Sydney Morning Herald: US military finds soldiers’ blogs too close for comfort: “In a development that is worrying US military commanders in Iraq, a growing number of US soldiers – 200 at the last count – have set up their own blogs, or internet diaries, and are updating them from the battlefield.” Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Monthly Archives: December 2005
Lack of Info Sharing Infrastructure Impedes Homeland Security
Press release: Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) released a report today showing that more than four years after 9/11 the federal government still does not have working systems for getting law enforcement officers the information they need to identify terrorists and to thwart their plans. The report, Beyond Connecting the Dots: A VITAL Framework for… Continue Reading
NSA Website Discontinues Tracking Users After Objections
Following up on yesterday’s posting, NSA Website Uses Cookies Despite Prohibition, from today’s New York Times: Spy Agency Removes Illegal Tracking Files. See also U.S. to probe contractor’s Web tracking Continue Reading
DHS IG Audit Identifies Major Management Problems
Department of Homeland Security, office of Inspector General report: Major Management Challenges Facing the Department of Homeland Security, December 2005 (26 pages, PDF). AP reports: Weaknesses in FEMA’s response system during Hurricane Katrina were just one symptom of major management challenges at the Homeland Security Department, an internal report issued Wednesday concludes.” See also this… Continue Reading
Article Analyzes Semantic Structure of Wikipedia
Analyzing and Visualizing the Semantic Coverage of Wikipedia and Its Authors, by Todd Holloway, Miran Bozicevic, Katy Börner: “This paper presents a novel analysis and visualization of English Wikipedia data. Our specific interest is the analysis of basic statistics, the identification of the semantic structure and age of the categories in this free online encyclopedia,… Continue Reading
EPIC Posts Privacy Report By Alito While At Princeton
EPIC: “As a student at Princeton University, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito put together a remarkable report on the future of privacy in America. EPIC has obtained a complete copy of the report and, in cooperation with the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University.” Continue Reading
Pew Internet Survey Indicates Men and Women Now Online in Equal Numbers
Press release: “A wide-ranging look at the way American women and men use the internet shows that men continue to pursue many internet activities more intensively than women, and that men are still first out of the blocks in trying the latest technologies. At the same time, there are trends showing that women are catching… Continue Reading
NSA Website Uses Cookies Despite Prohibition
AP reports that the NSA website has continued to use cookies to track user access of the site, despite strict prohibitions against such practices: OMB Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002, September 26, 2003 – Tracking technology prohibitions: agencies are prohibited from using persistent cookies or any other means… Continue Reading
E-Gov Portal for Contracting Underutilized By Small Businesses
Small Contractors Fail to Use Free Government Services: On August 15, 2005, the National Association of Government Contractors (NAGC) released the results of a survey of government contractors nationwide…One of the more surprising results of the survey revealed that more than half of those contractors responding to the survey were not registered with FedBizOpps.gov, the… Continue Reading
2005 DOT Report on Significant Rulemakings
DOT Report on Significant Rulemakings, December 2005 Complete Report Continue Reading
FISA Court Made Modifications to Bush Surveillance Requests
Secret court modified wiretap requests – Intervention may have led Bush to bypass panel, by Stewart M. Powell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Washington Bureau. Related commentary, references and postings: Reuters: Secret surveillance up since 9/11 – “The Justice Department’s reports to the U.S. Congress on the surveillance court’s activities show that the Bush administration made 5,645 applications… Continue Reading
Report Details Significant DHS Security Failures
Press release: “A House Committee on Homeland Security investigative report prepared for Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Committee Democrats finds that the Department of Homeland Security has left 33 separate promises to strengthen aspects of homeland security unresolved ahead of the New Year.” Leaving the Nation at Risk: 33 Unfulfilled Promises From the… Continue Reading
