Silver Bullet

SilverBullet: "... [a] single development, in either technology or management technique, which by itself promises even one order of magnitude improvement in productivity, in reliability, in simplicity [of software projects]" -- FredBrooks (in the context of NoSilverBullet)

The Silver Bullet, for those too young to have been steeped in the LoneRanger TV series, was the sign of the LoneRanger. He was a magical solution, a way out of the most difficult situations. The Silver Bullet is a sixties and seventies term in the management and management consulting terms. As we got older, the younger crowd didn't relate to the image, and it fell out of favor.

-- MartyHeyman

Actually, I thought Silver Bullet referred to the way to kill werewolves and such.

And Gold Bullets are used to kill Cybermen, for those who watch too much DoctorWho.

And the LoneRanger used to hand them out with his trademark Hi-Yo Silver.

And Winchester Silver Tips is the best-selling ammunition for today's urban killing grounds. [What TV show have you been watching, kid?]

But he said Hi-Yo Silver because that was the name of the *horse*

''It's Hi-HO silver. Not Hi-Yo. We're not talking about Ed McMahon, here.

I thought he said Hi-Yo Silver, away! And I thought a martini was a silver bullet. Magic, huh?

Maybe in 100 years nobody will relate to GoldenHammer either. "Grandpa used what? Pound metal spikes? How barbaric!"

-- James Delashmit

"I thought that the origin of the 'silver bullet' as a reference to a magical solution to a problem was in the werewolf legends. Virtually nothing could kill a werewolf but a silver bullet."

"The Lone Ranger made his bullets out of silver because his basecamp was next to a silver mine. (And for theatrical reasons, of course.)"

"I don't know whether in the Winchester Silver Tips are the best-sellers or not. But I do know that they are made with aluminum, were one of the very first reliable hollow-point designs for self-defense and law enforcement. The greatest advantage to society of a working hollow-point ammunition is that when the bullets expand enough to stay inside the bad guy's body they don't hit an innocent bystander after going through him. Also, criminals generally use full-metal jacket ammunition because it is cheaper and they generally couldn't care less who gets hurt."

"For years, the New York City Police Department issued FMJ ammunition in a 9mm +P+ loading. Nine millimeter is already horribly overpenetrative, especially with FMJ bullets. And the "+P+" is an industry denotation for "plus pressure plus". The increased pressure makes for higher muzzle velocities, and harder wear and tear and the pistols and the shooters that results in less control by the shooter, among other things [??]. Absolutely the worst thing you could possibly do with a FMJ round that already completely perforates the target is to increase its impact velocity. Conversely, higher muzzle and impact velocities actually improve the performance of hollow point ammunition and make it MUCH less likely to overpenetrate. It is no wonder that all during that time the NYPD "led" the nation in shooting innocent bystanders. The only question is why it took them so long to make the change to hollow point ammunition and why states like New Jersey still outlaw all ammunition except FMJ." FMJ is more likely to over-penetrate, but it makes smaller, neater, wounds. (This is, incidentally, why dum-dum bullets and the like are forbidden by the rules of war.) Unless you are using a round designed to tumble on impact, an FMJ wound is much more likely to leave the victim alive and moving (another reason for police not to use them), whereas a hollow-point is more likely to kill or totally incapacitate the victim.

"I realize this is only partly about Silver Bullets; but I felt that the statements above needed clarification for the sake of all who may read this page and I am loathe to delete someone else's comments."

CategoryJargon