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Comment: Re:Illegal???? (Score 3, Interesting) 212

by Fulminata (#40084497) Attached to: The Price of Military Tech Assistance In Movies
The irony is that it doesn't take an idealized portrayal to increase recruitment. Full Metal Jacket may or may not be considered an "anti-war" film, but it's certainly not idealized. Yet, I've seen Marines cite it as an influence on their decision to join the Corps.

As François Truffaut said, "there is no such thing as an anti-war movie because it will invariably look exciting up on screen."

Comment: Entertainment Center = Fewer Games (Score 3, Interesting) 309

by Fulminata (#39349809) Attached to: The Consoles Are Dying, Says Developer
I used to play a lot of games on my Xbox 360, but when we got Netflix a few years ago it moved from my study to the living room and now my wife monopolizes it to watch Netflix, and I'm playing my games on the PC. A console can only be used for one thing at a time, and when you keep adding more things it can do, it ends up spending less time being used to play games.

Comment: Re:USA, the land I used to want to go on holiday t (Score 1) 572

by Fulminata (#39044807) Attached to: Female Passengers Say They Were Targeted For TSA Body Scanners
I wish I had some mod points, because this should be +5 Insightful! Locking the cabin doors would have prevented 9/11 and will prevent further 9/11s from happening should someone try again. The most anyone could do now given pre-9/11 security measures combined with a locked cabin door is to try to blow up the plane. That's a bad outcome, but an unlikely one, and one that's really no less likely with post-9/11 security measures.

I guess installing and using locks on the cabin doors was TOO simple a solution. It didn't spend enough money or generate enough visibility to let the politicians say that they were doing something.

Comment: Companies Use Deceptive Means to get "Likes" (Score 2) 95

by Fulminata (#39002439) Attached to: Famous For Fifteen People: Is Everyone a 'Facebook Celebrity'?
One problem with the way things work now is that some companies use deceptive means to get "likes." For example, Duracell sponsors ads saying "Love Star Wars? Click 'like' here!," with "sponsored by Duracell" in small type at the bottom. I'm sure if someone clicks that they'll soon show up on their friends page in ads that imply that they are endorsing Duracell.

Comment: Re:Many versus Awesome (Score 5, Informative) 600

by Fulminata (#38932867) Attached to: India Turns Down American Fighter Jets, Buys From France
I'm not sure where the original quote is from, but I've seen variations of it before in reference to the US Army in Europe. My information is from a variety of sources that I've read over the years, both books and articles. On the superiority of the Soviet T-34, I can point to Robert J. Kershaw's War Without Garlands, which includes a quote from a German officer that "our tanks were able to defeat tanks that were quite superior in firepower and armour" due to each tank having a radio and a crewman to operate it, allowing for more coordinated tactics. The main deficiency of the T-34 being a small crew and lack of a radio in most tanks.

A similar quote that DOES refer to the Soviets is "quantity has a quality all its own."

Comment: Re:Many versus Awesome (Score 4, Interesting) 600

by Fulminata (#38932705) Attached to: India Turns Down American Fighter Jets, Buys From France
Actually, the quote was about America. While the Soviets had lopsided tank kill ratios against the Germans, it was due to the quality of their organization and tactics, not their tanks. Their tanks were in many ways superior to the German tanks. In fact, the Panther and Tiger tanks of Germany were developed in response to Soviet T-34s and KVs (the Panther being in many ways a copy of the T-34).

American tanks were designed to be superior to the German tanks that began the war, but by the time they actually saw combat Germany was fielding tanks that were far superior in terms of armor and armament. This was a surprise to the tankers, but not to the production planners, who were well aware that the Germans were fielding heavier tanks, but they made a conscious decision to go with quantity over quality, as switching to heavier tank production would have led to manufacturing delays as factories were re-tooled. That in turn could have delayed the invasion of Europe, something that the US wanted to achieve at the earliest possible date.

People tend to make rules for others and exceptions for themselves.

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