“At 2:26 AM on 3 June 1980, Colonel William Odom of the Strategic Air Command alerted National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski that the US nuclear warning system had detected an imminent 220-missile nuclear attack on the US. Shortly thereafter, the automated system revised its projection from 220 missiles to an all-out attack of 2200 missiles. Just before Brzezinski was about to wake up President Carter to authorize a counterattack, he was told that the 'attack' was an illusion caused by 'a computer error in the system'.” PresidentAirSecurityComputerIllusionWake UpErrorsNuclearCommandWarningNational SecurityProjectionJuneStrategicMissilesCarterNuclear WarColonelsAdvisorsPresident Carter Author:Stansfield Turner
“Centralization of society's vital services in giant computer centers, reservoirs, nuclear power plants, air- traffic control centers, 100-story skyscrapers, and government compounds increases its vulnerability. ... choosing his targets, today's saboteur could pollute a city's water supply, dynamite power transmission towers, cripple an airport control center, destroy a corporate or government computer center.” StoriesGovernmentTodayWaterCitiesAirComputerIncreasePlantNuclearCorporateVulnerabilityGiantsTargetTowersTrafficAirportsCompoundsTransmissionNuclear PowerReservoirsCripplesDynamiteSkyscraperPower PlantsCentralizationSaboteursAir Traffic ControlTraffic Control Author:Anatol Rapoport
“Astronomy is so easy to love. ... Fairly or not, physics is associated with nuclear bombs and nuclear waste, chemistry with pesticides, biology with Frankenfood and designer-gene superbabies. But astronomers are like responsible ecotourists, squinting at the scenery through high-quality optical devices, taking nothing but images that may be computer-enhanced for public distribution, leaving nothing but a few Land Rover footprints on faraway Martian soil, and OK, OK, maybe the Land Rover, too.” MayScienceEasyQualityLandWasteComputerResponsibleLeavingNuclearPhysicsAstronomyDesignerSoilBombsBiologyDevicesChemistryGenesDistributionFootprintSceneryHigh QualityAstronomersNuclear BombMartiansPesticidesNuclear WasteSquinting Author:Natalie Angier
“The computer is a greater threat to the [nuclear] family than all the abortion laws and gay rights movements and pornography in the world.” WorldLawGreaterRightsMovementGayComputerThreatNuclearAbortionPornographyGay RightsNuclear FamiliesAbortion Laws Author:Alvin Toffler
“Computers shouldn't be unusable. You don't need to know how to work a telephone switch to make a phone call, or how to use the Hoover Dam to take a shower, or how to work a nuclear-power plant to turn on the lights.” KnowsNeedsUseLightTurnsKnow HowComputerPlantPhonesNuclearShowersTelephonesTurn-onPhone CallsNuclear PowerDamsPower PlantsHooverHoover Dam Author:Scott McNealy