Month: June 2007

Don Herbert, ‘Mr. Wizard’ to Science Buffs, Dies at 89 – New York Times

No Comments

He was before my time, but he will be missed.

Don Herbert, ‘Mr. Wizard’ to Science Buffs, Dies at 89

RICHARD GOLDSTEINPublished: June 13, 2007

Don Herbert, who unlocked the wonders of science for youngsters of the 1950s and ’60s as television’s Mr. Wizard, died yesterday at his home in the Bell Canyon section of Los Angeles. He was 89.

Don Herbert, around 1955.

The cause was bone cancer, his son-in-law Tom Nikosey told The Associated Press in confirming the death.

Mr. Herbert held no advanced degree in science, he used household items in his TV lab, and his assistants were boys and girls. But he became an influential showman-science teacher on his half-hour “Watch Mr. Wizard” programs, which ran on NBC from 1951 to 1965.

Millions of youngsters may have been captivated by Howdy Doody and the Lone Ranger, but many were also conducting science experiments at home, emulating Mr. Wizard.

…

Space station oxygen, water computers fail – CNN.com

No Comments

NASA’s boondoggle is having trouble.

I worked on equipment for the space shuttle while at Lockheed Missiles and Fire Control in Grand Prairie, TX, on the radiators, and I saw the specifications.

There were Minimum sizes for components.

The only reason for this was to ensure that only the shuttle could carry them into orbit.

So, to paraphrase a The Daily Show correspondent, we need to have the shuttle to service the space station, and we need the space station to give the shuttle a mission.

What a clusterf%$#.

Space station oxygen, water computers fail

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) — Russian computers that control the international space station’s orientation and supply of oxygen and water have failed, potentially extending the space shuttle’s mission — or cutting it short.

Russian engineers aren’t sure why the computers stopped working. A failure of this type has never occurred before on the space station.

The station is operated primarily by the Russian and U.S. space agencies, with contributions from the Canadian, European and Japanese space agencies.

“We have plenty of resources, so we have plenty of time to sort this out,” said Mike Suffredini, NASA manager of the space station program.

But the computer failure could extend space shuttle Atlantis’ mission by at least a day and, in a worst-case scenario, force the space station’s three crew members to return to Earth early if the computers aren’t fixed.

…

Vladimir Putin Just Owned Bush and Rice

No Comments

There is no mistake about this. Putin just convinced people that he is the adult in this situation, and that Bush and his TOADIE Secretary of State are loose cannons who can destabilize the region.

These folks screw up everything they touch.

Russian missile offer is ‘a major shift’ says Czech PM

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Russia’s offer to set up a joint anti-missile base with the United States to end a stand-off between the two countries is a significant move, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said.

‘I think that the Russian offer represents a major shift in (President Vladimir) Putin’s view of the problem,’ he told a joint news conference after a short meeting with his British counterpart Tony Blair in Downing Street.

The Czech Republic and neighbouring Poland have been at the centre of a row between the United States and Russia over the former’s proposed anti-missile defence shield in central and eastern Europe.

Washington, which says the shield is aimed at rogue states and not Russia, asked Prague earlier this year to host a radar tracking station and Warsaw to site 10 interceptor missiles to shoot hostile missiles from the sky.

Amid escalating Cold War-style language and threats, Putin sought to defuse the row at last week’s G8 summit by suggesting a joint Russian-US anti-missile base in Azerbaijan.

….

Boeing supplier Vought Outlines 787 Challenges (Schedule Slippage)

No Comments

Two notes on this:

  • For most of the time that I was at United Defense (later BAE Systems), Elmer Doty was Vice President & General Manager, Ground. Systems Division

  • Boeing has VERY aggressively spread technally “bleeding edge” portions of 787 manufacture to outside vendors, where potential delays are largely invisible. I would expect the 787 deliveries to be delayed, though perhaps not as much as the Airbus a380.

Boeing supplier Vought outlines 787 challenges

Key Boeing 787 supplier Vought Aircraft Industries has disclosed it is facing “ongoing schedule slippage” in obtaining parts it is supposed to install before shipping fuselage sections to Boeing, a company memo obtained by the Seattle press reveals.

Shortly after it was reported the head of 787 operations at Vought, Ted Perdue, had left the company, Vought CEO Elmer Doty sent a memo to employees setting clear the firm faced challenges but noting it was acting quickly to address the issues.”

…

Freddie Mac Ranks No. 50 on the 2007 Fortune 500 – Jun. 13, 2007

No Comments

I would not be surprised if they are completely off the Fortune 500 in a couple of years because of bad loans.

Freddie Mac Ranks No. 50 on the 2007 Fortune 500

June 13 2007: 10:51 AM EDT

NEW YORK (Fortune) — Freddie Mac (FRE (Charts, Fortune 500)) ranks no. 50 on FORTUNE’s list of America’s largest corporations.

The McLean, VA-based company was ranked No. [omitted in article] on the 2006 list. Its 2006 revenues were up 20.5 percent from the previous year; profits were up 3.8 percent from the previous year.

…

May import prices rise 0.9 percent, higher than expected – Jun. 13, 2007

No Comments

The dollar is falling, pushing up import prices, and interest rates.

This is going to get worse, hitting housing, and the stock market.

May import prices rise 0.9 percent, higher than expected

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Import prices rose 0.9 percent, the fourth straight monthly gain, on higher petroleum costs, according to a Labor Department report issued Wednesday.

Wall Street economists were expecting to see a 0.3 percent gain in import prices following an upwardly revised 1.4 percent increase in April.

U.S. government bond prices fell Wednesday after higher-than-expected retail sales and import prices exacerbated bond investors concerns that the Federal Reserve might have to raise interest rates next year.

…

Another Patent Troll Whines

No Comments

They make nothing. They sell nothing. They can be made right with money.

And the patent is f&^%ing obvious, and probably does not stand up to the new standard that SCOTUS set a few weeks ago.

These people are paracites, and they are destroying innovation in our society.

There has been a “price before auction” for a hundred years.

Company calls for end to eBay’s `Buy It Now’

PATENT LAWS DEBATED BEFORE FEDERAL JUDGE
By Sonja Barisic
Associated Press
Article Launched: 06/13/2007 01:37:55 AM PDT

NORFOLK, Va. – A small Virginia company in a patent fight with eBay asked a federal judge Tuesday to stop the online auction powerhouse from using its “Buy It Now” feature, which allows shoppers to buy items at a fixed price.

A federal jury found in 2003 that eBay had infringed Great Falls, Va.-based MercExchange’s patent. But last year, the U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory to patent-reform advocates when it ruled that MercExchange was not automatically entitled to a court order blocking the offending service.

Now, U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Friedman must decide whether MercExchange is entitled to a permanent injunction. The judge did not say when he would rule.

Friedman also did not immediately rule on eBay’s request to stay the proceedings until the federal patent office has completed a re-examination of the patent – a process MercExchange’s lawyers said could take 10 years.

Lawyers for San Jose-based eBay told the judge the company has designed a work-around so it no longer infringes on the patent, and thus an injunction is unnecessary.

Attorney Jeff Randall said MercExchange has not suffered irreparable harm and that the company is better off now than it was before the trial, citing an investment by a hedge fund.

MercExchange’s attorneys, however, argued that the potential for future infringement is at stake.

Thoughts On The Fighting in Gaza

No Comments

My first thought is to paraphrase Henry Kissinger’s comment on the Iran-Iraq war, “Too bad they can’t both lose.”

I would add to that the thought that it would be nice if they broth could do it someplace where innocent women and children don’t get caught in the crossfire.

My second thought is about the consistent inability of the PLO and its successors and constituent parts to maintain military effectiveness against any sort of armed opponent.

Hamas has basically taken control of the Gaza strip in just a couple of days.

When one considers that Fatah has been in a position to arm and train its forces for 10 years more than Hamas, this boggles the mind.

Or rather, it boggles the mind until one considers the history of the PLO, Fatah, the PFLP, and the PLA (Palestinian Liberation Army).

The PLO has been consistently over marched by anything this side of a mean little kid with a pea shooter.

The performance of the PLO/Fatah in combat against any even vaguely organized military force makes the “speed bumps” of Europe, Belgium (WWI, WWII, Waterloo, and any other fight were people didn’t not want to break their own stuff) and Poland (A bunch of starving Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto held out longer against the Wehrmacht than the Polish army did) look like Georgy Zhukov’s armies marching on Berlin.

Hamas Seizing Control of Gaza Strip
By SARAH EL DEEB

Hamas fighters launched a fierce offensive on Gaza City Wednesday, firing mortars and rockets at Fatah’s main security bases and the president’s compound as the Islamic group appeared close to taking control of the entire Gaza Strip.

With fighting raging on rooftops and streets in nearly all corners of Gaza, residents huddled in fear in their homes.

…

Hamas gunmen neutralized the main strongholds of the Fatah-linked security forces, ruling the streets and taking control of large parts of Gaza in the process.

Abbas’ forces – desperately trying to cling to their besieged bases in Gaza – lashed out at the president, saying he left them with no directions and no support in the fight.

…

The mark of poor soldiers. They can’t do anything without orders.

Hamas, already in control of much of northern Gaza, seized the southern town of Khan Younis and began a coordinated assault on the town of Rafah, also in the south, security officials said.

The rout of the security forces was so bad that 40 Palestinian security officers broke through the border fence in Rafah and fled into Egypt seeking safety, Egyptian police said.

“What can I say? This is a fall, a collapse,” said Col. Nasser Khaldi, a senior police official in Rafah.

…

Why I Dumped AT&T, and Why You Should Too

No Comments

I had them as my long distance provider for nearly 20 years.

When I heard about them breaking the law to turn over records to the NSA. I dumped them, and switched to QWest.

The only good that AT&T ever did was Bell Labs, and that is part of Lucent now.

AT&T willing to spy for NSA, MPAA, and RIAA

By Nate Anderson | Published: June 13, 2007 – 10:13AM CT

In a move that has executives from movie studios and record labels grinning from ear to ear, AT&T has announced that it will develop and deploy technology that will attempt to keep pirated content off its network. The move is spurred in part by the company’s decision to offer IPTV television service as part of its U-Verse package, AT&T senior VP James W. Cicconi told the Los Angeles Times.

The first step for AT&T is coming up with a technological solution that works: something that can effectively filter out illicit traffic while protecting its users’ privacy. That’s a tall—if not impossible—order. YouTube hasn’t managed to do it even for video yet, and that’s when customers are sending them entire files which they can scan at their leisure. Monitoring all the files sent through BitTorrent—which splits them into tiny pieces—could be even more difficult; doing it in real-time sounds both expensive and impossible.

Without human intervention, it’s also tough to tell if copyrighted content is even “piracy.” Fair use carves out exceptions for news reporting, criticism, and commentary (among other things) which is nearly impossible for a machine to understand in context.

…

Fort Leavenworth Chaplains Accused of Anti-Semitic Publishing

No Comments

This needs to be dealt with aggressively.

This sort of behavior is antithetical to good order and discipline of the military, and this behavior is becoming more common.

Fort Leavenworth Chaplains Accused of Anti-Semitic Publishing

By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Report

Monday 11 June 2007

At the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Army base, military chaplains have been holding Bible classes for US soldiers using study guides that appear to be anti-Semitic.

The Fort Leavenworth chaplains have posted these lesson plans on the Internet under a web address that is maintained by the federal government, giving off the appearance that the religious materials in question are endorsed by the Pentagon. Moreover, disseminating the ideology via a government funded web site may violate the law mandating the separation between church and state.

The nonprofit watchdog group, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that seeks to enforce the law mandating the separation between church and state in the US military, discovered the documents late last week. The anti-Semitic materials are posted as PDF files at the web site, Command Chaplain Bible Studies, which is maintained by the US Army’s Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth.

The Officers Christian Fellowship Neighborhood Study Guides quote portions of the New Testament and were written by Major George Kuykendall, the leader of Fort Leavenworth’s Officer’s Christian Fellowship (OCF) who died in 1998, according to Chris Rodda, a senior researcher at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Rodda said, “The study guides also encourage soldiers to engage in an unconstitutional level of proselytizing to fellow military personnel in the Fort Leavenworth Community.”

In one of the study guides, Galatians, posted on the Fort Leavenworth chaplain web site, the materials refer to Jews as “Judaizers” – persons who without being Jews follow in whole or in part the Jewish religion or claim to be Jews – and claim that “the Judaizers were zealous people much like the zealous Moslems have become today.”

The 34-page Galatians study guide deals primarily with “Paul,” who the Jews “persecuted,” according to the study guide.

“Why did the Jews persecute Paul? Because of his teachings,” the study guide says. “The cross was an offense to the Jews. Jesus had victory over the cross (death).”

The study guide then says that anyone who turns from Christianity to Judaism “should be condemned to spiritual death and hell.”

“The Judaizers attempted to destroy the two foundations of the Christian religion: a. The Grace of God, and b. The Death of Christ,” the Galtatian study guide says, adding that Judaism is a religion of “bondage” and Christianity a religion of “freedom.”

In discussing modern day Jerusalem, chaplains ask soldiers to provide an answer to the following question: “How does the present Jerusalem represent slavery?”

A person who answered the telephone at the Fort Leavenworth chaplains’ office refused to disclose his name when contacted for comment. The individual, a male, said there have not been prior complaints to the Bible study guides and that “I would not characterize the material as anti-Semitic.”

“I guess if you’re Jewish you may see it that way, but we’re discussing the gospels as it appears in the New Testament,” this person said, who added that there was no plan to remove the study guides from the web site. Messages left at the public affairs office at Fort Leavenworth were not returned. Calls to a Pentagon spokesperson were also not returned.

But for Mikey Weinstein, the founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the religious teachings are not only blatantly anti-Semitic, but he believes disseminating it over the Internet tramples upon the Constitution.

“It’s illegal for an arm of the federal government to push this ideology,” Weinstein, who is Jewish, said in an interview. “This is the official web site of the US Army, and this is here for everyone to see. Anyone would easily come away with the belief that the US Army endorses these teachings. The last time someone talked about a Jewish problem the way these chaplains are talking about it was in Europe in the 1930s. What these Bible teachings say to me or to anyone participating in these classes is that the US government loves the military but Jews are bad.”

Weinstein said he intends to file a lawsuit against the US Army alleging Constitutional violations.

“I’m sick of writing letters,” Weinstein said. “This type of fundamentalism needs to stop. This particular violation propagates every vile and wretched stereotype of the Jewish faith.”

Weinstein, a former White House counsel who defended the Reagan administration during the Iran-Contra probe, has been waging a one-man war against the Department of Defense for what he says is a blatant disregard of the Constitution. He recently published a book on the issue: “With God on Our Side: One Man’s War Against an Evangelical Coup in America’s Military.” Weinstein is also an Air Force veteran and a graduate of the Air Force Academy. Three generations of his family have attended US military academies.

Since he launched his watchdog organization 18 months ago, Weinstein said he has been contacted by more than 4,000 active duty and retired soldiers, many of whom served or serve in Iraq, who told Weinstein that they were pressured by their commanding officers to convert to Christianity.

Weinstein said a right-wing fundamentalist Christian agenda under President Bush has hijacked the military.

“The rise of evangelical Christianity inside the military went on steroids after 9/11 under this administration and this White House,” Weinstein said in an interview. “This administration has turned the entire Department of Defense into a faith-based initiative.”

Over Memorial Day weekend, Weinstein lashed out at the Air Force for co-sponsoring, along with evangelical Christian organizations, a three-day event celebrating the Air Force’s 60th anniversary.

The event, sponsored by Task Force Patriot USA, an evangelical organization, and LifeWay Christian Resources, the publishing house of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), was described by the official publication of the Robins Air Force Base as “an official US Air Force 60th Anniversary event.” The paper stated that the religious groups and the United States Air Force “have joined together to create a three-day celebration….”

Plans for the event prompted a forceful response from watchdog groups. In a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Acting Secretary of the Army Peter Geren, the Reverend Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), called the event “a stunning display of the federal government using vast resources to trumpet a religious celebration.”

Lynn added: “Military personnel and veterans come from many religious traditions and no religion at all. So it is wholly disingenuous for the organizers of this evangelical Christian gathering to promote it as a salute to all our troops. It is anything but.”

Weinstein is quick to point out that the issues his organization is tackling are not about “Christianity versus Judaism.” Rather, they’re about keeping rampant fundamentalism out of the military.

But the Biblical teachings at Fort Leavenworth certainly appear to lean heavily on an anti-Semitic and pro-Christian agenda.

In the 14-page study guide Nehemiah, chaplains discuss a portion of the Sanballat, the first high priest of the temple at Samaria, who, according to the Bible study, had to deal with a “Jewish problem.” He mocked the Jews’ efforts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the hopes that they would give up.

The study guide then poses the following questions for soldiers: “How do you interpret Sanballat’s reaction to the Jews progress? Anxiety and fear? In light of what we know about the Jews performance today, were his fears reasonable?”

Another question in the same study guide asks soldiers to offer suggestions on a title for the portion of the scripture discussing Nehemiah.

“How would you short-title this portion of scripture?” the study guide asks. “Jews take advantage of Jews?”

Speed bump: USAF sets modest goals for new bomber-12/06/2007-Washington DC-Flight International

No Comments

Really and truly, if we look at how bombers used, it makes sense to keep the BUFF (B-52) in service for another 50 years.

Speed bump: USAF sets modest goals for new bomber

By Graham Warwick

The USAF wants a new bomber by 2018, but says available technology will limit it to subsonic and manned. Is it aiming too low?

After studying options ranging from unmanned aircraft to hypersonic weapons, the US Air Force has decided its next-generation bomber will be subsonic and manned. Given the budget and time­scale pressures it is not a surprising decision, but the USAF still faces financial and technical challenges if it is to field a new long-range strike aircraft by 2018.

By setting relatively modest requirements, the USAF appears to want to minimise the risk and cost to maximise the chances its next bomber will be delivered on time, within budget and in sufficient numbers. The service wants to avoid repeating its experience with the Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth bomber, cut from 135 aircraft to 21 as requirements changed.

….

After a 30 Year Absense, the Advancing Blade Helicopter Returns

No Comments

I remember reading about this in my teens.

Eventually they went with the V-22 Osprey.

This is definitely better helicopter technology than the V-22, which is more a VTOL aircraft than a helo.

It remains to be seen where this might fit in.

My guess would be for an A-10 replacement that would be under army control, as it is not fixed wing.

One interesting fact, the ABC concept is well out of patent, so if the demonstrator works, other vendors could reverse engineer this technology.

X2 marks the spot for radical rotor designs-12/06/2007-Flight International

Sikorsky’s X2 helicopter programme has a mixed R&D heritage, and could be the model for the next generation of rotorcraft designs.

Along with broadening the realm of vertical lift, first flight of Sikorsky’s internally funded X2 compound helicopter demonstrator in the fourth quarter this year will also spotlight what may become the best model for introducing new civil and military rotorcraft designs – do it yourself.


Sikorsky is hoping its X2 technologies will increase helicopter cruise speeds by nearly 100kt

The US government continues to invest in the basic and applied research that helps manufacturers create breakthrough aircraft. However, the prime focus for most funding has become results-oriented incremental component or operational efficiency improvements to aid the US military on the battlefield.

Though the X2 concept is the result of much of that government-funded R&D, the demonstrator itself is 100% Sikorsky funded, and features a frugality and simplicity that reflects who is paying the bill. The aircraft is being built from numerous off-the-shelf components scavenged from near and far to keep costs low so much so that Peter Grant, Sikorsky advanced programmes manager, affectionately refers to the two-seater as a “mongrel”. It uses dual rigid counter-rotating coaxial main rotors and a pusher propeller to reach cruise speeds of 250kt (462km/h), well beyond the 170kt maximum speed for conventional helicopters.

The X2 has a mixed heritage of government and industry R&D in rotor systems, propulsion, aerodynamics and controls technologies that will help it meet performance goals of high speed and “low” vibration – about the same vibration level as a traditional helicopter at its top speed of 140kt.

The X2’s chief predecessor, the XH-59A advancing blade concept (ABC) helicopter, was built by Sikorsky and funded by the US Army, NASA, Sikorsky and others. Two vehicles were built and readied in two years, starting in 1971, a time when the US government funded such experimental aircraft.

The goal was to test the premise that rigid counter-rotating main rotors, where the advancing blade on each side produces lift while both retreated blades are feathered, could be used reduce drag and tip velocities to allow for cruise speeds well above the norm for helicopters. During testing from 1973 to 1977, Sikorsky pilots reached 240kt with the help of two fuel-thirsty auxiliary turbojets.

Though it was successful, the flight-test programme proved that the concept was ahead of its time because the technologies needed to solve key issues – high vibration levels, tedious mechanical control mechanisms and inefficient power management – have only recently become available.

“We believe it now makes this configuration feasible for next generation helicopter flight,” says Grant.

The maturation was due in large part to government-funded research on military contracts, among them the Boeing-Sikorsky Comanche advanced light attack helicopter, cancelled by the US military in 2004, and its precursor, the Shadow programme, an S-76 with fly-by-wire (FBW) flight controls. Both provided the knowledge base for the X2’s flight controls.

The means to control vibrations came partly from the military-funded UH-60M Black Hawk upgrade programme. Coaxial rotor design expertise came partly from the Cypher programme, a vertical takeoff and landing unmanned air vehicle demonstrator that Sikorsky developed under a US Marine Corps contract.

Solving specific problem areas through directed research, rather than funding whole demonstrator aircraft, continues to be the R&D focus for the US government. Its research is largely provided by the US Army and NASA for basic and applied research, and the Defence Advanced Research and Projects Agency (DARPA) for long-term, high-risk and potentially lucrative projects.

….

X2 joint heavylift

Many key foundation technologies for Sikorsky’s JHL entrant, a much larger version of the X2, will be tested when the X2 demonstrator takes flight later this year. Included are active vibration control centralised around the transmission, a method designed to “short circuit vibrations at their origin”, says Grant. Sikorsky currently uses distributed active vibration damping systems for its production helicopters.

Once first flight is completed, Grant says his goal will be to get to high speed flight as quickly as possible. The company plans four phases of flight tests, beginning with hover and low-speed work later this year, followed by phases 2 to 4 throughout next year.

…

RAF Reinstalls Cannons all Typhoons

No Comments

They decided that they needed the cannons in Afghanistan. A 500 lb bomb against a guy in a pickup near civilians will cause too much collateral damage.

They discovered this in Sierra Leone, with their Harriers, which had had the cannons pulled, and sometimes the target was just a guy on a bicycle.

It was a false economy in the first place.

Cannons will be operable on all UK RAF Eurofighter Typhoons

The 27mm Mauser cannons on all UK Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons will be operable, and will only require ammunition and loading equipment for them to work, contrary to our report last week (Flight International, 17-23 August). The UK Ministry of Defence says it will spend up to £6 million ($11 million) on support equipment, training and ammunition for those aircraft needed for a deployment where cannons were necessary. The timeframe for enabling pilots to use the cannon is two weeks, or similar to the time required for a force to deploy for UN missions or similar operations, says the MoD.

Originally, only the UK’s first 55 Eurofighters were to have guns fitted (Flight International, 9-15 May 2000). The decision to not enable those guns stemmed from the UK’s current air warfare doctrine, which specifies stand-off weapons. “The decision to retain operational flexibility was made in early 2003 after a detailed assessment of the costs of ballast compared with guns,” says the MoD. Ballast would have been needed to replace the gun mass as the aircraft’s flight-control system took into account the presence of the gun. An assessment into the use of ballast for the UK’s planned remaining 177 Eurofighters, carried out by UK Eurofighter partner company BAE Systems, concluded that guns, and not ballast, was the better option. The MoD estimates the decision will save £10 million a year by avoiding training and maintenance costs and ammunition supply.

…

Tom Shales – Dan Rather Takes On Network News With His Tart Remark – washingtonpost.com

No Comments

Never been a great fan of Rather, but I’ve always respected him as a journalist.

He said the truth, and that’s why people are squealing like the pigs they are.

Tom Shales – Dan Rather Takes On Network News With His Tart Remark
By Tom Shales
Wednesday, June 13, 2007; Page C01

‘It may not have been the wisest thing I’ve done this week,’ Dan Rather joked yesterday by phone from his office in New York.

Wise or not, the former CBS anchor’s comments about the network’s evening newscast have created a firestorm — the kind that is probably good for the TV news business.”

Rather sparked the controversy during a radio appearance Monday morning when he said CBS executives have attempted over the past year to lure viewers to the “CBS Evening News” — which has plummeted in the ratings — by “dumbing it down and tarting it up.” He said they have tried to graft the ” ‘Today’ show ethos” onto the program, which just happens now to be anchored by former “Today” star Katie Couric.

…

And in The Get A Life Department

1 Comment

Sorry, but I want my women in meat space, not cyber space.

Playboy takes a ride to Second Life

Adult magazine unveils virtual rabbit head-shaped island populated with female avatars and merchandise.
June 12 2007: 1:07 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Playboy Enterprises, Inc. slipped into the virtual world known as Second Life Tuesday with the launch of Playboy Island.

The adult entertainment company said it is offering Second Life residents a taste of the Playboy lifestyle on a rabbit head-shaped island, which houses a retail store and will feature events and social opportunities.
Video More video
Fortune’s David Kirkpatrick talks about what he sees as the future implications for Second Life and the 3-D Internet.
Play video

The virtual Playboy store includes merchandise from PlayboyStore.com and ShoptheBunny.com, and is staffed by female avatar employees wearing Playboy-branded apparel or Playboy Bunny costumes. Playboy-branded apparel can be purchased in the virtual store for real-world wear or Second Life avatars.”

US Air Force seeks replacement for high-explosive cannon rounds-12/06/2007-Washington DC-Flightglobal.com

No Comments

Anyone out there know how frequent in-bore explosions for the PGU-28 A/B there are?

This round replaces the venerable M56 round, and is supposed to offer better ballistics, and a fuse that will detonate at lower velocities (hence higher ranges) than its predecessor.

It sounds like the fuse is just a bit too sensitive.

The PGU-27 (bottom) and M56.

US Air Force seeks replacement for high-explosive cannon rounds

By Stephen Trimble

High-explosive incendiary (HEI) rounds fired by most US Air Force fighters may soon be replaced in the inventory by inert 20mm bullets.

The General Dynamics PGU-28 A/B 20mm semi-armour piercing HEI round entered service during the last decade with the M61 cannon installed on the Boeing F-15, Lockheed Martin F-16 and Lockheed F-22. As of 2001, the USAF and US Navy had stockpiled 8 million PGU-28 rounds, each of which features a pyrotechnic fuze and a pyrophoric explosive.

But the USAF is now seeking a replacement round, launching a market survey on 1 June to identify potential sources for a “non-fuzed, non-explosive round with PGU-28/B [aerodynamic] performance”, an acquisition notice says. The market survey is being conducted by the Joint Munitions and Lethality acquisition centre at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey.

The current stockpile of PGU-28/B rounds “limits mission effectiveness,” the notice adds. Concerns about the safety of the HEI round have surfaced involving in-bore explosions. An upgraded version of the PGU-28/B has satisfied the navy’s Boeing F/A-18 community, but not the air force.

Unlike the F-18, the air force’s fighters have cannons mounted directly beside the cockpit, making in-bore explosions an injury risk for the pilot.

Anticipating the requirement long in advance, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has licensed manufacturing rights in the USA for a round designed by Germany’s Rheinmetall.

The Penetrator with Enhanced Lateral Effect (PELE) round would provide a tungsten casing that would be shattered on impact by a plastic slug. The effect is a blast of shrapnel spreading outward, or laterally, from the impact area.

The 20mm PELE round for the M61 cannon was designed with the air-to-air role of the fighter as the main focus. However, its utility in strafing runs against ground targets – an increasingly important mission for the USAF – has never been tested, says Rodney Ward, a business development director for ATK Ammunition Systems.

In 2004, ATK received a USAF contract to test the air-to-air effectiveness of the PELE round, Ward says. An operational test and evaluation phase is ongoing and should be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

The market survey is an indication that the air force will seek alternatives to the PELE round to replace the PGU-28/B. Ward says the programme reflects a major change in combat capability for the air force, rather than just a straightforward replacement for a round already in the inventory.

“This is a whole new capability,” he says. “They [will] have a round that is effectively inert that has a lot of blast effect.”

Here is the scoop on on PELE.

Penetrator with Enhanced Lateral Effect (PELE)

…

PELE technology makes it possible to produce fully inert projectiles. The new technology modifies the projectile performance characteristics,significantly enhancing the accuracy of tank and artillery fire, while substantially reducing the risk of collateral damage. Non-explosive PELE ammunition consists of a high-density casing containing a core made of low-density, low-compressibility material. Upon impact with the target, the low-density material inside the shell is compressed to such an extent that the casing bursts, generating numerous fragments that are propelled in the direction of fire. This way, the round’s lethal impact is restricted to a defined space or limited area, reducing the likelihood of collateral damage. PELE and ALP make it possible to manufacture warheads containing little or no explosive. Moreover, existing ammunition can be inexpensively retrofitted with PELE and ALP technology. Both technologies can be integrated in full- and sub-caliber rounds, and fired from current and future weapon systems.

US Air Force to expand Boeing F-15C active radar upgrade with Raytheon-05/06/2007-Washington DC-Flight International

No Comments

My guess would be that the US is expecting to see more cruise missile threats, and this upgrade is about dealing with this.

Then again, it may be that the F-22 is too damn expensive to buy enough to use in a meaningful defense of the US, and the JSF is behind schedule.

US Air Force to expand Boeing F-15C active radar upgrade with Raytheon

By Stephen Trimble

Raytheon is reviving a programme to upgrade the US Air Force’s Boeing F-15C fighters with active electronically scanned array radars, expanding on an initial phase performed on a single squadron of 18 Alaska-based aircraft in the late 1990s.

The emergency supplemental funding bill for fiscal year 2007, signed by President George Bush in late May, contains about $62 million to upgrade a small number of active duty F-15Cs with an enhancement of the ‘brick’ array APG-63(V)2 radar previously integrated to now use a tile design, says Mike Henchey, Raytheon business development director. Raytheon has previously designated this as the APG-63(V)3, but it is likely to enter service under a new designation in the APG-series, he says. The (V)3 variant refers to the active array of transmitter/receiver modules, with this front-end to be mated with the APG-63(V)1 radar processor already installed on most of the USAF’s active duty F-15Cs.”

…

Pictures: First Australian Airbus A330 MRTT air-to-air refuelling tanker rolled out-12/06/2007-London-Flightglobal.com

No Comments

This is significant in terms of the Boeing EADS competition for tankers, because both now both companies have their tankers flying, and either in deployment (Boeing), or months from deployment (EADS) with a foreign military.

Pictures: First Australian Airbus A330 MRTT air-to-air refuelling tanker rolled out

By Barbara Cockburn

The first of five Airbus A330 multi role tanker transports (MRTT) ordered by the Royal Australian Air Force has been rolled out of the hangar at the conversion centre of EADS Casa in Getafe near Madrid.”

…