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That's a smart thought. Ive always wondered why they called it that. Snowden mentioned that they have some kind of a random operation name generator that they
by GekkePrutser 4y ago
That's a smart thought. Ive always wondered why they called it that.
Snowden mentioned that they have some kind of a random operation name generator that they have to use, but people keep using it over and over to find a suitable name. I don't recall the specifics but it was in his book.
- eru 4y ago> That's a smart thought. Ive always wondered why they called it that. That's a smart-ass thought, and for that very reason would make it a horrible code name for such a project. You want your code names to be totally arbitrary and have nothing to do with the project. In WW2, the Brits managed to correctly guess quite a bit about the German anti-aircraft and anti-anti-aircraft systems from the 'clever' code names the Germans picked. See eg https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/bnkzdq/til_during_wwii_the_german_army_used_a_radar/ https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/bnkzdq/til_d...
- GekkePrutser 4y agoYes I know, but people take pride in their work and they want a cool name for their project. Like I said Snowden did mention that NSA mandated the use of this code name generator in his book, and it was indeed random for this reason. But he also describes people used to game the system for a cool code name by simply running the generator over and over until they got one they liked :) I would imagine that a cool name would also make it easier to sell a proposal to the brass. Prudence or not, people are easily influenced this way. It's why marketing works.