Klarinet Archive - Posting 001081.txt from 1999/12

From: Don Longacre <nw2v@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Alternate uses for the clarinet
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 02:39:25 -0500

redcedar: You may wake up some morning and find your house surrounded
by Militant Marsupials wanting their attic back.

>Mutant Marsupials Take Up Arms Against Australian Air Force
>>
>>The reuse of some object-oriented code has caused tactical headaches for
>>Australia's armed forces. As virtual reality simulators assume larger roles
>>in helicopter combat training, programmers have gone to great lengths to
>>increase the realism of their scenarios, including detailed landscapes and
>>- in the case of the Northern Territory's Operation Phoenix - herds of
>>kangaroos (since disturbed animals might well give away a helicopter's
>>position).
>>
>>The head of the Defense Science & Technology Organization's Land
>>Operations/Simulation division reportedly instructed developers to model
>>the local marsupials' movements and reactions to helicopters. Being
>>efficient programmers, they just re-appropriated some code originally used
>>to model infantry detachment reactions under the same stimuli, changed the
>>mapped icon from a soldier to a kangaroo, and increased the figures' speed
>>of movement.
>>
>>Eager to demonstrate their flying skills for some visiting American pilots,
>>the hotshot Aussies "buzzed" the virtual kangaroos in low flight during a
>>simulation. The kangaroos scattered, as predicted, and the visiting
>>Americans nodded appreciatively... then did a double-take as the kangaroos
>>reappeared from behind a hill and launched a barrage of Stinger missiles at
>>the hapless helicopter. (Apparently the programmers had forgotten to remove
>>that part of the infantry coding.)
>>
>>The lesson? Objects are defined with certain attributes, and any new object
>>defined in terms of an old one inherits all the attributes. The
>>embarrassed programmers had learned to be careful when reusing
>>object-oriented code, and the Yanks left with a newfound respect for
>>Australian wildlife.
>>
>>Simulator supervisors report that pilots from that point onward have
>>strictly avoided kangaroos, just as they were meant to.
>>
>>>From June 15, 1999 Defense Science and Technology Organization Lecture
>>Series, Melbourne, Australia, and staff reports.>

Don Longacre
(As I said, next time Possums infiltrate your perimeter, use
a soprano sax and drive them clear to Tasmania)

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