Twitter

So, like, what's with this Twitter thing?

Murdoc's onboard at http://twitter.com/murdoconline.

Is there a point?

Land Warrior
Military.com: Land Warrior Needs Work, Soldiers Say "It's like a 17-pound GPS unit," said a Soldier assigned to Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, the first Army unit to ever deploy to a war zone using Land Warrior. "We don't use half the things it's supposed to be able...[READ]

Biofuels worse for the environment?
Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded. You don't say. Via Instapundit, who writes It doesn't seem to...[READ]

Nine steps to a more effective force
The article Heavy & Agile by Maj. Daniel L. Davis in Armed Forces Journal makes a number of great points about the direction our military, particularly our land forces, are going and where they really should be headed. He points out that there is a lot that networked technology can...[READ]

Nuclear explosion in hijacked Czech TV breakfast show
How'd you like to see that with your morning coffee?...[READ]

Expediamail.com
The phukking phishing phags at Expediamail.com got me. At least in the sense that they tricked me into trying to check out my itinerary for my upcoming trip to Las Vegas for next February's SHOT Show. They already had my name, my email, my destination, and the dates of my...[READ]

Reloading made easy?
As technology advances, more and more military training is being conducted using computer simulations. And the line between many training programs and shooter games is blurring. But there is still a line. From XKCD....[READ]

Experimental radio antenna made of plasma
Sounds cool in concept: These antennas only work when energized, effectively vanishing when turned off, with the plasma reverting back to normal gas. This is key for stealth on the battlefield — metal antennas can scatter incoming radar signals, giving away their presence. In addition, to counteract jamming attempts, plasma...[READ]

Valour-IT
Time for the annual fundraiser for Project Valour-IT. Murdoc has once again been drafted by Team USAF. Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, helps provide voice-controlled and adaptive laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries at major...[READ]

Reaper aerial killbot harvests its first fleshies
The MQ-9 Predator-B: Designed from the outset to hunt fleeing meatsacks and cut them down like corn Link sent by a reader who writes I shouldn’t laugh at the wording in the article. Shouldn’t, but do. See here for a Predator B with all the options. Or here for a...[READ]

Don't ever ask the Blue Shirts anything or believe anything they tell you
Unless the Blue Shirt is a manager, in which case you should switch from "Ignore" mode to "Actively Avoid" mode. Best Buy may have good prices. And, if you're lucky, they may even have what you want in stock, though it's probably at the store across town. But never ever...[READ]

Land Warrior report from Iraq
Noah Shachtman has a great article up about his encounter with Land Warrior-equipped troops in Iraq: Soldier of the Future Goes to War. It's definitely worth a read. They were supposed to be wearing the high-tech soldier suits of the future. But when the grunts of the 4th Battalion, 9th...[READ]

Movable Type 4.01
A bug fix release of the newest version of the Movable Type publishing software has just been released. I've been using 4.0 on a new project of mine and I like it so far. Now that an .01 is available, MO will be upgrading soon....[READ]

TroopIdeas.com
Site Lets Soldiers Submit Combat Tech Ideas PC World: A Web site launched Tuesday aims to provide an online forum for soldiers to submit ideas from the front lines for new combat tools that would help make their work easier and safer. TroopIdeas.com will allow any member of the U.S....[READ]

Airpower really is useful. We should get some.
As I expected, in the comments for my last post someone recommended that the battleships be brought back from retirement. We all love the battleships. Armored to the point of (near) invulnerability, graceful, powerful, and loaded with 16" guns. A battleship broadside delivers a mind numbing amount of shells on...[READ]

Off the Shelf for Subs
Technology refresh key for maintaining submarine fleet We all know how bureaucratic the military procurement process is, and we all know how a lot of gear, particularly computer-based electronic equipment, is outdated by the time it actually hits the field. In many cases, Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) equipment can fill the...[READ]

The definitive book on the defense of earth against a potential alien incursion
Danger Room posts on An Introduction to Planetary DefenseA Study of Modern Warfare Applied to Extra-Terrestrial Invasion by Travis S. Taylor, Bob Boan, R.C. Anding, and T. Conley Powell. In short: Act like Iraqis, and launch "an insurgency, a mujahideen-type resistance," against an alien invasion. As Iraqi dead-enders and Afghan...[READ]

Disabling automatic image resizing in Firefox 2
This might be a no-brainer to some, but just in case you're as dense as Murdoc is... After wiping and reinstalling my PC, I couldn't figure out how to turn off automatic image resizing in Firefox 2. My previous installation had been an upgrade from an earlier version of FF,...[READ]

I want my WinXP!
I noticed this a few days ago while playing around customizing a new notebook (that I didn't order): Dell gives them what they want: Windows XP PC maker will let buyers choose between Microsoft's older OS and Vista That ain't workin', that's the way you do it... For the record,...[READ]

Land Warrior
Check out 'The Army's New Land Warrior Gear: Why Soldiers Don't Like It' by Danger Room's Noah Shachtman in Popular Mechanics. Instead of relying on the hand signals and shouted orders that most infantrymen use, Alpha company communicates via advanced, encrypted radio transmissions with a range of up to a...[READ]