DARPA brings Web 2.0 prowess to the battlefield
An interesting interview about TIGR, a recently deployed DARPA project in Afghanistan and Iraq. With a timeliness which is impressive for its contemporary awareness, TIGR integrates many layers of data (satellite photos, census data, road conditions) with metadata generated by military patrols (attack reports, experience with certain houses, etc). In this way, knowledge that is lost when units cycle out of a certain districts is able to be transferred to their replacements. The interview gives a sense of the development process, infrastructure and the uses of the system. I wonder if this sort of thing will be deployed in domestic law enforcement. In any event, it is interesting to observe how the widespread fervor and innovation of Web 2.0 technologies in the civilian realm prefigure military applications — almost a reverse dual use to the things. [link]
The ephemeral sights of shortwave radio
Shortwave radio must have been an extraordinary technology to really have been in the capture of. You order plans, build a ham radio, and suddenly, as if you have been imbued with some occult power, you become aware of these stratosphere-bouncing conversations that encircle the globe. This when there was much more of a global expanse to imagine — distant, exotic lands and all of the like.
These QSL cards a really quite beautiful — they seek to give visual form through one, light-stock, piece of card board: a terrestrial marker of an ethereal enterprise. To wit,
QSL cards (or letters) are exchanged to acknowledge ham radio contact between stations. Broadcast stations (mediumwave and shortwave) also offer colorful QSL cards to listeners who send in reports of reception. These souvenirs of the radio listening hobby (or “DX’ing,” as it’s sometimes called) are slowly vanishing as the radio hobbies shrink. Nowadays hams often “QSL” contacts via the internet, bypassing the cost and postage of physical QSL cards. Many international shortwave broadcasters have either drastically cut back services or closed down altogether as their target audience migrates to the internet and satellite radio. Thus, most of these QSL cards are echoes of stations long gone, and a knob-twiddling pasttime whose glory days have passed. [link]
A sampling of the post-war visual culture of tech
An assortment of science and technology ads from the 1950s and 60s has been collected on this flickr page. Many of the modernist illustrations used by the ad agencies are quite fantastic. I suppose that thoughts of intercontinental ballistic missiles, vacuum tubes, thin ties and cigarettes lend themselves to this sort of thing:
Know your government: Instances of Use of US Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2008
The Congressional Research Service generously compiled and published the following itemized report on the history of the US’s deployment of its armed forces abroad [link]:
The following list reviews hundreds of instances in which the United States has utilized military forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict to protect U.S. citizens or promote U.S. interests. The list does not include covert actions or numerous instances in which U.S. forces have been stationed abroad since World War II in occupation forces or for participation in mutual security organizations, base agreements, or routine military assistance or training operations.
Selections:
1810 West Florida (Spanish territory).
Gov. Claiborne of Louisiana, on orders of the President, occupied with troops territory in dispute east of the Mississippi River as far as the Pearl River, later the eastern boundary of Louisiana. He was authorized to seize as far east as the Perdido River.
1894-95
China. A naval vessel was beached and used as a fort at Newchwang for protection of American nationals.
1899 Samoa. February-May 15.
American and British naval forces were landed to protect national interests and to take part in a bloody contention over the succession to the throne.
1903 Syria.
September 7 to 12. U.S. forces protected the American consulate in Beirut when a local Moslem uprising was feared.
1911 China.
As the nationalist revolution approached, in October an ensign and 10 men tried to enter Wuchang to rescue missionaries but retired on being warned away, and a small landing force guarded American private property and consulate at Hankow. Marines were deployed in November to guard the cable stations at Shanghai; landing forces were sent for protection in Nanking, Chinkiang, Taku and elsewhere.
1921 Panama – Costa Rica.
American naval squadrons demonstrated in April on both sides of the Isthmus to prevent war between the two countries over a boundary dispute.
1964 Congo.
The United States sent four transport planes to provide airlift for Congolese troops during a rebellion and to transport Belgian paratroopers to rescue foreigners.
1983-89 Honduras.
In July 1983 the United States undertook a series of exercises in Honduras that some believed might lead to conflict with Nicaragua. On March 25, 1986, unarmed U.S. military helicopters and crewmen ferried Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border to repel Nicaraguan troops.
1983 Chad.
On August 8, 1983, President Reagan reported the deployment of two AWACS electronic surveillance planes and eight F-15 fighter planes and ground logistical support forces to assist Chad against Libyan and rebel forces.
2002 Yugoslavia/Kosovo.
On May 17, 2002, President George W. Bush reported to Congress, “consistent with the War Powers Resolution,” that the U.S. military was continuing to support peacekeeping efforts of the NATO-led international security force in Kosovo (KFOR). He noted that the current U.S. contribution was about 5,100 military personnel, and an additional 468 personnel in Macedonia; with an occasional presence in Albania and Greece.
2008 Terrorism threat/Kosovo/Afghanistan.
On December 16. 2008, the President sent to Congress “consistent with the War Powers Resolution,” a consolidated report giving details of ongoing United States military deployments and operations “in support of the war on terror,”and in support of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR). The President reported that various U.S. “combat-equipped and combat-support forces” were deployed to “a number of locations in the Centrol, Pacific, European, Southern, and Africa Command areas of operation” and were engaged in combat operations against al-Qaida and their supporters. The United States is “actively pursuing and engaging remnant al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.” U.S. forces in Afghanistan total approximately 31, 000. Of this total, “approximately 13, 000 are assigned to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.” The U.S. military continues to support peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, specifically the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR). The current U.S. contribution to KFOR in Kosovo is about 1,500 military personnel.