DIA + Web 2.0
The U.S. Department of Defense’s lead intelligence agency is using wikis, blogs, RSS feeds and enterprise “mashups” to help its analysts collaborate better when sifting through data used to support military operations.
DIA last year began a project to create a data access layer in its architecture using a service-oriented architecture to pull together human intelligence (data gathered by people) and publicly available data gathered from the Internet and other sources into a single environment for analysis, Shepherd added. Analysis of data in this new environment will be done in part by using Web 2.0 applications, such as “mashups,” that collect RSS feeds, Google maps and data from the DIA network that users can access with a lightweight AJAX front end, he added.
Official Secrets Act?
AJC –
They are launching a behind-the-scenes battle to prevent Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl from winning passage next Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee of an amendment that would essentially create an Official Secrets Act.
But Cox Newspapers obtained a draft copy of Kyl’s amendment. The amendment would broaden the current Espionage Act to make it illegal to disclose any classified information concerning efforts by the United States to identify, investigate or prevent terrorist activity.
The proposal would expand a narrow law and would allow for significant jail time to be imposed on virtually anyone who discloses classified information, whether that person intends to actually harm the United States or not, Goldberg said.
Breakdown Of Crop Losses
AIR – Interesting enough –
The relationship between weather and crop losses is very closely tied. Drought, on the one hand, and excess precipitation on the other account for about 70% of crop losses in the US. If we add other perils, such as hail, freeze, flood and windstorms, fully 93% of damage to crops is the result of adverse weather. Only 7% of crop losses are the result of disease, infestation and other phenomena.
Electronic Books
Question: Why don’t I get an electronic copy of along with book I buy? Costs would be minimal for publishers (its already in electronic form), and they could push distribution off to Amazon. I would get the ability to search and manipulate the information I just paid for, Amazon would add value over their competitors, and publishers would get happier customers.
Of course there’s the threat of piracy, but the minority who would want to either read a book on a screen, or print it out will probably do it anyway.
New Republic Changes
Politico – Always liked the magazine, but interest has been waning in the past year or two-
The Canadian media giant CanWest has taken a majority stake in the 92-year-old New Republic, and plans to relaunch the weekly as a thicker, glossier – and half as frequent – magazine with a more robust Web site.
Interested in seeing how this turns out.