Just for the record, I believe that World Net Daily (heh) broke this story first, followed by Drudge, then MSNBC and others. The gist of it is, Sadaam Hussein has ordered a bunch (thousands, from what I've read) of Sony Playstations.

Naturally, it is assumed that he has deep and evil purposes planned for these things. Heaven forbid that he simply ordered them as gifts (despotic heads of state DO buy in large quantities, after all). Let's play along here for a minute.

First, let me give you my standard link for this sort of thing. For those of you who've never been there, look over the site carefully; I worked with George as a sysop for his forum on Compuserve for a while, and his attitude toward computer hysteria in general was *my* attitude for Y2K (something which George decided to ignore as even more irrelevant than the usual Government crybabies and Chicken Little types).

But here y'go: TADA! Crypt News. George hasn't picked up on this one yet, but I rawthuh expect that he will. :)

Now for my comments on this.

Folks, I am the original hacker/tinkerer/Mad Scientist. You ought to see my computer; it's a hacked-together collection of stuff raided from discarded machines, gifts from friends, you name it.

(Shoot, you ought to see the MIDI setup that I'm building. I'm calling it "son of Frankenstein."[g])

So, I give you my decidedly-experienced opinion when I say the following. Could Sony Playstations be used to guide missiles?

Uh ... yeah.

But are there cheaper and easier ways to do it?

You'd better believe it.

Let's ignore the fact that you'd have to completely rework the boards to make them rugged enough to withstand the vibration and accelaration inherent to armed missile flight.

Instead, let's just go with economic realities: you could buy the Evil Microprocessing Chip used in the PlayStation for considerably less than what it costs with a joystick and console attached. A printed-circuit card fabricating setup is nothing to a despotic dictator with money to burn. (I could set up a shop here for less than $1,000 that could turn out dozens of cards a day, no sweat.)

The DESIGN is the hard part. The SOFTWARE is the even harder part. And the fact is, Sadaam would have to do JUST AS MUCH WORK to convert those PlayStations as to start from scratch.

Count on it.

Imagine using your VCR to control your coffeemaker. Could it be done? Sure. The timer record feature will turn the motors on; you could solder a wire from that to a relay setup (or other suitable switch) that would start the brew. You could even take that same concept and use it to start your car or do all sorts of other things.

But would anyone argue that there are easier ways to do it?

The same applies here. Sure, it's possibile that PlayStations could be used for evil and heinous purposes. (If you listen to some family advocates, of course, they say that they already ARE being used that way; but I digress.[g]) But people, there are easier ways to do it.

I will never cease to be amazed at the speculation from people who are complete dunderheads about how computers are used in machine control and automation. In Y2K, it was the IT crowd speculating in an area in which they had no business even visiting, much less acting as "authorities." In Cyber Terror in general, it's academics and government shills who are so utterly clueless that it's not funny.

From time to time, CPR will post an old Y2K quote or story here, and someone will respond by posting an article about how the CIA was "worried," or FEMA had "made plans," or whatever.

How can I state this bluntly enough? the CIA and FEMA were clueless. They remain clueless. If history is any guide, they will continue to be clueless until Sol finally burns out and collapses to the neutron stage.

There's no other way to put it; it's just that simple. PEOPLE, THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT. PERIOD.

There's a WORLD of difference between hypothetical "what ifs?" and reality.

In a word: PlayStations as guidance systems for missiles? Heh. GMAB.

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2000

Answers

The chemo has gone to Sadaam's head. Nothing to worry about. He won't be alive much longer. PlayStations are good for developing hand-eye coordination in the younger set.

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2000

Sorry for being out of date, but Saddam is on chemo? For what malignancy?

For a sec I was thinking "the Shah" but you really did write Saddam. Maybe it's that secret cancer plot the CIA has been working on.

Frank

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2000

ARABIC NEWSPAPER CLAIMS SADDAM HAS CANCER

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is to undergo chemotherapy for lymph cancer and a family council, led by his youngest son Qussay, is ready to take control of the country if he dies, a London-based Arabic newspaper claims. (snip)

http://www.newsofthegulf.com/news/2000_09_08_news_07.htm

Hot Link

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2000

LINK< P> some say his cancer is fake; others say it's really Gulf War Syndrome. I think he's really sick.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2000

Dis,

Thanks!

Frank

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2000

Sony denies re-arming Iraq PlayStations

They should try my Sony VCR. It would drive them crazy.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2000