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New York, 12:27 PM
Tue Dec 15
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Curves Curves
    11/13/09

    In reply to The Seaglider, Hunting
    I hope it gets some. Whale music. The idea is quite romantic. Like really good opera, you might not understand the words, but hopefully you totally "get" the feelings. #seaglider
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of DeadWriter DeadWriter
    11/14/09

    @Curves: I love whale sounds, but the cynic in me says expect a lot of unknown sounds, and perhaps some flatulence from see critters. Perhaps a Bloop if they are lucky. #seaglider
     Reply
    Curves promoted this comment DeadWriter was starred DeadWriter was unstarred
    Image of 32ndnote 32ndnote
    11/13/09

    In reply to The Seaglider, Hunting
    They're going to be sorely disappointed when the only sounds are those of Brian Lam yelling obscenities as he tumbles off his surf board. #seaglider
     Reply
    32ndnote was starred 32ndnote was unstarred
    Image of Flying Jukebox: There is no cow level. Flying Jukebox: There is no cow level.
    11/13/09

    In reply to The Seaglider, Hunting
    I'm surprised nothing has tried to eat it. #seaglider
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee promoted this comment Flying Jukebox: There is no cow level. was starred Flying Jukebox: There is no cow level. was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE
    11/13/09

    @Flying CDs: It's pink, which is the universal Do Not Eat color in the ocean. It's a fact. #seaglider
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was starred GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    11/14/09

    @GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee: Shark won't care if yer pink, or chatreuse. It's gonna swallow ya whole. #seaglider
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE
    11/14/09

    @Kaiser-Machead: Cuz he sees you with those eyes. Doll's eyes. #seaglider
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was starred GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was unstarred
    Image of Flying Jukebox: There is no cow level. Flying Jukebox: There is no cow level.
    11/14/09

    @GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee: It just has that silouet {sp?} the shark shows tell us to avoid looking like. #seaglider
     Reply
    Flying Jukebox: There is no cow level. was starred Flying Jukebox: There is no cow level. was unstarred
    Image of RenfredClymene RenfredClymene
    09/17/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    I work on the Predator program (which also includes the Reaper) and I can tell you that there's no way the Reaper would have continued it's "mission to target enemies on the ground" without operator input. It is not a fully autonomous aircraft. It can follow an "Operational Mission" which only includes where to fly, at what altitude, and at what speed. All other operations are performed by humans.

    When the plane goes "lost link" (losses contact with the pilot) it follows what is known as an "Emergency Mission" which is merely a pathway back to base marked by a series of checkpoints. If the aircraft regains link, (even for a split second) it goes back to flying it's operational mission until it losses link again. Once it losses link again it'll start the emergency mission over again (if it hadn't been updated since it last regained link) starting back at checkpoint number one.

    There's a good chance that it had gone lost link, started it's emergency mission and started heading home and then at some point regained link for a moment and then lost it again, thus causing it to turn around and start the emergency mission once again. This is usually a bad scenario because having had to restart it's emergency mission it may not have had enough fuel to complete the emergency mission a second time before making it back to base, thus an imminent crash was coming. The Air Force would rather shoot the plane down (thus destroying all the equipment on the plane) than let it crash and be retrieved by the Afghanistan government or military. The technology is valuable and one that sets the U.S. above all others in military warfare, it must be protected.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment RenfredClymene was starred RenfredClymene was unstarred
    Image of Nick Nick
    09/15/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    just as long as john travolta doesn't make a movie about this -- it will be fine
     Reply
    Nick was starred Nick was unstarred
    Image of J_Frank_Parnell J_Frank_Parnell
    09/15/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    gives new meaning to BSOD, huh?
     Reply
    J_Frank_Parnell was starred J_Frank_Parnell was unstarred
    Image of MaQ MaQ
    09/15/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!
    I am panicking!!
    What will happen when it starts fighting back?
     Reply
    MaQ was starred MaQ was unstarred
    Image of Munch the BanNail Munch the BanNail
    09/15/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    Have you confirmed that this wasn't just a publicity stunt for Short Circuit 3?
     Reply
    Munch the BanNail was starred Munch the BanNail was unstarred
    Image of Coolmodo Coolmodo
    09/15/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    Am I wrong in assuming that these drones cannot really do anything on their own?

    I mean this thing is not designed to autonomously select and attack targets right?

    Without a human operator it's just a nice RC gadget that can autonomously maintain altitude and fly back home, sometimes?
     Reply
    Coolmodo was starred Coolmodo was unstarred
    Image of Barry99705 Barry99705
    09/15/09

    @Coolmodo: Correct, it would just fly until it ran out of gas. The problem is if it was armed. Then there would be unexploded ordinance at the crash site, which depending on where it crashed could be used for ieds.
     Reply
    Barry99705 was starred Barry99705 was unstarred
    Image of SugouriWendy SugouriWendy
    09/15/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    @ shenanigans61 I'm an exUSAF airman who worked with support personnel for the Predator. The UAV's do not replace a pilot, seeing as how an actual Commissioned Officer Pilot flies them. However, they were considering training Enlisted personal E-5 or higher to pilot them. Either way. SOMEONE is always piloting them. The benefit is that it remove the multi-billion dollar aircraft from the sky, as well as the pilot out of harms way. There should always be a place for manned aircraft, if anything as a last measure for the impending robot apocalypse. But with all seriousness, at our current deployed level of technology, a UAV still cannot perform all of the complex tasks and maneuvers of say an F-22. And in the event we have to go against a hostile Air Power, I still think Manned Aircraft would be more suited for certain tasks. That's my opinion anyway.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment SugouriWendy was starred SugouriWendy was unstarred
    Image of Bombear Bombear
    09/14/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    Calling these Drones is very wrong. the only thing they can do by themselves is fly home....and only if ive told them how to get there. they are the same as every other plane, the only difference is the pilot sits somewhere else, i still control everyting the plane does.
     Reply
    dingus promoted this comment Bombear was starred Bombear was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    09/15/09

    @Bombear: they are the same as every other plane, the only difference is the pilot sits somewhere else

    You do realize that's the DEFINITION of what a drone is, right? I mean... The ACTUAL DEFINITION. From the DICTIONARY. It's a book you really should become familiar with.
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of psychiccheese psychiccheese
    09/15/09

    @Pope John Peeps II:
    Drone
    n.

    1. A male bee, especially a honeybee, that is characteristically stingless, performs no work, and produces no honey. Its only function is to mate with the queen bee.

    nope. I don't think that's the definition of a drone. These drones provide a very harsh sting and perform quite a bit of work. Although I suppose it's true that they produce zero honey.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment psychiccheese was starred psychiccheese was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    09/15/09

    @psychiccheese: Normally I'm all over dictionary issues. I mean there are several on my desk, just waiting to be grabbed when someone is wrong on the internet, but you just made me laugh. Thank you. It's a great start to the morning.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of VerdaHizay VerdaHizay
    09/14/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    I see you quoted "pilots" through the article. All MQ-9 pilots have gone through Air Force flight school. Most have flown manned aircraft prior to flying the Reaper or Predator.Most of them have flown fighter aircraft. Weapon launch commands are given by the pilot like any other aircraft. The aircraft needs both the pilot and sensor operator working together to engage a target.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment VerdaHizay was starred VerdaHizay was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    09/15/09

    @VerdaHizay: You've got a good point there. Away with the quotation marks.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of Gators15 Gators15
    09/14/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    I'm in the USAF. It would have run until it ran out of fuel and crashed in some random place. It won't fire it's ordinances without user input, the same kind of user input that it wasn't responding to. It was shot down for 2 reasons: 1) we don't want the PR nightmare of the thing running out of fuel and falling out of the sky and killing one or more poor unsuspecting souls and 2) we don't want the technology getting into the wrong hands. When we shoot it down, we are easily able to recover the wreckage.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment Gators15 was starred Gators15 was unstarred
    Image of PaintTheSkyGrey PaintTheSkyGrey
    09/14/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    Just a friendly reminder to commenters to keep OPSEC intact. :)
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment PaintTheSkyGrey was starred PaintTheSkyGrey was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    09/14/09

    In reply to Runaway Drone Shot Out of Sky
    I wonder what would've happened if the Reaper hadn't been shot down. It is typically used for "hunter-killer" missions and targets enemies on the ground. Would it continue a mission like that without operator input?

    Is this seriously a serious thought you had? Please tell me that was an ironic sort of meta-joke that I don't understand.
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    09/14/09

    @Pope John Peeps II: An idle day-mare as Stealth popped into mind.

    Don't worry, no fear of planes yet. Airports on the other hand...
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of RT100 RT100
    09/14/09

    @Rosa Golijan: oh stealth.... what an awful movie. I still watched it, but it was awful.

    also, was this an American Drone? that was just lost and then shot down by american fighters?

    kooky
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment RT100 was starred RT100 was unstarred
    Image of Rosa Golijan Rosa Golijan
    09/14/09

    @rt¹⁰⁰: My thoughts on that movie are the same.

    Based on what I read, it was an American drone which lost communication with its operators and was taken down by the US Air Force.
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan was starred Rosa Golijan was unstarred
    Image of kidphat (loves bumblebee girl) kidphat (loves bumblebee girl)
    09/15/09

    @Pope John Peeps II: Well, I think it's a valid and interesting question. If the Reaper didn't respond to it's fail-safe, that's a bug. If there is a bug, it's most likely in an unknown state. If it's in a unknown state, only God knows what it would have done.
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II promoted this comment kidphat (loves bumblebee girl) was starred kidphat (loves bumblebee girl) was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    09/15/09

    @kidphat (loves bumblebee girl): Well, the thing is that it's NOT a valid question. Neither is in interesting. If you KNOW that the drone needs an operator to function, why would you even surmise that it could perform missions on its own? A bug would just make it fuck up. Just like your computer at home, it would probably crash, and then eventually crash LITERALLY.

    I mean, I don't know all the various components that go into my computer, so I'm no high tech wonderkid. But the writer on a gadget blog should probably know that self-guiding, autonomous, free-firing murderbots haven't yet been invented.
     Reply
    Edited by Pope John Peeps II at 09/15/09 12:10 AM Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    09/15/09

    @Pope John Peeps II: The plane itself doesn't need that kind of sophisticated AI. It takes its controls remotely from a station. However, if "something else" is feeding those controls, well...
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of frigg frigg
    09/15/09

    @Pope John Peeps II: If a bug can cause loss of remote control (i.e. autonomous flight), why can't another bug cause release of ordinance (free-firing murderbots)?
     Reply
    frigg was starred frigg was unstarred
    Image of Canoehead Canoehead
    09/15/09

    @Pope John Peeps II: "should probably know that self-guiding, autonomous, free-firing murderbots haven't yet been invented...."

    As far as YOU know... ; )
     Reply
    Canoehead was starred Canoehead was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    09/15/09

    @frigg: Listen, I'm not even going to answer that. One day you'll realize how silly that is.
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
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