mostly research stuff
Oscar Wilde once said, “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
It is quite likely that most of us detest gossip because we perhaps suspect the truth, just can’t admit to a desire or interest in participation, or otherwise find it terribly distracting when it’s not exuding juice.
There’s a lot to be said for the ruminations of industry pundits, admired public figures and trusted friends. But what about text-only patrons of the Internet? What about the deluge of anonymous posters to message boards — those emoticon-abusing, un-spell-checking poster children of all-we-can-eat Internet access? How much trust might we place on these questionable characters?
Credibility patterns: When dealing with rumors, gossip, supposedly confidential internal memos and the like, one must examine the credibility and reliability of the source. Online, this is usually not an option. Rather, we might look for a pattern, examining such items as: Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s the situation: you’re a consultant working with some high profile client, waxing poetic about SWOT analysis, product mapping…when suddenly you’re confronted by a question about Porter’s 5 Forces. 5 Forces? Hmmn, don’t remember these from the Star Wars trilogy…and ‘jockeying for position’ - that sounds dirty!
Do not panic. Remain calm. Even if you’ve read all of the great books about strategy and CI, it is likely that you will find yourself in need of ’schooling’ repeatedly throughout your career. If you’re like me (meaning that you’re not good at guitar and you’re still single), you probably ‘poo-poo’ on business books anyways and summarily dismiss them as fast food literature.
Also, unlike the laity of the early 16th century, we no longer need to rely on oil paintings to explain important concepts to us as a work-around for our illiteracy. Fortunately, the Internet has created the most interesting educational model in the world for all of us: a great big inflatable rescue raft full of free tools and resources pumped up daily by millions of smart people. Read the rest of this entry »
yeah, i just wanted to revisit this incident with some additional insight for those who might have overlooked it…there was a very interesting (albeit terrifying) article in us news and world report on may 17th (2004) about a national security scare based on flawed osint: “It was the lead item on the government’s daily threat matrix one day last April. Don Emilio Fulci, described by an FBI tipster as a reclusive but evil millionaire, had formed a terrorist group that was planning chemical attacks against London and Washington, D.C. That day even FBI director Robert Mueller was briefed on the Fulci matter. But as the day went on without incident, a White House staffer had a brainstorm: He Googled Fulci. His findings: Fulci is the crime boss in the popular video game Headhunter. “Stand down,” came the order from embarrassed national security types.”- this citation is via lawmeme at yale law school
the word from some “gamer types” was that this was all rooted in government misinterpretation of exactly what the “engrish” phrase AYBABTU means
Read the rest of this entry »
“I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” - Bono of U2
Here’s a riddle: What begins with one, expands to over fifty and then continues to grow by hundreds and then thousands within a matter of weeks? A fertilized human egg? Howard Dean’s recrudescent supporters in his final weeks? No. The answer is Furl.
My primary frustration with Blogs and Bookmarks is the inability to structure findings clearly beyond date-stamped archives or clumsy Internet link listings. Coupled with ad hominem commentary (on Blogs) and dead link pollution within both Blogs and Bookmark folders, there is motivation to explore alternatives.
Recently, I was turned on to a neoteric research tool for information management from Furl, located online at www.furl.net . I’d like to say thank you to Jim Stroud of Siemens for introducing me to this resource within one month of official public launch (January 2004). Furl was created by Mike Giles, a man with a problem. Mike bookmarks sites zealously. As time passed, his ability to reason through cryptic links stored across countless folders was being hampered by his short term memory. According to Doctors, this memory thing worsens with age…though I forget exactly what changes. Read the rest of this entry »
no, that’s not an exact quote…in typical sunday ny times magazine fashion, a writer has access to a seemingly important person and floats off into a discussion about (in this case) his hair (”not a toupee”) and his use of hair spray. what did ms. solomon (the writer) miss? the opportunity to expound lott’s passing comment that the cia is lacking in linguists… then lott serves up this jape, “the running joke is that if you get on Intelligence, you have no intelligence.” thanks lott, for demonstrating a lack of respect for the agency that represents one of the last bastions of hope for intelligence operations improvement (and repair)…he’s no cunning linguist…definitely look for lott on south park
this blog is mostly safe for work, though i sometimes throw around a 'fuck' or two. you'll find a bunch of my articles from CI Magazine, SCIP online, other research pieces and some other crap. enjoy. there's lost of content here related to getting information about, around, from and through people and organizations...