mTOC Skill Drills: File Sharing across Operating Systems

Introduction File sharing between devices shouldn’t be a chore, especially in high-pressure environments. With Syncthing, a platform-agnostic file-sharing tool, you can seamlessly transfer files and images between your mTOC terminal, mobile devices, and other systems. Whether you’re reconciling field reports, preparing a briefing, or simply transferring critical documents, Syncthing has you covered. This skill drill…

mTOC Skill Drills: Software Defined Radio

Introduction Welcome to today’s SDR (Software-Defined Radio) challenge! In this exercise, we’ll walk you through using an RTL-SDR (or similar) and CubicSDR to explore local radio signals, capture NOAA weather frequencies, and even track aircraft flight data using dump1090-fa. These drills are designed for beginners, so don’t worry if you’re new to this – we’ll…

No Man’s Land: The “Last War” Paradigm

  Introduction “War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.” ― Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West It’s tough to convey a point, at times. Porteus wrote “a murder makes a villain, a million [deaths make] a hero…” I think…

Hyperoptimization and Gear Selection

This article is rather overdue, we realize. The term ‘Hyperoptimization’ has been referenced in a few other posts on the site and Patreon, but we’ve left you without a solid explanation. The term itself bears some obviousness that we hoped would carry it, but part of the reason it took so long to get this…

Cold Weather 101

Weather being a common and important topic at ISG, we are likely overdue for a series pertaining to cold weather. Whereas a tornado or hurricane can set in Type 1 and Type 2 events, winter itself can resembled a Type 3 event, even for portions of developed countries. Past and current addresses of our contributors…

Engineering Strong Children for Hard Times

Introduction In the world of disaster management, the most impacted populations are the most underserved. When it comes to self defense, almost everything is tailored to the adult male, and very rarely does serious conversation spill over into discussion on “hey, what happens to our families?” Given the ongoing reality in Ukraine, we have yet…