threat. As you mention, Canada and Mexico are no threat. Canada is the US's largest trade partner (and vice versa). Both Mexico and Canada have nothing to gain and everything to lose from attacking the US. The US will step up to defend either from an attack, and even both combine do not have a military force that poses any kind of serious threat. Never mind that the three nations are on very good terms (you don't usually even need a passport at the borders).
So where does that leave attacks from? The ocean. Well there's a big problem with trying that: the US satalites, radar, etc will notice your force. You then get to play with one or more carrier fleets and a whole mess of attack submarines. There is just no nation that could realisticly expect to get a force across the ocean without it being sunk. Russia would probably have the best chance, but even then it's doubtful.
Then, even if you could get near the coast, you have the Air Guard and Coast Guard to cope with. They are not an insignificant force, especially given the US's excellent planes and information capabilities.
Also, this all ignores the real issue that the US has a ton of global range, extremely high-yield nuclear weapons. There are tons of missles with global range, as well as bombs that can be stuck on B2s (also global range). Any serious attempt to invade the US would result in massive retaliation.
At this point, a direct conventional military attack against the US is a non-issue, even ignoring the treaties with other nations. There just isn't a nation that has the ability to do it, much less stands to gain anything from doing it.
Any attack against the US is likely to be a terror-type attack: A few people using whatever they can sumggle in or get their hands on to cause as much damage as possible. Unfortunately, the military can't do anything about that in the US itself. They don't patrol the streets normally, or participate in investigations.
It's certianly arguable if the US should be out fighting wars in other nations, but it's not like that is a worry for hte US being invaded.
Hehe. Although I am rather a left-leaning European who's severely disappointed by the results (I want back the USA I liked!), I found your post most entertaining. Maybe it's because I do have colleagues, who did come unhinged at work the next day... Anyway, thanks for the chuckle.
The owls are not what they seem
Why has the full of shit parent post been modded up as insightful? Are you people really that dumb that you think that one AWACS controls iraq and afghanistan? Or that the rumors that an awacs can read a newspaper on the ground are the least bit credible? Or that a MO_A_B where A stands for "Airburst" penetrates deep into the ground? For god's sake people - get some perspective.
We have these "tools" as our bargaining chips. "I'll see your nuclear program and raise you certain death if you fail to meet our demands of disarmament. Worse, we'll capture you and parade you before the world, and then hold a trial where you are convicted and executed. You can drop out of this game now, or you can try to raise the bet, or you can call."
Carthago delenda est.
KFG
...which means?
if you have to ask you need to brush up on your homework
when 4 trillion in taxes are cut permenently from the disfuntional beurocracy then, quite possible some may respond with action, till then i'd not hold your breath.
some citzens are for real about tax cutting, as a tax rate above a lending rate agreed to by the masses ages ago hmm the rate was something excellently low like 4% a tax above that is war, to clarify i'm speaking about a tax in such specific terms such as the exact amount of time per year that equates to an individual spending level of 4%, of the individuals time per year, calibrated to your best watch.
it is called a joke!
Carthago must be delenda.
KFG
Two ways to end the war: (1) Kill all terrorists. (2) Convert to Islam. Unfortunately, diplomacy is not a part of either
You, sir, are an idiot.
The KKK are to christianity what these 'muslim terrorists' are to islam.
"Hang on Bubbah, that may be a black church, but it's a _christian_ black church, better not burn it".
As for killing all the terorrists:
Terrorists hide among the civilians
Killing terrorists means 'collateral damage'
Having your brother/father/mother/neighbour killed by the 'great Satan USA' is about the best recruiting tool there is for terrorists!
You are part of the problem. Please stop.
On the contrary, young people DID get out and vote. Their numbers went up hugely. Thing is, so did everyone else's numbers.
The youth vote was 17% of total turnout in 2000. This time, voter turnout was way, way up... and the youth vote was still 17% of the total turnout.
The youth vote just isn't as important as it once might have been, had youth been voting. Everyone had this mythical mental block of youth voters left over from the great debate about lowering the voting age. At that time if every young person had come out to vote, they could have outvoted everyone else in the country. The boomers were still youth.
Now we have an againg population. The boomers aren't "youth" by any stretch of the imagination, and the youth vote means very little on the whole.
Also, CNN reported that the youth only broke for Kerry at about 54%-45%. There are far more conservative youths than anyone suspected.
In the end, America really did elect George Bush. With the highest turnout in a long time, the popular vote was decisively in his favor. There's no point in arguing about the rules of the game anymore... social liberalism is in deep shit. So now what?
"Carthage must be destroyed!", ever heard of Google?
lupus est homo homini
Please hold
...
Thank you for waiting. All our technicians are helping other customers, but your call is important to us.
...
Hello, Internet Tech support. This is -- *CLICK*
Yeah, right.
. . .ever heard of Google?
In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum Googlus.
KFG
is a machine meant for killing people. Do you people understand that? Where does this morbid interest in all things military come from? Are you so goddamned brainwashed?
Please understand that a more effective US military equals more innocent deaths all around the world. We don't like you anymore. Here's hoping for more US deaths!
As a former Army Engineer officer, and former structural engineer, I'm a little skeptical of this article.
Engineer units and officers, who are already organic to Battalion (500ish troops) and above, are trained to do this sort of thing (bridge load surveys). For very complicated structures, I can see a need to contact a consultant "in garrison" somewhere who can do a more advanced structural model, but I'd think that would be quite the exception.
I think the article is misleading. The Army has had to evaluate the strength of existing bridges for years--since WWI or before--and has trained and integrated units and leaders with the capability to do so. Before 2004, tank commanders didn't just guess about whether a given friendly or enemy bridge would hold their vehicle.
says that an occupying force is directly responsible for any deaths caused by insurgents. That's why you have to bring enough troops to curb the insurgents.
You guys are so far gone. Wake up! This is not good for anybody but the small crowd around your president. You, America, is causing a lot of pain and anger round the world. If you weren't hated before, you damned sure are now.
Higher quality of personal. IMO one 40+ year old former green or red card with a clean DD 214, willing or unwillingly recalled, would do the work of three draftees. We know what are duties are and we would carry them out. We've pulled the trigger before and they know we would do it again, something that's an unknown with a 19 year old draftee.
Thy're already trained. Training people (as the lt. knows) costs big dollars and takes time. Instead of drafting and training the unwilling why not just pick out the good ones that already served over the last twenty years? Much cheaper and much quicker.
Much smaller uproar. One thing is drafting young men and another is recalling former servicemen that once signed a contract stating they would be subject to recall. Long lines of kids at an induction center makes for a good photo op. A former serviceman here and there doesn't.
If I sound cold it's because the possibility of such a recall is quite real. When I enlisted (three days after my 17th birthday) part of my contract said I could be recalled up to the age of 65 (S2). I was in the USCG (six reserve with over two combined TAD), MK2, a MLE (Marine Law Enforcement) Boarding Officer with over 2k boardings, certified Engineer on 41' UTBs and 44' MLBs (man, I miss those) and trained the same (plus I'm a damn good welder). Add in the fact that my skill set has grown greatly over the years and I too am in the US Govt's crosshairs. Oh, a BPMC score of 147 and M16 score of 185 doesn't help either. All that adds up to fair chance of winning a very long paid cruise up and down the Tigris river. I just hope I get enough notice to let the THC in me to drain out. =)
If you speak Arabic or Farsi you are so screwed. Starting packing now. You still stand a fair chance being back in uniform because of your MOS.If you run across an USCG Border Officer that carries a S&W Model 65 as backup and reads /. be sure to say hi. One the plus side I do miss those black Skilcraft pens. Still have a hard time writing with anything else. =)
Good comment lieutenant. Hope you don't end up someplace you don't want to be.
The radar is so powerful and the computers onboard so good that they identify every object on the ground.. I hear rumors that they can read newspapers lying on the ground
You expect me to believe that they can discern newsprint using radar?
It's official. Most of you are morons.
But when I worked for a major national laboratory we never fielded calls from soldiers in the field.
They use what they use and what it is is none of your F'n bussiness.
Do they teach you to say the name of the product 3 time in marketting school?
I always can tell a troll for a product becasue they sound like a parrot.
"Buy our product. Buy our product. Buy our product."
y
you don't have a need to know this.
So don't ask for it.
Why do you need this info?
Are you Queda?
Protect us from who, you ask?!
Terrorists blend into the very fabric of our society, spreading their atheistic dogma which undermines the sanctity of marriage and murdering of our babies.
The only fairly reliable way to smoke them out is to hold an election and watch for Kerry signs in their yards. These blimps will help locate those signs.
Oh, we'll get you my pretty and your little dog too!
.
"You have liberated me from thought."
-The radar is so powerful and the computers onboard so good that they identify every object on the ground.. I hear rumors that they can read newspapers lying on the ground
You expect me to believe that they can discern newsprint using radar?
Why not? Daredevil can do it, I saw it in a comic book
how sad that you can't see that all parts of the human personality can be persued.
You can be a nerd who is athletic.
Those jocks only picked on you because they liked you. They didn't know how to make you not be a needy jerk. They may have even been sexually attracted to you. And what do you think? You think the worse of them. Shame on you. They are just the kinds of guys who would pull you from a burning house or rescue your ass if you fell in to the ocean.
They are the salt of the earth just as you are.
Powerful people all over the world loot their countries, move to the USA, and then start paying off politicians.
There power and money currupts our system.
The most currupt 'players' in American Politics are the Saudi's who own 7% of the USA.
And they do their evil and then America gets blamed.
It is not 'America' that is a problem but the money that non-deserving envious pigs extract from the world economy. And as soon as they get rich they come to America. If America sucks it is because all of the third world hell-holes like Saudi Arabia send their envious greedy swine-like children to the USA to mingle with the 'world leadership class'
The Eurotrash who used to be in Boston would sit and spout off about American being bad. Meanwhile these envious children would never mingle with middleclass America. They saw all Americans as trustfund rich people.
If people were killed it is because of something much more complex then just blaming America.
All curses are actually like boomarangs.
It is your ability to hate that makes you hated.
I can insult you all day and call you a swine, but I would never hurt you. Acutally I would want to be your friend.
You can't understand that though, it seems. So sad.
If you cast evil spells like what you said in your post you actually condemn your self.
so sad that you are so stupid.
Oh, and the people in America who are Musselmen, do you want them to die too?
So sad that you don't see how harmful you are to yourself by hating America.
Mind you, you're still right about the entertainment value of liberal histrionics. Every bit as funny as the antics of conservatives during the Clinton administration. That's all that liberals and conservatives are really good for anyway.
Ha, ha, remember when Clinton lied about sex? That was pretty funny when the conservatives went into hysterics over it and it was funny when they couldn't understand why the rest of the country didn't give a shit.
Ha, ha, remember when Bush lied about war? That was pretty funny when the liberals went into hysterics over it and it was funny when they couldn't understand why the rest of the country didn't give a shit.
I guess that I know that Slash dot is becoming a waste of time when some anonymous coward who wishes for American deaths gets two points.
How is that post 'interesting'?
This forum lacks credibility.
And they are awesome fellas who would help you build your house.
If you replace 'American' with 'Muslim' in your post, you might very well be correct.
Don't Muslim armies typically take over and then make people become Muslim?
Is it 14 or 15 Muslim or Islamic insergencies world wide?
Why do Muslims think that they have to convert the world. We don't all want to be murderers who pretend that God told us to do it.
Why can't the Muslims slay the demons of their inner selves? Why can't they see that their insistence on world conversion is the root cause of 9-11 and all of the current war fare.
It is so easy to blame the Americans. Why? Because Europeans like their cheep labor from the Muslim world.
There are no lower races. All humans have higher and lower selves. Any discussion of conversion is to convert the inner demons to be angels.
If a religious books says to murder, it is meant as a methaphor.
Oh, and also, as Saudi Arabia owns 7% of the USA, then aren't they then also responsible?
Last time I checked they have a lot more sway than any American bussiness man who isn't connected.
Oh, and there is not an Empire, but a real democracy.
Or not.
If my friends are over there as soldiers I support them. Don't you understand who they are? They are people who I care about. I also care about Iraqis too.
Soldiers are not my enemy.
Policies need to be modified. But hating soldiers or people who work for the government indicates an immature view of human society.
Even if there would be a different president, there will still be the US Army. If can't love them then you really can't love anyone. How sad for you.
If taxes are too low and people don't share then there will be those who redistribute income in the old fashion way.
It benifits the rich to pay taxes and help the poor.
Some people have to give more because they have more. You can't translate the benifit of owning everything into time spent working. That is a fallacy that some wealthy have used to justify their fuedalistic view of the world.
But the rich reallize that they either have to pony up the goods for the poor or have their heads on the block.
So, don't be stingy with your tithing.
the Bastard Operator From Hell, and a full new bunch of front war stories.
DON'T PANIC
that's not in danger of being outsourced to our friends in foreign lands...
Brave men an women out there need help and they get these guys.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur. :-)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Listen up, you sanctimonious son of a bitch: The US troops aren't killing people. The remnants of Saddam's forces are. Just like they've done for the last two DECADES. Only now, assholes like you blame it on people like my brother who are PROTECTING people over there. He nearly lost his life protecting Iraqis on MANY occasions. And you know what? The IRAQIS are THANKFUL he's there. In fact, civilian support is one of the few things that keeps him alive.
/. at least 3 times. I have come to trust you as someone who I don't always agree with, but is reasonable, and can explain his positions. I wouldn't ask most people this, but...
I am curious about the civilian support. I have seen at least a half dozen blogs from Iraqi civilians, all of them have been very critical of the bush administration (one is even mentioned in another reply to your post). Bush has won, the plans aren't going to change becasue of what I think, or say at this point, but I would like to feel better about what is going on.
I know you Batman, we have had constructivly discussed desagreements on
Are any Iraqis who support the US mission in Iraq blogging?
As it is right now, all evidence leaving the country of through channels other than the US military and western journalists seems to indicate that Iraqis are very critical of the occupation/liberation/whatever you want to call it.
I would like a different point of view, I want to read first hand opinions that support what you, and many other relatives of troops say.
Thanks,
TamMan2000
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
Hope the Army's form of tech support doesn't get outsourced, too.
Recorded voice: "Hello, welcome to US Centcom Technical Support! For bridge demolition assistance press one, for bridge construction press two, for assistance clearing a blocked road, press three, for help defusing a roadside bomb, press four. If you need to call in an airstrike, please hang up and dial..."
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
Yes. Yes, it was. But really, now. You have in front of you a whole smorgasboard of examples of the right's overpowering fear of freedom and personal responsibility, and the only thing you can come up with is the non-issue of Monica Lewinsky?
Ha, ha, remember when Bush lied about war? That was pretty funny when the liberals went into hysterics over it and it was funny when they couldn't understand why the rest of the country didn't give a shit.
Bah. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. And having blundered into a semi-lucid position on this particular issue does not excuse the left of the hypocrisy in which it engages with the same vigor and regularity as the right.
Besides, most of the liberal arguments against the war are just as weak as the conservative arguments supporting it.
Left and right are identical in practice. Both seek to use the government as a tool for social engineering, and both are perfectly willing to run roughshod over the Constitution to achieve their goals.
Colin Powell has a history of covering up civilian casualties...
scroll down to My Lai...
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
Please, hold. Please have the model number, serial number and your reciept to expedite your assistance call!
There are two sorts of conservative youth, and it's not surprising that their numbers are so strong.
The first is the child of a family that discusses politics. His parents are conservative, therefore he is too. When you're young, it's very easy for your parents to impress upon you their political views, and you actually believe and respect their opinion. Don't forget that huge numbers of young people are as religious as their parents, and that they too go to churches where their priest says that voting for Kerry is a sin.
The second type is a bit scarier: youth who genuinely like the *real* ideology of the republican party. They see Bush as being aggressively on the side of business, profit, and American dominance at the expense of anyone who gets in the way, and of course, the faceless lower class. These things appeal enormously to young people who are, or are expecting to be, rich and successful. Young, educated, aggressively driven professionals with little ethical grounding will vote for Bush - think of your average commerce, business, or law student.
Maybe the youth vote isn't so surprising.
Actually AWACS is for tracking AIRCRAFT - JSTARS is the equivilent for tracking stuff on the ground - different optimization
a rs /
t m
http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/jst
http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/jstars.h
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
We'll just have remove all the collateral damage that's messing up the place.
Because of a rare display of maturity on the Slashdot editor's part?
By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
Quit whining like a baby, secure that shit and proceed private!! ;P
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
"Would your feelings change on the subject if the US decided Iran is attacked? What about Syria? After all why stop at Iraq, don't need to worry about re-election so what the hell."
You know the interesting thing is I know what I'm going to have to listen to for the next four years.
Everyone's going to be playing gloom and doom scenarios. There's not going to actually be any actions to keep the supposed scenarios from happening.
There's just going to be a bunch of people sitting back and playing armchair historians.
Quite honestly people are going to quickly tire of it (just as they tired of the incessent whining about Gore, and Florida).
So it looks to me like a particular portion of the population is going to be faced with a hard question.
Are we going to persist in the same behaviour as we did the previous four years (and look what it got you)? Or are you going to be activist (root word, active), and keep things under control, by doing what every citizen is suppose to be doing.
Do any of you even KNOW what you're suppose to be doing?
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Catus Petasatus was a life altering mind blower.
KFG
Well, there is a video feed, so the engineers "at home" CAN see the damage. There is a checklist of needed information. The people on the ground probably include some type of combat engineers (who would be making these decisions ANYWAY). It is merely a way of augmenting their knowledge.
So I don't see the problem. It merely lessens the risk to troops. There is also a LARGE difference between a building being checked by an engineer for LONG TERM safety versus IS IT SAFE FOR THE SHORT TERM (they don't need to LIVE there). Different acceptable risk levels.
Of course, if you had READ THE ARTICLE...
In the field, it's known as the Mother Of All Bombs.
True Story
.
considering most tech support folks are rather stressed, i wouldn't wanna know the effects of giving support that may cost people their lives
All the torrents you could want.
Us Military:Hello is anyone there? Indian Help Desk: Yes SIR, This is Microsoft help desk. What would you like to do today SIR? Us Military:OMG, I don't know whats wrong man!! A gernade blew up my laptop. Indian Help Desk: Yes SIR, will you please press your pointer device thing on the start bar. Us Military: What he hell you talking about (bombs wizzing by, gun fire). My laptop, it is blown up! Indian Help Desk: Ok SIR, I understand your situaltion. If your start bar is not available for use sir please click on My Computer. Us Military: Oh no... argggg, the the insurgents got me, (static). Indian Help Desk: SIR are you there? (static).. Ok, have a good day sir and thank you for calling microsoft. Next Caller:Hello, this is George W Bush.. Indian Help Desk:Hello SIR, This is Microsoft help desk. What would you like to do today SIR? Bush: Uh my s...s..tart b.u.t.t.o.n, I just noticed it; and I am worried that it is a weapon of terrorism. Indian Help Desk:Ok SIR, please click on My Computer.
http://shit.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/05/2 245227
What does that have to do with anything? The REAL meaning to the name is what I said.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
Did you try re-booting. Its just like brushing your teeth. You have to do it three times a 98(&@#*$^(&^ ..no signal.
Catus Petasatus was a life altering mind blower.
;-)
1. That's Cattus Petasatus (you missed a 't').
2. Hey, it's Latin. If it's in Latin, it is profound. Even if it's something as ridiculous as the Cat in the Hat.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Canada: The 51st State.
Just to clarify: they're not talking about actually drafting such workers yet; they just want procedures in place if they do need to do a draft. (This strikes me as somewhat ominous, in spite of their claims that it's a remote possiblity, but that could be my own paranoia.)
They already have the procedures in place to draft medical workers (up to age 44!) if it ever becomes necessary. The article doesn't say, but I would anticipate that an IT worker draft would have a similar age spread.
I hate to burst your paranoia bubble but none of this is new. They seem to modernizing old plans that go back to at least World War 2, and modernizing old plans is something routine for the Pentagon. You mention medical workers but various other specialties have been dipped into as well. During WW2 my great grandfather was in his 30s, with a wife and several kids. Under normal circumstances he would not be drafted. However he was licensed and had experience with a particular type of electrical generator that the Army was using. The only thing that prevented him from being drafted due to his specialty was that he was already working in the powerplant of an Army installation. The local officer in charge had to write a letter stating that he was essential to their operations.
""Carthage must be destroyed!", ever heard of Google?"
What the f*?
Carthago delenda est.
Decline, sir.
Carthage IS destroyed. Don't mistake you little bastards "delenda Carthago" with "Carthago delenda est"
On the other hand, "lupus est homo homini"... shhh. While correct neither Caesar nor (this is quite important) Hobbes would say it that way: 'homo homini lupus est' would be nearer to the mark and even then, the verb would go ellicited, so next time you want to, please try only with 'homo homini lupus'.
(I really don't know where this youth is goint to these days)
i'm sure someone like IBM Global Services would do it cheaper and better. Not.