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I’ve got such a monster live op planned, the only problem is finding the right day or weekend to do it. We’ve got three maps, a Hostage Rescue, Mission, and Mission.

I had origenally begun planning this op last year. I was thinking, wouldn’t it be interesting if the we had to respond to a local attack. So I found a nice MOUT map, we could use the scenario very well. It’s a large urban complex where you really have to watch your back, using bangs, frags, smoke, gas, and claymores are good ideas. The hostages are not to hard but staying alive is. The little subway station is pretty crappy… but well enough for the live op.

Then I tried to think about how I could create a string of related live operations from it. While still trying to figure out where my first map would take place I cooked up a plan. The [SAS] would travel to Russia in search of intelligence. Which would in turn lead them to find proof of the terrorist actions, and end in a show down.

I found a nice snowbase map with a mission that supported what I needed. A military/terrorist base like map, with a laptop computer to bug. The mission also had lots of crates and hostages hidden around. So Live Operation Arctic Recon was born. Random lead the covert op, laptop was bugged but the owner was no where to be found. The team placed a tracking device in a weapons crate and extracted… When Wiz heard voices in a locker room, the Element came in for a dynamic assault. All went well, one hostage safe, two tangos down, and Wiz killed a second hostage %_%.

As a stop gap, I cooked up an hostage rescue mission using another old Rainbow Six map. Where the [SAS] had to deal with some really pissed off IRA guys that just bungled a bank robbery for funds. They took so freaking long to get ready, I added a condition that the Terrorists would execute a hostage every 5 minutes starting ‘now’, came and gone, several hostages down. But after the rest of his Element was cut down, Miles of the Blue Team stormed the complex and saved the day.

I had found a nice map with a mission with a huge fortress of a map. The Live Op? Prince Charles was kidnapped and the [SAS] gets first crack at the rescue. I hope the op gets done sooon. Should the [SAS] team fail, well an Element of the Royal Protection Squad made up of old school [SAS] Members will suddenly appear out of no where and save the day. Valroe has furnished me with after-action report attachments for both cases, hope we complete this op hehe ^_^

I came up with a nice recon mission, I think the real SAS did some similar ops during the unpleasantness with the IRA. The team was ordered to recon a warehouse, mark weapon caches with GPS Bombs (tracking devices included) and leave un detected. The bombs would be blown via remote once the destinations were known. They also had to bring back any intel they could find, I think they nabbed 5/6 docs.

After playing the map with (C)The_Baroness, (C)Destro, and Grishenko one night I hashed out a live op. The Team would go to Bavaria to knock out an Arms dealer. The guys found so many docs on the last map, it was just too good to pass up. Besides I know the [SAS] Members love to C4 things xD

The final live op, is a monster. Three missions where the [SAS] has been called upon to launch a counter attack and push the terrorists off the map.

Operation Vengeance (RvS) Mission Objectives:

Map #1 — Vipers Edge
1. Neutralise all terrorists
2. Secure the subway station
3. Prevent bomb detonations
4. Prevent civilian casualties.

Map #2 — Leviathans
1. Secure the area
2. Laser designate enemy stronghold
3. Reach the extraction point

Map #3 — Dragons fury
1. Prevent bomb detonations
2. Eliminate the Terrorist Leader
3. Reach the LZ and signal for extraction
4. Neutralise all threats (Optional)

The first map I think will be pretty easy as long as they don’t get killed. The second has a little trick to it. The Element will have a good chance to go above and beyond the call of duty. There will be an optional objective and a secret objective *muhauahuaha*. The last operation is not to hard if you can avoid getting killed getting across the map but I expect the ‘secret’ objective and harsh time limit will cause the Element to fail the op, at least if they take the Optional objective.

Only one of these maps has enough that I intend to allow them to do some pre-planning, a short 10-15 minutes. There won’t be time to sit back and have a beer over the briefing. The guys playing this live op will have to dog it through 3 tough maps, destroy the enemy which is estimated to be company size in strength, well armed, on alert and ready to shoot at the drop of a pin. And they have to do it QUICKLY, regular forces get stuck with a mopping up action at best hehe #_#

Not to mention several secret objectives and optional objectives that will effect the mission outcome. This is a huge live op, 3 maps in one op… One day to do it.

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I don’t know why…. but some how every time I start looking at web browsers. Lynx just keeps coming up as #1.

Lynx seems to be able to give me every thing I could possibly want out of my browser. Except for Tabbed Browsing, the options of Images, and most importantly… being able to lay out a page decently !

Links does a much better job on laying pages but I’m more comfortable with Lynx, dang I wish I had time to see what trying to create a new browser based on the Links and Lynx code bases would result in :/

Netscape navigator 9 I like a lot but it’s just too bloody slow.

Firefox 2 I can’t stand, it’s crap as far as I’m concerned… Hopefully 3.x will rock.

I like Seamonkey but since I use only webmail now, theres no need for it when theres Firefox and Navigator.

Opera I like a lot, it’s got a few rough edges but it’s one of the best browsers I’ve ever used. I’ve got to reinstall it on my desktop, keeps crashing…. never had that problem before. It’s nice enough to ask to restore my session on the next run tho.

Konqueror and Safari I like a lot but nether are portable enough for my needs, *yet*

I need to find a decent web browser, some thing I can use consistantly on Windows NT, Linux i386/AMD64, *BSD i386/AMD64, and Mac OS X. While I don’t have a Mac and rarly use Linux Distros. I like to have the SAME program as much as possible between OSes. Like Vim, works on every OS I’m likely to use and nearly any OS I’ll probably bump into. The major difference is I tend to preffer GVim (Vim’s GUI) only when I don’t have a decent terminal emulator, like on Windows XP. CMD.EXE is a poor one compared to Konsole.

How old am I?

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Hmm, let me think.

I was largely trained by [SAS]_Trp_Rand, [SAS]_Cpl_Relish, [SAS]_Trp-Cpl_Wiz, [SAS]_Sgt_James, [SAS]_Cpl_JB, and [SAS]_En4cer, I think he was SSM at the time.

My fellow recruits we’re Rasa and Leon.

Recruits I’ve seen go through the selection course,

// Note that this is from memory and is not in complete chronological order
[SAS]_Rct_Fritz -> Left to care for his mom, was Rct around my time
[SAS]_Rct_Rouge -> Long time server reg, Now a Captain; joined when I was a young Trp.
[SAS]_Rct_Mando -> Made trp but is now vet, one of the youngest, a short but fast rising star. I normally consider Mando the last Recruit of my generation.
[SAS]_Rct_Boone -> Dropped out do to real life issues
[SAS]_Rct_Ghost -> On and off Trp/Vet, very mature & a good member
[SAS]_Rct_Noer -> I think he was our first SWAT4 Trooper, now one of our SSM's.
[SAS]_Rct_Fox -> At first I thought he might be another Random in the making. Rasa and I couldn't even tell him from a Trp he fit in so well as a Rct. Currently [SAS]_LCpl_Fox is on vet, our loss but the militaries gain.
[SAS]_Rct_Miles -> A good friend and now a good Sgt xD made me remember what a lazy good for nothing LCpl I was.
[SAS]_Rct_Hexen -> Maybe the only one to train to the same level as I did as a  Trp, made NCO but left for personal reasons. A very great loss for [SAS]
[SAS]_Rct_Midgit -> A fine player but got to bored
[SAS]_Rct_Lazko -> A young rct but now a great Cpl :-)
[SAS]_Rct_Jso -> Long time server reg turned grade A trooper. Now a vet due to time issues
[SAS]_Rct_Merge -> I've never been so impressed as the first day I played with him. Good chap with real world expierence but his work is to busy to keep him in the SC. When I first played with him I almost thought he might've been an ex [SAS] Member lol
[SAS]_Rct_Langley -> Long time on/off server reg but not active enough for Rct. Might've made LCpl some day !
[SAS]_Rct_Canuck -> About to fail the SC....
[SAS]_Rct_Lukas -> Ex PARA, basically our brother as far as clan history goes. A good trooper but prone to computer problems
[SAS]_Rct_Ranger -> Ex PARA, good trooper but a busy life
[SAS]_Rct_Yuke -> Another fine trooper but lots of school work
[SAS]_Rct_Snipe -> Grade A+ bad to the bone trooper, young but sharp as a razor
[SAS]_Rct_Sniper -> Sneakest S.O.B. I've met in the [SAS] next to myself. I think/wonder if he could do my job in [SAS] in a real life regiment hehe ;-)
[SAS]_Rct_DUKE -> A remarkable member, made a razor sharp trooper and trained to high standards, and now a great LCpl and only the future may tell what lays ahead
[SAS]_Rct_Medic -> A very great player, I expect him to be earning his Troopers tags soon xD
[SAS]_Rct_Mantis -> A very impressive player, every thing I know about him screams that he is probably 'our kinda guy'. But sadly seems to be in-active as a Rct.
[SAS]_Rct_Scout -> A very promising recruit and one of the few I think stand a decent chance of passing his T.T. on the first try.

Why do I feel old as dirt ? Most of the people that have trained me are no longer here. Most of the people that we’re here when I first came to [SAS] are no longer here… Those that remain I am very glad to stand along side. For those that have come since; I have/am been proud to know them.

In a way, I envy the new generation of NCO’s. The Selection Course has changed so much since I went through it. The SWAT4 end of things has gone from the teething toddler to a running young lad with Six-gun hehe. I’m still very glade to have had the trainers I have had though. Rand thought me the most important stuff, Relish my dynamic instructor. And the rest to guide and refine me. But throughout it all, Wiz I think was the one that really gave me my shot at Recruit. He’s been a Friend, mentor, co-worker, and a senior during my tenor.

It’s been my very great honour to be around the [SAS], as probably annoying pub, hanger-around, server regular, recruit, trooper, NCO and more. Becoming a [SAS]_Trp was one of the proudest days of my life. And needless to say the only plans I have for ever leaving, is feet first.

Live ready

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Trying to set up a live op is crazy for me…

I plan the mission, I get things ready and give people 1-2 weeks notice, usually a clue of when it will be; e.g. probably saturday/sunday yyyy-mm-dd/dd around hhmm-hhmm GMT.

And it takes a month or 3 to get them in the server 8=)

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Some how it figures rofl. I tried to download the .NET 3.0 framework from Microsoft using Opera and they told me the file can’t not be found on their server.

I fire up Internet Explorer 7 and vola ! It works like a charm ^_^

Microsoft.com is very crippled for Opera Users I think, going by the times I’ve dropped in of my own free will. I wonder if they are that pissy to Mozilla or Netscape :/

Managed to get every thing up to date and even cleaned up my start menu. On my laptop I usually just open a konsole or xterm & tell it to run the programs I want (I’ve always got a terminal emulator handy). It’s more bugger then its worth imho to do that with cmd.exe and my %PATH% is fat enough now. So I think this is a nice solution, especially since I do not like the Programs->Vendor->Product->Many files arangement used on Microsoft Windows for the start menu and file system.

Click to view image -> Warning it is a 1600×1200 JPEG !

Techno Nightmares

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Screamers…. now that is a nightmare of a movie.

In the not so far future (2078) a new source of energy was found, berynium on some rock probably in the middle of no where. It looked to be the best thing since coal or sliced bread judging by the intro. But after awhile of mining for it, the process started throwing up huge amounts of radiation. To stop it the workers and scientists banded together to put pressure on the company. Who in turn launched an all out war with the Alliance.

After being Nuked half of the planet… can’t blame them for needing every last trick in their book to hold on. They invented a monster, the ‘Screamer’ an Autonomous Mobile Sword. That tracks targets by their plus and use the cutting buzz saw like blade that makes up most of their body to cut the enemy to death. In the opening a N.E.B. (the company) grunt trying to deliver a message got a leg and an arm chopped off before the screamers finally lopped off his head. Built by an automated factory under the Alliance bunker, they proved valuable at protecting the base and stopping the enemy. The only way they could tell friend from foe required you to wear a ‘tab’ on your wrist to block their sensors. When the poor sap with the message came in it was their first N.E.B. contact in like 6 months.

After the journey to respond ensures (hey I’m not spoiling the entire picture:-P) two Alliance soldiers, a green kid and a seasoned local. Meet up with a new and improved version. A little kid claiming to be a survivor in the waste land, begging to come with them. The trick? It’s really a droid, so real you’d think it was human – once it get’s inside the enemies bunker. It releases it’s payload, a deadly ‘Screamer’. A N.E.B. squad they link up with tells how effective it was. The droids murdered most of the N.E.B. forces inside their command bunker during dinner time. Also another model…

A wounded soldier begging for help, go to help him and vola ! You’re ripped apart by the screamer. The things we’re self manufacturing as far as the viewer is able to gather. And some how self improving, more advanced models developed by machines, as it was stated that none we’re sent to the planet from command since the prototype years ago. When the scientists effectively built the factory, pushed the on button and ran like heck. In the N.E.B. base they found another model, simple lizard/reptilian like screamers. Slow walking but flast leaping buggers with a Dinosaur like look & feel, right out of a museum.

When the merry band returns to the Alliance bunker… they find out the same thing that happened to the N.E.B’s destroyed the soldiers there. The voice of the bunkers 2nd in command beckons them in over the radio. A repetitive conversation and multiple personality show its a trap. Faced with an Army of droid children clutching teddy bears and having a screamer inside marching out of the base. Trust me it’s not as corny as it sounds lol. Using their high powered by todays standards weapons til the ammo ran out. Then dropping down to the built in flame throwers… They couldn’t hold off the onslaught. So using a recovered micro-nuke they blow the place to crap.

Only to discover one of the N.E.B’s with them injured, when the green Alliance kid goes to help. He’s ripped apart by the advanced screamer… horrible, not even the ‘tabs’ worked any more. The Screamers now could kill any one and every one. After being put down the last two people left, The Alliance commander and a N.E.B. woman set out for the one way off the planet. The ‘oh crap the place is about to explode’ escape system for the bases commander.

To prove that she is human the commander nearly cuts the womans arm off. To do like wise he almost does the same to his own hand before she stops him. The two apparently falling in love head out, only to be greeted by the commanders friend and the next in the Chain of Command. Another screamer !! The screamer was said to have cut off the mans face and took it, hence the appearance. After disposing of him they find another horror, the escape shuttle only has room for one.

Pulling every trick in the book the commander tries to make sure the N.E.B. woman is the one to go, yet theres some reason why she “just can’t go”. When a duplicate shows up, we know why ! Another screamer… the most advanced yet. The two fight to the last fembot standing, the victor gets a blast of rocket engine as the other dies. Leaving the poor guy to use the shuttle and hope he gets back to Earth… and meets HUMANS !!! It’s made clear that his and the fate of earth may be undesirable…

You’d have to see the movie to really appreciate it but it is really horrifying. Man kind is deadly enough without machines surpassing us. The screamers evolved to the point that they killed their own side. Then to the point that they killed each other. It’s pretty dang sad when your own governments weapons try to kill you !

I hope that People are never removed from war, unless war is removed it self. One can argue that there is no such thing as ‘honor’ in a war. If one see’s the goal as to live to see the end in victory. That’s one thing but there is some point. Where a line is crossed, it’s not a matter of honor or fairness but of right or wrong.

Killing the enemy is one thing but murder is another. In screamers you can’t tell if the person next to you is on your side or even human. The chap you’ve played cards with for the past year might try and rip your arms off the next. It’s a sick idea… when machines have evolved past their creator, all but destroyed their creators, and start killing themselves too.

The Terminator is a scary idea but this is worse, just watch the movie and you’ll find out why lol. I think it’s a good thing when you can have some one sit out of the line of fire. Control a robot and have it drop a bomb on the enemy, thats good. But when your toaster oven is modified to kill the enemy while you go on a smoke & coke break. You’re going to be pretty dang sorry if it tries to kill you after getting an upgrade !

Writer’s Block: In The Money

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If you won $100 this afternoon, what would you do with it?

Hmmmmm, probably bank it for next months bills. If I had $100 laying around and nothing to spend it on, I’d probably find some one that needed help with money or get setup on paypal and send it [SAS}’ward.

My incomes basically $0 until December… so I wouldn’t mind finding $100 on the side of the street :/

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Trying to work around here is ridicules unless every one else is asleep…

It’s like in the Man and the Iron Mask (98) when Aramis is trying to pray and Porthos comes roaring through with two wenches.

*shakes head*

Thinkpad

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*drool* I wish I could get one of these babies.

Looking at the custom options, 1.66Ghz Core 2 Duo. 15.4″ Display, 1024MB DDR2, 80GB HDD….. $895.00 man I wish I could get that baby.

This laptop costed $650 for a 2.0 Ghz Mobile Sempron, comparable widescreen displace, 512MB DDR, and 60GB HDD. Plus I had to put up with a $100 restocking fee, because I exchanged a $750 laptop for it -> Because it wouldn’t run any thing but Windows (slowly). Which I had picked because they we’re out of any other laptop in my price range… Best Buy Bastards !! lol.

But I’m lucky, my laptop works great on FreeBSD aside from shitty 3D performance