Category: Random

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[Poor] Traffic Psychology

This has been a long time coming. As a Sales Engineer, I spend a LOT of time on the road. I can’t even estimate how many hundred thousand miles I’ve driven. I’ve been a passenger in every kind of vehicle, too. After a while, if you keep your eyes open, you start to see patterns.

There are habits that I have seen all over the world in drivers. Habits that drive me insane, that is. There are a few scenarios that I have seen over and over again, and I am convinced that drivers are not aware that they are doing them.
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I hate technology.

Things just don’t work. But what is worse is that they don’t work for the wrong reason. So rather than bitch about why things are all screwed up now, I’ll productively focus on what we really need.

  • We need a system of systems that has a common interface, or standard, for each.
  • We need to be able to unplug an email client and replace it with a better one without changing any other system
  • We need to completely de-couple all data from the applications themselves
  • We need a single interface with which to access all applications
  • We need this interface to be viable in all current edge technologies, like PDAs, CarPCs, cell phones, PCs (all OSes, of course), etc.
  • We need to be able to access our systems from anywhere-even someone else’s edge technology-securely
  • We need to be able to break, have stolen, or lose our edge technology implementation and not lose any data; This includes access from airplanes, PDAs, airport touchscreens, etc.

We’re not seeing convergence. We’re seeing a rise in proprietariness of applications. Google is consolidating to dig into the desktop market where Microsoft rules, not to make our lives easier. So when you see a company saying it is making your life easier by combining applications, like the idiotic cell phone companies lately, ask it whether you can plug into it the best of breed out there that they compete with.

Take a wild guess what the answer will be.

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The Groom Tourist

I was digging through all my old web stuff, you know, dusting it off for old times’ sake, when I came across an old site I had made in 1999. I take many trips on business out to Groom Lake, and the AFFTC-3 in general, to vacation and see my tax dollars hard at work in war games that create sonic booms.

I wrote this site to document a trip from Reno…

to the North Gate…

 in pictures, describing all the landmarks, etc. along the way. At the time, and to this day, I’ve been to Nevada dozens of times without ever stepping foot in Las Vegas-a fact I’m proud of!

The site is here.

See also my Dulce site…

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National Biosurveillance working toward a FOC…

from: Forestalling the Coming Pandemic: Infectious Disease Surveillance Overseas

We are expanding NODS capabilities to automate the development and dissemination of reports. Our NBIC reports, to be distributed through the NOC-COP fall into three categories: real-time notifications, daily and weekly reports and situational reports. Notifications are short, factual summaries developed immediately following significant or newsworthy “bio-events.” Daily and weekly reports, highlight events of potential significance. Situation reports provide daily updates of ongoing domestic or international “bio-events.” Additionally, we have instituted a Pilot Biosurveillance Common Operating Picture (BCOP) that incorporates weekly Avian Influenza updates.

The Testimony of Dr. Kimothy Smith, Acting Director of the National Biosurveillance Integration Center before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight of Governmental Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia mentions yet another piece of the event-driven puzzle whereby miltary systems like Magic Lantern and ECHELON.

What is interesting about this 10/4/2007 news release is that it talks about how the NBIC in terms of how it is a complete system of TIA, or systems of systems, as well as a combination of SMEs and systems:

  • A robust information management system capable of handling large quantities of structured and unstructured information;
  • A corps of highly-trained subject matter experts and analysts; and
  • A clear establishment of a culture of cooperation, trust and mutual support across the Federal government and other partners.

There exists tremendous opportunity for those able to capitalize on emabling the governmnet’s mandate for a COP (Common Operating Picture). And all this time I thought it was TIA (Total Idiot Awareness) that was the most important!

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Slingbox on the Treo rocks!

I am on the road. A LOT.

The hotels I usually stay at have no variety in television, even though they almost all have the same sattelite provider I do at home (Dish Network). This means I can’t watch things like the Red Sox on NESN. Not any more!

I bought a Slingbox Pro at Best Buy and am still stunned at how good a device this is. It communicates with a private tracker at Sling Media so that any client on the Internet can access it. My networks sit behind 2 firewalls, so pin-holing took me a little time, but there are no changes needed to external machines-even those with personal firewalls on them.

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