The Taliban also fell because they represented, mainly, one tribe out of the many in Afghanistan. Sort of like having the US taken over by only Texans. They also had a large number of foreign supporters in a sort of Lincoln Brigade (ref: Spanish Civil War) role. In a parochial nation such as Afghanistan they didn't have much support outside of their tribe.
By the way, MS Word recommends "Tailbone" for "Taliban", are they implying something?
Re:Sacrifice without War
on
The Drone War
·
· Score: 1
Why didn't they just simulate the suicides also?
Some points missed by Katz
on
The Drone War
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
The trend in modern warfare has been a steady decrease in casualties among combatants and a steady increase (at least percentage wise) among noncombatants. I think we'll see a future where it is far safer to be actively "fighting" than to be an innocent bystander.
The use of robotic proxies makes me wonder what the drones would be used for once they had beaten their robotic counterparts? I assume they would be used to subjugate resistance among the civilian population. A My Lai without getting your hands dirty?
The point about these future forces not requiring a WWII type total war burden is not necessarily true. We have been burdened with a staggering peace time defense budget that makes other nation's pale in comparison. We spend money as if WWII never ended and seem to be eager to find excuses to use our "defense" forces. Our very definition of national security has been stretched to the limits of plausibility with the most unlikely places and scenarios being labeled as critical to security. The same thing is being done with the definition of terrorism.
It is worth pointing out that the WTC attack was low tech and points out that highly complex systems are vulnerable to low tech attacks (look t DOS attacks on systems). Being highly dependant on advanced remote fighting tech gives you one big Archille's Heel.
In addition, the fact it took months before an American was killed in combat (disputed) just means that all of the ground fighting has been done by Afghanis themselves up to that point. The US wavered as to what to do until it finally threw it's weight behind the Northern Alliance. I doubt there'd be any significant US forces on the ground if it wasn't for the NA.
Can't the stretching be compensated by using a variable speed tape reader? I know squat about mag tapes but I'm surprised that it sounds like there isn't a timing signal on the tape the reader can use to maintain the proper speed.
Supposedly they will remove records on request. Don't know if they have done this or if this would be why you can't see those records. Of course they may just have a gap in their archives!
It is about history and about how you can't predict the future value of something. In the article it mentions how they focused on saving technical discussions and dropping debates (such as abortion). Back then the technical info seemed much more useful but now the systems they talked about don't exist anymore but people would be interested in the debates on social issues at the time.
Look at how many books give insight into famous people via their personal correspondance. I'm sure at the time all those letters probably didn't seem worth keeping but now they are extremely valuable. They are untainted windows into the past. We could look back at, say, Linus Torvald's early letters to get an idea of why he did things a certain way or how his work developed.
Storage is getting cheaper and more compact all the time. There isn't any good reason to throw this historical record out or even clean it up. If the old info bothers you in searches just limit your searches by date.
God forbid/. should make some money to keep afloat. Maybe you were one of those "new economy".com'ers who thought $ wasn't necessary to keep a business alive? You know, the ones who went out of business.
Well said. It reminds me of talking to a friend from Mexico City. When I was down there I saw Popo (nearby volcano) smoking pretty hard. I asked him if they had set up plans to evacutate the city if Popo started to blow. He said "Yah, but how the hell are you going to evacuate 10 million people and where are you going to put them? They'd all be doomed!"
The greatest threats are from ourselves, not space.
Given the current record of such folks as AG Ashcroft and the average citizen's complacency in giving away their freedoms I wouldn't be so quick to wave the flag and praise the US dollar as an eternal bulwark against abuse. There is no reason to believe the Feds wouldn't try to push that here by selling it to the population under some guise. anti-terrorism? war against drugs? war against (insert boogeyman of the day here)?
I'd say the government (and our budget chasing law enforcement agencies) hate anonymity and faceless cash represents that freedom.
Slashdot Mirror
What exactly are you criticizing here? You must be pretty desperate for something to bitch about.
They haven't even touched on the possible IP violations caused by the trasmission of copywrited material by light to your eyes.
Forgot about the backup tape!
Sort of sad they can only bring back the hard drives.
The Taliban also fell because they represented, mainly, one tribe out of the many in Afghanistan. Sort of like having the US taken over by only Texans. They also had a large number of foreign supporters in a sort of Lincoln Brigade (ref: Spanish Civil War) role. In a parochial nation such as Afghanistan they didn't have much support outside of their tribe.
By the way, MS Word recommends "Tailbone" for "Taliban", are they implying something?
Why didn't they just simulate the suicides also?
The trend in modern warfare has been a steady decrease in casualties among combatants and a steady increase (at least percentage wise) among noncombatants. I think we'll see a future where it is far safer to be actively "fighting" than to be an innocent bystander.
The use of robotic proxies makes me wonder what the drones would be used for once they had beaten their robotic counterparts? I assume they would be used to subjugate resistance among the civilian population. A My Lai without getting your hands dirty?
The point about these future forces not requiring a WWII type total war burden is not necessarily true. We have been burdened with a staggering peace time defense budget that makes other nation's pale in comparison. We spend money as if WWII never ended and seem to be eager to find excuses to use our "defense" forces. Our very definition of national security has been stretched to the limits of plausibility with the most unlikely places and scenarios being labeled as critical to security. The same thing is being done with the definition of terrorism.
It is worth pointing out that the WTC attack was low tech and points out that highly complex systems are vulnerable to low tech attacks (look t DOS attacks on systems). Being highly dependant on advanced remote fighting tech gives you one big Archille's Heel.
In addition, the fact it took months before an American was killed in combat (disputed) just means that all of the ground fighting has been done by Afghanis themselves up to that point. The US wavered as to what to do until it finally threw it's weight behind the Northern Alliance. I doubt there'd be any significant US forces on the ground if it wasn't for the NA.
There is already a virus for your pants. You've gotta always wear a condom.
Can't the stretching be compensated by using a variable speed tape reader? I know squat about mag tapes but I'm surprised that it sounds like there isn't a timing signal on the tape the reader can use to maintain the proper speed.
Google doesn't return binaries in their searches (not even archived?). Just think, an entire history of nudie pix lost forever!!!
Let's hope they don't archive /.'s message forums. Imagine having to read all of your old "-1" modded postings for the rest of your life.
Supposedly they will remove records on request. Don't know if they have done this or if this would be why you can't see those records. Of course they may just have a gap in their archives!
It is about history and about how you can't predict the future value of something. In the article it mentions how they focused on saving technical discussions and dropping debates (such as abortion). Back then the technical info seemed much more useful but now the systems they talked about don't exist anymore but people would be interested in the debates on social issues at the time.
Look at how many books give insight into famous people via their personal correspondance. I'm sure at the time all those letters probably didn't seem worth keeping but now they are extremely valuable. They are untainted windows into the past. We could look back at, say, Linus Torvald's early letters to get an idea of why he did things a certain way or how his work developed.
Storage is getting cheaper and more compact all the time. There isn't any good reason to throw this historical record out or even clean it up. If the old info bothers you in searches just limit your searches by date.
And smoke
Naaah, you'd just see a lot of cigarette butts and Dunkin Doughnuts coffee cups.
I magnified the image of the new planet and I swear I saw a Starbucks logo.
The increase in price for going over 15" in a flat screen would push it well past $1800. It isn't a simple 1 for 1 exchange with the DVD burner.
They had to think about pricing and the market and make some compromises.
God forbid /. should make some money to keep afloat. Maybe you were one of those "new economy" .com'ers who thought $ wasn't necessary to keep a business alive? You know, the ones who went out of business.
They obviously would have to name the observatory "Floyd" in honor of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and Dr. Floyd from 2001 moon base fame.
Well said. It reminds me of talking to a friend from Mexico City. When I was down there I saw Popo (nearby volcano) smoking pretty hard. I asked him if they had set up plans to evacutate the city if Popo started to blow. He said "Yah, but how the hell are you going to evacuate 10 million people and where are you going to put them? They'd all be doomed!"
The greatest threats are from ourselves, not space.
It takes longer than you think to animate an older CGI Jar Jar Binks.
I have just two things to say to you, "Ewoks" and "Jar Jar Binks"
I can see it now, you go to pay for lunch and your cash comes up "This $ is owned by THE 3L1T3!!!" then the bill erases itself.
When will we see Eurocash virses?
Beware of people asking for an ID when you are paying cash.
"We need to see it in case, uhhhh, the cash bounces at the Federal Reserve, yah that's it."
Given the current record of such folks as AG Ashcroft and the average citizen's complacency in giving away their freedoms I wouldn't be so quick to wave the flag and praise the US dollar as an eternal bulwark against abuse. There is no reason to believe the Feds wouldn't try to push that here by selling it to the population under some guise. anti-terrorism? war against drugs? war against (insert boogeyman of the day here)?
I'd say the government (and our budget chasing law enforcement agencies) hate anonymity and faceless cash represents that freedom.