It is always nice to go to bed, listen to music and dream away. That is until this flipping brain of mine gets a new idea. In this case it is not new IP, but a new setting for a group of people. You see, during lockdown I got hooked on walk video’s. It was a way to see places I had never visited before, it is one way to get around and weirdly enough, these walk videos are cool. You see more than you usually do (especially in London) most of them are actually quite good, a few need tinkering (like music not so loud) but for the most they are a decent experience. Then I thought what if GoPro makes a change, offering a new stage. That got me going, you see, most walks are on a stick, decent but intense for the filming party. So we can set the movie from a shoulder mount, a chest mount, or helmet mount. Yet what is filmed? So what happens if we have something like Google glasses and the left (or right) eye shows what we see in the film. We get all kind of degrees of filming. And if we want to ignore it, we merely close that eye for a moment. I am surprised that GoPro had not considered it, or perhaps they did. Consider that the filmer now has BOTH hands free and can hold something towards the camera, the filming agent can do more and move more freely. Consider that is works with a holder, but there is a need (in many cases) to have both hands available. And perhaps there is a need for both, the need to use one hand for precision and a gooseneck mount to keep both hands free. The interesting part is that there is no setting to get the image on something like Google Glasses and that is a shame, was I the first to think of it? It seems weird with all the city walks out there on YouTube, but there you have it and in that light, I was considering revisiting the IP I had for a next Watchdogs, one with a difference (every Ip creator will tell you that part), but I reckon that is a stage we will visit again soon enough, it involves Google Glasses and another setting that I will revisit. Just like the stage of combining deeper machine learning to a lens (or google glasses), a camera lens that offer direct translations, and the fun part is we can select if that is pushed through to film, or merely seen by us, now consider filming in Japan with machine learning and deeper machine learning auto translating ANY sign it sees. Languages that we do not know will no longer stop us, it will tell the filmmaker where they are and consider linking that to one lens in google glasses that overlays the map? It that out yet? I never saw it and there are all kinds of needs for that part. What you see is what you know, if you know the language. Just a thought at 01:17. I need a hobby, I really do!
Category Archives: Science
1-800-LoadMyMissile
Yup, I had to go there. And when you see the headline ‘F-35 program seeks cyber reinforcements’ you might go there too. Now, you need to know that there is nothing wrong with the article that can be found (at https://fcw.com/defense/2022/02/f-35-program-office-seeks-cyber-reinforcements/361848/). Yet the quote given to us 2 days ago “To improve the joint strike fighters’ defences against cyber attacks, the program office responsible for it wants an open system design solution” implies there is close to nothing, all whilst this danger was out in the open for some time, so why react this late? And when we are given “the program office responsible for the aircraft is looking to create a multi-phased process that would enhance the security of F-35’s – and supporting ground systems – through newly developed or integrated technologies, such as real-time, automated in-flight detection, response and recovery” concerns should be raised. You see that dinky toy (the F-35) is not the cheapest of all Corgi toys, so something should have been in place already. The issue is not that simple, I get that. To take a more Cisco stage of expression. Every plane will need a router that has SecureX platform, Secure Firewall, Secure Endpoint and connects to the ground in a similar way and does it in real time, not the easiest of tasks and in this the real-time part will be the hardest to get working. A system that can interact with every system.
As I personally see it (see image), it is a setting that has a number of points (like hardware points) for fire solutions, navigation, weapons systems and the security station. It cannot check all, but each system has its own header, and the headers check each other, so if one is hacked the others fix the one hacked and the system is back on tour, there is no guarantee that this will work, but hacking one system is one thing, hacking all 5 becomes virtually impossible. And there is another problem, such a system will need online load balancing. Not online like we know online, but a system that is always checking the load balance of every header station and as this is all done in real time will require an upgrade of hardware, because there is no way that the added electronics will not have an impact on current efficiency numbers and with the costs already way out of proportions, I have no idea how this gets passed the budget committee and even if they get some kind of new Cisco device (which is one of the leading cyber authorities) the hardware will not come cheap and it will require a new OS to make it work. I wonder if relaunching ADA would be a solution. It would be allowing one of ADA strengths to be deployed and if the NSA can boost the security and it is implemented with a newer version of Cisco Cyber Constructs, there is a decent chance it might work but all this requires specialists working together and in the IT field that is almost a challenge on its own (like making a submarine fly). So I have no idea where it all will end, but taking into consideration that the expected acquisition costs is set to $406.5 billion, with total lifetime cost (i.e., to 2070) to $1.5 trillion in then-year dollars, and the cyber equation will ramp up costs by another 10% (rough estimation) and my estimation is set to the fact that it is smooth sailing, but that has never been the case so there is every chance that the F-35 will break all records, including cost to produce.
That is my mere speculative thought in the equation that the FCW brought to light.
Oh darn, I am missing out
Now to be honest, there was never much of a chance to begin with, but who would not want 3.75% commission, especially as it is based on a number amounting to billions. And as I said in several articles, the US is about to lose out on these billions. And guess what, after all the name calling I was handed (some are blindly accepting US stories that it will blow over), the setting given to us by Asia Times is ‘Saudi Arabia has a plan to buy fewer US weapons’, a mere 5 hours ago. It is supported by “Kingdom has launched an inward-looking strategy to develop its own defence industries with the help of foreign partners” (at https://asiatimes.com/2022/02/saudi-arabia-has-a-plan-to-buy-fewer-us-weapons/) in all honesty, this was always going to happen, but that industrial move was initially going to be US settings, now there is every chance that China gets to do this and that would imply losses into the hundreds of billions. The article gives us “Saudi Arabia has signed several Memoranda of Understanding between GAMI, the Ministry of Investment and UK-based Cranfield University. GAMI also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Italian defence manufacturer Leonardo to create and develop investment opportunities in education and train specialised military industries”, yet I believe that this setting is one that China relishes, as such whatever the west is thinking, be careful what you do next. You se, Cranfield themselves give us “A number of Cranfield graduates also hold leading roles in Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) including the Head and the Chief Design Engineer of the China Gas Turbine division”, Is this where it will go? No, there is no data supporting this, it is based on the stages that we have seen all over the news and if Saudi Arabia decides to get their hardware from the BAE, I would be happy (as a Commonwealthian), I would still be a little sour missing out on the 3.75%, but that was never a given in the first place. And all this is not really news, the internal defence growth was at least 2 years old and it makes sense for Saudi Arabia to have its own military manufacturing complex. So we aren’t seeing anything news, other than the Italian involvement here. So whilst some will stare at “Cranfield is ranked 45th in the world for Aero, Mech, Manufacturing by QS rankings.” It seems to me that Saudi Arabia is making headway in this stage and that means that the US is in deeper trouble than it realises. The UK could avoid some issues if they can get a handles on the CAAT Tea grannies.
You see, over the next decade all nations need whatever revenue they can get and the UK is not out of the race yet, the question becomes what can they offer over China and that is a hard nut to crack, China has all kinds of advantages after the UK and US dropped the ball, and they did so several times in a row, so they are catering to a client (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) that has had enough of the games that some governments have been playing (as well as catering to Iran at the same time).
Saudi Arabia was always intent on growing its own defence solutions and I believe about 3-4 years ago mention of 50% by 2030 was stated and they are on track to do that. I believe that GAMI (General Authority for Military Industries) is roaring to get things going. And it seems that they are very serious to get it going, so it is up to the UK to find solutions that help them and not China. Personally I believe that the UK will have to sweeten the deal by a lot, but that is personal speculation. I do still believe that China has the inside track here, but that too is speculation on other sources, sources I never was able to vet.
And there is a second path here, I do believe that the longer term planning for Saudi Arabia implies that Egypt is a growing connection here, so if China wins that path, they could optionally have the advantage with Egypt and its $2,000,000,000 for 2022/2023. A setting that should cause concern in Washington. You see, if China takes over the $ 1.3 billion annually support from the US, the factional setting for the Middle East will change pretty dramatically. Even as the US is seemingly out with the Saudi Government, it is merely that seemingly. The US has a massive disadvantage especially when they were all huffy and puffy on Saudi Arabia, reality bites and that presentable stage will have to be stopped at the earliest convenience (not for me, I am happy if the BAE takes over), yet these stages (also the one the CAAT forced) are all stages that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took notice of and China will be happy to show that with every presentation they bring. So China might have the lead, but the UK is still in the race and that is good for the UK. The Asia Times is not bringing too much news, yet the fact that it is on the front of the media is always an optional sign that more will be coming soon enough.
Time will tell, and I reckon it is sooner rather than later.
Relaunching IP
It is a thought plenty of people have and I am no exception. I was contemplating things and then I realised in light of the news I covered in the last week that educating people is always better than telling them how it is. Some people are afraid that THEIR thoughts are all, but I am not the most intelligent person on the planet. I am more intelligent than mot and my IQ is around two point short from the setting that Alan Turing had, so I have that to sulk about. But the station to educate others, to teach them where to look and what to look for remains appealing. So there I was sitting and contemplating an old master called the Balance of Power. I had bought the game on the Atari ST and I loved it. The game was a little shallow, but it was new, it had never been done before and as such it kept my attention for a long time.
Wouldn’t it be great if someone picked up that idea and turned it into something serious? No longer a mere US versus Russia, but geopolitical field that included espionage. The US, EU, Middle East (Iran or Saudi Arabia), Russia, China and Japan? Consider that we have ‘quotes’ like “Problem analysis is the process of understanding real-world problems and user’s needs and proposing solutions to meet those needs. The goal of problem analysis is to gain a better understanding of the problem being solved before developing a solution”, and there is massive support to consider. There is J. J. A. Tacq who gave us Social Science Research From Problem to Analysis (1997), there is From Secrets to Policy by Mark Lowenthal which is now in its 8th edition. Foundational materials that makes us think and consider a much larger picture. There are economic works that could help creating understanding. Even if one book gets implemented in that game it becomes a whole new beast and to get the kitty turned into a behemoth that scares every tiger in Asia work needs to be done. But the game that was meant for a 640Kb Computer now gets 10,000 times the resources and has a setting of a massive data warehouse that could enable larger prototyping than ever considered before. I see some bloggers (journalists too) working the same equation again and again, all whilst they could create something much more explanatory and insightful for all readers. Some might not care and that is OK, yet the Balance of power had appeal to a fair amount of gamers and I believe even now in a new generational setting I believe that this appeal will still be there. And the benefit of streaming implies that you can try and you can see how the pawns fall down, the rooks optionally stand up and the political board shows a lot more than you ever considered.
We seem to think that old is gone, but games and simulators were more advanced because they overcame memory obstacles, I reckon that some programs can still make us turn out heads, especially when some of these programs were created with the limitations that 1985 had and considering that my Abandonware gave the game 4.6 out of 5 gives another reason to consider what was out there. And let’s face it, what do you have to lose?
The street we know
It is a different setting, we tend to relate to the streets we tend to know. Any technology is set upon a familiar setting. The benefit is that we know where we are and as such we get to where we think we want to go faster. The negative part is that this is a problem when it is true innovation, we cannot continue an iterative line if we want true innovation.
So when I saw ‘Saudi Arabia announces $6.4 billion investments in future tech’ (at https://www.reuters.com/markets/funds/saudi-arabia-announces-64-billion-investments-future-tech-2022-02-01/) I took notice last week but merely that, it was to be expected. So when I looked at it again this morning, I noticed “include a $2 billion joint venture between eWTP Arabia Capital, a fund backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Alibaba, and China’s J&T Express Group, minister Abdullah Alswaha said”, I had overlooked that initially. But it makes sense, as ties with China grow, the Chinese IT sector would come in. It spells bad news for the US, for Amazon in particular. The options that were there are shrinking, they are not gone, but China is now in position to take the cream from the barrel and become the new fat cats. My IP still has options, but it might not go the highway I had hoped for (we all have that), still I do have the innovation advantage and when others fail I can step in.
There is another side, a side that Amazon had in hands, you see with Neom and Vision2030 Amazon had a larger option if there was a data centre in Saudi Arabia, not a simple online store, but a real data centre, they would need one for a few reasons and even as the media gives us “showing its continued business interests there despite a public dispute between Riyadh and the company’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos”, we can see the hindrance there, we can see that there are issues (I am ignoring the FTI Consulting issues here), but in a larger stake worth billions, the need to find solutions are clear for Amazon. They could walk away and leave it all to AliBaba and the J&T Express Group yet who profits then? Not Amazon, not the US and it is another spark that goes into the direction of China. It is a problem for the US for two reasons. The first one is simple revenue, the US desperately needs that. The second one might not be that clear. You see Saudi Arabia has at present a full fletched 5G network, so those there can do all kinds of prototyping to a much larger extend and see the impact of congestion in a complete 5G network. You see at present we see assumptions via 4G LTE and other settings, this implies that other issues will not be captured when things go wrong. And with all the transgressions we have seen in 2020 and 2021 these systems need proper adjustment. Saudi Arabia has the advantage and now it seems so does China (outside of China), another step not to the advantage of the west (as expressions go), so how many steps do we all need to fall behind before people take this disadvantaged setting seriously?
Even now, the aftermath of Davos will be in favour of both Saudi Arabia and China. Al Jazeera reported “Observers see the high-profile conference as a way for the kingdom to redeem itself in the eyes of US President Joe Biden and the wider international community”, yet my question becomes ‘Why?’ You see, the EU and the US have shown themselves to be unreliable, all setting concepts to presentation in stead of evidence. Now that China is showing themselves to be a much larger player and a willing player could spell a massive loss in revenue. 3 billion here, 6.4 billion there, and several more billions left, right and hither. How much longer until we face the direction that we are losing out? Now this would not be a problem when we have alternatives, but there aren’t that many are there? And consider that one side gives us ‘Deficit shrinks in the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency’ (around $500,000,000,000 less loss), it is a joke when you consider that the deficit is still $2,500,000,000,000,000. And less than a months later the people are given ‘Biden’s $1.7trn social policy will send deficit soaring’, it is another setting of managing bd news and on top of that they lose revenue option after revenue option. So how does that look? The US debt has now surpassed $30,000,000,000,000,000, you have that kind of money? I do not and none of the others have it and an additional problem for the US is that the EU wants to dig into the Saudi revenue pie as well, yet at present China has the upper hand. A setting we ignore because we are lulled to sleep, and that time is gone, when the US debt comes crashing down the EU will join a massive loss and no amount of promise will aid anyone at that point. All because certain players underestimated the impact of innovation and innovation like some are marketing it is not innovation, it is a presentation nothing more. We all tend to keep to the street we know but when that street is on fire, will you merely stop the fire or see what resources are available in the next street?
China did just that and now we see the fallout of political stupidity. Oh, and when Iran does not come across with promises that they made to some middle man, when the unfortunate adjustments come, the middle man will not care, he got his oil barrel bonus, he is just fine, but those who were behind it will get to say ‘Oops!’ Just as I expected them to do. At that point we will see another advantage to China, good going! And what happens in May/June when Iran has enough nuclear materials? What then?
Talk about something in a boring way?
Yes, that is one way to put it, you see we can drone all we like, but until certain players wake up, smell the coffee and realise that they are aiding Iran through silence, we will never get anywhere. It started yesterday (actually a few days earlier) and I did mention an event before that. But yesterday it started as Reuters gave us ‘UAE says it blocked drone attack, shadowy group claims responsibility’ (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uae-says-it-destroyed-3-drones-that-penetrated-its-airspace-wednesday-2022-02-02/) there we see “The first three assaults, including a missile attack on Monday during a visit by Israel’s president, were launched by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in an escalation with a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and which includes the UAE.” In this we are also given “Wednesday’s drone attack was claimed by little-known “True Promise Brigades”, citing UAE interference in Yemen and Iraq as justification, according to U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which follows militant websites”, which I personally reckon is one of two players. The article does give us “the group, which is unknown to Iraqi intelligence or security officials, is actually active or capable of such attacks, or if it is a front for Iran-allied militias”, but that is not all. I get the setting we see here. Yet when we consider the gathered intel from Saudi Spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki who gave is last month and showed us all video that not only is Iran actively involved in Yemen, but so is Hezbollah and there is no mention of Hezbollah at present is there? More important, the western media shunned any mention of Iran and Hezbollah in Yemen ACTIVELY attacking the UAE and Saudi Arabia. There is not the question whether it has happened. The attacks on Aramco (14 September 2019) could not have ben done by Houthi forces, or Hezbollah for that matter. The attacks and the precision clearly implies an attack by Iran, but that as never properly investigated by the west was it? So I decided to design a weapon system to stealthily sink their navy and I gave it to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (as well as put it online), the idea of melting down their reactor I put online. It needs to be clear that if no one will deal with Iran, I will (I needed a hobby anyway).
But this is not about me. This is about Iran and this is about the UAE attack. So the second article comes from Arab News (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2017681/middle-east) there we see ‘UAE foreign minister condemns Houthi attacks in call with Iranian counterpart’, I personally wonder what UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed actually told Iran, but I think it is clear that these attacks are not the result from Houthi forces. I am also amazed that the drones got that far. There is more in this and the technology required to get that far implies clearly that it is Iranian hardware, definitely training by Iran or Houthi forces and the reach of the hardware implies stronger measures have been delivered to Houthi forces and only one source is the delivery agent. It was Iran, whether they went via Hezbollah is another matter. Yet the text “the UAE’s air defences intercepted and destroyed three drones on Wednesday before they had reached residential areas” the question becomes was the target military or civilian? That is not easily answered, but the setting requires a much larger response from the west, If they want any credibility at all. Yet there is a larger station to consider. Why is the west (aka US Navy) unable to stop Iranian (or Hezbollah) smugglers? This setting is already beyond 7 drones, the hardware required is not a simple setting. There needs to be at least three teams or more advanced cluster Drone control and the second part implies a lot more training and a lot more knowledge that previously expected and there is no way that this advanced expertise of drones is in the hard of Houthi forces or Hezbollah.
The second part is drone control, there are at least 3 stations available. Whether we track or hack, something needs to be done and so far the failures of the blocking navy (US, UK) is out there and more questions are out there on smugglers making it though. I might pull a rabbit with a solution out of my hat, but I got nothing (at present) yet the Americans and Brits out there are not getting it done either so something new is required and if I create a new IP on taking out Iranian interest I will put them here, but at present smugglers are the problem and so far no one has anything to stop them and the one that got caught is not enough, the weapons might count, but drones and drone control is making it through and that needs to stop. It needs to stop because soon the stage becomes that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are forced to set the tone to open warfare with Iran. The flaccid politicians (Us and EU) will be too late then and no one will give them any consideration, at that point we can no longer be neutral and as I personally see it, the commonwealth will have to openly support the UAE and then what? You see at that point we are at a point of no return and we had the option to stop it earlier, if only politicians and their stakeholders had a clear solution to avoid the point of no return and as we can see it will soon be too late for that. At least I offered at least two parts in stopping Iran, more needs to be done and the west is not doing it. The Wall Street Journal gave u 17 hours ago ‘U.S. Sees Iran’s Nuclear Program as Too Advanced to Restore Key Goal of 2015 Pact’, the Jerusalem Post only 11 hours ago gives us ‘The US is negotiating a shorter, weaker Iran Deal’, and I wrote on November 19th 2021 ‘Uranium, Iranas, Iran it again’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/11/19/uranium-iranas-iran-it-again/). There I stated (almost three months ago) “the first dose of reality is only a week away, when we see the absence of strong media representation, the absence of strong language and the absence of clear shot time lines, I feel that my point will be made and I only need to see one of the three to be proven correct. This has been going on for 7 years, enough is enough I say”, and that is all after the stories going back to July 2020, there has been that much inaction from the west, and equally that little achieved.
It is clear that Iran is using flaccid western politicians and western stakeholders to get their message and levels of inactivity out. So as the New York Post now gives the people ‘New Iran deal wouldn’t stop production of nuclear bomb: White House’, so as the gloves come off, the stage of either support Saudi Arabia or face the chaos that will ensure for decades to come will pass through inaction, or through actions done too late. Inactions will have pushed the Middle East to a brink of chaos and we are all in part to blame, we have seen a year of inactions and filtered news so any journalist now making claims that they were caught unaware can go screw themselves. This has been out there for years and we are soon in a stage where we could face the ordeal of letting it all get out of control.
We can drone all we want, but we forgot that there was a larger stage and not calling that one out was on the plate of all these so called reporters, yet they didn’t do that, did they?
It’s IP but not mine
I just had the weirdest daydream. In the dream I was playing a game I had never seen before. I think it was a mini-game. It was set to either DC or Batman, I honestly cannot tell. What was the setting is that the mini game had two sides and you play one side. It was like a puzzle, the weird part is that you decide to either play the antagonist, which was based on Christian Bale as the Mad Hatter with ginger moustache and goatee and the stronger he becomes in the mini game, the better your upgrades get in the real game. The mini game is time based, so you get time to consider moves and the time is set to the maximum amount of moves and time to think is reduced. So as you ponder moves you might end up only having 3 moves (in stead of 4). The opposition was the assisting protagonist played by Ewan McGregor as Bobcat. If he gets stronger he gets more upgrades and the main character gets less. It is an odd thee sided equation. The weird part is that time is a larger element in the game. I was playing the game and I was selecting moves. The board looked very “steampunk Jugendstil’ if I had to coin a phrase. I had never seen the setting before, but it was not the mini game that was capturing me, it was the tactical side of the mini game. We always tend to go to make OURSELVES stronger, to set another level by making the opponent stronger is something I had never contemplated before. We could make our assisting protagonist stronger but that also comes at a price. It is almost the equation of 10 points can be divided. If the opponent ends up with 4 points, the 6 points go to you you think, but that would be wrong, Bobcat gets 6 and you get 4, so it is a different kettle of fish. You need to make the opposition stronger to gain strength, so if Mad hatter gets 6, 6 points open up in the main game and Bobcat only gets 4. It is a different kind of seesaw. The issue in the game becomes if Bobcat becomes too strong, Mad hatter ends up being weaker, but then so do you. A puzzle where you need to consider that your allies need strength, but you need to enable a little more for you. Because if one gets too strong, the third party (either you or bobcat) loses out too fast and when the game essentially requires two players, you are out of the game, because Bobcat ended up out of the game. It is a very different dynamic and that dynamic requires a level of balance. You see the (so called) AI in a game can be twisted to break on your behalf, but if YOU become the measurement of balance and opposing decisions the decision making tree becomes a whole new thing. To coin a phrase; “The game Skyrim has skills, so if you become stealth level 5: You are 40% harder to detect when sneaking”, so what happens when your stealth level 5 implies that some opponents automatically become level 4? You have all these kinds of opponents in the DC universe. So we have the armies of the clown, two face and the penguin. They have soldiers, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains. So what happens that in stealth the captains automatically become level 4? In fighting, if you are level 4, officers are automatically level 3 and below are level 2. But it is on top of what they naturally have, so you need an altering game, you cannot become a one trick pony. And the mini games decide on your assistant in that part of the game Bobcat, Catwoman, Bluebird and Azrael. It changes the dynamic of the game and more importantly is creates a much larger replayability and more challenges. Because you were playing part of a 3 sided dice and that changes the odds and the options throughout the game.
As I stated this is not my IP, if any it belongs to Bob Kane, as such I put my thoughts here as Public domain so that (optionally) Mr. Kane can still become aware of it.
As far as I can tell, this has never been done before and as such it might be an interesting push for a more challenging form of tactical games. Well, that is my part played, and it is time for me to have a sandwich and contemplate a few things in the Middle East. I think it is time to check what the media was so eager not to tell, especially as some players do no longer have the means to do the things some claim THEM to do but that is life. Have fun and Auf Weinerschitzel.
