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Satellite Spotters Make Government Uneasy

An anonymous reader found an interesting little story about satellite spotters and how, not surprisingly, their painstakingly methodical hobby doesn't exactly make gazillion dollar government agencies all that excited. Of course the article raises the very obvious point that if a guy with a pair of binoculars in his back yard can spot a satellite, so can the Chinese government.

17 of 439 comments (clear)

  1. Combining forces? by adnonsense · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course the article raises the very obvious point that if a guy with a pair of binoculars in his back yard can spot a satellite, so can the Chinese government.

    Just think what the Chinese government would be capable of if they were to stand in this guy's backyard with his binoculars!

  2. Lay off the Chinese! by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey! Hold on! Hold on! Lay off the Chinese! I thought they were our friends I mean they ARE hosting the Olympics. Nobody who hosted the Olympics ever turned out to be bad. Am I right folks? Am I right?
    So what if they can see all the satellites the Yanks ever launched? It's not like they'd be developing some means to shoot them down. It's pretty obvious they're working on a weather control machine at the moment.

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  3. Re:Sorry, governments... by Smidge204 · · Score: 5, Funny

    1) Provide free, unlimited, high-speed internet access (and /. subscriptions) to all citizens.
    2) People stop going outside.
    3) Secrecy!

    =Smidge=

  4. Re:There's only so much to see... by altinos.com · · Score: 5, Funny

    That is, until clocking technology is invented, I suppose. When the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 1, then the satellite will be invisible!
  5. WARNING: by Ihlosi · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do NOT look through binoculars at secret government laser satellite with remaining eye.

  6. Re:well by Rogerborg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remove all blinking lights

    You Goddamn surrenderniks make me sick. Get rid of the blinkenlights? Blinkenlights are the only thing that separates us from the animals (or the "Chinamen", as we're apparently supposed to call them these days). More blinkenlights! I want those things lit up like Xebusmass trees. I want the commies to look up and have our superior technology slap them in the face like the dangling genitalia of an angry neon God. More blinkenlights!

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  7. I have a plan by nsebban · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's just restrict the access to that guy's backyard, and forbid he let any chinese people use his binoculars.

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    nico
    Nico-Live
  8. Re:What's this new obsession with the Chinese... by qoncept · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I highly doubt the average Slashdotter, who is generally well educated, ..." I wish I had mod points so I could mark this post funny. People here, in general, are idiots like everywhere else. When I was in the Air Force people always used to be surprised when someone would do something stupid; they thought that since you had to score in the 40th percentile in the ASVAB test to get in the Air Force rather than the 30th as in the Navy, the people should be smarter.

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    Whale
  9. Re:well by ArcherB · · Score: 4, Funny

    Black absorbs sunlight. The satellite would overheat. That's why you launch it at night... duh!

    Seriously, you only need to paint the side that faces the earth, since that's where all the eyes are and the sun is not. You can "paint" the other side whatever color you want since there's not going to be anyone on the far side looking for it (for now anyway).
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  10. Re:Sorry, governments... by SydShamino · · Score: 5, Funny

    My guess would be that the government, in the interests of national security, would simply ban discussion of the movements of heavenly bodies, as well as research on their movement patterns. We've already seen what happens when radicals start tracking heavenly bodies and make claims about their movement patterns and relationship to earth.

    sarcasm

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  11. Re:well by denmarkw00t · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.

  12. Re:well by j-turkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.

    Walter, this is not a guy who built the railroads, here, this is a guy who spied on my satellites!

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    -Turkey

  13. Re:well by FiloEleven · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'd be upset too if I were Chinese and was called Asian-American! Everybody knows the proper term is American-Asian.

  14. Re:well by Melbourne+Pete · · Score: 4, Funny

    Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.

    I think you have to successfully invade China before you get to call them Asian-American.
  15. Re:well by porpnorber · · Score: 4, Funny
    Then why are South Africans "African-American" and the English "Caucasian" (the Caucasus is the area immediately north of Iran, roughly centred on the incredibly historically important city of Tbilisi)? This offensive and demented nonsense is forced on you every time you apply for a job in the US. Of course middle-kingdom-men are Asian-Americans! And by the same logic the native people of Australia should probably be referred to as 'Cheese on Toast.'

    Er, </sarcasm>, you understand.

    Amazing how neatly political correctness and racism slot together....

  16. Re:well by Fjandr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe Egyptian immigrants WANT to be referred to as African-American.

    Then there's always the hilarity that would ensue from an Anglo South African immigrant. Nothing like a white, British-accented person checking off the box "African-American" under race.

  17. Wrong info =+5 informative, Correction=+1, Classic by joebob2000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Welcome to slashdot