Nah! After that long they are afraid that if they change them things would stop working. Besides they can't remember anything but D0nutC0p5 as the password.
I had an admin that worked for me once that made the mistake of accessing the executives email accounts and then leaking information from those emails. I was notified of the problem and checked the log files. The admin did not cover their tracks very well. As a result they lost their job and I had to call a meeting and remind everyone on the team that with great power there comes great responsibility.
Seems to have worked. Either that or they are better at covering their tracks now.
Some of this I blame on the current school systems in place. There seems to be a lot more cheating going on and as a result not much character building. The rest I blame on poor roll models for the kids today. What with athletes almost openly using steroids and rappers thinking its cool getting busted the kids today don't have anyone to look up to. The easy way out is how it is done. A real shame that it has devolved to this.
Fusion is the technology that is always 100 years away. Until then nuclear will be provide energy now using a well understood technology. This is not going to wait for 100 years to be solved. When it does come on line then we can retire the nuclear plants and replace them. Until that time comes then we should build the nuclear plants that we need today. Actually we should have been building them all along and slowly getting things switched over but the tree huggers effectively squashed that. And I suspect it will happen again when they start selecting sites for the new plants. NIMBYism will rear its ugly head and prevent anything from being built.
And projects like this could kickstart the economy by employing lots of people. But we can't have that happen can we. As long as those that know better have their houses and cars and other comforts everyone else has to scrape by.
The parent needs to be modded up even more. Nuclear is only going to be part of an over all solution. It is one that is attainable now with current technology. And as all those plants get built the process and technology will improve even faster.
Ah, but you forget that in a few years the majority of vehicles will be electric. Right now hybrids still use some gasoline in combination but shortly it will be cost effective and even desirable to have electric only vehicles. Of course these will need to be recharged each night. And that is where nuclear plants come in. They can provide the electrical power needed to charge up all those electric cars.
As we get closer to paying $8.00 a gallon for gasoline more and more electric cars will become available and people will start switching over.
All in all it is good that someone is finally coming around to the fact that nuclear power can be part of a solution. As technology gets better we can introduce other energy solutions along side nuclear. But wringing our hands and worrying about what may happen will end up with civilization collapsing because no one wanted to do what was needed.
And as to other comments about northern states using heating oil, leave everything as it is and shortly global warming will fix that for ya. Al Gore said so.
And as to the carbon foot print thing, I wish they would come up with a different name for that. Every time I hear it I think of a giant Dr. Scholl's foot pad the kind that used to have charcoal in them.
And hitting people is may not be the whole purpose. Just hitting buildings in a large city like New York with thousands of projectiles would be enough. Don't have to even cause that much damage, just a continues barrage knocking holes in buildings would be enough.
And the assumption I made was that if you can build a $2000 dollar launcher it most likely is going to be some kind of cannon or gun that could launch repeatedly a payload of 20grams.
Who said it was targeted at person-scale accuracy? If you built a system that can launch 100 times a minute and then build a thousand such systems (remember these are low cost and presumably small because they are low cost) and then roughly aim them at a city. You could send 100000 bullets into the area every minute or 6,000,000 bullets over an hour. Even if the accuracy was covering a square mile that is going to put a crimp in anything in the target area.
And no need to fit a guidance system. Were talking ballistics here, get it high enough and it will go half way around the globe. And most likely it would be almost impossible to detect such a launch so we won't know where it came from. They could sit there for days launching bullets and no one would know about it.
That is the thing with a terror weapon, it does not have to be very accurate to cause mayhem.
The problem is that such a system is going to be, hopefully, impossible to build at the price point as stated. But if someone does figure it out and builds them then things can get very interesting.
So if you notice anyone buying 12,000,000 20 gram ball bearings make sure you notify someone.
Because turning technology into a weapon is infinitely easier than making something that is commercially viable or beneficial to the masses. It is relatively easy to construct an nuclear bomb. It is much more complex and costly to build a nuclear reactor to generate power.
And some technologies have no other commercial purpose but as weapons. The parameters of this prize almost guarantee that this is primarily a weapons platform.
So don't throw rocks, throw ball bearings or pieces of steel that will survive reentry. And you are correct, there are many ways to deal massive death that have not been tried yet. I find it very surprising that the terrorists have not used some of these other methods. Makes you wonder if someone is stopping them or if they are just not that motivated. Maybe they are afraid of the consequences for making another major strike like 9/11.
Ah HA! You have solved the puzzle. All you need is a transmitter sitting on the ground. That is the same as a orbit correct? Just wait 9 days and claim the prize. Get some of those family radios that are available everywhere for $20 dollars. Pocket the rest of the money for time spent.
And everyone thought it was a hard problem to solve!
The upper weight limit was set because the ones that want this technology only want to launch rocks that will fall back on a target. Such a system has no other useful purpose. At the costs involved it would be cheap enough for just about anyone to build a bunch of these things and use them against anyone on the planet.
Kind of the anvil from orbit idea I read about many many years ago. Launch a satellite that has a few hundred crowbars on board that are more aerodynamic with minimal guidance capability. When you get to the point in the orbit needed drop them and let them enter the atmosphere. Using the minimal guidance on board aim them at a convoy of tanks or trucks and watch the fun begin.
The only innovation that a low cost launcher for 20 gram payloads is going to bring is war to every corner of the globe. If you can launch a whole lot of 20 gram bullets at orbital or near orbital velocities at that cost you could build a weapon system that is disbursed (thousands of low cost launchers) and that may be able to throw a whole bunch of 20 gram bullets one after the other. Roughly target an area with thousands of those and the damage could be spectacular. Kind of like the Jericho weapon in the Ironman movie. But with less pyrotechnics.
You misunderstood. If this can be done for as little as a couple of thousand dollars as proposed then a large number of these things could be launched. And you would not have to go orbital just ballistic. Launch enough rocks and the result at the far end would be dramatic.
It is a cost issue. That is all.
Now this guy in New Zealand had a DIY cruise missile that he was making.
http://www.interestingprojects.com/cruisemissile/diary.shtml
Everything he posted appeared to be feasible. I have not kept track of this in a long while as it appeared that he had been shutdown. If I remember this one his costs were a few thousand dollars. More than what was proposed in the article being discussed. And the range on this cruise missile was very limited. Something that could possible achieve orbit or near orbital trajectory would have a much longer range if not unlimited range for all intents and purposes.
Personally I don't think anyone can achieve the goals set in this prize. The cost factor alone will prevent that.
Almost. If anyone accomplishes this on that budget or even 10 times that budget then it will become much easier for a terrorist or private citizen to start launching objects into orbit or near orbit depending on what the objective is for the individual. Such a device would allow anyone to start launching kinetic weapons at anyplace on the planet. Fire enough of them and the damage could be pretty widespread even if the targeting is not that good.
So how do you buy enough explosives to accelerate the payload enough to get it into orbit?
There are really several problems here.
First calculating how much gunpowder, TNT, ammonium nitrate , fertilizer/diesel, C4, etc. it would take to accelerate a small payload to orbital speed.
Second problem is to build a payload that can survive the acceleration.
Third is hitting it big on roulette to get enough money to pay for the explosives.
Fourth is how to get out of jail when you place the order for the explosives.
Some how I think the bail money would be more than the project allows.
Doesn't that look an awful lot like the Major Matt Mason suits from the 70's? Maybe they had space flight and the Moon vehicles right way back then. Can't wait to see the crawler.
So what happened to the do not call list? It has worked wonders the last few years eliminating virtually all telemarketers from calling any of my phones.
Around generation 20,000 according to the article. Apparently that was when the intern accidentally spilled a little bleach into the experiment and altered that groups evolution.
Somewhere in a petri-dish in the lab a whole bunch of bacteria are discussing evolution and creationism. One group believes with out doubt that life started some 40,000 generations ago when there was a bright flash of light and suddenly there was an ever abundant food source made available. The other group believes that life started only 10,000 generations ago when the Scientist brought the first ones into existence and exactly as they are now.
All discussion ends abruptly when the petri-dish they occupy is cleaned out for a new experiment.
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Actually the insider threat is more of a problem than external hackers. That has been proven time and again.
Funny how people keep forgetting that lesson.
Please mod the parent up for this.
Nah! After that long they are afraid that if they change them things would stop working. Besides they can't remember anything but D0nutC0p5 as the password.
Oopps!
Ah! The hard and crunch on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside security approach. Yummy!
Seriously, that approach is just waiting for that one opening that allows someone inside. Security in depth, multiple layers, is the best practice.
I had an admin that worked for me once that made the mistake of accessing the executives email accounts and then leaking information from those emails. I was notified of the problem and checked the log files. The admin did not cover their tracks very well. As a result they lost their job and I had to call a meeting and remind everyone on the team that with great power there comes great responsibility.
Seems to have worked. Either that or they are better at covering their tracks now.
Some of this I blame on the current school systems in place. There seems to be a lot more cheating going on and as a result not much character building. The rest I blame on poor roll models for the kids today. What with athletes almost openly using steroids and rappers thinking its cool getting busted the kids today don't have anyone to look up to. The easy way out is how it is done. A real shame that it has devolved to this.
Fusion is the technology that is always 100 years away. Until then nuclear will be provide energy now using a well understood technology. This is not going to wait for 100 years to be solved. When it does come on line then we can retire the nuclear plants and replace them. Until that time comes then we should build the nuclear plants that we need today. Actually we should have been building them all along and slowly getting things switched over but the tree huggers effectively squashed that. And I suspect it will happen again when they start selecting sites for the new plants. NIMBYism will rear its ugly head and prevent anything from being built.
And projects like this could kickstart the economy by employing lots of people. But we can't have that happen can we. As long as those that know better have their houses and cars and other comforts everyone else has to scrape by.
The parent needs to be modded up even more. Nuclear is only going to be part of an over all solution. It is one that is attainable now with current technology. And as all those plants get built the process and technology will improve even faster.
The nuclear bogeyman needs to be laid to rest.
Water heated by a nuclear plant won't be radioactive it will just be hot.
Ah, but you forget that in a few years the majority of vehicles will be electric. Right now hybrids still use some gasoline in combination but shortly it will be cost effective and even desirable to have electric only vehicles. Of course these will need to be recharged each night. And that is where nuclear plants come in. They can provide the electrical power needed to charge up all those electric cars.
As we get closer to paying $8.00 a gallon for gasoline more and more electric cars will become available and people will start switching over.
All in all it is good that someone is finally coming around to the fact that nuclear power can be part of a solution. As technology gets better we can introduce other energy solutions along side nuclear. But wringing our hands and worrying about what may happen will end up with civilization collapsing because no one wanted to do what was needed.
And as to other comments about northern states using heating oil, leave everything as it is and shortly global warming will fix that for ya. Al Gore said so.
And as to the carbon foot print thing, I wish they would come up with a different name for that. Every time I hear it I think of a giant Dr. Scholl's foot pad the kind that used to have charcoal in them.
And hitting people is may not be the whole purpose. Just hitting buildings in a large city like New York with thousands of projectiles would be enough. Don't have to even cause that much damage, just a continues barrage knocking holes in buildings would be enough.
And the assumption I made was that if you can build a $2000 dollar launcher it most likely is going to be some kind of cannon or gun that could launch repeatedly a payload of 20grams.
Thankfully this idea is pretty far fetched.
Who said it was targeted at person-scale accuracy? If you built a system that can launch 100 times a minute and then build a thousand such systems (remember these are low cost and presumably small because they are low cost) and then roughly aim them at a city. You could send 100000 bullets into the area every minute or 6,000,000 bullets over an hour. Even if the accuracy was covering a square mile that is going to put a crimp in anything in the target area.
And no need to fit a guidance system. Were talking ballistics here, get it high enough and it will go half way around the globe. And most likely it would be almost impossible to detect such a launch so we won't know where it came from. They could sit there for days launching bullets and no one would know about it.
That is the thing with a terror weapon, it does not have to be very accurate to cause mayhem.
The problem is that such a system is going to be, hopefully, impossible to build at the price point as stated. But if someone does figure it out and builds them then things can get very interesting.
So if you notice anyone buying 12,000,000 20 gram ball bearings make sure you notify someone.
Because turning technology into a weapon is infinitely easier than making something that is commercially viable or beneficial to the masses. It is relatively easy to construct an nuclear bomb. It is much more complex and costly to build a nuclear reactor to generate power.
And some technologies have no other commercial purpose but as weapons. The parameters of this prize almost guarantee that this is primarily a weapons platform.
So don't throw rocks, throw ball bearings or pieces of steel that will survive reentry. And you are correct, there are many ways to deal massive death that have not been tried yet. I find it very surprising that the terrorists have not used some of these other methods. Makes you wonder if someone is stopping them or if they are just not that motivated. Maybe they are afraid of the consequences for making another major strike like 9/11.
Ah HA! You have solved the puzzle. All you need is a transmitter sitting on the ground. That is the same as a orbit correct? Just wait 9 days and claim the prize. Get some of those family radios that are available everywhere for $20 dollars. Pocket the rest of the money for time spent.
And everyone thought it was a hard problem to solve!
The upper weight limit was set because the ones that want this technology only want to launch rocks that will fall back on a target. Such a system has no other useful purpose. At the costs involved it would be cheap enough for just about anyone to build a bunch of these things and use them against anyone on the planet.
Kind of the anvil from orbit idea I read about many many years ago. Launch a satellite that has a few hundred crowbars on board that are more aerodynamic with minimal guidance capability. When you get to the point in the orbit needed drop them and let them enter the atmosphere. Using the minimal guidance on board aim them at a convoy of tanks or trucks and watch the fun begin.
The only innovation that a low cost launcher for 20 gram payloads is going to bring is war to every corner of the globe. If you can launch a whole lot of 20 gram bullets at orbital or near orbital velocities at that cost you could build a weapon system that is disbursed (thousands of low cost launchers) and that may be able to throw a whole bunch of 20 gram bullets one after the other. Roughly target an area with thousands of those and the damage could be spectacular. Kind of like the Jericho weapon in the Ironman movie. But with less pyrotechnics.
ID10T! The blue car was a police car wasn't it? And the posted speed limit was 65.
You misunderstood. If this can be done for as little as a couple of thousand dollars as proposed then a large number of these things could be launched. And you would not have to go orbital just ballistic. Launch enough rocks and the result at the far end would be dramatic.
It is a cost issue. That is all.
Now this guy in New Zealand had a DIY cruise missile that he was making. http://www.interestingprojects.com/cruisemissile/diary.shtml Everything he posted appeared to be feasible. I have not kept track of this in a long while as it appeared that he had been shutdown. If I remember this one his costs were a few thousand dollars. More than what was proposed in the article being discussed. And the range on this cruise missile was very limited. Something that could possible achieve orbit or near orbital trajectory would have a much longer range if not unlimited range for all intents and purposes.
Personally I don't think anyone can achieve the goals set in this prize. The cost factor alone will prevent that.
Almost. If anyone accomplishes this on that budget or even 10 times that budget then it will become much easier for a terrorist or private citizen to start launching objects into orbit or near orbit depending on what the objective is for the individual. Such a device would allow anyone to start launching kinetic weapons at anyplace on the planet. Fire enough of them and the damage could be pretty widespread even if the targeting is not that good.
So how do you buy enough explosives to accelerate the payload enough to get it into orbit?
There are really several problems here.
First calculating how much gunpowder, TNT, ammonium nitrate , fertilizer/diesel, C4, etc. it would take to accelerate a small payload to orbital speed.
Second problem is to build a payload that can survive the acceleration.
Third is hitting it big on roulette to get enough money to pay for the explosives.
Fourth is how to get out of jail when you place the order for the explosives.
Some how I think the bail money would be more than the project allows.
Doesn't that look an awful lot like the Major Matt Mason suits from the 70's? Maybe they had space flight and the Moon vehicles right way back then. Can't wait to see the crawler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Matt_Mason
Use Secure ID tokens. Of course the boarder guards might find it alarming that you have something that counts down repeatedly.
So what happened to the do not call list? It has worked wonders the last few years eliminating virtually all telemarketers from calling any of my phones.
Now that is funny. All those comments about a typo and finally someone makes a great joke.
Thanks.
Unless we get caught by the bully passing out purple nurples.
Around generation 20,000 according to the article. Apparently that was when the intern accidentally spilled a little bleach into the experiment and altered that groups evolution.
Somewhere in a petri-dish in the lab a whole bunch of bacteria are discussing evolution and creationism. One group believes with out doubt that life started some 40,000 generations ago when there was a bright flash of light and suddenly there was an ever abundant food source made available. The other group believes that life started only 10,000 generations ago when the Scientist brought the first ones into existence and exactly as they are now.
All discussion ends abruptly when the petri-dish they occupy is cleaned out for a new experiment.