My name is Kyle Wade, and I am a student at Anderson University, in Anderson, IN. I am a Computer Science major with an English minor hoping to pursue technical writing. I recently completed an internship with XADS, helping to write an SBIR grant application. I'd like to address a few points here.
1) Yes, the CQ StunStrike shown in that picture is huge. It's also heavy. I've held and fired it. I can't really confirm or disconfirm the military status of the person holding it, as that picture was taken well before I hired on with XADS.
2) The CQ StunStrike shown in that picture is a prototype. Often, especially with new and experimental technology, you don't start off building exactly what you're aiming for; XADS has already found ways to shrink it down to less than half that size, and they are optimistic about getting it even smaller. It is definitely not cardboard tubes wrapped in camoflage tape. Honestly, I think that if they were trying to make a fake StunStrike just to put on a website, they would have made something more convincing.
3) XADS is NOT a wealthy company, and, while the costs of hosting a website aren't significant, they only have about five employees right now, all of whom are working part-time (except for Pete, who puts in about 30 hours a day) and none of whom have the time or ability to create a more polished, professional website. There are guidelines about what you can use SBIR money for and I don't think hiring web designers falls under them--And even if it did, the website is not a priority right now, and probably won't be for another few months at least.
4) Peter Bitar is pronounced "Peter Buh-tar," not "Peter Biter." And he prefers to be called Pete anyway.
5) The company was started several years ago, and I think words like "Xtreme" were more in style then. I think the intent was to emphasize the cutting-edge nature of the technology being developed. We all just say "XADS" anyway.
Obviously, I don't really have any way to prove to you that I am who I say I am, that I actually have any real connection with XADS, or that anything I'm saying is true. All I can say is that if any of you could spend five minutes with Pete, you'd be as convinced as I am that XADS is pursuing some very exciting and wonderful technology that has the potential to change the world. The goal is to make warfare less lethal, and while that sounds like a rather lofty and unrealistic goal, if anyone has the vision for it, it's Pete.
Slashdot Mirror
My name is Kyle Wade, and I am a student at Anderson University, in Anderson, IN. I am a Computer Science major with an English minor hoping to pursue technical writing. I recently completed an internship with XADS, helping to write an SBIR grant application. I'd like to address a few points here. 1) Yes, the CQ StunStrike shown in that picture is huge. It's also heavy. I've held and fired it. I can't really confirm or disconfirm the military status of the person holding it, as that picture was taken well before I hired on with XADS. 2) The CQ StunStrike shown in that picture is a prototype. Often, especially with new and experimental technology, you don't start off building exactly what you're aiming for; XADS has already found ways to shrink it down to less than half that size, and they are optimistic about getting it even smaller. It is definitely not cardboard tubes wrapped in camoflage tape. Honestly, I think that if they were trying to make a fake StunStrike just to put on a website, they would have made something more convincing. 3) XADS is NOT a wealthy company, and, while the costs of hosting a website aren't significant, they only have about five employees right now, all of whom are working part-time (except for Pete, who puts in about 30 hours a day) and none of whom have the time or ability to create a more polished, professional website. There are guidelines about what you can use SBIR money for and I don't think hiring web designers falls under them--And even if it did, the website is not a priority right now, and probably won't be for another few months at least. 4) Peter Bitar is pronounced "Peter Buh-tar," not "Peter Biter." And he prefers to be called Pete anyway. 5) The company was started several years ago, and I think words like "Xtreme" were more in style then. I think the intent was to emphasize the cutting-edge nature of the technology being developed. We all just say "XADS" anyway. Obviously, I don't really have any way to prove to you that I am who I say I am, that I actually have any real connection with XADS, or that anything I'm saying is true. All I can say is that if any of you could spend five minutes with Pete, you'd be as convinced as I am that XADS is pursuing some very exciting and wonderful technology that has the potential to change the world. The goal is to make warfare less lethal, and while that sounds like a rather lofty and unrealistic goal, if anyone has the vision for it, it's Pete.