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Submission + - $30B IT Stimulus Will Create Almost 1 Million Jobs (itif.org)

Submitted by
itif
itif writes: "This report takes a look at how many jobs you get if you invest $10 billion each in three different IT infrastructure projects--broadband, health IT and the smart grid. It argues that if you are going to be spending billion on a stimulus package, investing in "digital infrastructure" creates more jobs than physical infrastructure (e.g. roads and bridges) in the short-term, and you get a whole host of other benefits in the long-term."

Comment Re:Tech issues and socio-political issues. (Score 1) 526

by SorryTomato (#20883879) Attached to: Japanese Stealth Fighter Announced as 'Return of the Zero'
stealth technology however, is that it is almost exclusively used for aggression rather than defense if you play your strategy according to tradition.

I would actually argue the other way around. Stealth is inherently a passive defensive technology. It's primary purpose is to protect the aircraft (or ship or tank or grunt in his camo). Now this defensive advantage can easily be used for offense (sneak in and bomb, setup an aerial ambush or make locking on by enemy missiles harder).

Previously the primary protection used to be either superior mobility (hit and run before being hit back) or superior damage resistance (armoring, redundant systems etc). Stealth is just another element of protection - avoid being hit at all.

And stealth isnt something revolutionarily new - low observability has always been a military factor in the form of camoflague, emission control, acoustic damping etc with partial radar transparency being the new hotness now.
Space

Submission + - Mars Global Surveyor died from single bad command

Submitted by
wattsup
wattsup writes: "The LA Times reports that a single wrong command sent to the wrong computer address caused a cascade of events that led to the loss of the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft last November, NASA investigators reported Friday.

A command that oriented the spacecraft's main communications antenna was sent to the wrong address. The mistake caused a problem with the positioning of the solar power panels, this in turned caused one of the batteries to overheat, shutting down the solar power system and the batteries drained in 12 hours."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - New Laws of Robotics proposed for US kill-bots

Submitted by jakosc
jakosc writes: The Register has a short commentry about a proposed new set of laws of robotics for war robots by John S Canning of the Naval Surface Warfare Centre. Unlike Azimov's three laws of robotics Canning proposes (pdf) that we should "Let machines target other machines and let men target men." although this sounds OK in principle, "a robot could decide under Mr Canning's rules, to target a weapon system such as an AK47 for destruction on its own initiative, requiring no permission from a human. If the person holding it was thereby killed, that would be collateral damage and the killer droid would be in the clear.."

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