Web Tidbits #1
I know there are other tools out there to find out what has been interesting on the web over the last week. However, the overwhelming flow of information on Google Buzz and Twitter sometimes makes it difficult to keep up. So, I am going to start a weekly post that will highlight some interesting articles from the web, mostly the blogosphere, in relation to security, cyber, and government contracting. Don’t be surprised though if I sneak in a couple of goofy links from time to time.
Bill Puts Contractors Out of Work – NextGov
There a ton of articles that document the government’s efforts to trim down the contractor workforce. This particular article focuses in on how the beltway bandit establishment are fighting against change that may effect their wallets.
Understanding and Selecting a Tokenization Solution: Introduction – Securosis Blog
An in-depth introduction to tokenization in enterprise applications. I actually stumbled upon this blog a couple of weeks ago and it is well worth following. They cover a variety of security topics including log management, network data flow, and secure application development.
Paying for Classified Security – NextGov
An article that details the $$$s spent by the federal government on information security. Ironically enough the costs were actually down between 2008 and 2009, although the number is still at $4.26 billion dollars…not including what the intelligence community spends.
Nightwatch
This less about an article and more about Nightwatch overall. Great feed to follow to read in-depth goings on in the rest of the world. Most updates feature editor commentary that give greater insight into situation such as the North Korean/South Korean submarine debacle.
Cryptography Success Story – Schneier on Security
A link to an article showcasing where encryption of a hard drive actually foiled both Brazilian authorities and the FBI. Certainly a good thing from a protection perspecitve, but maybe not so good from an inteligence collecting angle. The comments on Schneier’s blogs are always insightful (and entertaining) as well.
The EV Battery Conundrum
I think it is pretty amusing that so many folks think that the electric car is the way we will get off foreign oil (and hopefully avoid more Gulf oil spills). There is an article over at Earth2Tech entitled Battle of the Batteries: Comparing Electric Car Range, Charge Times that features a list of incoming EV cars, there published miles per charge, and the real world miles per charge.
As one would expect, range of these cars very often does not live up to the hype. The Chevy Volt is one example where ever former GM Vice Chariman Bob Lutz is referenced:
“Lutz told a reporter from the Dow Jones that he drove the Volt for a weekend recently during the cold Detroit winter, and found he got only 28 miles of electric range.”
Fortunately for the Volt, there is a backup gas engine that will charge the battery. However, if you look at other cars, many of their real world ranges are 50-75% of the manufacturers claims. Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like your cell phone? They promise days of standby, when in reality my Droid is lucky to last 18 hours. So instead, I have chargers everywhere. My house, my car, my office, and even at Sleekfest. And even with all of those chargers, I make sure to modify my phone behavior as the juice decreases.
So basically when we start buying EVs, I will have to make sure that I am never too far from my house, the office, or the Sleekfest grounds (power is a game changer) so that I have enough juice to get anywhere. Maybe its just me, but it is a helluva a lot different if my cell phone runs out of juice and I can’t check Twitter then if my car dies in SE when trying to get home from the Strasburg debut.
Jack Goldsmith and Melissa Hathaway – The cybersecurity changes we need
In today’s post, Jack Goldsmith and Melissa Hathaway contributed an article entitled “The cybersecurity changes we need“. The authors criticize the current administration in their approach to cybersecurity and state that it is focusing on short term gains rather than the long term.
I have become a little exasperated by all of the sword rattling and cheesy commercials using the public’s fear of “taking down the power grid”. I had hope for the article when it started:
The news is filled with scary stories about the insecurity of the computer and telecommunication systems on which our nation’s prosperity depends: malicious software planted in electricity-grid computers; rampant state-sponsored and criminal cyber-espionage and theft; and the possibility of cyberattacks on banking and transportation systems.
However, rather than make suggestions on what should be done, they take the rest of the article to criticize the administration for paying lip service to cybersecurity and policies that have been established. I don’t necessarily disagree with that thought, but I also think it is always more useful for all if a plan, even a high level one, is proposed.
Cybersecurity (or insecurity) is DEFINITELY a threat as we all become increasingly “plugged in”. BUT, like most topics that have billions associated with it, they hype can become quickly overblown into fears that the Chinese are hacking into the power grid on a regular basis. A plan is all well and good, but a lack of high level influence within the administration has been a deterrent to actually getting things done. The establishment of a cyber command, although somewhat scary due to its ties to the NSA, is a good first step. One thing that I have learned while working in the military is that when shit hits the fan, it actually gets done.
Google TV: What Sports Illustrated Promised Years Ago?
After Google’s series of announcements yesterday, I have been digging through the Sports Illustrated archives (and being pleasantly distracted by swimsuit covers while digging). Years ago, SI published an article detailing the “TV of the Future”. Unfortunately I can’t find the article. However, it painted a vision of what sports on TV would like in the future (I think it was ten years in the future?). While watching the game you could pull up stats about the game, players, etc. There could be seperate angles of the same play, or even featured camera on star players.
The evolution of the Internet since the 90s promised to get us closer to that vision. However, even though the information has been available on computers for years, even companies like Microsoft and Apple haven’t been unable to crack the nut.
So yesterday’s Google TV announcement brought me back to when I read that article, and made me think that maybe, just maybe, we can reach that vision depicted in Sports Illustrated so long ago.
Rather than recap the presentation from I/O 2010, head over to Boy Genius Report for a full synopsis. At its core, Google TV will either come directly with your TV (Sony being the first one out at the gate) or you can buy an add-on box from Logitech. Both will be available this fall. The tidbit that made me think of the SI article:
Sports fans will love Google TV. You can check out box scores, monitor your fantasy league, etc. While you’re watching the game, you can keep track of the box score thanks to picture-in-picture.
I can envision Sundays during football season (at least the 2010 season, looks like we might be SOL for 2011) where I switch on the 1p game. I have already downloaded the Sportline Live Scoring app for Android that will run in a PIP box while watching the game on TV. The app displays scores for my Fantasy matchup and I click on each player or team to get more details. While the game is going on, I am looking at pics on Facebook from the 907 guys latest outing in DC. When I see a good one, I can send the pic to the TV which will shrink the game to a PIP and show the photo full screen. I append a quick comment remarking on the close up of Oakenfold from the night before and then switch the game back to full screen.
Yes, I am a geek, but you can’t tell me this wouldn’t be sweet!
Of course, until this is actually released and available, we won’t know if this is bullshit hype or reality. Google is also opening the door to start a war with local cable companies (I guess they aren’t really local anymore. Perhaps cable conglomerates is better). This is less of a war of Google vs Apple as it is a referendum on traditional media. Change or die.
Spindex Announcement
Today at Web 2.0 Microsoft announced a new product called Spindex. From the quick look during the presentation, appears to be Friendfeed with some semantic search.
MS Live account needed, and it appears it is an invite model for now. Gonna try to grab an account tomorrow. Definitely could see some uses for the government and the IC.
Despite the Rumors of its Demise, PowerPoint Can be a Useful Tool
There has been an increase in discussion over the past couple of weeks regarding the overuse of PowerPoint in the military and the commercial world, and how it can sometimes be a detriment. In fact, some articles are actually suggesting that the overuse is costing lives.
While I agree that the “PowerPoint Ranger” mentality of the military CAN be a detriment, PowerPoint does have its uses when used properly.
This became very apparent yesterday during a session here at Web 2.0. The topic was Security in Code Development, clearly a complex topic. The presenter chose to eschew PowerPoint altogether and instead handed out ten copies of a 25 page paper so that the audience could follow along while he presented it. It wasn’t a page by page review, but selected sections were presented to help facilitate understanding to the audience.
What it underscored to me is the power of pictures and diagrams to facilitate understanding. This is not something that is PowerPoint specific, but tools like PowerPoint provide a good forum to present concepts. In a complicated discussion about cross site scripting attacks, it would have been very helpful to level set the knowledge of the room to further the discussion. Instead, I felt that some of the audience (frankly myself included at times) was lost in the discussion. I also see this in briefings for the Government…the simple “cartoon” picture is a great way to level set discussions, especially with senior level folks who are less technical.
Of course I am not suggesting that this cartoon picture replace real diagrams. Instead I believe it is a great tool to have in your quiver to enhance buy-in, stimulate discussion, and further your project.
A Beltway Bandit at Web 2.0
This week I am at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. Originally I was attending with my customer, but as she as decided to pursue other adventures, I am here on my own.
Looking through the agenda, the expo seems to be heavily focused on design, social media, and web development. It is my goal to find out how the methodologies and technologies here can apply to the government. As usual, the biggest challenge is likely to be that much of the cool tech presented here is more SaaS based, whereas in the government (at least where I sit) we need to be able to install it in our closed network.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a ton to learn. I am looking to blog about what I learn and see at the show, as well as Tweet/Geo-locate with the best of them!
Blippy Credit Card Data Breach
Blippy, a company that enables users to share their credit card purchases, today provided details on a breach of credit card information. Turns out that four credit card numbers were searchable via Google. The beginning of their response:
Today someone discovered a Google search that displays the credit card numbers of 4 Blippy users.
We take security seriously and want to assure Blippy users that this was an isolated incident from many months ago in our beta test, and doesn’t affect current users.
While it looks super-scary and certainly sucks for those few people who were affected, and is embarrassing to us, it’s a lot less bad than it looks.
Although I feel a “less bad” for these four folks, WHAT THE !@!$@!$ DID YOU EXPECT? It is one thing to use your credit card online for purchases, but it is a whole new level of voyeurism that drives you to share your credit card number for the purposes of telling the world what you are buying.
“Hello world…I just bought an fully capable inflatable sheep for $19.99. I promise it is just as a gag…honest.”
Blockbuster Gets a Cherry Deal
It is always entertaining to keep track of the old media vs. new media war. Old media still can’t figure out how to handle the new way of business and continues to be left behind.
Today’s news of Blockbuster’s new deal with Warner Bros is a prime example. A few weeks ago, Warner signed an agreement with Redbox and Netflix limiting the availability of new releases on those services for 28 days post release to DVD. Today’s agreement gives BB the ability to rent these titles immediately via brick and mortar and online.
Double standard anyone? In all reality, business is business and the movies are Warner’s to do with as they please. However, seems like a reactive business move and some old media blowing old media. Can’t wait to see what happens when BB goes bankrupt.
Kindle App for Android
So maybe this should be a Tweet, but I felt like trying out the WordPress app on my Droid. I’m not on the metro much so why not be productive?
Anyhow, since I am on the metro I am craving a Kindle app on my Droid. Come on Amazon…don’t u want to piss Jobs off like Google is?
Kevin Heald
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