Information Operations (IO) – Page 383 – Public Intelligence Blog

Whither the Bing Thing in 2014?

I found the data in the “2013 Bing Infographic” surprising. I continue to think of Bing as a search and retrieval system. I don’t use the system directly. I prefer to run queries on metasearch systems that use Bing as one source of content. The reason for my indirect access is that I don’t want distractions, social media content, and videos. In case you, gentle reader, have forgotten, I prefer to read. I read more rapidly than I can watch a video unfold in real time. I understand that some people find videos just the best possible way to locate information. I don’t.

The infographic has a number of data points. Let’s look at three in the context of locating a white paper, information about a person of interest, and a fact.

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: Microsoft Bing – Tits Up, No Milk + Microsoft @ PBI”

2013/12/19

SchwartzReport: Truths That Matter

03 Economy, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude, IO Impotency

I am not an Obama fan, as anyone who reads SR regularly knows. I find the disconnect between the soaring language in his speeches and the reality of how his Executive Branch operates — an issue distinct from the problems of his having to deal with a corrupt Theocratic Rightist House — very alarming. Two of the most disturbing aspects are the rise of the Orwelli! an surveillance under Obama's Administration, and, concurrently, the suppression of freedom of the press. A democracy without a free aggressive press very quickly ceases to be a democracy. History is quite clear on this. Here is an excellent essay on the relevant issues. This special report originally appeared on the Committee to Protect Journalists website, and is reprinted here with their permission.

“This is the Most Closed, Control Freak Administration I've Ever Cover”
LEONARD DOWNIE and SARA RAFSKY – AlterNet (U.S.)

EXTRACT:

This report will examine all these issues: legal policies of the Obama administration that disrupt relationships between journalists and government sources; the surveillance programs that cast doubt on journalists’ ability to protect those sources; restrictive practices for disclosing information that make it more difficult to hold the government accountable for its actions and decision-making; and manipulative use of administration-controlled media to circumvent scrutiny by the press.

Read full article (ten screens).

2013/12/182020/12/12

Reference: Predicting Revolution – Operationalization of Preconditions (1976)

IO Sense-Making

Continue reading “Reference: Predicting Revolution – Operationalization of Preconditions (1976)”

2013/12/182013/12/18

Anthony Judge: Big Data Reflections

Advanced Cyber/IO, IO Sense-Making

My issue with any visualization, however brilliant, is that it assumes that it will engage consensus and action.

Missing is the recognition that even if we had a hard data visualization that one million people were to die tomorrow somewhere — even in New York — the level of engagement would be low. Who says so? Is it a scam? Is it spin? etc

There is a glass ceiling effect which is not addressed, irrespective of the nature of the crisis. Central Arica ciurrently offers an example. Increasingly, who cares, or why should I care? I walk pass beggars everyday. What is not evident from such visualization is what it is expected that anyone should do and why. My first take on this was:

Remedial Capacity Indicators Versus Performance Indicators

My second was:

Recognizing the Psychosocial Boundaries of Remedial Action constraints on ensuring a safe operating space for humanity

The Earth is not moved by good visualizations !

My think piece on big data:

Simulating a Global Brain

using networks of international organizations, world problems, strategies, and values

Abstract: The paper reports briefly on the ongoing process of systematic information collection and web presentation by the UIA of networks of over 30,000 international organizations, 56,000 perceived world problems, 32,000 advocated action strategies, and some 3,000 values — resulting in a total of 800,000 hyperlinks. These different entities constitute an interesting focal sub-system of whatever is to be understood by an emerging global brain – for which the “problems” might be understood as “neuroses”, if not “tumours”.

But I do think that the capacity to do anything with big data is very limited. We used fancy software — Netmap, as used by security services — but so what.See fancy graphic screenshots in:

Preliminary NetMap Studies of Databases on Questions, World Problems, Global Strategies, and Values

It is not so much about glass ceilings as (double) glazed eyes !

See Also:

Big Data at Phi Beta Iota

2013/12/182013/12/18

Stephen E. Arnold: Languages Supported by Google Translate Increase — But Not Farsi, Dari, or Pashto

Advanced Cyber/IO

Languages Supported by Google Translate Increase

The article on eweek titled Google Translate Adds Support for More World Languages announces Google’s addition of nine languages to its service, making the total number 80 languages. These included several African languages spoken in Nigeria, Somalia and South Africa. There are motions in progress to add Mongolian, Nepali, Punjabi and Maori. The last was only made possible by New Zealanders, as the article explains:

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: Languages Supported by Google Translate Increase — But Not Farsi, Dari, or Pashto”

2013/12/172013/12/18

Robert Steele: Kick-Ass Next Level in Big Data Visualization & Exploitation

Advanced Cyber/IO

I've been getting cranky as I have been reading and hearing all the hype over big data — data sets created by 1950's mindsets on top of 1970's technology and largely irrelevant to 21st Century solutions. I've also been looking at a few “solutions” packages — SILOBREAKER is still my favorite and Palantir is a complete disappointment. Cheering me up, considerably, are the below two sites.

The first, ANTz is some of the most brilliant data visualization I have ever seen. I spent two hours with it this morning and it literally blew my mind. This stuff is so good it could potentially change how we govern and manage everything, within a decade. Visit them at http://www.edworlds.com/antz/toroids/.

The second, SynglyphX, is a new company that will in my view transform the information industry within the decade.

They are bringing the ANTz technologies (open source, by the way) to market, and have in the process created an entire new analytic language that is multidisciplinary, language-independent, and hence a kick ass cross-domain application architecture. If I were standing up the Open Source Agency (OSA) today, this would be the foundation for M4IS2 (multinational, multiagency, multidisciplinary, multidomain information-sharing and sense-making). Visit them at http://www.synglyphx.com/. They have loaded four demonstration videos, see those here.

One realization hit me this morning: what we have today in the way of data steams is retarded. Wrong data, wrong focus. Sensing is not where it's at. A huge amount of work — much of it leveraging volunteer cognitive surplus, needs to be done. They will have to take models such as I and others have spent a lifetime developing, and “operationalize” those models. That means identify the specific data elements that must be collected, develop the true cost economic attributes for every behavior, product, and service, and then create a visual depiction of the disparity between what is possible, what is needed, and what is funded.

Somewhere in here every politician and every corporation and every non-profit is going to be held accountable for any separation of their programs from “ground truth.” PPBS, now defined by the 5% kick-backs, will become IPPBSV where I equals public intelligence and V equals public visualization. Creating a prosperous world at peace (eradication of corruption, generation infinite wealth) just got a boost. 1976-2013: Intelligence Models 2.1

See Also:

Big Data at Phi Beta Iota