In a haunted harkening back to my bog article last Friday, You are an Electronic Jigsaw Puzzle, the Air Force is funding a new study of blogs to "provide information analysts and warfighters with invaluable help in fighting the war on terrorism." In the 650-word press release announcing the new Air Force blog analysis, the word warfighter appears twice.
Dr. Brian E. Ulicny, senior scientist, and Dr. Mieczyslaw M. Kokar, president, Versatile Information Systems Inc., Framingham, Mass., will receive approximately $450,000 in funding for the 3-year project entitled Automated Ontologically-Based Link Analysis of International Web Logs for the Timely Discovery of Relevant and Credible Information. It can be challenging for information analysts to tell what's important in blogs unless you analyze patterns, Ulicny said. Patterns include the content of the blogs as well as what hyperlinks are contained within the blog.
I wonder if this new analysis of blogs will be human-based or Bot-based
and if we'll start seeing "Air Force Bot" in our list of blog visitors
along with the usual automated crawlers from MSN, Yahoo! and the Google
Bot?
Will we be able -- or allowed -- to block that Air Force bot from
adding our blog entries and comments into a military database for
"pattern analysis?"
Blog entries have a different structure, Ulicny said. They are typically short and are about something external to the blog posting itself , such as a news event. It's not uncommon for a blogger to simply state, I can't believe this happened, and then link to a news story. In this example, Ulicny said, there might not be much of interest in the blog posting, yet the fact that the blogger called attention to this story can be significant to understanding what matters.Is it chilling how Dr. Ulicny tries to forge a connection to the Muslim rioters and bloggers? Is it news to you bloggers now live and work in an "information battlespace" according to Dr. Kokar? Information demands appropriate context and analysis -- but the preexisting expectation of the frame and the brain applied to that information is what can create a dangerous mind over what matters.
A good example, he said, is the recent furor in the Muslim world over the publication of cartoons of Mohammad in a Danish newspaper. The original publication wasn't much noticed in the West, but bloggers discussed this event that possibly contributed to riots worldwide. The fact that the web is a vast source of information is sometimes overlooked by military analysts, Kokar said. Our research goal is to provide the warfighter with a kind of information radar to better understand the information battlespace.
Peace through superior firepower and excellent blogging!
The program sounds like a Technorati-type endeavor that allows the military to keep an eye on what's hot in the blogosphere.
From the Air Force news release:
Sounds like a way for someone to bring the pork home to a favored defense contractor.
I noticed in my logs that someone from the PeaceCorps.gov domain was looking at my blog.
Maybe there's a secret peacemaker blog monitoring effort going on as well? ;)
Hi Chris!
I agree this sounds like a pork-fest project to me. The same sort of thing could be achieved via Digg for free and not cost us taxpayers $450,000 over the next three years!
I love it you have Peace Corps readers, Chris! How delightful!
My PeaceCorps reader was looking for information about Buffie "The Body" Carruth!
I'm glad I could do my part to spreading peace and happiness throughout the world.
I am so glad you're keeping tabs on the Peace Corps visitors, Chris! Ever vigilant! We should put you on border duty in Arizona.
:grin:
I'm vigilant, but I never remember. My counter clears out after 100 hits.
It's like Vegas, what you look at in my blog, stays in my blog.
Excellent, Chris!
You should sell t-shirts and keychains with your new blog motto!
:wink:
I should ... I could set something up with CafePress. ;)
Or... perhaps you could get the Air Force to buy all your stuff -- all in the name of national security, of course -- for the low, low, price of... $450,000 over three years!
Actually, I'm going to sell them a new and improved "AFDB."
My Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie design will be designed to protect against all Homeland Security Threats (HST). It will be the second generation device adapted to withstand anything today's modern blogwarfare theatre can throw at it.
Our military personnel can rest assured that they will be safe cruising through MySpace and BlogExplosion if they are wearing the proper gear!
I'll charge them the low, low price of $100,000 for a prototype.
It's a great bargain!
It's a brilliant plan, Chris!
I'll take 50,000!
:mrgreen:
To see where you fit into the Air Force's organization, you might want to take this personality test:
What Military Aircraft Are You?
It doesn't hurt to know since they are going to be scanning everyone's blogs. :)
I tried your link, Chris and had this returned instead of questions:
It must be a conspiracy!It's nothing to be worried about, David.
When "they" determine it is appropriate, someone will come to your place to administer the test.
Here's some more interesting military-techno stuff.
The Tactical Technology Office:
I almost forgot, one of the Tactical Technology Office's missions is "Global Survellience."
Happy 4th of July!
Here's the link where you can apply to sell your ideas to the government's "Information Exploitation Office."
I bet the AFDB, if pitched properly, could be a big hit!
Wild stuff, Chris! Thanks for all those great links and for the lovely holiday wishes!
Here's my favorite military dis-information site:
http://www.dtic.mil/