Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Portables (Apple) Businesses Apple Hardware

PowerBook, Because Lives Are On The Line 150

Posted by pudge from the sir-yes-sir dept.
WCityMike writes "Major Shawn Weed, an intelligence planner with the Third Infantry Division, eschewed his Panasonic Toughbook because it wasn't fast enough in processing giant satellite and reconnaissance images. He put in a requisition for and received a PowerBook G4, the only Apple currently being used in the entire Middle East theater. 'Frankly, lives are in the balance here, so the quicker I can get stuff done accurately, the better,' Weed says."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

PowerBook, Because Lives Are On The Line More

PowerBook, Because Lives Are On The Line

Comments Filter:

  • Bullet Proof (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 08, 2003 @09:47PM (#5469571)
    AND you can stop bullets with the case!

  • You think Apple's prices are high? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nipsy356 ( 586073 ) on Saturday March 08, 2003 @09:51PM (#5469582)
    If the military can pay thousands for a toilet seat, imagine what they paid for a PowerBook.

  • It's not ruggedized. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by More Karma Than God ( 643953 ) on Saturday March 08, 2003 @09:52PM (#5469586)
    The article says it's been fine so far, but sooner or later the lack of military-grade durability is going to be a factor.

    • Re:It's not ruggedized. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by C0LDFusion ( 541865 ) on Saturday March 08, 2003 @10:26PM (#5469704) Journal
      Perhaps you guys missed the demonstration where the Powerbook G4 was run over by an 18-wheeler, then it backed up (over the powerbook) and ran over it again...then someone walked up, picked it up and started it up fine? I've seen it done, and I've never met anyone who has had physical damage disable a powerbook, except when the LCD was directly struck (while it was open).
      • Yes, but remember that Iraq is a desert. Do you want your military equipment to end up like this? Baked Apple [slashdot.org]
      • I've seen one disabled. It was in a head on car crash at highway speeds. The whole frame of the Tibook was twisted into a funky curve. I believe HD was recovered. Both people in car survived after long stays in the hospital.

      • Re:It's not ruggedized. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jericho4.0 ( 565125 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @12:13AM (#5470006)
        In the desert, it's not about heat (although that is a problem) it's about sand.

        Sand and dust gets into every single nook and cranny. The non-moving parts might last a long time, but his DVD drive will be toast if he uses it too much. Same with the hinge of the screen.

      • Re:It's not ruggedized. (Score:5, Informative)

        by lightflyer ( 657726 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @05:28AM (#5470674)
        I have had a Ti G4 for about 8 months. It has not stood up to travel and mobile use at all well. It has had the CD unit replaced (under warranty); currently it does not charge the battery and that will be fixed when I get back to somewhere that has a Mac repair facility; it did not do at all well to operating in high temps; the case is malformed, the paintwork does not stand up to normal use and the hinges are fragile, plus the screen ripples (despite being carried inside its own protective case inside a large carry-on and always carried with me). Overall, it is a good looking but quite fragile piece of kit.

        On the other hand I had a G3 Wallstreet for 5 years and it looked and operated as good as new at the end when I passed it on. I wish sometimes that I still had it with me.

        Apple puts out lovely stuff but sometimes design flair and form is not sacrificed to necessary function. I will have to think very hard before I spend so much money again on a Mac beauty. And don''t get me started on function versus form of the iPod. I'll wait until a degree of everyday ruggedness is built in again for my next Mac laptop.

        I wish the US military all the best and hope they go with Mac. But . . .
        • I've had TiBooks for two years (a 400 and a 550) and they've both stood up fine in travel and mobile use.

          In fact after 1 year of using the 400 everyday at home and work and transporting it back and forth, and taking it back and forth across 1,500 miles in MR-2s and United Airlines 737s the person I sold it too thought it was brand new.

          I've always used either a Burton DJ bag - http://www.burton.com/gear/pr_bags.asp?productID=6 51

          Or an Oakley Computer Bag - http://www.oakley.com/ostore/apparel/spring_02_com puter_bag/

          I also use a piece of foam between the keyboard and screen.

          After two years my laptops have gotten a few little scratches.
          • My PowerBook has went in for repair twice, and it took about three days each time. Other than that, I've had over a year of great operation from it, very, very reliable. It was a video problem both times, and they replaced the graphics adapter the first time, and then the display the second time when there was still some weirdness (it never crashed or stopped working or anything). Apple support apologized to me for the two trips in and I quite honestly told them that it's the most reliable system I've used. I don't really mind two three-day breaks in over a year of me just opening up the lid and it awakes instantly and then use it like hell (video, graphics, multitrack audio recording, hot-plugging all the time, moving between wireless networks effortlessly, etcetera) and then close the lid again and do the same thing tomorrow. I would buy this system again in a heartbeat, and the next generation of it is already out.

            Also, it is clear that this soldier had a good reason beyond brand loyalty or better UI or better stability/security to have a PowerBook, because he's working with big high-resolution images. The PowerPC CPU itself was designed with image manipulation in mind, because Apple was famous at the time for being the only computer with a graphical interface and also for being a great platform for artists. Rotating a huge image (and many other common image-manipulation functions) on a G4 takes a very short time compared to Intel chips. If you ever see a "Photoshop bake-off" between a Mac and Intel system, watch for the first image rotation ... the Mac will go flip-flip and it's rotated, and the Intel machine will sit for over a minute "thinking" before the image rotates while the Mac has moved on to the next steps in the Photoshop script. It's the point where you first will see the Mac moving clearly ahead instead of being a little ahead. The PC never ends up catching up from being so slow on image rotations and resizing and some other common functions. The idea of doing graphics on a Panasonic Toughbook ... ha ha. It's so army to get a lot of toughbooks and use them as a generic computer. No security, closed-source core running all the time like a black box, license agreements for the OS that force you to agree to Microsoft cracking it "whenever" and not to mention the IT staff you have to have just to network them.
        • Buy the iBook. They're much sturdier, in my opinion, than the TiBook was, and they're no slower than your Wallstreet.
      • I have to chime in on this. I know 3 out of the 5 TiBooks that I know of at work, have had at least one major problem due to hardware failure. This includes mine that has been back 3 times itself. Once for a cracked case that was causing a short somewhere, with crashes everytime it was moved at all, even a fraction of an inch. The other two times (screen problems) would be surviveable (pun only slightly intended) in a military situation, but the crashing due to a cracking computer would not. A coworker had his start to smoke on his lap! There is the common crack in the CD/DVD drive and other cracks in the titanium many have had. Just google cracked titanium powerbook and you'll find stories of this. Also there is the fact that if you take the bottom case off (say to put an AirPort card in), the titanium is glued on to plastic, and so the titanium easily comes loose on the bottom.

        Spare the marketing for Apple. I love my TiBook, but it doesn't have any of the ruggedness that my old Wallstreet did (going well until this last year when the hinge gave up-and I was lucky on that from what I've heard).
        • I'm just wondering if any of you spend more than $5 on cases for these laptops, or do you carry them around in grocery bags?

          The only mac laptop I've ever had fail on me was a Duo 280c (which wasn't designed anywhere near the stuff I put it through) which cracked its LCD when I was driving through Baltimore (more details on this city at my website) and it slammed against the back of the passenger side seat. The data was recoverable and everything worked fine, except the display. I now carry all my laptops in nice bags (About $20) rather than a bookbag or a "My-Arm" bag.
          • $100 computer bag supplied with every notebook in the department. PCs and Macs do still break though the TiBook has gained a bad rep as a result of its problems. Hope later revisions are fixing these issues (we'll see see when the new models are 6 months old).

    • Re:It's not ruggedized. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) on Saturday March 08, 2003 @10:48PM (#5469766)
      It depends on what kind of environment the guy's using it in as to whether it even needs to be ruggedized. If he's in a nice C&C type area, there's precious little need for a ruggedized computer. I'd say the guy probably knows his needs better than anyone on Slashdot does. As mentioned in the article, the military buys computers in bulk, rather than specific to individual needs, so I'd bet a great many of those ruggedized machines aren't needed in a ruggedized form factor. Which also means they could save some money if they used a bit more fine-grained needs analysis. But hey, that's the military for ya. Sure, the regular machine may only be a PIII-800MHz, but it'll stop a bullet! :)

  • Military Intelligence (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kalak ( 260968 ) on Saturday March 08, 2003 @09:52PM (#5469589) Homepage Journal
    Major Shawn Weed, an intelligence planner with the Third Infantry Division

    So he's in military intel? Isn't this among the most famous oxymorons in existence? The jokes are too numerous to mention, all with Apple or the Army as the brunt of the jokes.

    I can see the switch ads now...My name is Shawn Weed and I find Iraqis in the desert.

    btw, I'm not trolling. I'm writing this from a TiBook using an Airport, behind a Linux server.

  • Is this a good idea... (Score:4, Funny)

    by cuyler ( 444961 ) <slashdotNO@SPAMtheedgeofoblivion.com> on Saturday March 08, 2003 @10:07PM (#5469636)
    Although I'm an avid mac fac I always thought the glowing apple on the back of the LCD screen would be a bad thing in the field.
  • big mac attack?
  • Would you trust an intelligence officer named 'Weed?' Heh, no wonder he wants an Apple product.

  • Army vs. Navy (Score:2, Funny)

    by MrWa ( 144753 )
    This quote definitely makes me regret my decision to join the Navy over a dozen years ago:
    "The problem with computers in the Army is they are bought by the gross and not necessarily purchased to accomplish certain functions. The Army doles out laptops in the same way we dole out boots, tents or any other class of supply."

    In the Navy, the only they doled out were annoying uniforms and silly hats.

  • With my luck... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by (H)elix1 ( 231155 ) <slashdot.helix@nOSPaM.gmail.com> on Saturday March 08, 2003 @11:06PM (#5469817) Homepage Journal
    I'll be the one pulling the laptop out from underneath the Major's corpse trying to figure out where the heck is the second mouse button went. Faster/better/different is great until you have to take over someones job unexpectedly. More of an occupational hazard in his area... though the Valley is not much safer (job wise).

    • Re:With my luck... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 09, 2003 @12:25AM (#5470037)
      Fortunately, Macs are damn near infinitely easier to figure out how to operate than PC's. Seriously, the chance that a rear eschelon intelligence officer is killed and some random soldier without the wits to launch Photoshop will take over for him is pretty slim. In the mean time, he's going to get his work done quickly enough to save lives (US soldiers and Iraqi innocents.) Any replacement qualified to interpret satallite imagry has their own equipment. In a pinch, anyone qualified to interpret satallite imagry is a little more capable with a computer than your average potato peeler. As a former US Army Ranger and RATT rig operator, I'm not comforted that your platform bigotry extends so far that it has you placing more importance on some tired two button mouse arguement than on people's lives.

      • Re:With my luck... (Score:4, Informative)

        by (H)elix1 ( 231155 ) <slashdot.helix@nOSPaM.gmail.com> on Sunday March 09, 2003 @12:52PM (#5471492) Homepage Journal
        Fortunately, Macs are damn near infinitely easier to figure out how to operate than PC's.

        That was not the point I was trying to make - for Photoshop on a laptop, it is easier and faster than most of the alternatives - but it is different - menu behavior specifically. I traveled with a Tadpole [tadpole.com] (sparc based laptop running Solaris) for a while. We all ran the same app server / ldap / database, but most of the SE's were lost trying to start things up as soon as they saw it was not Windows (or Linux for that matter). With gobs of RAM I was able to get more work done than the others who had to drag around multiple standard issue Dells that had a physical limit of 512M RAM at the time. When I got pulled into another project leaving my environment (which was a fair mimic of the production system), chaos ensued. Solaris was just enough of a curve ball to miss the deadline. It is not like they were not qualified, the tools were just a bit different.

        In the mean time, he's going to get his work done quickly enough to save lives (US soldiers and Iraqi innocents.)

        This is a bit of a straw man, but I'll bite. The reality is the US Forces have a limited budget. More lives could be saved by having better satellite uplinks, better lenses on the recon equipment, tanks that went faster on less fuel, more powerful targeting lasers... the list goes on and on. Every standardization is a compromise somewhere down the line. You are a former RATT operator, so why did they not hand everyone an updated set rather than tuning both the old and new series so they could co-operate? Budget would be my guess. I suspect your CO would also have you peeling potatoes if you swapped personal equipment for older gear 'because it would save lives'.

        I'm not comforted that your platform bigotry extends so far that it has you placing more importance on some tired two button mouse arguement than on people's lives.

        Again - this is not about mac's sux, bill rulz! In an environment where you have to work with a fluid team, you cannot always select what you consider the perfect tool for the job.

        Damn mods smoking crack again...

        • Re:With my luck... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by 2nd Post! ( 213333 ) <gundbear.pacbell@net> on Sunday March 09, 2003 @02:01PM (#5471849) Homepage
          As you say, you cannot always select what you consider the perfect tool for the job.

          This case, however, is an exception, one of the times where Weed *could* select what he considered the perfect tool for his job.

          You have to trust his judgement, since he's the one out in the desert doing his photo-manip stuff (probably), and as such, if his need for a PowerBook will let us win, and the military agrees, it's really out of our hands other than to backseat drive.

          The issue here is that we're comparing a 1.8GHz (max) P4 to a 1.0GHz G4, where the speed delta is small enough that cache, ram, Altivec, and code optimization might make a difference. I mean, we don't know how fast the Toughbooks they can get, they may possibly get 1.3GHz P4s, or 1.2GHz P3s, in which case the performance/benefit analysis is much different than if they could get 3.0GHz P4s.

          Also note, I think there's ram limitations; a G4 can get 1.0GB, I don't think the Toughbooks can. And a Toughbook actually costs more, to the public, than a G4.

          Now, could he have gotten a Dell instead? Sure. However, he is also most comfortable with a Mac; he *knows* he can get his job done with the PowerBook-at this point then, we have to trust him that he is performing his soldierly duties, and performing them well.
          • This guy is not on the Internet pontificating about spec sheets he just read.

            He said flat-out that the Panasonic machines would "slow to a crawl" when he tried to do his work on them, so he ordered a PowerBook G4.

            Why would you even want to bring MHz or GHz into it? This is a real-world case where a guy traded in his Pentium for a Mac so he could get his graphically-rich work done. For Mac vs PC discussion (ugh) it is not that great. If he got it for encryption then Mac fans could high-five, because it is also faster for that and that's not well-known. The fact that a Mac is a better choice for graphics is, like, duh. You boot a Mac and the first thing you see is a graphical screen with an Apple logo on it, then a boot-up progress bar that's totally graphical, then an OS that's totally graphical to operate. It's no secret that Macs do graphics.

        • Re:With my luck... (Score:1, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          [intrepidsoftware.com]is defined as: The author attacks an argument which is different from, and usually weaker than, the opposition's best argument.

          Solaris was just enough of a curve ball to miss the deadline. It is not like they were not qualified, the tools were just a bit different.

          Talking about straw men, you are equating the ease of use of a Macintosh with the ease of use of a Solaris. My 74 yo, life-time housewife mother-in-law bought an iMac because she wanted to see what this internet thing was all about. She had it up and running without any help. I wonder how she'd do with a Solaris. You are also comparing the ease of operating the same program (Photoshop) on two different platforems with the ease of manipulating the same database on two platforms. What client did you use on both platforms? Was it the same? Was it command line? If so, do you believe that comparing Photoshop with Photoshop is the same as comparing the command line environments of unix with that of NT?

          Photoshop on a laptop, it is easier and faster than most of the alternatives ? but it is different ? menu behavior specifically

          If you extend this logic, this means that if the entire army is not on the same version of Excel a replacement who is use to Excel 2000 on NT won't be able to do his job on Excel XP on a faster computer. Back to the software at hand, I am sure the amount of time it would take to find the Adjust Levels menu item on a Mac when you are used to finding the command on a PC will be negated by the speed difference. In the past, I have had no difficulty using PC versions of Mac software when it's required. I'm reasonably certain that professional users of PC technology can make the transition.

          I suspect your CO would also have you peeling potatoes if you swapped personal equipment for older gear 'because it would save lives'.

          Ummm...no. He would have had me do extra duty if I made modifications he didn't allow. We are talking about a rear echelon office analyst who has traded a chair in some Brigade or Division headquarters for a stool in a tent with a little more sand around it. You honestly think this Major snuck the Powerbook overseas? At that level, things are much more flexible than at the infantry squad level. Hell even our Batallion Admin office was a mixed platform environment. BTW There was a healthy mix of technology at all levels of RATT operations from Batallion level all the way up to Command level. We were expected to know how to use all of it. Some units still used Korean war era technology with Vietnam era encryption. The problem is, you are thinking about this as if you knew what you were talking about, and you don't.

          In an environment where you have to work with a fluid team, you cannot always select what you consider the perfect tool for the job.

          But he did, and his superiors let him because they saw merit in his logic, and the people who work with him are not as dumb as you think. You are acting like he's using Filemaker while everyone else is using Foxpro, when he's actually using two versions of the same program, a situation you can easily find on identical hardware.

    • Re:With my luck... (Score:2, Informative)

      by befletch ( 42204 )

      OT, but...

      I'll be the one pulling the laptop out from underneath the Major's corpse trying to figure out where the heck is the second mouse button went.

      Then just plug in a standard USB two button mouse and be done with it. I'd recommend a scroll mouse, personally.

      I'm using a Logitech optical scroll mouse right now on my iMac. No drivers to install or anything. The right button brings up context menus on just about anything, and AppleWorks is the only program I have that doesn't respond to the scroll wheel.

      I love the look and feel of the Apple 'Pro Mouse', and I'd pay Apple $50 for a two button scroll wheel version, but I'm perfectly happy to put up with this one piece of ugly beige plastic to get its superior functionality.

    • I'm pretty sure if you don't already know how to use a Mac and the relevant software, the best thing you're going to be able to do with that PowerBook is brain the nearest enemy soldier with it.

      In which case, yes, the Panasonic would have been a better choice, being that it's both bigger and heavier than the PowerBook. But you've gotta make some compromises, you know?
      • I really do feel lost when I get on one of those things. Perhaps that is why my bride wants one... to keep my grubby hands off it. Spending more than a couple minutes at a demo machine would probably fix that. Someday.

        Anyhow, I'll be popping over to your side of the pond next week to finish/fix some code that someone dumped without warning. I spend most of my time on the J2EE side of the fence, so nothing like a crash course in MSSOAP and VBScript with a hard deadline approaching. Guess I'm still a little bitter about someone doing their own thing. Still beats camping in the desert however...

      • Beauty of the Mac... (Score:4, Funny)

        by MacAndrew ( 463832 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @06:45PM (#5473128) Homepage
        If you used it to brain your enemy, it would STILL work AND would be simple enough for the debrained enemy to operate.

        So there. :)

        I'm most impressed not that this guy wanted a Mac, but that he actully got one. The military is rightly known for a plodding mentality, and what's he going to do if he needs an extra battery? Steal it from CNN? Of course, had the guy simply called Apple to say, hey, I'd like to place the first Mac in the field, they would have sent over ten gratis.

        Clicking away on my deweaponized iBook...

    • I'm assuming that the two-button mouse thing is just a tongue-in-cheek jab - it's easy enough to get a two-button mouse and plug it in. The Mac OS has recognized two-button mice for a while now, but Steve still believes that Ma and Pa Kettle are going to get confused, so you don't get one in the box. Personally, I couldn't live without my IntelliMouse Explorer - 5 buttons and a wheel, baby!

      More interesting to me, however, is that the Mac might be a better fit and a lot more useful to the military than it would appear at first blush. With its Unix underpinnings, it lends itself nicely to mission-critical applications when needed, and a lot of the Unix geeks I know really like the PowerPC chips. I'm sure the military has been recruiting a lot more Windows programmers over the last 10 years or so, but its foundations lie in the older "big iron" OSs. There are probably a lot of soldiers that would feel comfortable knowing that a Unix shell is just a click away.

      Not that I know that for sure... but it seems logical to me.

      • Every time Apple asks their customers about mouse buttons they get like 75% saying they still use the one-button mouse and just love it. What are you going to do? You can't argue with success. The whole UI only asks you to use one mouse button, and you NEVER even have to double-click, that is just a short-cut (some people cannot double-click, I have trained people and they just can't do it, especially older people). To open a file or application, you can always go "File > Open" instead of double-clicking. In Windows there are a bunch of things where you HAVE to double-click, and where you HAVE to right-click. If you grew up with a mouse in your hand, have some sympathy for those who didn't and have enough humility to think that a 25 million user platform knows what the fuck it is doing after over 20 years of graphical computing.

        Mac OS supports pretty much any USB mouse you can find just by plugging it in, no matter how many mouse buttons (I think the actual upper limit is 32), so nobody is denied their $9.99 right to a two-button scrolling mouse. The single-button optical mouse you get standard with your system goes for $30-40 on eBay, so it even pays for a high-quality, third-party mouse.

  • It does make some sense... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 08, 2003 @11:11PM (#5469828)
    ...to have at least one of the computers different from the others. When a virus written by some 9th grader wipes out the Windows boxes at least the PowerBook will be up and running.

    Or vice versa...

    It also kinda goes with the whole "Power of One" ad campaign the Army has going on.

    Used to be SSG Nichols
  • The system itself is fine, but I personally would not want literally mission critical apps running on OS X, nor would I want them on Windows. I would say that *nix (not apple's version) is a better solution as far as operating systems go. Ive seen OS X dump programs, become unresponsive temporarily, etc on powerbooks before and it happens a bit too much I think to actually perform extremely time-critical tasks on; atleast, without a backup.

    • matched set...best choice (Score:4, Insightful)

      by djupedal ( 584558 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @07:17AM (#5470822)
      I think what you've 'seen' is anecdotal.

      Since we don't know exactly what his 'mission critical' tasks are, exactly, we have to take his word for why he chose a G4. It sounds like this guy already has reason to trust his choice. After all, it's not just the hardware nor just the software...it's the combination, and in this case, they are strictly made for each other. I know of no other examples that come close...
    • Continue trying to convince yourself that you really are better off without Mac OS X. Pretend it is "just as bad as Windows". Pretend that there aren't millions of users out there who forget where their Mac's reset button is. Pretend that they have computer viruses, and that they don't trust their system's security. You'll feel better.
  • the world's most bitching Switch ad.

  • Mac fanatics take over the military! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Smack ( 977 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @01:42AM (#5470255) Homepage
    "In a room full of ugly, ruggedized Panasonic Toughbooks running Windows 2000," he said, "the glowing white Apple against the titanium skin of the G4's lid draws looks from everywhere, and acts as a magnet for the closet Mac addicts serving with the Third Infantry Division."

    • Re:Mac fanatics take over the military! (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Wow, isn't this a violation of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on OS preference in the military? I would think they'd only want mindless Windows-using sheep, who accept what they are told and follow orders to reboot/reinstall without question. The armed forces have no use for free-thinking Mac users!

  • Ok serious question (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Holi ( 250190 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @01:55AM (#5470300)
    If the military is using intel equipped notebooks running windows 2000, then changing from his too slow but rugged notebook to a powerbook I would tend to think he is using some off the shefl commercial app. Why? because I really doubt the military would spend the time or effort to redevelop some custom app for processing satellite images just so one Major can run non-standard equipment. Infact it is rare that the military will let anyone use non-standard equipment in a critical position. So I tend to think this guy is probably not in a critcal position and may actually be in some PR department in the army where he may be using Photoshop or the like to touch up images for dispersal to various news organizations.

    • Re:Ok serious question (Score:5, Interesting)

      by 2nd Post! ( 213333 ) <gundbear.pacbell@net> on Sunday March 09, 2003 @02:56AM (#5470451) Homepage
      There's no reason he couldn't be doing imagine manipulation, enhancement, and analysis using Photoshop; so long as the image is in a standard image format (and why not?), it's just pixels and filters.

      I mean, even if it's just simple stuff:
      Overlays of two images taken in different spectrums (IR and visible)
      Time-lapse animation (multiple layers transformed into an animation, not unlike an animated GIF)
      Edge detection/feature enhancement
      Cropping to remove useless data
      Rotation, perspective, and skewing to transform poorly captured or framed images into more easily understood images
      Overlay of before/after shots (perhaps using difference blending)
      Comparison of two different photos with an identical feature (perhaps identifing buildings, known vs unknown, performed again with overlays and blends)
      Scaling of a photo so a comparison to a similar photo, taken with different settings, can be accomplished
      Enhancement of a photo to compensate for low light levels (levels, etc)
      Normalization of a photo (perspective, levels, colors, scale) so comparisons between two different photos can be accomplished

      All of those are trivial with Photoshop.
      • There's no reason he couldn't be doing imagine manipulation, enhancement, and analysis using Photoshop; so long as the image is in a standard image format (and why not?), it's just pixels and filters.

        True... I'm just wondering if they ARE in standard image formats.

        I know that some of the GPS work/fun (fishing and hunting trips) that I do involves non-standard (as in non-photoshop-compatable) formats, and requires the use of some software like Fugawi, so I can only imagine what format some military satelite images might be in.

        It would be interesting to see what kind of formats the images really are in...

        • Re:Ok serious question (Score:4, Interesting)

          by nettdata ( 88196 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @02:19PM (#5471938) Homepage
          And of course, I just thought of something...

          It'd be interesting to see what software he's using since he can do the same job on both the Winows 2000 and the OS X platform... I wonder if it IS photoshop that they're using, of if it's some internal military app?

          If it was some internal, special app, maybe it's been ported to both Unix and Windows, meaning the OSX box just had to recompile it.

          Maybe all he did was install Fink and then recompile the thing, and now it works. Wouldn't THAT be a story!

          In a way it'd be kind of boring to think that all he did was use Photoshop. *sigh*

        • Just because you use apps that create weird graphics formats, why would you assume the military would?

          You can take a Mac out of its box and start it for the first time and it already knows how to read every common graphics format and many that are only common to professionals.

          This article only says "Macs are better for graphics". Everybody already know that, and so it's weird to see PC bigots being so outright bigoted about it. He isn't running Microsoft Access; he's working with HUGE graphics. That's what Macs are used for. Go to LucasArts and you will see Macs doing still graphics; go anywhere. If you can't accept that a Mac is better for graphics, you have some issues of your own that you might want to check into psychologically. You might be buying the wrong system for the job if you can't even choose a Mac for graphics.

          Photoshop is to graphics what UNIX is to moving files around. QuickTime is to rich-media what Apache is to spitting out Web pages. If you don't know this, or can't accept it, then you are really just hurting yourself. You're the guy running IIS and complaining that he can't switch to Apache because open source is un-American. When you know better, you can't help but wonder why that guy would punish himself with Windows. Kids are playing in the Apple Store at iMacs while their parents buy some serious tools. It is not a hard platform to approach and try for yourself and dispell the multitude of a) myths, and b) old information.
          • Wow...

            Where did that come from?

            Firstly, I've got over 7 years graphic design experience using Photoshop on a Mac.

            I've done Oracle Spatial based GIS implementations for the Canadian and US governments.

            I'm writing this on a PowerBook as we speak.

            When it comes to graphics formats, some GIS based images are NOT your run-of-the-mill Photoshop-ready images. It wouldn't be THAT far of a stretch to think that satelite images might be similarly encoded.

            Try using _some_ marine electronic charts, for instance... I've got 4 formats off hand that I can't open in Photoshop, and wouldn't expect to be able to because it has specialty information embedded in it. Fugawi, on the other hand, deals with them with no problem.

            Also, Fugawi is used by the military. Check out this link [fugawi.com] for information on their second generation targeting-navigational system.

            My point was it would be interesting to see what apps and file formats they WERE using.

            Man... take a pill and grab a clue.

      • Re:Ok serious question (Score:4, Interesting)

        by BWJones ( 18351 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @05:19PM (#5472721) Homepage Journal
        I'll answer this for you.

        You certainly *can* use Photoshop for many of these functions and I know/have used it for these purposes. Photoshop is one of the most powerful applications in the history of computing for its intended purpose. In addition, there is other software that performs specific GIS functionality (image classification, image registration etc...) on OS X. Some of it written *by* folks in the U.S. Army, the NRO and NIMA.

      • Except that the military satellite system doesn't really use normal file types. Check out <a href="http://164.214.2.51/ntb/intro.html">this tutorial</a> on the image format that is used by NIMA (sat imagery folks).

        Now, I knew Major Weed a number of years ago, and he is really in MI but he was a journalist when he was enlisted. He may be doing some work in Photoshop just because it's not an imagery analyst's task but is useful and he knows the program. Imagery analysts, by the way, are never

      • Except that the military satellite system doesn't really use normal file types. Check out this tutorial [164.214.2.51] on the image format that is used by NIMA (sat imagery folks).

        Now, I knew Major Weed a number of years ago, and he is really in MI but he was a journalist when he was enlisted. He may be doing some work in Photoshop just because it's not an imagery analyst's task but is useful and he knows the program. Imagery analysts, by the way, are never officers.

  • What's the guys address? (Score:3, Funny)

    by krray ( 605395 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @02:37AM (#5470413)
    Poor lonely guy in the field. I'd be more than happy to send him a Disney covered DVD with prOn. He'll work late every night too!

  • Durability, then vs. now? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JMZorko ( 150414 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @03:04AM (#5470473) Homepage
    A couple of years ago, my brother called me up and said "do you want an iBook?" I said "Sure, what's up?" His story was that a friend of his got it when he enlisted in the Army, he was discharged early for some reason and got to keep it, and he needed $$$ so he sold it to my brother, who gave it to me. I don't know if this story is true, but the iBook had OS9, 96MB RAM and the Airport card. This was the original tangerine 300mhz model.

    So I pose, if this is true, and the Army buys computers in bulk for general-purpose use without regard to what applications they might be used for, a.) why they chose the iBook then, and b.) why they didn't this time. Are the old iBooks somehow more durable than the new (they're definitely a lot heavier)?

    Regards,

    John

    • no idea if this has anything to do with military use, (or if the military ever issued tangerine iBooks to recruits...) but I work in what is arguably the next toughest user-environment: secondary education, and can tell you first hand that the old iBooks are *way* tougher than the new ones.

  • Not the only... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Dak RIT ( 556128 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @04:40AM (#5470618) Homepage
    Actually it's not the *only* PowerBook G4 being used here right now. I've got an 867MHz PowerBook G4 I bought back in July 2002 that I am using while stationed in Camp Va, Kuwait. I use it for very similar reasons to Major Weed, although I had to purchase mine myself.

  • The New iPod Fatigues (Score:4, Funny)

    by Cheesewhiz ( 61745 ) <ianp.mac@com> on Sunday March 09, 2003 @04:58AM (#5470639) Homepage
    This is what I've been telling people all along -- Apples save lives.

    We've got to get our troops as many of these new uniforms [ipatterson.com] as we can. Do it for little Jimmy American on the front lines, darnit!

    (Nothing like a little ruthless self-promotion to get a day started right!)

    • yup.. an apple a day keeps the doctor away ;-) (LOL)

      No kidding though, my roommate got an apple and now I don't have any of the computer issues I have when he uses windows. Hell I don't hear him complain at all except that the wireless conneciton is slow, and I tell him to use the lan cause it is much faster ;-).

  • Man. I tried the link to look at the ToughBook, and it was absolutely miserable. It is really hard to find specs on their computers. It is kind of like they assume you already know all the models and what they are. Even finding the prices was very awkward. You'd think that a company like Panasonic would work a little harder on their web pages?

    -Jeff

  • Major Weed / Mac (Score:4, Funny)

    by BobWeiner ( 83404 ) on Sunday March 09, 2003 @02:42PM (#5472066) Homepage Journal
    Cool that he's using a Mac. If Saddam's forces defect over to our side, will that make them switchers? :)

    Bob
    • Cool that he's using a Mac. If Saddam's forces defect over to our side, will that make them switchers? :)

      The muezzin, he sounded like weep, weep, weep. I wanted a drink and I couldn't have one. Islam is a dry religion. It was kind of bummer. Now I respect the American Way Of Life. And I have better drinks. My name is Osama and I am a logistics consultant.
  • Wrong [mac-mike.com].

    Now if that only meant something to be proud of...
  • i wonder if it's a mapping thing. i know someone else who's stationed in the Middle East right now doing similar work who's also using a Mac to do it, although he had to purchase it himself.

    there's a Mac presence within the Army, which can't be a bad thing.

    "now, drop the little bomb icon on the little tank icon and they blow up"

  • Lives are "on the line"? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Zhe Mappel ( 607548 ) on Monday March 10, 2003 @04:41AM (#5475314)
    Excuse me?

    Most of the planet is up in arms about this invasion of Iraq and the declared intent by Washington to make no part of Baghdad safe (at the inevitable expense of untold numbers of citizens). And this trained killer says lives are "on the line"?

    Correction: lives are about to be wasted, made trash, disposed of, terminated. Let's at least be honest about that much.

    • Don't blame the intel guy for the decisions made by the CIC.
    • Wasted lives are the Kurds whom Saddam Hussein gassed:
      http://www.phrusa.org/research/chemical_w eapons/ch emiraqgas2.html

      Wasted lives are the Kuwaiti civilians killed during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait:
      http://www.meforum.org/article/238

      On the other hand, people who offer up their lives in the hope that another will have a life of liberty is what I'd call a noble sacrifice---here's hoping there won't be many in this conflict if it comes to that.

      Note that many Iraqis have already so lost their lives---look up struggles for the city of Kirkuk since the Gulf War, and note especially how Saddam Hussein has attempted to stack the deck there by moving in people loyal to him.

      William

Slashdot Top Deals

A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable. -- Thomas Jefferson

Close