This hotel in San Jose offers high-speed Internet connections, but performance has just about ground to a standstill as the latest virus targetting Microsoft has infected the hotel's ISP. So won't post much today.
However, the complimentary dead trees edition of USA Today has an interesting story on an upcoming military test that will probably enrage the North Koreans. Not that they need an excuse. Snips:
The Navy plans to begin testing a new method for hunting hostile submarines this fall off the coast of Japan, and the test will include looking for the real thing: diesel-electric North Korean and Chinese subs prowling in the Sea of Japan.Posted by Alan at August 19, 2003 07:34 PMThe tests, as well as similar trials off Hawaii, are scheduled to begin in about two months. They are intended to try out the prototype of a detection device that analyzes underwater color patterns and detects color gradations too faint for the human eye to notice. Early versions of the device -- called the Littoral Airborne Sensor Hyperspectral, or LASH -- have spotted whales and submarines below the surface.
Current detection methods used by the Navy rely on sonar and other methods to ''hear'' the location of enemy submarines. The LASH system is designed to permit the Navy to see where submarines are.
Military officials say that although many or most Chinese and North Korean submarines rely on technology that originated in World War II, advances in propellers, engines and electronics make these subs extremely quiet.
Adding to detection challenges: The relatively shallow ocean waters over the continental shelf are so noisy that it's difficult to hear submarines there.
''Sound waves are diffused and distorted in this coastal zone, and you have a huge number of vessels, motorboats, even whales making noise,'' says Jonathan Gradie, chief technology officer for STI. ''There is a cacophony of noise that reduces the effectiveness of acoustic systems.''
via USA Today