MuckRock News reports that Freedom of Information Act requests faxed to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) started coming back as undeliverable a couple weeks ago. The OSD confirms their fax machine is down, possibly for another few months, because there's no money in their tens of billions of dollars a year budget for a new one, and they can't switch to email as a request method. "The office that oversees the most powerful military in history (not to mention the best-funded) is unable to project when its single fax machine will once again be operational."
DoD office can't process FOIAs because fax machine broken, no money for new one
Reported U.S. airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq coincide with Pompeo tweet about 2019 bombing of U.S. embassy in Baghdad
Reports are circulating late Monday of U.S. air strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Three explosions reported. "Reports of a US strike on Iran-aligned groups in Iraq are coming in after three explosions were heard in Jurf Sakhar southwest of Baghdad, a major Ketaib Hezbollah stronghold and sanctuary," tweeted the Brookings Institute's Ranj Alaaldin, adding,… READ THE REST
US military literally trying to reinvent the wheel
Since 2018, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and DARPA have been trying to reinvent the wheel for the US military, converting it into an all-terrain transformer. Wheels that transform into tracks on the fly and a digital assistant that helps drivers find the safest, surest route across steep terrain — or even does the driving… READ THE REST
Russia and China fly bombers in joint patrol over Pacific
• Russia's Defense Ministry: "the measure was conducted as part of implementing the provisions of the 2020 military cooperation plan and is not aimed against third countries" Russian and Chinese bomber aircraft flew a joint mission over the Western Pacific on Tuesday. The patrol operation is the second such flight since a July 2019 patrol… READ THE REST
These blue-light-blocking glasses are here to protect your eyes from the screens you look at all day long
Add another piece of bad news to COVID's destructive fallout: it might be further wrecking your eyesight. With so many of us working from home, the time many now spent in front of a screen is on a drastic rise, now reaching up to 13 hours a day or more. All those device screens just… READ THE REST
These Star Trek smart key organizers are as brilliant as Data and as logical as Spock
Sometimes, you run across an item that's so functional and necessary that you've gotta have it. Other times, you find something that's so wonderfully geeky that you've gotta have it. The sweet spot is when you can find something that scratches both of those distinct itches. These Star Trek edition KeySmart Pro Key Organizers with… READ THE REST
With 18 courses and over 460 hours of training, this is the CompTIA certification bundle you've been waiting for
With so many different protocols, competing frameworks, and differences of opinion floating around, it's often tough for the text industry to come together and agree on virtually anything. However, time and circumstance can occasionally come together to codify a certain app, tool, or technique as the one true way to get things done. When it… READ THE REST