Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Why optical over single-copper? (Score 2) 144

The real problem when installing this will be the LOSS of weight...specifically, the center of gravity for every single airframe will now have to be recomputed, and they will find that most of the wire is in the forward fuselage area (where most avionics are located). This means lead weights will have to be added to the forward section to balance out the loss of weight. I know, because I've already had to do it. We had a test F-111 in the early 90's configured with fiber optics. The conversion saved 650lbs of weight, but we had to add 400lbs of lead weights back in to preserve the CG.

Comment Re:Will it cut down (Score 2) 144

Not sure what you're asking, but each military aircraft has several grounding points that use a standard RCA jack for the aircraft and an alligator clip (OK, a big one) on the other end of the wire that grounds the aircraft to a common ground in the concrete. As for in the air, there are electro-static dischargers on the trailing edges that help dissipate charges that build up, but in the case of a lightning strike, well, just about anything goes...

Comment Re:ah faux news (Score 1) 338

From the citation:

"What is more appalling are the five major media outlets that filed briefs of Amici Curiae- or friend of FOX – to support FOX’s position: Belo Corporation, Cox Television, Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., Media General Operations, Inc., and Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. These are major media players! Their statement, “The station argued that it simply wanted to ensure that a news story about a scientific controversy regarding a commercial product was present with fairness and balance, and to ensure that it had a sound defense to any potential defamation claim.”

And so you would stop using Belo, Cox, Gannett, Media General, and Post-Newsweek and burn them with fire as well?

Comment Re:It's so funny... (Score 1) 676

The "truth" is that Hussein provoked, prodded, and pushed the U.S. into this bloody war. All Hussein had to do was abide by even MOST of the UN mandates and he'd probably still be alive and torturing Shi'ites and Kurds for profit/pleasure. No, Hussein chose to ignore every one of the mandates, fired daily upon coalition forces enforcing the ceasefire, tried to kill the former president of the U.S., and finally became such a pain in the ass for the U.S. that his removal outweighed the positive effects of keeping the Shi'ites in Iran contained. The WMD argument was one of a number of all valid reasons to invade. All Hussein had to do was allow the inspectors to do their job, then get the stuff they'd hidden in Syria back when the inspectors left.
So, in 2001 you have Al-Qaida operating out of Afghanistan with pretty much marginal resources, inflicting a serious blow to the U.S. and Hussein starts making overtures to them (the enemy of my enemy is my friend-with-limited-trust-because-we-still-hate-each-other kind of thing). That would give Al-Qaida a huge technological support base and resources not available in Afghanistan, and allow Hussein to seriously poke not only the U.S. but all the coalition nations in the eye and be able to claim "It wasn't me". Much as Pakistan has and is currently doing with the Taliban and Al-Qaida in Afghanistan. As a result, it was time for Hussein to go. He only has himself to blame.

As for warzone casualties, various organizations keep trying to paint war as an exact science, often helped by idiots in the press who know nothing of the military, pretend to be wartime correspondents, and become infatuated with the latest bomb or gizmo, falling victim to the 4-color ads/brochures and salesmen of various companies supplying weapons to the military. Fratricide is an unfortunate by-product of conducting movement warfare with long range weapons (hell, there were probably fratricides in the bow and arrow times as well), and the U.S. has led the way in reducing this aspect with a list of improvements too long to post here, in not only procedures but equipment as well.
As for being "extreme", of course the U.S. in combat is extreme, it's how you WIN a war, unlike the Dutch who refused to fight and left a U.S./Brit joint patrol to die in an Afghan shootout that had already claimed a U.S. life and wounded several Brits. The U.S. un-learned being "extreme" after WWII and re-learned it after VietNam. As for "shooting up the British", the U.S. has taken it's share of blue on blue hits as well, some from U.S. forces, others from coalition forces.

Comment Study Bad Drivers Too? (Score 4, Insightful) 561

They studied 6 drivers "with spotless records" behind the wheel. I would argue that they could gain valuable information by also studying poor drivers and teaching the program to a) avoid such behavior in it's own driving; and b) learn how to react to poor drivers out there on the road (e.g. passing on blind corners, turning without signaling, aggressive/NASCAR type diving into limited spaces, etc)
Government

Submission + - UK Scientists leave labs to protest expected cuts (google.com)

uid7306m writes: The UK government is planning an austerity budget, in the wake of the financial crisis and banking bailouts. This involves a 25% overall cut in the government budget, and the indications are that it will hit UK science and university budgets strongly. In response to this, a campaign has started that has managed to get scientists out of their labs and into the streets. The BBC has a story here.

It's not just about saving jobs: science builds the economy, is the basis for just about all the technical toys you can imagine, medicine, and perhaps one day will even sort your socks or save the ecosystem. So, there are good reasons to keep science funded.

Science

Submission + - Can A Satellite Read Your Thoughts? (newsvine.com)

SyThanu writes: A new article, examining a very old conspiracy theory, sheds new light on the ability of thoughts to be read remotely. Contrary to popular belief, the basic principles do exist and are examined in a series of articles. Unlike your traditional way of dealing with this topic, the author has approached it from a physics and engineering perspective, letting the science guide what is possible. In doing so, he exposes a flaw in the design of the human mind that can expose it to a form of replay attack. This can be exploited to make an individual feel thoughts, conclusions and feelings are their own. Certainly, an interesting read for any security person worth their salt.
Social Networks

Submission + - Life, the Universe, and Everything Day! (artisantech.com)

ryrw writes: "Depending on where in the world you live, the date may already be 10/10/10. Aside from being an interesting pattern, this date in binary numbers is the number 42. Made famous in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , the number 42 is the answer to "life, the universe, and everything." In the now-infamous book, the masses waiting on the most powerful computer in the galaxy to computer this profound answer were disappointed upon receiving "the answer" to find that they are missing the question. A new computer system was set up to calculate the question—a very complex computer system—and you might be part of it (SPOILER ALERT!). If so, perhaps we can expect the question to arrive on this auspicious date! Here's hoping. But in either case, we should be especially watchful today for any looming Vogon spaceships intending to destroy the Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass."
Security

Submission + - Iran acknowledges espionage at nuclear facilities (washingtonpost.com)

wiredmikey writes: Iran acknowledged Saturday that some personnel at the country's nuclear facilities were lured by promises of money to pass secrets to the West but insisted increased security and worker privileges have put a stop to the spying.

The stunning admission by Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi provides the clearest government confirmation that Iran has been fighting espionage at its nuclear facilities.

Transportation

Submission + - Google Secretly Tests Autonomous Cars in Traffic (nytimes.com)

Hugh Pickens writes: "Autonomous cars are years from mass production, but technologists who have long dreamed of them believe that they can transform society as profoundly as the Internet has. Now the NY Times reports that Google has been working in secret on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver. With someone behind the wheel to take control if something went awry and a technician in the passenger seat to monitor the navigation system, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. One even drove itself down Lombard Street in San Francisco, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the nation. The only accident, engineers said, was when one Google car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light."

Submission + - Plan to curb free software in EU (javier-carrete.com) 1

bodski writes: "Wikileaks has posted a file showing a plan to curb the free software in Europe.
This file shows that Jonathan Zuck, president of Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) –an organization with close ties to Microsoft–, and founder of Americans for Technology Leadership, had influenced the change of working documents of the European Union.
That lobbies to exert pressure against the government institutions under their interests no doubt, and this document published by Wikileaks is clearly demonstrated.
The document in question is a work project developed by experts from the European Commission. This document has been modified by the ACT and Comptia organizations that have been percolating in several working groups."

Wikileaks link to file: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/European_Commission_OSS_Strategy_Draft,_Mar_2009?TB_iframe=1&width=1000&height=540
Scribd copy: http://www.scribd.com/doc/38773615/Towards-a-European-Software-Strategy

Slashdot Top Deals

Software production is assumed to be a line function, but it is run like a staff function. -- Paul Licker

Working...