Do you use one of these phones?

Third generation GLONASS-K is a substantial improvement of the previous generation: it is the first unpressurised GLONASS satellite with a much reduced mass (750 kg versus 1,450 kg of GLONASS-M). It has an operational lifetime of 10 years, compared to the 7-year lifetime of the second generation GLONASS-M. It will transmit more navigation signals to improve the system's accuracy, including new CDMA signals in the L3 and L5 bands which will use modulation similar to modernized GPS, Galileo and Compass. The new satellite's advanced equipment—made solely from Russian components—will allow the doubling of GLONASS' accuracy. As with the previous satellites, these are 3-axis stabilized, nadir pointing, with dual solar arrays.The first GLONASS-K satellite was successfully launched on 26 February 2011. Because of their weight reduction, GLONASS-K spacecraft can be launched in pairs from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome launch site using the substantially lower cost Soyuz-2.1b boosters or in six-at-once from the Baikonur Cosmodrome using Proton-K Briz-M launch vehicles.

Ground control

The ground control segment of GLONASS is entirely located within former Soviet Union territory. The Ground Control Center and Time Standards is located in Moscow and the telemetry and tracking stations are in Saint Petersburg, Ternopol, Eniseisk, and Komsomolsk-na-Amure.

Receivers

Septentrio, Topcon, JAVAD, Magellan Navigation, Novatel, Leica Geosystems and Trimble Inc produce GNSS receivers making use of GLONASS. NPO Progress describes a receiver called "GALS-A1" which combines GPS and GLONASS reception. SkyWave Mobile Communications manufactures an Inmarsat-based satellite communications terminal that uses both GLONASS and GPS.As of 2011, some of the latest receivers in the Garmin eTrex line also support GLONASS (along with GPS).

Various smartphones from October 2011 onwards have integrated GLONASS capability, including devices from Sony Ericsson, ZTE, Huawei, Samsung, Apple, Motorola, and Nokia.

FLIR & Harris Support Tier II ARES’ Flight

Partnering with Aurora Aerospace, and VDOS LLC, FLIR Systems announced the successful flight of the Tier II ARES Multi-Mission UAS simultaneously with FLIR's Star SAFIRE(r) 380-HD camera and multiple Harris Communications radios.

Hosted by at USMC Camp Pendleton this experiment was a first for this type of communications capability.

"As unmanned systems continue to redefine the modern battlefield, FLIR Systems is committed to providing the technology that can be successfully integrated into these important platforms," said Bill Sundermeier, President, FLIR Government Systems Division.

FLIR's Star SAFIRE 380-HD is the world's first and only full high-definition system, boasting a full spectrum, single LRU EO/IR imaging system. The stabilized multi-sensor is one in a family of four high-definition multi-sensors that all share a common interface for added flexibility and easier installation and integration.

"FLIR's 380-HD was selected due to its rugged, durable and proven capabilities," says Myles C. Newlove, President and CEO of Aurora Aerospace. "Its performance during these initial testing phases has been thoroughly impressive and serves as a great complement to the team of Aurora Aerospace and VDOS."

The Ares UAS is uniquely capable of acting as a communication relay due to its best in class payload capability of greater than 150lbs and eight+ hour endurance. This combination provides Marines ashore with the ability to maintain secure communications with ships off shore regardless of the terrain, by serving as an airborne relay, providing Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communications even in mountainous terrain and eliminating the need for a satellite relay.

Using Harris tactical radios receiving voice and video from the Ares UAS, Marines were connected to the USS Makin Island located approximately +50 nautical miles off shore. This is the first time such a capability has been integrated into a Tier II UAS platform.

How To Disable Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a website tracking software which can track your IP address, browser information, operating system, country and more when you visit a website. This information is usually available with both Google and also with the website you visit.



Google Analytics is not the only one who collects such information and several websites may use different analytics software to do it, and may also have their own internal tracking. Disabling analytics cannot be done through a simple JavaScript block since many website analytics software also use image tracking.

Most of the analytics software do not provide end-users with a way to opt-out. However, Google does provide users with an option to disable Google Analytics using browser based add-ons for Firefox, IE and Google Chrome. We had written about the Google Analytics Blocker in the past and you can download the add-on for your own browser by visiting this URL.

Once you install this add-on Google Analytics will no longer track your visits to websites which make use of their service. We will keep an eye for other services which disable analytics for other services and let you know once we come across something.

Former IDF Chief: Israel Must Prepare for War

Former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi warned, Thursday, that Israel could not afford to cut its defense budget and should prepare itself for war.

“In comparison to 10 years ago, the possibility of a conflict is not something that we just need to talk about," Ashkenazi said during a lecture at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

"We never saw it coming. It happened on my watch, so it must be said. But if it's any consolation, Egypt never saw it coming either," Ashkenazi said of the so-called Arab Spring protests that have no turned into an Islamic winter in elections throughout the Arab world.

"The Middle East's plates are shifting. What the Egyptian army didn't know, I couldn't have known. (Egypt's) leaders did not know either," he said, adding the ultimate strategic picture was still changing.

Ashkenazi told attendees that confronting Iran's nuclear ambitions required a multi-disciplinary approach that included covert, economic, and potentially military action.

"In my opinion, the strategy vis-à-vis Iran should be to do whatever is possible under the radar coupled with painful and crippling sanctions. However, we should also keep a viable military option on the table," he said.

While Ashkenazi said sanctions were having an effect on Iran, he warned that time was running out since the Iranian nuclear program was moving forward at a rapid pace.

“Our mission now needs to be to slow down the clock and to speed up the clock of sanctions and hope that it works,” he said.

Ashkenazi cautioned that Iran's strategic acumen should not be overestimated, saying Tehran had made some strategic blunders and was threatening to make others as pressure mounts.

"I believe Iran would be making a strategic mistake if it blocks the Strait of Hormuz. Another mistake was trying to kill the Saudi ambassador at a restaurant in the US capital. The Iranians are liable to make more mistakes under pressure," he said.

Ashkenazi served as IDF chief of staff from 2007 until 2011 and certainly played a key role in preparing the military for a possible attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities. A 2007 strike against Syria’s nuclear reactor widely ascribed to Israel also happened on his watch.

Ashkenazi, who oversaw operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009, said the new regime in Cairo made a new Gaza incursion a "complex" undertaking.

"The possibility of conducting another extensive operation in Gaza has become more complex following the events of the past year in Egypt and the change of government in that country," he said.

"I think that this government will not act like Mubarak. I do not think he was a Zionist, but you cannot ignore the fact that he was an anchor of stability in the region considering the not-so simple tests he passed – the wars in Lebanon or the intifada."

eToolz Wraps Up the Most Used Network Tools into One Place

eToolz is a portable network collection tool that brings probably the most useful network or web tools into one place. The network tools included in this tool are:

• DNS query
• Ping
• Trace
• Whois
• Mail-Check
• HTTP-Header
• Time
• PageRank
• Lists, and
• IPConfig

Each tool occupies one tab in the tool, and displays the information at the bottom.

Signature Generator

Signature Generator converts a text-based e-mail address and creates a picture that can be placed on a web page. Picture contains the email address which can be easily read by a human. Crawlers, which search for e-mail addresses, could not realize such types of emails. Email generator creates an image file which can be read by anyone except robots. Right click on the generated email, choose "Save Image As..." and save the picture to your PC, then upload it to your server.

Here:

 A simulation conducted at INSS in late October 2011 staged responses to a scenario of Iran carrying out a nuclear test. The simulation process and the analytical discussions that followed represent one of the functions of the Institute: to anticipate potential future situations in order to comprehend the risks and dangers they pose, and in turn help prepare for them. The simulation does not imply that Israel has come to accept a situation of a nuclear Iran.


Among the principal findings of the simulation: Iran does not intend to forfeit the nuclear weapons in its possession, but will attempt to use them to reach an agreement with the major powers to improve its strategic standing; the US administration exerted pressure on Israel not to wage a military strike against Iran, with an implied threat that Israeli military action would harm US-Israel relations; in response to the new situation, Russia proposed to establish a Russo-American defense alliance that would ensure the security of the Middle East state members; Israel's military option stands to be a significant lever, if not vis-à-vis Iran, then for some of the main players; and Iran’s crossing the nuclear threshold will prompt Saudi Arabia to strive to reach a strategic balance with Iran.

Iran: A Strategic Simulation

The web's worst privacy policy

"With much of the web upset over about Google's latest privacy policy changes, it's helpful to remember it could be much worse: A search engine called Skipity offers the world's worst privacy policy (undoubtedly tongue-in-cheek), filled with lines like this: 'You may think of using any of our programs or services as the privacy equivalent of living in a webcam fitted glass house under the unblinking eye of Big Brother: you have no privacy with us. If we can use any of your details to legally make a profit, we probably will.' The policy gives the company the right to sell any of your data that it wants to any and all corporate customers, send you limitless spam, track your movements via GPS if possible, watch you through your webcam, and implant a chip in your body that is subject to reinstallation whenever the company chooses."

Certain Videos Are Not Playing In Windows Media Player?

Windows Media Player has evolved a lot with the newer version of Windows like Windows 8 and Windows 7, but still it does not support some of the video formats. Since there are a large numbers of Video formats and they are not all supported, there are codec packs available one of them being K Lite Mega Codec Pack. But the problem arises when one or more of these codecs go bad or corrupt. One of the easiest way out is to use a freeware program like VLC Player which can play it all, but not all like its interface and it does not provide all the features and aesthetics of Windows Media Player. Find the K-Lite codec pack here.

DATR Feb 14 - Arlington, VA

Join senior defense officials and discover where priorities and opportunities exist beyond the FY 2013 budget and hear first-hand how programs are implementing affordable and effective designs:

Shay D. Assad, Director Defense Pricing, OSD
Capt David T. Bishop, PM, OHIO Replacement (PMS397)
Dr. Reginald Brothers, (DASD-R), OSD
Cary Chabalowski, Associate Director for Plans & Programs, ARL
Richard T. Ginman, Director, DPAP, OSD
Robert F. Hale, USD (Comptroller) & CFO, OSD
Lt Gen Larry D. James, Deputy Chief of Staff for ISR, HQ USAF
Frank Kendall, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for AT&L
Richard McKinney, Deputy Under Secretary for USAF Space Programs
Lt Gen Richard P. Mills, Deputy Commandant Combat Development & Integration, HQ USMC
Lt Gen Patrick O'Reilly, USA, Director of Missile Defense Agency
Dean Peebels, Deputy Director Infrared Space Systems, USAF SMSC
Dr. Jennifer C. Ricklin, Chief Technologist, AFRL
David M. Van Buren, Air Force Service Acquisition Executive
Rusty Weiger, US Army Deputy PEO for Aviation

Go here for more information and to register.