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Chris Jacob
In today's Remainders, the tablet-confirming Tweet from a German retailer that wasn't really from a German retailer, a video of the Air Force smushing faces with seven Gs, an iPhone app that keeps track of all those rumors, and more!
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So, Iraqi insurgents found a way to hack into Predator drones' unencrypted video feeds with cheap Windows shareware. Ridiculous? Obviously! But also kind of minor—the story was more embarrassing than alarming; a gaffe, not a disaster. Then, this.
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Apparently the Department of Defense believes that PS3s are a better value when it comes to supercomputers than IBM products specifically designed for the purpose. Granted recent price drops probably didn't hurt in justifying a 2,200 console order either.
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Astronomers are arguing with the Air Force over being allowed to use lasers pointed at the sky to adjust telescopes. The Air Force fears that satellites could be accidentally blinded while astronomers are concerned about missing significant heavenly observations.
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You might remember that the U.S. Air Force and Boeing have equipped a C-130 plane with an Advanced Tactical Laser for initial air-to-air tests. In September, it finally hit something successfully: A truck. Cool enough, but don't expect any explosions.
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An MQ-9 Reaper drone's fail-safe programming failed and it rushed through Afghanistan's airspace on Sunday. The US Air Force simply responded by sending a manned plane to shoot it down. Turns out this isn't all that uncommon.
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Want to know where your tax money is going next year? Here's more than you can handle in the new 2010 edition of the Death and Taxes poster. Zoom in to see how much those F-35 fighters and lasers cost.
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When the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report saying that worldwide GPS performance is likely to degrade in the next few years, lot of people, public and private, kinda flipped. Cue the inevitable about-face, right about...now.
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Death and Taxes 2009 is a detailed graphical account showing where your tax dollars will go next year in the most detailed and fascinating way: Everything is set to scale according to the amount of money spent on it, showing the amazing weight that military-related spending has in the total Federal budget. It's just mindblowing to see it all with one look. It's easy to get amazed with military technology and, like with Dubai's architecture and its slaves, I keep forgetting how much money really gots into developing hypersonic missiles, airborne lasers, invisible bombers, next generation fighters, body piercing tanks, torpedoes capable of splitting a huge ship in two, ever-vigilant drones, scary helmets, and other deadly gadgets. When you zoom in the interactive map, the numbers are just staggering.
For sure, the military research and manufacturing that Darpa or companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin do not only push the scientific and industrial envelope-with long term benefits for everyone-and some may argue that it provides with work and fuels the economy-although this is kind of a fallacy and a vicious circle-but seriously, is this the only way to achieve it? What about the rest of the stuff?
Hopefully, this will all change. Someday. [Wall Stats via Dark Roasted Blend]
After losing track of six nuclear warheads last year, you would think that the crack security team at Minot Air Force Base would pull it together for their much anticipated nuclear security inspection. Unfortunately, you would be mistaken. Inspectors from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency failed the security wing based on a number of infractions—including an incident where an airmen was observed playing video games on his cellphone while standing guard at a "restricted area perimeter" during a simulated attack.
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