

Obama's Presidential Limo Will Be a 'Rolling Tank With Windows' - svjunkie
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/obamas-presiden.html

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callahad
The second still shot [1] has the Lightbox2 [2] overlay baked in. Looks like
Wired took a screenshot of another site.

[1]: <http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/images/2009/01/06/car.jpg>

[2]: <http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/>

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AndrewWarner
I'm glad his administration is using online social tools, because physically,
this is going to be one of the most isolated presidents we've ever had. He
just has to be protected like this.

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dfranke
I don't get why people think Obama is in so much danger of assassination. Why
a greater chance than any other president? Is it just that he's young and
therefore reminds people of Kennedy?

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donw
Obama is the first black President of the United States, and there are a lot
of racist idiots who would love to make his tenure as short as possible.

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PieSquared
It's slightly sad that racism still has a part in world-wide culture. In some
countries, it's even pretty much accepted - I read a Russian newspaper
recently saying, "Well, the Americans have finally got themselves what they
deserved", implying that nothing is lower than having a black president.

And I was just thinking this was the 21st century.

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dchest
Not defending the newspaper, but there is a certain image of African Americans
created by a) Hollywood, b) history, I guess. 95% of Russians haven't seen
_any_ black people ever.

Racism is a difficult thing to discuss. Not only it's sad that racism still
has a part in world-wide culture, it's also sad that crazy political
correctness becomes a part of the culture. (e.g.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None>)

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whiskeyjack
And here I thought he was a Mac guy.

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patio11
He's pretty good at giving people the impression that he's culturally
identified with them. The funny thing is, I think he manages to give it to
just about everybody at once. Then something like "zomg Obama has touched a
Zune" comes out and people feel a sense of personal betrayal.

(Honestly, I think if Obama ever decided for vi or emacs some people I know
would suffer psychotic breaks.)

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gills
How likely is it there is really any new technology here? If there were new
armor technology, wouldn't Bush already be rolling around in the latest?

I think they're jawboning to deter the amateurs. Anybody really determined is
going to find a way to get their hands on offensive technologies advanced
enough to defeat the armor.

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tudorachim
This sounds pretty cool, but it seems like this is a waste of money. I can't
remember there ever being an attack on a president while he was in an
_enclosed_ limo (but I'm going from memory, haven't looked it up), and the
previous one seems to have been enough of a deterrent. Washington, D.C. isn't
exactly a warzone that requires a tank.

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streety
"Despite the immense secrecy, reports have leaked that the limo also comes
with a 10-CD changer . . ."

All that tech in there and he'll only have 10 CDs to choose from? Seems a
little dated.

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lallysingh
I suspect that these things have a _long_ development cycle.

OTOH, as long as it'll take line-in from an iPod, no problem.

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bprater
Why even have windows? (Especially at 5 inches thick.) A video camera and some
monitors might do the trick.

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jm4
I'm guessing it's because without windows it would look like a tank too. I can
think of at least a couple reasons why having the President rolling around in
a tank isn't a good idea, and they obviously don't think it's a good idea
either since they've gone through so much trouble to make the President's
vehicle look like a regular car.

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dfranke
Looking like a tank would be an improvement. Regular car? Most of what you'd
find in a junkyard is more attractive.

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Retric
Finish the paint job and it's going to look OK.

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ja2ke
Some pretty epically horrible blog comments for that article. Wow!

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joubert
The Pope Mobile seems pretty pretty compared to this monstrosity.

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zandorg
What about exploding iPods and mobile phones?

