Gyroscopic Investing

As in a google-guided car used to deliver bombs? I say no later than 2022.

Usually, when I think about the different things that will come out of these autodriven cars, they're all positive musings.

Today, though, I couldn't help but think of a fleet of cars laden with explosives and no drivers. Maybe just mannequins. How would one stop that?
As you approach an Israeli checkpoint, will they radio you and ask you to radio back a short definition of a zebra, or some other audio approximation of Captcha technology and shoot your tires if you fail? Or will the Israelis have to develop automated unmanned checkpoints?

I can't imagine the Israelis will allow driveless cars, for just that reason. Here in the states, I bet you're right. Maybe Google will add bomb-sniffers to the cars?

We will have perfected human nature by then. 

Pointedstick wrote: I can't imagine the Israelis will allow driveless cars, for just that reason. Here in the states, I bet you're right. Maybe Google will add bomb-sniffers to the cars?

Since Hezbollah has helicopter drones, they could probably develop a GPS-guided or remotely guided car. It wouldn't have to be nearly as sophisticated as Google's. No safety features, for example. Just start it out next to the checkpoint and let'er go. Put a mannequin in there and you have a suicide bomb without the suicide.

Well maybe that's a silver lining, albeit a small one. Thanks to technology freedom fighters & militants will lose their taste for suicide.

dualstow wrote:

Pointedstick wrote: I can't imagine the Israelis will allow driveless cars, for just that reason. Here in the states, I bet you're right. Maybe Google will add bomb-sniffers to the cars?

Since Hezbollah has helicopter drones, they could probably develop a GPS-guided or remotely guided car. It wouldn't have to be nearly as sophisticated as Google's. No safety features, for example. Just start it out next to the checkpoint and let'er go. Put a mannequin in there and you have a suicide bomb without the suicide.

Well maybe that's a silver lining, albeit a small one. Thanks to technology freedom fighters & militants will lose their taste for suicide.

But think about all of those brokenhearted virgins in paradise who now won't get to make sweet love for eternity to those glorious suicide bomber martyrs.

Talk about a peculiar externality!

dualstow wrote: As in a google-guided car used to deliver bombs? I say no later than 2022.

LOL

Honestly I'm surprised that there haven't already been instances of remote control helicopters being used for crime or terrorism. It seems like it'd be a cheap way of casing a property or sneaking a combustible somewhere without leaving much evidence.

KevinW wrote: Honestly I'm surprised that there haven't already been instances of remote control helicopters being used for crime or terrorism. It seems like it'd be a cheap way of casing a property or sneaking a combustible somewhere without leaving much evidence.

I'm sure that people in various parts of the would say that these types of vehicles have been used for such activities for the last decade or so, except that the U.S. is the one doing it.  When the strategy is turned on us at some point in the future I predict we will like it a lot less than we do when we are the ones doing the shooting.

While unmanned aircraft have come into vogue in recent years, way back in 1982 Israel pulled off a brilliant strategy using radio controlled airplanes in an air battle over Lebanon and Syria in Operation Mole Cricket 19.

Yeah. The first time I heard about a drone strike I was reminded of the scene in Terminator 2 where the heartless machines are gunning down the hopelessly outmatched freedom fighters. Not pretty.

Yup. While drones vs drones sounds nice and bloodless, right now we have drones against flesh.
I recently read an article about people (Pakistanis I think) who hear drones buzzing endlessly overhead. Even when you're innocent, and even when you're not being bombed, you can hear the noise and you know that a strike could occur at any moment. It sounds maddening. I think about how my family would feel if we were in such a situation.

Back to Googlecars, I guess a lot of truck drivers and cab drivers will soon be out of work.
Although, I read about a bus driver in Philadelphia who quickly abandoned his route and sped off to the hospital when someone started randomly shooting at the bus. Maybe we'll still need a human at the wheel for a while. (or, maybe we just need a panic button by passenger seats).