the pentagon procurement follies

Aug 08, 2011 00:52

Apparently you can sell almost anything to the DoD. I bet there's some pretty hilarious SDI hardware rotting in a warehouse somewhere... right next to the 286 beige box whose serial port used to control it. 

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sphecide August 8 2011, 08:40:10 UTC
A whimsical part of me theorizes that Laurie Anderson's Talking Stick was confiscated in order to become the prototype for sonic warfare instruments.

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paka August 8 2011, 20:13:57 UTC
pretty hilarious SDI hardware rotting in a warehouse somewhere... right next to the 286 beige box

Reading between the lines gets me "and Rik wishes he could buy it."

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halfelf August 8 2011, 23:29:17 UTC
I can unofficially guarantee it. :)

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crankycoyote August 9 2011, 06:55:30 UTC
The million-dollar giant electric dildo is impressive, even for the American military.

And I'm here to testify, you can! I have! We sold them an entire Class 5 compliant system that was customized specifically for [WEAPONS SYSTEM REDACTED] (sorry, being deliberately imprecise with keywords because of the GOOG). We were only a drop in the bucket, a few million dollars out of $11+ billion. As far as I know the software was never used because the entire project was cancelled less than a year after we delivered.

The DoD procurement system is so completely fucked, and so riddled with corruption and incompetence, that I don't think there is a way to un-fuck it short of all-consuming nuclear fire.

Another tale of what it takes to sell to the DoD (smoking weed by the pound apparently helps).

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krinndnz August 9 2011, 16:26:31 UTC
Oooh, there's a Tucson angle! I should see if I can find that warehouse. Hey Rik, next time you visit ...

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postrodent August 9 2011, 22:25:36 UTC
Yes yes oh god please yes. :)

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