As always, 24 has been about cyber-security, the surveillance state, and the contrast with a world of mistrust and extreme reciprocity that is both terror and counter-terror resulting ultimately in life and death international decision making. This week's episode as always, makes some of the narrative elements clearer and muddies others, still building on the problems of US policy operating in other countries, allies or not.
There may be a real world app for everything, and since the death of print media,
iPhones don't have magazines, high-capacity or otherwise. And for those keeping count Jack has expended over 1000 rounds of ammo during the entire series, but as others have observed, the cellphone is what allows for the synchronic narrative of the series.
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, confirmed that the US had received the request for air strikes but said that the fluid state of the Iraqi battlefield had left the US with incomplete intelligence, a factor that made an air campaign more difficult. "It's not as easy as looking at an iPhone video of a convoy and then striking it," he told senators.
Well Martin, there might be an app for that....There is
an app to make one a forward air controller/JTAC using an iPhone using the GPS locator feature and a range-finder calibration using the camera video, even though the military grid reference system (MGRS) would require a bit more tactical information, but if you're 'jacking airspace with private drones in the US, then you can 'jack airwaves as well (see Net Neutrality). So it might actually be easier given the resources and will of the ISIL and the ability of the
Iranians to bring down an intact US drone. The global War on Terror may ultimately come down to the celestial balance of Anti-satellite weapons (
ASAT)
As with the Allstate spokesguy perhaps better known as the Cuban baseball player who couldn't hit a curveball in Major League, POTUS gets whacked in this episode of 24 by a drone-launched missile. President Heller stands in the middle of the Wembley Stadium pitch and gets cratered by the terrorist exercising ostensive Sharia law. Things will get more complicated as the Assange-like Adrian Cross exercises an alternative agenda but Jack gets a Presidential Pardon which perhaps may get sabotaged by Mark Boudreau. Audrey may yet become romantically reconciled with Jack for a storybook ending if there's going to be no more 24 spin-offs, as we grrlgeeks want to see Chloe cap someone - probably Cross. Besides, aren't there days you want to launch drone strikes while sipping a soy double latte in an Internet cafe.
Other military uses for Apple's ubiquitous handhelds are also being investigated by the Corps, including using them to guide bomb-disabling robots and to view remote video from unmanned drone aircraft.
Iraq was first defeated in 1991 where much of its command and control used landlines rather than radio and were then easier to disrupt. The scene in the movie Heartbreak Ridge where the lieutenant calls in an air strike using a landline refers to the actual Grenada invasion story
A group of US Navy SEALs were dropped in by helo to extract the governor-general and his family. The governor-general was holed up inside his mansion in the basement, hiding from a combination of Grenadian and Cuban troops. The helos that inserted the SEALs took a large amount of fire and in the ensuing confusion and rush to egress from the vehicles and allow them to return to the ships they left their SATCOM (Satellite Communications) gear onboard the helos. After a while, their inter-personnel radio ran out of battery power. The SEAL commander improvised by using the mansion's landline to call the United States Special Operations Command in Florida and the call was transferred, after confirmation, to operations-headquarters aboard an amphibious assault ship. They were able to direct an AC-130 gunship to provide accurate fire, thereby destroying an enemy APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) and a number of the attacking troops.
Using Your GPS Unit With MGRS Coordinates
Not all GPS units can display MGRS/UTM coordinates, but many of them can, especially those used by professional surveyors and those favored by people in search and rescue and military operations. When using a large scale map, the likeliest data set will be something gridded out for UTM/MGRS coordinates – it's an international standard. Not all maps use the same datum. Most printed since the 1990s use the WGS 84 datum. Most printed prior to that use different datums; the most common non-WGS84 datum in the US is the NAD27 standard, named after the North American Datum of 1927. The difference in positions between these two datums can be as wide as 200 meters. You can select the datum your GPS unit conforms to in its settings.
Jack Bauer for President? FOX's "24: Live another Day" beat ABC's "Hillary Clinton: Public and Private with Diane Sawyer" and carried FOX to primetime wins in most measures.
Of course, by that standard, Jack Bauer would lose the presidency to the stars of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior," which was Monday's top show among young viewers.
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 1.6 rating for Monday night, tops in the key demographic, edging out the 1.5 key demo rating for NBC. ABC and CBS both averaged 1.0 key demo ratings, while The CW averaged a 0.5 key demo rating for the night.
FOUR EPISODES LEFT