Stormy Daniels is suing Trump for defamation.
Given that it is safe to assume that every word uttered by Trump is a lie (including the conjunctions and articles), it's hard for me to perceive how he can defame anybody.
On the other hand, he does have a legion of room-temperature followers. Like this guy. So maybe it'll fly.
Monday, April 30, 2018
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Gaslighting the Spooks?
A number of smartphones have a dictation feature. You speak into the phone and what you say gets rendered, on most occasions, as somewhat legible text.
The phone isn't doing it, of course. Your words are sent to a server, which does the actual work, and then sends the text back to the app that you are using.
The security of that is probably piss-poor. It wouldn't surprise me if there is some algorithm to detect criminality and alert the authorities.
So what would happen if people began gaslighting it? Maybe open a message block, dictate "Jeff is going to buy 50 grams of smack in the high school parking lot tomorrow afternoon" and then delete the draft text. Probably be a good idea if the name that was given wasn't in the list of contacts.
The phone isn't doing it, of course. Your words are sent to a server, which does the actual work, and then sends the text back to the app that you are using.
The security of that is probably piss-poor. It wouldn't surprise me if there is some algorithm to detect criminality and alert the authorities.
So what would happen if people began gaslighting it? Maybe open a message block, dictate "Jeff is going to buy 50 grams of smack in the high school parking lot tomorrow afternoon" and then delete the draft text. Probably be a good idea if the name that was given wasn't in the list of contacts.
Knife Fighting in the Dark; the Civil Side
(The military side)
One of the side-effects of a war between adversaries with first-world comparable EW gear will be a loss of the GPS network. Whether it will be world-wide or localized to the combat area(s), whether the GPS constellation itself will be disrupted is a matter of speculation.
But what will also likely happen is a disruption of the global air traffic system. The short-sighted beancounters in the FAA have been pushing the decommissioning of a large chunk of the VOR network and shutting down VOR/DME -based approaches. In the event of such a war, less than two hundred "safe" airports will retain the capability to conduct VOR-based instrument approaches. All of the rest of the airport that had VOR-based or NDB-based approaches will be shit out of luck.
Besides that, putting all of the airspace control eggs into satellite-based systems is betting on that there won't be any significant solar flares.
In some ways, it doesn't matter very much. Some airliners can't track a VOR. Their navigation systems use GPS and overlay the VOR approach on their GPS displays. So while it may look as though they're flying a VOR approach, they really aren't. Losing GPS would transform those airplanes into VFR-only which would effectively ground them all, as they'd be fuel-sucking pigs at VFR altitudes.
Time was, we had redundant systems of navigation. When IFR airplanes had ADFs, the location of the higher-power AM radio stations were on the navigation charts. It wasn't fun drawing lines-of-position on charts in a cockpit, but it could be done. (See, chapter five of Fate is the Hunter ) High-end airplanes several decades ago had OMEGA and LORAN. Microprocessors made LORAN usable in small aircraft and boats.
It's more than airliners and boats. The trucking industry is dependent on GPS. GPS units ensure that truckers avoid parkways and low bridges. It's far more accurate than the old road atlases. Crop-dusters use GPS to precisely apply their chemicals. Farms use GPS to micro-customize the management of their fields. EMS uses GPS to navigate to the site of the emergency. If you call 9-1-1 on your cell phone or hit the emergency button on your car's nav system (or OnStar), the car sends your GPS location. The clown who stalked you and is wearing an ankle bracelet so he stays away from you while he's out on bail-- want to guess how that thing works?
If the GPS constellation is degraded or disabled in a war, the effects will be far-reaching beyond what most people can fathom.
One of the side-effects of a war between adversaries with first-world comparable EW gear will be a loss of the GPS network. Whether it will be world-wide or localized to the combat area(s), whether the GPS constellation itself will be disrupted is a matter of speculation.
But what will also likely happen is a disruption of the global air traffic system. The short-sighted beancounters in the FAA have been pushing the decommissioning of a large chunk of the VOR network and shutting down VOR/DME -based approaches. In the event of such a war, less than two hundred "safe" airports will retain the capability to conduct VOR-based instrument approaches. All of the rest of the airport that had VOR-based or NDB-based approaches will be shit out of luck.
Besides that, putting all of the airspace control eggs into satellite-based systems is betting on that there won't be any significant solar flares.
In some ways, it doesn't matter very much. Some airliners can't track a VOR. Their navigation systems use GPS and overlay the VOR approach on their GPS displays. So while it may look as though they're flying a VOR approach, they really aren't. Losing GPS would transform those airplanes into VFR-only which would effectively ground them all, as they'd be fuel-sucking pigs at VFR altitudes.
Time was, we had redundant systems of navigation. When IFR airplanes had ADFs, the location of the higher-power AM radio stations were on the navigation charts. It wasn't fun drawing lines-of-position on charts in a cockpit, but it could be done. (See, chapter five of Fate is the Hunter ) High-end airplanes several decades ago had OMEGA and LORAN. Microprocessors made LORAN usable in small aircraft and boats.
It's more than airliners and boats. The trucking industry is dependent on GPS. GPS units ensure that truckers avoid parkways and low bridges. It's far more accurate than the old road atlases. Crop-dusters use GPS to precisely apply their chemicals. Farms use GPS to micro-customize the management of their fields. EMS uses GPS to navigate to the site of the emergency. If you call 9-1-1 on your cell phone or hit the emergency button on your car's nav system (or OnStar), the car sends your GPS location. The clown who stalked you and is wearing an ankle bracelet so he stays away from you while he's out on bail-- want to guess how that thing works?
If the GPS constellation is degraded or disabled in a war, the effects will be far-reaching beyond what most people can fathom.
Your Sunday Morning Old Prop Noise
They look like both DH-84s and -89s, but I'm not knowledgeable with regard to old DeHavillands.
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Survival Tip for African-American Men
Put your cell phone in a bright pink case.
Because it's apparent that the cops believe that any object in the hands of a black man is a gun.
They'll shoot white people, but they get fired and indicted for that.
Because it's apparent that the cops believe that any object in the hands of a black man is a gun.
They'll shoot white people, but they get fired and indicted for that.
Friday, April 27, 2018
Knife-Fighting In the Dark
CDR Salamander is wondering if the armed forces are prepared to fight in an environment where most of their networked shit does not work.
As I've wondered before, are we in a situation where our military is mentally unprepared to fight an enemy with roughly equivalent capabilities? We haven't fought a war against a competent enemy at sea in seven decades and it's been four decades since the airdales have had to operate in an environment against hostile air defense and enemy fighters. They've spent almost two decades fighting enemies for whom an IED is high-tech.
Does anyone really believe that all of those drones will be allowed to fly over the battlefields unmolested? That all of those networked comm systems will function? That GPS will be accurate, if even functional?
Can we prevail in a combat environment in which a lot of those high-tech toys will be unavailable?
This is why I think that the MQ-25 aerial tanker is a very bad idea. If I were one of the honchos of a possible adversary, I'd make it a priority to figure out how to disrupt the fuck out of MQ-25s.
As I've wondered before, are we in a situation where our military is mentally unprepared to fight an enemy with roughly equivalent capabilities? We haven't fought a war against a competent enemy at sea in seven decades and it's been four decades since the airdales have had to operate in an environment against hostile air defense and enemy fighters. They've spent almost two decades fighting enemies for whom an IED is high-tech.
Does anyone really believe that all of those drones will be allowed to fly over the battlefields unmolested? That all of those networked comm systems will function? That GPS will be accurate, if even functional?
Can we prevail in a combat environment in which a lot of those high-tech toys will be unavailable?
This is why I think that the MQ-25 aerial tanker is a very bad idea. If I were one of the honchos of a possible adversary, I'd make it a priority to figure out how to disrupt the fuck out of MQ-25s.
Because It's Friday
The NYNH&H back in the day:
Look for steam being exhausted from the passenger electric locomotives. Passenger cars up into the 1980s (or later) used steam for heating. That was easy to provide when steam ruled the rails. Early diesels and electrics had boilers to furnish steam to the passenger cars.
Look for steam being exhausted from the passenger electric locomotives. Passenger cars up into the 1980s (or later) used steam for heating. That was easy to provide when steam ruled the rails. Early diesels and electrics had boilers to furnish steam to the passenger cars.
Thursday, April 26, 2018
If You Want to Buy a Car from Ford, You'll Soon Be Shit Out of Luck
Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will shed most of its North American car lineup as part of broad plan to save money and make the company more competitive in a fast-changing marketplace.There was a time in the `90s when the Taurus was the best-selling car in the country, though that was skewed a little because Ford was selling them to rental companies, which Honda and Toyota weren't doing.
The changes include getting rid of all cars in the region during the next four years except for the Mustang sports car and a compact Focus crossover vehicle, CEO Jim Hackett said as the company released first-quarter earnings.
The decision, which Hackett said was due to declining demand and profitability, means Ford will no longer sell the Fusion midsize car, Taurus large car, CMax hybrid compact and Fiesta subcompact in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
I'll bet that Honda and Toyota will continue to be happy to sell cars to those who want them.
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