Basically a quick look at current events shows that the Qassam rocket is being used in the middle east with some terroristic success against Israel. So basically, the hell with your "experience":^)
They aren't that accurate - they don't have to be. Just point one at a big city and you'll hit something. They aren't pretty, they don't have decals, they don't have spiffy high tech components - they don't need them. Info on Hamas Qassam rocket
Who's gonna bother trying to shoot down a plane? Certainly the Qassam rocket (home made) used in the Middle East isn't used for that. It's used to lob unguided, explosive laden rockets capable of several miles range down onto the heads of urban areas.
There's a huge difference between a model airplane and a rocket that can attain 45,000 feet of altitude. That's basically a rocket propelled artillery shell capable of unguided strikes on a target many miles away.
> Yeah, when have you ever heard of an amateur rocket being used for terrorism?
There are some real similarities between these "extreme" hobby rockets and the Quassam rocket, which is used in the middle east. Here's a description of the Qassam...
The Qassam (and newer Qassam 2) rocket is a simple, homemade steel rocket filled with explosives, developed by Hamas during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Both models lack a guidance system, and the larger rocket (the Qassam-2)) has a range of only 5 miles with a 20 pound payload. Nonetheless, its use shocked the Israeli military and public, who are used to the Palestinians lacking any method of long-range warfare. Hizbollah, for contrast, has long shelled Israel from Lebanon using the Katyusha rocket. The Qassam rockets have been used to attack various Israeli towns, in some areas such as Sderot in the Negev and some Israeli settlements in Gaza shelling occurs almost daily, causing large scale property damage, serious injury and occasional loss of life.
Israel has tried to stop the development of such rockets by extensive crackdowns on suspected militants, and by the destruction of facilities (such as metal shops) which could be used for their construction.
Home made rockets that can attain altitudes of 10-40,000 feet have some pretty serious potential for misuse if you ask me. How hard could it be to just set up 10 of these a few miles outside some major city center, load them up with crude explosives (or better yet "dirty bomb" stuff like radioactive materials) and send them unguided to land in the heart of the city. Who cares if they land a mile off, or smack into some building? Think of the terror effect of 10 rockets slamming into downtown Manhattan, launched from some abandoned warehouse district in New Jersey, and the shooters are long gone after launch has happened.
I would argue that the exact technologies and equipment used by these amateur rockets are directly useable by terrorists. You can even bet that a certain amount of the technology for the Qassam came from amateur rocket sources, similar to the one at http://www.space-rockets.com/newbook.html. Looks like about everything you need you can get there.
And I love the last line on the page. "Foreign Nationals Welcome To Attend The Class!!"
> This almost sounds more frightening than the > cloak, since there's no reason why the sensors > would have to be placed outside. Imagine a world > where PHBs can turn their office wall into a > window onto any cube. Zero privacy. The technology > is great, but the potential for abuse is > definitely there."
On the other hand if you get your head out of your FUD, you can think of a lot of cool things to do with this.
A recent National Science Foundation press release includes photos and video clips of the latest Scout emergency response robots. Scout is a small (100mm x 35mm) two wheeled, tube-shaped robot containing a video camera, IR range sensors, light sensors, pyroelectric sensors, and two-way radio links that support frequency hopping and encryption. MegaScout is a larger version that will eventually carry manipulator arms, grappling hooks, and may act as a mothership for the smaller scouts. The robots are designed to survive a six story fall or being thrown up to 100 feet into a disaster area. The Scouts are built entirely from off-the-shelf parts. The robots are being deveoped by Nikos Papanikolopoulos and other researchers from the University of Minnesota Distributed Robotics Lab, the University of Pennsylvania GRASP Lab, and the Caltech Robotics Group. More video of the robots performing amazing feats is available on the UMN website.
I love robots, but sheesh - that is the cheeziest thing in the world. That little talking head on top is just the icing on the cake.
You can bet the thing would be parted out in about 30 minutes of being out in "the field". That or if embedded with troops, it would get dumped the first time some grad student was talking in the mic saying, "WAIT WAIT! JUST REBOOT IT! I BET WE CAN FIX THIS! WAAAAIIITTT!!!! MY THEEESSSIIIISSSS!!!!!"
A few days ago this slashdot story was posted about a tounge-control system for gameboy.
The sad thing is, someone had a cool thing for helping some disabled people get access to a game, and what happens? Masses and masses of juvenile posts.
Kudos to those that can skip the mindset and do cool stuff for those who want to play too.
Someone comes up with a cool way to let people with severe disabilities go main stream, and the morons just leap out of the woodwork. And amazingly enough the moderators leap out too, mod'ing up the "funny" stuff. Aha. Ahhaha. Severe disabilities! So funny! Ha ha ha.
Hey anything to stamp out campers. I get so sick of campers sometimes. I mean they just sit there. You're out there doing your thing and suddenly - bang! There they are!
Well I guess it would help answer that age old q..
on
Privacy in the Woods?
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· Score: 1
Actually if you just use the key to register under Valve's content delivery system Steam, you'll get all the current games. Then when HL2 etc. comes out, you'll get those too. Steam will just automatically download them and give 'em to you.
Slashdot Mirror
...I'd ask, "Who goes there? Friend or Enema?"
Headline says 30 mistakes, article says 31 :^O
What if you ARE the admin? :^)
iWonder
Basically a quick look at current events shows that the Qassam rocket is being used in the middle east with some terroristic success against Israel. So basically, the hell with your "experience" :^)
They aren't that accurate - they don't have to be. Just point one at a big city and you'll hit something. They aren't pretty, they don't have decals, they don't have spiffy high tech components - they don't need them.
Info on Hamas Qassam rocket
CNN info page on the Qassam rocket
Tell Hezbollah that. They've fired over 140 of them into Israel.
They only go straight up because people usually point them straight up. Try pointing one at a 45 degree angle and not have it pop a chute.
Who's gonna bother trying to shoot down a plane? Certainly the Qassam rocket (home made) used in the Middle East isn't used for that. It's used to lob unguided, explosive laden rockets capable of several miles range down onto the heads of urban areas.
There's a huge difference between a model airplane and a rocket that can attain 45,000 feet of altitude. That's basically a rocket propelled artillery shell capable of unguided strikes on a target many miles away.
There are some real similarities between these "extreme" hobby rockets and the Quassam rocket, which is used in the middle east. Here's a description of the Qassam...
Home made rockets that can attain altitudes of 10-40,000 feet have some pretty serious potential for misuse if you ask me. How hard could it be to just set up 10 of these a few miles outside some major city center, load them up with crude explosives (or better yet "dirty bomb" stuff like radioactive materials) and send them unguided to land in the heart of the city. Who cares if they land a mile off, or smack into some building? Think of the terror effect of 10 rockets slamming into downtown Manhattan, launched from some abandoned warehouse district in New Jersey, and the shooters are long gone after launch has happened.
I would argue that the exact technologies and equipment used by these amateur rockets are directly useable by terrorists. You can even bet that a certain amount of the technology for the Qassam came from amateur rocket sources, similar to the one at http://www.space-rockets.com/newbook.html. Looks like about everything you need you can get there.
And I love the last line on the page. "Foreign Nationals Welcome To Attend The Class!!"
It is EXACTLY designed to get more recruits. The US Army spends a lot of time and money recruiting, and this is a different approach they are using.
Why is it that earthquakes are refered to as temblors and not tremblers? I mean really! The earth TREMBLES during a TEMBLOR!?
I'm tembling with fear over the answers or moderation this post may get.
> This almost sounds more frightening than the
> cloak, since there's no reason why the sensors
> would have to be placed outside. Imagine a world
> where PHBs can turn their office wall into a
> window onto any cube. Zero privacy. The technology
> is great, but the potential for abuse is
> definitely there."
On the other hand if you get your head out of your FUD, you can think of a lot of cool things to do with this.
mod parent up! Smart post!
Here's the original post from robots.net...
A recent National Science Foundation press release includes photos and video clips of the latest Scout emergency response robots. Scout is a small (100mm x 35mm) two wheeled, tube-shaped robot containing a video camera, IR range sensors, light sensors, pyroelectric sensors, and two-way radio links that support frequency hopping and encryption. MegaScout is a larger version that will eventually carry manipulator arms, grappling hooks, and may act as a mothership for the smaller scouts. The robots are designed to survive a six story fall or being thrown up to 100 feet into a disaster area. The Scouts are built entirely from off-the-shelf parts. The robots are being deveoped by Nikos Papanikolopoulos
and other researchers from the University of Minnesota Distributed Robotics Lab, the University of Pennsylvania GRASP Lab, and the Caltech Robotics Group. More video of the robots performing amazing feats is available on the UMN website.
I love robots, but sheesh - that is the cheeziest thing in the world. That little talking head on top is just the icing on the cake.
You can bet the thing would be parted out in about 30 minutes of being out in "the field". That or if embedded with troops, it would get dumped the first time some grad student was talking in the mic saying, "WAIT WAIT! JUST REBOOT IT! I BET WE CAN FIX THIS! WAAAAIIITTT!!!! MY THEEESSSIIIISSSS!!!!!"
A few days ago this slashdot story was posted about a tounge-control system for gameboy.
The sad thing is, someone had a cool thing for helping some disabled people get access to a game, and what happens? Masses and masses of juvenile posts.
Kudos to those that can skip the mindset and do cool stuff for those who want to play too.
"This is not the America I know."
Someone comes up with a cool way to let people with severe disabilities go main stream, and the morons just leap out of the woodwork. And amazingly enough the moderators leap out too, mod'ing up the "funny" stuff. Aha. Ahhaha. Severe disabilities! So funny! Ha ha ha.
Give it a break. This is there for giving some kids with severe disabilities some fun. Why do we have to get crap like this modded up?
Hey anything to stamp out campers. I get so sick of campers sometimes. I mean they just sit there. You're out there doing your thing and suddenly - bang! There they are!
Does a bear shit in the woods?
Actually if you just use the key to register under Valve's content delivery system Steam, you'll get all the current games. Then when HL2 etc. comes out, you'll get those too. Steam will just automatically download them and give 'em to you.
Given he's pretty short, and goes by the nickname "Half" then I was thinking more like a hobbit/wizard hybrid.
:^)
Hi Mark
Zero power consumption, very portable, works in both bright sunlight and darker rooms.
And if you're ever stuck in the woods without any TP? Well hey! You're set! Try THAT with your Palm (pilot).