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Off topic but... If I ran an NSA secret spy hub, it wouldn't be called Titanpointe. It would be called something less ridiculous and more mundane like "John's

Off topic but... If I ran an NSA secret spy hub, it wouldn't be called Titanpointe. It would be called something less ridiculous and more mundane like "John's Computer Services". I'd be embarrassed when a name like that kept appearing on documents or for brought up in meetings.

BitwiseFool 5y ago
Remember the "Nothing is Beyond Our Reach" mission patch? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA-247 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA-247 I sense the people running these things don't care as much as they used to about blending in.
tenebrisalietum 5y ago
So what if the name leaks and some hapless computer-unsavvy person happens to call John's Computer Services to help him get rid of the 32 rows of IE toolbars on his Pentium IV-based PC running Windows Vista? At least Titanpointe sounds like a government codename and something vaguely menacing that you shouldn't really mess with.
- kobebrookskC3 5y ago
  how about an actual computer services shop as a front?
  - thomasjudge 5y ago
    AND they could install spyware on the PCs....vertically integrated, as it were
Lammy 5y ago
But ALL-CAPS SCIENCE TERM is such a cool aesthetic, like STELLARWIND.
IAmGraydon 5y ago
Ever read Focault? Perhaps they want you to feel that their powers of surveillance are nearly infinite so that you believe you could be observed at any time. You comply because you never know when you’re being watched. A self-inflicted oppression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon
nonameiguess 5y ago
My wife was working for the NRO's agency-private data center for applications that couldn't be hosted atop Amazon's cloud service in C2S, and it somehow ended up with the initials "RC" which nobody really knew what it meant, so they either called it "Rodeo Clown" or "Rogue Central," depending on who you asked. When they had a renaming contest put to a vote, I can't remember what actually won, but #2 was "Totally Not a Government Death Ray Facility." Believe it or not, the hackers working for spy agencies are exactly the same nerds as the hackers working for wherever the rest of you work. They have senses of humor. My personal favorite piece of NSA software was "Bilbo Badger." A sibling comment mentioned the NROL39 Octopus mission patch. The latest next great vehicle they launched late last year had a motto written in Elvish. I remember when they first showed it to us before the launch, I thought it might have been the Black Tongue of Mordor, but it took maybe 20 minutes to find someone on the program who recognized it and could translate it. The program I was on at the time, which ran the ground processing for that vehicle, was code named "Lateralus," which is a Tool album, and my wife's old program after the RC one, was code named "Rush," the old Canadian prog rock band. It was the program that ran the Sentient software, the thing people get all freaked out about as some government AI autonomous control system like Eagle Eye or Enemy of the State or some shit. When they renewed the contract in January, the new code name became "Cyberdyne," in honor of all the public paranoia over what they're doing. If you think it's embarrassing to have nerd names for stuff, you should see what the people look like. My first boss there had purple hair, never wore shoes, and wore a different wolf shirt every day of the week. I'm not sure who you think goes to work at places like this. There's a reason 80% of the NRO mission patches are wizards and dragons.
- trevyn 5y ago
  > the hackers working for spy agencies are exactly the same nerds They’re really not, but I can see why you might think that.
- _kbh_ 5y ago
  > There's a reason 80% of the NRO mission patches are wizards and dragons. Probably because they are established intelligence iconography. It goes further than that though, lightning bolts and crows are also common and all have specific meaning. Now the original imagery may have been chosen because it was chosen by geeks but its used nowadays because it has meaning.
gregw2 5y ago
My theory is that the keywords used make it easier for the authority to search for when the keyword has been used/disclosed. There is counterintelligence value that is lost if the name of the secret blends in too much.

BitwiseFool 5y ago

Remember the "Nothing is Beyond Our Reach" mission patch? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA-247 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA-247 I sense the people running these things don't care as much as they used to about blending in.

tenebrisalietum 5y ago

So what if the name leaks and some hapless computer-unsavvy person happens to call John's Computer Services to help him get rid of the 32 rows of IE toolbars on his Pentium IV-based PC running Windows Vista? At least Titanpointe sounds like a government codename and something vaguely menacing that you shouldn't really mess with.

kobebrookskC3 5y ago
how about an actual computer services shop as a front?
- thomasjudge 5y ago
  AND they could install spyware on the PCs....vertically integrated, as it were

Lammy 5y ago

But ALL-CAPS SCIENCE TERM is such a cool aesthetic, like STELLARWIND.

IAmGraydon 5y ago

Ever read Focault? Perhaps they want you to feel that their powers of surveillance are nearly infinite so that you believe you could be observed at any time. You comply because you never know when you’re being watched. A self-inflicted oppression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

nonameiguess 5y ago

My wife was working for the NRO's agency-private data center for applications that couldn't be hosted atop Amazon's cloud service in C2S, and it somehow ended up with the initials "RC" which nobody really knew what it meant, so they either called it "Rodeo Clown" or "Rogue Central," depending on who you asked. When they had a renaming contest put to a vote, I can't remember what actually won, but #2 was "Totally Not a Government Death Ray Facility." Believe it or not, the hackers working for spy agencies are exactly the same nerds as the hackers working for wherever the rest of you work. They have senses of humor. My personal favorite piece of NSA software was "Bilbo Badger." A sibling comment mentioned the NROL39 Octopus mission patch. The latest next great vehicle they launched late last year had a motto written in Elvish. I remember when they first showed it to us before the launch, I thought it might have been the Black Tongue of Mordor, but it took maybe 20 minutes to find someone on the program who recognized it and could translate it. The program I was on at the time, which ran the ground processing for that vehicle, was code named "Lateralus," which is a Tool album, and my wife's old program after the RC one, was code named "Rush," the old Canadian prog rock band. It was the program that ran the Sentient software, the thing people get all freaked out about as some government AI autonomous control system like Eagle Eye or Enemy of the State or some shit. When they renewed the contract in January, the new code name became "Cyberdyne," in honor of all the public paranoia over what they're doing. If you think it's embarrassing to have nerd names for stuff, you should see what the people look like. My first boss there had purple hair, never wore shoes, and wore a different wolf shirt every day of the week. I'm not sure who you think goes to work at places like this. There's a reason 80% of the NRO mission patches are wizards and dragons.

trevyn 5y ago
> the hackers working for spy agencies are exactly the same nerds They’re really not, but I can see why you might think that.
_kbh_ 5y ago
> There's a reason 80% of the NRO mission patches are wizards and dragons. Probably because they are established intelligence iconography. It goes further than that though, lightning bolts and crows are also common and all have specific meaning. Now the original imagery may have been chosen because it was chosen by geeks but its used nowadays because it has meaning.

gregw2 5y ago

My theory is that the keywords used make it easier for the authority to search for when the keyword has been used/disclosed. There is counterintelligence value that is lost if the name of the secret blends in too much.