The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Written during the 6th century BC, The Art of War is a definitive Chinese military strategy treatise that has proven relevant centuries later, not only to modern-day warfare, but also to politics, business, and managerial and even relationship strategies.

Best summarized in his quote "all warfare is based on deception", Sun Tzu's teachings include the importance of positioning in strategy, having taken into account the objective conditions in the physical environment and the subjective opinions of your opponent in that environment. He also teaches on the importance of speed and versatility in responding to changing conditions, seeing as even the best laid plans in life more often than not do fall apart. Sun Tzu's emphasis however is on how to fight wars without actually going into battle i.e. by outsmarting your opponent. For Sun Tzu, the key is to first know yourself, then know your opponent, thus limiting the costs of competition/ conflict. He talks of the need to recognize opportunities in the weaknesses of your opponent, without trying to create them; tactical maneuvering and the importance of developing information sources.

The Art of War became increasingly popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, with Sun Tzu's teachings being applied in politics and culture of both western and Asian cultures. The book is regarded as a primary example of Taoist thinking, which proved influential to both ancient Chinese and Asian culture and history. Sun Tzu is thought to have been a general of King of Wu, who lived in the Spring and Autumn Period of China (722 -481 BC). This was a period of constant war in China, which saw the seven nations of Zhao, Qin, Qi, Han, Chu, Yan and Wei, battle over control of the whole of China. On this basis, some scholars believe that The Art of War is based on the descriptions of warfare in the Warring States Period (476-221 BC).

Known to have influenced the strategies of Napoleon and Mao, The Art of War has taken prominence in strategies outside military applications. It has proved a bible of sorts on corporate strategy for Japanese businessmen, well respected today for their business savvy. This must-read has also found its way in the legal fraternity for tactics on outsmarting opposing counsel; as well as in the sports world, for defense/offense tactics, political campaign trails, office politics and - believe it or not - getting and holding onto romantic partners.

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GPS Tracking

In the article "GPS, The Good and The Bad" we looked at both sides of GPS tracking. We saw that it can be used for a variety of beneficial activities like finding your location on a map to help you navigate to a specific destination. However, the same technology that allows you to track yourself can allow others to track you. So in today's closer look we are going to checkout ways your phone may be tracked, who might be tracking you, and how to protect yourself.

Probably the most common way that your phones location can be tracked by someone else is if an app that has been installed is transmitting your location. Some apps may just require your location to help provide relevant local content, such as an app that suggests restaurants. It wouldn't be a very useful app if all the suggestions were miles and miles away, so it takes your GPS location to give find options that are close to you. While it is important for you to know which apps are requesting your location, and determine yourself if you are comfortable with a company knowing your location at all times, we are more interested in apps that are specifically for tracking your location and allowing it to be viewed by others.

One such tracking software is ePhoneTracker. This software can be installed on any phone and runs invisibly in the background as long as the phone is on. It won't even show up in the running applications menu of your phone! Once on your phone the app tracks everything your phone does. Text messages, call history, emails sent and received, what websites you visit, your contacts, and your GPS location, all get logged and sent to an email address to be viewed remotely. Software like this can be used in a few different ways and we are going to focus on the GPS tracking capability. Parents might use it to track their children's location to make sure they get to school safely or that they aren't talking to anyone they shouldn't be. For parents of young kids I can see this being used as a tool to ensure safety more than an invasion of privacy. But the difference between monitoring for safety concerns and spying is a fine line. At what age does tracking your kids phone become spying? If you are just keeping track of a person's location to make sure they are safe why does the app need to be so hidden? If you wanted to keep track of your spouse's location while they were away on a business trip or commuting to work you could use one of many other more transparent methods of keeping tabs of their location. There are many other apps for keeping tabs on someone's whereabouts without being sneaky about it.

An app like ePhoneTracker takes GPS location from a safety tool to a spying method. If you are tracking someone without their knowledge it's because you don't trust them to tell you where they are. Maybe you think your teenager isn't actually going to a friend's house, or the library like they said they were. Maybe you think your spouse isn't being faithful and you want to know the truth. Just because you suspect someone of wrongdoing you don't have the right to invade their privacy. Would you want someone spying on you?

GPS isn't the only way to track a phones location. Service providers are constantly receiving location updates from your phone for the purpose of delivering phone calls and other data. Most carriers offer a family locator service that can be used to follow the location of any phone on the family plan. Connecting to open wifi networks will update your phones location, even if you don't have GPS or a data plan.

So how can you avoid being tracked? The best solution is to know what is on your phone. When installing a new app read what it is requesting access to and don't install it if you are unsure what something means! You can always contact the developers to get a clearer understanding of why an app needs certain information, as well as how/where the data is being stored. In some apps you turn off the GPS functionality, although it can be hard to find sometimes. Keeping your phone close or using a login password to make sure other people can't install apps without you knowing is also a great way to keep your information private. You should also be cautious about who knows your Google or Apple IDs because they can be used to install apps remotely to your phone! Another surefire way to know your phone can't be tracked is to use a RF&RFID blocking case. This way no signal is going to or from your phone and you can go about your life without looking over your shoulder.

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Iran: Nuclear Conflict Over Nuclear Power?

If things continue down the path they have begun, and everybody involved keeps chest pounding and challenging each other to climb the ladder of aggression; sooner rather than later, severe weapons will begin to be fired and there will be a major conflict in the Middle East.

This potential war will make the Iraq war look like a small border conflict in scale as it will be the culmination of over 50 years of aggressive behaviour between Iran, it's Arab neighbours; and Israel and it's pro-UN allies.

With the latest worrying news being the expulsion and closure of the UK Embassy in Iran over the continued economic sanctions, and the riots that enabled Iranian students to invade and occupy the UK embassy in a hauntingly familiar scene to the 1979 storming of the US embassy; as well as the expulsion and closure of the entire Iranian embassy in London, tensions are even higher now against the reclusive Persian nation. However, has Iran really done what the Western world says it has done? Or is the nation simply trying to keep itself afloat and be the victim of overzealous elements in the Western World who feel that they need to control the oil-rich nation for their own means?

In the event of a conflict, it is estimated that Iran will fight appropriately, not use so-called dirty tactics, as it's neighbours have used, but fight using appropriate means.

Although it is estimated that Iran will strike at targets in Israel as well as other nations, if a war ensues, it will most likely end up being decidedly one-sided. If the state of Israel feels the need to strike first, which they have a solid history of doing, they may well launch tactical nuclear strikes against known Iranian nuclear facilities to ensure they will not be rebuilt or in any way usable in the future. Although this may seem suicidal, it will prove that Israel is willing to defend itself from perceived aggression as well as real aggression, and more than likely, the UN will bow to Israel and allow the attacks and weapon strikes without censure.

Iran has sworn off using Weapons of Mass Destruction after the Iran/Iraq war, and seems very much against the use of area effect and anti-civilian weapons in general. They are a signed and ratified party to the Biological Weapons Convention, and the Chemical Weapons Convention, as well as a full signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. What this means is that Iran has legally bound itself not to produce or stockpile Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical weapons for use in armed conflict. Unfortunately, Israel is not a signatory to the same treaties.

There is a lot of circumstantial and in some cases, very questionable evidence that Iran may have or be developing a nuclear weapon, the real and provable facts are very thin and do not back up the claims made by the Western world about the supposed nuclear stance of this Persian powerhouse. Iran has stated that it's Supreme Leader has issued a Fatwa, religious decree, against the country developing or using Nuclear Weapons, and as the entire country tends to follow these decrees, there is no real reason to think that Iran would be secretly developing a nuclear weapon program when it's Religious leaders have said 'No'.

Based on historical documents, Israel has tended to be the aggressor in most of the middle east conflicts it has been involved in against other nation-states. Launching preemptive strikes and invading before the other nation has a chance to really do anything, Israeli troops have managed to dominate their corner of the Arabian peninsula for the past 50 years.

Unfortunately, with the fall of Iraq, Iran is now one of the only nations in the Middle East that maintains an active army, has a solidly anti-US stance, and is willing and able to back itself up with an organized military response to an outside threat. With an estimated 650,000+ member force of standing military and reserves estimated to exceed 10 million, Iran has a significant military force able to march on and attack by ground, sea, and air; if they are attacked and feel the need to retaliate.

It is very doubtful that Iran would ever fire a warhead against Israel on a first-strike basis, but the same does not hold for Israel's response to the perceived threat of attack by Iran.

Israel may well launch multiple nuclear warheads at Iranian targets in an attempt to disproportionately eliminate multiple military offensives as well as intimidate the Iranian people against further action. However, this would more than likely have the directly opposite result of uniting the entire Arabian peninsula against Israel and causing a very prolonged and pretty much defined war of annihilation against the Jewish nation-state. For those who believe in the Bible, this could be the beginning of the book of Revelations, and the foreshadowing of the 'End Times'. as they are supposed to be be ushered in with a failed war against Israel lead by a nation from the North. Although Iran is east of Israel, the nations of Lebanon and Syria to the North. Syria borders on Turkey, and Turkey shares a border with Iran. It is not impossible to accept that a major ground offensive of Iranian National Guard troops may use that corridor to hit Israel from the north and drive deep into the country in the event of an all-out conflict.

In closing, it is my feeling that with the political rhetoric now ramping up, we may be coming close to a very protracted and intense Middle East conflict that may well become the World War 3 that people felt for a long time would be the US against the USSR. This would not be a good thing.

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