elisem

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/05/the_global_cybe.html

This 127-page report was just published by the UK Defence Academy. I have not read it yet, but it looks really interesting.

Executive Summary: This report presents a systematic way of thinking about cyberpower and its use by a variety of global players. The urgency of addressing cyberpower in this way is a consequence of the very high value of the Internet and the hazards of its current militarization.

Cyberpower and cyber security are conceptualized as a 'Global Game' with a novel 'Cyber Gameboard' consisting of a nine-cell grid. The horizontal direction on the grid is divided into three columns representing aspects of information (i.e. cyber): connection, computation and cognition. The vertical direction on the grid is divided into three rows representing types of power: coercion, co-option, and cooperation. The nine cells of the grid represent all the possible combinations of power and information, that is, forms of cyberpower.

The Cyber Gameboard itself is also an abstract representation of the surface of cyberspace, or C-space as defined in this report. C-space is understood as a networked medium capable of conveying various combinations of power and information to produce effects in physical or 'flow space,' referred to as F-space in this report. Game play is understood as the projection via C-space of a cyberpower capability existing in any one cell of the gameboard to produce an effect in F-space vis-a-vis another player in any other cell of the gameboard. By default, the Cyber Game is played either actively or passively by all those using network connected computers. The players include states, businesses, NGOs, individuals, non-state political groups, and organized crime, among others. Each player is seen as having a certain level of cyberpower when its capability in each cell is summed across the whole board. In general states have the most cyberpower.

The possible future path of the game is depicted by two scenarios, N-topia and N-crash. These are the stakes for which the Cyber Game is played. N-topia represents the upside potential of the game, in which the full value of a globally connected knowledge society is realized. N-crash represents the downside potential, in which militarization and fragmentation of the Internet cause its value to be substantially destroyed. Which scenario eventuates will be determined largely by the overall pattern of play of the Cyber Game.

States have a high level of responsibility for determining the outcome. The current pattern of play is beginning to resemble traditional state-on-state geopolitical conflict. This puts the civil Internet at risk, and civilian cyber players are already getting caught in the crossfire. As long as the civil Internet remains undefended and easily permeable to cyber attack it will be hard to achieve the N-topia scenario.

Defending the civil Internet in depth, and hardening it by re-architecting will allow its full social and economic value to be realized but will restrict the potential for espionage and surveillance by states. This trade-off is net positive and in accordance with the espoused values of Western-style democracies. It does however call for leadership based on enlightened self-interest by state players.

        Total  Fail  Success Success Rate
1960s    19     14     5         26%
1970s    11      3*    8         73%
1980s     8      .33   7.67      96%
1990s    --      --    --        -- 
2000s     3            3        100% 
2010s     1       1**              0%

Saturn's moon Titan might be in for some wild weather as it heads into its spring and summer, if two new models are correct. Scientists think that as the seasons change in Titan's northern hemisphere, waves could ripple across the moon's hydrocarbon seas, and hurricanes could begin to swirl over these areas, too. The model predicting waves tries to explain data from the moon obtained so far by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Both models help mission team members plan when and where to look for unusual atmospheric disturbances as Titan summer approaches.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment(s); comment here or there.

A couple of articles on India's Mars Orbiter Mission were published on the news website The Week yesterday, and they're much more in-depth and insightful than the norm.

Re Duffypocalpse and the Cheque of Doom

In the House of Commons yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, temporarily reverting to his former role as partisan fire extinguisher, said no, Harper knew nothing about the deal until, like other appalled Conservatives, he saw it on the evening news.

Strangely, Harper himself did not say that in his speech to his caucus, at least the portion of it that was public. Nor did Nigel Wright on Sunday, in his resignation letter. Nor did the PMO last week. In his remarks Harper ignored the payment entirely. In the other two cases the language was ever so carefully crafted to allow for some knowledge on his part, though not of “the means” or “the details.”

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment(s); comment here or there.

Amazon announced Kindle Worlds today, describing it as “the first commercial publishing platform that will enable any writer to create fan fiction based on a range of original stories and characters and earn royalties for doing so.”

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment(s); comment here or there.

Ted’s got some offsite meetings this week in a place with a cramped parking lot, so he’s been taking the car I usually drive, leaving me with the Mighty Big Truck. (There’s a current country song which contains the line “He can’t be much of a man by the look of that little truck.” I expect hair to begin sprouting on my chest any second now.”) However, in true girly fashion, though I can drive the truck just fine, I can’t park it worth a crap. This is mostly because I can’t park for crap in general – never really learned to parallel park because a week after getting my license I moved out of Philadelphia and since then have never lived in a place where it’s needed, and I can’t back in well (which is a thing you need to do with big trucks) because I have terrible depth perception. Hey, I have a doctor’s opinion on that last part. (Had another eye doctor appointment yesterday. She’s got me wearing reading glasses for reading and computer work, on the theory that will prevent eyestrain and help my eyes relax for distance when I drive.) However, it doesn’t help that the truck doesn’t fit in a single parking space, lengthwise – you have the choice of finding a pull-through spot and taking up all of one space and part of the other or sticking out into the roadway.

Yesterday, I got up early and went to the gym. Getting changed int he locker room afterward, I had a nice conversation with another woman there, in the course of which she asked me what I did. I confessed to being unemployed (well, I think I did mention working on the book) and she kindly mentioned a few local places that may be hiring. We waked out to the parking lot together, and I felt a bit silly climbing into that big truck. She probably thinks now that all authors get huge advances and guaranteed royalties. Oops.

Today I booked a massage, and I know that parking lot is usually pretty full, so this may be challenging. If I have to, at least I have the option of parking at the big box stores’ lot next door and walking. This may be the very definition of first-world problems, but it’s the only vehicle I have today. It’s only a few miles, so I suppose I could bike, but it’s cold and rainy today and the route is all uphill and mostly on big roads. (I’m not frittering away money on the massage; it’s the second one on my birthday giftcard.)

Things are moving on the job front; I had a call with one recruiter and submitted forms requested by another yesterday, and I have a screening call on Thursday with a company (I mean, directly, not a recruiter.) One of the ones from yesterday would be a step up, but it would mean moving again, and I like it here. I’m talking to them just in case the job turns out to be really wonderful. The one tomorrow sounds exciting – nearby, reputation as a great place to work, in a new industry but interfacing with one I know – so I hope that call goes well. The book editing is being a bit difficult, but that’s because I’m working on the most complex chapters of it. The editor is being responsive, though he sounds a bit disappointed that this isn’t as simple and clear as the intro chapters, and I think his comments and criticisms are accurate.

Today’s good news is that I may get to see a former colleague; he’s responsible for the US Western zone, and he’s here this week and in meetings with Ted, so we invited him for dinner. He may need to cancel, though, if work dinners are required. I was planning to make a brisket anyway, with new potatoes and spinach salad, so whether he comes won’t affect the amount of cooking I do, just the amount of leftovers. Possibly I should straighten the house this morning, so that it’s done before I find out whether or not he’s coming. Otherwise, plans for this week are to blitz ahead on the book, though of course further revisions will need to be done after the editor reviews them. I’d like to have as much done as possible while I’m still at home.

Mirrored from Dichroic Reflections.

The National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973,[1] also referred to as the 1973 National Archives fire was a fire that occurred at the United States National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in Overland, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, on July 12, 1973, striking a severe blow to the National Archives and Records Administration of the United States.[...] NPRC, the custodian of military service records, lost approximately 16-18 million official military personnel records as a result of the fire.[...]

[...]

The losses to Federal military records collection included:

80% loss to records of U.S. Army personnel discharged November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960[2]
75% loss to records of U.S. Air Force personnel discharged September 25, 1947, to January 1, 1964, with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.[...]
Some U.S. Army Reserve personnel who performed their initial active duty for training in the late 1950s but who received final discharge as late as 1964.

None of the records that were destroyed in the fire had duplicate copies made, nor had they been copied to microfilm. No index of these records was made prior to the fire, and millions of records were on loan to the Veterans Administration at the time of the fire. This made it difficult to precisely determine which records were lost.

Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are comment(s); comment here or there.