Yearly Archives: 2012

More North Africa and the Middle East Monitoring By Recorded Future

Earlier, Recorded Future used their visualization and analysis tools to create interactive streams for monitoring the crises in Beghazi and Cairo, where U.S. Embassies were stormed by rioters and four Americans killed in an attack including the Ambassador to Libya. Their service creates an index of past, present, and predicted events from over 150,000 onlineRead… Read more »

How Does Broadband Really Impact Economic Development?

A lot of people accept that broadband will improve local economies. But how does the technology do this, exactly? Over the years, I’ve heard some rather impressive claims about the economic healing power of broadband. Talking to people in the trenches, though, I get a different sense of what we should expect and how weRead… Read more »

ACT-IAC Oct. 4 Forum to Address Big Data Blues

In spite of the Obama Administration’s recent $200 million investment in the Big Data Research and Development Initiative many agencies continue to struggle to find the necessary funds for Big Data projects, while others are challenged to build the proper infrastructures to handle them. Simply put, agencies recognize the importance of Big Data, yet ITRead… Read more »

We Don’t Know Who Buys American Drones, NASA’s Visual Data Processing, and More

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The Government Accountability Office found that the federal government has no way of knowing which countries have purchased American drones because of inadequate databases and weak communication between licensing departments and intelligence agencies. More here. The United States Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity has awarded aRead… Read more »

Outsourcing Government Communications?

A recent news story in The Economist discussed outsourcing and privatizing of government communications, and used Sandy Springs, GA as an example of a government entity that had outsourced many functions. Suzanne Horsley, an assistant professor in the University of Alabama’s Department of Advertising and Public Relations, was intrigued by the article, and now she’sRead… Read more »

Citizen Disaster Preparedness Extremely Low

A recent article on Emergency Management Magazine’s website stated, “Surveys consistently indicate that less than 10 percent of the public is considered prepared for a disaster and that percentage is usually closer to 6 percent.” The article deems current strategies to prepare the public for emergencies as inadequate, stating that the threat-based message is deliveredRead… Read more »

Stuff Police Officers Say

This Quora post brought back a lot of childhood memories; my parents loved to tell their strange cop stories to their kids. I think #1 and #2 are very relevant to some workplaces out there, unfortunate though it may be. Original post

Why the Latest and Greatest is Important – Software, Maintenance and Enhancements

Next week, I’ll be attending the OnBase Training & Technology Conference (OTTC). During my time in government, I went to many users’ conferences, mostly out of self-defense. I viewed these events as a chance to lobby for the enhancements and improvements I needed for my department. Unfortunately, the process for discussing these needs was oftenRead… Read more »