The new EricMartindale.com is an experiment in data aggregation, and might have a few bugs. Feel free to explore, and then provide feedback directly to @martindale.
Please see my post regarding Capitalism versus Statism [1], watch the video from Anonymous [2], and take a look at the non-partisan nature of these protests [3]. Don't just look at my links, go out and do the research yourself.
The #OccupyWallStreet movement appears to be spreading like wildfire across the country. San Francisco [4], Washington D.C. [5], Nashville [6], Portland [7], and New Orleans [8] all had organized and peaceful protests today and yesterday consisting of thousands of people. Other protests are rapidly forming around the nation [9], numbering at 895 different cities at the time of this post.
There's something very real, visceral, and most importantly democratic about how we're using the Internet to show a ground-up perspective of what is happening at these protests. There's nothing like seeing people like +Michael Mozart on the ground in New York, streaming live video of the protests, or +Rob Salzman sharing a steady stream of photos of the thousands of protesters in Portland directly to the internet. It's getting more and more difficult to trust anything but an individual who is on the ground, experiencing and documenting things first hand.
There is a major difference between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants", even at the chemical level [10]. We're entering a time where the people who've grown up with practically ubiquitous Internet access are becoming comfortable with adulthood and asserting their beliefs and opinions. This will have major and far-reaching implications at all levels of the human condition -- and I think we're only beginning to see the manifestation of this paradigm shift.
I'll be at the protest at Moore Square here in Raleigh, NC on Sunday at 5PM. Join if you'd like.
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Please see my post regarding Capitalism versus Statism [1], watch the video from Anonymous [2], and take a look at the non-partisan nature of these protests [3]. Don't just look at my links, go out and do the research yourself.
The #OccupyWallStreet movement appears to be spreading like wildfire across the country. San Francisco [4], Washington D.C. [5], Nashville [6], Portland [7], and New Orleans [8] all had organized and peaceful protests today and yesterday consisting of thousands of people. Other protests are rapidly forming around the nation [9], numbering at 895 different cities at the time of this post.
There's something very real, visceral, and most importantly democratic about how we're using the Internet to show a ground-up perspective of what is happening at these protests. There's nothing like seeing people like +Michael Mozart on the ground in New York, streaming live video of the protests, or +Rob Salzman sharing a steady stream of photos of the thousands of protesters in Portland directly to the internet. It's getting more and more difficult to trust anything but an individual who is on the ground, experiencing and documenting things first hand.
There is a major difference between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants", even at the chemical level [10]. We're entering a time where the people who've grown up with practically ubiquitous Internet access are becoming comfortable with adulthood and asserting their beliefs and opinions. This will have major and far-reaching implications at all levels of the human condition -- and I think we're only beginning to see the manifestation of this paradigm shift.
I'll be at the protest at Moore Square here in Raleigh, NC on Sunday at 5PM. Join if you'd like.
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Please see my post regarding Capitalism versus Statism [1], watch the video from Anonymous [2], and take a look at the non-partisan nature of these protests [3]. Don't just look at my links, go out and do the research yourself.
The #OccupyWallStreet movement appears to be spreading like wildfire across the country. San Francisco [4], Washington D.C. [5], Nashville [6], Portland [7], and New Orleans [8] all had organized and peaceful protests today and yesterday consisting of thousands of people. Other protests are rapidly forming around the nation [9], numbering at 895 different cities at the time of this post.
There's something very real, visceral, and most importantly democratic about how we're using the Internet to show a ground-up perspective of what is happening at these protests. There's nothing like seeing people like +Michael Mozart on the ground in New York, streaming live video of the protests, or +Rob Salzman sharing a steady stream of photos of the thousands of protesters in Portland directly to the internet. It's getting more and more difficult to trust anything but an individual who is on the ground, experiencing and documenting things first hand.
There is a major difference between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants", even at the chemical level [10]. We're entering a time where the people who've grown up with practically ubiquitous Internet access are becoming comfortable with adulthood and asserting their beliefs and opinions. This will have major and far-reaching implications at all levels of the human condition -- and I think we're only beginning to see the manifestation of this paradigm shift.
I'll be at the protest at Moore Square here in Raleigh, NC on Sunday at 5PM. Join if you'd like.
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Please see my post regarding Capitalism versus Statism [1], watch the video from Anonymous [2], and take a look at the non-partisan nature of these protests [3]. Don't just look at my links, go out and do the research yourself.
The #OccupyWallStreet movement appears to be spreading like wildfire across the country. San Francisco [4], Washington D.C. [5], Nashville [6], Portland [7], and New Orleans [8] all had organized and peaceful protests today and yesterday consisting of thousands of people. Other protests are rapidly forming around the nation [9], numbering at 895 different cities at the time of this post.
There's something very real, visceral, and most importantly democratic about how we're using the Internet to show a ground-up perspective of what is happening at these protests. There's nothing like seeing people like +Michael Mozart on the ground in New York, streaming live video of the protests, or +Rob Salzman sharing a steady stream of photos of the thousands of protesters in Portland directly to the internet. It's getting more and more difficult to trust anything but an individual who is on the ground, experiencing and documenting things first hand.
There is a major difference between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants", even at the chemical level [10]. We're entering a time where the people who've grown up with practically ubiquitous Internet access are becoming comfortable with adulthood and asserting their beliefs and opinions. This will have major and far-reaching implications at all levels of the human condition -- and I think we're only beginning to see the manifestation of this paradigm shift.
I'll be at the protest at Moore Square here in Raleigh, NC on Sunday at 5PM. Join if you'd like.
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The biggest problem for a USA is that those attacks will be used as a starting point to recruit a new hackers to work for Iran and other muslim countries governments. And that will be then one more step to a global cyberwar I mean official cause cyberwar already exist. The worst thing that could happen to us users of the free internet is that because of that cyberwar they can try to bring new acts like damn Pipa Sopa Cispa and that could endanger our free internet.
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I think I'm sick or getting sick from the weekend, which was awesome all in itself. Rode over to Ian's on Saturday, enjoyed a good night with some new friends, playing Unreal Tournament (the original, what else?) until somewhere around 3AM. Ah, good times. I woke up the next day in time to give Amber a call before she left for work. We got to gaming shortly after lunch, and for once, our ship didn't esplode! (partly because we left it behind for the majority of the game...)
Sunday we relaxed and watched football, both American and World. Poor poor Chelsea! I ended up rolling in at about 4PM, and proceeded to put together some home cooking for when Amber got off work. Unfortunately, my plans were foiled by her work schedule, and she got off at six instead of the planned five, denying us the opportunity of going to the park to eat while the sun set. We enjoyed ourselves nonetheless, and had a good cuddly evening.
Work today was a pain, though. Internet was out, and Bellsouth took until 5PM to bring us a mediocre solution. One of our major clients was having email problems, which I couldn't troubleshoot until the internet was up. Pity.
And, now I come home, GWing is having some people problems, and the GT League is bumbling along as usual. Now, about that roleplaying social reform...
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Hello there, adoring internet-stalkers! (I'm kidding. ~_~) You may have noticed (if you were loyal, that is ;)) that my Feedburner-powered RSS Feed has been lacking in activity lately. There's a reason for that.
Recently, I got rid of WordPress and Sweetcron in favor of a new CMS platform, Chyrp. I had been running Wordpress for a long time, using it to share my thoughts with the general internet populace. However, it had become a bit of a chore to maintain, and it really felt like duplicate work on top of all the other content-generation I was already performing (i.e., forum posts, blog comments, Last.fm "Loved" Tracks, Google Reader shared items, etc.), so I began to look for a way to aggregate this content into a central place.
For a while, FriendFeed served this purpose well, but I didn't like the lack of control I had over the source. Facebook also filled part of this gap (and it still does, to a point), and they've even purchased FriendFeed, but I was looking for something quite a bit more customizable and self-hosted. Through various referrals, I came across Yongfook's Sweetcron project which was a new platform designed specifically for this new thing they called, le gasp, "Lifestreaming".
However, after fighting with Sweetcron and its aggregation methods, particularly its lack of support for various service feed formats; I decided to look into something else. Initial searches landed me upon Tumblr, who had conveniently announced a feature that syncs comments across multiple services (or aggregates). Sadly, I didn't want to get back into a world where all my code was hosted by someone else, and I had no control over it. I kept Sweetcron running on my site under lifestream/, but I continued searching for a better solution.
I then stumbled across Bazooka, which was billed as "the first free PHP tumblelog engine". Thanks to Bazooka developer Evan Walsh, who alerted me to a more up-to-date and current replacement called Chyrp. And I was sold. I immediately spent a few hours converting my existing content from WordPress and SweetCron over to a test installation of Chyrp, and then took the next night changing my site structure and 301'd all my old links to the new URLs.
That's where EricMartindale.com stands today. I've spent a few weeks getting my stream set up the way I want it, and I'm turning the RSS feed back on. Posts should begin flowing into your RSS reader very shortly. Post comments, feedback, and questions here!
Edit 10:13 PM EST: It looks like Feedburner is having some trouble parsing my new RSS content. You can subscribe to my direct feed and it will always work.
Edit 10:58 PM EST: I've fixed the problem and committed the patch to GitHub.
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It's a new currency, designed for the Internet Age, that doesn't depend on any one government, bank, or company. It works the same way everywhere, regardless of what country you're in – allowing for financial freedom in ways not possible with legacy currencies.
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Someone posed a question the other night, asking what you do when you see people being unreasonable on the internet. I answered that I tell them hello and circle/make friends with them. It's always nice to meet like-minded people ;)
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+Sowmyan Tirumurti, the Stuxnet virus infected "totally isolated networks/control systems that weren't connected to the internet", so there's already a precedent for that.
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Hey +Eric Martindale ! Many have lost power and trees down .. Still have power but lost internet and cable signal. The rain is stopped for now and mostly wind with light building to gusts and then subsiding again. I saw some lightning too but we shall see. Thanks for asking! How are you doing down there ?
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“You want to be in the tech game, because in time it will be the only game in town.” — +Justin Kan
This is a spectacular article written from the perspective of recognizing the fundamental paradigm shift that the Internet has introduced to humanity.
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“You want to be in the tech game, because in time it will be the only game in town.” — +Justin Kan
This is a spectacular article written from the perspective of recognizing the fundamental paradigm shift that the Internet has introduced to humanity.
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“You want to be in the tech game, because in time it will be the only game in town.” — +Justin Kan
This is a spectacular article written from the perspective of recognizing the fundamental paradigm shift that the Internet has introduced to humanity.
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“You want to be in the tech game, because in time it will be the only game in town.” — +Justin Kan
This is a spectacular article written from the perspective of recognizing the fundamental paradigm shift that the Internet has introduced to humanity.
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The assumption that a technical infrastructure like this is directly connected to the internet for control, and is vulnerable to cyber attacks is not quite robust. Totally isolated local networks and control systems can not be hacked by cyber warfare. I find it difficult to believe critical systems will be controlled through the net.
Distributed wars fought on very large number of fronts weaken the defences of a stronger player and give an advantage to a weaker attacker. Col Blotto's game!
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...and in Internet related news this morning, Google+ Ambassador Eric Martindale was spotted at a local caffeine stand this morning (WHO was up at 0630?) spreading the news about Hangouts to the counter staff, baristas, and any stray morning coffee grabbers. His enthusiasm for Google Hangouts does not dim when he is away from his computer, and the excitement seems to be infectious. Word is that, as soon as he left the coffee shop, all of the employees and customers clustered around a computer, started a Hangout, and they are all still there, wired to the gills on caffeine, trading links and yakking about how many of their friends will be turning to Google+ and away from "the other social notwork". Eric, did we say to get some sleep? .. NO! Stay up ALL NIGHT! (another coffee?)
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I think we're well on the way already, +Olrik Lenstra, but we're only hitting the low-hanging fruit so far. Among the other challenges include getting the remaining 4.5 billion people [1] in the world access to computers and more importantly, the Internet.
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My Open Source Scanning/Tunneling Microscope (a device that can see atoms) is competing for an open hardware scholarship grant - that's ~$2k to help me get this project (finally) reach a public beta stage! The award is determined by 24 hours of internet voting, and voting ends at 6pm US eastern standard time (7 hours from now).
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My Open Source Scanning/Tunneling Microscope (a device that can see atoms) is competing for an open hardware scholarship grant - that's ~$2k to help me get this project (finally) reach a public beta stage! The award is determined by 24 hours of internet voting, and voting ends at 6pm US eastern standard time (7 hours from now).
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My Open Source Scanning/Tunneling Microscope (a device that can see atoms) is competing for an open hardware scholarship grant - that's ~$2k to help me get this project (finally) reach a public beta stage! The award is determined by 24 hours of internet voting, and voting ends at 6pm US eastern standard time (7 hours from now).
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My Open Source Scanning/Tunneling Microscope (a device that can see atoms) is competing for an open hardware scholarship grant - that's ~$2k to help me get this project (finally) reach a public beta stage! The award is determined by 24 hours of internet voting, and voting ends at 6pm US eastern standard time (7 hours from now).
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Free Press and the Harry Potter Alliance collaborated on this video featuring a series of online celebrities and writers speaking about the importance of Net Neutrality.
Featuring John and Hank Green (the vlogbrothers); actor and blogger Wil Wheaton; bestselling author Maureen Johnson; Shawn Ahmed from the UnculturedProject; vloggers and musicians Kristina Horner and Luke Conard; and Adam Savage from Mythbusters.
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There's a large number of Content Management System, Bulletin Board, and Blog solutions available, all with amazing functionality that simply can't be missed on today's rapidly advancing internet(s).
My challenge is this:
What is the smallest full-featured CMS, BB, or Blog that you can create?
Contest submissions must include the following features:
User Accounts
Article Posts (or "Topics" in BB-land)
Comment System
Submissions will be accepted in any language, so long as the content can be served up over HTTP. To submit, comment on this post with a link to your project!
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Early this morning, somewhere within an hour of me getting in to work, there were a large number of sirens in my otherwise quiet town. Come to find out, the IGA (International Grocer's Association) down the road got robbed at gunpoint. The police showed up, chased them down the road and through town, crashing just near our watered version of downtown. Apparently one suspect has been apprehended, and two are still on the loose. There have been helicopters circling the area for a while, and intermittent sirens. The police and of all things the fire department have blocked off sections of roads, last I heard.
A wonderful start to a week, don't you think? Hey, at least there's something going on instead of the usual droll mood of a small town. To some ill effect, however: the internet here, Bellsouth, seems to have slowed to a complete and utter crawl. It seems to be letting up slightly now that the excitement is over, but this is unacceptable from a business class DSL service. It likely has to do with the news channels showing up and perhaps plugging in to landlines for their newscasts?
I had a good rest on Saturday, after a rather long night on Friday, and enjoyed my time with Amber. Sunday turned out to be a work day for me, as I was looking through a client's server logs in the morning, fixing my own computer woes, and then fixing an install of Linux for my family while my laundry ran. I left to fix MORE personal computer troubles, then headed out to finally relax with my love that evening.
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Warning: Strong nerdery follows. Please be cautious of your fragile mind.
Since late 1997, in all of my pre-teen glory, I have been involved with something my friends and I simply called roleplay in our own little vernacular. Of course I've since learned that roleplay doesn't only refer to the peer-driven world of online roleplay, it refers to all sorts of real-world tabletop games, live acting, and various amounts of storytelling, but this particular post is written with the word roleplay referring to the freeform online roleplaying that I have always been so close to.
Freeform roleplay, or the idea that there is no GM (game master) or storyteller (as in Vampire: The Masquerade), and is instead driven solely by the players, with no concrete rules for battle, statistics, or progression of the story. Rules and guidelines were driven by common expectation, which developed as a sort of social justice system that remains effective, even today.
The very roots of this sort of roleplay stem from early chat systems, where one could adopt a simple moniker and create a personality around the idea of an "avatar", which in most cases consisted only of this name. Players, without defining themselves as such, would interact in an imaginative world that coalesced out of their collaborative imagination. Each would react to the other characters' actions and dialogue in a fashion that suited their own character's theoretical personality, and this would create a constantly evolving story arc.
As the web (and the young teen's perception of the web) evolved and grew, so did the concept of roleplay. Online forums became an entirely new beast, allowing users to write more and more into their in character posts, instead of being limited to the single lines that chat provided (of course, some chats had enough space for people to post a full paragraph, or even two - but this was limited at the time), they were able to expound upon their writing and even proofread their copy before sending it across the web for the other players to view.
Freeform roleplay had also grown to be very competitive at this point, with groups of players forming groups known as clans, guilds, or otherwise, and expanded their IC competitions from chat to the forums and message boards now provided by a few enterprising organizations (or individuals). It was this competitive banter and challenge that defined what many now call the golden age of roleplay, which is what really drove the forefront of this gaming medium.
There were plenty of players who had entered their late teens (and some even were adults at this point, gasp!) who moved away from chat, and who moved away from the conflict-driven world of this type of roleplay. They went on to create storyline-oriented games, with a small and select number of players in more of a collaborative fiction setting. These players often went on to become writers and editors, being driven more by the literary aspect of relaying a fiction onto the internet, and often have their own private niche where they can continue to do this with their long-standing playergroup.
And... that's where we are today. The freeform roleplay community is growing and changing, barely 15 years old at this point. We have the chance to nurture it, just as we have the chance to neglect it. Those of us who've been involved since the beginning have the greatest opportunity to influence the course of growth, and that's exactly what I'm hoping to do.
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After a year and a half working with some of the smartest and most competent engineers I've ever met, it's time for me to part ways with BitPay. I've had the opportunity to be deeply involved in the design, implementation, and deployment of some incredible technologies, but we're turning a page in the story of Bitcoin's rise and it's time to start exploring the new chapter.
BitPay continues to paint an incredibly compelling picture as to what the decentralized future looks like – we worked on some incredibly far-reaching and massively impactful ideas, including:
- [ChainDB][chaindb], a distributed database backed exclusively by the Bitcoin blockchain.
- [Copay][copay], a truly decentralized wallet & identity management platform.
- [BitAuth][bitauth], a secure authentication mechanism for peers on the web, using the `k1` curve.
- [Impulse][impulse], a method of securing zero-confirmation transactions.
- [Foxtrot][foxtrot], a completely encrypted data transmission network.
- [Bitcore][bitcore], a library of common software functionality to glue everything together.
You might notice a few common themes. Let me point out the two most important.
Firstly, that everything here is open source (with the notable exception of ChainDB). Open source, and more importantly [free software][free software], is a very big deal to me. Prior to joining BitPay, I was [open sourcing education][coursefork], [contributing to open source software](https://github.com/martindale), and [speaking on the importance of open source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuYLWdG-lP0). Some of the things I'm most proud of are the things _other_ people built with the things _we_ gave away – _that's_ the real power of open source.
Secondly, that everything here is based on Bitcoin, not some alternative blockchain. BitPay was a firm believer in Bitcoin as the exclusive platform that would secure the post-fiat era, and that belief has held strongly with me before and after my departure. Until a more compelling alternative to Bitcoin emerges,
One of the other exciting things to come out of BitPay was the emergence of [DECENTRALIZE][decentralize], which we formed last fall with a few of our fellow employees. DECENTRALIZE has become [an acclaimed content source][cointelegraph:decentralize] in the latest resurgence of decentralized thinking, and now it gets to be a much bigger priority for me.
Before I joined BitPay, I'd put a lot of work into [Maki][maki], a framework for making full-stack application development significantly easier. Maki took a bit of a back-burner position while I was focusing on my work at BitPay, so I'll be redoubling my efforts to see that vision through. In fact, I think now's as good a time as any to share that vision.
To that end, I'm starting a new project named Fabric. I'd like to entirely eliminate centralized servers on the Internet and catalyze the development of an entirely new class of economic actor. More details soon.
As we embark on our next journey, let's always remember the carefully selected input used to create [the Genesis Block][genesis]:
> The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks
[chaindb]: https://bitpay.com/chaindb.pdf
[copay]: https://copay.io/
[bitauth]: https://github.com/bitpay/bitauth
[impulse]: https://impulse.is/
[foxtrot]: https://github.com/bitpay/foxtrot
[bitcore]: https://bitcore.io
[decentralize]: https://decentralize.fm
[free software]: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html
[coursefork]: https://coursefork.org/
[maki]: https://maki.ericmartindale.com/
[cointelegraph:decentralize]: http://cointelegraph.com/news/114496/leaders-in-bitcoin-broadcasting-pandoras-box-is-open-and-theres-no-going-back
[genesis]: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Genesis_block
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Compelling Narratives using Augmented Reality +Google Glass has, for better or worse, shaped the narrative around augmented reality this past year. We've seen the arms (eyes?) race rapidly develop, culminating recently with the +YCombinator-backed +meta announcing their "SpaceGlasses" [1], one of the first truly compelling experiences built around a convincingly capable device [2].
The hardest part of augmented reality is not the hardware, nor the computer vision software—both extremely difficult academic challenges in their own right, and certainly not to be taken by the faint of heart—but in the experience.
These problems will be solved, through no small effort, but they will be solved. The most daunting challenge is to build a compelling story that binds the available data (read "the Internet") to the real world, and exposes it in an unobtrusive and seamless fashion. This too will emerge naturally, but early pioneers in the space need to think carefully about the application of augmented reality in order to succeed; no one wants a world filled with advertisements [3], and in fact—some even try to eliminate them [4].
Here, +Field Trip attempts to builds one such compelling story. The experience of contextual information making itself available without interrupting your interactions with the real world is so tantalizingly close you can feel it, but one wonders just how much control the user will have over the frequency and relevance of the information "popups". In the early days of the software industry (late 60s, early 70s), an ongoing debate between the [then] default of free software vs. closed software unfolded, setting the foundation for today's conversation around open source and free [5] software. I'll be talking more about this in a presentation at the upcoming #RTP180 : Open Source All Things event [6] in North Carolina.
It's another step forward for ubiquitous augmented reality, an exciting one indeed, but one that won't achieve mass adoption until the user can control their own experience [7].
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Compelling Narratives using Augmented Reality +Google Glass has, for better or worse, shaped the narrative around augmented reality this past year. We've seen the arms (eyes?) race rapidly develop, culminating recently with the +YCombinator-backed +meta announcing their "SpaceGlasses" [1], one of the first truly compelling experiences built around a convincingly capable device [2].
The hardest part of augmented reality is not the hardware, nor the computer vision software—both extremely difficult academic challenges in their own right, and certainly not to be taken by the faint of heart—but in the experience.
These problems will be solved, through no small effort, but they will be solved. The most daunting challenge is to build a compelling story that binds the available data (read "the Internet") to the real world, and exposes it in an unobtrusive and seamless fashion. This too will emerge naturally, but early pioneers in the space need to think carefully about the application of augmented reality in order to succeed; no one wants a world filled with advertisements [3], and in fact—some even try to eliminate them [4].
Here, +Field Trip attempts to builds one such compelling story. The experience of contextual information making itself available without interrupting your interactions with the real world is so tantalizingly close you can feel it, but one wonders just how much control the user will have over the frequency and relevance of the information "popups". In the early days of the software industry (late 60s, early 70s), an ongoing debate between the [then] default of free software vs. closed software unfolded, setting the foundation for today's conversation around open source and free [5] software. I'll be talking more about this in a presentation at the upcoming #RTP180 : Open Source All Things event [6] in North Carolina.
It's another step forward for ubiquitous augmented reality, an exciting one indeed, but one that won't achieve mass adoption until the user can control their own experience [7].
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
Compelling Narratives using Augmented Reality +Google Glass has, for better or worse, shaped the narrative around augmented reality this past year. We've seen the arms (eyes?) race rapidly develop, culminating recently with the +YCombinator-backed +meta announcing their "SpaceGlasses" [1], one of the first truly compelling experiences built around a convincingly capable device [2].
The hardest part of augmented reality is not the hardware, nor the computer vision software—both extremely difficult academic challenges in their own right, and certainly not to be taken by the faint of heart—but in the experience.
These problems will be solved, through no small effort, but they will be solved. The most daunting challenge is to build a compelling story that binds the available data (read "the Internet") to the real world, and exposes it in an unobtrusive and seamless fashion. This too will emerge naturally, but early pioneers in the space need to think carefully about the application of augmented reality in order to succeed; no one wants a world filled with advertisements [3], and in fact—some even try to eliminate them [4].
Here, +Field Trip attempts to builds one such compelling story. The experience of contextual information making itself available without interrupting your interactions with the real world is so tantalizingly close you can feel it, but one wonders just how much control the user will have over the frequency and relevance of the information "popups". In the early days of the software industry (late 60s, early 70s), an ongoing debate between the [then] default of free software vs. closed software unfolded, setting the foundation for today's conversation around open source and free [5] software. I'll be talking more about this in a presentation at the upcoming #RTP180 : Open Source All Things event [6] in North Carolina.
It's another step forward for ubiquitous augmented reality, an exciting one indeed, but one that won't achieve mass adoption until the user can control their own experience [7].
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
Compelling Narratives using Augmented Reality +Google Glass has, for better or worse, shaped the narrative around augmented reality this past year. We've seen the arms (eyes?) race rapidly develop, culminating recently with the +YCombinator-backed +meta announcing their "SpaceGlasses" [1], one of the first truly compelling experiences built around a convincingly capable device [2].
The hardest part of augmented reality is not the hardware, nor the computer vision software—both extremely difficult academic challenges in their own right, and certainly not to be taken by the faint of heart—but in the experience.
These problems will be solved, through no small effort, but they will be solved. The most daunting challenge is to build a compelling story that binds the available data (read "the Internet") to the real world, and exposes it in an unobtrusive and seamless fashion. This too will emerge naturally, but early pioneers in the space need to think carefully about the application of augmented reality in order to succeed; no one wants a world filled with advertisements [3], and in fact—some even try to eliminate them [4].
Here, +Field Trip attempts to builds one such compelling story. The experience of contextual information making itself available without interrupting your interactions with the real world is so tantalizingly close you can feel it, but one wonders just how much control the user will have over the frequency and relevance of the information "popups". In the early days of the software industry (late 60s, early 70s), an ongoing debate between the [then] default of free software vs. closed software unfolded, setting the foundation for today's conversation around open source and free [5] software. I'll be talking more about this in a presentation at the upcoming #RTP180 : Open Source All Things event [6] in North Carolina.
It's another step forward for ubiquitous augmented reality, an exciting one indeed, but one that won't achieve mass adoption until the user can control their own experience [7].
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Hurricane Sandy: Resources, Guides, and Information
With #HurricaneSandy already flooding streets [1] and causing damage [2] in #NYC due to the effects of the combined hurricane, western stormfront, and full-moon tides [3], I wanted to take just a quick moment to collect some resources related to the storm. I have quite a few friends directly in the path of the storm (ahem, +Sharon Strandskov!) and I want to urge everyone to stay safe. Make no illusion, this storm is serious business: take a look at the attached photo to see a comparison to Hurricane Irene.
As always, preparedness is key. If you're in the path of the storm and haven't yet found your battery-powered radio, it's strongly recommend that you do so now while you have the light, as both your Internet and cell signals are likely to be interrupted. If you haven't stocked up on water and [non-perishable] food, it's a bit late and you're going to have to hunker down and hope for the best.
Course of Action: From the FEMA Guidelines [4]: 1) Listen to the radio or TV for information. [ed.: or FEMA's Twitter [5]] 2) Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects or bring them indoors. 3) Turn off utilities if instructed to do so. Otherwise, turn the refrigerator thermostat to its coldest setting and keep its doors closed. 4) Turn off propane tanks.· Avoid using the phone, except for serious emergencies. 5) Moor your boat if time permits. 6) Ensure a supply of water for sanitary purposes such as cleaning and flushing toilets. Fill the bathtub and other large containers with water.
As an additional tip that I recently learned, you can fill plastic bags with water and put them in your freezer to prepare for extended power/water outages. These will stay cool longer than bottled water in your refrigerator.
If you're in one of the evacuation areas and haven't yet followed the instructions or aren't able to do so, make sure to seek shelter and follow the appropriate guidelines. [4]
Take a moment and look up your local news station's Facebook / Twitter and subscribe, optionally via SMS so that when the power goes out, you still have a method of receiving realtime updates (provided cell coverage doesn't go down / get inundated with emergency requests).
As a bonus, there's a pretty awesome #HTML5 canvas wind visualization demo that updates in realtime [6]. Some pretty slick techniques there, so view the source [Luke].
Feel free to add your own resources in the comments. I'll edit the post to add the most helpful resources.
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Hurricane Sandy: Resources, Guides, and Information
With #HurricaneSandy already flooding streets [1] and causing damage [2] in #NYC due to the effects of the combined hurricane, western stormfront, and full-moon tides [3], I wanted to take just a quick moment to collect some resources related to the storm. I have quite a few friends directly in the path of the storm (ahem, +Sharon Strandskov!) and I want to urge everyone to stay safe. Make no illusion, this storm is serious business: take a look at the attached photo to see a comparison to Hurricane Irene.
As always, preparedness is key. If you're in the path of the storm and haven't yet found your battery-powered radio, it's strongly recommend that you do so now while you have the light, as both your Internet and cell signals are likely to be interrupted. If you haven't stocked up on water and [non-perishable] food, it's a bit late and you're going to have to hunker down and hope for the best.
Course of Action: From the FEMA Guidelines [4]: 1) Listen to the radio or TV for information. [ed.: or FEMA's Twitter [5]] 2) Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects or bring them indoors. 3) Turn off utilities if instructed to do so. Otherwise, turn the refrigerator thermostat to its coldest setting and keep its doors closed. 4) Turn off propane tanks.· Avoid using the phone, except for serious emergencies. 5) Moor your boat if time permits. 6) Ensure a supply of water for sanitary purposes such as cleaning and flushing toilets. Fill the bathtub and other large containers with water.
As an additional tip that I recently learned, you can fill plastic bags with water and put them in your freezer to prepare for extended power/water outages. These will stay cool longer than bottled water in your refrigerator.
If you're in one of the evacuation areas and haven't yet followed the instructions or aren't able to do so, make sure to seek shelter and follow the appropriate guidelines. [4]
Take a moment and look up your local news station's Facebook / Twitter and subscribe, optionally via SMS so that when the power goes out, you still have a method of receiving realtime updates (provided cell coverage doesn't go down / get inundated with emergency requests).
As a bonus, there's a pretty awesome #HTML5 canvas wind visualization demo that updates in realtime [6]. Some pretty slick techniques there, so view the source [Luke].
Feel free to add your own resources in the comments. I'll edit the post to add the most helpful resources.
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
Hurricane Sandy: Resources, Guides, and Information
With #HurricaneSandy already flooding streets [1] and causing damage [2] in #NYC due to the effects of the combined hurricane, western stormfront, and full-moon tides [3], I wanted to take just a quick moment to collect some resources related to the storm. I have quite a few friends directly in the path of the storm (ahem, +Sharon Strandskov!) and I want to urge everyone to stay safe. Make no illusion, this storm is serious business: take a look at the attached photo to see a comparison to Hurricane Irene.
As always, preparedness is key. If you're in the path of the storm and haven't yet found your battery-powered radio, it's strongly recommend that you do so now while you have the light, as both your Internet and cell signals are likely to be interrupted. If you haven't stocked up on water and [non-perishable] food, it's a bit late and you're going to have to hunker down and hope for the best.
Course of Action: From the FEMA Guidelines [4]: 1) Listen to the radio or TV for information. [ed.: or FEMA's Twitter [5]] 2) Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects or bring them indoors. 3) Turn off utilities if instructed to do so. Otherwise, turn the refrigerator thermostat to its coldest setting and keep its doors closed. 4) Turn off propane tanks.· Avoid using the phone, except for serious emergencies. 5) Moor your boat if time permits. 6) Ensure a supply of water for sanitary purposes such as cleaning and flushing toilets. Fill the bathtub and other large containers with water.
As an additional tip that I recently learned, you can fill plastic bags with water and put them in your freezer to prepare for extended power/water outages. These will stay cool longer than bottled water in your refrigerator.
If you're in one of the evacuation areas and haven't yet followed the instructions or aren't able to do so, make sure to seek shelter and follow the appropriate guidelines. [4]
Take a moment and look up your local news station's Facebook / Twitter and subscribe, optionally via SMS so that when the power goes out, you still have a method of receiving realtime updates (provided cell coverage doesn't go down / get inundated with emergency requests).
As a bonus, there's a pretty awesome #HTML5 canvas wind visualization demo that updates in realtime [6]. Some pretty slick techniques there, so view the source [Luke].
Feel free to add your own resources in the comments. I'll edit the post to add the most helpful resources.
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
Hurricane Sandy: Resources, Guides, and Information
With #HurricaneSandy already flooding streets [1] and causing damage [2] in #NYC due to the effects of the combined hurricane, western stormfront, and full-moon tides [3], I wanted to take just a quick moment to collect some resources related to the storm. I have quite a few friends directly in the path of the storm (ahem, +Sharon Strandskov!) and I want to urge everyone to stay safe. Make no illusion, this storm is serious business: take a look at the attached photo to see a comparison to Hurricane Irene.
As always, preparedness is key. If you're in the path of the storm and haven't yet found your battery-powered radio, it's strongly recommend that you do so now while you have the light, as both your Internet and cell signals are likely to be interrupted. If you haven't stocked up on water and [non-perishable] food, it's a bit late and you're going to have to hunker down and hope for the best.
Course of Action: From the FEMA Guidelines [4]: 1) Listen to the radio or TV for information. [ed.: or FEMA's Twitter [5]] 2) Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects or bring them indoors. 3) Turn off utilities if instructed to do so. Otherwise, turn the refrigerator thermostat to its coldest setting and keep its doors closed. 4) Turn off propane tanks.· Avoid using the phone, except for serious emergencies. 5) Moor your boat if time permits. 6) Ensure a supply of water for sanitary purposes such as cleaning and flushing toilets. Fill the bathtub and other large containers with water.
As an additional tip that I recently learned, you can fill plastic bags with water and put them in your freezer to prepare for extended power/water outages. These will stay cool longer than bottled water in your refrigerator.
If you're in one of the evacuation areas and haven't yet followed the instructions or aren't able to do so, make sure to seek shelter and follow the appropriate guidelines. [4]
Take a moment and look up your local news station's Facebook / Twitter and subscribe, optionally via SMS so that when the power goes out, you still have a method of receiving realtime updates (provided cell coverage doesn't go down / get inundated with emergency requests).
As a bonus, there's a pretty awesome #HTML5 canvas wind visualization demo that updates in realtime [6]. Some pretty slick techniques there, so view the source [Luke].
Feel free to add your own resources in the comments. I'll edit the post to add the most helpful resources.
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
2013 was an amazing year; between founding +Coursefork, building soundtrack.io and para.io, working with several amazing startups [1], and being allowed to call myself a peer to some of the smartest people I know all throughout, it has been a year of both great achievement and personal growth. This sets an incredibly compelling stage for 2014 and everything to come therein.
Today, I'm excited to announce that I'll be joining the likes of Jeff Garzik [2], Patrick Nagurny, and Ian Patton under the leadership of CTO Stephen Pair at +Bitpay, which allows anyone to quickly and seamlessly accept Bitcoin as payment, settling immediately in any currency, including USD.
Bitcoin has become one of the biggest stories of 2013, having grown over 9000% in value [3] and even surpassing Western Union in transaction volume [4]. As potentially the most counterfeit-proof form of payment in history, Bitcoin is poised to become one of the most disruptive technologies since the invention of the Internet as society moves increasingly into decentralized systems in an era of waning trust and increasing technological awareness by growing economies like China, India, and Brazil [5].
Taking advantage of this trend of decentralization, BitPay is perfectly positioned to serve as the mechanism for BitCoin's mass-adoption as massive merchants such as +Overstock.com move to accept this new form of payment. It's exciting to be involved with a company in this position at such an early stage, and expand the breadth of my experience to include another decentralized system, and especially to be holding the responsibility of expanding the company's open-source initiatives and engaging the developer community in a meaningful way.
After parting ways with Coursefork late last year, I've taken a seat on the Board of Advisors, allowing the amazing team we built to realize the vision of open-sourcing the world of education [6] under the leadership of CTO +Brian Marks. Brian was previously the CTO of successful education startup WebAssign [7], and will be an excellent steward of Coursefork's team and technology as they move towards the much-needed decentralization and open-sourcing of the education industry. My best wishes to the team as they endeavor to do so!
Exciting times all around, and I'm truly lucky to be a part of it in so many ways. Now let's go make the world a better place.
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Onward, and Ever Upward 2013 was an amazing year; between founding +Coursefork, building soundtrack.io and para.io, working with several amazing startups [1], and being allowed to call myself a peer to some of the smartest people I know all throughout, it has been a year of both great achievement and personal growth. This sets an incredibly compelling stage for 2014 and everything to come therein.
Today, I'm excited to announce that I'll be joining the likes of Jeff Garzik [2], Patrick Nagurny, and Ian Patton under the leadership of CTO Stephen Pair at +Bitpay, which allows anyone to quickly and seamlessly accept Bitcoin as payment, settling immediately in any currency, including USD.
Bitcoin has become one of the biggest stories of 2013, having grown over 9000% in value [3] and even surpassing Western Union in transaction volume [4]. As potentially the most counterfeit-proof form of payment in history, Bitcoin is poised to become one of the most disruptive technologies since the invention of the Internet as society moves increasingly into decentralized systems in an era of waning trust and increasing technological awareness by growing economies like China, India, and Brazil [5].
Taking advantage of this trend of decentralization, BitPay is perfectly positioned to serve as the mechanism for BitCoin's mass-adoption as massive merchants such as +Overstock.com move to accept this new form of payment. It's exciting to be involved with a company in this position at such an early stage, and expand the breadth of my experience to include another decentralized system, and especially to be holding the responsibility of expanding the company's open-source initiatives and engaging the developer community in a meaningful way.
After parting ways with Coursefork late last year, I've taken a seat on the Board of Advisors, allowing the amazing team we built to realize the vision of open-sourcing the world of education [6] under the leadership of CTO +Brian Marks. Brian was previously the CTO of successful education startup WebAssign [7], and will be an excellent steward of Coursefork's team and technology as they move towards the much-needed decentralization and open-sourcing of the education industry. My best wishes to the team as they endeavor to do so!
Exciting times all around, and I'm truly lucky to be a part of it in so many ways. Now let's go make the world a better place.
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
Onward, and Ever Upward 2013 was an amazing year; between founding +Coursefork, building soundtrack.io and para.io, working with several amazing startups [1], and being allowed to call myself a peer to some of the smartest people I know all throughout, it has been a year of both great achievement and personal growth. This sets an incredibly compelling stage for 2014 and everything to come therein.
Today, I'm excited to announce that I'll be joining the likes of Jeff Garzik [2], Patrick Nagurny, and Ian Patton under the leadership of CTO Stephen Pair at +Bitpay, which allows anyone to quickly and seamlessly accept Bitcoin as payment, settling immediately in any currency, including USD.
Bitcoin has become one of the biggest stories of 2013, having grown over 9000% in value [3] and even surpassing Western Union in transaction volume [4]. As potentially the most counterfeit-proof form of payment in history, Bitcoin is poised to become one of the most disruptive technologies since the invention of the Internet as society moves increasingly into decentralized systems in an era of waning trust and increasing technological awareness by growing economies like China, India, and Brazil [5].
Taking advantage of this trend of decentralization, BitPay is perfectly positioned to serve as the mechanism for BitCoin's mass-adoption as massive merchants such as +Overstock.com move to accept this new form of payment. It's exciting to be involved with a company in this position at such an early stage, and expand the breadth of my experience to include another decentralized system, and especially to be holding the responsibility of expanding the company's open-source initiatives and engaging the developer community in a meaningful way.
After parting ways with Coursefork late last year, I've taken a seat on the Board of Advisors, allowing the amazing team we built to realize the vision of open-sourcing the world of education [6] under the leadership of CTO +Brian Marks. Brian was previously the CTO of successful education startup WebAssign [7], and will be an excellent steward of Coursefork's team and technology as they move towards the much-needed decentralization and open-sourcing of the education industry. My best wishes to the team as they endeavor to do so!
Exciting times all around, and I'm truly lucky to be a part of it in so many ways. Now let's go make the world a better place.
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
Onward, and Ever Upward 2013 was an amazing year; between founding +Coursefork, building soundtrack.io and para.io, working with several amazing startups [1], and being allowed to call myself a peer to some of the smartest people I know all throughout, it has been a year of both great achievement and personal growth. This sets an incredibly compelling stage for 2014 and everything to come therein.
Today, I'm excited to announce that I'll be joining the likes of Jeff Garzik [2], Patrick Nagurny, and Ian Patton under the leadership of CTO Stephen Pair at +Bitpay, which allows anyone to quickly and seamlessly accept Bitcoin as payment, settling immediately in any currency, including USD.
Bitcoin has become one of the biggest stories of 2013, having grown over 9000% in value [3] and even surpassing Western Union in transaction volume [4]. As potentially the most counterfeit-proof form of payment in history, Bitcoin is poised to become one of the most disruptive technologies since the invention of the Internet as society moves increasingly into decentralized systems in an era of waning trust and increasing technological awareness by growing economies like China, India, and Brazil [5].
Taking advantage of this trend of decentralization, BitPay is perfectly positioned to serve as the mechanism for BitCoin's mass-adoption as massive merchants such as +Overstock.com move to accept this new form of payment. It's exciting to be involved with a company in this position at such an early stage, and expand the breadth of my experience to include another decentralized system, and especially to be holding the responsibility of expanding the company's open-source initiatives and engaging the developer community in a meaningful way.
After parting ways with Coursefork late last year, I've taken a seat on the Board of Advisors, allowing the amazing team we built to realize the vision of open-sourcing the world of education [6] under the leadership of CTO +Brian Marks. Brian was previously the CTO of successful education startup WebAssign [7], and will be an excellent steward of Coursefork's team and technology as they move towards the much-needed decentralization and open-sourcing of the education industry. My best wishes to the team as they endeavor to do so!
Exciting times all around, and I'm truly lucky to be a part of it in so many ways. Now let's go make the world a better place.
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
On the Ongoing Attacks between China, U.S., Russia, Israel, etc.… The latest round of evidence of ongoing digital warfare between the superpowers is now being reported in the N.Y. Times [1] after an undeniably incriminating 60-page report on the Chinese attacks on the U.S. by security firm Mandiant [2].
“Either they are coming from inside Unit 61398, or the people who run the most-controlled, most-monitored Internet networks in the world are clueless about thousands of people generating attacks from this one neighborhood.” — Kevin Mandia
The report goes on to track individual participants in the attack, tracing them back to the headquarters of P.L.A. Unit 61398.
Attacks from the Chinese have been ongoing for many years, notably back to Operation Titan Rain [3] in 2003, in which attackers gained access to military intelligence networks at organizations such as Lockheed Martin, Sandia National Laboratories, Redstone Arsenal, and NASA [4]. Direct military targets were also included in the assault, such as the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, the Defense Information Systems Agency in Arlington, Virginia, the Naval Ocean Systems Center, a Defense Department installation in San Diego, California, and the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense installation in Huntsville, Alabama [5].
These ongoing attacks are labeled "Advanced Persistent Threats" or "APT" by the American Military, are considered acts of war by both the White House [6] and the Department of Defense [7] as far back as 2011, and are not unique to the Chinese origins. You may remember the 2007 attacks on Estonia [8], which has been attributed to entities within Russian territory operating with the assistance of the Russian government [9]. These attacks disabled a wide array of Estonian government sites, rendering services in the world's most digitally-connected country unusable. The attacks also disabled ATM machines, effectively disabling some portion of the Estonian economy.
The United States [and arguably Israel, [10]] have also been actively participating in these attacks [11] with the deploying of FLAME and Stuxnet against Iran, which made international headlines this past year when the coordinated efforts of the tools were used to disable Iranian nuclear centrifuges in an attempt to slow their progress in their nuclear program [12]. These efforts are ongoing, with the latest addition of the Gauss and Duqu malwares [13] continuing to target middle-eastern countries.
“From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.” — +The New York Times
Obama reportedly went on to sign a classified directive last year [14] enabling the government to seize control of private networks, and the 2012 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) includes terms [15, section 954] that authorize offensive attacks on foreign threats [16]. The official United States policy already is to deem any cyberattack on the U.S. as an "act of war" [17], and it looks like these types of actions and attacks have already been made legal.
While it may once have been a subject of fiction [18], it's now and has been a harsh reality that we're in the middle of a new era in warfare, and the battles are already well-underway as countries around the world are openly engaging in offensive attacks on one another that are impacting economies on a massive scale. I don't know what else to call this other than a world war—even the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) predicted this [19], as have many others even earlier [20].
Here's a thought; if our constitution gives us the right to bear arms, and the government deems these types of attacks as acts of war, then isn't it our right to keep and bear these arms? Yet another case for a mass-algorate society [21], which Mr. Obama appears to agree with me on [22], at the very least.
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On the Ongoing Attacks between China, U.S., Russia, Israel, etc.… The latest round of evidence of ongoing digital warfare between the superpowers is now being reported in the N.Y. Times [1] after an undeniably incriminating 60-page report on the Chinese attacks on the U.S. by security firm Mandiant [2].
“Either they are coming from inside Unit 61398, or the people who run the most-controlled, most-monitored Internet networks in the world are clueless about thousands of people generating attacks from this one neighborhood.” — Kevin Mandia
The report goes on to track individual participants in the attack, tracing them back to the headquarters of P.L.A. Unit 61398.
Attacks from the Chinese have been ongoing for many years, notably back to Operation Titan Rain [3] in 2003, in which attackers gained access to military intelligence networks at organizations such as Lockheed Martin, Sandia National Laboratories, Redstone Arsenal, and NASA [4]. Direct military targets were also included in the assault, such as the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, the Defense Information Systems Agency in Arlington, Virginia, the Naval Ocean Systems Center, a Defense Department installation in San Diego, California, and the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense installation in Huntsville, Alabama [5].
These ongoing attacks are labeled "Advanced Persistent Threats" or "APT" by the American Military, are considered acts of war by both the White House [6] and the Department of Defense [7] as far back as 2011, and are not unique to the Chinese origins. You may remember the 2007 attacks on Estonia [8], which has been attributed to entities within Russian territory operating with the assistance of the Russian government [9]. These attacks disabled a wide array of Estonian government sites, rendering services in the world's most digitally-connected country unusable. The attacks also disabled ATM machines, effectively disabling some portion of the Estonian economy.
The United States [and arguably Israel, [10]] have also been actively participating in these attacks [11] with the deploying of FLAME and Stuxnet against Iran, which made international headlines this past year when the coordinated efforts of the tools were used to disable Iranian nuclear centrifuges in an attempt to slow their progress in their nuclear program [12]. These efforts are ongoing, with the latest addition of the Gauss and Duqu malwares [13] continuing to target middle-eastern countries.
“From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.” — +The New York Times
Obama reportedly went on to sign a classified directive last year [14] enabling the government to seize control of private networks, and the 2012 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) includes terms [15, section 954] that authorize offensive attacks on foreign threats [16]. The official United States policy already is to deem any cyberattack on the U.S. as an "act of war" [17], and it looks like these types of actions and attacks have already been made legal.
While it may once have been a subject of fiction [18], it's now and has been a harsh reality that we're in the middle of a new era in warfare, and the battles are already well-underway as countries around the world are openly engaging in offensive attacks on one another that are impacting economies on a massive scale. I don't know what else to call this other than a world war—even the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) predicted this [19], as have many others even earlier [20].
Here's a thought; if our constitution gives us the right to bear arms, and the government deems these types of attacks as acts of war, then isn't it our right to keep and bear these arms? Yet another case for a mass-algorate society [21], which Mr. Obama appears to agree with me on [22], at the very least.
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On the Ongoing Attacks between China, U.S., Russia, Israel, etc.… The latest round of evidence of ongoing digital warfare between the superpowers is now being reported in the N.Y. Times [1] after an undeniably incriminating 60-page report on the Chinese attacks on the U.S. by security firm Mandiant [2].
“Either they are coming from inside Unit 61398, or the people who run the most-controlled, most-monitored Internet networks in the world are clueless about thousands of people generating attacks from this one neighborhood.” — Kevin Mandia
The report goes on to track individual participants in the attack, tracing them back to the headquarters of P.L.A. Unit 61398.
Attacks from the Chinese have been ongoing for many years, notably back to Operation Titan Rain [3] in 2003, in which attackers gained access to military intelligence networks at organizations such as Lockheed Martin, Sandia National Laboratories, Redstone Arsenal, and NASA [4]. Direct military targets were also included in the assault, such as the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, the Defense Information Systems Agency in Arlington, Virginia, the Naval Ocean Systems Center, a Defense Department installation in San Diego, California, and the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense installation in Huntsville, Alabama [5].
These ongoing attacks are labeled "Advanced Persistent Threats" or "APT" by the American Military, are considered acts of war by both the White House [6] and the Department of Defense [7] as far back as 2011, and are not unique to the Chinese origins. You may remember the 2007 attacks on Estonia [8], which has been attributed to entities within Russian territory operating with the assistance of the Russian government [9]. These attacks disabled a wide array of Estonian government sites, rendering services in the world's most digitally-connected country unusable. The attacks also disabled ATM machines, effectively disabling some portion of the Estonian economy.
The United States [and arguably Israel, [10]] have also been actively participating in these attacks [11] with the deploying of FLAME and Stuxnet against Iran, which made international headlines this past year when the coordinated efforts of the tools were used to disable Iranian nuclear centrifuges in an attempt to slow their progress in their nuclear program [12]. These efforts are ongoing, with the latest addition of the Gauss and Duqu malwares [13] continuing to target middle-eastern countries.
“From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.” — +The New York Times
Obama reportedly went on to sign a classified directive last year [14] enabling the government to seize control of private networks, and the 2012 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) includes terms [15, section 954] that authorize offensive attacks on foreign threats [16]. The official United States policy already is to deem any cyberattack on the U.S. as an "act of war" [17], and it looks like these types of actions and attacks have already been made legal.
While it may once have been a subject of fiction [18], it's now and has been a harsh reality that we're in the middle of a new era in warfare, and the battles are already well-underway as countries around the world are openly engaging in offensive attacks on one another that are impacting economies on a massive scale. I don't know what else to call this other than a world war—even the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) predicted this [19], as have many others even earlier [20].
Here's a thought; if our constitution gives us the right to bear arms, and the government deems these types of attacks as acts of war, then isn't it our right to keep and bear these arms? Yet another case for a mass-algorate society [21], which Mr. Obama appears to agree with me on [22], at the very least.
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
On the Ongoing Attacks between China, U.S., Russia, Israel, etc.… The latest round of evidence of ongoing digital warfare between the superpowers is now being reported in the N.Y. Times [1] after an undeniably incriminating 60-page report on the Chinese attacks on the U.S. by security firm Mandiant [2].
“Either they are coming from inside Unit 61398, or the people who run the most-controlled, most-monitored Internet networks in the world are clueless about thousands of people generating attacks from this one neighborhood.” — Kevin Mandia
The report goes on to track individual participants in the attack, tracing them back to the headquarters of P.L.A. Unit 61398.
Attacks from the Chinese have been ongoing for many years, notably back to Operation Titan Rain [3] in 2003, in which attackers gained access to military intelligence networks at organizations such as Lockheed Martin, Sandia National Laboratories, Redstone Arsenal, and NASA [4]. Direct military targets were also included in the assault, such as the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, the Defense Information Systems Agency in Arlington, Virginia, the Naval Ocean Systems Center, a Defense Department installation in San Diego, California, and the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense installation in Huntsville, Alabama [5].
These ongoing attacks are labeled "Advanced Persistent Threats" or "APT" by the American Military, are considered acts of war by both the White House [6] and the Department of Defense [7] as far back as 2011, and are not unique to the Chinese origins. You may remember the 2007 attacks on Estonia [8], which has been attributed to entities within Russian territory operating with the assistance of the Russian government [9]. These attacks disabled a wide array of Estonian government sites, rendering services in the world's most digitally-connected country unusable. The attacks also disabled ATM machines, effectively disabling some portion of the Estonian economy.
The United States [and arguably Israel, [10]] have also been actively participating in these attacks [11] with the deploying of FLAME and Stuxnet against Iran, which made international headlines this past year when the coordinated efforts of the tools were used to disable Iranian nuclear centrifuges in an attempt to slow their progress in their nuclear program [12]. These efforts are ongoing, with the latest addition of the Gauss and Duqu malwares [13] continuing to target middle-eastern countries.
“From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.” — +The New York Times
Obama reportedly went on to sign a classified directive last year [14] enabling the government to seize control of private networks, and the 2012 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) includes terms [15, section 954] that authorize offensive attacks on foreign threats [16]. The official United States policy already is to deem any cyberattack on the U.S. as an "act of war" [17], and it looks like these types of actions and attacks have already been made legal.
While it may once have been a subject of fiction [18], it's now and has been a harsh reality that we're in the middle of a new era in warfare, and the battles are already well-underway as countries around the world are openly engaging in offensive attacks on one another that are impacting economies on a massive scale. I don't know what else to call this other than a world war—even the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) predicted this [19], as have many others even earlier [20].
Here's a thought; if our constitution gives us the right to bear arms, and the government deems these types of attacks as acts of war, then isn't it our right to keep and bear these arms? Yet another case for a mass-algorate society [21], which Mr. Obama appears to agree with me on [22], at the very least.
Replies are automatically detected from social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. To add a comment, include a direct link to this post in your message and it'll show up here within a few minutes.
