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?"

Comments

Re:Uhh...

[krymsin01]

If you are going to include the innocent Iraqis, make that HUNDREDS of thousands. A lot more women and children who've not done a damn thing to the US or ever would have have been killed for no reason in that war. And that's not counting the people maimed for life. And obviously not counting the next wave of Gulf War Syndrom which you'll be hearing about in a few years.

Re:Oh Goodie

[krymsin01]

First of all, I never said the troops are at fault for killing innocent Iraqis. Ultimately, when it comes down to who pushed the button to drop the bombs, yes it is the troops fault. However, they are under obligation (And I'm glad they are) to follow orders, and ultimately those orders come from the sitting Commander in Chief. And if you want to trace it back, it's ultimately the PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA who elected that bastard in the first place.

You accuse me of being a sanctimonious son of a bitch and that I'm sitting on some sort of high horse preaching down to you. I've got news for you, it's assholes like you who really fit that description.

You deny US bombs kill innocent women and children? You deny that the only reason insurgents are attacking is that US troops are there? Seems to me that not only do you jump to conclusions, you are fucking deluded as well.

Re:Oh Goodie

[krymsin01]

Stop and think about it. Everyone who has been killed in the war in Iraq has been killed as a direct result of the US led invasion.

Re:Open Source and Military abuse!

[Anonymous Coward]

I am worried that my work [...] is being abused by the Military / Army for hightech equipment which helps killing other people. This indirectly makes me a supporter of an organization.

Are you a US citizen? It doesn't appear so from your post, but if you are, and you actually think that whatever OSS work you do is of greater importance to their military than the taxes you pay, you've got a badly misaligned sense of proportion.

Regardless of your nationality, if you're uncomfortable with someone else using your code in a way you might object to ... then don't release it as free, GPL'd code! I find it hard to believe that anyone smart enough to make meaningful OSS contributions could be so clueless.

Knowing that this material is being used to kill my own people in other muslim countries.

Knowing that what material is being used? How?


As long as we're careening off topic here:

Alas, the Muslim people of the world. Poor, oppressed, peace-loving, beautiful people. Sure, most of them really are. And yet ...

You can't blame those evil USians for the fact that the Muslim world hasn't made an inch of progress in the last thousand years.

Face it, the #1 problem with the middle east is, has been, and will be for some time to come its religion and culture.

If you're tired of Muslims being on the wrong end of the gun, maybe it's time that Muslims got their shit together, and changed. I apologize if I hurt your feelings by saying so, but the theocratic and/or military-dominated societies and governments Muslims seem to be so fond of are inferior to western secular democracy.

(Granted, the US is looking less and less like a secular democracy lately, but you may have noted that they and the rest of the non-Muslim world aren't wallowing in poverty, filth, and discord. Obviously we're doing something right.)

There - I said it. Your culture is inferior to ours.