Daily Tech News 1 March 2026

Top Story

OpenAI has announced a deal with the Department of War with - apparently - the same limitations that Anthropic was demanding. (Tech Crunch)

Guess Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, really pissed someone off.

Sam Altman of OpenAI knows when to lie, and sometimes also who to lie to.

Tech News

Google is building a datacenter in Pine Island, Minnesota, powered by 1.9GW of wind and solar energy and a 300MW battery. (Interesting Engineering)

Before you ask, yes, the author of the article does know that the power delivered by a battery is only half the data. It's designed to deliver 300MW for 100 hours, which makes it possibly the largest single installation in the world.

Also it's an iron-air battery which I didn't know they had working at scale. It produces energy by rusting iron, and recharges by unrusting it. It's heavy, less efficient that common lithium batteries, and requires a source of water and air to keep the cycle going. And I'm not sure if they've ironed (sorry) out the durability issues.

But air and water aren't hard to find in most places a datacenter might be build, and importantly it's cheap.
Well, maybe not in orbit where SpaceX is planning to build its new datacenters and where Reflect Orbital has approval approval to place a 50-foot mirror as a test of its daylight-on-demand service. (MSN)

The idea being that if you have an area that's dark and you need it to be less dark, a constellation of 50,000 orbital satellites will make daylight a phone call away. The mirrors will be orbiting 400 miles up so the light that reaches the ground will be very spread out and not remotely as bright as full daylight, but even moonlight-on-demand could be worthwhile.

The article is by the Washington Post's Dana Milbank, so it's overly verbose and spends most of those words whining.
Myrient, a 390TB archive of computer and video games and... Stuff... Is going offline at the end of the month. (Tom's Hardware)

The maintainer cites rising costs - around $6000 per month - thanks in part to AI, and also people abusing the service and creating paywalled sites that take money for the service he provides for free.
India has blocked online database service Supabase, popular with vibe coding and with the hackers who siphon off the inevitably exposed person data afterwards, because reasons. (Tech Crunch)

Reasons India did not bother to tell anyone about.
South Korea's tax agency lost $4.8 million from a photo of a wallet. (Bleeping Computer)

The photo was of a Ledger crypto storage device seized in a raid, an item normally secure enough and perfectly safe to photograph and publicise.

But right next to the device was a handwritten note containing a mnemonic for the wallet address and private key. These are commonly used with various blockchains and machine-readable, so it didn't take long for someone to empty the wallet out, even while it was sitting in the tax agency's vault.
AMD still doesn't support its latest FSR4 upscaling technology on RDNA on older RDNA2 and RDNA3 graphics cards - like my Radeon 7800 XT - even though we know it works because they accidentally published the source code for the drivers that make it work.

OptiScalar does that now. (WCCFTech)

It's a bit of fiddling around so you might be better off just buying an Nvidia graphics card, or even an RDNA4 card like the 9070 XT, but it does work.
Apple is poised to deliver a new MacBook Nothing. (Notebook Check)

Not Pro, not Air, just a cheap-for-Apple base model.

The question is, what are they going to cut to hit the target price? The article discusses configurations with 8GB of RAM, 128GB of SSD, and possibly a low-quality screen, all of which sound awful.
Why does the Asus ProArt PX13 have a 60Hz display? (Notebook Check)

Seems an odd pairing with the Ryzen 395 CPU (16 CPU cores and 40 graphics cores) and 128GB of RAM - and the anticipated €4000 price. Particularly when my current laptop cost a sixth of that and has a high-resolution 14" OLED panel running at 120Hz.

And the answer is that my laptop has a 14" screen, and the Asus has a 13" screen, and nobody makes high-resolution 13" OLED panels that run faster than 60Hz, while at 14" and above they've become common even on modestly-priced systems. And professional artists, the target audience of the ProArt range, don't need high refresh rates so much as colour fidelity, which that panel delivers.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Sorry, no, we can't get together.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:02 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 04:03 AM (1o8D5)

2 Morning all

Posted by: Tuna at March 01, 2026 04:03 AM (lJ0H4)

3 w00t Thinking of you, Biden's Dog!

Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 04:04 AM (+YA9H)

4 FOR SALE: IRANIAN MISSILE. SLIGHTLY USED.

https://tinyurl.com/44wyuja9

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 04:04 AM (1o8D5)

5 Thinking of you, Biden's Dog!

Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 04:04 AM (+YA9H)
-

So am I. What a koinkadinky!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 04:05 AM (1o8D5)

6 humor:

Stephen L. Miller retweeted
@redsteeze
12h
In the span of one week, the greatest enemies of the United States have all been toppled. Iran, Canada and CNN.

Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 04:08 AM (+YA9H)

7 Pic:

https://tinyurl.com/2u26yykf

Music:

https://youtu.be/cYKVb7T1n2I

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 04:12 AM (1o8D5)

8 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 01, 2026 04:13 AM (+YRf1)

9 Lots of worldwide celebratory "Khamenei is dead" videos:

@AGHamilton29

Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 04:15 AM (+YA9H)

10 Work to do. Fire up a new IBM z/OS system.

Maybe l8r.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 04:23 AM (1o8D5)

11 Morning all. Have fun with the mainframe, Biden's Dog!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 01, 2026 04:24 AM (BLOW1)

12 tech:

AG retweeted
@JoshKale
9h
This is so based. Israel hacked a prayer app used by millions of Iranians and turned it into their public broadcast service to the people

3 messages came in over 30 minutes:

9:52am: “Help Has Arrived.”

10:02am: “Amnesty for anyone who takes up arms against the regime.”

10:14am: “Lay down your weapons or join the forces of liberation. For a free Iran.”

Imagine you’re in Tehran. Explosions are shaking your city. Your phone buzzes. And the notification is that.

Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 04:26 AM (+YA9H)

13 Guten morgen, horde.

Posted by: clarence at March 01, 2026 04:28 AM (VczTT)

14 If they will use iron in the battery, they might as well use a nickel-iron battery.

While there is a significant self-discharge factor, there are other advantages. The anodes do not corrode and the electrolytic solution is a base, not an acid. The process to renew a battery is easy: Dump the worn out solution, clean the battery with pure water, mix up the new solution, refill the battery and recharge. Nickel-iron batteries can have very long lifespans. The used solution is basically plant food.

Posted by: clarence at March 01, 2026 04:46 AM (VczTT)

15 Obligatory:

https://youtu.be/c_oEGiUTMq4?t=24

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 04:48 AM (5UTWB)

16 moar humor:

AG retweeted
Frankly Frank
@NoFrankingWay
13h
We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.

Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 04:49 AM (+YA9H)

17 G'Day everyone
Didn't think it would 5am already

Posted by: Skip at March 01, 2026 05:01 AM (Ia/+0)

18 G'morning, all!

Interesting 24 hours....yes?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 01, 2026 05:04 AM (iMotb)

19 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at March 01, 2026 05:11 AM (AN2gy)

20 Interesting 24 hours....yes?
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 01, 2026 05:04 AM (iMotb)

Wait till you see the book thread.

Posted by: Pete Bog at March 01, 2026 05:11 AM (qlUA+)

21 What do you know for the good of the cause?

My mother used that expression. She was from Arkansas, born in 1913, and probably picked it up from older relatives. Maybe they were still fight the Civil War in their minds?

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 01, 2026 05:11 AM (qFwJc)

22 Reports of Israel bombing specific targets in Iran right now.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 01, 2026 05:11 AM (iMotb)

23 Was Iran using the same Temu air defense systems that Venezuela was using?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 01, 2026 05:13 AM (iMotb)

24

The White House
@WhiteHouse
4h
“Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!” - President DONALD J. TRUMP

Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 05:14 AM (+YA9H)

25 I should go put coffee on

Posted by: Skip at March 01, 2026 05:21 AM (Ia/+0)

26
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at March 01, 2026 05:21 AM (tljrc)

27 Good morning! Well it appears that the PDTS has avenged the US over the humiliation brought on us by the Iranians, Jimmuh peanut, and Barky McFuckstick. Maybe Persians will ban Islam and restore themselves.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 01, 2026 05:22 AM (3Ope8)

28 Getting sporty in Pahk-ee-stahn. Savages attacked US consulate, nine dead but I can't tell who the nine are. Maybe some savages.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 01, 2026 05:39 AM (cxFcK)

29 Howdy, all! It's Sunday of a new month in a new year -- "new" in that we have not had 2026 before, yes? And with all the ME news it does seem like a new beginning.

Foggy here, 59-60 F., no wind. I'll begin a new workout week, which runs Sun. through Sat., in about an hour. Meanwhile there is coffee and slopping the feline hogs.

What about you?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 01, 2026 05:40 AM (wzUl9)

30 This morning I should nip out before the Book Thread and get a couple of items at Walmart, and fill the car's tank. Just to be safe.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 01, 2026 05:41 AM (wzUl9)

31 49.5 degrees out, with 99%RH.

Good bit of fog in the area as well.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 01, 2026 05:48 AM (iMotb)

32 The White House @WhiteHouse
4h

“Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!” - President DONALD J. TRUMP

Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 05:14 AM (+YA9H)
-

https://youtu.be/J03sXlkeJwY?t=8

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 05:51 AM (1o8D5)

33 Expecting to head downstair to the shelter any moment now.

Wait. This just in: drone (not missile) downed near Jerusalem. Heard distant rumblings. So far, no siren here.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 05:53 AM (1o8D5)

34 Its above freezing and 40s today

Posted by: Skip at March 01, 2026 05:55 AM (Ia/+0)

35 Big cup of coffee and a book

Posted by: Skip at March 01, 2026 06:02 AM (Ia/+0)

36 Have we seen any "Austere Religious Scholar" obits yet from the MSM?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 01, 2026 06:02 AM (Ucgf4)

37 Have we seen any "Austere Religious Scholar" obits yet from the MSM?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 01, 2026 06:02 AM (Ucgf4)
-

https://tinyurl.com/55skf8r6

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 06:04 AM (MFAsx)

38 https://tinyurl.com/55skf8r6

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 06:04 AM (MFAsx)
-

The NY Times has been asshoe on Mullah Iran since forever:

https://tinyurl.com/2ket56vj

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 06:06 AM (MFAsx)

39 Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Rejoinder: Aw, c'mon.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at March 01, 2026 06:12 AM (siuak)

40 The Iranian Navy is preparing to sortie. Damn starter rope broke again.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at March 01, 2026 06:13 AM (gm9Sb)

41 The Iranian Navy is preparing to sortie. Damn starter rope broke again.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at March 01, 2026 06:13 AM (gm9Sb)
---
What do they have left floating? A fishing trawler? A Zodiac? A canoe?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 01, 2026 06:16 AM (ESVrU)

42 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at March 01, 2026 06:17 AM (bQ4nt)

43 41 The Iranian Navy is preparing to sortie. Damn starter rope broke again.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at March 01, 2026 06:13 AM (gm9Sb)
---
What do they have left floating? A fishing trawler? A Zodiac? A canoe?

they do have some old diesel electrics given the 2 p-8s seen earlier around yemen would doubt the navy is fishing

Posted by: LOR VIA at March 01, 2026 06:19 AM (+uTfj)

44 Guess Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, really pissed someone off.

DoW said the media is either stupid or lying. OpenAI accepted the terms that Anthropic refused to agree to (notably that DoW decides when their hardware is going to kill what people, not the Antifa types working for Anthropic or OpenAI). The media obviously wants Trump/Hegseth to be unable to decide that.

Posted by: Ian S. at March 01, 2026 06:19 AM (QZThv)

45 What do they have left floating? A fishing trawler? A Zodiac? A canoe?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 01, 2026 06:16 AM (ESVrU)
-----------
I'm gonna go with "dhow."

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at March 01, 2026 06:22 AM (siuak)

46 What do they have left floating? A fishing trawler? A Zodiac? A canoe?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 01, 2026 06:16 AM (ESVrU)

We will smite you with the Dinghy of Death!!!!

Posted by: Admiral (formerly Private 2nd class) Achmed Mohammad Mohammad at March 01, 2026 06:24 AM (Ucgf4)

47 They have the dreaded Iranian Drone Carrier of Death!

Warning of incoming here.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 06:27 AM (5UTWB)

48 BOOM!

Waiting for news update.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 06:31 AM (5UTWB)

49 https://www.frontpagemag.com/iran killed 869 US military personnel

Screw those who say it's a unprovoked attack

Posted by: Skip at March 01, 2026 06:35 AM (Ia/+0)

50 45 What do they have left floating? A fishing trawler? A Zodiac? A canoe?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 01, 2026 06:16 AM (ESVrU)
-----------
I'm gonna go with "dhow."
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at March 01, 2026 06:22 AM (siuak)

Or nasdhaq.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at March 01, 2026 06:35 AM (06Hmj)

51 DoW said the media is either stupid or lying

It's both. The answer is both.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 01, 2026 06:36 AM (sAmhv)

52 It's both. The answer is both.
Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 01, 2026 06:36 AM (sAmhv)

Hanlon's Duct Tape > Hanlon's Razor

Posted by: Warai-otoko at March 01, 2026 06:37 AM (06Hmj)

53 Or nasdhaq.
Posted by: Warai-otoko at March 01, 2026 06:35 AM (06Hmj)
------------
Gesundheit.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at March 01, 2026 06:38 AM (siuak)

54 Byeee...

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at March 01, 2026 06:40 AM (siuak)

55 WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!

Oh god, not the dreaded antimatter death beam!!!

NOOOOOOOO!

Posted by: pawn at March 01, 2026 06:43 AM (+rKuc)

56 AG retweeted
Frankly Frank
@NoFrankingWay
13h
We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.
Posted by: m at March 01, 2026 04:49 AM (+YA9H)

And yet not in France, UK....

Posted by: Warai-otoko at March 01, 2026 06:44 AM (06Hmj)

57 >>> Screw those who say it's a unprovoked attack

Iran has been at war with us since 1979.

Posted by: fluffy at March 01, 2026 06:46 AM (AN2gy)

58 America one took out half of their navy in one afternoon when they were explicitly trying *not* to.

Whatever we've seen is what they got. Anything they had would have already been half-assedly lobbed at Israel already.

Please God, the forces of sanity can mitigate as much of these pointless counterattacks as possible, and spare as many decent people as possible, until the damned lunatics are all room temperature at last.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at March 01, 2026 06:47 AM (06Hmj)

59 Trump is going to drop Rosie O'Donnell on Iran? What would the Geneva Convention say?

mornin yall

Posted by: fd at March 01, 2026 06:47 AM (vFG9F)

60 59 Trump is going to drop Rosie O'Donnell on Iran? What would the Geneva Convention say?

mornin yall
Posted by: fd at March 01, 2026 06:47 AM (vFG9F)

Oh, the huge manatee....

Posted by: Warai-otoko at March 01, 2026 06:48 AM (06Hmj)

61 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at March 01, 2026 06:51 AM (MIIRH)

62 The saddest thing about all this is Breitbart doesn't have Rob Reiner to quote anymore.

Posted by: fd at March 01, 2026 06:51 AM (vFG9F)

63 Gonna be interesting to see the resultant effects of the loss of Iranian influence on the denizens infesting the UK and France.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 01, 2026 06:51 AM (3Ope8)

64 Well if there's one thing Minnesota has a lot of, besides fraud, is iron ore looking to rust. Just ask the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at March 01, 2026 06:51 AM (lNLJj)

65 The IRGC fired a missile at Cyprus.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 06:54 AM (+nEug)

66 According to Tousi. the anti regime Iranians are ready to leave Britain and go back.to Iran. I would guess that will be the same for those here.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 06:57 AM (+nEug)

67 >>>they do have some old diesel electrics given the 2 p-8s seen earlier around yemen would doubt the navy is fishing

Like its predecessor, the P-3, P-8s are a multi-mission platform, not just anti-submarine warfare -- also long range recon, maritime patrol, anti-surface warfare, as well as on-scene airborne command and control.

If there are P-8s operating near Yemen, they are most-likely keeping an eye on the Houthis, not searching for Iran's ancient Soviet-built Kilo submarines.

Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 06:58 AM (Y1sOo)

68 The strike on Iran may cause gas prices to rise in California. Maybe the governor will suspend the tax on gas for a while to give the people some relief.

And maybe Santa Claus will bring me an Easter Basket on St Patrick's Day.

Posted by: fd at March 01, 2026 06:59 AM (vFG9F)

69 Spider solitaire is evil

Posted by: Skip at March 01, 2026 07:00 AM (Ia/+0)

70 fd, how is Bruno?

Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 07:00 AM (+nEug)

71 The IRGC fired a missile at Cyprus.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 06:54 AM (+nEug)
-

2.

Just back up from shelter with pups and grandpups, here for lunch.

We can eat all we want 'cause we lose all the calories going up and down the stairs.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 07:01 AM (5UTWB)

72 Regarding satellites with mirrors.
Archimedes smiles.

Posted by: Elect me because i'm dyslexic and racist at March 01, 2026 07:01 AM (nc2DJ)

73 Doesn't Iran have a few larger relatively sophisticated subs? P8s patrolling off Yemen seems to indicate the sub threat can't be dismissed.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 01, 2026 07:02 AM (3Ope8)

74 Good to see you with a healthy attitude and outlook BD.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 01, 2026 07:03 AM (3Ope8)

75 Like higher gas prices doesn't fit right in to the Church of Global Warming agenda, its their plan not a inconvenience

Posted by: Skip at March 01, 2026 07:04 AM (Ia/+0)

76 "fd, how is Bruno?
Posted by: Ben Had"

He seems ok. The swelling has not noticably gone down yet but he's only been on the antibiotics for 2 days. We went for a longer run thru the woods yesterday.

Posted by: fd at March 01, 2026 07:06 AM (vFG9F)

77 Good morning Horde. Thx Pixy
Gotta love Trump's response after seeing a picture of the Ayatollahs body "still looks better than Biden"

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 07:07 AM (HYqoK)

78 What could go wrong with orbital mirrors?

Well, getting hacked and enough of them with LOS being focused on one spot could get a whole house of exploding Jiffy-Pop popcorn.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 01, 2026 07:08 AM (2GVsD)

79 Good to see you with a healthy attitude and outlook BD.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 01, 2026 07:03 AM (3Ope

-

Most of the country is like this. Lots of funny stuff on WhatsApp and the Internet.

Purim holiday is 2 days away. Children always dress up in costumes and have parties in schools. School is cancelled until further notice. In our building and in one of our pup's communities, mothers took the initiative and had the parties in the shelters. Happy faces all over!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 07:08 AM (5UTWB)

80 Biden's Dog, stay safe , prayers for you and your family and countrymen

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 07:08 AM (HYqoK)

81 Let me be clear. If you like your mullah, you can keep your mullah. Hope and change baby! Hope and change!

Posted by: Barack Obama, Homosexual at March 01, 2026 07:10 AM (Ksqrb)

82 Even if the government falls and a pro western government installed, it's going to be a long slog in Iran. The IRGC numbers about 200K in total troop strength. Lets say only 20% are real hard core true believers. That's 40K willing and armed to carry on the fight. Heading for the hills and then returning for mayhem on a regular basis, they could be a major headache for decades. It would be like after WW2 if the Nazis had the Werewolf plan up and running. The only solution is to kill them now.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at March 01, 2026 07:11 AM (gm9Sb)

83 @73

The P-8s would be engaged in coordinated operations with the Lincoln strike group, searching for sub-surface threats near the strike group's position, which is in the northern Arabian Sea, close to the Gulf of Oman. Again, any P-8 operation off the coast of Yemen is Houthi-related.

Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 07:15 AM (Y1sOo)

84 Iran just blew up one of their own tankers in Hormuz. Maybe the lack of chain of command structure is having results.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 01, 2026 07:17 AM (cxFcK)

85 78 What could go wrong with orbital mirrors?

Well, getting hacked and enough of them with LOS being focused on one spot could get a whole house of exploding Jiffy-Pop popcorn.
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 01, 2026 07:08 AM (2GVsD)

Obligatory:

https://youtu.be/rthHSISkM7A

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at March 01, 2026 07:17 AM (Ucgf4)

86 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at March 01, 2026 07:23 AM (2Ez/1)

87 @59/fd: "Trump is going to drop Rosie O'Donnell on Iran? What would the Geneva Convention say?"

As The Fat Electrician would remind us, "It's not a war-crime the first time!"

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 01, 2026 07:24 AM (O7YUW)

88 Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 07:15 AM (Y1sOo)

No doubt they're multitasking. A carrier group has a dedicated sub escort and airborne anti-sub assets within it. I'm just suggesting that the threat from Iranian subs can't be dismissed.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 01, 2026 07:25 AM (3Ope8)

89 Question. It is 1,062 air miles from Iran to Israel
Is there no way to shoot down those missiles sooner after launch?

Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 07:27 AM (+nEug)

90 On the good new front, star jasmine and hostas going in today, and cannas getting relocated.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 01, 2026 07:27 AM (3Ope8)

91 Crotchety Old Jarhead, you should send a picture of your yard to the gardening thread. It sounds so beautiful.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 07:29 AM (+nEug)

92 Dropping Rosie on Iran would probably cause fault lines to shift . Iran is earthquake prone

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 07:30 AM (HYqoK)

93 Morning peeps

Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 01, 2026 07:31 AM (jtM2q)

94 Dropping Rosie on Iran would probably cause fault lines to shift . Iran is earthquake prone

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 07:30 AM (HYqoK)
-

it would also lend credence to the claims made by flat earthers.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at March 01, 2026 07:33 AM (5UTWB)

95 78 What could go wrong with orbital mirrors?

Well, getting hacked and enough of them with LOS being focused on one spot could get a whole house of exploding Jiffy-Pop popcorn.
Posted by: Anna Puma

I think they're diffuse enough that if you hacked all of them on the same side of the planet at once it still wouldn't be any brighter than the midday sun. Would be fun to play with that though.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 01, 2026 07:35 AM (BLOW1)

96 @84

>> Iran just blew up one of their own tankers in Hormuz. Maybe the lack of chain of command structure is having results.

It’s more likely they have calculated that the regime is indeed going to end and that they are going to make life as difficult as possible for the aftermath.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at March 01, 2026 07:49 AM (pWTCG)

97 @95/Pixy Misa: "I think they're diffuse enough that if you hacked all of them on the same side of the planet at once it still wouldn't be any brighter than the midday sun. Would be fun to play with that though."

Certainly better than the nasty effects of using the other form of "unscheduled sunrise".

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 01, 2026 07:52 AM (O7YUW)

98 I have over 2,000 hours of logged flight time in the P-8's predecessor, including two, six-month deployments to that part of the world, including 19 missions flying out of Masirah, Oman during Earnest Will. I've flown coordinated operations with the battle group plenty of times in major blue water training exercises.
>>A carrier group has a dedicated sub escort and airborne anti-sub assets within it.

Since S-3 Vikings no longer deploy with the carrier air wings, the strike group's airborne ASW assets are limited to helos which provide only in-close ASW capability. They don't have the endurance to conduct mid-range and further out operations. In a hot war scenario, which this is, the P-8s are the primary assets for ASW efforts in protecting the strike group.

Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 07:52 AM (Y1sOo)

99 94 Dropping Rosie on Iran would probably cause fault lines to shift . Iran is earthquake prone

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 07:30 AM (HYqoK)

That's a Whole Lotta Rosie.

Posted by: Last words of an Iranian goatherder at March 01, 2026 07:56 AM (Ucgf4)

100 The Grapes of Wrath is on Movies! Channel. It doesn't feel somehow like the usual John Ford movie. Henry Fonda and John Carradine are the only major actors in it; Ward Bond and John Qualen, who often appeared in Ford films, are there, but in smaller roles.

I'm astonished at John Carradine. I've shrugged him off for years as a stage actor who continued to be stagey on film (which is what people accuse William Shatner of). In so many roles he seems to be little more than John Carradine's Voice. Yet here, as the ex-preacher, he is restrained and very effective. Just shows you what the right director can do.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 01, 2026 08:00 AM (wzUl9)

101 Bread is in the oven. I preheated the DO with the lid off as CBD suggested.
I set the oven to 475. I can smell the old gunk burning off.

Posted by: Accomac at March 01, 2026 08:02 AM (j6fda)

102 When I consider what Trump has been through and continues to achieve, I'm pretty sure I must be a different species.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 01, 2026 08:04 AM (cxFcK)

103 Good morning all

Forecast says 70 Friday!

Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 01, 2026 08:08 AM (hEUiL)

104 Six people were killed in a village outside of Jerusalem. A missile strike which hit an air raid shelter per Trey Yngst

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 08:09 AM (HYqoK)

105 Guess Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, really pissed someone off.

DoW said the media is either stupid or lying. OpenAI accepted the terms that Anthropic refused to agree to (notably that DoW decides when their hardware is going to kill what people, not the Antifa types working for Anthropic or OpenAI). The media obviously wants Trump/Hegseth to be unable to decide that.
---
I heard Anthropic also wanted the right to enforce their gay-ass rules.

That is, some soldier in the middle of a battle gets his rig shut down because some dweeb decides he's violating their code of conduct.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at March 01, 2026 08:10 AM (HXT0k)

106 @104 cont, toll is now eight dead

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 08:11 AM (HYqoK)

107 Smell the Glove, Beit Shemesh and the death toll has risen to 8.

Prayers for those families and all of Israel.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 08:12 AM (+nEug)

108 Good morning morons

Sad to say my report yesterday on the untimely passing of Ali Larijani was premature. He still breathes.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 01, 2026 08:13 AM (RIvkX)

109 77 Good morning Horde. Thx Pixy
Gotta love Trump's response after seeing a picture of the Ayatollahs body "still looks better than Biden"
Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 07:07 AM (HYqoK

-----

I see, in the right sidebar, that lying POS found his way to a stage somewhere. You know it's a lie when he says, "That's a fact!"

Posted by: JM in Illinois at March 01, 2026 08:14 AM (THqo5)

110 I think the P-8 Poseidon can also be used as a pretty good ISR platform. The surface search radar is long range and it's got a variety of passive sensors to "sniff" the EM spectrum.

One or two of them were used to get a good idea what Maduro's military had in and around his compound. Every radar emitter there was mapped. And those aircraft never got very near the coast... stayed miles off shore to do it.

The submarine threat from Iran is low - non-existent. However, Russia and/or China would be very interested in observing a USN carrier strike group up close. IMO if there's any ASW going on, it's directed at that theat.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 01, 2026 08:14 AM (jtM2q)

111 SanFranpsycho, pezeshkian appears to be alive as well

Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 08:15 AM (+nEug)

112 Thanks for checking in BD

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 01, 2026 08:17 AM (RIvkX)

113 SanFranpsycho, pezeshkian appears to be alive as well
Posted by: Ben Had at March 01, 2026 08:15 AM (+nEug)
=====
Yea, just saw that as well. Sadz.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 01, 2026 08:17 AM (RIvkX)

114 Old one:

What does Iran call its naval vessels right after hostilities begin?

"Reefs".

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at March 01, 2026 08:18 AM (IG3/x)

115 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 01, 2026 08:19 AM (u82oZ)

116 Hey, I overslept. Did I miss the installation ceremony for Rubio to be the new Grand Poobah of Iran?

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at March 01, 2026 08:20 AM (2Ez/1)

117 Does the Iranian regime elements possess modern Diesel-Electric boats? They have pretty good endurance now underwater and are pretty quiet, at least as quiet as a boomer, was my understanding. They could definitely cause trouble. I’d like to think by now, our tech can locate and track anything.

Posted by: Common Tater at March 01, 2026 08:23 AM (8pbdy)

118 @44/Ian S.: "OpenAI accepted the terms that Anthropic refused to agree to (notably that DoW decides when their hardware is going to kill what people, not the Antifa types working for Anthropic or OpenAI)."

Anthropic's demands were completely unreasonable. They're not part of the chain of command. I'm glad the DoW told them to get stuffed.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 01, 2026 08:24 AM (O7YUW)

119 Richard Falk has blood on his hands. So do many international globalists.

I'm sure he and John Mearsheimer and Mehdi Hasan and Robert Malley and Valerie Jarrett and Francesca Albanese are all weepy this morning, poor things.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 01, 2026 08:24 AM (RIvkX)

120 Iran has a new Supreme Leader, some guy named Ayatollah Arafi. Job security not good

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 08:24 AM (HYqoK)

121 Please note, I am writing down the name of every person who objects to the liberation of the Iranian people and wishes for their continued subjugation to Islamic fascism.

I will submit this list to them as soon as practicable for necessary action.

Tucker is 1. who terms it "evil."

And once again thank you President Trump for keeping your promise.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 01, 2026 08:30 AM (RIvkX)

122 Look, Fat, I closed the border and capped the Ayatollah!

Posted by: Gropey Joe at March 01, 2026 08:32 AM (oftw2)

123 "Job security not good"

I disagree.

I expect he will have that job for life.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 01, 2026 08:32 AM (iMotb)

124 I'm probably not going to venture out to the store and gas station today. Tomorrow morning, early, will do as well.

Looking forward to the Book Thread!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 01, 2026 08:33 AM (wzUl9)

125 Besides making pancakes, sausages and strawberries on top, haven't seen how the Europeans are crying yet

Posted by: Skip at March 01, 2026 08:36 AM (Ia/+0)

126 Russia does not deploy submarines to the IO due to non-favorable oceanography conditions that make them easily detectable -- i.e. a non-existent sonic layer depth, below which they normally would operate to mask their acoustic signature as much as possible.

No idea about China, but I'm guessing the same thing.

@Common Tater

They have a few old, Soviet-era Kilo diesel-electric boats. They are quiet when running on batteries, but they have to recharge their batteries at some point and that means ascending to near-surface to deploy the snorkel to run their diesel engines. Running those loud diesel engines puts out an acoustic signature blast that makes them easily-detectible.

Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 08:40 AM (Y1sOo)

127 62 The saddest thing about all this is Breitbart doesn't have Rob Reiner to quote anymore.

----------

Robert DeNiro has stepped up to fill those very large and stupid shoes.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 01, 2026 08:42 AM (+HNx/)

128
Zombie MahaRushie for Supreme Durka Durka.

Posted by: Auspex at March 01, 2026 08:44 AM (ckPxu)

129 Yes, of course they have to surface and re-charge, but when they are running on battery they are (were) almost impossible to detect. I’d like to think that is no longer the case and technology has moved on.

Posted by: Common Tater at March 01, 2026 08:45 AM (+dkNf)

130 Hard to say if there's anything to it, since it's a catfight between two of the creepier scumbag operatives on the Right, but Roger Stone says the following:

"I have obtained documentation of the source of Steve Bannon's money after he was fired by the White House as well as documentation of the list of influencers and organizations that he was paying, and I will release both this week #CCP"

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at March 01, 2026 08:46 AM (BI5O2)

131 Since the Persian Gulf is not exceedingly large or deep, especially at the strata of Hormuz, I would bet that the USN has long since deployed a net of acoustic listening sensors across the sea bottom that let us know pretty much everything moving there. Both above and below the water.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 01, 2026 08:46 AM (etYFQ)

132 "IRGC members are fleeing to Afghanistan, using altered passports and disguises, following heavy losses in joint U.S. and Israeli military operations."

Posted by: runner at March 01, 2026 08:49 AM (/M/4v)

133 > 120 Iran has a new Supreme Leader, some guy named Ayatollah Arafi. Job security not good
Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 01, 2026 08:24 AM (HYqoK)

Temporary position.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at March 01, 2026 08:49 AM (IG3/x)

134 Don' they know there is a war going on in Afghanistan ??!!

Posted by: runner at March 01, 2026 08:49 AM (/M/4v)

135 For a bunch of austere religious scholars they weren't very bright. They fell into the age old trap of believing their own bullshit. Maybe it was the long line of US Presidents who didn't take them out that gave them the mistaken belief that they were unassailable. But then again, those bunker busters taking out their nuke program should have given them a clue.

Posted by: davidt at March 01, 2026 08:50 AM (Q+gd/)

136 Brilliant thought I just read:

One side uses language to DESCRIBE reality.
The other side uses language to PUSUADE (or coerce) into reality.

That's why they hate Trump so much.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at March 01, 2026 08:50 AM (HXT0k)

137 129 Yes, of course they have to surface and re-charge, but when they are running on battery they are (were) almost impossible to detect. I’d like to think that is no longer the case and technology has moved on.
Posted by: Common Tater at March 01, 2026 08:45 AM (+dkNf)

Active sonar can always pinpoint them - and that can come from a buoy.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 01, 2026 08:50 AM (etYFQ)

138 "I’d like to think that is no longer the case and technology has moved on."

*polite cough*

Posted by: Tom Clancy's caterpillar drive on The Red October at March 01, 2026 08:50 AM (2Ez/1)

139 Active sonar is the go-to tactic for tracking diesel-electric subs running on batteries.

Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 08:52 AM (Y1sOo)

140
Iran has a new Supreme Leader, some guy named Ayatollah Arafi. Job security not good

===

LOL

hitler killed hitler on April 30 , 1945. 2 days before that he shot his brother in law (eva browns' actually) Fegelein right there in the Führerbunker ! Anyway , we had to wait for full surrender of nazi forces for another week or so.

Posted by: runner at March 01, 2026 08:56 AM (/M/4v)

141 "IRGC members are fleeing to Afghanistan, using altered passports and disguises, following heavy losses in joint U.S. and Israeli military operations."

Posted by: runner
___________

What do those disguises look like? They already have the mustache and nose, and maybe the glasses.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at March 01, 2026 08:56 AM (XvL8K)

142 Active sonar is the go-to tactic for tracking diesel-electric subs running on batteries.
Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 08:52 AM (Y1sOo)

And they broadcast the call to prayer 5 times a day over the subs' P.A. systems, too.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 01, 2026 08:56 AM (8zz6B)

143 Mommy Dr. Jill says all my pants are soiled and in the wash. No Book Thread for me-again!

Posted by: Joe From Scranton at March 01, 2026 08:56 AM (oftw2)

144 What do those disguises look like? They already have the mustache and nose, and maybe the glasses.

=

as women ! old trick. they are wearing hijabs

Posted by: runner at March 01, 2026 08:57 AM (/M/4v)

145 A weapon that could strike missiles in the boost phase would have to be space based.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 01, 2026 08:57 AM (etYFQ)

146 >What do those disguises look like? They already have the mustache and nose, and maybe the glasses.

Are they wearing their shoes backwards so the tracks point the other way?

Posted by: davidt at March 01, 2026 08:58 AM (Q+gd/)

147
PUSUADE
/puss-swād′/

transitive verb

To cause (a male) to accept a point of view or to undertake a course of action by use of female genitalia.

Posted by: And it remains undefeated at March 01, 2026 08:58 AM (2Ez/1)

148 hitler killed hitler on April 30 , 1945. 2 days before that he shot his brother in law (eva browns' actually) Fegelein right there in the Führerbunker ! Anyway , we had to wait for full surrender of nazi forces for another week or so.
Posted by: runner at March 01, 2026 08:56 AM (/M/4v)

Well, when you have a true decapitation strike, the rest of the beast tends to flail around a bit until some new head arises to negotiate a surrender.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 01, 2026 08:59 AM (8zz6B)

149 Noodus biblioteca

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 01, 2026 09:01 AM (wzUl9)

150 They try to use language to distort reality, insofar as any remaining attempts to persuade are going on.

They stopped trying to persuade anybody decades ago. There’s only two ways you can get someone to do something, and they’ve rejected the first.

Posted by: Common Tater at March 01, 2026 09:02 AM (CQQtk)

151 A weapon that could strike missiles in the boost phase would have to be space based.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 01, 2026 08:57 AM (etYFQ)

Once they get going good, yeah. Right at launch, they move pretty slow. Nail them as the launchers appear on the surface from their underground bunkers.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 01, 2026 09:02 AM (8zz6B)

152 Active sonar can always pinpoint them - and that can come from a buoy.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 01, 2026 08:50 AM (etYFQ)

Right, in the P-3s, we used active sonar when tracking Soviet Kilos. It was older technology, of course, but still effective.

Passive sonobuoys were used initially to cover a large search area, just waiting for the sub to snorkel. Once that occurred, we had a datum to use for the deployment of active sonobuoys to pinpoint location and get a track and speed on the sub.

P-8s have the latest-generation active sonar system.

Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 09:08 AM (Y1sOo)

153 From earlier....

The Russian Navy doesn't deploy to the IO "on a regular basis." They will, if events warrant. OKEAN-2024 was a large scale, global Russian Naval exercise that saw all of their naval types in the IO at one time or another. But, yea, they don't operate there all the time.

China routinely deploys to the IO as they see it as at least part of their sphere of influence.

The opportunity to observe, even from a distance, a USN carrier strike group in action is worth the effort for both Russian and China. I'd bet both are in the IO and somewhere "near" the Lincoln Strike Group.

The ASW effort there is, IMO, secondary to the ISR mission to find and detect ballistic missile launchers in Iran and Yemen.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at March 01, 2026 09:24 AM (jtM2q)

154 I'm enjoying a bowl of home made beef stew, everything else today is gravy

Posted by: TheCatAttackedMyFoot at March 01, 2026 09:48 AM (jrgJz)

155 Internet experts with no real world knowledge of how things actually work never cease to amaze me.

There are, no doubt, P-8s conducting coordinated ops with the Lincoln strike group, operating as on-scene commander directing all airborne ASW assets in strike group protection from potential sub-surface threats.

No doubt whatsoever.

P-8 operations for surveilling potential land-based missile launches would not be part of that tasking. Such surveillance operations would be tasked separately and those aircraft would have nothing to do with ASW missions in coordination with the Lincoln strike group.

Posted by: one hour sober at March 01, 2026 09:53 AM (Y1sOo)

Processing 0.03, elapsed 0.0313 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0093 seconds, 163 records returned.
Page size 91 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.