Computer simulation that almost started WWII

[Rockstar]

http://gizmodo.com/the-computer-simulation-that-almost-started-world-war-i-1686123550

In the early morning hours of November 9, 1979 Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security advisor to President Carter, was awakened by a horrifying phone call. According to NORAD, the Soviet Union had just launched 250 missiles headed straight for American soil. Brzenzinski received another call not long after the first, and NORAD was reporting that it was now 2,200 missiles. This was the moment that every American living through the Cold War had feared. And U.S. officials had no plans to notify the public.

Brzenzinski didn't even bother waking up his wife. He assumed that he and everyone he knew would soon be dead, so there was no sense in troubling her. One can only imagine the dismal post-apocalyptic world flashing before his mind's eye as he thought about his next steps.

"I knew that if it were true, then within about half an hour I, and my loved ones, and Washington, and the majority of America would cease to exist. I wanted to be sure that we'd have company," Brzenzinski told a biographer in 2011.

He wanted to be sure we had company? Scary.

[Oberon]

Good old MAD. By the way, you missed an I in your title. The computer that almost started WWII was probably a bit like this:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HuRvIO2bhLE/T1o_nO1QfGI/AAAAAAAAALI/CrcX8py9jZM/s1600/harvard-mark-computer.jpg

[Stealhead]

Haha the I can be tricky. Honestly I wonder if what he said was translated correctly NORAD would not be contacting a Soviet official I think it meant to say that Soviet systems thought that they saw a launch and they thought that the US based silos where fired.

One method used by both sides then and now are satellites that are tuned to see the IR signature of an ICBM launch. These systems in their early days sometimes did see the suns IR signature as it came round the side of earth (so looking at the Missouri based silos it would see the sun peaking over the same area and mistake that).

I know that another close one was 1983 where a Soviet satellite mistook signatures again. The officer in charge of the unit chose to wait a few minutes as his opinion was that the US would send a full attack not just the handful alerted. Of course he was right.

The reality is if they did see a full strike coming it would be launch on warning meaning the enemy has launched an attempted first strike now you must destroy as much of his nuclear force right away as he has already sent his which means soon at least 50% of your force will be destroyed use them now to get one launch or never.

The Soviet leadership was very fearful a decapitating first strike and by the early 80's as their force was equal to the US and this only made them more fearful and to some extent paranoid of a first strike. They even had a KGB program called RYAN in which agents closely observed military bases and other government agencies and even banks looking for signs that the US might prepare this first strike.

EDIT: nevermind complete brain fart that was the US national security advisor did not see link at top and brain saw Brezhnev.

At any rate both this USSR and the US had a launch on warning policy. Which meant upon confirmation of an attack you bet all of your chips.

[Rockstar]

fixed


edit: ok maybe not.


screw it, where are the launch codes?

[Oberon]

Shouldn't it be computer that nearly started WWIII?

Needs patching. :yep: WWII was buggy, Wehrmacht.exe kept freezing up whenever you tried to open it in Russian language mode. :nope:

[GoldenRivet]

Good old MAD. By the way, you missed an I in your title. The computer that almost started WWII was probably a bit like this:



or this

http://foraker.research.att.com/~davek/slide/dietzgen/gilsonr.jpg

[Stealhead]

They say that an abacus started the war between ancient Persia and ancient Greece. Also Marc Antony had a busted abacus or his chief finical slave person did that one missing bead man what a pain in the toga.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Needs patching. :yep: WWII was buggy, Wehrmacht.exe kept freezing up whenever you tried to open it in Russian language mode. :nope::har::har: At least it was more optimized then WWI, fracking Soldiers.exe would CTD every time someone would launch a mustard gas attack, and that lag from the machine guns would just kill the FPS!

[Oberon]

:har::har: At least it was more optimized then WWI, fracking Soldiers.exe would CTD every time someone would launch a mustard gas attack, and that lag from the machine guns would just kill the FPS!

You're right, they did try to patch it with the 1.916 patch, but performance really tanked, and then the 1.917 patch didn't work on Russian computers...it really was a mess. :nope:

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

You're right, they did try to patch it with the 1.916 patch, but performance really tanked, and then the 1.917 patch didn't work on Russian computers...it really was a mess. :nope: True enough, everyone thought it was sunk but then they patched it up to 1.918 which was released on November 11th and that was the patch to end all patches.

[Oberon]

True enough, everyone thought it was sunk but then they patched it up to 1.918 which was released on November 11th and that was the patch to end all patches.

I dunno, the patch wasn't well received in Germany... :hmmm:

[Catfish]

http://gizmodo.com/the-computer-simulation-that-almost-started-world-war-i-1686123550
He wanted to be sure we had company? Scary.

Even more scary when you think that exactly this Mr. Zbigniew Brzezinski is still the central advisor for global planning and dominance, of the USA.
Along with people of a similar mindset.. :hmmm:



Regarding Oberon: then there was the 19.45 patch, but after 1947 it was a new OS called Reich 4.0 :O:

[Jimbuna]

Even more scary when you think that exactly this Mr. Zbigniew Brzezinski is still the central advisor for global planning and dominance, of the USA.
Along with people of a similar mindset.. :hmmm:



Regarding Oberon: then there was the 19.45 patch, but after 1947 it was a new OS called Reich 4.0 :O:

By the time the person on the other end of the flash transmission had managed to translate or copy his name I fear all would already be lost.

Best if the job is given to John Doe.

[Catfish]

Brzezinski sure belongs into this rubrique:
Dr Strangelove (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mUCLHzWiJo)

You should not underestimate "John Doe", at least "he" is not speaking of worldwide domination, thermonuclear war and how to keep others small with delivering weapons to certain nations to bring them in, or keep them, in an unstable condition and destabilisation, as Mr. Brzezinski does.
From a normal point of view this man is mad as a hatter.
For a pathological case study he is, of course, great.

[danasan]

Reminds me of the WarGames (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames) movie :hmm2:

[Rhodes]

http://www.changinggears.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/219316-shall-we-play-a-game-606-x-406_slide.jpg

[vienna]

I recall during the later phases of the Nixon administration Kissinger was awakened and told Nixon had issued an order to put the nation on nuclear alert. Kissinger checked into the situation and found there was no imminent attack or fear of an attack. He very quietly had the order rescinded. He also issued his own personal order that any further orders issued by Nixon had to be run by Kissinger to prevent Nixon from possibly starting a tragic encounter. This occurred during the time when Nixon was on his last legs, politically, and was known to be drinking and using prescription medications. It is frightening to know the most powerful weaponry systems in the world are controlled by the most fallible of controls: human beings...


<O>

[clive bradbury]

Very bizarre period in history. I recall the criticism of Shute's novel 'On the Beach', which was based around total destruction of humanity due to fallout after a NATO/CCCP/China nuclear exchange. The US military said it was unrealistic and misleading, as the blocs had never possessed the capacity to destroy the WHOLE planet.

It's the fact that they appeared quite proud of that fact: 'look how reasonable we are' that was bizarre...

[Wolferz]

http://www.changinggears.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/219316-shall-we-play-a-game-606-x-406_slide.jpg

It takes two hands to handle a WOPR...
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb295/Wolferz_2007/wopr_real.jpg

[Rhodes]

That name sounds how Japonese say Warp in the new Space Battleship Yamato series!
Back to topic!

http://www.quartzcity.net/ilx/wopr-game-list_design.png

[Oberon]

http://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2014/04/25/8053de7c-0d85-4bf9-918e-55c33c8275a6/thumbnail/770x430/4cfa12548bf4ddff1608063a4b4c20fe/floppy-disc.jpg

[Rhodes]

I see that big floppy drive B and raise another one and a floppy drive A!

http://leicaphilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Floppy_disk_2009_G1.jpg

(photo from http://leicaphilia.com/beware-the-digital-dark-age/)
[Steve, please see if this is the correct form to say the source of the image]

Never knew the first one, that was a "drive B" floppy bigger or what is the proper name?

[Oberon]

Christ, an 8inch floppy...haven't seen one of those in...well...ever, I think. :haha: That must be what the Russian strategic missile systems use if the US uses a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk. :haha:

[ikalugin]

Oberon, we don't use (re) programmable systems at such roles :)

Also there is the Glorious OAIS practice.

[Rhodes]

Christ, an 8inch floppy...haven't seen one of those in...well...ever, I think. :haha: That must be what the Russian strategic missile systems use if the US uses a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk. :haha:

Same here, I always thought that the 5 1/4 inch floppy was the first one and the bigger one. I can tell, with my age, that the smaller one, was the main in my time. But manage to get use the other.

Now a 8""??!! damn, that's big!

"That what she said!" joke is not compute here! :O:

[STEED]

Not a patch on the great Ronald Reagan. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv13ZnkpWos

[vienna]

Very bizarre period in history. I recall the criticism of Shute's novel 'On the Beach', which was based around total destruction of humanity due to fallout after a NATO/CCCP/China nuclear exchange. The US military said it was unrealistic and misleading, as the blocs had never possessed the capacity to destroy the WHOLE planet.

It's the fact that they appeared quite proud of that fact: 'look how reasonable we are' that was bizarre...

Another aspect of the era (I remember it well) was the entire concept of "acceptable losses" in the event of a nuclear war. Kissinger is often given credit for the term, although I suspect it was in use long before his reign as Secretary of State. Essentially, nuclear war was considered tolerable if total casualties did not exceed "acceptable losses". In the case of the US, "acceptable" was in the range of tens of millions killed outright. I guess it is "acceptable" if you are one of the lucky few who are holed up in a secure bunker with the rest of the government leaders and other "important" personages...

In regard to floppy discs, I also remember using those oversized discs when the transition was just beginning to be made from huge mainframes to mini-mains and then to PCs. If you really want to see what a current silo looks like, here's a link to a "60 Minutes" report on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJXtEYV16QQ

Any one with even the least knowledge of current technology can see at once how really very past its shelf-life a lot of the equipment is in the silos. This is endemic to all aspects of the Pentagon. Congress has mandated the Pentagon to give a full accounting of its spending, but the Pentagon has missed deadlines over and over again. Much of this is due to an arcane system of technologies, some of which is still running on computer languages such as Cobol, RPG, and Fortran. For the most powerful nation on earth with the most powerful military on earth to be in such a state is unforgivable. This article gives a peek at what the Pentagon has sunk to:

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1

<O>

[ikalugin]

What is wrong with Fortran? It is an amazing language, especially if you are doing something physics related.