tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1909776554950676442010-01-15T02:18:55.429-05:00The Mil & Aero BlogThe MAE editorial staff uses the Military Aerospace and Electronics Blog to share ...Pennwell Blogs Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15757232455847950283noreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-52645043897922348052010-01-15T02:03:00.004-05:002010-01-15T02:18:55.440-05:00Another kind of Oscar racePosted by Courtney E. HowardEach year at this time, I scramble to view as many Oscar contenders as I can before the award ceremony is held (March 7, this year). Nominees will be announced on Feb. 2, so nothing is official as yet, but the industry is still buzzing with speculation. Years ago, I had the privilege of covering digital content creation as a senior technical editor of a monthly trade Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04141051408421200821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-46904098082940150222010-01-07T14:53:00.002-05:002010-01-07T15:00:08.421-05:00Intel i7 microprocessor set to produce a tectonic shift in military embedded computer industryPosted by John KellerLAS VEGAS, 7 Jan. 2010. The military embedded computer industry is turning backflips today amidst the excitement surrounding this morning's introduction by microprocessor giant Intel Corp. of its Core i7, i5, and i3 processors at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.Several of Intel's powerful new microprocessors are based on the company's 32-nanometer John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-62636344180045051342009-12-31T22:33:00.003-05:002009-12-31T22:43:42.577-05:00E-networking revolution highlighted 2009Posted by John McHaleAt Military & Aerospace Electronics in 2009 we dived right into social networking or as we like to call it e-networking. We have a fan page on Facebook, a group on Linkedin called the PennWell Aerospace and Defense Media Group, and gather our news content on Twitter under #milaero and avionics content on #avintel.It's been a fun and successful way to push out our online news JMchalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556947971594707399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-29223919275750213182009-12-12T06:08:00.003-05:002009-12-12T06:09:49.675-05:00Tiger Woods: please, just make it all go awayPosted by John KellerAs Americans we confront vigorous debates on how to deal with unemployment, how to finance real estate in a down market, government's role in health care and private business, and whether "global warming" is a legitimate threat or an elaborate hoax. So what dominates the front pages? Tiger Woods.For those of you just back from extended vacations on Saturn, Tiger Woods plays John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-77166657155982778442009-12-07T11:15:00.006-05:002009-12-08T14:10:21.531-05:00Vengeful American fighter pilots get their pound of flesh at Pearl HarborPosted by John KellerConsider a couple of young hotshot fighter pilots on their dream assignment in Hawaii. Short work days, plenty of sun and sand, and parties ... think of the parties ... rooftop dinner-dances at Waikiki beachfront hotels, big bands, pretty girls, endless rum and tropical fruit drinks -- and always a poker game to be had in the wee hours.Ah, that was the life, and it belonged John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-47594125623247924502009-12-02T00:02:00.002-05:002009-12-02T00:07:14.081-05:00IITSEC not as busy this year but the technology is as cool as everPosted by John McHale. Traffic at Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando, Fla., this week is a little less and the exhibit floor is a little smaller -- seems like a whole hall is missing -- than last year, but the technology showcased is as cutting edge and just as plain cool as it always was. The annual trade show focuses on technology for JMchalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556947971594707399noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-43514620794238318852009-11-19T13:43:00.003-05:002009-11-19T13:55:02.612-05:00Guest blog: Navy demonstrates value of military cloud computing during recent naval exerciseBy Kevin JacksonIn October as part of the U.S. Navy's annual Trident Warrior exercise, Dataline LLC demonstrated that a standard shipboard communications infrastructure could be used to manage a commercial cloud computing infrastructure as a service (IaaS) platform. Presented during the fall Trident Warrior '10 (TW '10) lab period, Dataline's secure cloud computing experiment used a simulated John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-31747218555718855262009-11-17T12:42:00.003-05:002009-11-17T12:45:33.128-05:00Heat is buckling the flight decks of Navy ships; this looks like a job for the thermal management expertsPosted by John KellerEvery now and then I run across things that although they have little, if anything, to do with aerospace and defense electronics, still stop me in my tracks. Here's one I tripped over this morning: did you know the hot exhaust from the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft is buckling the flight decks of the Navy's big-deck amphibious assault ships?I didn't either, but this John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-84954625105693210602009-11-11T02:48:00.003-05:002009-11-12T14:33:19.672-05:00Trends: another embedded software supplier snapped up by a computer hardware companyPosted by John KellerWell, it's official: microprocessor hardware maker Cavium Networks is acquiring MontaVista Software. This is the second time in a year that a hardware company is acquiring an influential embedded software company. You might remember last June when Intel bought Wind River Systems. We're seeing a trend here. In both instances, the hardware company is going after the software John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-25011691609272827372009-10-29T11:03:00.003-04:002009-10-29T11:18:12.789-04:00COTS, COTS, COTS, COTSPosted by John McHale. Nearly everyone I speak to at defense electronics trade shows or for interviews over the phone brings up the COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) procurement term in some way. They make COTS products, use COTS practices, or think COTS is the worst thing in the world. Everyone seems to have different definitions or different acronyms for COTS. I've heard GOTS -- JMchalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556947971594707399noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-88548426449325730862009-10-28T15:33:00.003-04:002009-10-28T17:25:05.702-04:00We're not playin' around: E-networking means business, not socializingPosted by John KellerAll of us conducting business on E-networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and the others are running into a problem: a growing number of companies and other organizations are coming up with policies that ban the use of so-called "social networking" while at work. While it's difficult to characterize the depth of this mistake, we have ourselves at least partially John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-5128681123162938032009-10-25T10:06:00.002-04:002009-10-25T10:09:49.936-04:00DOD contracting: it's quiet out there; too quietPosted by John KellerThere seems to be a lull in technology-related contracting at the U.S. Department of Defense over the past week. A scan of the bluetops shows days on end with just one or two awards of consequence to the aerospace and defense electronics community. Makes me a little nervous.Not a lot to report out there. The Navy's about to pull the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise out of the John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-41286104747219080412009-10-20T17:31:00.000-04:002009-10-20T17:32:14.885-04:00OpenVPX interoperability standard hands off to VITA in another step toward ratificationPosted by John KellerWell I'll be jiggered! They did what they said they were going to do, when they said they were going to do it.I'm talking about the OpenVPX committee, whose members passed the OpenVPX interoperability draft standards over to the VITA 65 committee of the VITA Standards Organization on Monday, on time, on budget, and on the ball. It's refreshing, in this day and age, to see John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-78215674721382401172009-10-17T00:32:00.004-04:002009-10-19T19:37:32.734-04:00Editor at largePosted by Courtney E. HowardWow, upon writing the headline, a flood of fat jokes popped into my head, but I will fight the impulse (which is also a good dieting tactic). It just goes to show you: I should never write a blog on a Friday night.I had an incredible week, traveling about Oregon visiting with knowledgeable, charismatic, and passionate executives at technology firms serving military andCourtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04141051408421200821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-5926419763835799572009-10-10T19:24:00.004-04:002009-10-19T23:46:44.790-04:00DVT: Not just in M-ATVsPosted by Courtney E. HowardAn editor at Military & Aerospace Electronics for a few years now, I have covered a wealth of topics and I have a few favorite "beats." Among them are vetronics, or electronic systems and devices employed in and on combat vehicles on land. I enjoy writing an annual feature article on vetronics for Military & Aerospace Electronics. In covering the topic, this yearCourtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04141051408421200821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-79975834560341474362009-10-09T07:12:00.000-04:002009-10-09T07:13:21.555-04:00It's official: Nobel Peace Prize now has no value whatsoeverPosted by John KellerWe have American soldiers dying in Afghanistan, bereft of top leadership as President Barack Obama dithers day after day. We have Iran speeding toward developing nuclear weapons as Obama sits on his hands. We have terrorists apprehended in war zones basking on Caribbean beaches instead of in cells in Guantanamo Bay. ... and for this Obama gets handed the Nobel Peace Prize. John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-64563689544628652182009-10-08T16:10:00.002-04:002009-10-08T16:14:53.853-04:00The #milaero online community and the stream of Twitterness -- it's all about youDid you know there's a Military & Aerospace Electronics online community on Twitter? Neither did I until yesterday. It's happening, organically, every day, through a nifty, yet powerful, Twitter tool called the hashtag.Welcome to the wonderful world of ad-hoc social networking, Twitter style, in which groups of people with similar interests like us form spontaneously around industries, Websites, John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-43661006342965952432009-09-29T15:37:00.003-04:002009-09-29T15:39:58.995-04:00Russian T-95 main battle tank: could this combat vehicle be more formidable than we thought?Posted by John KellerI wrote about a new Russian main battle tank (MBT) more than a year ago, the T-95, in a blog headlined "New Russian battle tank: it's beginning to look a lot like the '80s." In this blog I wrote of a chilling sense I had about what felt like a return the bad old days of the Cold War between the United States and the then-Soviet Union. This T-95 tank which is supposed to enterJohn Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-82764702869678527732009-09-28T12:45:00.003-04:002009-09-28T12:52:54.891-04:00Can commercial software-defined radio replace JTRS? One reader points out why notPosted by John KellerI wrote a story earlier this month headlined, Air Force plan to cut its JTRS military radio program may acknowledge developments in private industry, in which I suggest that commercial radio communications developments in software defined radio (SDR) technology may be surpassing the U.S. military's Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), and that commercial SDR might eventually John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-48938329537450815712009-09-16T17:37:00.002-04:002009-09-16T17:42:57.236-04:00Test and measurement systems designers leave rugged computers to the expertsPosted by John KellerANAHEIM, Calif. -- There seems to be a trend in portable electronic test and measurement equipment that involves commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) rugged laptop and notebook computers. Seems the test and measurement folks want to leave the rugged computer portions of their systems to the real experts.This trend was in evidence as I prowled the aisles of the AutoTestCon test andJohn Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-8746197916088104002009-09-11T08:50:00.002-04:002009-09-11T09:02:50.134-04:00Remembering the lessons of 9/11Posted by John KellerToday is September 11, 2009. It was eight years ago this morning -- in about 25 more minutes as I write this -- that we as a nation gathered, horrified, around television sets to watch as one of the World Trade Center towers burned in New York City.All we knew at that moment was that some sort of airplane hit the edifice. There were whispers of terrorism, but no one knew for John Kellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18244595171505977859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-35699073448182968952009-09-10T19:23:00.001-04:002009-09-10T19:26:10.475-04:00Attendees at London defense show have positive attitudePosted by John McHaleMoving through the multiple security check points and walking the floors at the Defense Systems and Equipment International Exhibition -- DSEi 2009 -- in London I found the mood of the attendees quite positive.Defense system integrators and military embedded electronics suppliers all said the traffic -- while not steady -- was well focused. The atmosphere echoed many recent JMchalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556947971594707399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-41969538528812019722009-09-03T22:58:00.003-04:002009-09-03T23:50:02.280-04:00Kudos to Kamen, kids, and contractorsPosted by Courtney E. HowardMy hat is off to Dean Kamen, famous inventor of such innovations as the Segway PT, and mil-aero industry players, such as Rockwell Collins and General Dynamics. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a Manchester, N.H.-based organization founded by Kamen to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology, has Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04141051408421200821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-25418583986826332402009-08-28T00:15:00.002-04:002009-08-28T00:20:41.711-04:00Business lessons from an MIT professorPosted by John McHaleLast week during a visit to SynQor in Boxborough, Mass., I received a lesson on cost-of-ownership by the company founder, who is also a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor. SynQor makes high-reliability power electronics for demanding environments such as military avionics.Martin Schlecht, SynQor's founder, president, and chief executive officer (CEO)JMchalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556947971594707399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-70483800690385549972009-08-18T16:50:00.002-04:002009-08-18T16:55:02.914-04:00GE and Fanuc call it quitsPosted by John McHaleAs of yesterday GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms is now called GE Intelligent Platforms after GE and Fanuc reached an agreement to no longer continue their original agreement.What does this actually mean for the embedded military market? Probably not much. I think GE Intelligent Platforms will pretty much go along as they have been going, making embedded single-board computers JMchalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556947971594707399noreply@blogger.com0