* Posts by Small Cog

5 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Jul 2014

Galaxy Note

Small Cog

So... when is Note 4 going to be available for sale?

Can't wait since I resolved not to buy a Note 3 before that :)

Getting into software development...

Small Cog

> Since I am not a programmer, can you suggest what language(s)/disciplines

> should I recommend to him to start investigating (please don't say Java!)

> for perhaps enterprise app development?

java :)

Java on the server side + C# GUI

That's how things are where I work

UK Police Tracking People's Phone Calls

Small Cog

So... if one wanted to be free from this tech.. I guess he could be making calls over some open source communicator akin to Skype from his PC. He would need to use an anonymization network.

In my experience I2P doesn't work that great, haven't tried Tor.. My biggest hope is GnuNet though they are by no means fast at building it... But it also seems to be the most thorough attempt.

With that it wouldn't be possible to see who you're calling.

But the mobiles... Whatever you do they will betray that you're in the area and making a call. Theoretically smth like GnuNet might run on a mobile making the recipient of your calls and their content unknown. But that would work only with good mobile internet and you still wouldn't be able to conceal the fact that you're calling somebody at a particular time

Bjarne Stroustrup's haircut!

Small Cog

Very similar to Doc from "Back To The Future" :)

MH17 -- SA-11 / BUK complexity

Small Cog

Re: MH17 -- SA-11 / BUK complexity

Hi, mate

I really don't have a clue; all info is from the internet

A short video of BUK operation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjHcVhj4LRM

I used this to pick up my terminology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buk_missile_system

I good photo

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/plotnikk/15932472/690356/690356_original.jpg

From left to right, with crew numbers for each (from internet)

- command vehicle - a crew of 6

- target acquisition radar (TAR) - a crew of 3

- transporter erector launcher and radar (TELAR) - a crew of 4

- transporter erector launcher (TEL) - a crew of ?

The following texts circulate in the Russian internet:

"BUK consists of 4 vehicles/crews. Two of the four crews consist entirely of officers and engineers - except for the driver and the operator. Operating the BUK is a complex process which requires experienced crews to closely cooperate across the vehicles. The level of coordination required is comparable to those on a light cruiser or a submarine"

"Do you know what combating a simulated air raid is like? Thickest smoke hangs in the cabins. The crews don't have enough time to take their cardiac tablets, heart rate is over 200, many are on the verge of a cardiac arrest. The have been lethal cases"

So it is highly unlikely that rebels could have operated a BUK w/o an experienced crew sent to their aid.

However then we arrive at the more important question - did the rebels have a BUK at all?

They had definitely taken control of an UA army base where UA army used to keep them.

They did claim themselves that they had one - but were they just boasting?

There are some photos which allegedly show the TELAR in the town of Torez - an important base of the rebellion.

Further just a single TELAR without the command vehicle and without the TAR is said to be extremely tricky to operate. Some people on the net claim it would be a "miracle" to hit a target just with the TELAR. Yes it's got a small radar but I understand you have to point it rather precisely at the target - and then it can probably track it and hit it. However this is not how it is normally operated.

Further there are no photos of this TELAR in action.

General prosecutor of the Ukraine said that the rebels did not get any BUK-s "in working order" from the UA army bases.

That sounds sensible - those BUK-s which were in working order from the base were spotted elsewhere - possibly close the Crimea border - where UA army is actually fearing a Russian invasion.

So where do these claims leave us? UA authorities now claim that the BUK was transported over the Russian border and later ferried back.

How likely is that? I do not know. Honestly I doubt it.

In the press-conference Russian generals made public satellite images showing BUK installations of the UA army

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSpeo5RcQQo

They've unveiled pictures of three installations - each consisting of multiple vehicles. UA army do have full sets - command vehicles, TAR-s, TELAR-s, TEL-s - all the stuff. One of the images actually shows 60 military vehicles on one spot! That the scale you have when you use BUK-s for air defense. Interesting thing is that this large installation was gone the next day after the crash.

So what do we see? We see that Ukrainian army has got lots of BUK-s around the crash site.

This is proven by satellite imagery. Nobody disputes the veracity of these images.

However when the US authorities were asked to reveal satellite images showing the BUK installation on the side of the rebels there was a complete and deafening silence. Yes there are multiple accusations. Fingers are pointed both at the rebels and at Russia. But all of these are complete unsubstantiated! NO PROOF AT ALL has been made public!

Meanwhile we also have claims like this:

http://www.infowars.com/whistleblower-u-s-satellite-images-show-ukrainian-troops-shooting-down-mh17/

"What I’ve been told by one source, who has provided accurate information on similar matters in the past, is that U.S. intelligence agencies do have detailed satellite images of the likely missile battery that launched the fateful missile, but the battery appears to have been under the control of Ukrainian government troops dressed in what look like Ukrainian uniforms"

This honestly I find much easier to believe in rather than in the rebels shooting with TELAR only or a whole set of vehicles being smuggled across the border - unseen