Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Have you ever tried to load up Storm Eagle Studio’s masterpiece of a naval game, Distant Guns, only to get the error “Last Login attempt failed due to inability to connect to the SES server” because of their horrendous DRM? If so, your prayers have finally been answered. Everyone who knows me knows I’m a huge fan of the Russo-Japanese War. Ever since I read Constantine Pleshakov’s book, The Tsar’s Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima, I’ve been enchanted by the story of Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky aboard his Borodino-class flagship, Knyaz Suvorov, on his journey to…

Senate Democrats again urged the Trump administration Wednesday to abandon its plans to collect detailed health information from federal workers, retirees and their families, saying recent tweaks to “de-identify” records are insufficient to protect employees’ privacy.Last December, the Office of Personnel Management published an information collection request in the Federal Register that would require insurers who participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs to provide monthly reports with identifiable health data on their enrollees.Following pushback from federal employee groups and medical ethicists, OPM in June revised its proposal, purporting to take steps to mask…

Strong legs are built through progressive resistance training, enough challenging weekly work, and consistent practice. The more difficult question is which exercises deserve the most attention. Should you prioritize big compound lifts such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, and leg presses? Or can isolation exercises such as leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises, and hip abductions build equally impressive strength? The answer depends on what you mean by strong legs. If your goal is to move the most weight in demanding whole body movements, compound exercises should be the foundation of your training. They train several major muscle groups at once…

Artificial intelligence is helping to fuel more effective benefits fraud, according to a top official with the Social Security Administration’s watchdog, but federal agencies should also leverage the new technologies to better deter would-be scammers from pilfering government funds. During a discussion at the GovExec Government & AI Summit on Tuesday, Chad Bungard — the chief strategy officer at SSA’s Office of the Inspector General — warned that “AI is changing the game in terms of fraud threats,” which is requiring investigators to also change up their prevention efforts. “The government is looking towards AI to fight fraud, and the criminals are…

Since World War II, the US Army has built its combined arms approach around the complementary employment of armor, infantry, artillery, and engineers. That foundation remains sound. Yet contemporary conflicts demonstrate that land warfare now occurs under persistent observation, extended engagement ranges, and constant pressure from inexpensive unmanned systems and electronic warfare. The Army should not discard its established operational framework in response. It should instead evolve combined arms by defining the relationships, roles, and interdependencies between manned formations and unmanned systems. Drones and sensors should not be treated as independent or specialized capabilities. They should be understood as integral…

JERUSALEM — Israel’s SPICE 1000 bomb technology will soon be droppable from the country’s F-35 fighter aircraft, manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced on Wednesday.The Israeli company states that the integration work is being executed as a joint initiative between Rafael and Lockheed Martin, the aircraft’s manufacturer, at Lockheed’s facilities in the United States. Development and testing are expected to conclude within a few months, according to the firm.Following completion, the munition will be formally cleared for operational employment by the Israeli Air Force’s F-35 fleet. At a later stage, the capability is set to become available to F-35 operators…

Pocheon-Si, Gyeonggi-Do, Republic of Korea (ROK) – 16 September 2026 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Hanwha Aerospace have completed the first-ever flight operations from a simulated battlefield by a medium altitude, long endurance uncrewed aircraft. The partners proved that the Mojave Short Takeoff and Landing aircraft, or Mojave STOL, could land at a tank and artillery live-fire range during simulated combat conditions and then take off again to continue the mission. “This demonstration showcased Mojave’s ability to perform tactical missions that are representative of real battlefield requirements and challenges,” said GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue. “Whether the user needs…

This year, the U.S. Army’s top drill sergeants had to do more than hurl toe-curling insults and foam at the mouth like ferocious, rabid wolves. On Wednesday, the service wrapped up an intensive 72-hour competition to determine the Army’s best broad-brimmed hat-wearing men and women, announcing the contest’s first winners since the service brought recruiting and initial training under the same three-star command. Staff Sgt. Noel Berges, of Leesburg, Virginia, was named the 2026 U.S. Army Drill Sergeant of the Year, and Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Harrington, of Mauldin, South Carolina, won the title for the U.S. Army Reserve after…

Human approval may not be enough to ensure manual control over AI-enabled decisions, witnesses told Congress Wednesday, as artificial intelligence takes on a greater role in military target identification and recommendations, and in turn, compresses time available to intervene.The concern, critics say, is not limited to weapons that can select and engage targets on their own. At the hearing, titled “Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain: Implications for Human Rights,” witnesses told members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission that AI can influence human decisions leading to a strike while leaving the individual formally responsible for the final call.…

A South Carolina sheriff’s office is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an Iraq War veteran who claims a mistaken automated license plate camera alert led deputies to hold him at gunpoint outside his home. Steven Melvin, 42, an Iraq War veteran from Lake Wylie, S.C., sued the York County Sheriff’s Office and three officers after a February 2024 traffic stop triggered by a Flock Safety license plate reader. The lawsuit, originally filed in state court in June and later moved to federal court, alleges excessive force, false imprisonment and negligence. Flock Safety’s automated license plate…