The Revolutionary, Part I

[capt_weasle]

So I've been reading WIRED's "The Smart List: 12 Shocking Ideas That Could Change the World," and thought that the majority of these topics would pique the interest of people here. So for the next twelve weeks I am going to post a topic that centers around each of the issues discussed, to see what everyone else thinks of them.

Week One: The Cyberoffensive

While this idea certainly has its good points, I think that it acts just the same as a physical weapon would. The whole idea of nuclear weapons was that if the United States created them first, showed the world how dangerous they are (Nagasaki & Hiroshima), the rest of the world would agree to drop arms and there would be a new era of peace. And then the Cold War spit right in the face of that concept. Now we have constant threats about Korea making nuclear weapons, and the looming fear that any sort of World War III would create a global disaster. While cyber attacks may not have the same range as a nuclear holocaust, it certainly wouldn't be a peace making idea. Other countries or terrorist factions would simply attempt to catch up with the newest advancements, and return the favor. I think a cyber defensive network would be able to do more good than simply launching offensives without any prior warning. Not to mention all of the paranoid citizens worrying about government corruption with these "elite hackers," and if Hollywood has shown us anything, it's that hacking can do anything.

[otters~1]

This amuses me because Live Free or Die Hard is exactly what I thought of when I read the Hollywood bit. Man that movie sucked.

[sept]

Sorry, but the fact that you're basing this whole topic off an article from WIRED means that there's no debate. :/

[SkyPanda]

If it worked, I think this would be a neat approach to disabling the USA's weapons systems and inhibiting their foreign policy. Nations of the world, get cracking.

[scythe]

Wired: Making TechCrunch look good by comparison since 2001.

You want to know how the much-vaunted 'cyberattacks' on Georgia were carried out? A few Russian skiddies (it was on 2ch.ru, haha) set up stopgeorgia.ru, which distributed specialized denial of service tools. There was a big DDoS on top Georgian websites. That's the state of the art in cyberwarfare today. Digiderie and similar *chan efforts do the same basic thing, plus a PR campaign.

Good luck trying to do that to countries with serious resources, like Russia.

As for hiring autistic savants, that's an interesting idea.

The "embrace cloning" article is totally cool with the whole thing about how it's not unethical, but it fails to give, any, you know, benefits to the massive investment it requires. Sexual reproduction fulfills a pretty significant evolutionary purpose: it makes evolution proceed about a thousand times faster.

The "cheating death" article is similarly inane: tell people smoking cigarettes and eating unhealthy foods can kill them? Isn't that what we've been doing for the past twenty years?

"Cut off aid to Africa": stop referring to Africa as though it were a country. Stop it. Please. Hans Rosling's perspective is far more useful than this trash.

"Empty the Prisons": can't argue there, really. Too bad it's neither new nor shocking, and it's been applied successfully in Scandinava, the Low Countries, and Iberia (i.e. the free world) for the past two decades. It doesn't help that Wired takes a totally passive, bullshit stance on this with no thesis and mentions the drug war in one sentence out of three paragraphs.

"Save the slums" is the second of the decent perspectives here.

"Bust up Big League Sports" - what is this, Sweden? I could give two shits about major league sports, and as such don't think it's a very good use of my tax dollars.

"Legalize Assisted Suicide" - another idea that's not new at all. Kevorkian, anyone? Hell, it's already legal in Oregon, as I recall.

"Forget Medical Privacy" is really a move to make patients' records accessible to the patients themselves, which is totally cool, but has a misleading title.

"Take Smart Risks" - please, nobody use WIRED's idiotic guide as a recommendation. LSD is perfectly safe, whereas fugu kills hundreds every year.

"Overhaul the Pentagon" - totally cool.

Three for twelve. Better than I'd expect from Wired.

[SlappyMcGee]

This amuses me because Live Free or Die Hard is exactly what I thought of when I read the Hollywood bit. Man that movie sucked.

You, sir, have awful, AWFUL taste in films.

[SkyPanda]

As for hiring autistic savants, that's an interesting idea.

I second this motion :)

[Tanner]

"Overhaul the Pentagon" - totally cool.

Agreed. I enjoyed reading that article.

[otters~1]

This amuses me because Live Free or Die Hard is exactly what I thought of when I read the Hollywood bit. Man that movie sucked.

You, sir, have awful, AWFUL taste in films.

My God, Slappy! You liked that movie? On how many levels did it entertain you, may I ask?

I no longer respect your opinion.

[SlappyMcGee]

This amuses me because Live Free or Die Hard is exactly what I thought of when I read the Hollywood bit. Man that movie sucked.

You, sir, have awful, AWFUL taste in films.

My God, Slappy! You liked that movie? On how many levels did it entertain you, may I ask?

I no longer respect your opinion.

It was fun, the action was good, and the performances were tight. Also, the camera didn't shake and the plot managed to suspend my disbelief and not break it with plot holes. What's not to like? :D

[otters~1]

It was fun, the action was good, and the performances were tight. Also, the camera didn't shake and the plot managed to suspend my disbelief and not break it with plot holes. What's not to like? :D

My oh my. I take it you disagreed with the Wired article, then. As for the rest, well, fight scene after fight scene does not a movie make. That said, it was somewhat watchable; I've seen it twice, and paid attention both times, mostly because Bruce Willis owning the hacker is pretty amusing.

By the way, that was one of the least believable movies I've seen. Hope you were being deeply sarcastic. :D

[SlappyMcGee]

It was fun, the action was good, and the performances were tight. Also, the camera didn't shake and the plot managed to suspend my disbelief and not break it with plot holes. What's not to like? :D

My oh my. I take it you disagreed with the Wired article, then. As for the rest, well, fight scene after fight scene does not a movie make. That said, it was somewhat watchable; I've seen it twice, and paid attention both times, mostly because Bruce Willis owning the hacker is pretty amusing.

By the way, that was one of the least believable movies I've seen. Hope you were being deeply sarcastic. :D

Yeah, it's not believable, but what I meant is that it kind of follows it's own internal logic. Kind of like Men in Black. Aliens don't exist, and the idea that we're all being controlled by Men in Black is ridiculous and unbelievable, but the movie never breaks it's universe.

[otters~1]

It was fun, the action was good, and the performances were tight. Also, the camera didn't shake and the plot managed to suspend my disbelief and not break it with plot holes. What's not to like? :D

My oh my. I take it you disagreed with the Wired article, then. As for the rest, well, fight scene after fight scene does not a movie make. That said, it was somewhat watchable; I've seen it twice, and paid attention both times, mostly because Bruce Willis owning the hacker is pretty amusing.

By the way, that was one of the least believable movies I've seen. Hope you were being deeply sarcastic. :D

Yeah, it's not believable, but what I meant is that it kind of follows it's own internal logic. Kind of like Men in Black. Aliens don't exist, and the idea that we're all being controlled by Men in Black is ridiculous and unbelievable, but the movie never breaks it's universe.

Okay, I see what you're saying there. But can you give me an example of a movie that does "break it's universe?"

[SlappyMcGee]

District. FUCKING. 9.

[otters~1]

District. FUCKING. 9.

How. FUCKING. So. (Pretend I'm stupid.)

Really, I can see where you're coming from--but I want to hear this in your own words.

[jinxed_07]

This amuses me because Live Free or Die Hard is exactly what I thought of when I read the Hollywood bit. Man that movie sucked.

You, sir, have awful, AWFUL taste in films.

Agreed, but if it's anythign that made him hate it, it was the 'getting shot up by a jet and living' scene ;_;