A free spam filter that actually works? I've been using Thunderbird for about two weeks. It has a device whereby you can "teach" the system to recognize spam and block it. It works. Spam is deposited in a junk folder so you can be sure it's not deleting the wrong stuff and it takes a couple of weeks to "teach" it. Good as Outlook Express? There are some trade offs but I like it, if Outlook switched and had the spam blocker I'd go back to it. Late add Today I received less than ten emails, all from people I want to mail me. I was getting more than 90.
1 comment:
Howard, I wanted to email this stuff instead of posting it in comments, but Windows wants to to re-install Outlook, or some sh*t, in order to do so. I hate computers.
The message is: Not all HMMWV's are the same. Some have uprated suspensions to handle heavier maximum weight. So some up-armored HMMWV's are way overloaded, but others are not.
Next, Howard, HMMVV's, or Humvees's, are not the only three wheeled amored vehicles: There's the 8x8 St6ryker and the 4x4 M117:
http://www.strategypage.com/search.asp?target=d:\inetpub\strategypageroot\dls\docs\2004415.htm&search=xm7%20armored%20vehicle
How Stryker Survives in Iraq
by James Dunnigan
April 15, 2004
Discussion Board on this DLS topic After four months in Iraq, the Stryker brigade up in northern Iraq lost its first Stryker armored vehicle to an RPG attack on March 28th. Two RPGs were fired at the vehicle and one got past the Slat Armor. The vehicle caught fire and was destroyed. None of the crew were hurt. Only the driver was aboard, and he got out. The rest of the crew (an infantry squad) were on foot patrol at the time. About half a dozen RPG rounds have previously been fired at the brigades 309 Strykers so far, most only causing minor damage. Two Strykers were damaged when hit by a roadside bomb. Only one soldier was injured. Three Stryker crewmen were killed, back in December, when a Stryker rolled over when part of the dirt embankment underneath it collapsed.
The troops like the Stryker, mainly because it's faster than the M-2 Bradley tracked armored infantry vehicle that many of the troops had used earlier in their careers. The Stryker has a smoother ride and it is quiet. This has proved to be a significant advantage when going on raids, or just patrolling. The road wheels and metal pads of a tracked armored vehicle make a lot more noise. The Iraqis are unnerved by silent Strykers sneaking up on them.
Being a new combat vehicle, the Stryker has come under a lot of criticism. But so far, the troops using it are enthusiastic. That is also largely due to the fact that the Stryker is a new vehicle and has a lot of new stuff in it. The vehicle has a .50 caliber (12.7mm) machine-gun that can be fired from inside the vehicle via an automated mechanism and video cameras on the outside of the vehicle. The driver also has a video camera, which provides the driver with more protection (although a narrower view of what's up ahead) when the vehicle is under fire, or in hazardous country.
The Strykers are also equipped with the new FBCB2 "battlefield Internet." This means each vehicle has a computer, and is linked to all the other via satellite. This gives unit commanders a much better sense of where everyone is, especially at night. This stuff, in a less complete form, was used during the 2003 march on Baghdad, and worked well. The more complete FBCB2 has more bells and whistles and the troops seem to like it.
The Stryker brigade is near, a city that has a large Sunni Arab population, a lot of Saddam loyalists, but not as much violence as there is further south in the "Sunni Triangle." About a dozen Strykers have suffered serious damage so far, including several that were totaled. But casualties have not been high, and the troops still have that rush from being the first kids on the block with a new toy. The Stryker has not failed miserably as some critics predicted, and the Stryker troopers are constantly developing new ways to use vehicle. But a full assessment won't be possible until the Stryker brigade completes its one year tour
...
See here for some pix:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/mav.htm
There's also the 4x4 M117:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/asv.htm
M1117 Guardian Armored Security Vehicle (ASV) ASV-150
V-100 Commando
The Armored Security Vehicle-150 (ASV-150) is an armored wheeled vehicle equipped with a turret and armament system designed to meet the security mission requirements of the Military Police Corps. The ASV-150 is a 4 wheel drive vehicle equipped with a 260 horsepower diesel engine, 6 speed automatic transmision and all wheel independent suspension that offers a quality ride while providing superior mobility, agility and handling. The ASV-150 turret is equipped with an improved 40mm MK 19 grenade launcher and 12.7mm machine gun and can be traversed 360 degrees and the weapons elevated between -10 to +60 degrees. The vehicle features roll-on/roll-off C130 tranportability in the fully operational configuration.
...
... The ASV will be organized in a heavy squad design of a Combat Support (CS) MP company (TOE 19477L). This will equate to three ASVs in each of the four platoons and three ASVs in the reaction force of the company headquarters (a total of 15 ASVs per CS MP company is required, however, initial fielding to each company will be with 12). The 15 ASVs will directly replace 15 M1025/26 High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV). The HMMWVs left in the company will remain to complement the ASV, providing flexibility for the MP commander to employ his/her forces in a high/low mix organizational concept. Under this concept, commanders beginning at the company level may task organize as required. The ASV will be utilized specifically for team or squad missions such as convoy escort; area and route reconnaissance and surveillance; counter-incursion reaction force roles; and security of critical assets, key personnel and lines of communication ... "
-- david.davenport1@netzero.com
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