Lexan

Happy New Year to you one and all!  It's been years since I've been here myself.

11 hours ago, StrayCatalyst said:

Well, we have the dystopia, corporate power/greed, politicians for sale and wealth disparity.  I'm waiting for the Ihara-Grubb algorithms, cybernetics, and hope.

 

We also missed that people use YouTube for mostly watching cat videos, no flying cars, and our clothing styles haven't really changed all that much since 1990s.  I'm glad to see this forum is still alive and well.

Ahh.. the Russian Shkval Torpedo.  It was undergoing live fire seatrials on board the Kursk when one of the liquid reactants (Hydrogen Peroxide, incidentally a good oxidizer) turned to gas (it expands to 5000 times its original volume when exposed to certain metal catalysts).

CBC aired some of the original test footage of a Shkval torpedo being shot over the side of a missile boat to hit a target buoy.  It moves something like 200 knots while current torpedos speed along at 70 knots.  Rumor says among the dead on the Kursk was a naval observer from China.  The Chinese probably bought the technology back in the late 90's just as Russia perfected it.  It wouldn't need much of a warhead to disable a frigate, kinetic energy should do the trick.  It has a range of about 7500 yards or about 6800 meters.  More than likely it is designed for torpedo interception than ship engagement.

Gotta go.  Pizza is here.

Primary obejctives of a city state coast guard

- Coastal Defense  (submarine, surface and air)

- Anti Piracy

- Exclusive Economic Zone Enforcement (including environmental protection)

- Customs and Immigration (for those boat people)

- Maritime Search and Rescue (for those bad storms...)

Therefore you will need the capability of Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW), Search and Rescue (SAR), Anti ship missiles (Harpoon, Evolved Sea Sparrow), Anti fast boat weapons (Sea Skua or autocannon), basic ship air defense (Stingers, Evolved Sea Sparrow, autocannon) and some means of boarding ships (Ospreys, AVs, helios).

I'm thinking:

Propdriven patrol airframes (like a Dash 8) that can be outfitted with sonar buoys, torpedos, Synthetic Aperature Radar (ASW), flares (ASW & SAR), and capable of dropping rescue packs (SAR).  

Here's a baseline for a coast guard ship you might want to use.  A handful of those and some long range helios or Ospreys for boardings (SAR, ASW patrol) and you have the basic capabilities covered with the minimum equipment.

If you need more capability or reach, add a couple of blue water frigates with ASW helios.  What do you think?

I think we get to nail this one on the French.  Big cities in the USA laid down following the war of independance took lessons from the French.  (since they provided troops and military hardware for the reveloution and all...)  They loved their traffic circles and you can see their effects in the original city plan for Washington DC.

The WORST traffic circle that I have EVER seen was in Paris.  12 avenues emptying into a traffic circle including the Champs Elysées and Avenue Armee all circling the Arc de Triomphe.  They even created a traffic circle on the site of the original Bastille!  FYI, the French also invented the speed bump.  They also probably pioneered irate driver behaviour as a side effect.  

Sun neen fai lok!

Err... that means "Happy New Year!".

Problem with the Hague is that it could give Hussein a soapbox to air all the dirty deals he made with the US, France, Germany etc.  That and the US isn't all too keen about international courts since it did oppose the Human Rights Tribunal.   Handing him over for trial at the Hague the right thing to do under international law but I doubt that it will be done.

It represents the characteristic sensitivity response of the human ear with respect to frequency.

What class is this for?  Engineering?

No joke.  Schukra is using this research to make sure that any noise emmitted by their motors is outside the percievable range.

What is really disgusting is that there is technology not too far away that can ID you just with CCTV cameras looking at you.  Using signal processing technology from Inverse Synthetic Aperature RADAR (creates a very detailed RADAR profile of an object just from its movement) in combination with other image processing techniques (like 2D / 3D fast fourier transforms) they could ID you from the way you walk!  They'll need to build a profile of you first but it will be possible in 10 years.

Who really needs microchipping when you can do it quietly.  Just plug in some high rez, high frame rate CCTV cameras to some ultra powerful computers and you're all set!

 You're on camera!

I did manage to do the 'Wargames' secret mission, the 'Mole' and the other secret mission to the Introversion server.  Jolly good fun.

Aye it was a good game.  I could do whatever I wanted.  Some content issues such as similar voice clips for voice analysis, repeating photos for the social security database.... but overall a great effort!

The next one should be interesting.  I'm hoping for the next version that you can shut down power networks, mess around with corporate purchasing, a realtime stock market, orbital superweapons, cruise missile reprogramming, satellite reprogramming, Robin Hood (transfering funds from Arasaka to Amnesty International), criminal elements, money laundering....

Y'know.... not just the stereotypical hacker.  We can only dream... <sigh>

Big payout?  Say... 250000 eB?

Have the corporation that hired your team create a shell corporation in some offshore banking haven like Belize.  You can buy International Business Corporation (IBCs) over the net even today!  For payment, transfer the money to that IBC and then sign power of attorney (or by share transfer etc.) to your players.  From there, the players can transfer money to their own accounts (by SWIFT payment) and then dissolve the corporation.

Substitute Belize for any other country that has tight banking laws and allows formation of IBCs.  Some of these places also do proxy mail addresses, secretaries, and even assigned directors for that flair of legitimacy!  Enjoy!

If they could spin these nanotubes into tens or hundreds of meters long would mean a total revolution in construction.  It would effectively bring into existance macro construction projects like the theoretical orbital elevator.  Imagine a nanotube cable running from an anchor point on the equator running straight out to a station in geosynchronous orbit.  (It would need an equivalent counterweight to keep the cable tight)  I think Arthur C. Clarke & friends came up with it originally.

Orbital lift tickets going for the same price as airfare from New York to London!

Well before we get that... seriously lighter body armour, APCs like the M113 Gavin surviving 125mm HEAT shells!  (It'll shake things up inside but it'll be intact) and Mile high skyscrapers will be possible! (or just make your regular 50 story buildings insanely cheap to build)  Your 'supercities' and arcologies will be built from this stuff.

Question.  Since these nanotubes are so small and so strong, are they biodegradable?  How do you dispose of objects (or buildings for that matter) that are almost chemically inert, nanoscopic (and thus even harder to scoop up), and insanely strong?  Will we just be creating something that can potentially produce a polution that will NEVER go away?  (Even radiation becomes tollerable after a couple hundred thousand years)

If we ever got to that tech level I'd go for a Direct Neural Interface (DNI) computer / machine link.  I'd be able to surf the internet without my hands getting tired, program with ease, all while ICQing my buddies without my hands getting cramped!

Happy Holidays and a Happy (Solar Calendar) New Year.

Cheers y'all!  

That's not far from the truth Malek.

When working with FANUC robots (or any robot for that matter) there are co-ordinates that we teach (PERCH, Point 1 etc...) and we just tell the robot to move to which point at what speed depending on the operation desired.

If I had a DNI machine link with the robot, I'd be able to play catch with the robots in the room.  I'd also be able to get tactile feedback on the effectiveness of the tool and perhaps even design a better jig!  With a DNI, you could paint your 40K models in a snap!

This gives me an idea.  Instead of a full autofactory setup (that takes care of start to finish), I was thinking about an "assembler jig" table for your techie.  Sure it'll cost 20K euro but it'll have two manipulator arms, drill bits, routing bits, paint sprayers, some parts staging etc.  Your techie will program it by DNI and line up some of the premanufactured parts (like barrel blanks, steel tubes etc) in the loading slots.  Press a button and it will automatically assemble the items together.  Add on options include micro paint sprayers (for Malek's 40K collection), micro welders, drill bits, router bits, manipulator hands etc....  It may not fully assemble say... a gun but it would make things simpler for your techie to putting together an order of 100 Sten guns.

Those holsters look pretty practical.  Nice stuff.  I found this one called Pager Pal while browsing the internet.

http://www.pagerpal.com

It's a concealed carrier held in your pants with nothing but a pager at the top.  You yank the top of the pager up to produce the holster and then draw the handgun.  What do you guys think?

For self defense concealed carry, is it safer to carry with the chamber empty or is it considered too much an impedement?

What about Laser aids for handguns under self defense concealed carry?  Any practical considerations?  Is it really worth the money to get say... a LaserMax?

Boeing also recently began making custom aluminum alloy parts using an IR laser deposition system.  The laser superheats the powder alloy in a closed inert gas workcell and it deposits where it melts, allowing the user to build up an object.  (say a certain fan shape or a gun slide)  With a 3D model, you can make custom metal parts that same way you could with that UV reactive plastic.

I'm thinking that larger gun stores would have a small autofactory in the back just to produce polymer guns.  They purchase the license to manufacture say.... 1000 copies of Brigham Arms Polymer One Shots and some from other manufacturers.  (Simplifies product distribution by simply e-mailing the manufacturing instructions instead of shipping it out!)

Autofactory in this post refers to automated assembly.  Assuming the computer has been fed the plans, assembly instructions, with all parts and reels in the right place in the right machines, you can press a button and in 2 hours it begins ejecting finished products.

After seeing the closest version of an autofactory in existance (PCB assembly and testing at Celestica in Toronto) electronic assemblies are possible to be manufactured in this way.  The factory will take a LOT of room but it is possible.  A manufacturing line for a small board and simple assembly (say a PC network card would have about ten pick and place machines) would probably take up two tennis courts.  (that also includes PCB etching, final test, reel storage etc.)  I could see an assembly of electronic prototyping machines taking up the area of a residential North American two car garage that could be popping out low run (100-5000 units) customized electronic goods by year 2020.

Mechanical devices on the other hand require human intervention for assembly.  Guns for example have small mechanical components that need to be moved and tucked into tight spaces for assembly.  As a manufacturing technologist, I can honestly tell you that current day robotics do not have the ultra fine dexterity, flexibility and touch feedback sensitivity to be able to assemble a gun automatically.  Large assemblies like car doors or repetitive tasks like spot welding are capable of automation but fine mechanical autoassembly is not possible... yet.

If we have the introduction of DNI with machines and development of variable shape materials for jigs and molds, fine mechanical autoassembly should not be a problem.  Automated micro manufacturing?  Just check out the nearest industrial park in the year 2035.  Since it would probably take up two or three units in an industrial park, I don't think that the basement of your neighbourhood fixer would one.  Although he might know a couple of microfactories that are willing to do questionable business.  

Hmmn... paintball rifle on steroids...  How about an FN 303?

Polystyrene bullet for staibility with liquid payload that splats on contact.  Available to splat your target with either paint, OC pepper, acid, contact poison/drugs etc...

Here's a pic...

http://www.fnherstal.com/html/XM/FN303.jpg

Exotic +1 L P ".68 inch shell" 15 2 ST 100m 300eb

".68 inch shell" is made for this launcher only.  Damage I'd guess is 1D6/2.

I know that the future is going to have something a bit more refined and compact but it's a nice place to start.  Those stats I just cooked up in 30 seconds and open to revision.  Comments?

Armor availability depends on the class of opposition you'll be fighting.  Street squatters, druggies, crazies, probably don't have armor.  (1 in 35).  Gangers would have some more.  (1 in 3 or depending on what they can scavenge)  Criminal organizations, edgerunnners, low security corp security will probably have soft armor depending on how rich they are.  Say... (3 out of 4)  Police on emergency response and on-duty military rear echelon will have hard armor vest/helmet.  Powered Armour for front line stormtroopers.  (dependent on your tech level of your game and wealth of government/corp)

Armor shouldn't be used to save players that are just going to stand out in the open and take everything coming to them!  If the players do something really stupid, they should pay for it!  Any task requiring some dexterity (advanced drivering, tech), ease of movement (snipe, swimming), or stealth (prowler) should have minimum armor and only on the chest or head.  Appropriately placed skill penalties for trying to silently sneak into that house in Metal Gear.  Even those fully armored police bomb squad suits leave the hands exposed so they can defuse / manipulate the device.

Solution for those armor nuts?  Emphasize the bonuses of stealth and cover.  Make armor expensive or legally restricted.  Reward players for making awareness or tactics checks for appropriate cover by mentioning convienent dataterms or concrete planters nearby.  No awareness checks?  No decent cover available!  Give a big attack bonus for successfully surprising the enemy.  (you're aware and ready to kill, the sentry isn't)

It's must be nice to have THAT much time on your hands to do something like that.

Here's one...

http://www.spikeman.net/kozo.html

Nomads would love it!  Tad pricey for a refugee camp though.  Then again with wood becoming outright expensive, this might be a viable option!

A herculean task!  Build a politically impartial army, independant judiciary, AND police force with all associated legal structure.  All while the area has known everything EXCEPT those things!?!  No Islamist government in the Middle East is a democratically elected representative government.  The US is trying to build an unprecedented secular representative government in an area that has never had one.  Herculean indeed!

I hope that the US stays put because if it doesn't Iraq will fall apart and look like the Congo or even Afganistan within 5 years of a US pullout.  Al Quaeda probably wasn't active in Iraq but it sure is now!

Democracy is founded on the philosophy of peaceful resolution of conflict through public means.  That is the very opposite to what is in Iraq now.  Peace and Order are needed first before democracy can begin to take root.  Although it sounds contradictory, martial law with the presence of a MASSIVE (double troop presence) is required to stabilize the situation.  THEN, NGOs and aid groups can help rebuild the place.  I think that we're going to need a new Marshall plan (multinational) to keep Iraq a stable place.

The Yanks are trying to rebuild the Iraqi army / police as fast as they can to stabilize the place.  Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope this gambit pays off.  

First off, congratulations.

Lifepath?  Who knows really.  Lots of variables.  All you can do is keep up your end of the bit and let everything else sort itself out.  Start with the diapers and work from there.