Perhaps it is always like this at conferences and events attended by mixed crowds of federal employees and private enterprise, but I am always amazed at the universally unquestioned and oft-stated suggestion that government agencies and their staff are too slow, too bureaucratic, to achieve their own innovations in software development. Further, these same rooms [...]
technology
Stuxnet as a Movie Plot
It goes around and around (and around and around). If you haven’t heard of it yet, let me fill you in. Stuxnet is a particularly crafty computer worm that targets a very specific piece of software that interfaces with a very specific programmable logic controller that just happens to be used in nuclear (power) facilities. [...]
UN Pay Calculator
[Update 2011-12-16: I have rehosted the original calculator at Koding. I'll keep it there unless I need more bandwidth for it. Also, I should point out that it is inaccurate, and I plan to replace it with something better as soon as possible. Stay tuned.] Just for fun (and to keep my web dev skills [...]
Taking the Reins of Net Neutrality
A couple of weeks ago there was this whole fracas over Net Neutrality: Google reversing its stance and teaming up with Verizon to treat the wireless spectrum differently than the wired infrastructure, and now AT&T suggesting the same thing. It’s a sticky subject that’s attracted even the nutzo Tea Party crowd to the fray. In [...]
Leveraging Web 2.0 and Social Networking for Talent Acquisition
Many companies are just beginning to explore ways to leverage Web 2.0 and social networking technologies for a host of goals. Among these are the typical ones: brand management, driving product awareness, marketing, etc. These are all good uses of these technologies, insofar as some of the largest companies have already adopted them and somewhat [...]
On Web Filtering by Employers
If you’re like many employers, especially the federal, state, and local government kind, you may have in place technological measures, including web filtering (content and destination based) and port blocking (to keep certain kinds of programs from operating correctly) to curb casual internet use by employees on the job. And just like every one of [...]
Rocking PMF Finalist Data with Google Labs Fusion Tables
I’ve been meaning for a while to show some pretty pictures on the PMF Program, but hadn’t gotten around to actually making the visuals. When I saw the Fusion Tables application in Google Labs, I thought that would be a perfect way to show everyone what the program looks like analytically. I started this project [...]
Adding RSS to the PMF PPS
[Update: I had to revise the feed links below since I could not rename the improved Pipes feed.] I decided to take matters into my own hands and drag some portion of the PMF program kicking and screaming into the 21st Century: I made an RSS feed for the Projected Positions System. OK, so that’s [...]
Walk Score Ubiquity Command
I’ve found myself interested in the Walk Score results for all of the potential locations I am looking at online for when I relocate. Incidentally, I have been using Ubiquity, Mozilla’s handy extension that puts semantic-web-like capabilities in the hands of end-users. One of the features I use the most is the “map” command, which [...]
ACTA is Digital Feudalism
Whistle blower web site Wikileaks released, on May 22, a copy of a discussion paper to combat the counterfeiting of intellectual property. The proposal is part of a “plurilateral” agreement between a number of developed nations that seeks to curb or eliminate unauthorized movement of copyrighted materials.
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