Of course, but: Poison generally requires access to targets personal circle. Car bomb requires access to their car and time to install the device. Sniping has a relatively high risk of apprehension and requires a sniper on-scene. Bomb under bed requires access to sleeping quarters. On the other hand, RFID code harvesting could be done under direct optical surveillance without anyone noticing. Take the Alfred Herrhausen case as an example of a neatly planned and executed strike. While his assassins used an optical trigger and timed the detonation to line up precisely with the desired spot on his vehicle, the idea is the same. The terror effect of a surgical remote kill on a specific target is considerable. The same shaped-charge bicycle bomb could be used with RFID scanning. How noticeable is an ordinary bicycle in an urban setting? Park on the street on the way to the local coffeehouse, target walks by, end of game. For bigger fish, RFID scanners could be located near target while large ordnance could be placed further away, and need not be delivered at the same time.
There aren't that many ways to do it and not be near the strike when it happens. Scenario: Scan targets RFID/group of RFIDs away from strike location. Program scanning trigger/ordnance package and install in innocent-looking object placed where target will pass nearby. A cross between a claymore and a fire extinguisher would do. Establish wonderful alibi far, far, away.
Following that logic, we should not only continue to use manned supply trucks, but they should have defensive measures like armor removed to ensure that every supply run risked sufficient suffering. I can see trying to sell THAT to my troops! "Airman Snuffy, it's your day to be a designated casualty, er, I mean drive the supply truck.... Be assured that your heart-wrenching suffering as you are immolated by an IED blast will give the folks back home pause as they contemplate the consequences of this war."
The adults in their societies made and continue to make maladaptive choices based on their cultural, social, and other influences. Those choices have consquences. No, I don't care about those people and do not accept the social construct advocated by those who say I should.
These folks are also our job security. While the idealist in me would like computers to be as reliable as good pocket calculators, that would put me out of work.
I sell and barter old boxes, even PII-350s, quite often. Maybe ya'all in the cities can trashcan late model stuff, but there are plenty of people who can put an older computer to use for communication. Cheap box plus cheap dialup is all they need.
Speaking unofficially from what once was Tactical Air Command, we are in the same boat. The Command Formerly Known As TAC is pushing a command-standard desktop that pimp-slaps a variety of legacy apps that Supply and Maintenance are required to have. If anyone important reads this: The military is a controlled environment. Nearly all software can be replaced by free or open alternatives, which the government can actually pay people to fix and update! A shitload of Windows apps only serve to connect to Unix servers. If the users whine, you order them to STFU and learn new stuff. I lived through the transition to Windows from the old Unix terminals. This Works! Because the military continually buys proprietary software it is at the mercy of vendor lock. Help the user G.I.s, the taxpayers, and the admins by unfucking this situation.
I throw in a Kanotix CD with the machines I build, so they are not naked. Some customers will never boot them, but the geekier few that do think they are neat and somtimes put them to good use. A business could toss in an appropriate multi-boot CD with testing utilities and a live distro. It could also contain appropriate drivers. Instead of a dodge, this would be a legitimate feature. Buy box, boot CD, test box, load OS, load drivers, mebbe a sampling of Free Software. What's not to like?
Time to make sure his city knows that what he did was right, ethical, and good stewardship. The referenced article conveniently omits the rather interesting history of Diebold. Any subject matter experts care to write letters to the editor further explaining the sitution?
Same here, except even Portable FF won't connect when identifying as IE. Opera USB works fine. Sad that running an easliy exploitable browser is mandatory. I use the internet for legitimate work such as hunting down suppliers for adhesives, safety equipment, spill management kits, etc. No way to know if those sites are 0wn3d. Air Combat Command is pretty much taking over base network management functions. Too bad they don't blow away Windows and use Linux. It would be easy enough to mandate, just like the conversion TO Windows from the old Unix terminals.
The market for used PCs already reflects this. Check out govliquidation.com (the Federal property disposal site) to see the absurdly high bids for pallets of obsolete PCs. Many small and medium business have zero desire to buy new systems because the old ones are appropriate to their needs and no software change will be useful to them. ATA133 cards, big drives, and memory sell well to them.
Total Number of Suspected Terrorists is no more valid metric of support than Total Active Terrorists (if one could measure that directly). Take for example the "cartoon riots". Now, the rioters are themselves a tiny minority. What about THEIR supporters? The very limited response condemning the riots suggests that for every active rioter there are thousands who consent to and support the riots tacitly, morally, and verbally within their communities. What rioter is going to act against the censure of his own community in a tribal and sectarian state??? He's got to live and do business where he rioted. It IS fair to criticise Muslims (and Christians too!) for the actions of the groups in which they are members. Membership is a voluntary association, and political inaction is consent to let the more active members hijack the group. Take Fred Phelps for example. When I see mainstream Christians protesting against him AS CHRISTIANS against hate, I'll consider how Christian he may not be. Their silence suggest to me the actions of supportive-but-timid spectators. They expect to be gwine up ta Hebbin' without acting in faith?? As Spock said, "Inaction is still a choice".
Why would I want to buy a PC for a required app or two when I can run Windows on the Mac? This is an opportunity to get more choice for Mac owners, not replace their original software.
A good blacksmith is so rare that they can open up shop doing easy decorative wrought iron work and make a killing. In order to be a good blacksmith you have to be either mentored or self-taught, which winnows out all but the most motivated.
Debians model looks better and better as distros based on a less-idealistic scheme run into trouble. If one wants a better-for-their-purpose Debian, they make a Kanotix, Ubuntu, Mepis, or whatever. Meanwhile the Debian folks concentrate on their competencies and keep Debian going.
I like both Ubuntu (in Xubuntu form) and Kanotix, so I suggest you burn the live CDs of each and check them out. Kanos Script Page has some useful install scripts for handling what you want, and the people on the forums are helpful.
"Is tracking something via a barcode scanning system really so inefficient that we need RFID?" Yes. When you ship stuff you can only optically scan the surface. "Stuff" has depth. RFID beats manual unstacking, restacking, re-covering, etc. External barcodes reflecting bulk contents are invalid when an item is removed but the external tag is left unchanged. RFID offers immediate inventory adjustment with each bulk scan. It goes more than one link deep, so to speak.
The live CDs are not intended for everyday use. An option for hard drive installation of a CD image (such as the Damn Small Linux Frugal Install) allows you to get live CD functionality (i.e. booting the identical image each time) from a hard disk install.
Since when is being violent and disruptive useful in a military organization? Clue please. Miltary effectiveness requires good team behaviors, the ability to get along with and cooperate with your co-workers, and self-mastery. The military can be structured to make use of people with somewhat limited education, but needs highly socialised people to function.
"Whatever happened to rugged individualism, proud freedom, and respect for individual dignity without need for spying on employees, and fretting about "intellectual property" and "national security." How diminished we have become, how pathetic, how cowering." When did this cloud cuckoo land of which you speak ever exist? Why are employees somehow noble and safe to rely on while employers are evil? When was business not about making a profit? When was an outside threat not exploited to rally the proles?
Megadittos. People aren't going to take a product seriously unless it has an appropriate name. Cutesy Stupid Sh1t is an obstacle to adoption. People who LIKE Cutesy Stupid Shit need to throttle back if they care about Linux adoption vs populating the world with idiotic distro names.
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Of course, but:
Poison generally requires access to targets personal circle.
Car bomb requires access to their car and time to install the device.
Sniping has a relatively high risk of apprehension and requires a sniper on-scene.
Bomb under bed requires access to sleeping quarters.
On the other hand, RFID code harvesting could be done under direct optical surveillance without anyone noticing.
Take the Alfred Herrhausen case as an example of a neatly planned and executed strike. While his assassins used an optical trigger and timed the detonation to line up precisely with the desired spot on his vehicle, the idea is the same.
The terror effect of a surgical remote kill on a specific target is considerable. The same shaped-charge bicycle bomb could be used with RFID scanning. How noticeable is an ordinary bicycle in an urban setting? Park on the street on the way to the local coffeehouse, target walks by, end of game.
For bigger fish, RFID scanners could be located near target while large ordnance could be placed further away, and need not be delivered at the same time.
There aren't that many ways to do it and not be near the strike when it happens.
Scenario:
Scan targets RFID/group of RFIDs away from strike location.
Program scanning trigger/ordnance package and install in innocent-looking object placed where target will pass nearby. A cross between a claymore and a fire extinguisher would do.
Establish wonderful alibi far, far, away.
Must...resist...aw, the heck with it.
:P
"Therefore, USB/Firewire hard drives are used all over the place to store sensitive data."
For an overview of the external drive types in use, visit your local souk or bazaar.
Following that logic, we should not only continue to use manned supply trucks, but they should have defensive measures like armor removed to ensure that every supply run risked sufficient suffering.
I can see trying to sell THAT to my troops! "Airman Snuffy, it's your day to be a designated casualty, er, I mean drive the supply truck.... Be assured that your heart-wrenching suffering as you are immolated by an IED blast will give the folks back home pause as they contemplate the consequences of this war."
Bugmenot is blocked by the USAF as a "Criminal Skills" site, while the Washington Post is just blocked.
Thank goodness I can still get Fox News.
"Why can't we have an engineer president?"
We did. Jimmy Carter.
The adults in their societies made and continue to make maladaptive choices based on their cultural, social, and other influences.
Those choices have consquences.
No, I don't care about those people and do not accept the social construct advocated by those who say I should.
These folks are also our job security. While the idealist in me would like computers to be as reliable as good pocket calculators, that would put me out of work.
I sell and barter old boxes, even PII-350s, quite often.
Maybe ya'all in the cities can trashcan late model stuff, but there are
plenty of people who can put an older computer to use for communication.
Cheap box plus cheap dialup is all they need.
Speaking unofficially from what once was Tactical Air Command, we are in the same boat.
The Command Formerly Known As TAC is pushing a command-standard desktop that pimp-slaps a variety of legacy apps that Supply and Maintenance are required to have.
If anyone important reads this:
The military is a controlled environment.
Nearly all software can be replaced by free or open alternatives, which the government can
actually pay people to fix and update!
A shitload of Windows apps only serve to connect to Unix servers.
If the users whine, you order them to STFU and learn new stuff. I lived through the transition to Windows from the old Unix terminals. This Works!
Because the military continually buys proprietary software it is at the mercy of vendor lock.
Help the user G.I.s, the taxpayers, and the admins by unfucking this situation.
I throw in a Kanotix CD with the machines I build, so they are not naked.
Some customers will never boot them, but the geekier few that do think they are neat and somtimes put them to good use.
A business could toss in an appropriate multi-boot CD with testing utilities and a live distro. It could also contain appropriate drivers.
Instead of a dodge, this would be a legitimate feature.
Buy box, boot CD, test box, load OS, load drivers, mebbe a sampling of Free Software. What's not to like?
Time to make sure his city knows that what he did was right, ethical, and good stewardship. The referenced article conveniently omits the rather interesting history of Diebold. Any subject matter experts care to write letters to the editor further explaining the sitution?
Same here, except even Portable FF won't connect when identifying as IE.
Opera USB works fine. Sad that running an easliy exploitable browser is
mandatory. I use the internet for legitimate work such as hunting down suppliers
for adhesives, safety equipment, spill management kits, etc. No way to know if those sites are 0wn3d. Air Combat Command is pretty much taking over base network management functions. Too bad they don't blow away Windows and use Linux. It would be easy enough to mandate, just like the conversion TO Windows from the old Unix terminals.
The market for used PCs already reflects this. Check out govliquidation.com (the Federal property disposal site) to see the absurdly high bids for pallets of obsolete PCs. Many small and medium business have zero desire to buy new systems because the old ones are appropriate to their needs and no software change will be useful to them. ATA133 cards, big drives, and memory sell well to them.
Total Number of Suspected Terrorists is no more valid metric of support than Total Active Terrorists (if one could measure that directly).
Take for example the "cartoon riots". Now, the rioters are themselves a tiny minority. What about THEIR supporters? The very limited response condemning the riots suggests that for every active rioter there are thousands who consent to and support the riots tacitly, morally, and verbally within their communities.
What rioter is going to act against the censure of his own community in a tribal and sectarian state??? He's got to live and do business where he rioted.
It IS fair to criticise Muslims (and Christians too!) for the actions of the groups in which they are members. Membership is a voluntary association, and political inaction is consent to let the more active members hijack the group.
Take Fred Phelps for example. When I see mainstream Christians protesting against him AS CHRISTIANS against hate, I'll consider how Christian he may not be. Their silence suggest to me the actions of supportive-but-timid spectators.
They expect to be gwine up ta Hebbin' without acting in faith??
As Spock said, "Inaction is still a choice".
Why would I want to buy a PC for a required app or two when I can run Windows on the Mac?
This is an opportunity to get more choice for Mac owners, not replace their original software.
A good blacksmith is so rare that they can open up shop doing easy decorative wrought iron work and make a killing. In order to be a good blacksmith you have to be either mentored or self-taught, which winnows out all but the most motivated.
Which network protocol supports the transmission of bullets?
Debians model looks better and better as distros based on a less-idealistic scheme run into trouble. If one wants a better-for-their-purpose Debian, they make a Kanotix, Ubuntu, Mepis, or whatever. Meanwhile the Debian folks concentrate on their competencies and keep Debian going.
I like both Ubuntu (in Xubuntu form) and Kanotix, so I suggest you burn the live CDs of each and check them out.
Kanos Script Page has some useful install scripts for handling what you want, and the people on the forums are helpful.
"Is tracking something via a barcode scanning system really so inefficient that we need RFID?"
Yes. When you ship stuff you can only optically scan the surface.
"Stuff" has depth. RFID beats manual unstacking, restacking, re-covering, etc.
External barcodes reflecting bulk contents are invalid when an item is removed but the external tag is left unchanged. RFID offers immediate inventory adjustment with each bulk scan. It goes more than one link deep, so to speak.
The live CDs are not intended for everyday use. An option for hard drive installation of a CD image (such as the Damn Small Linux Frugal Install) allows
you to get live CD functionality (i.e. booting the identical image each time) from a hard disk install.
Since when is being violent and disruptive useful in a military organization?
Clue please. Miltary effectiveness requires good team behaviors, the ability to get along with and cooperate with your co-workers, and self-mastery.
The military can be structured to make use of people with somewhat limited education, but needs highly socialised people to function.
"Whatever happened to rugged individualism, proud freedom, and respect for individual dignity without need for spying on employees, and fretting about "intellectual property" and "national security." How diminished we have become, how pathetic, how cowering."
When did this cloud cuckoo land of which you speak ever exist? Why are employees somehow noble and safe to rely on while employers are evil? When was business not about making a profit? When was an outside threat not exploited to rally the proles?
Megadittos. People aren't going to take a product seriously unless it has an appropriate name. Cutesy Stupid Sh1t is an obstacle to adoption. People who LIKE Cutesy Stupid Shit need to throttle back if they care about Linux adoption vs populating the world with idiotic distro names.