Certain targets make for good theater. Aircraft make for great theater, while killing people who are standing in line isn't as fapworthy. The purpose of terrorism isn't to kill people, it is to use dramatic action to spread fear.
No security is perfect, but the chambered latex prosthetic beer gut delivery system is a step above simple acetone peroxide and other homebrew binary explosives secreted in common found containers. I'm mildly surprised someone hadn't already taken a foot powder bottle of AP and blown up a jet, but waiting to coordinate multiple targets makes for better theater.
Not to mention that a smaller fleet is also a "loss-effects multiplier" When you lose a B-52, there are a reasonable number of spares. When you lose a B-2, you don't have that luxury.
"We have a strong, technologically advanced military. It's time that we used it to put the fear of God into our enemies. " We HAD one, then came the post-Gulf War drawdown (woo hoo! we gonna git da Peace Dividend!) after which the Chuck Spinney-predicted Bow Wave ("tsunami" is more like it) coupled with Rumsfelds insistance on not using the 9/11 mandate to rebuild the armed forces left us strung out and overstretched. The US military has exhausted the Reagan-era equipment we have relied on for the past two decades, and "transformation" ain't happening. We don't have the resources to "carpet bomb" much of anything. Most of SAC and TAC went to AMARC or the smelter. Now we are shitcanning 40,000 airmen to pay for jets we cannot afford because leadership refuses to buy in quantities that allow economies of scale. Good luck if we actually have to fight someone that is both competent and has an air force... Not that I'm bitter.:)
Put on a Black Hat (this IS a geek site) and consider how smart people would use personal gear to blow up airplanes. The subject is interesting, and the baddies have already thought of this stuff (as demonstrated by IEDs) so I'm not putting thoughts into idle heads.
Laptop computer: Swap some battery cells with explosives of similar shape.Lappy still powers up. Extra batteries = extra ordnance. Cell phone guts slid into an accessory bay control the detonator. Cell phone: Proven IED remote control unit. Dial up your lappy above. Toothpaste tube. You CAN put toothpaste back into the tube. A threaded fitting to match the tube allows refill from your chosen source. That's how they fill them in the first place. A home shop can produce a fitting and a metal filler tube to fit a caulking gun. Stick deodorant: Replace stick with explosive. Looks fine on X-ray. Bar soap: Ditto! Pen: Blasting cap holder Shampoo: Liquid explosive/incendiary and colorant. Polystyrene and MEK, for instance. (The bottle does not have to last a long time.) Clothing: All-natural cotton that happens to be nitrated. Necklace: Attractive magnesium firestarter.
All those methods sound fine, but presuppose a degree of local influence that the West can never have on Islamic areas. It's not about "brown people", it is about ideological conflict with Islam. (Not "Fundamentalist Islam", but "Islam".) Note that there are actually "brown people" we don't blow up that the Islamists DO blow up. The Phillipines, India, etc, etc... The only way to resolve this is a mix of wars and actions other than wars. Destabilizatiom, polarization, and escalation into the kind of warfare (total war) that favors the modern nations is IMO better than the death of a thousand cuts we would suffer by perpetual yielding. Total war is a catalyst for positive change. It swept away the degenerate monarchies of Europe. It swept away warlordism and unified mainland China. Considering their progress since 1948, the cost was modest. It swept away the Romanovs and readied Russia for the modern age. Now, there is the problem of the last unreformed religion. If one considers dead religions and their obsolete gods, wordly events are what broke them. Believers ceased to believe when their gods did nothing for them against enemies with different beliefs. This happened over time, and we haven't killed any gods recently. Visible deity failure is required to break a religion, and that means overwhelming military and social defeat. Allah can be dealt with like any other imaginary celestial friend, but it will be messy.
We have a greater obligation to advance human knowledge than humor superstitions of the dead ancients. From learning, there is benefit for the living. Burial rituals are for the living, so when there are no living to be annoyed by it, why not dig?
The range of the chavbuster is not likely to cover a "neighborhood", which begs the question of how much time the OP and his buds feel they need to spend around the immediate area of the old person who does not want their company. People don't want to be close and stay close to other people without a motive.
It will be sweet if customers actually BUY the things. A nice discount over the Windows machines would help, since even if buyers use the discount just to get cheaper machines (and load Windows later) the sales would be good for publicity. The problem with pre-loading Linux is that most Linux users are picky about which distro and what setup they want. They could just as well buy a computer with no OS, considering how little effort it takes to get Linux installed on supported hardware these days. With distros like Kanotix you can even surf the web during the installation.
What matters most is disposable income. Where you have more spare cash is where you will be able to buy more toys. Another consideration can be home equity. In more rural areas, you may be able to pay off your home while you are still young, which slashes your retirement overhead. In high COL areas your home may appreciate rapidly, but if the payments gut your income you will have less to spend on goodies. An interesting option (that I chose) was to deliberately buy "less house" than I could afford. This allowed me to retain the appreciating property as a rental while suburbs grew around it, even though I moved a couple of hundred miles away. If you are interested in a rural area, use your Google-fu and research the "hybrid" maps of your area. I print screencaps of these for reference. If your county has a website with property mapping go there too and research your parcel number, its tax history, and sale history. Useful bargaining information that the realtor may not expect you to know. You can normally get a large printed map with BW photo overlay from you tax office. Get that too, as it is much bigger than your monitor.:) You can get a good idea of how the area where you may buy a house will grow, of the proximity of neighborhoods you DON'T want to live near, and of different potential commuting routes. If you are on a recon mission, many truck stops now have wifi.
How, precisely, do you want them to react? This is a valid question, because war, like any other human activity, requires enthusiasm to perform well. This means people who can enjoy that sort of contest will gravitate to it. Oh, dear, they just might be a tad coarse for our refined sensibilities! Where did all the manly heroes of Hollywood who gave me false expectations of war go? (Hint: they were replaced by game designers!) Come back, John Wayne! The AC-130 crew are killing their enemies, should they weep? Should the Taliban weep for their opponents? What sort of genteel behaviors do you, and your sort who have such moral superiority, expect from REAL fighters and warriors? "real people with real bullets and shells from miles away up in the sky" No shit. War is not about giving the other guy a chance to kill you. He will, so shoot him first. As a G.I., I suggest you watch many more real videos from both sides of the struggle, and instead of reacting emotionally, react thoughfully. A reality and perspective check is in order. You will still hate warriors, but you might just understand a bit more.
I disagree. I prefer to see people who would otherwise ignore this stuff have it relentlessly thrust in their face. Actions have consequences, war and terrorism are facts of life, and the public should not be distanced too far from them. The Ogrish stuff is, BTW, a fine way for non-Jihadists to see the Jihadist POV in a way they cannot pretend is something different because it is straight from the source.
The locked down machinery ("extra cheap computer") needed for this to work is fun to play with after the business plan fails. The I-Appliance BBS (begun during the I-Opener days) is still active, and those interested can scroll down the list of orphan gizmos.
Meanwhile, someone who is *actually* smuggling in illicit data simply has to: Drop it into a throwaway webmail account from overseas, then retrieve it from that account after returning to the US. A bit of warwalking to unsecured APs keeps the process untraceable. If I carried the laptop I used for the purpose with me, its drive would have been wiped and it would have a nice clean install, with l3m0nparty wallpaper for Customs enjoyment.:)
False-choice fallacy in da house! The US military-industrial complex gave birth to the internet, and there is ample private money should there be sufficient DEMAND for faster pipes to make it profitable. Uncle Sam isn't going to boost the GNP by running broadband to Bumfsck, South Carolina. BTW, while I LIKE the entertainment of high-speed access, let's not pretend that it is vital to have it everywhere in a vast country. Getting work done and exchanging information is life-improving. Gorging on free entertainment is just a distraction.
A person visibly wearing earbuds or a headset may be presumed to be distracted and a good target for muggers, who look for vulnerable targets. Where I grew up (pre-gentrification NYC area, yes, they stole Walkmans back in the day!) one was careful not look vulnerable or to walk about with visible items bad folks might want. Dress down, dress without wearing any fashionable items that thugs might want, wear shoes or boots you can run in. The people who refuse to do this will be targeted instead, and you can go about your business.
Cashing in makes sense if you want to do cool stuff like retire and work on what you enjoy. Why not sell at your peak and make a buck, then go on to do other things? It's not like they owed their user base anything further, because their tools made their user base plenty of money. Deity-speed and good luck, I say.
Flat belts and line shafting survived for such a long time because they were open, adaptable, and modular. They worked with power sources like windmills and water wheels, then steam engines, and later electric motors. If driven equipment had a stoppage, the belts could slip and spare the drivetrain. New parts were simple to make on basic lathes.Speeds were easy to change by swapping pulleys. Bearings were easy to make (and recycle, in the case of Babbit metal). New belting was as close as the nearest cow.:) Wonderful stuff, and absolutely vital to the Industrial Revolution.
I've used these since 1999 and like them muchly! I have one I use with my notebook because they lend themselves well to resting on the arm of a recliner. Since they are symmetrical you can switch from side to side, or buy two and leave 'em on each side of your keyboard. Their software will let you map the buttons as you wish.
A standard message format for disaster warning would be useful when prompt response could save lives. Tornado warnings come to mind as an ideal use for this. Not everyone is watching the boob tube or listening to conventional radio these days.
Free will get a shitload of subscribers. Not ME, but there are many, many people who are not going to get broadband wired connections and cannot justify/afford satellite internet. They do spend money and buy stuff. I fix and reload lots of AOLified machines for happy/semi-happy AOL users. Make it free and you 0wn them.
The truck driver shortage in the US is due to the long time away from home truckers typically spend. They make excellent money, but that's all. Trucking is an ideal job for an immigrant with no family in the US. Americans do not want those jobs, or they would fill them. Poor Americans are typically derelicts, druggies, or drunks who cannot cope with getting a CDL or holding on to it, so they don't get into trucking. Any American who can pass the physical, has a decent driving record, and is willing can train on the job with many trucking companies. Not enough do to meet demand. Don't take my word for it. Have a look in trucking papers and in the want ads. Immigrants have to jump through enough hoops that keeping a CDL should be a breeze by comparison. Let 'em in.
"China has to orient (no pun intended) their films to an American audience because rampant piracy in China means that there isn't enough of a local market to support Chinese films." That's one way to spread American influence. Talk about viral cultural marketing...
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Certain targets make for good theater. Aircraft make for great theater, while killing people who are standing in line isn't as fapworthy.
The purpose of terrorism isn't to kill people, it is to use dramatic action to spread fear.
No security is perfect, but the chambered latex prosthetic beer gut delivery system is a step above simple acetone peroxide and other homebrew binary explosives secreted in common found containers.
I'm mildly surprised someone hadn't already taken a foot powder bottle of AP and blown up a jet, but waiting to coordinate multiple targets makes for better theater.
Not to mention that a smaller fleet is also a "loss-effects multiplier"
When you lose a B-52, there are a reasonable number of spares. When you lose a B-2, you don't have that luxury.
"We have a strong, technologically advanced military. It's time that we used it to put the fear of God into our enemies. " :)
We HAD one, then came the post-Gulf War drawdown (woo hoo! we gonna git da Peace Dividend!) after which the Chuck Spinney-predicted Bow Wave ("tsunami" is more like it) coupled with Rumsfelds insistance on not using the 9/11 mandate to rebuild the armed forces left us strung out and overstretched.
The US military has exhausted the Reagan-era equipment we have relied on for the past two decades, and "transformation" ain't happening. We don't have the resources to "carpet bomb" much of anything. Most of SAC and TAC went to AMARC or the smelter.
Now we are shitcanning 40,000 airmen to pay for jets we cannot afford because leadership refuses to buy in quantities that allow economies of scale. Good luck if we actually have to fight someone that is both competent and has an air force...
Not that I'm bitter.
Put on a Black Hat (this IS a geek site) and consider how smart people would use personal gear to blow up airplanes. The subject is interesting, and the baddies have already thought of this stuff (as demonstrated by IEDs) so I'm not putting thoughts into idle heads.
Laptop computer:
Swap some battery cells with explosives of similar shape.Lappy still powers up. Extra batteries = extra ordnance.
Cell phone guts slid into an accessory bay control the detonator.
Cell phone:
Proven IED remote control unit. Dial up your lappy above.
Toothpaste tube.
You CAN put toothpaste back into the tube. A threaded fitting to match the tube allows refill from your chosen source. That's how they fill them in the first place. A home shop can produce a fitting and a metal filler tube to fit a caulking gun.
Stick deodorant:
Replace stick with explosive. Looks fine on X-ray.
Bar soap:
Ditto!
Pen:
Blasting cap holder
Shampoo:
Liquid explosive/incendiary and colorant. Polystyrene and MEK, for instance. (The bottle does not have to last a long time.)
Clothing:
All-natural cotton that happens to be nitrated.
Necklace:
Attractive magnesium firestarter.
All those methods sound fine, but presuppose a degree of local influence that the West can never have on Islamic areas.
It's not about "brown people", it is about ideological conflict with Islam. (Not "Fundamentalist Islam", but "Islam".)
Note that there are actually "brown people" we don't blow up that the Islamists DO blow up. The Phillipines, India, etc, etc...
The only way to resolve this is a mix of wars and actions other than wars. Destabilizatiom, polarization, and escalation into the kind of warfare (total war) that favors the modern nations is IMO better than the death of a thousand cuts we would suffer by perpetual yielding.
Total war is a catalyst for positive change.
It swept away the degenerate monarchies of Europe.
It swept away warlordism and unified mainland China. Considering their progress since 1948, the cost was modest.
It swept away the Romanovs and readied Russia for the modern age.
Now, there is the problem of the last unreformed religion.
If one considers dead religions and their obsolete gods, wordly events are what broke them. Believers ceased to believe when their gods did nothing for them against enemies with different beliefs. This happened over time, and we haven't killed any gods recently. Visible deity failure is required to break a religion, and that means overwhelming military and social defeat. Allah can be dealt with like any other imaginary celestial friend, but it will be messy.
Tell the telemarketer that they just forfeited your vote because you hate phone spam. :)
We have a greater obligation to advance human knowledge than humor superstitions of the dead ancients.
From learning, there is benefit for the living. Burial rituals are for the living, so when there are no living to be annoyed by it, why not dig?
The range of the chavbuster is not likely to cover a "neighborhood", which begs the question of how much time the OP and his buds feel they need to spend around the immediate area of the old person who does not want their company. People don't want to be close and stay close to other people without a motive.
Guide mechanisms don't necessarily need to be on the sides of a sliding tray.
Guide rods and inboard rails are two options that come to mind.
It will be sweet if customers actually BUY the things.
A nice discount over the Windows machines would help, since even if buyers use the discount just to get cheaper machines (and load Windows later) the sales would be good for publicity.
The problem with pre-loading Linux is that most Linux users are picky about which distro and what setup they want. They could just as well buy a computer with no OS, considering how little effort it takes to get Linux installed on supported hardware these days. With distros like Kanotix you can even surf the web during the installation.
What matters most is disposable income. :)
Where you have more spare cash is where you will be able to buy more toys. Another consideration can be home equity. In more rural areas, you may be able to pay off your home while you are still young, which slashes your retirement overhead. In high COL areas your home may appreciate rapidly, but if the payments gut your income you will have less to spend on goodies.
An interesting option (that I chose) was to deliberately buy "less house" than I could afford. This allowed me to retain the appreciating property as a rental while suburbs grew around it, even though I moved a couple of hundred miles away.
If you are interested in a rural area, use your Google-fu and research the "hybrid" maps of your area. I print screencaps of these for reference.
If your county has a website with property mapping go there too and research your parcel number, its tax history, and sale history. Useful bargaining information that the realtor may not expect you to know.
You can normally get a large printed map with BW photo overlay from you tax office. Get that too, as it is much bigger than your monitor.
You can get a good idea of how the area where you may buy a house will grow, of the proximity of neighborhoods you DON'T want to live near, and of different potential commuting routes. If you are on a recon mission, many truck stops now have wifi.
How, precisely, do you want them to react?
This is a valid question, because war, like any other human activity, requires enthusiasm to perform well. This means people who can enjoy that sort of contest will gravitate to it. Oh, dear, they just might be a tad coarse for our refined sensibilities! Where did all the manly heroes of Hollywood who gave me false expectations of war go? (Hint: they were replaced by game designers!) Come back, John Wayne!
The AC-130 crew are killing their enemies, should they weep? Should the Taliban weep for their opponents?
What sort of genteel behaviors do you, and your sort who have such moral superiority, expect from REAL fighters and warriors?
"real people with real bullets and shells from miles away up in the sky"
No shit. War is not about giving the other guy a chance to kill you. He will, so shoot him first.
As a G.I., I suggest you watch many more real videos from both sides of the struggle, and instead of reacting emotionally, react thoughfully.
A reality and perspective check is in order.
You will still hate warriors, but you might just understand a bit more.
I disagree. I prefer to see people who would otherwise ignore this stuff have it relentlessly thrust in their face.
Actions have consequences, war and terrorism are facts of life, and the public should not be distanced too far from them.
The Ogrish stuff is, BTW, a fine way for non-Jihadists to see the Jihadist POV in a way they cannot pretend is something different because it is straight from the source.
The locked down machinery ("extra cheap computer") needed for this to work is fun to play with after the business plan fails.
The I-Appliance BBS (begun during the I-Opener days) is still active, and those interested can scroll down the list of orphan gizmos.
Meanwhile, someone who is *actually* smuggling in illicit data simply has to: :)
Drop it into a throwaway webmail account from overseas, then retrieve it from that account after returning to the US. A bit of warwalking to unsecured APs keeps the process untraceable.
If I carried the laptop I used for the purpose with me, its drive would have been wiped and it would have a nice clean install, with l3m0nparty wallpaper for Customs enjoyment.
False-choice fallacy in da house!
The US military-industrial complex gave birth to the internet, and there is ample private money should there be sufficient DEMAND for faster pipes to make it profitable. Uncle Sam isn't going to boost the GNP by running broadband to Bumfsck, South Carolina.
BTW, while I LIKE the entertainment of high-speed access, let's not pretend that it is vital to have it everywhere in a vast country. Getting work done and exchanging information is life-improving. Gorging on free entertainment is just a distraction.
A person visibly wearing earbuds or a headset may be presumed to be distracted and a good target for muggers, who look for vulnerable targets. Where I grew up (pre-gentrification NYC area, yes, they stole Walkmans back in the day!) one was careful not look vulnerable or to walk about with visible items bad folks might want. Dress down, dress without wearing any fashionable items that thugs might want, wear shoes or boots you can run in. The people who refuse to do this will be targeted instead, and you can go about your business.
Cashing in makes sense if you want to do cool stuff like retire and work on what you enjoy. Why not sell at your peak and make a buck, then go on to do other things? It's not like they owed their user base anything further, because their tools made their user base plenty of money. Deity-speed and good luck, I say.
Flat belts and line shafting survived for such a long time because they were open, adaptable, and modular. :)
They worked with power sources like windmills and water wheels, then steam engines, and later electric motors.
If driven equipment had a stoppage, the belts could slip and spare the drivetrain. New parts were simple to make on basic lathes.Speeds were easy to change by swapping pulleys. Bearings were easy to make (and recycle, in the case of Babbit metal).
New belting was as close as the nearest cow.
Wonderful stuff, and absolutely vital to the Industrial Revolution.
I've used these since 1999 and like them muchly! I have one I use with my notebook because they lend themselves well to resting on the arm of a recliner. Since they are symmetrical you can switch from side to side, or buy two and leave 'em on each side of your keyboard. Their software will let you map the buttons as you wish.
A standard message format for disaster warning would be useful when prompt response could save lives. Tornado warnings come to mind as an ideal use for this. Not everyone is watching the boob tube or listening to conventional radio these days.
Free will get a shitload of subscribers.
Not ME, but there are many, many people who are not going to get broadband wired connections and cannot justify/afford satellite internet. They do spend money and buy stuff. I fix and reload lots of AOLified machines for happy/semi-happy AOL users.
Make it free and you 0wn them.
The truck driver shortage in the US is due to the long time away from home truckers typically spend. They make excellent money, but that's all. Trucking is an ideal job for an immigrant with no family in the US. Americans do not want those jobs, or they would fill them. Poor Americans are typically derelicts, druggies, or drunks who cannot cope with getting a CDL or holding on to it, so they don't get into trucking. Any American who can pass the physical, has a decent driving record, and is willing can train on the job with many trucking companies. Not enough do to meet demand. Don't take my word for it. Have a look in trucking papers and in the want ads. Immigrants have to jump through enough hoops that keeping a CDL should be a breeze by comparison. Let 'em in.
"China has to orient (no pun intended) their films to an American audience because rampant piracy in China means that there isn't enough of a local market to support Chinese films."
That's one way to spread American influence. Talk about viral cultural marketing...