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ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

tennessean.com

211–220 of 517 posts

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well playing a warning and picking a time and place to minimize casualties is some kind of redeeming. It would certainly be worse if they tried to kill people, picking a crowded place and time.

I guess. I'm just sad I lived to see a second legit terrorist attack on American soil. I remember being in 8th grade when sept11 happened.

I think there have been several attacks of this magnitude or worse since September 11. e.g. The Boston Marathon bombing or the anthrax attacks, or Christopher Dorner (though maybe that's less terrorist and more revenge). There have been lots.

I think, so long as this wasn't a test run for a coordinated attack on the telecoms, then this is not a very bad terrorist attack.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#212
post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That voice announcing evacuation sounds very professional, not like a computer synthesized voice... I wonder if they will try to trace that.

My theory, and the most untraceable way to do it today, would be to use recordings out of movies or video games, there must be dozen of them available.

Unless you have those movies and video games already on your hard drive, downloading them will create a log somewhere that could be traceable. :/ Windows TTS on a device not connected to the internet is a better choice. (I don't know why we are trying to give them ideas!)

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#213
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What we're seeing is a "stochastic insurgency" where loosely affiliated groups and individuals conceive, plan and execute infrastructure attacks and targeted assassinations. Relatively little operational coordination; but lots of online showing support and post-crime support. I hope all congressional representatives and local government officials are reviewing their safety plans.

That's almost straight out of Ghost in the Shell...

Stand Alone Complexes, yeah

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#214
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sort of conspiracy are you imagining here? Someone exploded an RV in an entertainment district so that AT&T had an excuse to disable service while the NSA installed wiretaps? I think that as investigations unfold, that will not end up being what happened. Just a guess though.

Given what little we know, targeting the AT&T infrastructure could be a reasonable guest a motive. The blast itself didn’t seem to take the hub offline; there was a broken water main followed by AT&T being refused access to the building by emergency response. It appears that things started cascading a few hours later, presumably once the generator fuel was exhausted.

Most likely the generators were damaged from the blast & didn’t kick on when commercial power was cut off. The batteries then would have lasted 3-4 hrs.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#215

This article doesn't make this so explicit, but ATT infrastructure appears to be the intentional target of the bombing. You can see the building in the helicopter shot at the top of the NYTimes article on the story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/25/us/nashville-explosion.ht... Obviously a telecommunications/switch hub, with it being a large windowless building in a downtown core. The other thing that's particularly…

FAIRVIEW source for VOIP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairview_(surveillance_program...

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#217
post #99

> I think bombers broadcasting warning messages is somewhat more common with certain types of political violence. I know weather underground bombings tried to choose times for their bombings when buildings would not be inhabited, not always successfully. Just wanted to point out that dressing things up as "political violence" is a disservice; violence performed in the commision of promoting an ideology is terrorism.…

I’m convinced there are a handful of accounts designed to suppress thought and discussion — they hit you with a few downvotes... see how you respond, then downvote up to 10 votes.

(Note this only from my experience... it would help immensely to know who downvoted)

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically it was on an occasion when a bomb was phoned in that led to the single biggest atrocity during the troubles. 29 people killed by a cat bomb in Omagh. We may not be living in peace today has it not happened

What’s a cat bomb?

A bomb with a cat in it. Use your noggin

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#219
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AT&T says that their services went down along with the gas & power in the area, as a side effect: the gas shutoff cut off their backup generators. That doesn't sound all that targeted.

In the UK I've only ever encountered diesel fuelled generators with tanks usually long enough to run the DC for hours if not days. Easy to see in hindsight, but I guess I'm slightly surprised at the use of generators running off mains gas for this very reason. Does anyone know how common this is in the USA? Liveleak actually has some security camera footage with audio of the recording: https://www.liveleak.com/view?t…

Ex-telco here. Wherever underground diesel tanks are practical, they use that instead. Nat-gas is for dense urban installations only, as I understand it.

Re: ATT services down due to bombing in Nashville

#220
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Terrorism is the use of violence to promote an ideology. Full stop. Nothing precludes a terrorist act from helping people. Even Pablo Escobar set up schools and other institutions in his neighborhood.

I agree that's the coherent prescribed definition of terrorism. In practice, whether somebody admits something was terrorism depends largely on which side they agree with. When they agree with the terrorist, euphemisms like 'freedom fighter' are often used instead. There are probably some Columbians who were on the receiving side of Escobar's gifting and called him a humanitarian for it.

True. I visited Medellin a couple of times between 97 and 2006 when I was doing business in LATAM, and I recall clearly that many locals had tremendous admiration for Escobar, constantly praising all he did for the city and the community, while de-emphasizing, and sometimes justifying, the true nature and methods of his business.
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