Friday, April 3, 2009
Podcasts: COR Interviews Rob Krott, Author of Save The Last Bullet For Yourself
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Books: Out of Captivity, Surviving 1,967 Days in a Colombian Jungle
Editorial Reviews
Product Description
On February 13, 2003, a plane carrying three American civilian contractors—Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Tom Howes—crash-landed in the mountainous jungle of Colombia. Dazed and shaken, they emerged from the plane bloodied and injured as gunfire rained down around them. As of that moment they were prisoners of the FARC, a Colombian terrorist and Marxist rebel organization. In an instant they had become American captives in Colombia’s volatile and ongoing conflict, which has lasted for almost fifty years.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Technology: War Robots, Ethics, and the Book ‘Wired for War’ by Peter Singer
What can I say? We are now having this discussion, and it blows me away. And as I speak, drones are killing folks in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and have been doing so for awhile. The only safety measure is that they are so far not really autonomous. But what happens when we cut the cord and let some robot or drone operate on it’s own? What happens if that robot has a glitch and accidently kills the good guys? Do you charge a robot with manslaughter, are they covered by the Geneva Convention, do we give them full burial honors at Arlington Cemetery when they pass?
On a side note, I did get a chance to pick up Peter Singer’s book, and I read through it a little. I will not give a full review, but there were some parts that were interesting. Especially the section that discussed ground robots, and the first ever drawing of blood in this war by a ground robot. Basically some soldiers put a Claymore mine on a MARCbot, and drove it into a pack of insurgents and blew them up. The total cost for that kill, about $8,000, plus whatever it costs the military for a claymore. I think I could make or buy a cheaper Claymore carriage at a hobby store, but still, that field expedient weapon is a whole lot cheaper than launching a Javelin at the enemy. (and if it hurt the enemy and/or saved lives, bravo!)
The insurgents came up with a similar type deal using a skateboard according to the book. I guess they made an explosive laden skateboard with motors on the wheels. The insurgents powered it up, and set it rolling slowly towards a patrol, thinking the patrol would not pay attention to a slow rolling toy. Luckily the patrol locked on to the thing, because it was moving against the wind. The total cost of this weapon was way cheaper than the MARCbot, but could have easily succeeded if used properly.
So with these humble beginnings of ground combat robots, will we one day see a robot that thinks on it’s own? I do know that the desire for these things is driving the market big time. With a highly competitive robotics market and a war that is not going away anytime soon, we will begin to see these kinds of autonomous war robots that science fiction, and now academics are talking about. Good or bad, the future is now. –Matt
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Military robots must be taught a warrior code
16 Feb 2009
Autonomous military robots must be taught a strict warrior code or they could turn on their human masters, a US report warns.
I, Robot: Military robots must be taught a warrior code
The warnings of a potential revolt, as envisaged by the science writer Isaac Asimov in his chilling I, Robot series of stories, appear in the first major report on robot ethics Photo: 20TH CENTURY FOX
The warnings of a potential revolt, as envisaged by the science writer Isaac Asimov in his chilling I, Robot series of stories, appear in the first major report on robot ethics.
The report, by researchers from the Ethics and Emerging Technologies Group at California Polytechnic State University, was funded by the US navy office of naval research.
Mindful of the US deployment in two major theatres of war, the military is keen to pursue alternatives to manpower, including Terminator-style armed robots.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Books: Influencer, by Kerry Patterson and Others
What a cool book, and the concepts discussed are fascinating. It felt like this was a companion book to Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, if you are familiar with that. One of the big ones that I took away from this book, was the concept of how to change a person’s mind or how managers can influence employees to do good work or do things differently.
I also liked the concept of finding opinion leaders in your company, and getting them on your side to implement a change within the company. Or using the concept of a field trip, to convince non-believers within a company that something actually works or there is a better way. Some shared reality stuff there, and this book is definitely a ‘How Too’ book on influencing people. This thing is well researched, and backed with solid examples of successful influencer techniques. Check it out. –Matt
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Product Description
Whether you’re a CEO, a parent, or merely a person who wants to make a difference, you probably wish you had more influence with the people in your life. But most of us stop trying to make change happen because we believe it is too difficult, if not impossible. We develop complicated coping strategies when we should be learning the tools and techniques of the world’s most influential people.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Books: The Mission, The Men, and Me, by Pete Blaber
Yes, another winner of a book by one of America’s elite. I guess by now the readers of Feral Jundi are noticing a trend with my book selections. I look for books written by those that have been there and done that, and are considered to be the best warriors in the world. The members of the Unit are an elite crew, and when these guys talk, I pay attention.
Also, the amount of these books coming out lately just amazes me, and everyone in the industry should try to take the time to read their stories and listen to their ideas. The have a hard fought operational wisdom and common sense clarity that is very unique, and reading this stuff is pure brain candy for the security professional–almost Boydian (my new word for authors and their ideas that inspire me). So let’s get on with my review.
This book was named after the 3 M principle that Pete Blaber was introduced to early on in his military career. It is a simple concept where the Mission comes first, your Men come second, and Me comes last in the order of priorities. These principles have guided Pete through his entire career as a professional soldier and in his civilian life, and this is a major theme of the book.
The format of the book is great. For each chapter he discusses a leadership lesson learned, and tries to tie that in with the 3 M’s and what it takes to accomplish the mission. So definitely do not skim this thing, because you will miss stuff.
In this book, you will get a glimpse of Pete and his crew going on training treks through the mountains of Montana, to the various combat missions in this war and wars past. He also talks about the various discussions he had with such individuals like Johnny Walker Lindh (American Taliban) and Ali Mohamed, and then ties in those interviews with the lessons we can learn from these individuals and how they were able to get so close to Usama Bin Laden(UBL).