The Secret War – NSA Snooping is Only the Beginning

INSIDE FORT MEADE, Maryland, a top-secret city bustles. Tens of thousands of people move through more than 50 buildings—the city has its own post office, fire department, and police force. But as if designed by Kafka, it sits among a forest of trees, surrounded by electrified fences and heavily armed guards, protected by antitank barriers, monitored by sensitive motion detectors, and watched by rotating cameras. To block any telltale electromagnetic signals from escaping, the inner walls of the buildings are wrapped in protective copper shielding and the one-way windows are embedded with a fine copper mesh.

This is the undisputed domain of General Keith Alexander, a man few even in Washington would likely recognize. Never before has anyone in America’s intelligence sphere come close to his degree of power, the number of people under his command, the expanse of his rule, the length of his reign, or the depth of his secrecy. A four-star Army general, his authority extends across three domains: He is director of the world’s largest intelligence service, the National Security Agency; chief of the Central Security Service; and commander of the US Cyber Command. As such, he has his own secret military, presiding over the Navy’s 10th Fleet, the 24th Air Force, and the Second Army.

…Stuxnet is only the beginning. Alexander’s agency has recruited thousands of computer experts, hackers, and engineering PhDs to expand US offensive capabilities in the digital realm. The Pentagon has requested $4.7 billion for “cyberspace operations,” even as the budget of the CIA and other intelligence agencies could fall by $4.4 billion. It is pouring millions into cyberdefense contractors. And more attacks may be planned.

Steve Jobs buys a washing machine

Day 64: 03-04-08
Doing the laundry | Photo by Jonathan Blundell

Wired News has an interesting article on Steve Jobs buying a washing machine. The college drop out and Apple Computers Founder and CEO got his entire family envolved in discussing the design of their new washer and dryer.

In a 1996 interview, Steve said, “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But, of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. To design something really well, you have to ‘get it.’ You have to really grok what it’s all about.” (A geek’s word, to grok is a coinage of science-fiction writer R.A. Heinlein, meaning to understand something thoroughly by having empathy with it.)

I think we miss that many times in designing things and communicating messages.

I’ve designed websites in the past that really jump out at people because they look great, but in all reality they suck as a website, because they don’t work well. You can’t find the pages and information you want quickly.

A well designed newspaper is the same way. Not only does it look good, but the information is organized in a way that people can pick it up every day or every week and know exactly where they need to go to get the information they need.