Upcoming Schedule

I think I'll start posting the upcoming schedule at the beginning of the month. That'll give you guys an idea of what's coming. I've started formulating a list of topics for the next few months, this way I can work on them bit by bit and have everything done on time, keeping to my new schedule.

Here's what's coming in May and June (May is set, June is tentative and will be re-posted at the beginning of June concurrently with the first Image of the Week):

May 2010
Week 1: SAM Site Overview (done already)
Week 2: Libyan SAM Network
Week 3: China's OTH Radar Network
Week 4: update to Ukraine's SAM Network

June 2010
Week 1: SAM Site Overview
Week 2: Kazakhstan's SAM Network
Week 3: the Ulan Ude SAM Garrison
Week 4: update to the PLA's 2nd Artillery

Here's some of the analysis pieces that I'll be working on over the summer:
Iran's Ballistic Missile Facilities
Underground Airfields (this'll be a multi-part feature over the course of a few months)
Falcon View

And, here's a list of nations that will see SAM Network pieces done at some point:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
India
Japan
North Korea
South Korea
Vietnam

Feel free to comment and let me know what other nations you'd like to see SAM Network pieces published on, what older articles you'd like to see updated, or if you have any fun ideas for an analysis piece.

Computer Foul-up (Again)

I've had to order a new keyboard for my laptop. Some of the keys have quit working; this isn't a suprise, as there was an incident a while ago involving my dork of a cat, my laptop, and a glass of Spezi. Most of it works fine, but the numbers 5 and 6 and the - symbol don't, as well as a few others. This makes it relatively impossible to type SA-5! Plus, some of the keys, the d and f most obviously, tend to stick and insert random letters. Fortunately, I already compiled the SAM Site Overview update for this week (to be posted tomorrow after I save and upload the new files), and the new hardware should be here before the week is over. But, as I will keep posting until the new keyboard arrives (the Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard thing is an irritating yet sufficient temporary fix), I'd ask all of you to let me know if you find any obvious typos or other weirdness that slips through the cracks. Keyboard stupidity will not deter me from my new schedule!

New Release Schedule, Other Notes

Schedule Madness

Been a bit busy around here with the end of the semester. Exams and papers to grade, all that fun stuff. Every time I think I've gotten it sorted out, my schedule seems to perform an auto-destruct! I've got a pile of things in progress for this site that have not seemed to be effectively nearing completion with anything resembling timeliness. So, as I sat here yesterday pondering how I managed to make a total mess of things, I realized that there was a simple answer: I need a schedule!

Scheduling Applied...in theory

Here's how this will work until I think of something better, or until I totally screw this up backwards and have to rethink yet again. During a normal month, things will fall like this:

-Every week will still see an Image of the Week, that will not go away. Beginning with this weekend, Images of the Week will be posted on Sunday. This keeps them away from any potential foul-ups that affect my life during the week, yay.

-The first week of the month will see the SAM Site Overview file updated.

-The second week of the month will see a new SAM Network Overview piece published (the new part is important, keep reading). There are still a lot of amusing nations to cover, like Libya, India, Vietnam, and many of the Asian former Soviet republics.

-The third week of the month will see some sort of analysis piece published. This can be something like I did with the Chinese Laser ASAT sites, or the piece on RCS ranges. These articles might also be covering topics thoroughly unrelated to imagery analysis, such as an assessment of the JSF program, or my take on the USAF's search for the next long-range bomber.

-The fourth week of the month will be left for updates to older articles, like when I updated the Iranian and Syrian SAM Network articles recently. This also gives me a cushion to work on some of the aforementioned bits for the upcoming month if I know I'll be busy.

-Anything else might appear totally at random. These can include things like the Reading Lists, or other amusing things that I feel the need to write on. The piece I did on the updated imagery coverage of KYMTR would fit into this category.

-The first day of the month or thereabouts (probably a Monday, but no later than the date which the SAM Site Overview is posted), I'll post a message listing my planned topics for the month. This will give you all a chance to chime in and let me know if there's something you want to see. I may cover your idea instead of mine, or I might use your ideas for a future month. Either way I do keep track of people's suggestions and I do try and get around to them eventually. By doing things in an organized fashion like this, I should be able to reduce the length of time corresponging to "eventually". In theory. As a result of this, I have also obliterated the "Forthcoming Articles" menu.

And now, on to some other notes.

Comments

Comments are still welcome and encouraged. Yes, they are still moderated, but that serves a purpose. About the time I hit 350,000 hits, I started getting blasted with comments which were advertisements for certain male-oriented pharmaceutical products. Moderating comments allows me to purge those before they ever get posted. I am not here to act as your personal censor. If you post a comment that relates to the site, I will approve it. I don't care if you agree with me, disagree with me, or whatever. Have your say, and I'll see it gets posted. Now, there are still some caveats to that which I'll bring up again:

-Comments may not appear immediately. For one, I have to log in and approve them. Duh. Also, some of them may be held for a day or two until I have a chance to formulate a reply if I think one is warranted, or if someone was asking a direct question. Keeping them in the que helps me to keep track of them. But they will appear, be patient.

-If you comment in some non-English language, it may or may not get posted. There are two reasons for this. One, if I cannot verify that it is relevant to the site (I can read some of them, and others I do translate), it won't get through. Two, if you post in something like Chinese, all I see are a bunch of squares where the characters should appear. So those get tossed as well, as I have no idea what you're trying to say.

All in all, I think the comments have worked well recently. Remember, just because they are moderated does not in any way shape or form mean I am trying to censor them. Yes, this is my site, but I want you to feel free to disagree and express your opinions as well.

The Forum

The forum still works. There hare been reports of it setting off people's anti-virus software recently. I have no clue what that is about. I've looked, and there is no reason why that should be happening. I've got no indications of anything nefarious on my end, nor have I ever gotten such a notification from my software. The issue probably has to do with the ads placed on the forum (which is what makes the forum free). My guess is that some anti-virus software just doesn't like some of the ads. If anybody has any other insight regarding this issue, definitely let me know. But as of right now, the forum is perfectly safe to the best of my knowledge. It certainly hasn't tried to assault my computer.

Another Webinar

I post these because they're free (and therefore awesome, like the forum), and because I was asked to as they might interest a lot of the readers here. Another one is coming up, and here are the details:

This month, Henley-Putnam University continues its exclusive, free webinar series with “Insider’s Guide to Intelligence & Interrogation,” led by former CIA polygraph examiner and deception detection expert Barry McManus. During the webinar, Mr. McManus will cover topics essential to anyone interested in a career in intelligence or deception detection.

“Insider’s Guide to Intelligence & Interrogation” will take place Friday, April 30, from 2:00 - 3:00 PM EDT. Those interested should register here.

If anybody has something else like this that they'd like me to post, send me an e-mail.

Helping you out

I've gotten quite a few requests from people for help in various projects, or for permission to use my material in presentations or journals. I'm always open to such things, just fire me an e-mail with the details. Usually all I care about are two things: credit if necessary, and a copy of whatever you stick my work into, if an actual non-electronic copy exists. Basically, I work for free, because I find it amusing.

That's about it for now. There will be some other tidbits filtering out over the next week, and the new schedule will apply starting in May. As always, send me any feedback you might have via email or a comment here.

Free Counterintelligence Webinar

Former USAF OSI Special Agent Colonel (Ret.) Michael Angley will be conducting a free webinar, Insider’s Guide to the Counterintelligence Community, on March 31 from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PST. Col. Angley, conducting the webinar on behalf of Henley-Putnam University, has over 25 years of experience conducting counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations around the world. Colonel Angley will provide a broad overview of the field of counterintelligence (CI), an often misunderstood and mysterious subset of both the intelligence and law enforcement communities. He will discuss the formal definition of CI as it appears in current Executive Orders, as well as break it down into more simplistic and practical terms. He will also discuss the differences between defensive and offensive approaches to CI, the major agencies that have a CI mission, and the limitations the U.S. government places on the conduct of CI activities.

Anyone interested in attending can register online here.

Menu Fail

Google has changed Google Earth's Layers menu. They've basically consolidated a lot of things into one "button", Places of Interest. Activating this will open what used to be city and town names, shops, restaurants, parks, schools, banks, train stations, airports, etc. In an effort to consolidate and make things more streamlined, they've basically made it far less useful and a lot more confusing.

First off, you'll notice that there are a good deal fewer placemarks now. For example, a lot of schools seem to have disappeared. These placemarks are all altitude restricted as well, meaning that certain things disappear once you zoom out far enough. This makes it a lot more complicated to do things like find schools or restaurants near your home, unless you're only concerned with what is practically right across the street. The only positive to this change is that certain places, like airports or restaurants, have kept their unique placemarks.

Secondly, the place names don't appear unless you click on the icon to display the ddescriptive balloon. This doesn't really matter for shops and the like, but is very irritating when it comes to displaying the names of population centers using this new feature. If you want to see the old-style city names and markers, you now have to activate the Labels "button" in the Borders and Labels folder. OK, doing this will activate ALL of the labels, including those for islands, water bodies, and the like, which isn't all that bad for the most part. The problem is that it also activates all of the alternate or foreign place names as well, giving you two names for a lot of locations. This can make images very cluttered. It also isn't consistant. Mountains, for example, are included in Places of Interest, while islands are in Labels. Shouldn't all the geographic features be in the same place?

Personally, I find the second problem far more irritating than the first. I wouldn't mind if they went with either the Western or native names for the cities and whatnot, but having to have both of them displayed if you want or need them on-screen makes life a little more difficult. The only solution at this point is to develop my own series of placemarks for these locations when I need them, adding more time and effort to any project. If the point of doing this is to make things more streamlined and simpler to use, Google has, in my opinion, failed. Something that is intended to be simpler should not require the expenditure of more time and effort to get it to do what you need.

There's also the issue that a lot of their placemarks draw data directly from Wikipedia, but we won't touch that one today.

Yeah, I know I'm what would probably be considered a "niche" user of Google Earth, exploiting it for very specific and specialized purposes, but the first point I discussed above makes life more complicated for everyone. Hopefully, this will turn out to be part of a rolling update to remake the entire Layers menu. But if not, Google just made life more difficult for a lot of users, and if you ask me, it was a completely unnecessary change. Unless, of course, they just had to clear out the disk space to throw up more new imagery, but the probability of that being the reason is ridiculously remote given the fact that Google could buy new servers with the same frequency that I buy obnoxious death metal CDs.

What are your thoughts? Post them in the comments!

SAM Site Overview Alteration

I've been exploiting Terra Server, Bing Maps, and a few other amusing online imagery sources to examine some areas of Google Earth that are either 1) not covered in high resolution, or 2) have not been updated with newer imagery for quite some time. I've discovered a number of things that will be included in the SAM Site Overview, beginning with the next update. This might be a little confusing at first glance. For example, I've found imagery from 2009 showing that the 64N6E site in China near Dalian is now active. I will be changing the placemarks in the file to reflect this, as Google Earth's imagery of that region is still a bit dated. So, you'll see an empty 64N6E location, but have a placemark telling you that it is active. No, I haven't lost my mind, I'm just beginning to incorporate other sources into the database on a larger scale. Anything potentially weird like that example will always be explained in the Notes section of the placemark. Just thought I'd give everyone a heads-up before I start doing something potentially confusing.

IMINT & Analysis Photo Archive

Digital Photography

I've been an amateur photographer for a few years now, and have built up a pretty large battery of images. I'm going to be using more of them in some upcoming projects for this site, but I figured I'd post a list of the military-themed objects I've photographed and make them available to readers here who are researching some of these items. What you'll find below is a list containing the location I took the photos and the year I was there, followed by the items photographed at that location. Most of these are static images, but some of them, particularly those taken at military open houses, are of aircraft in the air. I was as detailed as I could be from memory looking at the images, so if you see something like "F-4" instead of "F-4G", ask me and I can tell you what the specific model or variant is that I have images of from a given location. The majority of the subjects were shot from numerous angles, and most of them have a number of close-up detail shots as well (equipment bays, antennae, hardpoints, intakes, etc). Anything 2007 and later was taken with a Canon EOS30D DSLR, those images are of a bit better quality on average, particularly of aircraft in the sky. Also, some of them do feature dust spots, as it did take me a while to learn how to clean the sensor on the camera!

Obtaining Images

To obtain digital copies of any of these images for research or personal use, send me an e-mail with a listing of what it is you'd like and what you are requesting the images for, and I'll do my best to accomodate you as soon as possible.

If you wish to obtain images for publication in any fashion (web, periodical, book, etc), I don't charge a fee but I do request the following:
-Credit as the photographer; and
-A copy of the periodical or other hardcopy publication you use them in, or
-A link to this specific page of the website if the images are to be used online

Hampton Roads Air Power Park - 2005
AIM-4D
F-86D
F-89
F-101B
F-105
NIKE-AJAX
NIKE-ZEUS
RF-4E
XV-6A Kestrel

Langley AFB Open House - 2007
A-10
B-1B
B-2A
C-130
F-15C
F/A-18F
F-22A
F-35A mockup
F-86
F-117A
US Air Force Heritage Flight: A-10, F-15C, F-22A, F-86
US Air Force Thunderbirds
US Navy Heritage Flight: F/A-18F, F4F

Langley AFB Open House - 2008
A-10
B-1B
B-17
C-17
C-130
E-2C
F-4E
F-15C
F-15E
F-16
F/A-18F
F-22A
F-35 mockup
KC-10A
P-51
Spitfire
T-45A
Royal Air Force Red Arrows
US Air Force Heritage Flight: F-4E, F-15E, F-22A

Langley AFB Open House - 2009
A-4
B-52
C-17
C-130
F-4E
F-15C
F-16
F-21A Kfir
F-22A
F/A-18C
KC-135R
P-51
Sea Harrier FRS.2
T-33
US Air Force Heritage Flight: F-4E, F-15C, F-22A, P-51
US Air Force Thunderbirds
US Navy Heritage Flight: F/A-18C, F4F

McConnell AFB - 2003
C-130
KC-135R
Saab Gripen

McConnell AFB Open House - 2003
A-10
B-1B
B-17
B-25
B-52D
C-17
CF-188
CP-140
E-6A
F-16
F/A-18C
F-117A
M-109 Paladin
MiG-15UTI
MLRS
Tornado IDS Luftwaffe
T-38A

McConnell AFB Open House - 2004
A6M Zero
AT-6
B-1B
B-2
B-17
B-25
Canadian Air Force Snowbirds
DC-3
F-15
F-16
KC-135R
Learjet 23
P-51
Pearl Harbor Display Flight: A6M, P-51
US Air Force Heritage Flight: F-16, P-51

McConnell AFB Open House - 2006
US Air Force Thunderbirds

McGuire AFB BOMARC Site - 2007
Various shots from outside the now-contaminated site's fenceline

McGuire AFB Open House - 2007
A-10
F-4E
US Army Golden Knights
US Air Force Heritage Flight: A-10, F-4E, P-51
US Air Force Thunderbirds

National Air And Space Museum Udvar Hazy Annex - 2006
707
AGM-76A
AGM-86A
AGM-86B
AIM-120
ASM-135 ASAT
B-29 Enola Gay
Concorde
Corona capsule
Do-335A
F-4
Ho-111h
Homing Overlay Experiment
MiG-21
Reinochter R-1
RIM-8J Talos
Ruhrstahl
SA-2
Silkworm
Space Shuttle Enterprise
SR-71A
X-35B
XAAM-N-3 Sparrow II
XV-15

USAF Museum - scans of old photos taken before I went digital
AIM-4A
AIM-4C
AIM-4D
AIM-4F
AIM-4G
AIM-7
AIM-9
AIM-26B
AIM-120
AIR-2
B-1A
CIM-10
MiG-23MLD

USAF Museum - 2003
A-10
A-37
AC-130
ADM-20
AGM-28
AGM-86B
AGM-129
AGM-131
AIM-4A
AIM-4D
AIM-4F
AIM-4G
AIM-9M
AIM-26B
AIR-2
AN/TPS-1B
Apollo capsule
B-1B
B-2 Iron Bird
B-29 Bock's Car
B-58
Bird Of Prey
BLU-82
C-45H
C-54C
C-118
C-121
CIM-10
D-21B
EF-111A
F-4G
F-15
F-16 AFTI
F-16 Thunderbird
F-100D Thunderbird
F-101B
F-102A
F-105
F-106
F-107A
F-111A
F-111F
F-117A
Fritz-X
GBU-15
Gemini capsule
J-3C-65-8
LANTIRN
MiG-21
MiG-23MLD
Mercury capsule
Model 24 C8F
NT-33A
PA-48
P-51D
P-59B
P-80R
R-13 Atoll
RF-4C
RQ-1
RQ-3
RQ-4
SA-2
SR-71A
T-39A
TACIT BLUE
TACT RAINBOW
Tornado GR.1 RAF
U-4B
UH-13J
V-1
V-2
VC-6A
VC-137A
VC-140B
X-1B
X-3
X-4 Ruhrstahl
X-4
X-5
X-10
X-15
X-24A
X-24B
X-25A
X-29
X-36
X-45
XB-70 Valkyrie
XC-142A
XF-84H
XF-85
XF-91
XF-92
XGAM-63
XH-20
XV-6A
YF-12A
YF-22A
YFH-84H
ZPU-2
ZPU-4

USAF Museum - 2004
AIM-4A
AIM-4D
AIM-4F
AIM-4G
AIM-120
B-2 Iron Bird
B-47
B-57
B-58
BGM-109
D-21B
EF-111A
F-16 Thunderbird
F-101B
F-117A
GBU-24
Mark 41
MiG-23MLD
RF-4C
SR-71A
TACIT BLUE
TACIT RAINBOW
Tornado GR.1 RAF
X-45

USAF Museum - 2005
A-7
ADM-20
AGM-28
AGM-129
B-26K
B-66
CF-100
CGM-13
D-21B
EC-121
EC-135E
Fat Man device
F-4G
F-84
F-100
F-111F
EF-111A
F-117A
MiG-17
MiG-19
Minuteman RV test shape
NKC-135
Peacekeeper railcar
RF-4C
SA-2
SICBM TEL
SR-71A
U-2

USAF Museum - 2007
AGM-129
AGM-131
B-2 Iron Bird
Bird Of Prey
CBU-58
D-21B
DH.89 Dominie
F-16 AFTI
F-102A
F-107A
GBU-12
LoFLYTE
MiG-19
SR-71A Blackbird
TACIT BLUE
X-10
X-13
X-29
XB-70 Valkyrie
XF-91 Thunderceptor
XH-20
XV-6A Kestrel
YF-12A Blackbird
YF-22A
YQM-94A

USAF Museum - 2009
AC-130A
AGM-129
AGM-131
Avrocar
Bird Of Prey
C-119J
C-141C
D-21
EC-135E
F-4G
F-22A
F-106A
F-107A
F-117A
Ju-52
MiG-29
NC-131H
NKC-135A
Peacekeepeer railcar
SA-2
SICBM TEL
SR-71A
TACIT BLUE
TACIT RAINBOW
Tornado GR.1 RAF
X-40A
X-45
XB-70A
XV-3
YC-125B
YF-12A
YF-23A

USS Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum - 2005
A-4
A-6F
A-12 Blackbird
AGM-84
AV-8A
BGM-109
Concorde
Dassault Etendard IVP
F7U
F-4
F-8
F-14B
Gemini capsule
IAI Kfir F-21A
Mb-339
Mercury capsule
RGM-6
Standard SM-1
T-72

Virginia Aviation Museum - 2005
SR-71A