Feral Jundi

Monday, August 20, 2012

Mobile Apps: Theodolite–Turning Your Smart Phone Into A Precision Survey Instrument

Filed under: Mobile Apps,Technology — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 10:49 AM

Now this is cool and a big hat tip to Soldier Systems for putting this one out there. This mobile app basically converts your smart phone into an actual theodolite or surveying instrument.  Why is this cool? Because this device not only has application for cheap and quick surveying of land, but can also help in military operations where surveying, targeting, and reconnaissance is vital.

The other thing I was thinking about here is something like this could quickly help land owners settle disputes over boundaries. So instead of hiring a survey group to do this, two parties can just pull out their smart phones and confirm together where the boundary is between their properties. In the west where folks have all sorts of surveying assets to call upon, this is not too big of a problem. Although I could still see folks using such a thing to confirm or use as a preliminary survey tool.

But in poor countries with minimal resources, having an ability to determine borders and boundaries cheaply can mean the difference between life and death.  Many wars and conflict start because of boundary disputes between two parties. Especially in places with very weak legal systems, or non-existent legal systems.

The other thing I was thinking about here is the ability to take an app like this and download it into a ‘smart scope’. Or basically take an optic like an EOTech and design it so that it can put this data in the view if you want it–and all with the press of a button. Or you could cycle through your reticles for whatever application (like grenade launcher, machine gun, etc.). Anything that helps the soldier with targeting and making the optic useful.

I also like the idea of using this tool to help in setting up a remote site or combat outpost/FOB. From lining out the Hesco barriers, to setting up defensive positions and fire plan sketches–having a survey tool like the Theodolite mobile app is incredibly useful. –Matt

 

Theodolite is a multi-function augmented reality app that combines a compass, GPS, map, photo/movie camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. Theodolite overlays real time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and inclination on the iPhone’s live camera image, like an electronic viewfinder.??Uses are endless, and Theodolite is great for outdoor sports, hiking, boating, hunting, golf, sightseeing, photography, and navigation. The app is used in the field every day by surveyors, geologists, architects, engineers, military personnel, competitive sportsmen, and search and rescue workers.??Theodolite set a new standard for augmented reality navigation apps when it debuted in 2009. It has been featured numerous times in iTunes (including honors as a “Rewind 2010” app), and has been the #1 selling Navigation app in iTunes stores around the world.

Theodolite works on any iPhone or 4th generation iPod Touch with OS 4.1 or later.?Compass requires iPhone 3GS, 4, or 4S. iPhone 4 or 4S, or iPod Touch 4 required for gyro and Retina Display support.
Features
Ability to take geo-stamped and geo-tagged photos, screenshots, and movies from the app, with 2X and 4X zoom, buffered background image saves, plus an option to write custom notes on photos and movies. Integrated map with standard, satellite, and hybrid views, compass rose, and bearings. Manage location markers on the map and share with other users via SMS text messaging or e-mail. Optical-mechanical gyro/accelerometer calibration. Zero angle reference mode. A-B survey calculator for height, distance, heading, triangulation, position, and angles. Data logging. E-mail data export with KML. System-wide clipboard integration. Percent grade display. Six different optical rangefinders. Mils. Night vision lens filters. MGRS, UTM, and six lat/lon formats.For use on an iPad, check out Theodolite HD.

What’s New in Version 3.0
NEW! Movie recording, with optional screen/watermark overlays and multiple video quality settings. Three large-format stadiametric rangefinders (sniper/artillery/hunter style, showing distance multipliers, yards, or meters). Revised position formats with new decimal minutes option. Larger font sizing for photo data stamp watermark, with three color options. Onscreen indicator for magnetic declination errors. Bug fix to e-mail export URLs. Numerous performance improvements and tweaks.
Website here.
Purchase at iTunes here.

 

 

Friday, August 17, 2012

Weapons: BAE’s Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System For Air… And Ground?

Filed under: Weapons — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 3:59 PM

You know, after watching the video below, I thought this would be an excellent missile system for ground applications. Either a vehicle mounted option or even some kind of modified hydra rocket that could be launched from a shoulder fired system. Or turn SMAW or Carl Gustav M-3 munitions into smart munitions? I mean look at how expensive a Javelin is?  Something to ponder for today’s cost conscious and budget crunching military.

But the thinking here that I really like is taking old, cheap, and dumb munitions, and upgrading them to be precision weapon systems. They are doing this with mortar systems as well, and it is a great ‘JDAM style’ upgrade revolution. It will also allow more countries to be more precise in their military operations, if they require aviation support.

The Russian equivalent to the APKWS is the Ugroza and it seems like they are going in the same direction of trying to make these dumb munitions that are stockpiled in armories throughout the world, into smart munitions. Exciting stuff and we will see where this goes… –Matt

Specifications for APKWS
Diameter: 70 mm
Guidance: Semi-active laser homing.
CEP (circular error probable): < 1 m
Motor: Existing Hydra 70 motors.
Warhead: Existing Hydra 70 warheads.
Unit cost: ~ $28,500
APKWS is a “plug and play,” “point and shoot” weapon, and is fired like the unguided 2.75-inch rocket. The weapon is easily assembled and can be shot with minimal instruction, as if it were an unguided rocket.

 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Books: Trust Me, I’m Lying, By Ryan Holiday

Filed under: Books,Media News — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:38 PM

You are probably wondering why a book like this would be reviewed on a website like Feral Jundi? Well for one, FJ is a blog and blogs are a crucial element to media marketers and their schemes. So after hearing about this book over at Global Guerrillas and at Shlok Vaidya, I wanted to check it out.

In the book you will hear about simple but effective methods that Ryan Holiday uses to get a story of his choosing, be it fake or whatever, up to the national levels of media. One of them is called ‘trading up the chain’, and it basically a how-to on how to hack the media machine. Very useful information to marketers, and very dangerous information for those with malicious intentions in mind.

Specifically, Ryan discusses the Terry Jones Koran Burning incident as one example of a lethal ‘trading up the chain’ scheme. To quote Ryan from the book, he says this about the incident.

One kook, one overeager young journalist, unintentionally show why trading up the chain–feeding the monster–can be so dangerous (though for Jones, very effective). They weren’t just turning nothing into something. The beast these blogs built up was set off needless bloodshed.

You can trade up the chain for charity or you can trade up it to create funny fake news–or you can do it to create violence, hatred, and even incidentally, death. I’ve done the first two, while others, out of negligence or malice, have done the latter. At the end of the day, intentions are not a justification I’m going to hide behind. There is enough blame to go around. -Page 29

The ‘one’ journalist he was talking about was a college student named Andrew Ford, a freelancer working for Agence France-Presse. This was the guy that broke the media blackout directed at Terry Jones and his scheme, and once Andrew decided to post a story about Terry actually burning the Koran, the rest of the media could not resist. Especially the second tier blogs that highly depend upon pageviews and advertising. Then once those sites grabbed the story, the national media could not resist either, and then the thing just blew up all over–causing a stir throughout the world of Islam–and causing riots/deaths in places like Afghanistan.

So the question is, could a person or group ‘trade up the chain’ in order to kill or cause harm to an enemy?  Imagine hiring Ryan to conduct a campaign against Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and tasking him to use his dark arts of media manipulation to cause some serious headaches for these folks?

Also imagine the enemy reading such a book, and further adding to their ability to hack the media and create buzz for their cause?

This trading up the chain method was also comically evident in the military and technology blogging industry recently. The Duffle Blog posted a funny but fake story about a new bayonet system the DoD was about to purchase, and the popular upper tier Gizmodo blog picked it up as a ‘real’ story. Of course they finally figured out that it was not true, and they had to make the edit. But I wonder how close this was to being picked up by the national media? Or if this story got legs in some corner of the world where they actually thought it was real? Interesting stuff.

The other reason why I was interested in this book is I wanted to understand how I can protect the integrity of this site, but also if I could gain any insight as to why stories go viral–or what gives a post legs. Stuff like how to format a title, or what really grabs a reader.  For that, there are ideas in the book that are extremely valuable. Check it out and let me know what you think? –Matt

Buy the book here.

Buy the Kindle version here.

 

Trust Me, I’m Lying

By Ryan Holiday

You’ve seen it all before. A malicious online rumor costs a company millions. A political sideshow derails the national news cycle and destroys a candidate. Some product or celebrity zooms from total obscurity to viral sensation. What you don’t know is that someone is responsible for all this. Usually, someone like me.
I’m a media manipulator. In a world where blogs control and distort the news, my job is to control blogs—as much as any one person can.
In today’s culture…
1) Blogs like Gawker, Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post drive the media agenda.
2) Bloggers are slaves to money, technology, and deadlines.
3) Manipulators wield these levers to shape everything you read, see and watch—online and off.
Why am I giving away these secrets?  Because I’m tired of a world where blogs take indirect bribes, marketers help write the news, reckless journalists spread lies, and no one is accountable for any of it. I’m pulling back the curtain because I don’t want anyone else to get blindsided.

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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Industry Talk: Whitestone Group To Provide Security At FAA Facilities Along East Coast

Filed under: Industry Talk,Ohio — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 7:56 PM

The $104 million contract is the largest Whitestone has with the FAA, he said. The company helped the FAA develop a national training standard for the private armed security companies with which it contracts, ultimately landing the new contract for the entire East Coast.
The contract goes into effect Oct. 1, Clark said.
Whitestone will provide security at individual FAA facilities like air traffic control towers, not whole airports, Clark said.

Very cool and for those on the East coast looking for work, this opportunity might be a good hit for you. I suspect these contracts will pay a little bit better than your standard security gig, just because this is protecting FAA facilities only.  If bad guys make it into a traffic control tower, they could cause a lot of damage.  With the spat of folks infiltrating supposedly secure facilities these days, guards like this are pretty important as the last line of defense.

A great example of what I am talking about for breaches was the stranded jet skier that wandered onto the JFK airport property–bypassing millions of dollars worth of security systems. This embarrassing incident is right up there with the nuclear facility breaching incident. So Whitestone Group should learn from these deals and work hard to maintain topnotch security for the FAA. The FAA should also stay on top of this contract to make sure they get the service they need. Trust, but verify.

For actually working this contract, I would go to the employment section of the website and submit that way. On Linkedin, you can find a few folks with the company, or have worked for them in the past. I have not seen anything specific in their career section for this particular contract and folks will have to pursue it on their own by contacting the recruiter or doing a little online research. –Matt

Whitestone Group webpage here.

Linkedin for company here.

 

Whitestone Group to provide security at FAA facilities along East Coast
By Rick Rouan
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
A fast-growing private security firm in Columbus has landed a $104 million contract to provide armed guards for the Federal Aviation Administration along the East Coast.
Whitestone Group Inc. will provide about 368 guards at 34 FAA sites, including towers, air traffic control facilities and other venues, CEO John Clark said. Those guards are all professional security officers, which Clark said requires about 60 hours of training.

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Monday, August 13, 2012

Fish And Game: Utah’s Predator Control Program–$50 Dollar Bounty Per Coyote!

Filed under: Fish and Game,Utah — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:42 PM

The Utah Legislature passed two predator-related bills in 2012. The first bill, Predator Control Funding (Senate Bill 87), adds a $5 fee to all Utah big game hunting permits. The money will fund a program to control populations of predatory animals that endanger the health of Utah’s non-predatory wildlife.
The second bill, Mule Deer Protection Act (Senate Bill 245), allocates general funding to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources ($500,000) and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food ($250,000). The legislation directs our agencies to work together — and with other government entities — to administer programs that reduce and control coyote populations, particularly in areas where predation of mule deer occurs.

Outstanding and it is good to see a state implement a ‘state-wide’ bounty program, as opposed to having counties within the state do this. The reason why this is a better program is because then hunters in one county can’t bag a coyote and take the thing to another county that posted the bounty. It is easy for hunters to ‘game’ the system, and it is unfair to those counties that bare the costs of such a thing.

Now when it comes to hunters going out of state and killing coyotes, and then bringing them to Utah to try and collect the bounty is another issue. Of course the DWR have tried to set up appropriate measures to keep folks honest, but I am sure there will be those who will test the system.

Plus, coyotes could care less about state borders.  Perhaps if Utah tried to convince their neighbors to implement a regional plan, and maybe even appeal to the federal government for such a thing, then maybe this program could be more effective?

The funding of this is interesting as well. It takes one group of hunters that go after big game, and attaches a 5 dollar fee to their tag, so that another group of hunters that focuses on coyotes will be compensated. The culling of coyotes helps to increase the amount of deer, or one system helps another system.

Plus, a hunter that goes after both deer and coyotes could potentially cover the cost of their hunting trip by bagging a few coyotes! In a poor economy, a program like this is a win win– deer meat in the freezer and income from culling coyotes.

The other reason why I like posting these deals is that bounty systems are excellent studies for offense industry.  You can see how hunters operate and how the system supports the overall goal of culling. You can also observe any unforeseen consequences and see how that group changes the program to mitigate that. My one advice to Utah is to remain flexible and use the data collected to apply some Kaizen to their culling program.

Below I have posted the FAQ, but if you go to the website you will see all of the forms and links that are associated with the FAQ. Good luck and happy hunting. –Matt

 

Utah’s Predator Control Program
Our offices have received many phone calls and questions about Utah’s new laws to control coyotes and other predators. This page provides details about the new Predator Control Program and addresses the most common questions. Please keep in mind that this information is subject to change and may be updated at any time. We encourage you to check back on a regular basis for the latest updates.
Frequently asked questions
How will the new Predator Control Program work?
This year, in addition to maintaining an aggressive predator-management policy, the DWR is implementing a predator control program that provides incentives for members of the public to remove coyotes. Participants in this new program will receive $50 for each properly documented coyote that they kill in Utah. For details, see the rest of this FAQ page or download the fact sheet (170 KB PDF) and the map (382 KB PDF).
When does the program begin?
You may register for the program starting July 1, 2012. There are no restrictions on removal dates after the program has begun, but reimbursements will not begin until after Sept. 1, 2012.
How do I register for the program?

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