Wireless AMBER Alerts
May 17, 2005
The AMBER alert system has been proven to be very valuable in the early stages of child abduction. Now, cell phone owners can subscribe to receive wireless AMBER alerts for the zip codes they live and work in. Messages are sent directly to your cell phone via SMS in real-time. Most carriers are waiving the incoming message fee, which means there really is no reason not to SUBSCRIBE
Surprise, surprise…
May 12, 2005
According to the recently released report: "The Homeland Security Department’s $337 million network for sharing top-secret data does not meet the needs of its users, according to an April report by the department’s Acting Inspector General, Richard L. Skinner. Department officials developing the Homeland Secure Data Network hurried to finish the job in nine months because they believed they would be cut off from the Pentagon’s secure data network by a 31 December 2004 deadline. “The methods for collecting and documenting the functional and security needs of users during the requirements definition phase for the new network did not provide adequate assurance that user needs at the 600 sites will be met.” The 600 sites are DHS…
State of Fear
May 11, 2005
It is scenes like the one above at our nation's capital today that re-inforce just how effective terrorism is.
RFID Kills
March 28, 2005
Sometimes I want to just travel without being a radio station. This is interesting and I agree with the initial conclusions. In a misguided attempt to make US passports more secure, the US Department of State plans to put radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in all new passports. This RFID chip will contain the same information currently on our passports, including the passport holder's name, date and place of birth, passport number and photograph. In a dangerous world where Americans are targeted by thieves, kidnappers and terrorists, the RFID-chipped US passport will turn tourists into targets, and American business travelers will transmit their identities to kidnappers wherever they go, thanks to the US State Department.…
Searching Creative Commons
March 24, 2005
Via Joi Ito Late last night, Yahoo! launched a Creative Commons search engine , permitting you to search the web, filtering results on the basis of Creative Commons licenses. So, as I feel like I've said 10,000 times when explaining CC on the road, "Show me pictures of the Empire State Building that I can use for noncommercial use," and this is the first of about 13,000 on the list.
Blackout, viruses concern congress
March 24, 2005
Cory Reiss, The Ledger online 09/09/2003 WASHINGTON -- When modern life halted for millions in the Northeast last month, people throughout the country asked if a blackout could strike them. Members of Congress have a more frightening question: Could someone cause such havoc on purpose? The blackout combined with unrelated but crippling computer viruses and worms has lawmakers connecting the dot-coms. They say the blackout provided a vivid example of the chaos that cyber-terrorism could inflict.
Who needs radio?
March 15, 2005
For the past two weeks, I've been listening exclusively to podcasts on my iPod during my commute. The software automatically downloads the content and places it within my iTunes library. I sync my iPod and them I am ready to go. The content is fantastic and I can tune into whatever podcast I am interested in. Check it out at Podshow.com or Podcast alley
Hacking a Terror Network
February 12, 2005
It was my pleasure to be the technical editor on this book by Russ Rogers. Click here to check it out on Amazon.com.
It’s cultural-sensitivity training, with weapons.
December 1, 2004
Evan Wright, author of the excellent book "Generation Kill" participated in the TRC Mirror Image training program and wrote a feature article on it for the New York Magazine. Developed in 2002 by the Virginia-based consulting group Terrorism Research Center (TRC), the Mirror Image program is the first of its kind in the war on terror. It’s also one of the few counterterrorism courses designed for street cops, soldiers, and federal agents alike. “In this conflict, there’s a blurring of front lines,” explains Walter Purdy, a former Marine and vice-president of TRC. “Beat cops in American cities and U.S. soldiers in Fallujah could easily be up against people who share the same ideology, habits, culture, and tactics. Our goal…
Exploration with a capital E
November 22, 2004
I've been a fan of Wired magazine since its inception and boast of having the first issue in my collection. While Wired quality suffered for a few years, they are fully back on their game. This month contains and exceptional section by Jame Cameron on exploration. I'd encourage anyone who can get their hands on a copy to read pages 190-191. The whole section is fantastic, but that introductory essay is spot on. <blockquote>Exploration is not a luxury. It defines us as a civilization. It directly or indirectly benefits every member of society. It yields an inspirational dividend whose impact on our self-image, confidence, and economic and geopolitical stature is immeasurable.</blockquote> Update: …
Terrorism Early Warning Group Works to Keep L.A.’s Guard Up
November 7, 2004
Great article about a great friend... "In a cramped office inside Los Angeles County's emergency operations center, John P. Sullivan sits buried in the latest intelligence on terrorists around the world. Should any ever attack Los Angeles, this soft-spoken sheriff's sergeant will be indispensable to the response.
Looks like a done deal
November 3, 2004
In this age of instant gratification, it is strange to go to bed not knowing who the President will be. What I look forward to is hearing about how the electronic voting machines worked out. I've seen a few horror stories already regarding system crashes, but that is to be expected. I a waiting for all the "evil hacker" stories.
How bizarre…
October 19, 2004
You can Google colleagues, you can Google blind dates and you can Google kidnap victims: Google 'saved' Australian hostage - - An Australian journalist kidnapped in Iraq was freed after his captors checked the popular internet search engine Google to confirm his identity. John Martinkus was seized in Baghdad on Saturday, the first Australian held hostage in Iraq since the US-led invasion. But his captors agreed to release him after they were convinced he was not working for the CIA or a US contractor. He was reported to be making his way home to Australia on Tuesday.
Disaster waiting to happen
September 23, 2004
Coming from the guy who wrote the Cyberthreat Assessment for the National Airspace System, it would not surprise me if this story is true. A major breakdown in Southern California's air traffic control system last week was partly due to a "design anomaly" in the way Microsoft Windows servers were integrated into the system, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The radio system shutdown, which lasted more than three hours, left 800 planes in the air without contact to air traffic control, and led to at least five cases where planes came too close to one another, according to comments by the Federal Aviation Administration reported in the LA Times and The New York Times. Air traffic controllers were reduced to using personal…
Close encounters of the tornado kind
September 17, 2004
I've only seen one tornado in my life and never anything as close as what we experienced tonight. We were in the car and managed to get ourselves out of the way of one that was about 300 yards away from us tonight. We literally circled around it and worked our way behind it only to see tires, construction debris, and porta-potties that had been tossed around. Intense experience! Note: I didn't take this picture. We were much closer than this!
Al Qaeda’s Geek
August 1, 2004
Congrats to the folks within the U.S. intelligence community. Turns out the cyber component of this arrest was the most significant. The unannounced capture of a figure from Al Qaeda in Pakistan several weeks ago led the Central Intelligence Agency to the rich lode of information that prompted the terror alert on Sunday, according to senior American officials. The figure, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, was described by a Pakistani intelligence official as a 25-year-old computer engineer, arrested July 13, who had used and helped to operate a secret Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages. A senior United States official would not confirm or deny that Mr. Khan had been the Qaeda figure whose capture…