supersquirrel

joined 2 years ago
[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 21 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

I think Putin desperately needed it as Russia is starting to lose badly in Ukraine, not in terms of total available numbers of troops or ability to economically fight but just in terms of plain getting their ass kicked tactically and strategically in higher and higher percentages of engagements. Independent of the strategic situation, war is like tennis, no matter how far you are ahead in a game, you have to close the game out to win, which means winning points all the way to the end of the game. You can't just declare you have won because you have an obviously superior situation, and if the enemy knows every engagement you have with them costs you more than it costs them... well that quickly spirals into a massive problem no matter how far you are ahead because not even time will save you.

Whatever the reason, the big draw down in expensive anti-missile/drone stocks at least gives Russia a fighting chance (not that I am in favor of giving them a fighting chance here) but even still it doesn't matter as much any more if the US stops supporting Ukraine defense directly, it sucks but the effect seems to be Europe stepping up and investing in Ukraine and defense in general and I am not sure long term that is worse for Ukraine though short term it is obviously not good.

Particularly in the political realm of war, the new way to do a high profile military response that doesn't accomplish a military objective are drone attacks on cities that make big headlines but do little actual damage to the war machine of a country at level that matters enough to turn the tide of a war. This isn't to say the violence and destruction they cause isn't real, but rather it is aimed at almost more of a pyschological violence against a population of civilians rather than a material attack on a vulnerable part of the military industrial complex of Ukraine that facilitates it's ability to fight. If Ukraine has decisive missile defenses however and can embarassingly shoot down all of Russia's drones, that actually becomes a serious political threat to the legitimacy of their military in terms of the global world's assumed mantra that Russia must be overwhelmingly more powerful than Ukraine in sophistication and number because the saber rattling just looks weak.

I am not super confident in this, but it may be an indicator of how desperate Putin is getting, to push wildly for a drawn down of antimissile systems available to Ukraine so that Putin can manipulate a PR path to save face and lose the war in Ukraine while claiming to win because even as the logistics and infantry (armor? no more of that for Russia in any strategic number) mostly withdraw the world news can keep covering shocking massive drone attacks on Ukranian cities and retain an air of inveitability to Russia's dominance.

This isn't to say Russia isn't dangerous to Ukraine anymore, but rather to underscore that they are getting desperate.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 42 points 4 days ago (8 children)

Because of Netanyahu starting a war with Iran to stay in power.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

They drive them with Steam Decks

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[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 1 points 5 days ago

Look, I want you to know that I realize the mistake I made now and I am sorry

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 9 points 6 days ago

More like the nervous system of a noise musician's pedalboard so complex it might be able to talk to aliens.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 20 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Why do they need guns? They are starving, is that not evil enough?

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz -1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I don't think Microsoft is specifically setting out to make shitty projects - like, that isn't their mission statement, and if they, or any other AI company, can bypass existing biases in the industry, I'd call that a net positive.

What evidence do you have that they have any realistic chance of success?

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 3 points 6 days ago (3 children)

If the AI diagnoses can avoid those same biases, it could actually be better for those groups especially.

AVOID?

What?

Are we talking about the same company, Microsoft?

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 11 points 6 days ago (9 children)

Bullshit Alarm

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 137 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (15 children)

Wait I thought stock buybacks and hollowing out all our dedicated talent didn't have consequences?

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Mi8s, or whatever the derivative name is, that were originally designed for Afghanistan were rerouted to Ukraine so it is definitely possible. Also I don't think Ukraine needs advice on how to fly them, they need high quality flight data for modernized Mi8 variants they can use to make sure the modifications they make function seamlessly.

To be specific maybe really high resolution flight data taken by a ring of bell unmarked helicopters flying in close formation to the Mi8? Maybe, maybe not.

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