As the United States imposes sanctions on Russia and moves to do likewise to Venezuela, it’s essential to keep in mind which country it is that’s the most destructive and dangerous in the world today. When such questions have been posed in international polls in recent decades, the answer overwhelmingly is the United States. Not Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Russia or any of the many other nations the ruling class and corporate media here regularly demonize, but the United States.
If you do any kind of shopping online, then you’re probably already familiar with the concept of a metasearch engine—a search engine that searches other search engines. When you’re looking for airline tickets or a used copy of The King in Yellow, you might use a metasearch engine to find out which online retailer is offering the best price.
There is also a metasearch for public records: Scout. Created and lovingly maintained by the Sunlight Foundation, Scout will take a search query and run it through six different continually updated databases of documents. The site also allows you to create email and RSS alerts and track search terms and legislation through a user account.
EFF currently maintains a public page that tracks NSA reform, including congressional bills and speeches, official notices, and court opinions. You can visit it to see current reform efforts and subscribe to our alerts.
Web content is a way for companies to attract attention and keep the organization in relevant social media feeds and search results. It is time consuming to generate content. Linguastat claims it offers a solution combining the power of big data and content.
Linguastat tells users that it will turn “haystacks into gold.” It is an interesting tagline, but not as believable as Linguastat’s software description:
“Built on proprietary natural language and artificial intelligence our cloud-based Content Transformation Platform ™ reads, understands, and transforms the vast amount of Big Data found in the world and automatically publishes unique, insightful, and optimized digital stories…at massive scale…at a fraction of the cost!”
If your company is tired of hiring third-parties or using valuable employee time developing Web content, Linguastat offers a solution. It will annotate and analyze your big data and the software’s AI will generate “optimized digital stories.” It also saves typing time and spares people from inflamed carpal tunnel syndrome.
Without seeing the finished product and the less than appealing “turning haystacks to gold” tagline, it is wise to be skeptical about Linguastat. They might be worth researching, however, and getting a trial run.
Recently I acquired a new car, the first in 14 years (I wrote about it here). It was a Chevrolet Volt, with cutting-edge hybrid technology and a Car of the Year award in 2012, but the agent who sold it to me seemed impressed most of all with its “smart key.” Since I misplace my car keys often, a smart key conjured up visions of something that would come running when called. Sadly, that was not what it was. It was interesting nonetheless: a tiny electronic gizmo that remotely spoke to the car.
This meant that things I had done for my whole life without complaint or even an inkling that they were burdensome were now eliminated. No more tiresome inserting-key-into-ignition-and-turning, for instance. I could simply push a button to start the car if the smart key was nearby. No more fishing around in my bags or unsightly pocket-patting to find the old key fob. Within three feet of the doors, the smart key automatically unlocked the car. “Neat,” I said.
Soon after, I went surfing. I usually take my key with me in my wetsuit. Belatedly it occurred to me: a smart key is not waterproof. What to do? Hide it on my car? That wasn’t feasible, as it meant the car would automatically unlock, even when the key stayed hidden. Call a locksmith to make a door key and hide the smart key inside the car? Nope. Still within three feet. Then I had an epiphany: metal would interrupt the transmitter! I searched at local hardware stores and on the internet, but the lockboxes and magnetic key holders were all plastic. I bought a thick, albeit plastic lockbox. The doors still opened.
I called my local Chevrolet dealer. I told them I wanted a key that wasn’t smart, that I could put in my wetsuit. They seemed puzzled, and told me they didn’t make a key like that anymore. “Please do,” I said, thinking that they were joking.
They weren’t.
I drove the car to them in person. In person, they shook their heads. “We’ve never heard of this problem before.”
So I asked them to disable the automatic door unlocking aspect of the smart key.
That couldn’t be done either.
“Hold it,” I said. “You have a technology that you can’t override?” I had read enough science fiction to know that this was where things went terribly, terribly wrong.
Curation adds value. Marketing does not add value.
Many content curation startups, and many of the people using curation tools will probably not like what I have written in this article, but I have a hard time behaving as if I couldn't see a cardboard façade that's been sold for a real destination.
Content Curationhas beenhijacked and has been sold as a cheap and easy solution for content marketers plagued by the growing problem of getting greater attention from their readers and therefore of how to produce more quality content within tighter and tighter time constraints.
The façade is the promotion of the idea that by “adopting” content curation tools and “techniques” (like picking, selecting and showcasing “best of content” to others) you can actually rapidly gain the same benefits and rewards that true, highly reputable curators and experts in any field have conquered after years of hard work.
Flight 370: Zio-Al Queda-NeoCon Sequel to 9-11 Aborted, a Practice Run or on Horizon (Literally)?
This article states the piloting of flight 270 involved flying it at very low levels to evade radar:
“As the search for the missing flight MH370 enters its 10th day with few clues as to its whereabouts, the New Straits Times said today the Boeing 777-200ER dropped 5,000 feet (1,500m) to evade commercial radar detection. In an exclusive story, the government-backed paper said investigators analysing MH370’s flight data revealed that the 200-tonne, fully laden twinjet descended 1,500m or even lower to evade commercial (secondary) radar coverage after it turned back from its flight path en route to Beijing. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER (9M-MRO) disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board. Malaysian authorities said on Saturday the plane was deliberately diverted and its on-board transmission devices switched off to avoid detection. Its last contact was at 8:11am north of the Strait of Malacca. Investigators poring over MH370’s flight data had said the plane had flown low and used “terrain masking” as it flew over the e Bay of Bengal and headed north towards land, the NST reported.”
“Terrain masking” is an interesting term, implying a military aspect:
Data centre bandwidth requirements may not cope with the Internet of Things, according to Gartner
Hamish Barwick
CIO, 18 March 2014
Devices that use the Internet of Things (IoT) will generate big data that needs to be processed and analysed in real time, putting more pressure on data centre providers, according to a new Gartner report.
The Impact of the Internet of Things on Data Centres forecasts that there will be 26 billion IoT units installed by 2020 and IoT service suppliers will generate US$300 billion in revenue.
However, Gartner US distinguished analyst Joe Skorupa said this increase in IoT units will give data centre technology providers more challenges due to the volume and structure of IoT data.
