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posted by martyb on Monday November 04 2019, @05:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the if-you-build-it-they-will-come...and-cut-through-it dept.

Smugglers have found an easy way to get through the vertical steel tube Mexican border wall. From https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/smugglers-are-sawing-through-new-sections-of-trumps-border-wall/2019/11/01/25bf8ce0-fa72-11e9-ac8c-8eced29ca6ef_story.html

The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier's steel-and-concrete bollards in minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques.

After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, creating an adult-size gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post.

The taxpayer-funded barrier — so far coming with a $10 billion price tag — was a central theme of Trump's 2016 campaign, and he has made the project a physical symbol of his presidency, touting its construction progress in speeches, ads and tweets. Trump has increasingly boasted to crowds in recent weeks about the superlative properties of the barrier, calling it "virtually impenetrable" and likening the structure to a "Rolls-Royce" that border crossers cannot get over, under or through.

In other words, no one did any serious pen testing on the wall design, or it would have been obvious that with all that leverage, the top tie-in was easy to flex.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Monday November 04 2019, @08:12PM (6 children)

    by Immerman (3985) on Monday November 04 2019, @08:12PM (#915888)

    Actually, there is. Go browse the blade aisle - you'll see "all purpose blades" - those aren't specialized. Near them you'll also find fine blades, coarse blades, metal-, wood-, plastic-, ceramic-, masonry-, etc,etc,etc blades. All of those are specialized blades for specific materials or situations. As are the heavy duty "cut through anything in a jiffy" blades

    In general, if you use a saw for anything in particular, you're going to want a selection of specialized blade - they outperform all-purpose blades in every way, usually by a wide margin. All-purpose blades pretty much exist so that you have something to use in uncommon situations that aren't worth buying a specialized blade for, so that you don't destroy your specialized blades using them for materials they weren't designed for.

    The problem is that you're equating "specialized" with "uncommon", which is categorically false. Chalk is a specialized writing tool - nearly useless in almost all situations, and yet you can find it in pretty much any general store in the country.

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  • (Score: 1) by paul_engr on Monday November 04 2019, @08:59PM (5 children)

    by paul_engr (8666) on Monday November 04 2019, @08:59PM (#915920)

    Specialty IMO, would be something you have to custom order from a distributor, not something that is readily available on the shelf at the two Home Depots within five miles of me.

    You are talking about application. Stop being so pedantic

    • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday November 04 2019, @09:27PM (3 children)

      by Immerman (3985) on Monday November 04 2019, @09:27PM (#915943)

      Let's ask the dictionary, shall we?

      From Merriam Webster:
      Specialized (adjective) designed, trained, or fitted for one particular purpose or occupation

      a.k.a., about 80% of all tools beyond basic hammers and wrenches (And you could even make an argument for those. A wrench is a tool specialized for twisting things - you can abuse it to hammer nails, but it won't be very good at it, and may well get damaged in the process)

      Specialization is one of those holes with no bottom, and at some point you're beyond "specialized" into "bespoke" or "unique" - but most tools, just like most jobs, are pretty highly specialized.

      • (Score: 2) by vux984 on Monday November 04 2019, @11:38PM (2 children)

        by vux984 (5045) on Monday November 04 2019, @11:38PM (#916028)

        "Let's ask the dictionary, shall we?"

        Never a good start when being accused of pedantry.

        I think paul_engr's point stands.

        Sure basically almost everything in home depot is 'specialized' to an extent but at the same time NOTHING in a home depot meets the **contextual implication** suggested by the phrase 'specialized tools', simply by being available at Home Depot off the shelf.

        If the police came to my home and confiscated my PC for smartphone hacking and reported that I had a PC with specialized peripherals attached to it -- the general public would reasonably infer that I was doing something more than using a keyboard and mouse and printer and headset. Each of those is specialized for a particular task sure they are not a contextual fit for the reported phrase. No, a reader would infer that I'd gotten my hand on some Israeli cellebrite gear or something along those lines or that I had some custom built stuff purchased from Russia on the dark web, stuff that's normally not available to the public or something.

        Characterizing my keyboard and mouse as "specialized peripherals" is in that context is, quite frankly, misleading and even deceptive.

        • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Tuesday November 05 2019, @01:02AM (1 child)

          by Immerman (3985) on Tuesday November 05 2019, @01:02AM (#916062)

          Granted, but if you can't use words for what they mean, then what's the point in having them at all?

          For your example - if you had peripherals specifically designed for hacking, then the cops would be right to say you had specialized hacking tools.

          In this case, the wall has defeated by saw blades designed specifically for quickly cutting through just about anything, including steel and concrete - a pretty frigging specialized blade. Not specialized specifically for bypassing border walls, but doing so falls pretty squarely within the specialized field of "demolition and aggressive renovation" that such blades are designed for.

          I'm far more disturbed by the idea that some people think that "specialized" is somehow at odds with "readily available". I mean, how often do most people use bakers yeast when cooking? Or pectin? They're very specialized ingredients that are mostly only relevant to very specific kinds of cooking - and yet they're readily available in any grocery store.

          • (Score: 2) by vux984 on Tuesday November 05 2019, @06:49PM

            by vux984 (5045) on Tuesday November 05 2019, @06:49PM (#916439)

            Granted, but if you can't use words for what they mean, then what's the point in having them at all?

            It would be clear to say something like, "This job just requires common tools and accessories available at home depot, a reciprocating saw and a couple specialized blades."

            Here the word specialized is simply clarifying that you need particular task-specific blades. It doesn't create the impression that the blades are rare and exotic the way "Mexican human smugglers and drug runners are cutting through border wall using specialized tools." That conjures up images like to the exotic drills safe crackers use on bank vaults in movies. It does not suggest a trip to home depot for a sawzall with the steel and concrete cutting blades. In a sense, if anything, I would argue they are using a very GENERIC cutting tool here. It's a "SawzALL" not a "SawzONLYverySPECIFICthings" :)

            Dictionaries describe what words mean, but context is everything.

            "I'm far more disturbed by the idea that some people think that "specialized" is somehow at odds with "readily available".

            It's not 'at odds' in general. It's just at odds in that particular context.

            I mean, how often do most people use bakers yeast when cooking? Or pectin? They're very specialized ingredients

            Right. But one would simply say, "Baking Italian bread requires *yeast*". One shouldn't say, "Baking Italian bread requires a highly specialized ingredient". Yeast is a pretty highly specialized ingredient; but to say it LIKE THAT suggests this ingredient is very specific to Italian bread and perhaps even unrecognizable to most readers so simply naming it would be pointless.

    • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday November 04 2019, @09:31PM

      by Immerman (3985) on Monday November 04 2019, @09:31PM (#915946)

      I would be inclined to agree that "specialty" tends to imply a greater (and thus less common) level of specialization. But that's not the word they used. "Specialized" stands as the alternative to "general purpose" - if it's not one, it's the other.