… noch ein paar screenshots

Enjoy!

Before I get started on this one, I am going to warn you. Vulgar language may, or will, be present from this point on. Please read my page first (to the right) if you have not already. This part will make much more sense after. I promise!

I arrived in Fort Sill, OK. I had one duffle bag filled with toiletries, and two sets of clothing. It was a small base. A lot different from what I had expected. The first thing I remember was how cold it was. Spine-chilling. We had arrived at the in-processing base. Here is where you receive your uniforms, dog tags, and all your field gear (canteens, battle combat gear, etc.). Also, it is where you give them all of your personal information. I mean everything. It was where I created my first will. Not something you really want to think of on a first day.

The days were long. Nothing but classes, and formations, and more classes. Then it was breakfast! Ahh yes, the chow hall. Long lines where you are heal to toe, or what is more commonly called, “butt to nut”, with the person in front and back of you. Haha. Nothing but mind games everywhere you went. They purposely put TV’s in the chow halls to watch. Don’t watch television! You will be hungry the rest of the day. I do remember the food. Mmm…. definitely good. And surprisingly filling. It made me a little suspicious. Basic was not too bad! Haha. There are three things from in-processing I remember the most. My drill sergeant, my “Wish List”, and “The Tracks”. Although I can’t remember his name, I sure remember his face. Like it was burnt in to my brain! This guy was absolutely insane. He was Airbone Infantry. Airborne Assault. Also complete with a Pathfinder patch. Google this if you are lost. This guy scared me. Then there was my “Wish List”. And that is exactly what it is. Five bases that you WISH to be your first Duty Station. I really don’t see the point of this… it’s a teaser list. For my five (in no particular order), I picked Germany, Korea, Italy, Fort Lewis (close to home)… and I can’t remember the last. I think Germany and Fort Lewis were my top two. And that was that. Now the third thing that scared me more than anything, was “The Tracks”. I kept overhearing people talking about the tracks. What the hell are the tracks!? And when do we see it?

I soon came to find out I never wanted to cross the tracks. Also, I found out… I had not even arrived at basic training yet!! Once you cross the tracks, you are leaving the last bit of freedom you had. You are now hellbound for 9-weeks of basic training. After two weeks of in-processing, we were loading up to cross the tracks. Not on a bus. But rather, on a cattle trailer. A very small cattle trailer. We were not worthy enough to ride on anything better.

40-50 guys. Each carrying two duffle bags weighing about 40Ibs each, while also trying to hold on to 20 more pounds of gear that is unable to fit into your duffle bags…. all crammed into a small cattle trailer. “Butt to nut” is correct. Stand and wait nervously until we stop.

“GET OFF!! GET OFF YOU LITTLE SHITS!”

“Line… the fuck… UP!”

“Don’t drop your fucking gear!! Do not even think about it!”

“Your mommy isn’t here to protect you now, magot!”

Wow… boy was he right. We poured out of that trailer in bunches! Running as fast as your ass could move with 100+ pounds of gear. I tried to keep it off the ground as best as I could but everything you had was just so damn awkward in shape that it would throw your ass around.

“Move it! Move it! Line up on the drill floor! TOE THE LINE! Toe the God damn line you piece of shit! That’s it! Everyone! Get down! Get the fuck down! Get in the front leaning re- … do not let your gear touch the ground!! Get your fucking gear off my God damn clean floor!!”

Holy shit, are you kidding me?? What have I got myself in to? WHERE the hell am I!?! We had to get down in a push-up position, and somehow throw all our gear on our backs so they would stay off the ground. And hold that position until everyone had their gear off the ground. After 10-15 minutes, I think we finally got it. Or maybe the drill sergeants gave up on us.

“Get up! Get the fuck up! You have one minute. One fucking minute… to get your lazy asses up stairs, find a bunk, drop your shit, and get back down here in formation! GO!!”

We were gone! I found a bed, dropped my things, and headed back downstairs. It was a madhouse, but I made it back down in time. But… I fucked up. As soon as I got in formation I realized it. I fucked up. I approached my head drill sergeant: Drill Sergeant Johnson.

“Drill sergeant, I left my pa-…”

“Where in the FUCK is your patrol cap!?!? You got 10 fuc-… 10 God damn mother-… just go! Get the fuck out of here!! This is the first God damn day!”

And that was that. I almost shit in my sweat drenched uniform. That was the first and last time I ever made a mistake. Drill Sergeant Johnson was one mean looking soldier. He stood about 5′10″, Black, piercing white eyes that screamed “Killer!”. I have never seen someone’s arms so cut before. I was this guys bitch for the next two months. And I was not looking forward to it.

From that day on I made sure I didn’t do anything wrong. I tried to fly under the radar the rest of my stay there. They was 60 men to a platoon. Each platoon had their own sleeping bay. These bays were immaculate. And it was our soul purpose to keep it that way. I saw people dropping out left and right. People that could not take the pressure. These were the guys who wanted to commit suicide. They had their own formation. No belts. No shoe laces. No dog tags. And they wore bright orange vests. They had nothing they could use to strangler themselves. They thought they were going home, but they ended up staying longer then we did. That was their punishment.

The first two weeks was ungodly. Everyone was sick with the flu. I was fine. But during our marches to the chow hall… the sight, and smell was torture. Every two feet in any direction was throw up. Even on the walls. It made me want to throw up. Confining all these men to one bay, it was simple for everyone to get sick. I’m not sure how I survived it. I have never seen so much puke before in my life. The one good thing that was coming soon… was the gas chamber.

I do not wish the gas chamber on anyone. Chlorobenzylidene Malonitrile, known as CS gas, has ridiculous effects to the human body. CS gas is an irritant. Specifically, it irritates mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs, causing tearing, sneezing, coughing, etc. It prevents you from taking deep breaths, or even breathing at all because instantly your chest starts to tighten. Once we were told to “break the seal” of our gas mask, we had to yell out our name, rank, and social security number. It burns your skin! And makes you want to scratch. Scratching your eyes is the worst thing you could ever do. If you do, you would wish you never had eyes. If you are sick entering the gas chamber, you will feel 100% refreshed upon leaving the gas chamber. Of course, once all the CS disipates off your body, the mucus stops pouring out of your nose and mouth, and your eyes quit watering.

On Sundays we had our free time. Even though that was the day we had to shine up the bay. Once completed, that was your time to write letters, buy toiletries from the PX (Army/navy store), or just relax. I always wrote letters back home. And to who… a girl. Which who I have failed to mention this whole time.

———————————————————————

Of course there is that “special girl” in this blog! Every soldier has someone special. It’s funny how we met too. Or, how we know each other. This goes off the topic, but it needs to be said, and is vital information.

Her name is Camille. We actually started talking to each other when I was a freshman in high school. We met on AOL Instant Messenger, back when it was more popular, haha. Yes, I met someone on the internet. I can’t remember who contacted who. It was too long ago. She was from Maryland. I was from Oregon. We talked every now and then – just small talk. But throughout high school we started talking more, and more. When she sent me her picture I thought she was extremely cute. I was a young and horny freshman though, haha. She was a Caucasian girl. Long brown hair, brown eyes. Gorgeous smile. At first it was friend talk. She would always ask me advice about her and her man friends. And I would do the same with me and my lady friends. The beginning of my senior year we were still talking. A lot closer then before, but still just friends. I will admit, I did have some feelings for her but I knew things would never go anywhere due to our distance. Then she did something that I could not believe. She lied to me. About her image. She made me think she was this Caucasian girl… she isn’t Caucasian. It was all a big game her and her friend (the Caucasian) were playing to fool guys. Honestly I was a little heart broken. Right after she told me, I saw her for the first time. On webcam! She is Asian. Filipina to be exact. I was pissed off. Furious as to why she would do such a thing… and keep it a secret all this time. It took me a while to forgive her, but I did not to throw away everything that we had gone through. So I gave in. After high school I ended up meeting this girl. Who… I… lost my “V” thing too. I met her that same day. Couldn’t believe I lost it to her. I guess deep down I was still mad at Camille. I didn’t even love this girl. We dated for a couple months – on and off. She did not have any goals in her life. And I felt like I was being used for everything. And I mean my body too. I never thought I could get tired of sex… but I did. So, I ended it. I didn’t think Camille would care, so I told her. It made her cry…

She stopped talking to me for awhile. But I promised her I would keep in touch. And I did. When I was in basic training I would send her letters, poems. And from time to time I would call her. Things were back to normal with us. Until I started getting these… feelings. I was not positive, because I have never felt that way before. But, I thought I loved her. I was sure of it. Overtime, when you talk to someone so much… you can’t really help but get feelings for them. You can’t control what your heart feels. I wore her picture around my neck, next to my dog tags. And never took it off. Finally, I got the courage to tell her… in a letter.

“I was in class when I read your letter. I fell off my chair…” – her exact words.

And so, we went along with it. Not knowing where I would end up.

Back to basic training…
———————————————————————

Overall, basic was not as bad as I thought. I earned the name “Heineken”. No one could ever pronounce my real name. They would always say Her-nee-sin. Wrong. So I stuck with the beer name. For me, the worst part of basic was the road marches. 3k, 5k, 10k, 12k 15k. Fifty pound ruck sack strapped to your back, full combat gear, including weapon. Not my kind of thing. I was horrible at the road marches. They gave me the worst shin splits ever. I had to suck it up. I was not about to fail anything after coming all this way. I would always end up falling near the back of the pack. The drill sergeants tend to ease up on you the closer you get to graduation. During the 15k march, I was struggling. Then something surprised the hell out of me.

“Come on Heineken, you can do it. Push it!”

Drill sergeant Johnson spoke the words I thought would never come out of his mouth. And he pronounced it right! That was all I needed. I was doing pretty good.

Another week passed, and I had not seen a girl in over a month. Then the nurses came. Goodness! I forgot what I was missing out on. “Stick me again, please?”

The following day we had Iraq veterans come talk to us. They told us, eventually, we would be going to Iraq. And a lot of us would not be coming back. Not something I wanted to hear. None of us wanted to hear that crap. But, it only made us stronger. It put us in that mind set. Drill and Ceremony was cut from basic training. We were not going to use it in Iraq. We were in war-time. They wanted us to concentrate more on combat scenarios. I thought nothing could prepare me for deployment. All it did was make me miss the people I loved the most.

The last 3-4 weeks there, Oklahoma became hot as hell. And weird weather started coming through. One week before our graduation we had our one week FTX (Field Training Exercise). Pretty much you stay out in the field the whole time conducting land movement exercises, and live on the rifle range. During our last firing exercise, the weather got vicious. They were calling for tornadoes but the drill sergeants ignored the warnings.

This was the first tornado I have ever been in. It was not only one though – it was two. Minutes seemed like seconds before the drill sergeants became frantic. Rushing everyone to, “Get in the God damn vehicles!!”

I could not believe how quick the wind picked up. The rain was blowing sideways. Everyone was in a panic. The visibility was so low, I was unable to find my gear. My battle buddy, Rodriguez, was having no luck either. Finally, I had found it. The winds were becoming stronger. I could barely see what was going on, but off in the distance I could see the drill sergeants literally picking up soldiers and throwing them in the back of the vehicles. With no time to think I grabbed my battle buddy and told him we had to get going. We started heading toward the trucks when my ID pouch with Camille’s picture came off my neck. Get the fuck out of here. When I turned back I saw that it had wrapped itself around one of the “V-stake” notches used to hold the weapons. I quickly ran over and grabbed it, wasting no time, hauling my ass back to the truck… only to be thrown with Hurculean strength in to the back! The 2 1/2 ton trucks were able to haul everyone out of there. On the way back to the barracks we passed by our camp. Or what was left of it. The tents were no where to be found. Actually, we were not able to find anything. That ended our FTX…

Following day: Graduation. And my parents visited. I could not believe how much I had missed them. I had passed basic with no problems. Then I got the news. I was heading to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, in Maryland. I had to surprise Camille.

This one has been a long time in the making, but the preview pics are finally available. My first project for Orbx is nearing completion: 7S3: Stark’s Twin Oaks Airpark. It’s designed to fit seamlessly into the upcoming FTX NA Blue Pacific Northwest scenery, but it’ll stand alone as well.

If ever there was a small airport that captured the spirit of GA flying in America, this is it. From the official blurb:

Nestled in the rolling farmland of the fertile Willamette Valley near Portland, Oregon, Stark’s Twin Oaks Airpark is ideally located for sightseeing in the Pacific Northwest. The rural location makes for less traffic and a relaxed atmosphere, while providing an easy jumping-off point for flights to either the coast to the west, or the rugged peaks of the Cascade range to the east.

The scenery includes a large area of 30cm/pixel aerial photoreal terrain, featuring the various orchards, Alpaca ranches, and small farms in the area. One special point of interest is the massive Glacier rock quarry, located a few miles to the southeast of the field. It deftly shows the sim possibilities when high-resolution terrain mesh is matched with detailed and meticulously color-corrected aerial photography. The high-quality mesh also makes another appearance, in what is quite possibly a first for an FS airport: multiple elevations. Twin Oaks is carved from the side of a gentle slope, and as a result, the Starks’ house, garage, and two of the hangars are on a hill overlooking the rest of the field. Lead developer Bill Womack has obsessively researched and photographed the airport over the last few years, with the enthusiastic support of owners Bob and Betty Stark. We’re proud to offer the definitive sim rendition of one of Oregon’s aviation jewels.

Check out the preview pics here. And while you’re at it, have a look at the other releases planned for both North America and Australia.

Es bleibt spannend!

A righteous warrior is an eagle with his eye upon the unjust. He is a hunter whose eyes are locked upon his prey with focus so intent that it pierces the very existence of his enemy like a sword. His enemy has lived a thousand deaths long before action is initiated. His heart emanates compassion for the oppressed. De Oppresso Liber is the purpose by which his heart pumps great vigor in the midst of overwhelming adversaries.

I am fashioned from my life experience. Although severely daunting at times and even in the depths of a destitute spirit, I have always adhered, to the best of my abilities, that these trials were nothing more than a field training exercise, preparation for a moment in history far greater myself, preparation for a purpose far greater than I myself can fathom.

Prior to any engagement, one must submit himself to that which is greatest, which is right. For the self is indeed the greatest cause for failure, the enemy its greatest benefactor.

With that, I have long considered the dynamics of obedience and even disobedience. And in this case, I speak with particular focus on the act of civil obedience and likewise civil war. I have performed much study on the subject and taken a great many notes. And even still, I have taken in and given great consideration to the principles therein. I have taken great moments to apply these principles to great moments in history and foreseen moments of the future.

So, without delving into the notes that are scattered throughout my life study, I will simply layout a few links to consider in your quest for civil war or unwavering submission to the unjust oppressor.

RELATED READING

• http://www.fbbc.com/messages/kohl_political_science_civildisobedience.htm
• http://www.christinyou.net/pages/civildisobed.html
• http://www.searchingtogether.org/articles/davidson/manifesto.htm
• http://www.openbible.info/topics/civil_disobedience
• http://biblearchive.com/blog/2009/human/christians-immigration-and-the-law/
• http://www.strike-the-root.com/51/newman/newman10.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVnRzn4rjbY
• http://biblearchive.com/blog/2009/church/reasons-for-civil-disobedience/
• http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
• http://home.myfairpoint.net/vzeo1z2a/AreWe.htm

Ecco alcuni screen di un volo fatto in elicottero a Coffs Harbour, in Australia! E’ un aeroporto di dimensioni medie, per lo più trafficato da velivoli di aviazione generale e si trova sulla costa orientale, tra Sidney e Brisbane.

Ed ecco la mappa del luogo (Fonte Wikipedia) – Vai alla Mappa.

Lo scenario è quello della ORBX, pay e di ottima qualità! Un volo tranquillo, Bell Jet Ranger e cieli sgombri, ovviamente il simulatore è FSX.

Iniziamo con gli screen…

Conclusioni generali: da questa prima prova lo scenario l’ho trovato ottimo, davvero dettagliati sia i modelli 3D che il terreno interamente fotorealistico. Forse un pò più pesante rispetto alle differenti versioni di FTX sempre dell’ORBX.

Spero vi siano piaciute e se vi va lasciate un commento!

It was our second visit to the small border-town, and as with the first, my squad leader had assigned me the task of winnings hearts and minds – or more specifically, one heart and one mind: that of the town mayor. He was a difficult man to deal with under any circumstances, but this time doubly so because almost immediately after we began our negotiations, the shooting started.

I had assigned my men, Squad 2 Bravo Company of the Royal Blankshires of Canada, to pull security around the mayor and I, but taking cover where we could, we were quickly separated. We had walked into an ambush.

I yelled at the mayor to take cover, and when he did not, I finally pushed him into his office, before shouting for my battle buddy and second in command, “BRUCE! WHERE THE *&($ ARE YOU?”

He had ducked behind a giant wheel in the middle of the square. Bad choice – although protected from one side, he was exposed to the shooting coming at us from the rooftops across the square.

“I NEED YOU TO GET INTO THIS BUILDING! NOW!”

And so he ran and I covered him – and by the end of the mission, the two of us, plus the squad leader, were the only survivors, of an original 9 man (and woman) squad.

—

This all happened in the context of the counterinsurgency field training exercise organized by Toby, one of the instructors of EXP 0062, the Seminar on Counterinsurgency. Throughout the semester, we had been studying the theory behind counterinsurgency (COIN) strategies through FM 324 (The Marine Corps’ Field Manual on Counterinsurgency), General Rupert Smith’s The Utility of Force, as well as case studies of COIN operations in Malaya, Algiers and, of course, Iraq and Afghanistan.

It was our chance of putting everything learned to the test. We arrived at P & L Paintballing Saturday evening and were given a crash course on prisoner apprehension (hint: make sure that they don’t have explosives hidden on their body BEFORE approaching them), the best ways to fire weapons ( think Black Hawk Down, not Rambo), and military maneuvers (wedge and column formations, CQB/Close Quarter Battle) before we were brought to our “base” for the night.

There, in the middle of the snowy woods, we had to set up camp, tents and all, while patrolling the perimeters. We were ambushed by the insurgents at one point, and then had to go on a recon(naissance) mission through the woods at another, before finally getting into our tents around 04:00. Putting up tents was definitely not Squad 2 Bravo Company’s strong point, however, so I think that we actually crawled into our sleeping bags around 04:30 – and then were woken up at 08:00 by “Chris the Swiss”, a Fletcher grad student who was in Recon with the Swiss Special Ops. Along with Toby and several other grad students from Fletcher and Harvard, all of whom have extensive military experience, he helped run the simulation.

And then Sunday and the ambush. With only the insurgents and counterinsurgents present, Saturday night served as our introduction to urban warfare. Sunday was the real deal. Student volunteers were bussed in from Tufts; they played civilians: refugees, villagers, NGO workers, etc. The ambush scenario was one of several.

Our class had been divided up into two eight-person squads, each one headed by a student in our class that also happened to be ROTC. The squads were further divided into four-person teams, each one headed by a team leader chosen for our inexperience; there are three girls in the class of twenty – and each of us headed a team.

The weekend was probably the most memorable that I’ve had at Tufts so far. It was designed to show us just how difficult counterinsurgency was – and it succeeded. I have a new appreciation for our men and women in uniform, and I will definitely be looking at everything I read and hear about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with more critical eyes.

But obviously, what we got out of this weekend was far from just high-brow and academic. Our class bonded a lot. We let off some midterms-week steam by shooting paintballs. At the end of the day, I think that Yamila summed it up best. In response to Toby’s question, “What did you learn this weekend?”, she grinned, “I learned that I’m good at shooting a gun.”

[Disclaimer: That last comment was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Tufts does not condone violence or encourage its students to become more violent ]

[Oh and PS, the Tufts Journal sent a photographer to cover the event, so an article will be up sometime before/in April. So a link and (possibly) photos will follow.]

-Eileen Guo, Tufts 2012

So obviously I did not keep up with my posting during OBC very well.  Things were just incredibly busy and our days were so long that I was always very tired by the time I got home for the evening.  Anyway, let me review some of the high points since I last left you several months ago.

FTX

Most classes will have their FTX (Field Training Exercise) later in the course than we did.  Due to a fluke in scheduling, we had ours quite early, actually before we had our CPX (which is like the FTX but indoors and more training based) which is supposed to come first.  The result of this was that we hadn’t actually learned how to do the things we were supposed to do before heading out.  Nonetheless, the FTX was by far the best training of the course.  This was agreed upon by everyone in the class.

The FTX is 3 days longs and out at a base that consists of tents and a building with computers in it.  The coolest thing about the FTX is that we do it with BNCOC (which is the training camp for NCO’s) and AIT (which is the training for the privates who just got out of Basic Training). Like the “intense” week at BOLC II, the FTX goes 24 hours a day, but it goes in cycles, so there is plenty of time to sleep.  Twice during the 3 day period you will have an 8 hour shift where you are either the S1 (the person running the opperation) or the battle captain (the assistant to that person).  Additionally in your little section you have an NCO from BNCOC, and about 8 privates.  Together you manage a “battle” of about 400 troops.  During the time you get hit by casualities and have to track all the numbers and make awards packets for people who die or get injured.  It’s pretty crazy when you’re the S1.  At the endof the 8 hours you have to breif all your numbers to a Major who tears you apart. It was great though, definately the best training of the course.

The only really bad part was that I made the mistake of not brinign all 3 layers of my sleeping bag.  I decided I would save space and only bring one layer, which I thought was the “winter” layer.  However, it turned out I was wrong!! I’ve never been so cold in my life.  It was about 30 degrees outside (no heating in the tents) and nothing I did could make me stop shivering. I put on every piece of clothing I had.  Finally I just gave up on sleeping and went to the computer rooms.  So my advice is bring all the sleeping bags!

CPX

The CPX was the week before we went on break.  It’s basically the same as the FTX except we’re in the classroom and we don’t have any other soldiers with us, just our classmates.  We worked in groups of about 5 or 6.  Once person is downstairs at the “battle simulator” where they watch the computers and let you know when you take casualities.  The rest of you work at making awards packets, tracking casualities and making a power point presentation for the briefing.  Like in the FTX at the end of the day you brief a Major.  For most classes, I’m told this week is extremely intense and most days they are there from about 7 AM until 10 or 11 PM at night.   In this regard we were lucky because we already had the FTX so we already knew how do to everything.  Normally this is where you learn the systems, but we learned it “sink or swim” at the FTX and so this was like a downgrade for us.  We finished every night by 6 or 7.

During the break I stayed at the base and took a pass over Christams and New Years.  This worked out pretty well for me becuase I didn’t have to use any leave and all you have to do is show up at 8 each morning and sign in and they you have the rest of the day off.  Not a bad deal. The final week was pretty easy.  We had been on break for 2 weeks and then came back for 5 days of class, so no one was that motivated for anything to intense. It went pretty fast and finally on Friday we were done!

And what was nice for me was that upon completion of OBC, I got promoted to 1LT. I actually came up for it in November, but you have to be branch qualified in order to actually get the new rank.  But, as it turns out, my date of rank is from when I became eligable, so it’s backdated to November.

Ok, that’s all for now. If anyone comes upon this blog and has questions about either BOLC II or OBC or Fort Jackson, feel free to contact me and I’ll answer if I can.

Coming in 2009… lässt das Team von FTX verkünden und stellt natürlich gleich einige Fotos von ihrem neuesten Werk online, was manchen Simmern wohl schon jetzt vor Vorfreude Pippi in die Augen treten lässt.

Auch ich habe mir die Screenshots angesehen und kann bisher nur feststellen: Solche Bilder gab es schon beim guten alten FS9 und zwar von FranceVFR… aber damals waren diese Szenerien für viele Spezialisten nur “blöde Fotopappen”… heute wird sowas gerühmt.

Verrückte Welt? Ich denke schon!

Feminists Engages Technology 10- 12 Nov 2008

In Cape Town 3 weeks ago, the first ever Feminist Tech Exchange happened. The Feminist Tech Exchange, also known as the FTX, was developed in response to calls from feminist and women’s rights movements for greater understanding of emerging technologies, their potential and impact on the rights and lives of women. Through skills sharing, information exchange and discussions, the FTX explores feminist practices and politics of technology, and raises awareness on the critical role of communication rights in the struggle to advance women’s rights worldwide.

The Exchange-the capacity building part, was split into 5 tracks, which are as follows:
∑ Digital storytelling
∑ Social networking
∑ Mobile Wireless
∑ Audio
∑ Video
I was there as a trainer for the video track and also as an Engagemedia member.

The 3 trainers for the video track met for the first time 2 days before the training to trash everything out. Although we have been planning through emails before hand, it was definitely crucial to have a face-to-face finalization, as we found out how different our training methods, style and personality were. But in true feministic spirit, we embraced the differences and put it into good use in running the workshops.

The first day of training began with a good sharing of what films that the participants had watched that impacted them greatly; and what was about the films that moved them. There were films of personal stories that triumph over struggles, of very exciting documentaries and even 1 animation-Mulan of a girl who went against stereotypical norms and fought battles, shared by the 5 year-old daughter of a participant. Obviously, there were many different stories that appeal to us but there is the similar thread of the stories being personal, interesting, fun, emotional and sincere. These would be the basis of what kind of films we would make in order to appeal to others as well.

Before we plunged into the actual video-making process, we had small groups discussion on what is the feminist practice and politics of videomaking. The results were intensely enlightening for all of us, even the trainers. The entire sharing could be found here.
Some words that jumps out a lot are participatory, the gaze, constantly challenging power relations (in front and behind the camera), truth, ethics, diversity, personal is political, people and process vs product; and empowerment. These would be the principles we would keep in our process and also product of videomaking.

We then proceeded with pre-production, learning the objectives, treatment, managing equipments, crew, locations etc. we also found out as we went that there were too different levels of video skills among participants. We had to repeat some things to some and sense that others were keen to move on. This made us aware that things were going to get more complicated as we move into production and post-production. The face that we only got our participants profile 2 days before the training didn’t allow us enough time to prepare for the great gaps. We then went on to have a consultation and evaluation with the participants on the 2nd day, first thing in the morning. It was happily decided together that we would not be using the high end cameras that the organizer has gotten us but to use the home cameras that some people have brought or borrowed from other participants. We also decided to go with editing on Window’s Movie Maker rather then Premiere.

The sudden reflection and change of plan was quite interesting for me as a trainer as I never had to change plan as drastically before, and it made me realized and applied the feminist principles of inclusiveness and participatory in immediate effect. It was a good call for the trainers and participants as the training went on more smoothly and every group managed to finish their videos.

It was definitely a pleasant surprise to the trainers as the participants stayed on the 2nd night after dinner to continue excitedly with their editing. Although we can’t match their excitements, we were very proud that everyone was finding videomaking no longer a distant idea.

On the 3rd day, after finishing up on their video, we learnt to export the video. Then we had every group to present their films and shared their filmmaking experiences, everyone had smiles of achievement on their faces, which in turn made the trainers smiled even more. Actually I couldn’t stop smiling the whole day after that, even when we had lots to pack up. After that, I shared about video distribution, focusing on the online strategies. We tried to upload some videos up on Engagemedia.org but 6 videos doing that at the same time on the small bandwidth turn out to be a difficult process. (1 of the participant managed to upload it to the FTX website)

1 hour to share about the different codec, different sites for videos, different strategy for online advocacy campaign using video was not enough.

However the participants managed to get the basics of videomaking and distributions; and I hope they will continue to feel empowered to make their own videos for justice to further powered the feminist movement. As for myself, after much rest, I am more than inspired to continue this tech exchanges with FTX and all social justice movements.

Report by
Mien Lor
SEA Training and Content Coordinator
Engagemedia.org
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Also to note that FTX had a hub during AWID and some of the participants continued to make videos during this time, hopefully this exchange of skills will continue over FTX online as well. (ftx.apcwomen.org)

i’ve 10 minutes to jot/sum/tell/share the past 6 days of my life in Cape Town, from Feminist Tech Exchange to AWID 2008.

so i’m just do something like TAG CLOUD, muahha something i’ve learn from FTX as well.

here goes, from the top of my head, will come and elaborate later:

“i believe in feminism, like how some people believe in god.” Nadine, Lebanon

C-creativity

U-unity

N-numbers

T-time

Social movement/philanthrophy capitalism/back to basic/personal stories/feminist practice in technology/ feminist films/participatory video/digital storytelling/feministic family/

‘if god wanted lesbian to have kids, he wouldn’t have created men.’- hmm, he wouldn’t have created lesbians/queers/straight impotent ppl/disables etc too huh…

in Florida, the Obama phenomenon resulted in amendments to make gay couples recgonised in the law stop due to the mass black ppl who came out to vote and they are still quite conservative…

can a family have 3 or more parents?

that’s all for now, running to another session. ciao.

just to say that i’m so so excited to be at the largest feminist gathering in the world, and it’s also the biggest conference i’ve participated in, so many amazing people in such a beautiful Cape Town, it’s just giler babi best!!

Chicas at the FTX

Today is the second day of the Feminist Tech Exchange (FTX) and I didn’t talk about it before because there was nothing to say, at least not enough to write home about. The little I had I posted on the FTX blog.

The FTX is a space for feminists (both women and men) to share experiences and knowledge in the use of technology for social justice. The space has different tracks and I’m attending the track that explores social networking tools for social justice.

So far it has been an interesting two days but it has also served to re-inforce my belief that there is too much information available on the internet and rather than being helpful is half the time confusing. However I have picked up a few things that I will use to make my blog look better and have much more visibility.

My other persistent thought has been re-inforced, the internet has a lot of things and if you look at everything, you will get confused so its about choosing what is relevant to your needs.

I will be posting more posts on technology and feminism, be on the look out!

Your chica…

Carenados Meisterstück war ja schon für den FS2004 Spitzenklasse. Die Mooney für den FSX soll noch besser sein. Nun ist Carenado gerade auch dafür bekannt, seinen Flugzeugen erstklassige (virtuelle) Cockpits zu spendieren.

Aber es geht noch besser! Die Australier vom Team FTX haben der Mooney für den FSX ein VC der Superlative verpasst. Der Download direkt bei FTX ist 8 MB gross und beinhaltet die Texturen für das VC im DXT3-Format. Die Bitmaps sind allesamt 2048×2048 Pixel gross und sorgen im FS für das Gefühl des “im-richtigen-Flieger-zu-sitzen”.

Dieser Tweak ist offiziell von Carenado abgesegnet und ist für alle Mooneypiloten schon fast obligatorisch

Übrigens: Obwohl für den FSX, können die Texturen mittels DXTBmp und einem Malprogramm auch für den FS2004 hergerichtet werden. DXTBmp wird für das konvertieren und das Malprogi fürs die Verkleinerung der Bildgrösse auf 1024×1024 gebraucht (Originaldateien aber vorher sichern, bitte).

Back in May, several members of Primordial – Kyle Estes, Robert Dahlstrom, and myself – were invited to attend and observe a Field Training Exercise (FTX) for the Transportation Basic Officer Leader Course (TBOLC). Dubbed “Manassas Run”, the FTX ran from 12 May 08 to 16 May 08 and took place at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. The primary objective for the TBOLC students was to conduct convoy operations to resupply fictitious units in their area of responsibility. While not a full train up for convoy ops in Iraq or Afghanistan, the exercise did give many of these new lieutenants a taste for what to expect while out in the “Sandbox”.

Primordial’s goals in attending the FTX were to learn more about the workflow of convoy operations and to demonstrate our integration of Ground Guidance with the Movement Tracking System (MTS).

A little history about Manassas and Bull Run.

Timeline

11 May 08

Normally I wouldn’t really make a big deal about a travel day, except this wasn’t a normal travel experience.

No flyer enjoys the following phrase:

“Folks, this is the captain speaking…We seem to have a problem…”

We were about halfway over Wisconsin, ended up turning around and heading back to Minneapolis and sat in the terminal for over two hours waiting for our plane’s de-icing equipment to be fixed. By the time we finally arrived to our hotel rooms it was roughly 3 am EST.

Felt like being in the Army again…Except this time I wasn’t stranded on the tarmac of Kuwait International airport waiting on repairs to our plane home…

for 8 hours…

in the middle of the night…good times.

12 May 08

Monday was a typical meet and greet day. We met with Mike Haney, the Project Manager at Fort Eustis for the MTS. Mike gave us a quick tour of the relatively Spartan facilities available to us, which consisted of a lot of concrete, some chairs and desks.

We also met with some of the TBOLC students, who were part of the advance party and were setting up the facility. One of their major tasks was to set up a sandtable of the area, which had to be one of the most tedious tasks we have ever witnessed. Which led to Great Idea #1:

A Sandtable feature for Ground Guidance:

• Leverages technology to quickly construct/maintain the battlefield and disseminate that information.
• 3D Mode to provide virtual reconnaissance of the battlefield prior to actual recon.
• Users are able to plot routes, cordons, threats within that battlefield.
• Route flythrough to assist soldiers comprehension of the route.
• i.e. Difficult maneuver areas, Potential ambush/chokepoint locations along the route.

Work interrupted by some heinous chemical warfare.

Primordial did give a quick class to the students on some of the changes made to the system since we last saw them. Check out Kyle and Robert in action.

13 May 08

Tuesday had more set up involved, so it was a relatively light day for us. The rest of the Primordial fellas were introduced to the military concepts of “Hurry up and wait” and shamming. But the day wasn’t a total wash. Right around the time we were getting ready to head out for the night, we were approached by one of the students who wanted to use Ground Guidance to figure out distances for the legs of his route…which lead to Great Idea #2:

A Distance feature for Ground Guidance:

• Provide distance calculations between two points.
• Distance from current position along a route to the next checkpoint.
• “As the crow flies” distance between two points.

14 May 08

Wednesday was the first day of heading out onto the Situational Training Exercise (STX) lanes, time to see what this show is all about. Kyle and Robert went out with the convoy while I rode out to Camp Cooke with Mike to set up the RFI scanner.

The route was about 17 kilometers, and knowing that there would be some issues and complications along the way…it took them a little longer than expected to reach our destination! I guess this kinda happens when you take a few wrong turns and break the law.

Meanwhile, Mike and I keep busy while waiting for the convoy to arrive.

In the afternoon, Robert and I rode with the convoy while Kyle did boring office work. Our STX run seemed to go much smoother, as the students learned from the morning mistakes and performed corrections. Of course it helps when you have a prior SSG providing navigation.

Since we were under the impression that we shouldn’t interfere too much with the soldier’s preparation and execution of their missions, we didn’t bring an actual working version of Ground Guidance with us on the convoys. We had GG installed on the MTS machines, but since we were unable to read the MTS GPS signal it became a digital strip map.

After the day’s convoy ops, Mike told us to go nuts and help out an anyway we could. So we planned to bring our own laptops and GPS devices along for the next day’s operations to see how it would go.

Eureka! Kyle discovers that MTS provides a local GPS position signal every 15 seconds.

15 May 08

Thursday we rolled in early to get our gear setup with the morning convoy’s route. Proud to say that GG passed the test with flying colors, even assisted in navigating through a four way intersection that Robert described as a “Chicken Foot.” As soon as the lead truck started to turn on the wrong road, the soldier quickly recognized it was the wrong way and was able to correct the vehicle before leading the convoy down the wrong road.

!Warning: Author’s unabashed love of GG expressed in Text!

We found that several of the students really grasp the capabilities that GG offers a decision maker. Route planning by hand is truly time-consuming, especially in performing terrain analysis and calculating route distances. (Tick marks on your paper for curved routes = fail.)

While I do not consider myself to be a pro land navigator, as a former NCO in the Army I have experienced plenty of land navigation courses on a variety of terrain, and I find that GG routes are consistent with what I would choose. Additionally, I am amazed that these routes are generated within a matter of seconds compared to minutes it would take to hand plan it. Think about that for a second…a potential life-saving route generated for you in seconds, compared to minutes. Pretty powerful stuff when a situation quickly turns south.

Just checking…Yup, Apaches are still cool.

16 May 08

Friday had two convoys rolling out in the morning and those would be the last STXs for the FTX. Robert and I split up and saddled up with the convoy lead vehicles. I would love to say that GG assisted in navigation for my convoy, but there were 2 factors in why it did not:

1. I failed in my PCC/PCIs – Meaning, I had dead batteries in my GPS and didn’t check it prior to leaving. Quick check on my cool points.

2. LT Patterson is a high-speed navigator. Word.

Both convoys were routed to the same location, with Robert’s convoy reaching the site first. Which meant that our convoy got lit up…gotta expend those blanks somehow. Speaking of expending ammunition… Check out High Speed. (vid)

Kyle, Robert, and I then returned to the hotel and banged out a top 10 feature list from this trip.

Top10 Features

1. MSR/ASR Overlay capability – the ability to create them and then reuse as overlays
2. 3D Mode – Essential for our Sandbox Mode
3. Distance between Checkpoints
4. Distance to the next CP from your current position on the route.
5. MGRS Gridlines (1km)
6. Checkpoint Tool – Allow the user to manually place CPs along a route
7. Convoy Routing – Routing that is limited to using MSR/ASRs only
8. Undo button – Think CTRL+Z for all you MS Office users out there.
9. Route Up – Keep the route up while travelling, providing better spatial recognition
10. Maneuver/Checkpoint Alert – Alerts the navigator to an upcoming CP or turn

Lone Apache = Cool.

- Benjamin Post (benjamin.post@primordial.com)

For the record: This past FTX was the best i’ve ever been on. In addition to our tours of the USS Oklahoma City and the USS San Antonio, we stayed abord the USS Iwo Jima for two nights and got a familiarization tour of NECC. We were given near free reign to explore the vessle and mingle with the skeleton crew. I got an in depth tour of the engine room by two seamen on duty.

By far the best part of the weekend was the NECC tour at Little Creek. We were taken on Sea Arc 34’s by a riverine squadron. This meant a high speed demonstration of the manuvering capabilities of these boats while we stood on the gunner’s deck. I managed to hold on ok, slipped once or twice, but one of the rats on our craft lost his grip and nearly flew off the deck at a 40kt 180 turn. They also showed us all the equipment they use for EOD, diving, and communication. The seals showed us their obstacle course, and we got a demonstration of the fleet’s drug and attack dogs.  Pretty awesome.

School is becomming more time demmanding which is cutting into my sleep. Teachers are wrapping things up for the semester and giving lots of tests over the next four weeks. I’m excited for the summer, because i’ll be doing research then hitting the water for training with the Navy. Should be a good time. Ring figure is approaching, and we’ll be ordering our rings soon.

Here’s a link to the class website with our ring:

http://www.vmi.edu/2010

Got back from FTX at FT Pickett on tuesday. We got there friday evenign and spent saturday doing land nav, day and night. We slept out in the field and fended of the rain, and then we went back to the barracks the next day. Sunday and Mondya were spent in the MOUT village.

The MOUT training was amazing. We were getting hands on training from the guys who’ve been there and done it for keeps. The village itself is very elaborate. There are several large buildings, as well as smaller house type structures and condos. There is even trapdoors and a tunnel system that allows for infiltration from multiple points. We went through situatiosn using blanks, and were able to begin doing multi-team, multi-room take downs with no verbal communications.

The culminating exercise was an airsoft operation where we had to take down the insurgent leader holed up with his bodyguards in the Hotel. The OPFOR was pumping Arabic music through loud speaker, and the artillery range next door was practicing. It was a pretty surreal experience. My squad did well, all things considered. We were undermanned, with little training and experience, and no flashbangs or grenades. i died on a blind corner but was brought back to life to help clear the last room. Mitch and I cleared rooms together while Pat covered us.

Overall it was a really well run FTX. The LandNav wasn’t too bad either. I was very happy with the trainging. We deffinately got a better perspective on things then we had previously I think.

Being back this week, I’m starting to get my rythm. I’m trying to get squared away with summer school finances and living right now. I’ve got a couple of guys interested in apartments this summer with me. Mr. Dekker has been back from China. Its really nice being back in that groove. I find his influence has a strong effect on my behavior. We had an interesting discussion on a passage in Titus 2:15,16. The passage talks abotu those who are pure see all things pure. We went form that into a discussion on how we tend to get caught up in religous rules. But if your heart is pure, then you will know what is right for you. This isn’t a free ticket, it just means that The Spirit will reveal understanding to an individual when they have truly come into a relatinship with Christ and have become pure. Then they will know what is right and wrong for them. This was a departure for me from what I had learned in school. I tried to play devil’s advocate (pardon the pun), and argue some points my school had used but Mr. Dekker was right back at them with more versus.

I think I know where I struggle. I’m going to get there. I know I am. I don’t know when my stupid self will stop screwing up, maybe never, but I know whats going on now and I feel much better about it.

One thing that tore me up was a bad joke I played on my folks. I made a prank phone call telling them i was getting kicked out of school for getting a girl pregnant. I can’t believe how stupid I was. i just didn’t think how much that would scare them. I realy love my parents, but i always feel like i’m screwing up. They don’t pressure me abotu it either, and itsm ore or less blown over, but I just can’t fathom the guilt I felt. Maybe it was a maturing moment for me. i dunno. I learned the lesson. i really wish I was a better son.

I’m heading up to Baldwin tommorrow. I’m escorting a girl to the VWIL Military Ball. I met her yesterday, and she was really nice, but we didn’t click at first. i was having a rough day and she seemd kind of leary of it. But we talked tonight, and it was really… nice. i dunno. there could be something. I don’t want to get my hopes up too far though. She is very beautiful, and seems to have a good heart. I’m hoping it’ll be a fun weekend! i could use it!