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The Man Who Literally Saved the World
99luftballon writes "Today is an important anniversary for Russian hero Stanislav Petrov, the Soviet missile commander who saved the world from nuclear destruction in 1983. Sadly there are plenty of other examples of this kind of thing. How long will we keep getting lucky?"
June, 1983 - American teenager David Lightman hacks into NORAD's WOPR computer and begins playing a game of Global Thermonuclear War. WOPR however doesn't believe it to be a game, and begins preparations for missile launch. Fortunately, with the help of WOPR's creator Stephen Falken, they were able to have the computer play itself at Tic-Tac-Toe. As a result of this win-less battle, WOPR learns the only winning move is not to play.
We'll stay lucky 'til the end of the world.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Next time you want to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against Russia, just launch your missles one after another.
afterwards, did he take up chess?
I can see why you'd feel that way, since Brazil has always been such a high priority target for U.S. warheads.
Don't worry I just changed the article so that no countries have nuclear weapons anymore. What a relief, I wonder why someone didn't do that before.
I guess it's just one of those things that just seems obvious in hindsite.
Mrs Petrov: Stanislov saved the world from nuclear annihilation today. What are you doing, you lazy bum?
/me goes back to playing Pacman...
That was the standard unlock code for nukes during the Cold War. :-) Sleep well tonight!
Haida Manga
They could always just call up the other side and ask them. I imagine the conversation would go something like this:
...
<ring>
USA: Hi?
USSR: Hey, USSR here. Sorry to bother you, but are you guys sneakily launching a bunch of Nukes at us?
USA: Err.. No, not at all.
USSR: Great, thanks.
<click>
<ring>
USA: Hello?
USSR: USSR again. Are you sure you aren't launching a strike, or are you just saying it.
USA: You got me! Yeah, we did launch a strike. I fooled you at first though didn't I?
USSR: Heh. yeah. That was pretty sneaky.
You'll have to forgive us. Most Americans think the Japanese bombed America at Pearl Harbor. I'm nowhere near old enough to remember that, but I predate Hawaiian statehood.
At the time, of course, Hawaii was simply an American territory, like Puerto Rico and the UK are now.
KFG
My 6th birthday had the Apollo capsule on the cake.
."
Mine had a deep breath for having made it through the Cuban Missle Crisis.
Kids these days, they don't know how to sing, "Duck; and cover, Duck; and cover. .
I don't know what the hell they were thinking with that one. Even as a five year old I knew that my jacket wasn't going to do squat against an A-bomb. I suspected already that grownups were nuts, but that idea confirmed it for me. I've yet to see anything to disuade me from the notion. If anything they've gotten a damned sight nuttier. Glad I'm not one.
KFG
Aah europe, almost like it was before the first world war, how about that for improvement.
In other news, the US used the Izzard approach to diplomacy:
"Hey, guys, look. We've done the killing before, and I gotta say just chil-Chill out, all right?"
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How long will we keep getting lucky
If I kept getting lucky, I wouldn't be reading Slashdot...
oohooh apocolypse pony!
> oohooh apocolypse pony!
The worst kind.
At the time, of course, Hawaii was simply an American territory, like Puerto Rico...
Go ahead, bomb our military base on Puerto Rico, see how we react.
Thank you for illustrating my point so vividly, though probably without intent.
Joachim
People don't write Manifestos any more -- what's going on in this world? [Frank Zappa]