Murdoc Online

Tech Archives

June 27, 2008

MLB.TV
I JUST SIGNED UP FOR MLB.COM'S PREMIUM INTERNET TV SERVICE. It took me about two minutes to decide to cancel. Even though I checked the ZIP codes of home and work and both showed 'okay,' it tells me I'm blacked out for all home Tigers games. What someone is calling...[READ]

June 22, 2008

Site Troubles
This will be a surprise to no one, but I've been suffering from some rather major technical difficulties over the past several months. I'm not sure where the blame lies, but I suspect that it's split equally between my software platform Movable Type and my host JaguarPC. Movable Type has...[READ]

June 12, 2008

No Puppy Tossing
That should be a no-brainer, but apparently not: Marine expelled over YouTube puppy video The Marine Corps said Wednesday it was expelling one Marine and disciplining another for their roles in a video showing a Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff while on patrol in Iraq... "The actions seen...[READ]

May 21, 2008

Gun on Street View?
What has been caught on camera in Chicago. As Say Uncle would say, it appears to be an unpossible situation. Go check it out and comment at Uncle's. His comments are still working....[READ]

April 7, 2008

Twitter
So, like, what's with this Twitter thing? Murdoc's onboard at http://twitter.com/murdoconline. Is there a point?...[READ]

February 13, 2008

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]

February 9, 2008

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]

February 4, 2008

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]

January 16, 2008

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

December 27, 2007

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]

December 19, 2007

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]

December 5, 2007

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]

October 30, 2007

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]

September 28, 2007

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]

September 26, 2007

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]

September 22, 2007

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]

August 9, 2007

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]

June 12, 2007

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]

May 18, 2007

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]