It's not the most popular solution because it's based on MS Exchange, but Mail Essentials (http://www.gficomms.com) is an excellent solution that we used on a 3000-user network to immunize againt Love Letter, etc, etc. Its rules are extremely versatile, and support mailbacks to senders or notices of attachment deletions to receivers (a good point mentioned elsewhere in this discussion), deletion of emails based on filename, extension, size, quarantining messages in an administrator mailbox for review and later release and distribution, and pretty much any other field is usable as a rule. (Almost procmail-esque, IIRC.)
If this is something you might need, give it a try. It works on the main mail gateway (child mail servers can't use it) and is pretty cheap. HTH!
I don't mean to sound cynical, but the military is just not the place for techies. I'm currently an AF officer and a techie-at-heart (although not currently in job). Let me explain a bit.
No guarantee of good use of your talents I have a degree in computer science with a specialization in network protection and information warfare. My AF job code is as a communications & information officer. Currently, though, my job is as an analyst for mostly unrelated subjects. (Some are related to computers, but less than 10%.) There is nothing I can do about this. Period. I've tried at least 5 times to be a better asset to the Air Force, and have been shot down each time by someone who manages my career (whom I've never talked to in person about my career, nonetheless) in Texas. I've basically been told that this inefficiency is par for the course and I just need to wait a few years to take a chance on another job with no guarantee of being interesting.
Lack of self-determined direction As mentioned above, you get little to no input to where you will be going next, or what you will be doing when you get there. Have a family in Virginia? Here's your 1-year ticket to Korea/Greenland/etc. Granted that's a part of the way-of-life, and I understand that, but it's a major factor for many techies. (Ever try to stay current on the tech issue-of-the-day from a camp on the Korean DMZ? Me neither, but I doubt they have decent public internet access.) Even if they tell you you are on your way to a dream job, it can get pulled out from under you before you get there (or after). For instance, when coming to my current assignment, I was told I'd be managing the network administration shop. When I arrived, they told me that I'd be doing something completely different. Too bad - that's the end of the discussion.
Slow bureauacracy (sp?) Don't expect to work with the latest technology, no matter what the Navy commericals tell you. For the most part, the acquisitions process takes so long that we don't get to play with the latest toys, except in some of the more restricted programs. Hell, I had some brilliant airmen working for me a few years ago that were forced to sit on 20-year old messaging equipment (teletypes, anyone?) and operate them for 8-12 hour shifts, 24/7. Needless to say, they are pursuing other interests, for far greater pay.
Lack of generally-accepted 'perks' No 401K, no retirement plan outside of "stay for 20 years to get 50% of your pay, but leave before then and get nothing"
Frequent moves Every 2 years, you will most likely have to move. This could be a good or a bad point depending on your perspective.
There are the good parts, though - guaranteed job security, the ability to put it on a resume as experience (even if it wasn't that techie-related, it does look good), camaraderie (I've gotten several job offers that I'll look at when getting out from people I used to work for/with), etc.
So what's the optimal solution? Not sure. I'd say it seems to be either Guard/Reserve (I plan to go reserve when I seperate from active duty), or contractor. Just be sure you can still have a connection to the outside world to stay current.
Finally, for some people, this is just the right thing to do, and they would stay past 30 years if they were allowed. I'm just relaying my experience. If you have other questions, feel free to drop a line at the above email addy (after despamming it, of course).
Good Luck!
There are lots of ups and downs to any of the three options in the subject line... I'll give a quick rundown from least desirable (IMO) to most. Military: (as an officer vice enlisted) Your assignments are decided by someone else who "knows best" and you are not free to find a better offer elsewhere. Many of these assignments are "career broadening", and not related to tech at all. On the other hand, you do have job security, and many civilan jobs look very favorably on military experience. You also have the opportunity to get wide leadership experience at a very early stage in your career. I'm in this boat for the next 817 days (who's counting?:), and although the experience will be a benefit, it's a tough way to make a living. Government Civilian: You are still pretty "entrenched in the bureaucracy", but removed somewhat. You don't have to move around every 2 years, and the job security is still there. You are, however, a large part of the political machine, and that can greatly hinder "getting stuff done." Contractor: I personally think this is the best option. You have less certainty of job security, but if you work for a contracting company, they will be able to take care of you. When you are on contract (various durations - from months to years), you can be sure that you have a job until at least the contract close.
For any of these three, there are positions that both require and don't require security clearances. All the really cool stuff (IMHO) has been in the classified realm. However, the current waiting period for even the plainest, least interesting people to get a clearance is over a year, so you might have to wait it out until the real interesting stuff comes along.
Hope this helps shed some light on the possibilities out there. If you would like any other info or have other questions for someone "on the inside," drop me an email at the above address.
Although it seems counterintuitive at first, that's the way it works. Bear with me for a minute...
If government money procures a product - software, a tank, an aircraft, or even a desk or computer, it remains the property of the government until it's approved for public release. Now, in the case of the heavy equipment (planes, etc.), I think that you can understand why you don't see them up for sale on govt.ebay.com. However, in the case of the other, lesser stuff, there IS a release procedure for getting it out to the public. If you look up "DRMO" (I forget what it stands for), you'll basically find warehouses that house outdated computer and office equipment (and lots of other stuff, too) that are available for purchase. Of course you won't find anything classified there, and lots of equipment gets "de-mil'ed" for safety/security purposes.
When it comes to "information", things get a bit more hazy. If you want to requisition papers and documents on a specific subject, you can file a FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) request for it, and, providing the correct security concerns are met (again, nothing classified), the information will be released. (This also protects govt employees from having their social security numbers, etc. released.) For software, I'm pretty sure that the same procedure would be followed. Now, having said that, I'll admit that I've never seen anything like that done before, because by the time the software would be releaseable, it's terribly outdated and nobody really cares about it anymore.
This might seem terribly bureaucratic, and it probably is, but think of it in this sense: Military medical records can give very specific insight into where our forces strengths and weaknesses are, which is clearly of strategic use to any enemies. Don't think that this is 100% security through obscurity (albeit somewhat) - any code I've seen developed under contract is quite rigorously tested by a wide range of people.
I'm not advocating all of this as the most logical (or best) way to do things, but, for the time being, that's how things work... Hope this could provide at least a little insight.
Disclaimer: I manage several US Military contracts that deal with code development.
As it seems like you are under contract (opposed to an actual General Schedule Govt Employee), I'll frame this comment accordingly. If not, or you'd like more info, please drop me a line at the above address.
Anything you develop under contract is owned by the government unless specifically noted otherwise in your contract. After all, it's government money that pays for the work, and they retain the right to do whatever they want with the code (or "deliverables" in contracting terms). Now, if you obtained written approval to release the code under the GPL from the COR (contracting officer's representative - whomever manages your contract matters on the govt side), there is nothing you can do.
To be honest, it would be in your best (legal) interest to take down any postings of the software immediately until the whole matter is ironed out. (Just to make sure you can't get nailed for further distribution after you were aware there was a problem.)
On a different note, as mentioned in other posts, sneaking the GPL past people who don't understand what it entails was a pretty shady move. I fully believe in the GPL and free software (I develop some myself), but you should take careful steps to prevent something like this in the future. Also, don't think that all government/military types are clueless idiots who are so entrenched in buracracy (sp?) that they can't tell which way is up. We do exist, and we are trying to educate the masses!!
If you read this, please let me know how things turn out - I'd be interested to know.
The Logitech optical mice have been great to me. None of the roller problems, and there was just an Ask Slashdot the other day on replacing the red LED with a super-neat-o blue one!
I have the smaller variety (more of a "normal mouse" shape than the larger "tank" style) and have had no problems. Works great in X too.
Actually, the misspelling of "existance" is a direct quote from a letter from Hanssen to his Russian Handlers (or vice versa, can't remember). That's why the (sic) is there - "spelled incorrectly". It's used when quoting others' grammar mistakes, just as was done here.
Also, when they knew who he was, it took about 4 or 5 months to stake him out and catch him. This guy is a felon, but a genius felon. Smart people are pretty hard to nail.
If you read the article, you'll see that the legislation is proposed. The title of the slashdot story implicates that the law has already been passed, and there is no time to avoid it.
If you are not happy with this, don't just rant on a discussion board - write your congresspeople - state and national - and let them know your feelings. If you don't want to support "the man" with a 34-cent stamp, they all have email addresses, linked from the US Congress page.
A little more discretion in the story titles could save a lot of hot, uninformed comments. (For those who don't bother to read the article, that is!;)
There are two packages - mymusic is on freshmeat, and mp3 server box - that do something like what you are looking for. If you combine one of them with NFS mounts of the different machines' music directories, I think you'll have something close to what you need.
If that doesn't do the trick, I'm sure that minor tweaking of the code of either project should get you there.
... but for the most part, a ziplock bag could help a lot. you can hear through the plastic pretty well (for a phone), but i'm not sure how you would sound to the other person.
Granted, that's not the "geek way", but I did this for a palm when mountain biking and it kept it clean/dry for my purposes.;)
This reminds me a lot about the JASON Project that Dr. Robert Ballard heads up. He's the guy who's team found the Titanic, Lusitania, Edmund Fitzgerald, and a slew of other underwater stuff.
The control panels for JASON look very similar to the ones for the mining 'bots.
actually you can get sued for "protecting" your property/goods by dangerous means.
A liquor store owner was sued (successfully, and for a load of cash) because he put an electrified fence piece over a skylight that was used a large number of times to rob his store during the night.
IANAL, but the law is called something like the "pull-string trigger" law. (i.e. you can't rig a gun to your door so when it's opened the gun fires.)
Or make the login data in a file that is a.php file (freeboxen's was a.inc) that doesn't have any outputs (i.e. just a few variable declarations surrounded by <?php and ?>). a.inc will be served as a text file, but the php file will be parsed and get the browser a "this page returned no data" error.
Not to say that putting it in an entirely different location isn't a better idea, but this is acceptable if that's not an option...
Re:Screw Katz ... I LIKED Antitrust!
on
Antitrust
·
· Score: 4
I agree! It was a MOVIE, folks! Ask anyone who works or is intimately familiar with a subject portrayed on the big screen, and guess what?
Hollywood sensationalizes everything they touch!
No big secret - you just have to be able to look at the small (and not so small) jabs on M$, and the references that only Open Source folks will see, and enjoy them.
If nothing else, OpenSource people should see it just so they can let their non-geek friends and co-workers know what the realities and exaggerations were when/if they start a "I saw that Antitrust movie this weekend - you're into open source, right?" conversation.
Go see it - at least a matinee - it's a good flick!
Hey Katz, what did you want, a documentary on M$? That'll be on PBS someday, and it will probably still be slanted one way or the other. It's called the media....
I have one as an MP3 server, and I agree that it's perfect. It does have S-Video out, which is plenty good enuff to show some info on the current track or status... XMMS visualizations look perdy too!
Re:What about the KAL flight 007 tragedy?
on
Laser-equipped 747
·
· Score: 2
Good point.
There can never be a 100% guarantee that firing on an aircraft is what you plan or intend to do. However, when an unfortunate tragedy takes place, those countries (or organizations, in the case of NATO) who follow LOAC will own up to the error and take the necessary measures to determine what punishments - if any - are appropriate.
My comment was particulary aimed at the arguement that "all 747s" are now targets. There are plenty of means to authenticate aircraft (and, yes, I'm aware that IFF doesn't always work correctly) that should prevent the tragic losses that would inevitably take place without those means.
This is actually ILLEGAL. There are countless international laws that cover identification of combatants. It doesn't matter if it's offensive (fighter, bomber, etc), or defensive (Airborne Laser), or support (transport, tanker, etc).
It will still be a military aircraft, and will be flown by military pilots. We can't really require a civilian to fly a warplane into a battle zone while they are at the controls of a pretty high-value asset (i.e. major target).
Also, tanker/cargo/airlift pilots really cost about as much as a fighter pilot... Close to the same amount of training.
Not true - period. One word covers this: LOAC (Law of Armed Conflict)
Since the aircraft will be a combatant vehicle, it will have to be CLEARLY marked with insignia showing that fact. It will have the ubiquitous "U.S. Air Force" on the side, star/stripe logo on the wings, etc, etc.
Just realize that the Af has been flying commercial aircraft retrofitted to do other duty for years and years - most WWII cargo craft were McDonnell Douglas civilian carriers, and there are many incarnations of the 707-737 variety in service today.
Not to mention that the large lens that is needed to make this platform a reality makes the nose bulge in an unmistakable way.
BOttom line - don't worry. It's nothing new.
"We want to use them positively so that they can create adequate firewalls so that nobody can hack our country's Web sites," he added.
Yep, that's the key! If you have (a) firewall(s), you are perfectly safe! Log reviews, administrator policies, good computing practices - those are all optional. The firewall - that's all you need.
They shouldn't need a 14-year-old to tell them that it's that kind of thinking that gets IT managers fired.
OTOH, if they subscribe to "an eye for an eye" in India (I honestly can't remember if that's Hindu as well as some Muslim sects' belief), what happens to you if you hack a web server? Do you have to wear the company's T-Shirt for a week?;-)
I think that they mean having closed source compromised is a problem. Since there are exactly two entities that have that code - M$ themselves and a possibly-rogue (mercenary?) hacker, basically none of the 'good guys' will know about vulnerabilities.
OTOH, if the code is open, everyone knows about the vulnerabilities (ideally), and they can be fixed.
If M$ opens portions of the code, we all would be able to see how it ticks (and blows up).
Just to clarify - it's DoD, not DoJ.
And, $72M is not that much money at all - at a little over $1M per satellite for 2 years of time while the ownership litigation is ironed out, it actually SAVES a load of cash, considering the high cost to develop and launch even one satellite.
Since the comm connectivity is strained as it is, and there is a cheap pre-made comm network overhead, why not take advantage of it?
Slashdot Mirror
It's not the most popular solution because it's based on MS Exchange, but Mail Essentials (http://www.gficomms.com) is an excellent solution that we used on a 3000-user network to immunize againt Love Letter, etc, etc. Its rules are extremely versatile, and support mailbacks to senders or notices of attachment deletions to receivers (a good point mentioned elsewhere in this discussion), deletion of emails based on filename, extension, size, quarantining messages in an administrator mailbox for review and later release and distribution, and pretty much any other field is usable as a rule. (Almost procmail-esque, IIRC.)
If this is something you might need, give it a try. It works on the main mail gateway (child mail servers can't use it) and is pretty cheap. HTH!
- No guarantee of good use of your talents I have a degree in computer science with a specialization in network protection and information warfare. My AF job code is as a communications & information officer. Currently, though, my job is as an analyst for mostly unrelated subjects. (Some are related to computers, but less than 10%.) There is nothing I can do about this. Period. I've tried at least 5 times to be a better asset to the Air Force, and have been shot down each time by someone who manages my career (whom I've never talked to in person about my career, nonetheless) in Texas. I've basically been told that this inefficiency is par for the course and I just need to wait a few years to take a chance on another job with no guarantee of being interesting.
- Lack of self-determined direction As mentioned above, you get little to no input to where you will be going next, or what you will be doing when you get there. Have a family in Virginia? Here's your 1-year ticket to Korea/Greenland/etc. Granted that's a part of the way-of-life, and I understand that, but it's a major factor for many techies. (Ever try to stay current on the tech issue-of-the-day from a camp on the Korean DMZ? Me neither, but I doubt they have decent public internet access.) Even if they tell you you are on your way to a dream job, it can get pulled out from under you before you get there (or after). For instance, when coming to my current assignment, I was told I'd be managing the network administration shop. When I arrived, they told me that I'd be doing something completely different. Too bad - that's the end of the discussion.
- Slow bureauacracy (sp?) Don't expect to work with the latest technology, no matter what the Navy commericals tell you. For the most part, the acquisitions process takes so long that we don't get to play with the latest toys, except in some of the more restricted programs. Hell, I had some brilliant airmen working for me a few years ago that were forced to sit on 20-year old messaging equipment (teletypes, anyone?) and operate them for 8-12 hour shifts, 24/7. Needless to say, they are pursuing other interests, for far greater pay.
- Lack of generally-accepted 'perks' No 401K, no retirement plan outside of "stay for 20 years to get 50% of your pay, but leave before then and get nothing"
- Frequent moves Every 2 years, you will most likely have to move. This could be a good or a bad point depending on your perspective.
There are the good parts, though - guaranteed job security, the ability to put it on a resume as experience (even if it wasn't that techie-related, it does look good), camaraderie (I've gotten several job offers that I'll look at when getting out from people I used to work for/with), etc.So what's the optimal solution? Not sure. I'd say it seems to be either Guard/Reserve (I plan to go reserve when I seperate from active duty), or contractor. Just be sure you can still have a connection to the outside world to stay current.
Finally, for some people, this is just the right thing to do, and they would stay past 30 years if they were allowed. I'm just relaying my experience. If you have other questions, feel free to drop a line at the above email addy (after despamming it, of course).
Good Luck!
There are lots of ups and downs to any of the three options in the subject line... I'll give a quick rundown from least desirable (IMO) to most. :), and although the experience will be a benefit, it's a tough way to make a living.
Military: (as an officer vice enlisted) Your assignments are decided by someone else who "knows best" and you are not free to find a better offer elsewhere. Many of these assignments are "career broadening", and not related to tech at all. On the other hand, you do have job security, and many civilan jobs look very favorably on military experience. You also have the opportunity to get wide leadership experience at a very early stage in your career. I'm in this boat for the next 817 days (who's counting?
Government Civilian: You are still pretty "entrenched in the bureaucracy", but removed somewhat. You don't have to move around every 2 years, and the job security is still there. You are, however, a large part of the political machine, and that can greatly hinder "getting stuff done."
Contractor: I personally think this is the best option. You have less certainty of job security, but if you work for a contracting company, they will be able to take care of you. When you are on contract (various durations - from months to years), you can be sure that you have a job until at least the contract close.
For any of these three, there are positions that both require and don't require security clearances. All the really cool stuff (IMHO) has been in the classified realm. However, the current waiting period for even the plainest, least interesting people to get a clearance is over a year, so you might have to wait it out until the real interesting stuff comes along.
Hope this helps shed some light on the possibilities out there. If you would like any other info or have other questions for someone "on the inside," drop me an email at the above address.
Although it seems counterintuitive at first, that's the way it works. Bear with me for a minute...
If government money procures a product - software, a tank, an aircraft, or even a desk or computer, it remains the property of the government until it's approved for public release. Now, in the case of the heavy equipment (planes, etc.), I think that you can understand why you don't see them up for sale on govt.ebay.com. However, in the case of the other, lesser stuff, there IS a release procedure for getting it out to the public. If you look up "DRMO" (I forget what it stands for), you'll basically find warehouses that house outdated computer and office equipment (and lots of other stuff, too) that are available for purchase. Of course you won't find anything classified there, and lots of equipment gets "de-mil'ed" for safety/security purposes.
When it comes to "information", things get a bit more hazy. If you want to requisition papers and documents on a specific subject, you can file a FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) request for it, and, providing the correct security concerns are met (again, nothing classified), the information will be released. (This also protects govt employees from having their social security numbers, etc. released.) For software, I'm pretty sure that the same procedure would be followed. Now, having said that, I'll admit that I've never seen anything like that done before, because by the time the software would be releaseable, it's terribly outdated and nobody really cares about it anymore.
This might seem terribly bureaucratic, and it probably is, but think of it in this sense: Military medical records can give very specific insight into where our forces strengths and weaknesses are, which is clearly of strategic use to any enemies. Don't think that this is 100% security through obscurity (albeit somewhat) - any code I've seen developed under contract is quite rigorously tested by a wide range of people.
I'm not advocating all of this as the most logical (or best) way to do things, but, for the time being, that's how things work... Hope this could provide at least a little insight.
Disclaimer: I manage several US Military contracts that deal with code development.
As it seems like you are under contract (opposed to an actual General Schedule Govt Employee), I'll frame this comment accordingly. If not, or you'd like more info, please drop me a line at the above address.
Anything you develop under contract is owned by the government unless specifically noted otherwise in your contract. After all, it's government money that pays for the work, and they retain the right to do whatever they want with the code (or "deliverables" in contracting terms). Now, if you obtained written approval to release the code under the GPL from the COR (contracting officer's representative - whomever manages your contract matters on the govt side), there is nothing you can do.
To be honest, it would be in your best (legal) interest to take down any postings of the software immediately until the whole matter is ironed out. (Just to make sure you can't get nailed for further distribution after you were aware there was a problem.)
On a different note, as mentioned in other posts, sneaking the GPL past people who don't understand what it entails was a pretty shady move. I fully believe in the GPL and free software (I develop some myself), but you should take careful steps to prevent something like this in the future. Also, don't think that all government/military types are clueless idiots who are so entrenched in buracracy (sp?) that they can't tell which way is up. We do exist, and we are trying to educate the masses!!
If you read this, please let me know how things turn out - I'd be interested to know.
The Logitech optical mice have been great to me. None of the roller problems, and there was just an Ask Slashdot the other day on replacing the red LED with a super-neat-o blue one!
I have the smaller variety (more of a "normal mouse" shape than the larger "tank" style) and have had no problems. Works great in X too.
Actually, the misspelling of "existance" is a direct quote from a letter from Hanssen to his Russian Handlers (or vice versa, can't remember). That's why the (sic) is there - "spelled incorrectly". It's used when quoting others' grammar mistakes, just as was done here.
Also, when they knew who he was, it took about 4 or 5 months to stake him out and catch him. This guy is a felon, but a genius felon. Smart people are pretty hard to nail.
The story title was originally "MI to outlaw anonymity online". It appears to have been changed since my post.
If you read the article, you'll see that the legislation is proposed. The title of the slashdot story implicates that the law has already been passed, and there is no time to avoid it. ;)
If you are not happy with this, don't just rant on a discussion board - write your congresspeople - state and national - and let them know your feelings. If you don't want to support "the man" with a 34-cent stamp, they all have email addresses, linked from the US Congress page.
A little more discretion in the story titles could save a lot of hot, uninformed comments. (For those who don't bother to read the article, that is!
There are two packages - mymusic is on freshmeat, and mp3 server box - that do something like what you are looking for. If you combine one of them with NFS mounts of the different machines' music directories, I think you'll have something close to what you need.
If that doesn't do the trick, I'm sure that minor tweaking of the code of either project should get you there.
... but for the most part, a ziplock bag could help a lot. you can hear through the plastic pretty well (for a phone), but i'm not sure how you would sound to the other person. ;)
Granted, that's not the "geek way", but I did this for a palm when mountain biking and it kept it clean/dry for my purposes.
"Planter" - both brand names of nuts. Not to infer it's crazy, though... ;)
This reminds me a lot about the JASON Project that Dr. Robert Ballard heads up. He's the guy who's team found the Titanic, Lusitania, Edmund Fitzgerald, and a slew of other underwater stuff.
The control panels for JASON look very similar to the ones for the mining 'bots.
actually you can get sued for "protecting" your property/goods by dangerous means.
A liquor store owner was sued (successfully, and for a load of cash) because he put an electrified fence piece over a skylight that was used a large number of times to rob his store during the night.
IANAL, but the law is called something like the "pull-string trigger" law. (i.e. you can't rig a gun to your door so when it's opened the gun fires.)
Or make the login data in a file that is a .php file (freeboxen's was a .inc) that doesn't have any outputs (i.e. just a few variable declarations surrounded by <?php and ?>). a .inc will be served as a text file, but the php file will be parsed and get the browser a "this page returned no data" error.
Not to say that putting it in an entirely different location isn't a better idea, but this is acceptable if that's not an option...
Hollywood sensationalizes everything they touch!
No big secret - you just have to be able to look at the small (and not so small) jabs on M$, and the references that only Open Source folks will see, and enjoy them.
If nothing else, OpenSource people should see it just so they can let their non-geek friends and co-workers know what the realities and exaggerations were when/if they start a "I saw that Antitrust movie this weekend - you're into open source, right?" conversation.
Go see it - at least a matinee - it's a good flick!
Hey Katz, what did you want, a documentary on M$? That'll be on PBS someday, and it will probably still be slanted one way or the other. It's called the media....
I have one as an MP3 server, and I agree that it's perfect. It does have S-Video out, which is plenty good enuff to show some info on the current track or status... XMMS visualizations look perdy too!
Good point.
There can never be a 100% guarantee that firing on an aircraft is what you plan or intend to do. However, when an unfortunate tragedy takes place, those countries (or organizations, in the case of NATO) who follow LOAC will own up to the error and take the necessary measures to determine what punishments - if any - are appropriate.
My comment was particulary aimed at the arguement that "all 747s" are now targets. There are plenty of means to authenticate aircraft (and, yes, I'm aware that IFF doesn't always work correctly) that should prevent the tragic losses that would inevitably take place without those means.
This is actually ILLEGAL. There are countless international laws that cover identification of combatants. It doesn't matter if it's offensive (fighter, bomber, etc), or defensive (Airborne Laser), or support (transport, tanker, etc).
If you look at the B-2, you'll see that the insignia are there. Not to mention that you don't fly in anything like that to fly home and see grandma for the holidays. ;)2 0to%20Remember.html
Check these links for more info:
http://www.andrews.af.mil/89aw/jag/LOAC%20Points%
http://www.asociety.com/geneva1.html
It will still be a military aircraft, and will be flown by military pilots. We can't really require a civilian to fly a warplane into a battle zone while they are at the controls of a pretty high-value asset (i.e. major target).
Also, tanker/cargo/airlift pilots really cost about as much as a fighter pilot... Close to the same amount of training.
Not true - period. One word covers this: LOAC (Law of Armed Conflict)
Since the aircraft will be a combatant vehicle, it will have to be CLEARLY marked with insignia showing that fact. It will have the ubiquitous "U.S. Air Force" on the side, star/stripe logo on the wings, etc, etc.
Just realize that the Af has been flying commercial aircraft retrofitted to do other duty for years and years - most WWII cargo craft were McDonnell Douglas civilian carriers, and there are many incarnations of the 707-737 variety in service today.
Not to mention that the large lens that is needed to make this platform a reality makes the nose bulge in an unmistakable way.
BOttom line - don't worry. It's nothing new.
Yep, that's the key! If you have (a) firewall(s), you are perfectly safe! Log reviews, administrator policies, good computing practices - those are all optional. The firewall - that's all you need.
They shouldn't need a 14-year-old to tell them that it's that kind of thinking that gets IT managers fired.
OTOH, if they subscribe to "an eye for an eye" in India (I honestly can't remember if that's Hindu as well as some Muslim sects' belief), what happens to you if you hack a web server? Do you have to wear the company's T-Shirt for a week? ;-)
I think that they mean having closed source compromised is a problem. Since there are exactly two entities that have that code - M$ themselves and a possibly-rogue (mercenary?) hacker, basically none of the 'good guys' will know about vulnerabilities.
OTOH, if the code is open, everyone knows about the vulnerabilities (ideally), and they can be fixed.
If M$ opens portions of the code, we all would be able to see how it ticks (and blows up).
Just to clarify - it's DoD, not DoJ.
And, $72M is not that much money at all - at a little over $1M per satellite for 2 years of time while the ownership litigation is ironed out, it actually SAVES a load of cash, considering the high cost to develop and launch even one satellite.
Since the comm connectivity is strained as it is, and there is a cheap pre-made comm network overhead, why not take advantage of it?