My dear Brothers and Sisters in Perl,

Recently having learned about all the nifty things you can do on your Perlmonks homepage, I wanted to include my geographical coordinates on the page, so my humble abode would show up on the Perlmonks world map. And besides I could calculate how far or how close the nearest other Perlmonk lives.

Having no access to a GPS I searched my network and I found an old friend. April, as is her name, who does something security-wise in the Army and I assumed (coorectly as it turned out) that she could get her hands on a GPS, so we could pin-point my home and I could upload the coordinates to the Monastery.

She was quite interested why I wanted to do this and was much impressed by our Monastery. On the other hand she thought it was not such a swell idea to have my coordinates available on the web.

I was surprised: "Why not", I asked and she gave me the following story, which I faithfully recite here for all to read and learn.

Not that long ago a security briefing was held in April's department and she was told that the next wave of terrorism is not going to be aimed at large buildings or public spaces. It seems the new generation of terrorists is much more technological than the "old guard" and they will target individuals in such a way that nobody can feel secure anywhere anymore, even in the privacy of your own home.

An Indonesian security agency found on one of the islands (April wouldn't tell me which one: Bali, Java, ...) a small terrorist workshop which made RC-planes which could carry about 500 gr. of explosives (or other payload) for well over 5 km at a reasonable speed. As it is quite difficult to control a plane at such a distance, the planes were piloted by a GPS receiver which was to guide them to their targets.

Speaking of a home made cruise missile!

All that you have to do is input the coordinates, put the plane in the air and make your get-away.

Plenty of time to get to safety.

So maybe it is not such a good idea to put your coordinates on the Monkmap. Who knows where those terrorists get their data? It only takes one misguided JavaJunky and the cream of the crop of the Saints of the Monastery gets to experience Paradise for real.

I'm thankful for April to be the First to alert me to the possible security risks. One cannot be too careful today.

Now if I put in the coordinates of that irritating neighbour who wakes me up on Sunday mornings with his lawnmower ...

CountZero

"If you have four groups working on a compiler, you'll get a 4-pass compiler." - Conway's Law

janitored by ybiC: Retitle from "Monkmap" to avoid search-hostile single-word node title

In reply to Monkmap Considered Harmful by CountZero

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