Be afraid, be very afraid...

[DYNAGOD]

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) has ordered plans for temporarily disabling the U.S. network of global positioning satellites during a national crisis to prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology, the White House said Wednesday.

Yahoo! News Link
This is obviously a sign..you just dont go planning on shutting down a huge piece of infrastructure like that because you might think it could be used..its because you have credible information that someone is using it currently to guide "insert weapon here" to a target using the grid...


dont want to be the poor bastard lost in the woods,or the soccer mom lost in dorchester when her Nstar shuts down lol 

[Hoagie_one]

as sad as i am to hear this....if it can save lives, im ok with it...given a true reason to use it that is. 

Overall, this stinks of too much Government.

[Tailgunner]

Not exactly news, as I remember they've had the capability to do so for a good while now. They admitted as such back when they stopped limiting how accurate civilian GPS units were allowed to be.

[JoyMonkey]

dont want to be the poor bastard lost in the woods,or the soccer mom lost in dorchester when her Nstar shuts down lol 

Well said. I like to get in and out of Dorchester as quickly as possible. I've gotten lost there  taken the scenic route a couple of times, with the wife wondering why I decided to go through Dorchester in the first place. Of course, I knew exactly where I was going 
She always makes sure all the doors are locked as soon as we even get close. As if car-jackings of '92 Chevy Lumina's are really common anywhere.

[DYNAGOD]

hows that thousand dollar 1200$ a year onstar subscription feeling now

[fredster]

I don't lock my house.

I leave my keys in the truck when I go to work and in my lane.

I won't live where I have to because I can never find keys. 

[mattv]

I can't see how this will make any difference to anyone planning a terrorist act, but I can see how it will be a massive pain in the butt to every else.

I'm in agreement with Hoagie_one in that anything that saves lives is good* But I can's see how blocking GPS will save even one life. All it will do is upset the civilian population and increase the level of fear.....

Oh, and now it makes perfect sense, silly me



* within reason obviously, 45000 people died on US roads last year but I certainly wouldn't advocate stopping people driving.

[DYNAGOD]

its ok, SUV's are so large now that you can mount a sextant as a hood ornament and be done with that pesky old satellite based sytem anyways 

[patrickl]

I guess that's why the europeans are still going for Gallileo.

[DrewKaree]

its ok, SUV's are so large now that you can mount a sextant as a hood ornament and be done with that pesky old satellite based sytem anyways 

You said sextant 

[Dexter]

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) has ordered plans for temporarily disabling the U.S. network of global positioning satellites during a national crisis to prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology, the White House said Wednesday.

Ah yes, just remembering the republican convention now "four more fears, four more fears, four more fears, four more fears"

Orange alert by January anyone??

[Crazy Cooter]

What happened to my "I told you so" post?

[DrewKaree]

What happened to my "I told you so" post?

It was eaten by a "Carnivore"

(and if someone doesn't understand that reference, you really need to work on getting AT LEAST a wax paper hat, but strive for tinfoil, it works SO much better  )

[ErikRuud]

"Carnivore" hasn't gotten much press lately, and most people don't have their foil hats, so they tend to have short attention spans! 

I find alternating layers of tin foil and copper work best.

[Trimoor]

* within reason obviously, 45000 people died on US roads last year but I certainly wouldn't advocate stopping people driving.

Welcome to the world of cost benefit analysis.
How much is a single life worth?  Most big companies say $2 million.

Say that companies using the GPS lose $1 billion if (when) the monkey decides to shut it off.
If it saved less than 500 lives it wouldn't be worth it.

It's sick and morbid, but it's true.

[HaRuMaN]

Who cares?  Do that many of you actually use GPS on a day-to-day basis?  Learn how to read a map and how to use a compass!  It's not that hard.  Hell, if you're having that much trouble navigating, maybe you shouldn't be driving (or hiking, or camping) in the first place.

This is mostly going to affect air traffic, who rely pretty heavily on GPS systems.

[tep0583]

Who cares?  Do that many of you actually use GPS on a day-to-day basis?  Learn how to read a map and how to use a compass!  It's not that hard.  Hell, if you're having that much trouble navigating, maybe you shouldn't be driving (or hiking, or camping) in the first place.

This is mostly going to affect air traffic, who rely pretty heavily on GPS systems.

No joke. If you can't get anywhere in your car without a GPS, you're in trouble anyway.

If you're out in the woods so far that you NEED a GPS to get back out, you're an idiot if that's the only thing you're depending on. You better understand basic land navigation and have a good compass and topo maps with you. A GPS is like anything electronic. It can fail at any time. You can lose reception. You're batteries can go dead. None of those are likely, granted, but if they do, you're screwed.

Even air traffic shouldn't depend solely on GPS. Nobody who doesn't understand how to navigate without a GPS should be navigating for an Airplane. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

GPS systems are great, but they don't completely eliminate the need for basic navigational knowledge.

[ErikRuud]

And the Trucking Companies, and Probably all the overnight delivery companies as well.

I don't care about most the people with their bloated luxury SUV's.

[Crazy Cooter]

Carnivore doesn't need any press.  They just started calling it the Patriot Act.  The parts that were missing were included in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act that just passed.  I skipped the hat and just lined the whole house.  Double coverage on the windows.

Disabling GPS is just stupid.  People pay for it and should get it.  Can anyone name one instance in the history of mankind where a terrorist act required the use of GPS?  I mean seriously, how stupid.  Pretty soon we'll be databasing pictures of people buying stamps at kiosks... oh wait, i read that yesterday...

[Mameotron]

NEWS FLASH:

All GPS satellites were placed in orbit by the US Air Force, for military purposes.

[paigeoliver]

hows that thousand dollar 1200$ a year onstar subscription feeling now

Onstar costs $1200 a year?

Wow. What a waste of money. I spend less than that per year on my vehicle altogether. It is AMAZING how much money driving $1000 cars can save you. My current $1000 truck has served me for 18,000 miles and has needed one repair ($240).

[DYNAGOD]

hows that thousand dollar 1200$ a year onstar subscription feeling now

Onstar costs $1200 a year?

Wow. What a waste of money. I spend less than that per year on my vehicle altogether. It is AMAZING how much money driving $1000 cars can save you. My current $1000 truck has served me for 18,000 miles and has needed one repair ($240).

oh, but its free for the first year  lol

i guess the goverments afraid someone is going to put a mod chip in their PS2, load up linux and develop a GPS based missle guidance system to deploy an onslaught of deadly playstaion missles on a crowded populous near you.. 
(remeber all the export restriction s on the PS2 when they first came out lol)

[locash]

BTW, the government does not charge ANYONE to use the service.  If you are paying for GPS service, you are getting ripped off completely.

If you pay taxes you pay for this service whether you use it or not.

[Dartful Dodger]

If you pay taxes you pay for this service whether you use it or not.

That logic won't work with a traffic cop either.

[locash]

If you pay taxes you pay for this service whether you use it or not.

That logic won't work with a traffic cop either.

I don't understand your point...a portion of my taxes also goes to pay for highways, bridges, and all sorts of roadway infrastructure whether I use it or not.  Why does the traffic cop care?

[Dartful Dodger]

I don't understand your point...a portion of my taxes also goes to pay for highways, bridges, and all sorts of roadway infrastructure whether I use it or not.

[locash]

I don't understand your point...a portion of my taxes also goes to pay for highways, bridges, and all sorts of roadway infrastructure whether I use it or not.  Why does the traffic cop care?

Exactly

My cat's breath smells like cat food.

[DrewKaree]

My cat's breath smells like cat food.

I keep pointing out what's as plain as the nose on your face to people here, but NONE of you listen.

Your cat's food smells like cat breath. 

Get it right.


p.s. it's funny how DD pointed it out, and it hovered a bit, like a helicopter, before going over(head)   It was like watching Abbot & Costello, but on a much, much lower plane.

[ErikRuud]

Seriously though, there are several projects using off the shelf components to develope autonumous aircraft that use GPS for navigation.  I saw one on the Discovery Channel not too long ago.  One was a test bed for an autonomous flying mars explorer.

Add that knowledge to the rumors of Iraq's attempt to develop cheap UAV's and you can see where some people would worry about the GPS system being by terrorists.  I'm not saying it's likely, but I can see where the fear comes from.

[locash]

p.s. it's funny how DD pointed it out, and it hovered a bit, like a helicopter, before going over(head)   It was like watching Abbot & Costello, but on a much, much lower plane.

The funny part to me is that I still have no idea what his point was.  Its like I am standing in front of one of those kiosks at the mall, you know the ones with the hidden 3d pictures.  And everyone around me is saying "I see it, its a unicorn standing in front of a waterfall!".  Meanwhile, I am thinking to myself, "Where, I don't see that..."

[Dartful Dodger]

The funny part to me is that I still have no idea what his point was.

BTW, the government does not charge ANYONE to use the service.

I assume this means the government does not charge ANYONE to use the service.

If you are paying for GPS service, you are getting ripped off completely.

I assume this means, If you are paying for GPS service, you are getting ripped off completely.

If I am jumping to the wrong conclusions, I'm sorry.

[locash]

The funny part to me is that I still have no idea what his point was.

BTW, the government does not charge ANYONE to use the service.

I assume this means the government does not charge ANYONE to use the service.

If you are paying for GPS service, you are getting ripped off completely.

I assume this means, If you are paying for GPS service, you are getting ripped off completely.

If I am jumping to the wrong conclusions, I'm sorry.

I didn't say those things, I was quoting Mameotron.  The point I was trying to make is we are all paying for these things whether we want/need them or not (assuming we are tax payers).   

It was your mention of the traffic cop that confused me (and still does).  What was the point you were trying to make?

[Dartful Dodger]

I didn't say those things, I was quoting Mameotron.

I'm sorry, I see why my post confused you.

BTW, the government does not charge ANYONE to use the service.

I assume this means the government does not charge ANYONE to use the service.

If you are paying for GPS service, you are getting ripped off completely.

I assume this means, If you are paying for GPS service, you are getting ripped off completely.

It was your mention of the traffic cop that confused me (and still does).

[ChadTower]

dont want to be the poor bastard lost in the woods,or the soccer mom lost in dorchester when her Nstar shuts down lol

[locash]

Paying taxes do not allow you to use the service, nor does it allow you abuse the highways.

I never said it did.

[Dartful Dodger]

Paying taxes do not allow you to use the service, nor does it allow you abuse the highways.

I never said it did.

Exactly

[Mameotron]

What's the name of the guy on first base?

Who.

That's what I'm trying to find out!!
 

[Mameotron]

Just because your tax dollars pay for aircraft carriers, that doesn't mean you can walk up to one and say, hey, I paid for this, I'm gonna take a ride with you guys.

[DrewKaree]

What's the name of the guy on first base?

Who.

That's what I'm trying to find out!!
 

What's the name of the guy on second base, then?

[Mameotron]

What's the name of the guy on first base?

Who.

That's what I'm trying to find out!!
 

What's the name of the guy on second base, then?

I don't know!

He's on third!!