4 ms·

I would worry about relying only on specific countermeasures like explosive detection. You can only build detectors like that for attack's that you can imagine

I would worry about relying only on specific countermeasures like explosive detection. You can only build detectors like that for attack's that you can imagine; it's always possible someone is a bit more clever and comes up with a unique/lateral attack. With extensive surveillance and AI good enough to interpret body-language with a high-degree of accuracy, you could have a very general detector; as long as the person knows they are being malicious, I bet it'll generally show up in his/her body-language. Which of course opens up the possibility of having patsy's who don't know they are carrying a bomb or what-not and so have normal body language, so specific and general detection mechanisms are probably going to be needed...

cstross 12y ago
The worst threats aren't deliberate attacks: when you get thousands of people living somewhere, there will be screw-ups, misunderstandings, and just plain reckless behaviour. We're used to living in a (relatively) fault-tolerant environment, where if I damage my home's plumbing it will, at worst, damage my neighbours apartments -- it won't kill them instantly by letting all the air out!
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Apartment buildings have a pretty bad failure mode when someone leaves the gas stove lit and they go for a holiday or if there is a leak and bad ventilation. All it takes is for the gas to be temporarily shut down or for the owners to be gone long enough not to notice before a sizable amount of gas has pooled and a few days later boom. In Romania they make this extra easy by exporting the interface to shut down the gas to just outside of the apartment door. (This is not the fire-crew shut-off valve, simply one that the gas company can seal off if you don't pay your bills without opening the door to your apartment.) Fortunately most gas gear has a shut-off for that scenario but stoves do not and a couple of explosions per year due to gas leaks and left open gas taps result. https://www.google.com/search?q=gas+explosion+apartment https://www.google.com/search?q=gas+explosion+apartment
DennisP 12y ago
If you're worried about a major hull breach there aren't that many ways to go about it. Aside from that, you could pretty much make the same argument about any city on Earth, but I don't think many of us are in favor of ubiquitous surveillance on that account.

cstross 12y ago

The worst threats aren't deliberate attacks: when you get thousands of people living somewhere, there will be screw-ups, misunderstandings, and just plain reckless behaviour. We're used to living in a (relatively) fault-tolerant environment, where if I damage my home's plumbing it will, at worst, damage my neighbours apartments -- it won't kill them instantly by letting all the air out!

jacquesm 12y ago
Apartment buildings have a pretty bad failure mode when someone leaves the gas stove lit and they go for a holiday or if there is a leak and bad ventilation. All it takes is for the gas to be temporarily shut down or for the owners to be gone long enough not to notice before a sizable amount of gas has pooled and a few days later boom. In Romania they make this extra easy by exporting the interface to shut down the gas to just outside of the apartment door. (This is not the fire-crew shut-off valve, simply one that the gas company can seal off if you don't pay your bills without opening the door to your apartment.) Fortunately most gas gear has a shut-off for that scenario but stoves do not and a couple of explosions per year due to gas leaks and left open gas taps result. https://www.google.com/search?q=gas+explosion+apartment https://www.google.com/search?q=gas+explosion+apartment

DennisP 12y ago

If you're worried about a major hull breach there aren't that many ways to go about it. Aside from that, you could pretty much make the same argument about any city on Earth, but I don't think many of us are in favor of ubiquitous surveillance on that account.