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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie

USA
4826 Posts

Posted - 07/22/2005 :  09:19:11  Show Profile  Visit Valiant Dancer's Homepage Send Valiant Dancer a Private Message
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8644374/

Anybody else but me have a problem with this kind of technology being used for crowd dispersement?

Seems to be the replacement of the firehose.

Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils

Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion

Paulos23
Skeptic Friend

USA
446 Posts

Posted - 07/22/2005 :  13:41:54   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Paulos23's Homepage Send Paulos23 a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8644374/

Anybody else but me have a problem with this kind of technology being used for crowd dispersement?

Seems to be the replacement of the firehose.



If they feel the heat, can they tell where it is coming from and therefore move away from it? The bit about metal objects and glasses is a problem too.

You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley
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Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 07/22/2005 :  13:48:13   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
oo... finally someone invented the ray gun.

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard

USA
4907 Posts

Posted - 07/22/2005 :  14:30:00   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Ricky an AOL message Send Ricky a Private Message
quote:
“What happens if someone in a crowd is unable for whatever reason to move away from the beam,” asked Neil Davison, coordinator of the non-lethal weapons research project at Britain's Bradford University. “How do you ensure that the dose doesn't cross the threshold for permanent damage? Does the weapon cut out to prevent overexposure?”


One thing the article doesn't say is where (or when) is the threshold for permanent damage?

And if it is a low threshold, perhaps the intensity can be lowered to a point where it is less effective, but still gets the job done fairly well.

Oh, and one more thing:
How much are people payed to be test subjects? And where do I sign up?

Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 07/22/2005 :  15:06:53   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
So Iraq will be the final in-field testing ground for new weapons technology.
Mind you, I prefer military using non-lethal weapons rather than lethal force.

With such a high frequency I think a person should be able to feel from what general direction the beam is coming. It's operating between microwave oven frequency and far infra red.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
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Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 07/22/2005 :  15:18:26   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Paulos23
If they feel the heat, can they tell where it is coming from and therefore move away from it? The bit about metal objects and glasses is a problem too.

It would be a good way of disarming people in the crowds.
I've seen sci-fi on TV where Superman or some other hero/villain heat an opponent's weapon until it's too hot to handle.
Problem is, how to regulate the heat to avoid the ammo in the clip going popcorn on you. What would be disasterous.

There's an old Swedish army assault rifle that goes on runaway auto-fire if it becomes too over-heated. A friend of mine experienced it, but thus far I haven't heard of any injuries from those accidents, except from 2nd degree burns on hand and fingers from the barrel once the clip was empty.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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Chippewa
SFN Regular

USA
1496 Posts

Posted - 07/22/2005 :  19:28:38   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Chippewa's Homepage Send Chippewa a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse

So Iraq will be the final in-field testing ground for new weapons technology. Mind you, I prefer military using non-lethal weapons rather than lethal force...



The official term used is "less lethal" meaning within a large enough crowd, statistically, some individuals will die.


Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.

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R.Wreck
SFN Regular

USA
1191 Posts

Posted - 07/23/2005 :  14:12:57   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send R.Wreck a Private Message
This reminded me of the urban legend of the watchman killed by the microwave transmitter.

The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley

The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 07/23/2005 :  16:31:29   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message
quote:
Anybody else but me have a problem with this kind of technology being used for crowd dispersement?

Seems to be the replacement of the firehose.


Seems less potentially harmfull than the old plastic bullets and sandbag guns and teargass.

In a riot it is already to late to expect that no one will be injured or killed.

The question I have is, will this be less dangerous than the currently used methods of riot dispersal? If so, I'm all for it.

There are other possible applications for this as well. Have a spot of open ground you don;t want anyone walkin accross? Set up a field. There could be alot us uses for it.


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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skepticality
Skeptic Friend

USA
105 Posts

Posted - 07/23/2005 :  22:59:22   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit skepticality's Homepage Send skepticality a Private Message
It seems like some James Bond villian thing...

Wait, did I see this on Batman Begins?

Derek Colanduno
host - skepticality
http://www.skepticality.com/
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard

3192 Posts

Posted - 07/25/2005 :  05:24:34   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send BigPapaSmurf a Private Message
Bring in the scoops! Really wouldnt John Tesh at 100db do the trick?

"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History

"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 07/25/2005 :  06:30:33   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf

Really wouldnt John Tesh at 100db do the trick?
Years ago, I read an article which discussed the fact that 2,000 watts of audio power make things really unpleasant for the listener, and so some European police forces were taking four 500-watt amps to the scene of riots and playing anything through them to get the people to disperse. The article claimed that this practice was very successful, although I'm guessing that the absence of this technique through much of the world suggests otherwise.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard

3192 Posts

Posted - 07/25/2005 :  07:04:38   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send BigPapaSmurf a Private Message
Well now that wouldnt justify a (2 billion dollar)* price tag now would it.

*Guesstimate on US LTL research expenditures.

"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History

"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie

USA
4826 Posts

Posted - 07/25/2005 :  09:06:37   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Valiant Dancer's Homepage Send Valiant Dancer a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

quote:
“What happens if someone in a crowd is unable for whatever reason to move away from the beam,” asked Neil Davison, coordinator of the non-lethal weapons research project at Britain's Bradford University. “How do you ensure that the dose doesn't cross the threshold for permanent damage? Does the weapon cut out to prevent overexposure?”


One thing the article doesn't say is where (or when) is the threshold for permanent damage?

And if it is a low threshold, perhaps the intensity can be lowered to a point where it is less effective, but still gets the job done fairly well.

Oh, and one more thing:
How much are people payed to be test subjects? And where do I sign up?



I would suppose the threshold for permanent damage would depend on how much metal the individual had on them. Change, piercings, glasses, watches, dental work, etc. Once the first fire starts, permanent damage may result fairly quickly.

Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils

Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion
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