afghanistan
Computers
Pedal-Powered OLPC Being Tested In Afghanistan
12:50AM Danny Allen | OLPC’s Give One Get One initiative has delivered around 11,000 XO-1 laptops to Afghanistan schools alone. But power is a problem when you get off the grid, so the team there has had to think outside the box. More »
Vehicles
76m Long Hybrid Airship Will Spy Over Afghanistan In 2011
6:40AM Danny Allen | Sometimes it feels like I’m already living in the future. The US Army’s Space and Missile defence command plans to have an unmanned spy-ship capable of loitering at 6000 metres (for up to three weeks) ready to deploy by mid-2011. More »
Cameras
AP Photographer Loses Foot In Bomb Blast, Keeps Taking Pictures
7:40AM Adam Frucci | AP photographer Emilio Morenatti’s left foot had to be amputated after he was injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. That didn’t mean he stopped shooting, however. More »
Music
5:30AM Jack Loftus | For every ten stories about Iraq “reductions,” there might be one about Afghanistan—and it’s definitely not about reductions. That said, I’m glad one of my favourite blogs, The Big Picture, decided to do two posts on Afghanistan this week. More »
Motivational Music In A Dangerous Land
5:30AM Jack Loftus | For every ten stories about Iraq “reductions,” there might be one about Afghanistan—and it’s definitely not about reductions. That said, I’m glad one of my favourite blogs, The Big Picture, decided to do two posts on Afghanistan this week. More »
Cameras
US Soldier Explains Why He Uses a Rifle Stock to Shoot Photographs
7:40AM Mark Wilson | When we recently posted a Vietnam-era Bolex camera with a rifle stock attached, we thought the concept was a little nuts. Then Army Reserve Staff Sgt. and wartime photographer Jeffrey Duran set us straight. More »
Weapons
Wacky Afghan Engineer Develops Remote Controlled Kalashnikov Burglar Alarm
10:00AM Sean Fallon | The infamous Kalashnikov has a long and illustrious history of murder and mayhem, which makes it the perfect centerpiece for a contraption developed by unemployed Afghan electrical engineer Hanif Molavizadeh. With only a small movement outside his window, the device will trigger a “song like warning.” It will then call Molavizadeh’s mobile phone which can be used to send a message to the would-be thief through the alarm box. If that doesn’t work, the Kalashnikov can be fired remotely to lay down some serious vigilante justice. More »
Press
Soldier Uses Body to Shield Comrades from Grenade Blast, Survives Thanks to Backpack
10:00AM Addy Dugdale | When a British soldier on patrol in Afghanistan set a rigged grenade off by mistake, his first thought was for the safety of his comrades. So, in order to protect them, Lance-Corporal David Croucher dived on the grenade and turned on his side, with only a backpack—containing a first-aid kit, 66-millimeter rocket and radio equipment—and his body armour to protect him. Seconds later, the booby-trap exploded. More »
Press
