Information Operations (IO) – Page 351 – Public Intelligence Blog

Cybersecurity Expert and CIO: Internet of Things is ‘Scary as Hell'

By Al Sacco

ComputerWorld, March 25, 2014

CIO – The terms “Internet of Things” (IoT) and “connected home” are two of the trendiest buzzwords in the technology world today. And while both clearly offer very real potential, they also introduce their own share of risk, particularly if they're not approached with caution, according to Jerry Irvine, an owner and CIO of IT outsourcing services firm, Prescient Solutions.

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Al Sacco: What exactly does the term “Internet of Things” mean to you?

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Internet of Things “Scary as Hell””

2014/03/252014/03/25

Robin Good: Algorithms as Glue Between Content, Data, and Insight

IO Tools

Algorithms as Glue Between Content, Data, and Insight

Lutz Finger, reports from SxSW on the topic of algorithms, curation and the future, as the skills of content creators, data analysts and code programmers are seemingly converging for the first time.

Among others, he reports Steve Rosenbaum (founder of Magnify.net) significant own words at SxSW: “…a wise combination of human judgement enabled by algorithms will become the new king of content.”

But while there are great new tools, startups and ideas leveraging the great potential of big data and human curation, there is a big, invisible danger, still looming on us.

“The danger is that any algorithm might fall prey to someone trying to influence it.

This might be the ones programming the algorithm or the users. We for instance saw governments trying to skew algorithms by introducing fake online personas (Learn more about the US government persona-management software).

But the biggest and realest danger lies in us.

If we believe that there is only one truth and that is the one generated by a black-box algorithm we might be deceived easily.”

Continue reading “Robin Good: Algorithms as Glue Between Content, Data, and Insight”

2014/03/252014/03/25

Stephen E. Arnold: US Government Content Processing – A Case Study

Government, Ineptitude, IO Impotency

US Government Content Processing: A Case Study

I know that the article “Sinkhole of Bureaucracy” is an example of a single case example. Nevertheless, the write up tickled my funny bone. With fancy technology, USA.gov, and the hyper modern content processing systems used in many Federal agencies, reality is stranger than science fiction.

This passage snagged my attention:

inside the caverns of an old Pennsylvania limestone mine, there are 600 employees of the Office of Personnel Management. Their task is nothing top-secret. It is to process the retirement papers of the government’s own workers. But that system has a spectacular flaw. It still must be done entirely by hand, and almost entirely on paper.

One of President Obama’s advisors is quote as describing the manual operation as “that crazy cave.”

And the fix? The article asserts:

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: US Government Content Processing – A Case Study”

2014/03/24

Nik Peachey: NowComment Tool Turns Documents Into Conversations

IO Tools

This looks like another useful tool for creating flipped learning.

From nowcomment.com – March 23, 5:15 PM

2014/03/242014/03/24

Launching a Search [Eyes] and Rescue [Payload] Challenge for [Mini] Drone / UAV Pilots

Crowd-Sourcing, Drones & UAVs, Geospatial, Innovation

Launching a Search and Rescue Challenge for Drone / UAV Pilots

My colleague Timothy Reuter (of AidDroids fame) kindly invited me to co-organize the Drone/UAV Search and Rescue Challenge for the DC Drone User Group. The challenge will take place on May 17th near Marshall in Virginia. The rules for the competition are based on the highly successful Search/Rescue challenge organized by my new colleague Chad with the North Texas Drone User Group. We’ll pretend that a person has gone missing by scattering (over a wide area) various clues such pieces of clothing and personal affects. Competitors will use their UAVs to collect imagery of the area and will have 45 minutes after flying to analyze the imagery for clues.

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I want to try something new with this challenge. While previous competitions have focused exclusively on the use of drones/UAVs for the “Search” component of the challenge, I want to introduce the option of also engaging in the “Rescue” part. How? If UAVs identify a missing person, then why not provide that person with immediate assistance while waiting for the Search and Rescue team to arrive on site? The UAV could drop a small and light-weight first aid kit, or small water bottle, or even a small walkie talkie. Enter my new colleague Euan Ramsay who has been working on a UAV payloader solution for Search and Rescue; see the video demo below. Euan, who is based in Switzerland, has very kindly offered to share several payloader units for our UAV challenge. So I’ll be meeting up with him next month to take the units back to DC for the competition.

Read full article.

2014/03/232014/03/23

Jean Lievens: 3 Predictions on Future of Internet from Nathaniel Borenstein (Inventor of Email)

Advanced Cyber/IO

What's next for the internet?

Nathaniel Borenstein, the inventor of email, lays out his top three predictions for the future of the world wide web.

Mail & Guardian, 20 March 2014

EXTRACT

Continue reading “Jean Lievens: 3 Predictions on Future of Internet from Nathaniel Borenstein (Inventor of Email)”

2014/03/232014/03/23

SchwartzReport: DNA = Mugshot

Advanced Cyber/IO, Earth Intelligence, Law Enforcement

This, wedded to the surveillance state is going to have a huge effect on society. It will become very difficult to evade arrest as the two technologies develop, and that will have an impact on people's behavior. This is a game changer. Click through to see the reconstructions and photos of the actual people. Amazing.

Genetic Mugshot Recreates Faces From Nothing But DNA
PETER ALDHOUS – Slate/New Scientist (U.K.)